TODAY’S HEADLINES

“World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser” interviewed live on Saturday night by Ken Smith of 103 Country FM radio. …….…….details in “The People.”

 

What do drive-in movies and catfish ponds have to do with trackchasing?.......................details in “The Trip.”

 

New format comes to “Race Track Stats”…………details in “Race Track Stats.” 

 

 

 

You can also go directly to the home page at www.ranlayracing.com to hear the 103 Country FM radio interview.

 

Editor's note:

I realize that combining three tracks in one report makes for a late night reading session.  However, I have promised to send you a maximum of one Trackchaser Report per day.  Since I saw three tracks in just one day, I felt it would be best to report on all three tracks at the same time.  Thanks for your understanding.

AND THE READERS RESPOND

 

A special thanks to Roland Vanden Eynde of Belgium and Garry Radford from Canada.  They both helped me identify the Volvo racecar that appears in the Race City Motorsports Park photo gallery at www.ranlayracing.com.  Thanks, guys!

 

In addition, I would like to wish Roland the best of luck as he embarks on a two-week trackchasing trip to the U.S.  Roland, based in Vilvoorde, Belgium has made several such trips to America for trackchasing.  He is planning to attend my all-time favorite track, the Peoria Speedway.  He may even make a pilgrimage to my boyhood home at 411 Doering in East Peoria, Illinois.  Good luck, Roland.

GREETINGS FROM WASHINGTON COURTHOUSE, OHIO AND THEN PEEBLES, OHIO AND FINALLY RUSSELLVILLE, OHIO

 

 

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/june8102007.htm

I WOKE UP IN JONESBORO, GEORGIA.  I WENT TO SLEEP IN WINCHESTER, OHIO.   THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy     

 

I get much of my trackchasing strategy from other trackchasers.  I have long ago developed personal profiles of every major trackchaser.  I may know where they are going to go even before they do.  On the other hand, nearly every trackchaser that I know reads my reports, one way or another.  Therefore, they know where I’ve been.  I know several trackchasers who have simply replicated my trackchasing trips.  I have no problem with that.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

Today I saw three new tracks in one day.  I don’t count “triples.”  The first two tracks were part of a “day/night” trackchasing double.  The second and third tracks of the day were part of a “blended double with features on both ends” trackchasing double.  I love trackchasing doubles.

 

 

The Trip

 

I also love traveling around our United States.  Southern Ohio is one of the more unique places that I visit.  Southern Ohio, West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky make up most of Appalachia.  As a matter of fact, route 32, the Appalachian Highway took me to several of this weekend’s destinations.

 

This is rural country and the folks do stuff a little bit different than they do where I hang out in Orange County, California.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  That’s what makes these trips so much fun.

 

Tonight’s drive from the Brush Creek track to the Brown County Speedway was just under 22 miles long.  I drove that route at sunset and the cultural and demographic sights and sounds were dramatic.

 

I was surprised to get behind several cars on tonight’s two-lane road.  The drivers are slow down here and they weave about a bit.  That’s not dissimilar from the rural far west ranching country.  I just don’t think people have had much experience dealing with traffic. 

 

Where were the cars ahead of me going?  To the drive-in movie!  Yep, there are less than 200 drive-in movie theatres still active in the U.S.  Pirates of the Caribbean was the headliner production tonight.  If I hadn’t planned on driving back to the Brush Creek track to get dusted out, I would have gone to the drive-in.

 

Not everyone was going to the movies though.  I drove by a huge fishpond complex. There were at least 20 cars/trucks, O.K. maybe they were all trucks, just sitting out at sunset fishing.  It was a very comfortable evening, weather-wise and everyone looked to be having a great time.  This is a simple life down here and I’m thinking most people wouldn’t trade it for the world.

 

By the way, the Budget Motor Host Inn in Winchester, Ohio is a great location for those lonely trackchasers who might attempt to repeat tonight’s blended double.  I can also recommend Alice’s Restaurant located just a few blocks away in downtown bustling Winchester.  Try the oat toast.

