GREETINGS FROM ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

If you want some intrigue, some adventure and a good laugh at my expense, then you need to read about how today’s Trackchasing Tourist Attraction went down.  Even with my imagination, I would have a difficult time making this stuff up.

 

 

 

 

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 GREENSBORO, GEORGIA (NOT NORTH CAROLINA) AND WENT TO THE FINAL FOUR TOURMANMENT IN ATLANTA.  THEN I WENT TO SLEEP (SATURDAY) IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

One of the most difficult tickets to get in sports is a ticket to the Saturday games of the NCAA basketball final four.  Unless you have been living in a cave, you know that Georgetown, Ohio State, Florida and UCLA are this year’s final four participants.

 

Yes, that’s right!  Those very same UCLA Bruins that I so frequently write about, those UCLA Bruins that were in the championship game LAST YEAR and those UCLA Bruins who have won more than twice as many NCAA basketball titles as any other school.  I'm talking about THOSE UCLA Bruins.

 

This weekend’s trackchasing trip location was driven 100% by the fact that the tournament was being held in Atlanta, Georgia.  There would be no trackchasing on Saturday.  That’s when the games were being played.

 

Long-time readers know that I never go to a major sporting event like this with a ticket.  Why should I?  If I bought my tickets in advance, I would have to commit a year ahead of time.  If I bought my tickets in advance I might not get a very good seat.  If I bought my tickets in advance I would have to pay face value for the ticket as well as pay all of those annoying service charges.

 

I like to buy my tickets the day of the event.  I like to buy them from people who committed a year in advance and then had their plan fail or at least partially fall through and they had an extra ticket left over.  I like to buy my tickets from people who paid face value and all of those annoying Ticketmaster service fees.  However I like to buy the tickets for less money than they have in the ticket.  Finally, and most importantly, I like to be able to get a seat in exactly the location that I want, not where Ticketmaster thinks I should sit.

 

I’ll give you a blow by blow of today’s ticket buying adventure and it was an adventure.  The day had some great highs and some even greater lows.  Would you like to spend the day the way I did?

 

--- I arrived at the Georgia Dome at 3 p.m. on Friday.  The first of the two games was not scheduled to begin until 6 p.m.  This would give me plenty of time to select a victim, no I mean a seller.  My objective was to make them bleed from the gills.  The UCLA game was the second of the two.  The Bruins would tip off a little past 8:30 p.m.  Let the games begin.

 

--- The Final Four is one of the most popular sporting events in America.  You might expect prices to be “jacked up” a bit.  If you thought that you would be correct.  As I drove past the Georgia Dome looking for parking, I saw signs that read “$40” and “$50.”  This made me sad.  I was not sad that these budding entrepreneurs were charging this much for parking.  Let the market dictate the price!  I was sad because it looked like I would have to pay this much to park.  Just at that point, and only two blocks from the Georgia Dome, I came across a city parking lot charging only eight dollars.  I was happy again.

 

--- A huge park like area surrounds the Georgia Dome facility.  The NFL’s Atlanta Falcons play their home games here.  People were milling about in the warm Georgia sunshine listening to live music (Ludicrous) and beginning the process of buying and selling tickets.  It is illegal to buy or sell a ticket within 2,700 yards of the Georgia Dome.  That seemed like an odd distance. 

 

Of course, I had my trusted “Need One” sign printed in blue highlighter letters.  Almost no one carries such a sign.  I find it to be super effective.  I was also not wearing anything that would identify me as being from UCLA.  There are some people who will not sell their ticket to anyone who is from a competing school.  I scoped out the opportunities.  It was a gorgeous afternoon.  I was happy.

