GREETINGS FROM LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA

 

 

 

 

CONTEST PRIZES

Yes, I offered another “frequent reader” Wal-Mart gift certificate in my last Trackchaser Report.  The offer can be found at the end of the “People” section of the Valley Dirt Riders report.

 

I am pleased to announce that the winners are J.J. Lewis of Chicago, Illinois and Jim Sabo of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.  I received this message from J.J. who is my son.

 

“I read that far, but if I won, you can donate my prize to the next person that replies so you aren't accused of nepotism.”

 

At RANLAY Racing we pay for performance, regardless of what your name is. 

 

Mr. Sabo’s request, as always, was more direct.  His comment was simply, “Thank you in advance for my gift certificate.”

 

There were several others who replied but just missed being the first two to respond.  In the order that their replies were received, I have listed their names.

 

Kristy Lewis

Steve Tomasek

Scott Hall

Butch Knouse

Ed Montgomery

Ed Esser

 

 

Wal-Mart gift certificates will be winging their way to our two winners.  It pays to read Trackchaser Reports.  There will be more and different contests as we go along.  I am very appreciative of each reader who responded.  I suspect there were several more that read about the contest but felt they were too late to respond.

 

 

 

 

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

 

Yes!  See below.

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/apr22232007.htm

WE WOKE UP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING.  THEN WE WENT TO SLEEP AT HOME IN SAN CLEMENTE.  OF COURSE, WAKING UP AND GOING TO SLEEP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA ON A TRACKCHASING TRIP IS VERY UNUSUAL.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

There are times when it is not prudent to travel far from home.  O.K., those times don’t happen frequently in my life, but they do happen.  This weekend (Thr-Sat) was reserved for the annual Delta Sigma Pi golf outing.  Each year I get together with at least three of my college fraternity brothers and we hit the little white ball around.  This year, the host location was San Clemente.  If you’re interested, you can read more about this activity in the “Trackchaser Tourist Attraction” section.

 

One of my overall trackchasing strategies is to see as many tracks as I can with as few nights away from home as possible.  Another overall goal is to have the same number of trackchasing days during the year as I have golf days.

 

So far, I have had 32 overnights loosely associated with trackchasing.  During that time, I have seen 39 new tracks.  Year to date, I have had 30 successful days of trackchasing with 31 days of golf.  So far, I am happy with that balance.

 

By the way, this was only the second Saturday night of the year (out of 16 Saturdays), that I have been in San Clemente.  I do not have any complete weekends in 2007 where I have been in San Clemente and did not see any new tracks.  As I look forward in my calendar, I don’t see any weekends soon where that will change.

 

 

The Trip

 

There were no traffic delays this morning as we dropped off the balance of the Delta Sigma Pi golfers (that would be Mike and Phil) at the Orange County Airport.  We then motored about 100 miles northward to Lancaster with only a stop at In N Out Burgers for a light lunch.

 

Lancaster is a growing city of some 134,000 people.  The median resident’s age is 31.1 years and the average rent is $869/month.  Surprising to me is that 20.1% of the residents live below the poverty line.  Lancaster’s racial make-up looks like this:  White 52.4%, Hispanic 24.1% and Black 16.0%.  

 

 

 

 

The People

 

It’s important in life to have friends.  A good number of my friends live all over our country.  Why is that?  I guess there are two reasons.  First, we lived in eight different locations during my business career.  I was able to meet so many people in my business and personal life as we moved from place to place.  Secondly, I am not home often enough to know my neighbors.  Since I travel the country so frequently, my friends, more often than not, are located all over the place.

 

This weekend I found myself spending three days with my college fraternity brothers.  We all graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1971 or 1972.  I see these guys at least once a year and often more than that.  I was teaming up with Mike Skonicki (Skonicki), Jim Hammer (The Hammer) and Phil Thompson (Phil) or sometimes referred to as “What will Phil do next?”  You can read more about our adventures in the Trackchasing Tourist Attraction section.