 

 

 

 

The People

 

I meet some interesting people when I trackchase.  It’s one of the most fun things about the hobby.  When I entered the Brown County Speedway, I sent my trackchaser press release up to the track’s announcing booth.  Then I went to take my seat.  I had not been seated for more than a minute when the woman I had given my information too approached me.  “They want to talk to you.  Come on up to the tower.”

 

Oh my!  They had not been offended by anything in the press release had they?  They were not disciples of the East Coast Trackchasers Support Group (ECTSG) were they?  I warily climbed the wooden steps to one of the more rickety press boxes I have ever visited.  This place has been here for 40 years, if it’s been here a day.

 

I must say I was most pleasantly surprised.  These folks were not here to criticize me for trackchasing too much, for spending too much money to trackchase or for trackchasing in an organized, efficient and corporate like manner.

 

They were happy to have the “World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser” visiting the Brown County Speedway.  This made me all the more pleased that I had come.  I was introduced to tonight’s track announcer, Ken Smith.  Ken was here as part of the “Country 103 Championship Racing Series” radio broadcasting team.  They do live broadcasts about 10-12 times during the season at several southern Ohio tracks.  It was just my luck that they were here at Brown County tonight and it was intermission.

 

Ken was just wrapping up an interview with one of the more popular local drivers.  The track’s management quickly introduced me to Ken.  I was invited to sit on a bar stool and wear a very professional looking radio headset.  Ken talked for a moment with his contacts back at the radio station.  Soon, we were doing a live interview.

 

If you’ve ever traveled at night, you know that radio signals can travel a long way.  I’ve been in Wyoming and received the WGN radio signal from Chicago.  I have no idea what the station’s range was but if Trackchaser Report readers in far away locations heard the interview, please let me know.

 

Ken Smith was a very interested and appreciative interviewer.  Our interview lasted for some eight minutes.  I’ve had several radio and TV interviews during my trackchasing career.  This was one of the best.  Ken is such an enthusiastic and curious interviewer.  He also knows racing.  Ken was nicest enough to send me an .mp3 file of our interview.  That interview can now be heard on the home page at my website, www.ranlayracing.com.  Just remember to have your speakers turned on!

 

We covered all areas of trackchasing.  I’m sure listeners learned a lot about our hobby based upon this medium.  I am interviewed frequently.  Several of the questions, I get have a common theme.  I’ve learned to take a question and expand on it so I can cover areas that I think the listener might find entertaining.  A couple of weeks ago I was doing an Idaho TV interview.  When I finished the interviewer told me “You really know your stuff.  All I had to do was ask a five-second question and you took it from there.”  Yes, I’ve been doing this a lot and for a long-time.

 

When we finished the interview, Ken gave me a DVD copy of “Dirt.”  This is a TV movie that documents the history of dirt track racing.  He told me the film was based at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Texas.  I’ll give everyone my review of the film as soon as I can.

 

The Brown County facility does not match up to its neighbor, the Brush Creek Motorsports Park.  It’s much older and shows some wear and tear.  Nevertheless, they got their show over by just past 10 p.m.  Brush Creek was running past midnight.  Brown County had some very entertaining racing on a well-prepared track.  The fans were really into the races.  You could tell they were regulars.  Finally, the track’s management knew how to PROMOTE the races.  My involvement was just a small part of the overall program.  I was happy to be able to get involved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note:  My “RACE TRACK STATS” section of the Trackchaser Report has changed.  I am going to be listing several common features about each of the tracks I visit.  I hope this will make it easier for you to pick out information of interest.  It will also shorten some of the text sections of the report.

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

FAYETTE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, WASHINGTON COURTHOUSE, OHIO – TRACK #1,203

 

Track details

 

Website:  http://www.antiqueautoracing.com/

 

Weather:  A gorgeous day with temps in the high 70s and nary a cloud in the sky.