 

--- It was not long before I ran into our good friends, the Moodys (Wes and Jill) formerly from SoCal and now from NorCal.  Their son Brian and Chris Costello (both fraternity brothers of J.J.) were also along for the ride.  J.J. and I have spent years teaching the Moody threesome the “art of the deal.”  Today was the first time, on their own, where they would be attempting to put this training to use.  The elder Moody’s have arrived at today’s event without tickets.  If you knew the elder Moodys you would know that this is equivalent to a person deathly scared of heights hang-gliding over the La Jolla cliffs.  Good for them.  They were ready to “get in the game.”  I was happy.

 

--- I soon bade my friends farewell and was off for the hunt.  The college basketball coaches have a huge convention during the Final Four basketball tournament.  The entire coaching staffs from colleges everywhere show up for this convention.  Those people get tickets from their schools.  Sometimes they can’t use those nicely located tickets.

 

I found such a coach who had one ticket to sell.  He probably got it for free and whatever I paid him would be “gravy.”  In the Georgia Dome there are four general seating locations.  The “100” level has all of the seats on the lowest level ringed around the court.  The “200” level is club seating.  The 200s are the middle level and circle about 70% of the court.  The “300” level seating is the upper deck of the stadium.  These seats can get pretty high.  Finally, the “300” level “distant view” seats are in another zip code. 

 

The basketball court itself is located on about the 10 yard line of where the football field markings would be.  Obviously, a basketball court is much smaller than a football field.  Imagine having a seat at the opposite end of the stadium from the 10 yards line and looking at a basketball court and not a football field.  Can you spell E Y E   S T R A I N?

 

My new coaching buddy had a “300” level ticket that he was willing to sell for face value.  Face was $77.  I offered him sixty bucks and he declined.  After some discussion, he convinced me that the row 2 location of this seat in the “300” level was worth it.  There are about 25-30 rows at this level, so being in the second row wasn’t so bad.  I gave him $80 and told him to keep the change.  I had seen several 300 level seats going for much more than what I had just paid.  I was happy.

 

--- Now that I had the insurance of having a ticket in my back pocket, I went looking for an upgrade.  A 300 level seat in row two was good, but maybe I could do better.  I ran across a serious young man from Missouri.  He wanted $500 for his 100 level tickets that were good for both Saturday’s games as well as the championship game on Monday night. 

 

I didn’t know if I even needed a Monday night ticket.  If UCLA lost I was not planning to stick around.  They were an underdog against the Florida Gators.  Those same Gators had destroyed them in last year’s game.  Truthfully, I really did not expect much from the Bruins.  I certainly did not want to be buying a Monday night ticket until I knew the Bruins would be playing in that game.

 

I explained my predicament to the youngish ticket seller.  He understood.  I offered him $150 for his Saturday ticket.  No, he told me he could not accept my offer.  We parted on good terms.  A few minutes went by and the young man was calling for my attention.  He was now willing to accept my offer of $150.  Face value on this ticket was $102.  This ticket was in an excellent lower level location.  Tickets like this were selling for much more than what I was about to pay.  I whipped out one hundred and fifty dollars in cash (yes, everything in my ticket buying world is done with cold hard cash.)  I now had spent $230 and had TWO tickets in my back pocket.  I was happy.

 

--- I had been buying tickets long enough.  Now it was time to start selling.  The key to success in this ticket, dare I say scalping business, is understanding value.  I want to buy tickets from folks who don’t understand the true value of what they are selling.  I want to sell tickets to people who don’t understand the true value of what they are buying.  Yes, it is EXACTLY what you try to do when it comes time to buy or sell your house.

 

--- My plan was to sell my 300 level ticket and sit in my 100 level location.  I had paid $80 for my ticket.  What should I sell it for?  How about $175?  That seemed like a good odd number.  I chose the ticket’s second row location as my main selling point.  Some folks were amazed that a ticket in the upper lever would be fetching such a price.  Others seemed to think the price was reasonable given the local demand.

 

It was not long before I was approached by two gentlemen.  One was sort of acting as the agent for the other.  They examined my ticket and debated whether to pay the price.  Soon they offered me my full asking price of $175.  Of course, that was a mistake on their part.  I gleefully accepted their cash.  Yes, I was happy.