 

 

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

 

Trackchasing Tourist Attractions (TTA) can take me anywhere from the NCAA Final Four to the Spam Museum.  Usually, I have to travel long distances to reach a TTA.  This weekend the TTA came to me.  This allowed me to be in the area for a Sunday trackchasing event in Southern California.

 

The TTA this week was Southern California golf for the men of Delta Sigma Pi.  I was in charge of picking out three quality golf courses so Mssrs. Hammer, Skonicki and Thompson could enjoy some golf.  We only get 8-10 inches of rain in any given year in San Clemente.  Our average high temperature ranges from 67-77 degrees in any given month.  The greater San Clemente area was the perfect choice for our group that has visited Palm Springs, Florida, Las Vegas and Mexico among other places in the recent past.

 

During the past eleven months, we have had only 2.5 inches of rain.  Once we get to about mid-April, we won’t have any more than an inch or so of the wet stuff for the next six months.  Yes, we live in a semi-arid desert location.

 

Of course, all of the above are just averages.  Would you believe that with such a dry climate that one of our golfing days was shortened by rain?  Yep!  We received just over a half-inch of rain and it started on the 12^th hole of our outing at the Pacific Golf Club.  That worked out O.K. anyway, as we spent time in the clubhouse drinking and telling tales.  The older we get the better we were!

 

Golf is one of those sports where folks of different skill levels can play on the same field in a competitive manner.  The golf handicapping system allows for that.  I am currently a nine handicapper in golf.  Jim Hammer is an eleven.  Phil and Mike don’t play regularly so I had the job of assigning their handicaps.  I made Mike a 23 and Phil a 34. 

 

Once we had our handicaps set, we were off to play.  Our game was a simple two-man best ball contest.  We switched partners every six holes.  This meant that we would have three different matches each day over the course of 18 holes.  We had one six-hole match rained out, but did complete eight other matches.

 

Before I go any further, I must say that I had some of the worst partners you could imagine.  When these guys weren’t on my team, they played like Tiger Woods.  When they WERE on my team, they didn’t do so well.  What was my record in the eight matches?  How does 1-7 sound?  The only victory I did get was when I successfully challenged the counting of strokes from the day before. 

 

Phil Thompson “What will Phil do next?” either hit it out of bounds or knocked it further than the aforementioned Mr. Woods.  If Phil played more, he could be a very good golfer.  Mike Skonicki “Skonicki” was our golfing mentor in college.  He’s a big guy (size 14 shoe) but swings as easily and effectively as Ernie Els.  Finally, Jim Hammer “The Hammer” is a long hitter.  He has a new SasQuatch driver.  Most of his drives were of PGA Tour quality.  It was difficult to have much success against this trio.

 

Speaking of having success, we have a tradition of “flipping” for the dinner check.  We sometimes frequent some very nice restaurants.  The Ristorante Ferrantelli (http://www.ferrantellis.com/) is just such a restaurant.  When it came time to pay the check we each gave the waiter a credit card.  The waiter was then instructed to hand back the cards one at a time until he had only one in his hand.  That credit card would be used to pay the bill.

 

The pricing at Ferrantelli’s is not for the financial faint of heart.  Our seafood appetizer was $58.  Cocktails were in the $12 per range.  Last year, I had three beautiful meals using this system and ate for free.  Would my luck run out?  The short answer is yes.  Not only did I lose nearly every golf bet, but I ended up paying this check.  I could have bought a new Nike SasQuatch driver with what I paid for this bill.  Oh well, I’ll just cut back on the quality and price of Carol’s Mother’s Day gift.

 

Bottom-line, is we had another great DSP golf outing.  The three courses (Talega, Pacific and Arroyo Trabuco) we played were excellent.  I didn’t have to travel very far for this Trackchasing Tourist Attraction and the company was great.  I can’t wait to do it again.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

ANTELOPE VALLEY FAIRGROUNDS – ROAD COURSE - TRACK #1,177

 

 

This was my 101^st lifetime track to see in the Golden State.  I maintain my second place position in the state that is home to the Redwood tree, the official tree of California.  The late Gary Jacob leads the state with 149 tracks.  Without looking it up, I suspect this is the largest lead, by far, that anyone has in any of the 50 United States.