 

Track type:  oval

 

Surface:  Crushed limestone over a dirt base

 

Length:  1/2 mile

 

Grandstands:  Wooden covered fairgrounds grandstand.  It was probably built around 1930.  You don’t see many like these anymore.  It was fitting for today’s vintage racing machines.

 

P.A.:  None

 

Announcer:  None

 

Lights:  None

 

On time:  When I arrived at 1 p.m., they were already racing.

 

Pit area:  The cars were pitted on the inside lane of the front stretch.  They were just feet from the active racing surface.  This looked very dangerous to me.

 

Classes:  Sprints, midgets and some cars from the 1920s.  There were about 25 in all.  They all had one thing in common.  They were cageless.

 

Radio Frequency:  Unknown

 

Concessions:  Didn’t see any food being sold

 

Scoreboard:  Nope

 

 

 

BRUSH CREEK MOTORSPORTS PARK, PEEBLES, OHIO – TRACK #1,204

 

Track details

 

Website:  http://www.brushcreekmotorsports.com/

 

Weather:  Early in the evening, it was hot.  Temps were in the low 80s.  When I returned to the track at 11 p.m., it was cold enough to wear my Petty denim jacket shirt.

 

Track type:  oval

 

Surface:  clay

 

Length:  1/3 mile – the track was shortened this year from a ½-mile distance.  Changing a track’s length does not allow trackchasers to count the track twice.

 

Grandstands:  Large grandstand some 20-25 rows high.  The track has two of these and seats more than 2,000 fans.

 

P.A.:  One of the worst P.A. systems I’ve heard in some time.  The sound was loud enough, it just wasn’t very clear.

 

Announcer:  Average.  The track announcer did give me a couple of very nice trackchasing mentions.

 

Lights:  Good

 

On time:  The website was unclear as to when the program would actually begin.  I showed up at 6 p.m.  Hot laps began at 7:14 p.m.  The first race started at 8:03 p.m.

 

Pit area:  Beyond the backstretch

 

Classes:  Modifieds (28), Late models (8), legends (3), Chevettes (a popular class in this area) (9), 4-cylinders (8), bombers (5)

 

Radio Frequency:  469.500

 

Concessions:  My purchases included a “Taco in a bag” for $3.50 and a box of popcorn for free since it was so late.  The price of admission ($12) included a coupon for one free 20 oz. plastic bottle of Diet Coke.  This was compliments of Southern Hills Therapy Services.  These folks provide speech, occupational and physical therapy services in Ohio and Kentucky.  My bottled water went for $1.50

 

Scoreboard:  Yes.  First class lap counter and five-position scoreboard that showed the time when they weren’t racing.

 

Extras:  Management has added a quality banked dirt go-kart track just beyond the larger oval’s turn four.  They were racing tonight.  They had about 20-30 flat karts but nothing trackchaser countable.

 

The crowd was entertained by a couple of “fly-bys” from a lighter than air flying machine.  The thing looked more like a parachute hauling a go-kart than anything else.  Unbelievably, this aeronautical wonder got high enough to drop a parachutist into the track’s infield.  The guy was supposed to land during the national anthem, but showed up about five minutes early.  This was an early indicator that the track lacked some organization.

 

One funny comment did come over the race scanner when the parachutist was just about to land unannounced.  “He’s gonna look kind a funny as a hood ornament on one of these bombers!”

 

 

 

BROWN COUNTY SPEEDWAY, RUSSELLVILLE, OHIO – TRACK #1,205

Track details

 

Website:  http://www.browncountyspeedway.us/

 

Weather:  Arrived at 9:10 p.m. with the evening temps very comfortable in the low 70s

 

Track type:  oval

 

Surface:  clay

 

Length:  ¼-mile

 

Grandstands:  The grandstands have been there a long time.  The huge 2” x 12” two-inch thick wooden planks were supported by concrete blocks.  I’ve seen these setups primarily in the south.  I hope they don’t have any earthquakes.  The stands wouldn’t last for 10 seconds.