 

--- Now I had one ticket in the lower level of the arena.  However, there was still an hour and one-half before the first game was to begin.  What if I could sell this ticket for a substantial profit?  Then I could take the profit on both tickets and find a good seat for a lower price.  I might even be able to get into the Georgia Dome for nothing.  Wouldn’t that be grand?

 

I had paid $150 for my 100 level seat.  What price should I ask?  You know, five hundred dollars seemed like a nice round number.  Five hundred dollars it would be.  I began walking amongst the crowd holding my ticket up in the air.  That’s what a fellow who is trying to sell a ticket does.

 

I find I am approached by three types of people in situations like this.  The first type offers up this question, “How much ya askin’?”  This person has zero interest in buying the ticket.  He just wants to hear a number so he can tell his wife or buddies, “Wow, did you hear what he’s asking for that ticket?”  This guy is similar to your neighbor who walks through your house when you’re not there while your realtor holds an open house.

 

The second type of person simply walks up and asks, “How much you selling the ticket for?”  They have no idea where the ticket is located.  It’s not dissimilar to a car buyer who’s is really in the market for a five year old Chevy Nova walking up to a Lexus car salesman and asking how much a new Lexus goes for.  When they hear the price, they shutter in amazement.

 

The final (third) type of buyer understands value.  In the car example he understands and knows why a brand new Lexus might cost $80,000.  He might not want to pay that amount but at least he knows what the value of the article he is inquiring about really is.

 

To the first two types of buyers, I often reply with “Five thousand” when asked the selling price of the ticket.  Some know I am pulling their legs and most don’t.  I love the reaction that comes about when they relay that pricing information to their wife or buddies.  By the way, these guys are not players although because they’ve actually had the guts to speak to a scalper they think they are.

 

---  While I was going about trying to sell my ticket two uniformed woman security officers told me that I could not be selling the ticket as close to the stadium as I was.  I usually have two responses to this challenge.  First, I’m getting old enough that I can plead “senior citizen ignorance.”  You know the older person who acts like they don’t know they just cut in line?  My second response is to offer up my best German broken English accent and act like I am a foreigner.  I was able to successfully brush them off.  I was happy.

 

--- I soon came across a gold mine.  I was asking $500.  A young man offered me four hundred dollars.  We settled on $450.  I must admit this guy was a “Nervous Nate.”  He was concerned that the ticket was a counterfeit.  What an outlandish thing.  There was no way people would be selling counterfeit tickets at an event like this.  He continued to try to peel off the embossed label that was expressly put on the ticket to prevent counterfeiting.  I was concerned he was going to damage my ticket. 

 

While all this was going on, another couple who I had talked to previously decided they wanted the ticket for the full $500 asking price.  They saw that “Nervous Nate” was having a hard time making up his mind.  They shoved five one hundred dollar bills in my face.  I didn’t need much persuasion.  I gave the $450 back to Nate and accepted the full price offer.  Nate had his chance to get a really good seat and he was too cautious.  I now had $430 total PROFIT from the re-sale of my two tickets in the front pocket of my cargo shorts.  I was happy.

 

---  Now I know that some of my friends (I tried to keep them from being loyal Trackchaser Report readers, but a few may have slipped through my screening process) would take most of the $430, put it in their pocket and by a cheap seat.  That’s not me.  I wanted to reward myself.  I had EARNED that money.  I was going to spend it.

 

I found a gentlemen who was selling a “100” level ticket at mid-court just 25 rows up.  He wanted $500.  I offered $300.  He countered with $400 and would not go any lower.  I asked, “Why don’t we flip for the $100 difference.”  I was going to get a great seat and still have other people’s money in my front pocket.  I was happy.

