Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
MILEBACK SPEEDWAY, GRAY COURT, SOUTH CAROLINA
It was nearly 10 p.m. when I pulled into the Mileback Speedway.
The grandstands were packed. The track was well-lit and the racing was good.
Here the Super Late Models race into turn one.
In the south, they have the right kind of USC fans as in the University of South Carolina. In the west we have the WRONG kind of usc fans as in those "lowly trojans."
Somehow I didn't think it would be wise to mess with this southern sheriff.
GREETINGS FROM
AND THE READERS RESPOND
I frequently have readers who
respond in one fashion or another to something I’ve written in a Trackchaser
Report. I always enjoy reading these
responses. However, I have never had
such a high number of emails as I did from my recent “It’s
time to retire for good” message.
Of course, that message was totally written in fun as my April Fools
joke on April Fools Day.
Here’s a sampling of the feedback
you folks sent:
From
“You are quite the joker. You did have me going there,
though it seemed to me you were not in love with your time in the service and
counting the days until you were done with your stint.”
From
Please tell me that email was a joke, if it wasn’t, yes, I am
pissed...... no not really but the trackchaser report was a good way to kill
some time at work and I do look forward to receiving them. If it wasn’t, then
thank you for your service ENJOY YOUR RETIREMENT
From
Good one!
From
You caught me for... about
1.3 seconds. That was a good one.
From
That was hilarious Dad!
From
Yes, you got me. I
often think about your hobby and I'm glad I don't have to do it. But
obviously it’s your great passion at this point of your life and it doesn't
affect or harm anyone else. It doesn't cost anyone else a dime and if you
enjoy it, (as you obviously do), more power to you!!! No explanations are
necessary.
From
April Fools??????
From
Good one.
From
April fools did not catch me but the fact that you are 58
caught me. We know the truth about how old you are.
From
Good one amigo!
From
You are good! Got me completely. Betcha you got
lots of other folks, too.
From
Hee, hee.
From
Randy you never cease to amaze! You are a remarkable person--well-done
son, well done!
From
Randy..... I am sending
over 4 of my close
From
NOW THAT'S GOOD STUFF!!!!
From
I cannot tell a lie. No, you did not fool me.
However, it was a great essay.
From
Knowing how you approach finances, I knew something was up as
the cost/benefit equation of your track chasing never computed. You
should feel a great deal of pride (and a few dollars to the better) for having
pursued this. I feel some envy.
However, I know you will not totally quit track chasing!
Second message from this
Hope you groaned a little and a good one.
From
HA HA HA,
a good one !
you really had me going on that one, I was really believing
it, and was about to wish you best wishes for your birthday and a happy
retirement. until I realized the
date.... I had forgotten it was APRIL 1st.
thanks for my early morning amusement
From
Randy, first I was thinking "no way...I can't
believe he was doing that!" Then I was thinking "I can't
believe I am so gullible". Very funny! Hope you are
well!
From California/Florida
aah yes. so the question remains----how do you do it
all?
From
that was cool, one of these days people will realize the cult
hero you actually are..........
From
Yes you did have me fooled!
IF YOU WOULD
PREFER TO READ THIS TRACKCHASER REPORT DIRECTLY FROM WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM AND SEE THE
PICTURES FROM THIS TRIP SIMPLY CLICK ON THIS LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IT IN YOUR
BROWSER:
http://www.ranlayracing.com/mar30apr12007.htm
I WOKE UP IN
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Strategy
I am no longer in the hobby of
trackchasing to see auto racing. I enjoy
the challenge of the “trackchasing jigsaw puzzle”
much more than seeing seven street stocks battle it out in a 12-lap
feature. I know some trackchasers get
their shorts in a wad when I make this statement. However, I don’t see many trackchasers going
back to very many tracks they’ve already seen.
I guess that proves they like to solve the jigsaw puzzle more than they
like to return to a track to see street stock racing. Yes, people vote with their feet.
What gets my juices flowing after
having seen more than 1,160 tracks is the intellectual brainteaser that needs
to be solved to simply get from point A to point B. The novice reader might think that challenge
is very simple and not really a challenge at all. If anyone thinks that, I don’t think they are
reading the words I provide closely enough.
Another major fun factor with
trackchasing is getting to see the world.
There’s a lot to see in this little world. If I can “be in
town” to catch a special event then it’s a great trackchasing trip.
