GREETINGS FROM FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA

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I WOKE UP IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, AND WENT TO SLEEP IN COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.  I THEN FLEW HOME TO SAN CLEMENTE ON MONDAY.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

If I am going to continue to be a world-class trackchaser after having seen nearly 1,200 tracks, I’m going to have to manage the transportation end of the business.  I hope that after you read this you will think that I have a good handle on that important aspect of trackchasing.  

 

 

 

The Trip

 

I finished up in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday night.  It would have been very easy to simply drive up to Memphis and fly home on Sunday.  I didn’t need to push the envelope and try for a Sunday track.  However, I knew the weather was perfect in South Carolina and they were racing Sunday afternoon.

 

My Saturday night track in Mississippi wrapped up at 10 p.m.  My potential Sunday afternoon track in South Carolina was starting at 2 p.m.  The distance between the two locations is 680 miles.  You do the math.  I couldn’t drive that distance without driving through the night.  I had to fly.

 

I had reserved my National Rental Car with the idea of returning it to Memphis.  If I could return it to Jackson, Mississippi I would save the 210-mile drive back to Elvis City.  If I could get a flight from Jackson to Atlanta, I could save the 340 driving miles between those cities.  I was able to do both.

 

It was a little tough getting back to my La Quinta Motel and asking for a 4:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. San Clemente time) wakeup call.  I do these kinds of trips when Carol is NOT with me.

 

My plan was to land in Atlanta, rent a car and drive 300 miles to Florence.  I landed at about 8 a.m. and noticed a flight leaving for Columbia, South Carolina, the state’s capital.  With less than five minutes noticed I hopped on that flight.  This left me just 90 miles to drive from Columbia to Florence.  Reducing my drive from 680 miles to just 90 was a good thing.  That move saved sixty bucks in gas and a lot of time when I hadn’t been able to get much sleep.

 

By the way, I don’t know if you have ever been in the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.  It’s one of the most beautiful regional airports, if not the most beautiful I have ever seen.  It reminded me of being in an upscale southern hotel.  They even had several white wooden rockers for folks to relax in.  They also had several internet plug-in stations for their travelers.  A tip of the hat to the people who made this happen.  The airport is great.

 

On the way home from today’s track, I stopped by the nearby Darlington Raceway in the small town of Darlington, South Carolina.  This is where “big-time” stock racing first started with the Darlington 500.  I made a visit to the “track too tough to tame” back in 1992.  I saw Robert Pressley win the Busch race and Bill Elliott win the Winston Cup race.  I’m not sure how long Darlington will survive in today’s NASCAR world.

 

Getting home

 

I could have tried to get home on Sunday night following the races but I couldn’t resist staying for that last four-car Road Warrior feature event.

 

I figured I could get a night’s rest at my hotel in Columbia, South Carolina and still get back to Los Angeles by Monday morning.  Wrong!  My wakeup call came at 5:40 a.m.  (2:40 a.m. San Clemente time).  My 7:26 a.m. flight from Columbia to Chicago worked like a charm.  However, when I reached Chicago’s O’Hare Airport it was jam-packed.

 

I guess “Spring break” is still in full swing.  One gate agent told me “everything going west or where’s it’s warm is full.”  My research seemed to confirm that what he told me was correct.  I even tried to fly from Chicago to Baltimore because the Baltimore to Los Angeles flight was wide open.  Fortunately, I guess, I couldn’t get on the plane to Baltimore.

 

I bought an airport internet connection and searched and then I searched some more.  The best thing I could come up with was to fly to Cincinnati, wait five hours and then get a five-hour flight to LAX.  That’s what I did.

 

Of course, when I’m in Cincinnati I can’t pass up Gold Star Chili.  Cincinnati is “king of the chili parlors.”  These places are located on nearly every corner.  During my five-hour layover I ate there twice!

 

I wasn’t in Cincinnati for more than ten minutes when I heard something that you will only here there.  It is common when you don’t understand something the first time to say, “I beg your pardon,” or more crudely “what.”  In Cincinnati, when someone wants you to repeat something they say, “please?”  If you hear someone speak like this, you know they are from Cincinnati.

 

I guess the bad news for the day was that I did not reach San Clemente until 12:17 a.m. Tuesday morning (3:17 a.m. Eastern time).  That meant I was up for about 22 hours.  However, there was some good news to report.

