Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (TEMPORARY DIRT ROAD COURSE), JUSTIN, TEXAS
I'm not a coffee drinker, but this long line of people like their java. The line at Starbucks at 6 a.m. in the morning at the Orange County Airport was nearly 40 people long as I started my trip!
The lines were not nearly as long at the Texas Motor Speedway for the C.O.R.R. racing event. This effected my ticket selling strategy.
Every C.O.R.R. event I have seen in California has been packed. When I arrived at the Texas Motor Speedway dirt track tonight, the crowd was more than skinny. Contributing factors might have been that this is "Friday high school football night" in Texas and this was C.O.R.R.'s fist visit to Texas.
One of the cool things about the admission ticket to a C.O.R.R. racing event is that it includes entry to the pits!
This guy has a lot of work ahead of him in order to be race ready.
From time to time, I'll see that single fan studying his program and taking notes. What would it take to get this race fan to become a trackchaser?
As the sun went down, the action started to pick up. You can see the infield switch back turns that made up part of the announced 0.6 mile dirt road course.
These "Pro 2" trucks race on all kinds of lines as they come out of the turn side by side.
Later on in the evening, the crowd picked up a good deal. Why do the fans have to stand when they can see just as much when seated. This is one of the few things I do not like about NASCAR racing. Everyone stands for nearly the entire race.
One of the main attractions at any C.O.R.R. event are the jumps. Each C.O.R.R. track is unique. Every one of their tracks has several hills that create jumps like this one.
The trucks can really get after it at a C.O.R.R. show. However, the track tonight was probably the "tamest" layout I've seen so far.
DAY 1 – BUY ONE GET ONE FREE
TODAY’S HEADLINES
What does sushi have to do with this week’s trackchasing travel?...................more in “The Trip”.
Today’s trackchasing visit gave me the #1
How could one fellow racechaser’s generosity almost get me arrested? …………..details in “The People”.
What racing organization has the best and most entertaining racing in the entire world? …………..details in “Race Review”.
Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at
GREETINGS FROM
I WOKE UP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING AND WENT TO SLEEP IN IRVING, TEXAS, BEFORE RETURNING TO SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA ON SATURDAY. THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Objective
Today was another historic trackchasing day for me. As you know, in trackchasing we count three different kinds of tracks: ovals, road courses and figure 8 tracks. This evening’s track was my 118th lifetime road course to see. I now hold the road course lead amongst all
My next objective is to overtake the two remaining foreign born (to me anyway) trackchasers who have more road courses than I do.
The Trip
Ah, for the leisurely life of simply driving to a racetrack like almost all of my fellow trackchasing competitors do. When you drive yourself to the track, you’re in control. If you want to go north, you head north. If you want to go south the car will do that too.
Today is my 34th trackchasing flying trip of 2007. When I fly, I lose a bit of control. Today I wanted to fly from
My status with them is so low, that I opted to fly on United Airlines from
This flight cancellation put my entire trip in doubt. The passengers from the cancelled United flight would now be put on the remaining United flights to
I would have to try flying American Airlines. As a “civilian”, I have earned more than six million frequent flyer miles on American. However, all of that loyalty counts for “zip” in the standby game. I ended up missing three American flights before I finally snagged a seat. My computer and executive flight guide were being given a work out searching for options before I was finally able to grab a seat.
Long-time Trackchaser Report readers will recall the days when I used to publish my future trackchasing plans. However, competitive pressures from my East coast counterparts forced me to abandon that practice. Publishing my plans in advance also became a security issue.
I will make an exception to my policy. I have what some might be called an “ambitious” travel schedule over the next ten days or so. Also, bear in mind that the trackchasing season is winding down and I’m trying to cut back on my travel schedule. This is what I will be doing over the next few days.
