TODAY’S HEADLINES

Who’s going to win the 2007 trackchasing title? …….details in “The strategy.”

 

Carol’s upcoming trackchasing proposal is? …….details in “Carol’s comments.”

 

Randy’s Memorial Day weekend trackchasing plan.................details in the “Upcoming Trackchasing Plans.” 

GREETINGS FROM POMONA, CALIFORNIA

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/may202007.htm

I WOKE UP IN A HIGHWAY REST STOP ALONG I-85 JUST OUTSIDE OF ATLANTA ON SUNDAY MORNING.  I WENT TO SLEEP IN MY OWN BED TONIGHT IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

This past week I received a call from the UCLA football athletic department.  The caller wanted to know if I was interested in buying season tickets to this year’s 2007 season UCLA Bruins football games.  I normally do not take kindly to this kind of sales “cold call.”  In addition, Carol and I usually do not buy season tickets.  We will buy individual games and go to about four of the six home games played.

 

However, this season is different.  UCLA is playing Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl.  You might recall this past season when Carol and I trekked all the way to South Bend, Indiana only to have our hearts broken in the last 80 seconds of the game. 

 

At this point, you might be saying, “Randy, it’s all very interesting that you are going to UCLA football games and that you had your heart broken in South Bend, Indiana but what does all of this have to do with ‘trackchasing strategy’?”  Of course, that is a valid question.

 

I bring this up for a couple of reasons.  First, I am in an all out brawl with trackchaser Ed Esser of Madison, Wisconsin for the 2007 season trackchasing title.  As of May 15, I led Ed by a score of 47 to 40.  I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I’ve been traveling my butt off trying to stay ahead of Ed and any other trackchaser who might be so bold as to challenge me for this year’s title.

 

During the first twenty weeks of the year, I have been trackchasing in all but two of those weeks.  Yet, I’m only a measly seven tracks ahead of Ed.  If I had not picked up seven New Zealand tracks in the first six days of the year, we would be tied at this point!

 

Now you might be saying, “Yes, Randy, I’ve heard you tell us several times what a tough competitor Ed is.  So what does all of this have to do with UCLA season football tickets?”  Again, you would have a valid query.

 

The point of all of this is that the world’s leading trackchasers have interests and conflicts they must manage as they go about seeing as many new tracks as they can.  If I have a fixed date non-trackchasing event in one location, it may prevent me from trackchasing for an entire weekend.

 

Now, back to my UCLA cold caller.  The young man pointed out to me that the only way to get tickets to the 2007 UCLA-Notre Dame game was to buy season tickets to all six home games.  I didn’t want to miss Notre Dame.  I had no choice.  I had to buy all six games.  Every game is played on Saturday.  Therefore, it will be virtually impossible to go trackchasing anywhere when the middle day of the three day weekend (Fri-Sun) requires me to be in row 77, seat 121 (Carol – seat 122) of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.  Of course, with a stout home schedule that includes BYU, Washington, Cal, Arizona State, Oregon and the aforementioned Notre Dame it should provide some great entertainment.

 

We also have ten fixed dates where we are obligated to attend Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball games.  I’ve tried to pick mid-week games for most of their season so as not to conflict too much with my trackchasing weekends.  Couple that with our daughter’s wedding, other miscellaneous things that come up, and the schedule can get pretty tight.

 

Now you are probably saying, “Randy, with all of those conflicts you don’t have any chance whatsoever to beat Ed this year.  Why don’t you just admit it and give up now.”  Ouch!  I hope you aren’t saying that but I could understand if you were.

 

Not only do I have a million commitments, but I think Ed may have secured even more trackchaser sponsorship money that I have!  Ed has long been considered a “low-dollar” trackchaser.  I’ve heard him say many times that in “just a couple of months”, he was going to be out of money and his trackchasing would have to stop.

 

Ed has never stopped.  Therefore, I must assume Ed has never run out of money.  Ed is nearly fully retired.  Where does he get his money?  There are several popular theories about Ed’s financing.