 

P.A.:  Good

 

Announcer:  Ken Smith is an excellent announcer.  He brings the entertainment quality of a commercial commentator (ala Mike Joy) with the racing knowledge of a local track announcer.

 

Lights:  Good

 

On time:  I arrived at 9:10 p.m.  The program was already at intermission.  Following intermission, they ran off three feature events in less than 45 minutes.

 

Pit area:  Beyond turns 1 and 2

 

Classes:  Modifieds (9), late models (12), Street stocks (about 12), Chevettes (?)

 

Radio Frequency:  Searched, but couldn’t locate it.

 

Concessions:  Didn’t buy anything but they did have bologna sandwiches.

 

Scoreboard:  No

 

 

 

STATE RANKING

 

These were my 44^th, 45^th and 46^th lifetime tracks to see in the Buckeye state.  I am surprised that 46 tracks gives me only a tie for 11^th place here.  That many tracks would easily give me a first place ranking in more than half of the 48 U.S. states.  Norm Wagner has done a nice job leading here with 110 Ohio tracks.

 

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

FAYETTE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

Today’s racing was sanctioned by the Antique Auto Racers Association.  These folks race their 1920s-1960s circa open-wheeled cars at about five different venues each year.  This is the third different track where I’ve seen them.

 

Some trackchasers used to question whether these guys were having “competitive racing” as outlined by the trackchaser rules.  I’m not sure who, if anyone, feels that way anymore. It looks to me like they are racing each other.  There are no speed restrictions with this group.  Apparently, some vintage racing groups have a maximum speed limit, although I can’t remember reading about any who do.  If the cars would be racing with a speed limit, then the racing would not be countable.

 

Prior to about 1965 or so, open-wheeled race cars like sprints, midgets and Indy cars did not race with “roll cages.”  I’ve got some great photos at www.ranlayracing.com that show today’s driver’s shoulders and heads sticking well above the top portion of their racecar.  You can imagine what hits the ground first when the car does a rollover.

 

One of the best things about seeing these guys race, is that I can stand right up to the fence to watch them.  The county fair race facilities were built for horse racing not auto racing.  Today’s outside fence consisted of wooden poles placed in the ground with just two wooden boards running horizontal from pole to pole.  This fence wouldn’t stop my 27-speed bike let alone a full-sized sprinter going some 60-80 M.P.H.

 

If you want to watch these types of organizations race, I wouldn’t put it off for long.  First, most of the drivers are older than me and they aren’t getting any younger.  The cars are already nearly 100 years old in some cases!  Finally, as soon as they run one of these babies through the nearly non-existent fence and kills somebody, their insurance rates will be so high they won’t be able to race.  Their website indicates, that because of shrinking car counts, the per car entry fee is going to have to be increased.

 

The drivers race with seat belts only, no shoulder harnesses.  Back in the day, the early drivers didn’t even like to wear seat belts.  They felt it was better to be thrown clear of their flipping vehicle.  By the way, when roll cages first came out, the drivers of the day considered them only worthwhile for “sissies.”  That line of thinking was not much different that when helmets first reached the National Hockey League.

 

These guys race all day.  There were three main classes and they ran several five-lap events each.  They watered the limestone after every race or two.  I missed having Stumpy Stone do the racing commentary as I have heard him in the past with this group and he’s great.  I was happy to get this track in today as I was rained out on a previous visit here.

 

I would love to know what competitive race times were for these cars during their hay day.  I think they are somewhat slower today, but not much.  That may have more to do with the fact that the drivers are 40-50 years older than when they first raced these machines.

 

 

 

BRUSH CREEK MOTORSPORTS PARK

I would have to say this track was a disappointment.  They did not run an efficient program on the track or off.  A race fan can learn a lot by listening to the track’s internal communication on a race scanner.  The Brush Creek staff was unorganized and seemed to lack leadership.