Thursday, Oct. 18 – At the last minute I cancelled a trip to
Friday, Oct. 19 – Fly Orange County to
Saturday, Oct. 20 – Fly
Sunday, Oct. 21 – Fly Orange County to
Sunday, Oct. 21 – Fly
Monday, Oct. 22 – Fly San Francisco to Negayo,
Thursday, Oct. 24 – Fly Negayo, Japan to
Thursday, Oct. 25 – Fly
Friday or Saturday, Oct 26 or 27 (depending how comatose I am) Fly
Monday, Oct. 29 – Return from possible international destination to
Tuesday, Oct 31 – Show up on the first tee at 8 a.m. for play with the Tuesday/Thursday golf group who will be none the wiser that I’ve been traveling down the trackchasing road over the past several days. However, several members of that golf group are also avid readers of the Trackchaser Report. I will offer the first fellow golfer who mentions this mention a triple reimbursement on their next Whattaburger meal.
The People
People are funny. I’ll just leave it at that. I was just speaking with a fellow about his retirement investing strategy. He has someone managing his money professionally. My friend’s advisors have his money invested 40% in cash, because they think the market is overpriced. This fellow probably thinks this is a safe strategy, when it could be exactly the opposite.
It’s either a very good strategy or a very bad one. It’s similar to playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun. The outcomes can be very, very different. Based upon my reading, I don’t believe in market timing. I’m a “buy and hold” guy just like Warren Buffett.
Speaking of money, you all know I have seven trackchasing expense categories. These include hotel, rental cars, gasoline, airfare, food, race tickets and airport parking. By the way, this listing is in the order of how much I have spent on each category in 2007. I am always trying to spend my money wisely.
I feel that I have a responsibility to my shareholders (that would be my family) to spend my money “like it was my own” as one of my old bosses used to say. Here’s what this strategy looked like as I tried to spend the money on this trip “like it was my own”.
Rental Car
Check out the rental car section to see how I ended up in a Kia Spectra. This was a small car. As my stepfather always says, “Little cars are great, you just need one for each foot”.
Race tickets
I pay full fare at each racetrack that I visit. I feel this allows me to provide a totally objective analysis of the program. With this policy, no one can say I was influenced by the existence of a free ticket. At the same time, I have a number of readers who “watch my back”. For that, I am eternally grateful. I would do anything to help these folks should they ever need it.
Dale Terry, from down in
Dale took it upon himself to do some research on my behalf. He came up with a “buy one get one” free ticket offer for tonight’s event. Tickets at the gate went for $25 today. With the coupon provided by Dale, I paid $25 and received two tickets.
Here was my plan. I figured I would sell my extra ticket. I was certain I could find some young mother who had been standing in line with a babe in arms and a set of twins tugging at her dress. Maybe they would look like they had not eaten in a couple of days. I would come to their ticket rescue by selling my extra ticket at a minuscule discount.
O.K., I’m exaggerating here. I did not sell my ticket to such a woman. However, I did sell my ticket for $20 to a man who looked like he could afford it. What was the benefit to him? He didn’t’ have to wait in line to pay $25 for this ticket. He received a 20% discount. I looked at this as a “win/win”. Thank you very much, Dale.
However, the transaction was quickly rescinded. A local security officer saw me selling the ticket and immediately rushed to my side to tell me that I could not sell my own personal property (the extra ticket) on his property. He told me I could not sell the ticket for ANY price. I could not even GIVE it away. He did not seem in a mood to debate the topic. Rather than risk arrest, I returned my buyer’s money and entered the gates.
Note to self: Yes, I had a good idea. Did I properly prepare myself for the transaction? No. Would I do it again, only under more of a cloak of secrecy? Yes. You see my potential ticket-buying friend now had to pay five dollars more for his ticket than he could have from me. I feel bad about that.
TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION #1
Whattaburger,
My personal favorite hamburger joint in
Whattaburger’s store colors are orange and white. They seem to be all over the southwest. My experience with them has been excellent. I’m giving Whattaburger a RANLAY Racing Money Back Guarantee for any trackchaser who visits one of their outlets. Simply send me a copy of your race ticket and your Whattaburger receipt. You will be fully reimbursed for your meal up to $15.00. This offer expires on December 31, 2007 at midnight. Please allow six weeks for your refund to be processed and for me to scare up the funds to pay you.