 

There are some that think the “Eastern Trackchasers Support Group,” or ETSG, is behind his funding.  The common theory is the ETSG members recognize they cannot, for whatever reason, keep up with today’s leading trackchasers.  Therefore, they have banded together to support someone who they think can return the championship trophy to, if not the East coast, the Midwest.  Of course, this theory may be difficult to prove, but it’s one of the most popular ideas in explaining how Ed can continue to trackchase when he was supposed to run out of money years ago.

 

Fortunately, Ed has some conflicts as well.  He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.  His favorite track is the Angel Park Speedway located just a few miles from his home.  They race on Sunday nights.  Ed never misses one of their programs (thank goodness!)  Their season runs from May 20 this year until September 1.  That means Ed won’t be getting any new tracks on Sunday for most of the summer.  His commitment to Angel Park also prevents him from straying too far from home when he needs to be back in Madison, Wisconsin by 6 p.m. on Sundays.

 

Ed has other commitments to his college fraternity.  He’s a Delta Sigma Pi from the University of Wisconsin.  Add that to his work with the Optimist club and family commitments and Ed is a busy guy. 

 

If I could break down our season long competition into three, four-month periods, here is how it might look.  We should both be fairly conflict free from January-April.  Maybe that’s why our trackchasing totals are close up to now.

 

From May-August, I should be able to gain ground on Ed since he’s locked into his local track every week.  Then, from September-December, Ed should be able to gain ground on me since I have six weekends of UCLA football that will prevent me from seeing very many new tracks, if any.

 

The question is simple.  Will I be able to get a big enough lead on Ed by the end of August to withstand his charge during the last four months of the year?  We’re going to find out very soon.

 

In the meantime, you can keep track of this epic battle for the 2007 season trackchasing championship by going to www.trackchaser.net or by scrolling down toward the bottom of each Trackchaser Report.  I wish Ed well, but I do not plan to show him any mercy.

 

 

 

The Trip

 

Today’s trip to Pomona, California was challenging.  It’s very rare that at this stage in my trackchasing career that I will have the chance to see a new track within 60 miles of my house.  Wouldn’t it be nice to get a great night’s rest in my own bed and drive just 59 miles up the 57 Freeway to Pomona on a light trafficked Sunday morning?

 

The answer to that question is yes, but that’s not exactly how it happened.  You see, my Saturday night race didn’t get over until nearly midnight Eastern time.  That race was in Laurens, South Carolina.

 

In order to make it to Pomona on time, I had to cover 188 miles from Laurens to the Atlanta airport.  I had time to sleep for a little more than two hours in a rest area before I boarded my four-hour flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles.  It was then a one-hour drive back to San Clemente to pick up Trackchasing’s First Mother.  I did take a one-hour nap at home on Sunday morning before we finished off with a one-hour drive up to Pomona.

 

We arrived at Pomona before the National Anthem was played and the first race was run.  I looked around but I didn’t see anyone who looked like they had been at the Lauren County Speedway in South Carolina just 15 hours before.

 

 

 

 

The People

 

As I travel the country and the world, I do a lot of people watching.  Folks are different all over the United States.  That’s good.  This is what makes traveling fun.

 

Today’s crowd was much different from most racing crowds I encounter.  The folks today were of the “California surfing dude” demographic.  The crowd was very young.  Most folks were aged 20-35.  Carol and I were among the oldest of the fans in the stands today.  No problem.  I keep reminding her that fifty-eight is the new fifty-six.

 

Tattoos were in ample abundance today.  The weather was beautiful, just what California is known for.  This meant people didn’t wear as much clothing as others in a different climate might.  These clothing choices really put the tattoos in the limelight so to speak.

 

We saw several people, both men and women, who had colored tattoos from their wrists to the middle of their backs.  Some were interesting and some were unintelligible.  I just wondered how much beer they had to drink to get that many tattoos.  I also wondered how many of the folks will think about their “art work” when they reach middle age and beyond.

 

I must also comment, although briefly, about the cleavage that many (most?) of the younger women were showing today.  We were seated on an aisle and it was hard to miss.  Of course, I conferred with Trackchasing’s First Mother about this phenomenon.  S was as taken aback as I was albeit for what I suspect were different reasons.