 

There were just too many people who piped in with useless and race delaying comments.  As an example, when one race was about to restart, one track worker asked if a car located some 75 yards beyond the backstretch needed to be towed away.  Of course, this comment delayed the restart while they concluded the car was way out of the way.  There were many times when the original radio communication had to be repeated either because they had bad radios or there were too many people talking at the same time.

 

I don’t want to be overly critical, but they need a strong-willed leader to take charge of their program.  By the way, this is one of the reasons I pay my own way into the track.  I don’t want my comments to be influenced by anyone or anything just because they gave me a free ticket.

 

Allan Brown, publisher of the National Speedway Directory once gave me this compliment.  He told me he was envious that I could make any comment I felt appropriate, either positive or negative without fear of recrimination.  Since he was “in the racing business”, he did not have such freedom of speech.

 

No, since I pay my way into the track, I have no particular allegiances to anyone.  Nevertheless, I would not want to make an irresponsible comment.  I view what some might think of as a negative comment as an observation rather than a criticism. 

 

As an example, if a mother observed her child misbehaving she might offer some criticism in order to change that behavior.  On the other hand, a neighbor might observe the child misbehaving and comment privately.  That would be an observation, not a criticism.  I know some folks who have forwarded my Trackchasers Reports, all or in part, to track promoters and chat groups.  I have no problem with that.  I think it’s a good idea.  I would just ask that my words not be taken out of context.

 

 

Speaking of children, the most notable feature about tonight’s racing event was the large number of families with small children.  There is either something in the water in this part of southern Ohio or they have never heard of birth control.  Possibly the fact that this was “kid’s night” had something to do with this!

 

Not everyone was of pre-school age.  I did see two spectators with ankle bracelets.  They weren’t the decorative type if you know what I mean.  I guess these people were some of the first to test out GPS capabilities.

 

I suspect that most of these families don’t normally go to the races.  If that is the case, then the track missed out on a wonderful opportunity to entertain them.  As they say, “you only get one chance to make a good first impression.” 

 

In the first 40 minutes of the program, they were only able to complete two 4-car late model heat races, a three-car legend heat and the beginning of a modified heat race.  At 8:40 p.m., a drive shaft broke inside the cockpit of one of the modifieds.  Listening on the radio, I was one of the very first spectators to learn of this.  Of course, when they had to take the driver to the hospital in the ONE AND ONLY track ambulance, that meant the program was stopped until a replacement ambulance could come out to the track.

 

This was my signal to leave the Brush Creek track for the Brown County Speedway located just 21.9 miles over some very hilly and winding two-lane roads.  I expected to come back to Brush Creek later in the evening for some of their feature events, but truth be told, if I had never made it back, I wouldn’t have minded.

 

Later……………..

 

After viewing a very efficient racing program at the Brown County Speedway, I returned to the Brush Creek Motorsports Complex.  I don’t know what made me do it, but I did.

 

This allowed me to see the seven-car, 20-lap late model feature event as well as the three-car legend feature.  I spent the time watching these races from just below the flag stand.  I was able to speak with someone who knows the inner workings of the track.  Confidentiality agreements prevent me from revealing his identity.  Apparently, the track was leased out to another individual last year and that person “ran it into the ground.” 

 

We both concluded after just three laps of the 20-car modified feature that the dust problems our soldiers face everyday in Iraq were nothing compared to what the mods were throwing our way.  It was now three minutes past midnight.  I had driven some 300 miles, seen three tracks and traveled from Georgia to Kentucky to Ohio.  It was time to crash.

 

 

 

BROWN COUNTY SPEEDWAY

 

Following the lack of early performance at Brush Creek, I’m sure anything would have looked good.  I arrived at Brown County at just after 9 p.m.  They were already at intermission.  They must have doing something right, since the program was not scheduled to begin until 8 p.m.

 

I had driven out to the track at 5 p.m.  I wanted to make certain I knew how to get here in the dark.  I’m glad I made that test drive, as the track is located in the boonies.  Brown County was the second half of a blended double.  At the time, I didn’t know if it would be a BD with features on both ends or not.  It did turn out to be a blended double with features on both ends.