I will say that I was disappointed in the slowness of tonight’s Whattaburger drive-thru. Nevertheless, my “double meat” cheeseburger was about the size of the saucers in your china cabinet. Not only was it large, but with several ounces of mustard and an entire onion, it was tasty. The French fries were moist and salty just like I like them. Whattaburger rocks!
STATE RANKINGS
This was my 30th lifetime track to see in the Lone Star state, home of the state bird, the Mockingbird. I now hold sole possession of the trackchasing lead here. This is the only state outside of the 13 Far Western states where I am in the #1 spot. John Moore trails in second place with 29 tracks in
Entering tonight’s trackchasing action, the third place chaser in
Ed (Mr.
Somewhat incredibly, this is my sixth countable track at the
March 30, 2000 –
April 1, 2000 –
October 15, 2005 –
November 5, 2005 – Lil’
November 6, 2005 –
All of the above are permanent tracks. Today, I added my sixth countable track at TMS to my lifetime total. It is the first TMS track that I have seen that falls into the temporary category.
October 19, 2007 –
I have heard that some people are critical of the trackchasing rulebook that allows more than one track to be counted at an individual facility. Although I have now seen six different countable tracks at TMS, I had to go there on six different days to do it. My philosophy regarding trackchasing rules is very simple. “Rules is rules”. I always believe that everyone should play by the rules. In the past, we’ve had some of those dodgy East coast trackchasers criticize even those of us when we are playing by the rules. That’s harsh.
I would say that if you don’t want to play by the rules, then don’t play. However, trackchasing is like the mafia. Once you’re in, you’re in and there is no going back. Therefore, there is really no option of quitting, even if you don’t want to play by the rules that have been voted upon by trackchasing’s opinion makers. Since the option of quitting is not really as option, then I recommend all trackchasers participate fully and play by the rules.
RACE REVIEW
I will simply say this. The racing action at a C.O.R.R. short track racing event is second to none. This is not “traditional” racing in the road racing or oval sense. Nevertheless, by any objective standards it is the best.
I will discuss the major downer of the program first, so that I can get it out of the way. The program fell 90 minutes behind schedule because they screwed around waiting for Robbie Gordon. Some of you may not know Mr. Gordon. First of all, Robbie is not related to Jeff Gordon, my favorite driver in NASCAR Nextel (soon to be Sprint) Cup.
Robbie Gordon gained his fame in the off-road racing circuit. He was a winner of the Baja 1000 (not trackchasing countable and don’t even try to discuss this with the Eastern elite) and other such events. Some NASCAR car owner thought that off-road racing skills might translate to the NASCAR circuit. They do not. Robbie Gordon crashes much more frequently than he ever comes close to winning a race. When Robbie does not crash, he usually crashes someone else. Then, in true Tony Stewart fashion, he blames it on another driver.
Now that I have offended the Eastern elite, NASCAR car owners who have hired Robbie Gordon and all Tony Stewart fans let me tell you why this relates to tonight’s program. The “Pro 2 Cup Qualifying Race” was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. This race was to follow the “Opening Ceremonies” at 7 p.m.
Mr. Robbie Gordon was flying in to Texas following his NASCAR qualifying effort in Martinsville, Virginia. Conveniently, (not),
C.O.R.R. racing is simply better than any other racing currently being offered in the
Let’s take the Pro 2 Cup race. They started 16 trucks on what was described as a 0.6 mile dirt road course. The road course was located in front of the grandstand of the
Sixteen trucks on this type of track is a good number. That number beats several of the feature events I have seen this year with less than ten cars. There are very view yellow flag stoppages in C.O.R.R. racing. They do have a full course yellow flag if vehicles wreck on the first lap. Otherwise, unless there is a flip, a “corner yellow” is used for cars/trucks stopped on the track. This procedure tops all of the lame yellow flag delays that our nation’s ovals have.