This trackchasing trip meets both
aspects of trackchasing strategy I’ve mentioned above. Take a look at the puzzle (in The Trip
section) to see how you might have solved the question of how to get from point
A to point B.
Would there be a “fun factor” in this trip that had nothing to do
with auto racing? You betcha! I’m going to end up in
Most of you know that our tie to
UCLA is the fact that all three of our children graduated from the
It’s Thursday night as I write
this. I have no idea where I will be or
what I will do between now and the game on Saturday night. All I know for sure is, I will be in my seat
at 8:47 p.m. Eastern time watching the Bruins battle the
Although I would like to see UCLA
win, it won’t be the end of the world if they don’t. Just getting a chance to cheer for your team
in such a big event is worth whatever it costs to be here. However, if UCLA does win on Saturday, watch
for me on TV on Monday night in the championship game. Yes, this trackchasing stuff takes me all
over the world. By the way, J.J. should
be there Monday night and there’s an outside chance Carol could even make it.
The Trip
THURSDAY
I have been trying to find an open
flight to standby for during the past three days. I’ll take anything going east. I have never seen the airplanes more full
since I first started flying with my airline partners, Delta and United back in
September, 2006. What surprises me most
is that the “red-eye” flights are the most
full of all. I’m willing to punish my
body by taking these flights and I guess lots of other people are as well.
I returned home from the golf course
today at 2 p.m. I immediately went to my
laptop to check flights. My planned
all-nighter to Raleigh-Durham was now oversold.
It was back to the drawing board.
I found an early evening flight operated by SkyWest (J.J.’s airline)
going to
I had just enough time to jump in
the shower, throw five days worth of clothes in my carryon and get on the
freeway to battle evening rush hour traffic on the way to LAX. It was touch and go to get a seat, but I had
priority over everyone else since I’m a SkyWest parent. I got one of the last seats on the plane
(first class no less). Yes, it’s better
to be lucky than good.
We landed in
By the way, Carol will not be coming
on this trip. It had something to do
with “sleeping in the airport.” Ya, she’s a softie, but that what makes her
so appealing! As I’ve said in the past,
I will do anything to make a plan work.
She will join me on the trackchasing trail next weekend.
FRIDAY
I landed into the
It still did not make any sense to
try to get a hotel for less than five hours.
However, the alternative to NOT getting a hotel wasn’t that great
either. I would have to spend the night
in the airport. I didn’t think I had a
choice. What would you have done?
I spent the first hour of my
five-hour airport stay researching future travel options on the internet. It was now about 1:30 a.m. local time, and as
you might imagine, there wasn’t much foot traffic in this relatively small
airport!
I was now going to have to face
reality. It was time to get some
shuteye. Just before I tried to sleep an
airport worker came by riding what can best be described as a “street cleaner” machine. He was cleaning the carpets. Boy, did he make a racket.
The airport interior decorator had
chosen rows of chairs with arms on each chair.
That meant I would not be able to lie down over 3-4 chairs to
sleep. I would be sleeping on the
floor. Just as I was getting my stuff
organized a cop came by and asked what I was doing here all by myself. I told him I was waiting for my 5:45 a.m.
flight (yes, four hours ahead of time!).
He seemed satisfied and moved on.
The most annoying thing about my
overnight “accommodations” was not the hardness
of the floor. It was not the noise
created by the carpet cleaner or being rousted up by the local police. It was the annoying music that was being
played in the airport.
I was the only person in this wing
of the entire airport. Nevertheless,
they played loud music throughout the entire night. This was show tunes music, Frank Sinatra
music. I absolutely hate Frank
Sinatra. I was once part of a group of
eight to see Sinatra perform in
If I would have had to listen to any
more of the musical offshoots of “Do you know the
way to
The People
I’ve got to give a shoutout to all
the people who have some very unusual jobs.
Yes, jobs like opening up the airport snack bar at 5 a.m. Jobs like riding a carpet-cleaning machine
throughout the airport all through the night.
This includes ticket agents who check people in for flights at such
ungodly hours and rental car bus drivers who drive those huge buses around in
heavy airport traffic.
These people are earning a living
and probably don’t make much more than what it takes to put food on the
table. Nevertheless, they show up
everyday, do their job and probably end up taking a lot of guff from the
general public. I wish they had a better
lot in life.
RACE TRACK STATS:
FOOTHILLS RACEWAY,
MILEBACK
I began my
day in an 8th place tie with Gordon Killian in the Palmetto
state. I would end up my trackchasing
marathon day in sole possession of sixth place.