 

It should be noted that this Antelope Valley Fairgrounds is not at the same location as the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds where I saw a county fair figure 8 race back in 2003.  A couple of years ago, the fairgrounds was relocated a few miles across town.  This is most unusual.  I have never known, in modern days, of a county fairgrounds moving like this.  The new Antelope Valley Fairgrounds still holds figure 8 races around Labor Day each year.  They are rumored to be opening an oval track as well.  With grandstands that seat 11,000 that seems reasonable.  I guess that means I am likely to return to this modern fairgrounds facility two more times.

 

This was Carol’s 57^th lifetime track and her 311^th lifetime track.  There are very few trackchasers who have seen more than 50 tracks in any one state.  In California there are five including Trackchasing’s First Mother.  She maintains her rank of fifth place here but is only five tracks from gaining another position.

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

ANTELOPE VALLEY FAIRGROUNDS – ROAD COURSE

 

It seems like I’ve been going to a good deal of inaugural events this season.  Today was another “first time ever” track.  The Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in Lancaster, California was playing host to the Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) group.  For years, CORR (www.corracing.com) has run most of their races in the Midwest.  In 2005, the series was purchased by James Baldwin.  He decided to move most of the CORR events to the Western U.S.  That was good for my trackchasing!  The 2007 schedule calls for races at five different venues.  Four of those will be new for me.

 

Today’s track was viewed by a near capacity crowd of about 11,000 people.  The race was also televised by the Speed Channel and NBC.  NBC did not re-bid for the NASCAR Nextel Cup races after their contract ended last year.  That put NBC commentators Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach at today’s event.

 

According to the free CORR program, it takes more than one month to construct the temporary dirt road course that was raced on today.  Over 40,000 cubic yards of dirt were brought in, more than 3,200 man-hours and 15 giant earth-moving tractors were used to get the track ready.

 

The 10-turn track had several jumps where the off-road trucks and dune buggies got “some air.”  I have some great photos at www.ranlayracing.com of these competitors flying through the air.  The track also had three banked “oval-like” turns.  Often times the trucks would sail through the air more than 50 yards, hit the ground and immediately slide through a banked oval turn.  It was exciting.

 

The announcer was a young “surfer-dude” type.  His use of the English language was most unusual.  He talked like he might have had one too many of the sponsor’s Red Bull drinks.  The P.A. system was stout.  Actually, it was much too loud from our 12^th row position in the 30+ row aluminum grandstand.

 

The announcer talked like he was just about ready to have a massive coronary when a truck approached any jump or corner of the track.  One of the funniest incidents was when he described, in his breathless style, the last lap of the race between two drivers who were banging on each other’s doors trying to win the race.  There was only one problem.  It wasn’t the last lap!  The announcer was describing the next to last lap AS IF it were the final trip around the track.  When the actual last lap did take place, the announcer never said a word.  Additionally, he never acknowledged his mistake.

 

Our $25 general admission price allowed up to stroll through the pits.  The wind was blowing so strongly, that I had a hard time keeping my New Zealand wide brimmed hat on my head.  It was cold as well.

 

NASCAR car driver Robbie Gordon raced today.  He made his name in off-road racing before he was attracted by NASCAR’s money.  He drove wildly, just like he does in NASCAR, and wrecked just like he does in NASCAR.

 

The racing was very good.  Seeing those trucks fly over the man-made hills located all around the track was exciting.  The trucks are very fast and there is a good deal of contact on every lap.  There was passing and the crowd stood and cheered when it was supposed too.