 

There were five people, including me, standing by for just one first class seat on the way back to LA.  Based on J.J.’s seniority date, I would get the last choice of seats from this group.  Fortunately, the four people ahead of me were two sets of couples.  Neither couple wanted to split up with one going in first class and one going in coach.  That meant I got the first class seat!  On a five-hour flight that is good news.

 

You should know that if Carol and I had been faced with the one seat in coach and one in first class, I would have insisted that she take the first class seat.  The Lewis family traveled frequently as a family of five when the kids were young.  Often, I would be offered an upgrade to first class.  When that happened I would always figure out a non-biased way to allow one of the children to experience first class.  They loved it.  I guess I am being paid back with my airline sponsorships for that generosity.

 

 

The People

 

I like Southerners.  However, I get the distinct impression they are a bit leery of “Yankees.”  O.K. let’s be honest.  They don’t give a lick for ‘em. 

 

I can come off as a serious individual and I speak with proper grammar.  Sometimes I think this throws some of the good ole’ boys and girls off that I meet up with.

 

This is funny to me.  I grew up in a blue-collar industrial town in central Illinois.  The area was home to the Caterpillar Tractor Company.  I worked in the CAT factories for three summers while supporting myself in college. 

 

My dad’s family was from Kentucky.  My mother’s family was from southern Illinois.  I went to college at Northern Illinois University.  More than 95% of Northern’s students come from Chicago or its surrounding suburbs.  My hometown, East Peoria, Illinois, was considered “down state.”  Most of those Chicago area students thought of themselves as being “citified.”  I was considered sort of a “hick from the sticks,” back then.  One of my favorite sayings with these city slickers was “aw shucks.” 

 

Now I fear I am considered one of those city boys simply because I have a good command of the English language.  They need to know that I am a southerner at heart.

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

FLORENCE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - TRACK #1,168

 

This was my 11^th track in the Palmetto state, home of the state bird, the Great Carolina Wren.  I moved up from ninth place to an eighth place tie with Gordon Killian.  I am only one track out of a sixth place tie with Kenny Schrader and P.J. Hollebrand.  John Moore is the state leader with 35 tracks.

 

I gained only one NGD point (South Carolina) during this trip.  I have updated the lifetime NGD standings below.

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

FLORENCE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

My favorite time to watch racing in on Sunday afternoons.  I was in the Carolinas today for some short track asphalt racing.  Both North and South Carolina have more good asphalt tracks that anywhere else in the country.

 

I do not like racetracks that start late.  As far as I know the Florence Motor Speedway started as advertised at 2 p.m.  Even though I had plenty of time to get there I did not arrive until 2:10 p.m.  It was such a bright day, I had to stop at Wal-Mart for a pair of sunglasses.  If you’re not early, you’re late.  I was late.

 

Today was feature racing only.  I like that.  I would much rather see a class of cars run one 20-50 lap main event than two eight lappers with just half the cars in the class or less and a 15-lap feature.  For some reason, this is only done by asphalt tracks and they are usually located in the south.

 

This track has been here a long time.  They have a 15-row wooden bleacher seating area.  The stands run the full length of the front stretch.  Several folks bring their lawn chairs and sit on the concrete at the top of the bleacher area.  The racecars pit in the infield.  I like that.  You can see all of the “goings on” from the grandstand.  There is also a three-position scoreboard and lap counter.  I would like to see every track offer a lap counter.  Other than the front stretch the track is surrounded by South Carolina pine trees.  The track’s location reminded me of being in a forest.

 

The track’s admission price was most unusual.  They charged $9.99 per adult.  I was wondering if I would get my one pennies worth of change when I laid down a twenty-dollar bill.  I did.  By the way, this was the first time all weekend that I touched any coinage.  Every other transaction over the entire weekend was conducted with a credit card or even amounts of paper money.  I don’t like to carry change.  I don’t carry any change at all.

 

The second and final time I handled any coins was a first for me.  I bought a 75-cent copy of USA Today from a newspaper machine.  Since I didn’t have any quarters, the machine allowed me to insert a dollar bill and get a quarter’s worth of change.  I have never used such a newspaper machine, although there have been plenty of times that I wanted to buy a paper and didn’t have the proper change.

 

Today’s program was plagued by low cars counts, especially when some of the feature races went for 40 and 50 laps.  The first race I saw was for the 4-cylinders.  They had just seven cars.  The late models ran 40 laps with just eight cars.  The trucks ran 50 laps with seven competitors.  The final race of the day was for four road warriors.  They ran 15 laps before ending the entire program at 4:37 p.m.