These were my 12th and 13th lifetime tracks to see
in the state that calls the Cabbage Palmetto its state tree. I
passed trackchasers Kenny Schrader and P.J. Hollebrand who both have 12
Today’s
trip allowed me to gain three
RACE TRACK NEWS:
FOOTHILLS RACEWAY
You’re going to have to decide if I
was lucky or good in getting a countable track at the Foothills Raceway. I do not believe that a trackchaser has ever
darkened the door of this backwoods high-banked red clay 1/5th mile
oval.
Here’s how my being here came
about. I was staying in
I was spending my late afternoon free
time in the hotel researching racetracks on the very fast internet connection
of the Jameson Inn in
When I called a fellow named “Eddie” answered.
His southern accent was so thick that I could only understand about
every fifth word. This is the same
problem I have with a Scottish fellow’s accent at our golf club. It’s embarrassing for me to have to ask “what?” after about every sentence.
Eddie told me that the Foothills
Raceway was running tonight. He didn’t
know if they would be running Senior Champ go-karts or not. He did say they were putting up extra money
as an incentive for some to show up.
I told him the reason I was
interested in Senior Champ karts was because I was a trackchaser. This prompted Eddie to say that he thought we
had met. I didn’t think so. Eddie went on to say he was the promoter of
the Cross Anchor
The bottom-line to all of this was
that at 5 p.m. on Friday night I was now changing tonight’s trackchasing
destination. I would no longer be
driving just 77 miles to see one track in Modoc,
However, there was a silver lining
to this cloud. There was another track,
the Mileback Speedway that was located just 45 miles or so from the newly found
Foothills Raceway. Maybe I could get a
trackchasing double with these two new tracks.
My new plan made the fact that I
already had a hotel room a bad strategic choice. This is one of the reasons I normally don’t
book a room until I am CERTAIN of where I will be attending a track. Of course, in today’s trackchasing world I am
never really certain where I will be going until I actually walk through the
track’s gate!
The hotel I choice would have made
my original trackchasing plan to Modoc,
I needed to decide what order I
would see tonight’s two tracks. The
Mileback Speedway was the closest to my hotel.
It was 126 miles northeast.
Mileback is a traditional dirt oval.
They would have 3-4 hours of stock car racing tonight.
The Foothills Raceway would have
only one countable class. They might not
even have that. The Foothills track was
nearly 50 miles north of the Mileback track and some 175 miles or so north of
the hotel. If I went to Mileback first,
I might miss the one or two countable races at the Foothills. If I went to the Foothills track first, it
was a much longer drive and I might not get there on time. The Foothills track started at 8 p.m. The Mileback Speedway was scheduled to begin
at 7:30 p.m.
I decided to try for the Foothills
Raceway first tonight. I figured if I
showed up and had to wait for the Senior Champ karts to run, I might not even
be able to make it to the Mileback Speedway for any racing at all. However, getting a track that no one had ever
heard of seemed worth it. I was off to
The timing of tonight’s trip was
important. At the time, I guess I didn’t
realize how important it was. When I
pulled out of my hotel’s parking lot, I went across the street to grab
something to eat from Wendy’s. I was
about 8th in the line of cars going through the drive-thru
lane. That probably added 10 minutes to
my trip’s length.
As I drove along, I noticed photo
opportunities that I felt readers of my website, www.ranlayracing.com would enjoy. Often I would have to make a u-turn, go back
to the photo location, compose a photograph and get back on the road
again. Each one of those delays probably
added 2-3 minutes to my journey.
A good deal of my trip was on
two-lane roads. I can’t make good time
on these roads compared to the four-lane interstates. I would never have made it to the Foothills Raceway
tonight without my GPS unit. The GPS had
me driving on winding two-lane country roads in the most out of the way
places. The promoter, Eddie, had given
me some rough directions. Unfortunately,
I couldn’t understand most of what he was telling me so I had to depend on the
Garmin GPS.
I will say that the GPS unit is not
perfectly accurate when it comes to finding specific addresses in rural
areas. It will get me close but sometime
only within a half-mile or so. That’s
what happened tonight. I knew I was
close when the GPS told me I had reached my destination but I wasn’t exactly
there.