 

--- I never carry change.  This guy came up with a dime.  He tossed it in the air.  I always call heads.  I won $700 doing this in Turkey on a Turkish rug.  I got the salesman who sold us our brand new 1990 Ford Mustang convertible to give us the price concession because he didn’t think his boss “would like me flipping a coin.”  Heads had always worked out for me.  The coin bounced around on the sidewalk before finally settling on…………tails.  I was unhappy but only minorly so.  I had spent $400 for this ticket, but it was a great seat and I still had $30 of somebody else’s money.  I would be going to the game for free and I had enough money to buy a souvenir.  I was most happy.

 

--- It was now time to go inside the stadium.   I had finished my work.  I had earned my keep.  I had hunted and gathered.  I waited more than twenty minutes to get into the stadium.  They were body searching everyone.  They had both men and women body searchers. 

 

I took the opportunity to call my brother, Mark.  I wanted to gloat about my success.  I also wanted to remind him that he had made a mistake by backing those North Carolina Tar Heels rather than the UCLA Bruins.  He wasn’t home but I left a brotherly gloating message.  I reached the head of the line.  I handed my ticket over to the ticket taker to have it scanned.  The ticket would not scan properly.  I was holding up a very long line of mainly male sporting fans.  The ticket taker told me I would have to go to customer service to get the problem taken care of.  I was unhappy.

 

--- I trudged around to the opposite site of the Georgia Dome.  This is a big place.  I located customer service.  I explained my problem.  The customer service agent thought she knew what the problem might be.  She figured I had bought a counterfeit ticket.  I was getting more unhappy.

 

--- I was directed into a small security room inside the stadium.  It was the kind of room they might take shoplifters into in a large department store.  There were a few other people inside who also appeared to have purchased bad tickets.  The police officer looked at my tickets.  “They’re no good.  See the embossed label?  If doesn’t reflect the blues and greens of an original ticket.” 

 

Other people were bitching and moaning about their bad luck.  They were being told there was no recourse, since they had purchased the ticket off the street.  I would have bitched and moaned myself, but I immediately recognized it would not do any good.  It was now 6:15 p.m. and the first game had already started.  I was unhappy but not undeterred.  I had thought my work had been finished.  Now I would have to begin all over again.

 

--- My new emergency immediacy plan was to get a ticket that would simply get me in the stadium at the lowest price possible. That didn’t take long.  I soon found a ticket for $50.  The seller was honest.  He told me the seat location was terrible (he was right) but at least it would get me in the stadium.  I wasn’t happy at this point, but I was getting into the stadium.

 

--- My seat location was in the 300 level, the “distant view” section.  You’re going to half to look at the photos on www.ranlayracing.com to see what “distant view” means.  You might be surprised.  You might be shocked.  When I concentrated really hard I could actually determine that a free throw was falling through the net and I have excellent long-distance vision.  I was unhappy.

 

--- When I’m unhappy I do my level best to get over it.  I don’t accept my unhappy circumstances, I change them.  I went over to the 300 level seating that was within a seven-iron of the court and picked out a mid-court open seat.  The guys sitting next to me offered this greeting, “there’s somebody sitting there.”  I came back with an equally friendly retort, “I’ll just sit down until they come back.”  They never did.  Then my next door #$$%&^&# neighbor had the gall to ask if he could borrow my binoculars.  I let him only for the extra Karma benefit that I hoped would come my way.  I had a decent seat now at mid-court.  After all was said and done, I had only paid $20 to get into the final four.  You can’t beat that.  I was happy.

 

--- The best way to say it is that UCLA never showed up for their game.  The outcome was almost identical to last year’s debacle.  Our leading scorer had zero points and four fouls with about ten minutes to go in the game.  Nevertheless, I continued to pull for UCLA.

 

However, I was flying tomorrow morning from Atlanta to Gainesville, Florida.  Gainesville is the home of the University of Florida.  If UCLA beat Florida all of those “Gator bait” fans would be fleeing to their piece of swampland.  That meant if UCLA won, then I would lose an opportunity to see a new Sunday track since Gainesville was the only Florida city with any airplane seats available for standby.