 

I had an interesting experience in the press box.  I was invited up to do a trackchaser interview.  The announcer was a knowledgeable racing person.  When it came time for my interview, he told the crowd something like this, “We have Randy Lewis here today.  He the ‘World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser’ and we’re glad to have him here.  Tell us about trackchasing, Randy.” 

 

With that he handed me the microphone, lit a cigarette and began a conversation with some other folks in the booth.  This is not my favorite kind of interview.  I prefer to play off of the announcer’s questions.  Nevertheless, I did my best Jay Leno monolog impression and continued for a few minutes.

 

I was surprised at one thing I heard in the booth today.  The 4-cylinder class was racing their 25-lap feature event.  With about 15 laps completed, the announcer told the flagman to “throw a yellow in 3-4 laps.”  Say what?  One of the scorers asked, “Do you want us to send the wrecker out and pretend like they are looking for some debris?”  As directed, the yellow came out on about lap twenty bunching up the field.

 

I asked if this was an “entertainment” caution.  The reply was “it’s a competition caution or entertainment caution whatever you want to call it.”  I share this information with you not to be critical of the track but because as a reader of the Trackchaser Report you deserve to hear about this insider information.

 

From a fan’s point of view, it’s probably better to have the field bunched up over the last few laps.  The track is trying to entertain the fans.  Many tracks go way out of their way to satisfy competitors to the detriment of the fans.  This track was going way out of the way to please its spectators.

 

The announcer was definitely in control of today’s program.  He directed the flagman when needed.  He also explained to the crowd, the myriad of special events upcoming including several traveling series that would be visiting as well as a special fireworks program.  He reminded the crowd that if they came back next Sunday with their ticket stub they could get in for just five bucks.  I thought about selling my ticket stub to a poor family of six sitting in front of me……….  Just kidding!!

 

I was surprised to see the truck division’s sponsor was “Seneca Premium Cigarettes.”  It was very unusual to hear the words “cigarettes” being mentioned over the P.A. system.  When was the last time you’ve heard that word mentioned in an audio advertisement? 

 

I enjoyed listening to the track’s internal communications on the 456.1750 radio frequency.  I did not hear about any more “competition” cautions.  There was one race where I thought they might use this technique but just about when it might have been needed a car spun and drew a traditional caution.

 

I did not care for one aspect of the promotion.  The NASCAR Nextel Cup race was running at the same time as today’s show.  I suspect that many people stayed home to watch the Nextel Cup race.  Don’t you think that several of the fans in attendance today were recording that race so they could watch it when they returned home?  I do.  That’s why I don’t understand why the track’s management chose to broadcast the race over the P.A. system during some of the breaks in the action.

 

Considering the car counts were so low, the racing up front wasn’t bad.  They had several battles for position, not too many yellows and they didn’t take all day to transition from one race to the next.  They also played fun music during the few breaks they did have.

 

I’m not sure I got the Florence Motor Speedway on their very best day.  I know this track has seen some great racing in its storied past.  I was just happy to get a Sunday afternoon show in.  This was my 30^th new track of the year to see.  By this date in 2005 when I was on my way to setting the all time season record in trackchasing of 182 tracks, I had seen only eight new tracks by March 25, 2005.  Would this be a good year to try to break that 2005 record?

 

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

Now I now why San Clemente real estate is so expensive.  Our high temperature averages between 66 and 77 degrees over every month of the year.  Last week it was 35 degrees when we left a Georgia track.  This afternoon it was 87 degrees when I entered this South Carolina track.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

My National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu was nearly brand new.  It makes a great rental car.

 

If I had had to drive exclusively on this trip without any inter-trip airplane rides, the driving distance would have been daunting.  Had I landed in Springfield, Missouri and then driven to the four tracks I visited and then driven to my departure airport in Atlanta I would have covered a minimum of 1,665 miles.  As it was I only drove 873 miles seeing those four tracks.

 

Friday total driving miles - 278

 

Saturday total driving miles - 370

 

Sunday total driving miles –  213

 

Monday total driving miles – 12

 

I traveled just 206 miles on the second rental car leg of this trip.  I paid an average fuel price of $2.36 giving me a 9.0 cent per mile fuel charge.  The Chevy Malibu provided fuel mileage of 26.3 M.P.G.  The car cost 22.3 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,168

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,106 (-62)*

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,090 (-78)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 986 (-182)**

 

 

* Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list. 