This prompted a stop at a country
convenience store. It was about 8:50
p.m. I was already 50 minutes late for
the start of the program at the Foothills Raceway. There were five ladies in the store all
shooting the breeze. Of course, when a
man walks up to a group of ladies talking, their demeanor immediately changes. It sort of a “man
on the floor” school girl dormitory type of thinking. Of course, the same thing is true when the
gender roles are reversed.
These ladies came to my rescue. I was very near the track. They gave me the final directions. When I pulled into the speedway grounds there
was not much lighting. I stopped my car
and shined the headlights on the track sign so I could photograph it. I couldn’t hear much in the way on engine
noise. That meant they probably weren’t
racing, but then kart engines don’t make much noise. I stopped and took a couple more pictures in
the nearly dark entrance to the track.
I pulled in and could see a go-kart
race was going on. I met the ticket
taker and asked for the promoter, Eddie.
Eddie was nowhere to be found. I
asked the ticket taker if there were any Senior Champ karts in attendance
tonight. He didn’t know. I asked if I could go in and look before I
purchased a ticket. The man motioned me
on so I could check on those elusive Senior Champs.
It was 9 p.m. on the nose. The track looked like it had been there for a
long time. The high-banked dirt oval was
about 1/5 mile long. I was surprised,
even the straights were steeply banked.
I parked the car and walked into the pits.
The first racer I saw was what
looked like a Senior Champ kart. The
driver was already strapped into his kart.
I asked him if this was the Senior Champ kart class. It was.
I asked him how many Senior Champs were here tonight. “We only have
two,” he told me. Two! That’s a magic number for a trackchaser. There must be a minimum of two countable cars
in order for a track to count. If there
is only one countable car then that car must race with another car in an
uncountable class for the track to count.
I walked to the other end of the
small dimly lit pit area. Here was where
the second Senior Champ kart racer was parked.
The driver was seated in his kart.
His pit helper was pull starting the kart’s engine when I walked
up. They started these small 5HP engines
the same way your gardener starts his lawn mower.
In no time these two Senior Champ
karts were on the track for their heat race.
I guessing the race was for 10 laps.
As I almost always do, I videotaped and photographed the race. In less than three minutes the race was
finished. I had seen a countable race at
a countable track.
I had arrived at 9 p.m. I estimate I left at 9:06 p.m. Had I been tenth in line at Wendy’s rather
than eighth I probably would have missed this race. Had I stopped to take one more picture along
the way, I probably would have missed this race. Had I not had my GPS unit I absolutely would
have missed this race. I knew when I got
that GPS machine, that it would add tracks to my total. This is the first concrete evidence of its
worth.
Of course, had I missed that Senior
Champ kart heat race, I could have stayed for their feature event. It would still be the same two cars racing and
that race would have happened much later in the evening. Had that happened, I would have definitely
missed the second half of tonight’s trackchasing double at the Mileback
Speedway.
I go back to the question of was I
lucky or good to get tonight’s track. In
golf, we say it’s better to be lucky than good.
I think I was both. Employing the
GPS technology makes me good at what I do.
Stopping to take pictures for the benefit of those who view www.ranlayracing.com gives me the Karma
I need to get lucky. I like being both
lucky and good.
MILEBACK
Tonight’s program was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. I left the Foothills Raceway at just past 9
p.m. This allowed me to make the 45-mile
drive down to
This speedway is located about a mile back into the woods off the main
road. Maybe that’s where they got the
name of the track! The road back to the
track is a real treat. It’s a dirt road
with some major ruts. It’s really best
suited for a four-wheel drive vehicle.
However, I wasn’t driving my car and I don’t have to replace any oil
pans on rental cars. I drove back to the
track on this washboard road as fast as I could.
When I reached the track’s parking lot, I noticed the place was packed. The weather was perfect. The track was in the middle of its feature
races. They run six classes here. I arrived when just the third class was
beginning their feature event.
The grandstand ran the full length of the straight. It was packed. The P.A. was good and the announcer was
Southern. The racecars all pit in the
infield of the track. Fans can also park
their cars in the infield and watch.
This is a Southern tradition that, regretfully, is fading away.
I was most impressed with the track’s lighting. It was great.
This was one of the most impressive lighting situations I’ve seen and
especially so at such a rural racetrack.
Even though the racecars and haulers were pitted in the infield, fans
could see the backstretch perfectly.
I stood at the top of the grandstands and took pictures and video from
near the first turn. My digital camera
does not do well at night when I try to take photos of racecars in the distance
at speed.
I purchased just one item from the track’s concession. I went with the Cajun boiled peanuts. A lady was sitting out in the dark with a
fairly large set up for making boiled peanuts.