 

Fortunately, I had no control over this outcome.  I rooted hard for the Bruins but to no avail.  They were terrible and never in the game.  I was unhappy we lost.

 

--- I walked out of the stadium into the night air.  Getting out of the stadium was slower than getting into it.  The Florida fans were quite cheerful regarding their victory.  Many people looked at me wearing my UCLA sweatshirt with the pitiful look that one reserves for the homeless.  You could see and hear them saying to each other, “Isn’t that a shame?  Doesn’t he look like he’s in tough shape?”  I was unhappy with the behavior of some of the Florida fans, but they were nothing compared to those   ##$^&%$# usc trojan idiots.

 

--- Several people asked me if I was selling any tickets to Monday night’s championship game.  Talk about scraping the bones clean!  At least I had been smart enough not to buy a Monday night ticket when UCLA wasn’t going to be in that game.

 

--- So, there you have it.  Didn’t I promise that the day had it ups and downs?  Just like Donald Trump I had been on top of the world and then the world had been on top of me.  Nevertheless, I feel I got more entertainment out of this sports day than probably anybody at the stadium.  I was more than happy with my day.

 

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

One of my trackchasing strategies is to see the non-racing local sights and sounds of the places I visit.  I was really able to overachieve in this important strategic area by going to the NCAA Final Four.

 

 

The Trip

 

I had to dodge a couple of minor bullets on the way to today’s track.  I awoke in Atlanta on Sunday morning and drove out to the airport.  My flight to Gainesville left at 8:55 a.m.  I would land about 10:30 a.m.  It was around 160 miles driving distance down to the race in St. Petersburg. 

 

I figured by the time I got my luggage and my rental car, the drive would get me to the track by 12:30 p.m.  Since the race was not scheduled to begin until 2:45 p.m. that planned seemed sound.

 

Almost wrong!  When I arrived at my airplane gate one of the plane’s flight attendants had not shown up.  The gate agent admitted over the P.A. that they had no idea where the missing flight was.  We waited.  I could hear the gate agents talking about canceling the flight.  If that flight were cancelled, there would be no race for me today.  I couldn’t drive there with the time I had left and there were no other flights leaving that would get me there on time.  At the very last minute the flight attendant showed up and we were on our way.

 

Once I arrived into Gainesville, the drive was trouble-free.  I did notice a major accident on the other side (Northbound) of I-75.  The traffic backup behind that accident was exactly nine miles long.  Had that accident occurred on my side of the highway I never would have made the race.

 

Finally, my flight home departed Tampa bound for Los Angeles at 6:55 p.m.  That was a perfect departure time for a race that ended about 4:30 p.m.  The airport was only 25 miles or so from the racetrack. 

 

The risky part of me was that this non-stop flight was overbooked by five.  That meant I might get on and I might not.  There were no more flying alternatives operating out of Tampa after the flight I wanted.  If I didn’t make this flight, my best alternative would be to rent a car, drive 220 miles to Jacksonville, Florida, rent a hotel room and then get on an early  Monday morning flight.  I didn’t want to do that.

 

With nearly the entire plane boarded there was just one person who had not been cleared to get a seat.  Me!  Finally, at the very last minute my name was called.  When I handed my boarding pass to the gate agent, he looked up and smiled, “You were lucky tonight.”  Yes, it’s better to be lucky than good!

The People

 

When I was changing my seat location from the “300 level distant view” location to my mid-court 300 level location at Saturday’s game, I heard someone yelling, “Randy, Randy.”  The Georgetown-Ohio State game was going on and there was almost no one in the hallway.

 

Who could be calling my name?  It was Mr. Kerri McNair.  My Procter & Gamble readers will recognize the name.  Kerri, a West Point graduate, and I had worked together during my last year’s with the company.

 

Kerri lives in Atlanta and has switched companies.  He now works for Coca-Cola.  We had a nice but somewhat brief chat.  He asked me how I liked retirement.  I told him I loved it.  He smiled and said, “I want to be like you!”  We shook hands and parted ways.  We’ll probably never see each other again.  What are the chances of running into someone in that situation?