 

** Special exemption.

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

2007 (current thru 3/26/07)**

 

With recent one-position gains in South Carolina and Texas these are the current results. 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 7.00

2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 7.08

3. Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 7.55

 

**Until the end of the year, NGD rankings are unofficial.  Rankings are affected not only by the leader’s activities but by other trackchasers impact on the leader’s position in each state. 

  

 

 

Other notables

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.

 

31.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 309

 

32.  Chris Economaki, Ridgewood, New Jersey – 302 (-7)

 

33.  Gary Jacob, Turlock, California – 301 (-8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 30

 

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 21

 

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 15

 

3.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 15

 

5.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 13

 

6.  Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada - 8

 

7.  Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania – 5

 

7.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 5

 

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 5

 

10.  Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 4

 

Tracks have been reported by 27 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

Never was a horse that couldn’t be rode or a rider that couldn’t be throwed.

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA – Denver, CO – 861 miles

Denver, CO – Springfield, MO – 635 miles

 

RENTAL CAR – SPRINGFIELD, MO

 

Springfield Regional Airport – trip begins

Malden, MO – 238 miles*

Byhalia, MS – 507 miles

Jackson, MS – 650 miles

Jackson International Airport – 669 miles - trip ends

 

* This is not always the direct mileage from the airport to the first stop as detours along the way may add to the stated mileage.

 

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Jackson, MS – Atlanta, GA – 340 miles

Atlanta, GA – Columbia, SC - 190 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR – COLUMBIA, SC

 

 

Columbia Metropolitan Airport – trip begins

Florence, SC – 91 miles*

Columbia Metropolitan Airport – 206 miles - trip ends

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Columbia, SC – Chicago, IL – 667 miles

Chicago, IL – Cincinnati, OH – 264 miles

Cincinnati, OH – Los Angeles, CA – 1,894 miles

 

 

Total Air miles – 4,851 miles

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 6,601 miles

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Malden Speedway – $10

Dacosa Speedway – Free

Swinging Bridge Raceway - $12

Florence Motor Speedway - $9.99

 

 

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $31.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

Past trackchasing reports are available at:

www.ranlayracing.com

 

 

Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:

www.trackchaser.net

 

 

Some of the data in this report comes: www.trackchaser.net

Garmin GPS

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

Do you think my next trackchasing trip will have anything to with our UCLA Bruins being in the final four in Atlanta?

 

 

 

 

 

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)

 

 

1,139.  Meremere Dirt Track Club, Meremere, New Zealand - January 1

 

1,140.  Meeanee Speedway, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand - January 1

 

1,141.  Top of the South Speedway, Richmond, New Zealand - January 2

 

1,142.  Woodford Glen Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand - January 3

 

1,143.  Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North, New Zealand - January 5

 

1,144.  Taupo Motorsports Park, Taupo, North, New Zealand - January 6

 

1,145.  Waikaraka Park International Speedway, Auckland, New Zealand - January 6

 

1,146.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (inner oval), Anaheim, California - January 6

 

1,147.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California - January 6

 

1,148.  West Valley Speedway, Surprise, Arizona - January 14

 

1,149. Sandia Motorsports Park (road course), Albuquerque, New Mexico - January 28

 

1,150. Grand Prix De Lanaudiere, Lavaltrie, Quebec, Canada – February 3

 

1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track, Eulalie, Quebec, Canada – February 4

 

1,152. St Guillaume, St Guillaume, Quebec, Canada – February 4

 

1,153. Caldwell Rodeo Arena, Caldwell, Idaho – February 10

 

1,154. Balsam Lake Ice Track, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin – February 18

 

1,155. Northeast Pond Ice Track, Milton, New Hampshire – February 24

 

1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track, Moultonborough, New Hampshire – February 25

 

1,157. New Hendry Country Speedway, Clewiston, Florida – March 3

 

1,158. Florida Sports Park, Naples, Florida – March 4

 

1,159. Honeoye Lake Ice Track – Road Course, Honeoye, New York – March 10

 

1,160. Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas – March 16

 

1,161. Houston Motorsports Park, Houston, Texas – March 16

 

1,162. Dawgwood Speedway, Chatsworth, Georgia – March 17

 

1,163. Toccoa Speedway, Toccoa, Georgia – March 17

 

1,164. Tazewell Speedway, Tazewell, Tennessee – March 18

 

1,165. Malden Speedway, Malden, Missouri, Tennessee – March 23

 

1,166. Dacosa Speedway, Byhalia, Mississippi – March 24

 

1,167. Swinging Bridge Raceway, Byram, Mississippi – March 24

 

1,168. Florence Motor Speedway, Florence, South Carolina – March 25