 

There were several delays between races for track prep.  The wind and the sun dried out the track.  Fortunately, the 20-30 M.P.H. wind was at our backs.  Had it blown into our faces, I’m not sure what would have been worse, the dust and dirt or the cold. 

 

During these delays, they played an incessant amount of audio commercials for the sponsors of today’s racing.  It didn’t take long before these very loud commercials were being repeated.  It was very annoying.  Often when the announcer was talking or interviewing a driver, they played background music, which nearly drown out the words of the interview.  This was also very annoying.

 

The starts were interesting.  Most races had 8-14 competitors.  The competitors lined up side by side with their racing machines tilted at an angle from the direction of the track.  When the green flag dropped, they all stomped on the gas from this unusual line-up and were soon flying over the hills. 

 

We opened up with five bucks worth of Churros.  If you don’t know what a Churro is, you need to get out more.  At the finish of the races, we had $11 worth of hot dogs, corn dogs and drinks.  We finished the evening back in Los Angeles with Kristy and James (www.jamesandkristy.com) eating Mexican food, followed by a trip to a Gelato café.

 

Overall, the racing was good.  However, the goofy announcer, cold weather and commercial announcements decreased the First Mother’s and my enjoyment of the program.

 

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS:

 

It was windier and colder than I expected.  The racing was very good.  I really liked walking through the pit area.  The pits were huge.  It was fun seeing the kid’s class of off-road trucks.  I want one of those.  Those commercials they ran so often were really bad. 

 

 

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

It was not a very comfortable day in this part of California.  Lancaster is located just north of Los Angeles and 133 miles north of San Clemente, California, my home.  The city sits at an elevation of 2,355 feet.  It gets very windy here in the “high desert” and it was today.  The winds blew constantly at 20-30 M.P.H.  With a temperature of 57 degrees, it was not very comfortable.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

There will be no rental car needed today.  I will be chauffeuring Trackchasing’s First Mother in the Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored 2004 Lexus LS 430.  The car has 44,500 miles on it and I’m starting to think about getting something newer, but not yet.

 

Sunday total driving miles – 277

 

We traveled 277 miles round-trip during today’s one-day only trackchasing adventure.  With gasoline prices at a near all-time high in California, we paid an average price of $3.49 for premium fuel giving me a 15.65 cents per mile fuel charge.  The Lexus provided fuel mileage of 22.3 M.P.G.  

 

 

 

 

 

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 – 1,177

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,106 (-70)*

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,091 (-86)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 992 (-185)**

 

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

 

** Special exemption.

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

2007 (current thru 4/17/07)**

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 6.92

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 also 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 - 311

 

32.  Chris Economaki, Ridgewood, New Jersey – 302 (-9)

 

33.  Gary Jacob, Turlock, California – 301 (-10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 39

 

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 27

 

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 17

 

3.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 17

 

5.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 14

 

6.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium - 12

 

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

 

7.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 8

 

9.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 7

 

9.  Bing Metz, Tatamy, Pennsylvania – 7

 

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 31 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average.

 

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

 

PERSONAL CAR

 

San Clemente, CA – trip begins

Antelope Valley Fairgrounds – Road Course – 133 miles

San Clemente, CA – 277 miles - trip ends

 

 

 

Total Air miles – Zip 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 277 miles

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Antelope Valley Fairgrounds – Road Course – $25

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $25

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

With Kristy and James’ (www.jamesandkristy.com) wedding coming up soon, there is time for only one more trackchasing trip.  I think I’ll work on my Far West state rankings with that one. 

 

 

 

 

 

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 13

 

1,147.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California - January 13

 

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

 

1,172. Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada – April 8

 

1,173. Huntsville Speedway, Huntsville, Alabama – April 13

 

1,174. Low Country Kartway, Aynor, South Carolina – April 14

 

1,175. Dillon Motor Speedway, Dillon, South Carolina – April 14

 

1,176. Valley Dirt Riders, Berthoud, Colorado – April 15

 

1,177. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds – Road Course, Lancaster, California – April 22