I asked her what made them “Cajun.” “We add crushed red peppers and Cajun
spices,” she told me. They were
great. I scarfed down a 16 oz. cup of
them in record time.
The racecars fields were small.
The three full features I saw for the Super late models, young guns and
another stock car class had just 6-7 cars in each. Nevertheless, the racing was good. I would prefer to see more cars, but seven
cars can still put on a good race if they run in a pack and can pass. The fans were notably enthusiastic about the
racing they were seeing.
In the one-hour I was at Mileback I was impressed. I doubt I would have been any more impressed
had I been there for 3-4 hours however.
I’ve tried to think about what type of trackchasing double these two
tracks should be classified as.
It doesn’t exactly fit any of my classic double definitions. I’m going to go with a blended double without
a feature at the first track. This is my
first such double of this type this season.
I left the track at just past 11 p.m. following the completion of the
track’s last feature race. I was one of
the first cars out of the parking lot.
Almost no one left tonight before the last feature race was
finished. Why can Mileback be finished
at 11 p.m. when several other tracks of similar characteristics couldn’t be
finished until much later? I will say
that having this large crowd all leaving at the same time over that one mile
dirt road obstacle course must have been a sight. I took the long road home via more
interstates to get back to the hotel. It
was worth it. I had had a very long day
since leaving
WEATHER CONDITIONS
The weather was clear and relatively
warm. So far, I have had very good luck
with the weather in the Southeast during late winter/early spring.
RENTAL CAR UPDATE:
I’ll be going with the National
Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala for the first segment of this trackchasing
trip. There are two things I don’t like
about the Impala that don’t seem to be a problem with its cousin, the Chevy
The drink holder in the Impala is
pathetic. For a driver like me who makes
a number of late decisions to turn abruptly, the drink holder
underperforms. Yes, I have spilled more
than one drink because of this design flaw.
The rearview and side view mirrors also appear to be much smaller in the
Impala rather than the
Friday total driving miles – 490**
** I don’t recommend that the novice trackchaser drive nearly 500 miles the day after sleeping on the floor in the airport.
Saturday total driving miles - 103
I traveled 593 miles on the first
rental car leg of this trip. I paid an
average fuel price of $2.51 giving me a 9.9 cent per mile fuel charge. Yes, gas prices have gone up. The Chevy Impala provided fuel mileage of 25.4
M.P.G. The car cost 16.7 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,
2. Allan Brown,
3. Guy Smith, Effort,
7. Ed Esser,
* 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)**
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
3. Allan Brown,
**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,
32. Chris Economaki,
33. Gary Jacob,
2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2.
Ed Esser,
3. Mike Knappenberger,
3. Carol Lewis,
5. Guy Smith, Effort,
6. Rick Young,
7.
Will White,
7.
Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring,
8.
Roger Ferrell,
10. Pam Smith, Effort,
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
Never was a horse that couldn’t be rode or a rider that couldn’t be
throwed.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – San Antonio, TX – 1,212 miles
San Antonio, TX – Atlanta, GA – 876 miles
RENTAL CAR –
Foothills Raceway – 259 miles
Mileback Speedway – 304 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Foothills Raceway – Free
Mileback Speedway – Free
Past trackchasing reports are available at:
Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:
Some of the data
in this report comes: www.trackchaser.net
Garmin GPS
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
It’s time for basketball. Yes, UCLA basketball. Go Bruins!
RACETRACKS
VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)
1,139. Meremere Dirt Track
Club,
1,140. Meeanee Speedway,
1,141. Top of the South
Speedway,
1,142. Woodford Glen Speedway,
1,143. Robertson Holden
International
1,144.
1,145.
1,146. Angels Stadium of
1,147. Angels Stadium of
1,148.
1,149.
1,150. Grand Prix De
Lanaudiere,
1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track,
1,152. St Guillaume, St
1,153.
1,154.
1,155. Northeast Pond Ice
Track,
1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track,
1,157. New Hendry Country
1,158.
1,159. Honeoye Lake Ice Track –
Road Course,
1,160.
1,161.
1,162. Dawgwood Speedway,
1,163. Toccoa Speedway,
1,164. Tazewell Speedway,
1,165.
1,166. Dacosa Speedway,
1,167. Swinging Bridge Raceway,
1,168.
1,169. Foothills Raceway,
1,170. Mileback Speedway,