C.O.R.R. normally has a “competition” yellow flag about midway in each race. Traditionalists will recoil at such a procedure as this type of yellow flag delay is meant to bunch all of the cars up and even the playing field. These same folks are probably quite happy with the
This is road racing. With C.O.R.R. road racing, you can see all of the track (except for one short distance at the
These cars/trucks are fast. There is no lame 20 M.P.H. figure 8 racing “action”. The course has several jumps. Tonight’s jumps weren’t as severe as I’ve seen. There were about eight jumps that did allow the racer’s to fly through the air. This certainly adds to the excitement for the fans.
There is always a good deal of side by side racing. It was not unusual to see three trucks flying through the air all nearly equal as they passed over a jump. These guys actually pass each other. They’re not like those lame winged sprint cars that more often than not have their winner come from the first row.
Tonight, the aforementioned, Mr. Robbie Gordon started in eight place. That was about the middle of the pact. I doubt, with his NASCAR commitment, he had ever seen the track configuration before. By just past the middle of the 22-lap race, he was leading! The battles he and his fellow drivers had were ferocious.
However, Robbie Gordon always crashes or crashes somebody else. In one turn, Robbie slid high and lost the lead. In the next corner, he made a Bonsai move and regained the lead only to lose the truck in a spectacular rollover. The truck landed on its top and burst into flames. In true Tony Stewart fashion, he stood at the edge of the track and pointed a finger at a fellow competitor. From what I could see, Mr. Gordon flipped all on his own.
This is also one of the positives about C.O.R.R. racing. Their guys “crash and burn”. The fans love to see a little bit of C&B. Of course, they don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but these drivers are well protected. There were several flips tonight. It is not unusual to see the race buggies/trucks losing several of their body parts. It’s called the “Jeffrey Dommer” effect. The fans love it and there are no lame NASCAR yellow flag “debris” stoppages in C.O.R.R. racing.
Add the fact that your ticket includes admission to the pits, you get a free program, and this solidifies the notion that C.O.R.R. racing is the most entertaining race going now. I won’t even mention that the announcer seemed to have a continuous I.V. of caffeine stuck in his veins and could probably have a heart attack at any moment as he describes the action.
So……let’s recap. C.O.R.R. brings solids car/truck counts to each race. They don’t have a number yellow flag stoppages. You can see the entire track. The racers are fast, they race side by side and they pass. They crash and burn. They let you in the pits. They give you a free program and an announcer who tells you what’s going on. I challenge any trackchaser to tell me what track or group is doing all of the above.
Nevertheless, I did not stay for the entire program. I felt the 92 minute “Robbie Gordon delay” was an outrage. I had arrived at the track at 6 p.m. for a tour of the pits and picture taking. This allowed me to see the main events for the single buggies and then the super buggies. Following their long break, I enjoyed the Pro 2 Cup Qualifier and the Pro 4 (four wheel drive) feature event.
I had been at the track for more than four hours when I exited the
RENTAL CAR UPDATE
I made my reservation like I always to with National Rental Car. I checked three rates, corporate, AAA and Emerald Leisure. I ended up with a price of $54.33 by using my AAA card. Slightly more than $20 of this fee was taxes!
Once I knew that I had a confirmed reservation, I then went to www.priceline.com and tried to beat this rate. I asked for a compact sized car. On a normal trip, I never would consider such a thing. However, on this trip I expected to drive about 50 miles. Even I can stand a compact car for such a short distance. Well, at least I thought I could.
I shamelessly bid just $13 per day for my one-day rental. Those crazy guys and gals over at Priceline accepted my offer! However, those tax crazy Texans who I am certain are “taxing without representation” charged $20.92 in taxes for my one-day rental. I hope you enjoy your new stadium or whatever you’re buying with my retirement dollars!! This brought my net price from Priceline to $33.92.