 

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - TRACK #1,171

 

 

This was my 51^st lifetime track to see in the Sunshine state.  I continue to hold a comfortable second place position in the state that calls the Sabal Palm its state tree.  Mr. Ed Esser, a successful real estate tycoon, continues to hold the state’s leadership position with 55 tracks.  An incredible 61 worldwide trackchasers have seen at least one Florida track.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG

How do you feel when your spouse, parent or significant other tries to convince you that you’re really going to like something that you’ve tried many times before and never liked?  You know the line, “it really doesn’t taste like spinach.  You won’t even be able to taste the spinach.”  You let your guard down and try it.  What does it taste like?  Spinach!

 

That’s how I felt about attending a street circuit Indy car race.  Did it taste like spinach?  Regretfully, yes it did.  It was a terrible afternoon of racing.  However, I did my best to enjoy myself.  It would be irresponsible to tell you that something was terrible without telling you why I feel that way.  You can then decide if you agree with me or not.

 

Upper level grandstand seating was priced at $80.  Lower level grandstand seating was priced at $60.  General admission tickets sold for $40.  I didn’t want to put any more money into this venture than the minimum.  I bought a general admission ticket.  Strike one; these prices were way to high for the entertainment offered.

 

General admission allowed me to walk nearly anywhere inside the more than two-mile flat road course.  The race course itself was very narrow.  In some spots it was only about three car lengths wide.  The cars went by so fast and were partially covered up with Jersey barriers that I could hardly see a thing.  The cars raced by my position and were gone in only 4-5 seconds.  Strike two; I couldn’t see a thing.

 

The P.A. was almost non-existent.  I had no idea who was leading because I couldn’t see anything and I couldn’t hear anything.  Strike three;  No P.A.

 

The refreshments were pathetic.  About all they had were foot long corn dogs, funnel cakes, lemonade and beer.  When I went to buy a glass of lemonade they were out.  The small number of food and drink stands had long lines.  I did find a vendor selling “dippin dots” ice cream, but they were closed later in the day.  Strike four;  No good refreshments and long lines.

 

There were only 18 starters.  On such a narrow course as this that might be enough, but it pales in comparison to the 43 stockers that NASCAR brings each week.  Strike five;  A small field.

 

From everywhere I could see there was no passing.  I left with 17 laps of the 100 scheduled laps remaining to be competed.  I did not see one car pass another.  My National Rental Car Racing Pontiac Grand Prix XM racing announcer told me the leader led 95 of the 100 laps.  Strike six;  No passing.

 

Editor’s note:  I just finished watching this past weekend’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race.  It was one of the best races I’ve seen in person or on TV in the past couple of years.  There was plenty of passing, a little beating and banging and more than 40 cars running at the finish.  It is no wonder that NASCAR has been as successful as they have.

 

Most of the crowd milled about and walked amongst the various non-viewing locations of the infield.  There were several people watching from high-rise condos and yachts, ala Long Beach.  I would lay odds that less than 2% of the fans could have told you who was leading at any given point in the race.  I would lay even longer odds that less than 10% of the fans could have named at least five of the eighteen drivers competing today.  In NASCAR those numbers would be many, many times higher.  Strike seven;  Fans not really interested in the racing.

 

I could go on.  Now you may have a different view.  If you like high priced tickets that go along with small fields of cars, that don’t pass each other and that you can’t see then this is probably your racing cup of tea.  I’ve done my best to screen people who might think like that from reading these Trackchaser Reports.

 

For me, I’d rather see three figure 8 cars race around two-tractor tires that are located 25 yards apart on a racing surface that resembles quicksand.  But then, that’s just me.

 

This is the third year of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.  It’s an Indy Racing League (IRL) event.  The radio announcers told me the crowd has gotten bigger every year.  They told me this is one of the best races of the year.  Maybe that’s the reason that absolutely nobody watches these Indy car races on TV and even fewer people could name many drivers or tell you what their car numbers are.