 

Nevertheless, it was a great day of people watching.  One gal who was dressed somewhat scantily stood behind me drinking a beer in the porta-pottie line.  Her comment to everyone else standing in line?  “If you don’t pay attention, I’m going to sneak in line ahead of you!”

 

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

FAIRPLEX AT THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, POMONO, CALIFORNIA – TRACK #1,189

 

This was my 102nd 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 state rankings lead, by far, that anyone has in any of the 50 United States.

 

This was Carol’s 58^th lifetime California track and her 315^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 four tracks from gaining another position.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

FAIRPLEX AT THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

 

The announcer told us that this was the first short track off-road racing in Pomona since 1982.  The event back then was a Mickey Thompson off-road show.  Many of you know the unusual promoter, Mr. Thompson was shot and killed some years ago.  His killer was only sentenced to jail during the past year!

 

Today’s racing venue was a temporary set-up.  The entire track was setup in the asphalt fair parking lot.   However, most of the track was not asphalt, it was dirt.  Thousand of tons of dirt had been brought in to build the banked turns and hills for the exciting jumps the racers encountered today.  It was most unusual to see that a couple hundred yards of the track was left as asphalt creating a “mixed surface” track.  I believe this was only my second mixed surface track that I have ever seen.  My first mixed track was somewhat of an inner oval at the Tucson Raceway Park.  Roland Vanden Eynde leads the worldwide mixed track standings with 24.

 

Today’s racing was sponsored by the Championship Off-Road Racing (C.O.R.R.) group (http://www.corracing.com/).    The general admission price was $25.  “Preferred” seating, which was limited to about the top 10 rows of the 30-40 row grandstand went for $40.

 

Today’s event was called a sell-out by the announcer.  He was probably right.  These folks must be doing something right.  Yes, if today’s promoters could sell approximately 10,000 seats at $25-40 they must be doing something right.  Short track promoters with crowds of 300 people or less should attend one of these shows.  They might learn something.

 

This type of short track off-road racing is very entertaining for the spectators.  The main type of racing comes from off-road pickup style trucks.  There are several jumps around the two-mile or so course.  When the trucks hit these jumps at speed, they fly into the air and remain airborne for 3-5 seconds.  Check out www.ranlayracing.com for pictures of these “flying trucks.”

 

The entire production resembles in some ways a rock concert.  There are many huge stadium quality portable speakers.  The track’s announcer, who must be drinking his share of Red Bull one of the series sponsors, is nearly out of control.  Carol and I were discussing the fact that neither of us has ever had a sip of an energy drink.  Of course, neither of us has ever taken a puff on a cigarette either.

 

C.O.R.R. events like this race over a two-day weekend.  The program on each day is nearly identical.  There are two main classes of trucks, the Pro 2s and Pro 4s.  You will see these classes this season on a tape-delayed basis on NBC sports.  C.O.R.R. is working to have their event televised live.  They also race dune buggy racecars.

 

The promoter uses a huge portable Jumbotron video screen.  This screen sits directly in front of the grandstands.  They use it to televise the races live as well as for replays.  This is a great touch and provides even more entertainment for the fans.

 

The races are short.  The announcer never mentions how many laps a race is going to be.  I would estimate most races were 10-15 laps.  C.O.R.R. uses a “mandatory yellow” flag in several of their races about midway into the race.  From what I can tell, this flag is used to “tighten up” the field.  That makes the racing more exciting for today’s novice fan.  On the other hand, it makes most long-time, died in the wool racing fans, most uncomfortable.  I really don’t mind it.

 

After each race, the winners are interviewed.  That’s not unusual.  However, many of the drivers are young and from the west coast, mainly California.  One of the drivers had this to say, “Man!  It was sooo awesome.  I am sooo stoked.”  Yep, we weren’t in Kansas anymore.

 

The race promotion inverts six drivers in most of the races.  Listening, short track promoters?  They also don’t throw race stopping yellow flags.  When cars stop on the track, even rollovers, only a corner yellow is displayed.  Track workers run out onto the track and either push or rollover the disabled car and the race continues on.  Listening, short track promoters?