 

This was my second such double of the 20 trackchasing doubles I’ve had in 2007.  By the end of this weekend, I had clocked 69 new tracks in just 49 trackchasing days.  Brown County and Brush Creek were custom made for a blended double.  I got the idea from studying Ed Esser’s past trips.

 

The car counts weren’t very large tonight, but they were big enough for some good racing on a tight quarter-mile dirt oval.  The nine car mod feature put on some good racing with a classic two-car battle for the lead.  That was a good race but the late model feature was even better.  The two top drivers in that division put on one of the best shows I’ve seen this year.  My favorite classes are late models and modifieds.  If sprint cars had starters, I might like them better.

 

Tonight’s flagman was above average.  You need a good flagman to run a good program.  I saw three feature races tonight for a distance of about 80-90 laps.  Those three races were finished off in about 45 minutes.  That’s the way to run a railroad.

 

Since the races were being broadcast on local 103 Country radio (103.1 FM), I listened to the Chevette feature event on my way back to Brush Creek.  It sounded like that was an entertaining race as well.

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

 

Louisville, KY – Saturday/Sunday/Monday

 

I had not planned to rent a car in Louisville today.  However, when I discovered my ATL-CVG flight was overbooked because of bad weather on Friday night in Ohio, I had to change plans.

 

My rental car charges were increase because this was going to be a one-way rental.  I would be dropping the car off in Cincinnati on Monday morning because they offered a non-stop flight to Orange County, California.

 

I asked for a car with XM radio.  The young man tried to find me one with this option but concluded there weren’t any.  He offered a Pontiac Grand Prix.  When I went out to get my car, you guessed it the car had XM radio.  I guess there’s a reason this guy was working on Saturday.

 

 

Atlanta, GA – Friday/Saturday

 

The Pontiac Grand Prix I picked out had only 655 miles on it.  Rental cars are a great consumer value.  Would you rent me your brand new car for 30 bucks a day and let me drive it as far as I wanted?  I doubt it.

 

This rental car had something I’ve never seen before.  It’s got a hologram of sorts.  From the driver ’s seat, an image appears when I look through the windshield.  As if by magic, just a foot or so above the hood line, three pieces of information are displayed just like they are hanging in mid-air.  The car’s direction, speed and outside temperature are shown in green digital numbers and letters.  It’s the dangest thing I ever saw!

 

I drove this car 260 miles.  I paid an average price of $2.96 per gallon.  This is one dollar less per gallon than last week’s gas prices in Alberta, Canada.  Georgia has just about the lowest gasoline and hotel prices of any place I travel too.  My Pontiac Grand Prix gave me 23.3 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at a cost of 12.7 cents per mile.  The car cost 13.2 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 – 1,205

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,106 (-99)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 1,009 (-196)**

 

* 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.

 

30.  Dwight Bucks, Topton, Pennsylvania – 324

31.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 319

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 67

 

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 46

 

3.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium - 31

 

4.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 25

 

5.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 25

 

6.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 20

 

7.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 15

 

7.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 15

 

9.  Bing Metz, Tatamy, Pennsylvania – 14

 

9.  Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 14

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

If you’re lucky enough to live at the beach, you’re lucky enough.

 

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Orange County, CA – Atlanta, GA – 1,920 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR – ATLANTA, GA

 

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – trip begins

Ringgold, GA – 128 miles

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – 260 miles - trip ends

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Atlanta, GA – Louisville, KY – 321 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR - LOUISVILLE

 

Louisville International Airport – trip begins

Washington Courthouse, Ohio – 202 miles

Peebles, Ohio – 264 miles

Russellville, Ohio – 286 miles

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Boyd’s Speedway - $10

Fayette County Fairgrounds – Free

Brush Creek Motorsports Park - $12

Brown County Speedway - $12

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

The weather has donned beautiful in Ohio for this weekend.  While I’m here, I might as well try to increase my Buckeye state totals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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, Sout