 

This is not your father’s Indy car racing.  I wish the trackchasing commissioner would allow me to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Trackchaser Old Age Retirement home in lieu of having to attend such events.

 

Some will say I’m being too critical.  If this were written about Toccoa Speedway, they would be ready to start another Civil War.  Nevertheless, the truth cannot be hidden.  It was a terrible afternoon of racing.

 

However, I am trained to make lemonade out of lemons.  I can never say only bad things or good things for that matter about a racing promotion.

 

I did enjoy the vendor trade show located in the shade of one of the parking garages.  I confirmed with one karting group that the Senior Champ karts race only on the oval and not the road course at the Desoto Speedway.

 

I was also mildly amused and pleasantly entertained by some of the female race “fans” today.  There must be an extreme shortage of softballs in the greater St. Pete area.  I frequently read about how prevalent “breast augmentation” surgery is in our society.  Now I now where most of those folks hangout.

 

I also enjoyed sneaking past the guards to the top of the infield parking garages.  From this third story location I could see a little more but not much.  It did remind me that being the guest in a corporate hospitality tent is the way to go at an event like this.

 

I found something else in the infield of this track that was surprising.  A few weeks ago, I attended a Tampa Bay Devil Rays home spring training game.  That entire baseball stadium and the practice fields are inside the infield of today’s track.

 

A few weeks ago, I saw the boys play hardball.  Today, I saw the girls play softball.  It’s all in a days work in search of that next track on the trackchasing trail.

 

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

It was a gorgeous 84-degree Florida spring afternoon.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

Today the National Rental Car Company of Gainesville chose a National Rental Car Racing Pontiac Grand Prix for me to drive.  In smaller markets National does not have a full Emerald Aisle service.  Therefore, I don’t get to choose my car.

 

Sunday total driving miles –  186

 

 

I traveled just 186 miles on the second rental car leg of this trip.  I picked up the car in Gainesville and dropped it off in Tampa.  I can’t recall ever flying into the Gainesville Regional Airport before.  I paid an average fuel price of $2.66 giving me a 12.6 cent per mile fuel charge.  The Grand Prix Malibu provided fuel mileage of 21.2 M.P.G.  This lower than normal mileage might have occurred because the car was not totally full when I picked it up and I filled the car before I returned it.  The car cost 26.6 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 – 1,171

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,106 (-65)*

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,090 (-81)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 986 (-185)**

 

* 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, 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 - 33

 

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 21

 

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 17

 

4.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 15

 

5.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 13

 

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

 

6.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 8

 

8.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 7

 

9.  Linda Rixon, Watford, England – 6

 

9.  Spike Rixon, Watford, England – 6

 

9.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 6

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 30 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 – San Antonio, TX – 1,212 miles

San Antonio, TX – Atlanta, GA – 876 miles

 

RENTAL CAR – ATLANTA

Foothills Raceway – 259 miles

Mileback Speedway – 304 miles

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – 593 miles

 

AIRPLANE

 

Atlanta, GA – Gainesville, FL – 300 miles

RENTAL CAR – GAINESVILLE

 

Gainesville Regional Airport – trip begins

St. Petersburg, FL – 161 miles*

Tampa International Airport – 186 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

 

Tampa, FL – Los Angles, CA – 2,158 miles

 

 

 

Total Air miles – 4,546 miles

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 6,200 miles

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Foothills Raceway – Free

Mileback Speedway – Free

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – $40

 

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $40

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

I will never ever go to another one of these street races again.  Is NEVER EVER one word of two?  I mean it.  There is no racing entertainment here whatsoever.  No, I will never ever go to another street race of this type.......and then maybe not.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

1,169. Foothills Raceway, Easley, South Carolina – March 30

 

1,170. Mileback Speedway, Gray Court, South Carolina – March 30

 

1,171. Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida – April 1