 

C.O.R.R. even has a kids “truck trophy kart” class.  Today they ran two races with about 30 truck trophy karts in each one.  They raced on a shortened road course in front of the main grandstand.  The course had its share of jumps that even caused a rollover or two.  Of course, the race was not stopped even when a child was hanging upside down by his safety belts.  Workers simply went out and righted the truck and off they went.

 

A shortened track like we saw today does not count for two reasons.  First, the drivers are not adults.  Secondly, no road course that overlaps on another road course at the same venue is countable as a second track.

 

Short track off-road racing of this type has a lot in common with speedway motorcycle racing that has been very popular in California for years.  This racing is high excitement, professionally run younger person’s entertainment.  They had 10,000 people pay $25 or more for today’s racing event.  I like to say that “people vote with their feet.”  The people voted today.

 

 

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

 

Today was Carol’s 315^th lifetime track.  When she reaches #400 she will become eligible to vote on trackchaser rules and regulations.  I asked her what proposal she might initiate.  “Disband the group?” was the first thing Trackchasing’s First Mother came up with.  I think she was kidding!

 

Here other comments included these:

 

I like THESE kinds of yellow flags!

 

Will these people like their tattoos when they get older?

 

 

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

Today’s weather was perfect.  Temps were in the 70s with a nice breeze blowing in from our backs.  It was beautiful SoCal weather.  It’s weather like this that makes me a little cranky when I go on the road and have to sit through less than perfect climatic conditions.

 

 

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

 

No rental car!  Carol and I were being transported in the Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored Lexus LS 430.  I will soon have major new news on the car-buying front.  Stay tuned.

 

Sunday total driving miles – 127

 

 

 

 

 

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 – 1,189

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,106 (-83)*

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,092 (-97)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 1,005 (-184)**

 

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

 

** Special exemption.

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

2007 (current thru 5/14/07)**

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 6.82

2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 7.12

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 - 315

 

There are no trackchasers within 10 tracks (either above or below) of Carol’s current total. 

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 51

 

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 40

 

3.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium - 22

 

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 22

 

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 21

 

6.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 15

 

7.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 12

 

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 11

 

9.  Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada - 10

 

10.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 9

 

10.  Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 9

 

Tracks have been reported by 34 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

Utah’s #1 Trackchaser

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:

 

AIRPLANE

 

No airplanes on this trip!

 

 

RENTAL CAR

 

No rental cars on this trip!

Personal driving miles today - 127

 

Total Air miles – Zip!

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 127 miles

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Fairplex at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds - $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 from www.trackchaser.net

and my Garmin GPS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

We have Memorial Day weekend coming up.  My plan calls for flying from Orange County, CA to Salt Lake City, UT to Atlanta, GA to Chicago, IL to Salt Lake City, UT to Vancouver, BC to Salt Lake City, UT and back to Orange County, CA.  During this time period, I am expected to rent three different cars.

 

Of course, my ORIGINAL plan virtually never comes off as forecasted.  I don’t suspect this one will either but you have to have a plan, right?

 

 

 

 

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, Lancaster, California – April 22

 

1,178. Sertoma Speedway, Tularosa, New Mexico – April 27

 

1,179. Sandia Motorsports Park (outer oval), Albuquerque, New Mexico – April 28

 

1,180. Sandia Motorsports Park (inner oval), Albuquerque, New Mexico – April 28

 

1,181. Hollywood Hills Speedway, San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico – April 29

 

1,182. Meridian Speedway, Meridian, Idaho – May 11

 

1,183. Diamond Mountain Speedway, Vernal, Utah, Idaho – May 12

 

1,184. Rocky Mountain Raceways (oval), Salt Lake City, Utah – May 12 

 

1,185. Rocky Mountain Raceways (figure 8), Salt Lake City, Utah – May 12

 

1,186. Modoc Speedway, Modoc, South Carolina – May 18

 

1,187. Possum Kingdom Super Speedway, Belton, South Carolina – May 19

 

1,188. Laurens County Speedway, Laurens, South Carolina – May 19

 

1,189. Fairplex at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, Pomona, California – May 20