Net savings - $20.41
I drove the my Kia Spectra (or is it a Spectra Kia) 58 miles. I paid an average price of $2.80 per gallon. The Spectra gave me 32.0 miles per gallon in fuel mileage at a cost of 8.7 cents per mile. The car cost a whopping 58.5 per mile to rent, all taxes included.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
If you can’t tell it like it is, you shouldn’t tell it.
AIRPLANE
Orange County, CA – Dallas/Ft. Worth,
RENTAL CAR
Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport – trip begins
Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport – 58 miles - trip ends
AIRPLANE
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas – Los Angeles, CA – 1,205 miles
Total Air miles – 2,410 miles (2 flights)
Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 2,468 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $25
RANKINGS
LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
There are no trackchasers currently within 100 tracks of my lifetime total.
1. Randy Lewis,
Other notables
These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.
27. Ken Schrader,
28. Max Allender,
29. Carol Lewis,
2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Ed Esser,
3. Roland Vanden Eynde,
4. Mike Knappenberger,
5. Paul Weisel,
6. Pam Smith, Effort,
7. Carol Lewis,
8. Guy Smith, Effort,
9. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
10. Roger Ferrell,
Tracks have been reported by 40 different worldwide trackchasers this season.
LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS
Results current thru 10/14/07**
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
3. Allan Brown,
** Results are unofficial.
Past trackchasing reports are available at:
Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:
Some of the data in this report comes from www.trackchaser.net
and my Garmin GPS
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
It’s time to try to gain the #1 trackchasing spot in one more Far Western state. Then it’s sushi time!
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)
1,139. Meremere Dirt Track Club,
1,140. Meeanee Speedway,
1,141. Top of the South Speedway,
1,142. Woodford Glen Speedway,
1,143. Robertson Holden International
1,144.
1,145.
1,146. Angels Stadium of
1,147. Angels Stadium of
1,148.
1,149.
1,150. Grand Prix De Lanaudiere,
1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track,
1,152. St Guillaume, St
1,153.
1,154.
1,155. Northeast Pond Ice Track,
1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track,
1,157. New Hendry Country
1,158.
1,159. Honeoye Lake Ice Track – Road Course,
1,160.
1,161.
1,162. Dawgwood Speedway,
1,163. Toccoa Speedway,
1,164. Tazewell Speedway,
1,165.
1,166. Dacosa Speedway,
1,167. Swinging Bridge Raceway,
1,168.
1,169. Foothills Raceway,
1,170. Mileback Speedway,
1,171. Grand Prix of
1,172. Vegas Grand Prix,
1,173.
1,174. Low Country Kartway,
1,175. Dillon Motor
1,176. Valley Dirt Riders,
1,177.
1,178. Sertoma Speedway,
1,179.
1,180.
1,181. Hollywood Hills
1,182. Meridian
1,183.
1,184. Rocky Mountain Raceways (oval),
1,185. Rocky Mountain Raceways (figure 8),
1,186. Modoc
1,187.
1,188.
1,189. Fairplex at the
1,190. Lowes Motor
1,191. Lowes Motor
1,192.
**
1,193. Thunderbird Stadium (figure 8),
1,194. Thunderbird Stadium (oval),
1,195. Whispering
1,196.
1,197.
1,198.
1,199.
1,200. Castrol Raceway,
1,201. Hidden
1,202. Boyd’s
1,203. Fayette County Fairgrounds,
1,204.
1,205.
1,206. Vinton Speedway,
1,207. Hilltop
1,208. I-70
1,209. L A Raceway, La Monte,
1,210. Valley
1,211.
1,212.
**
** Iowa
1,213.
**
1,214. Kart Kanyon Raceway, Aztec,
1,215. Aztec
1,216. Sunvalley Speedway,
1,217.
1,218.
1,219. Hunterstown Speedway,
1,220. Shippensburg Speedway,
**
1,221. Blanket Hill
1,222.
1,223.