
We arrived early at the Riverside International Speedway. I wanted to get some pictures while it was still light out. The track slogan on the left seemed to make sense.

There is a large amount of seating at R.I.S. However, this large grandstand had some of the most rotted out seat boards, I have seen in a long time. This is just one of the grandstand seating areas on the "pit" side of the track.

This grandstand is also on the pit side or backstretch portion of the track. The blue seat boards are made of steel. It looks like the promoter is trying to upgrade the track one seat board at a time. Good for him!

This is a view of the grandstand on the front stretch. It seats about half or less as much as the backstretch grandstand. Note the workers in red shirts. They are standing on the scale used to weigh each race car upon an event's completion.

These cars competed in a four-cylinder type stock car class.

The track surface at the Riverside International Speedway is legendary. It is noted for staying moist and tacky. This is turn one and two of the track. I was impressed with the racing surface.

This didn't seem like a very sturdy catch fence, especially since the track was racing wingless sprint cars. Note the track sign says only "Riverside Speedway" even though the official name is Riverside International Speedway. The track is located at the intersection of Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. That's about as far from anything "international" that you can get.

This is the best I could do with the low lighting conditions at Riverside.
DAY 2 – IT’S EATIN’ TIME TRACKCHASING TOUR
EDITOR’S NOTE
There is some strange behavior going on in the National Diversity Contest. I wanted to make you aware of what’s happening before you heard it anywhere else. Will White, in addition to being the Trackchaser Commissioner, is also the webmaster at www.trackchaser.net. Mr. White has been a little slow in posting each trackchaser’s results on his website. Results have only recently been posted for the final three weeks of October.
I have had a good NGD weekend so far, gaining four positions in
However, over the past three weeks, Mr. Gordon Killian, a resident of
Currently, Mr. Killian trails in the lifetime NGD standings by just seven position points (Gordon 6.55 vs. Randy 6.41). There is a distinct possibility that the three-time lifetime NGD champion could erase this deficit and win his fourth consecutive title. I am concerned about this for several reasons.
First, I would like to know who is putting Gordon up to this. I have my suspicions. He has had plenty of opportunity to just roll over and give up. Trackchasing, according to everything I have ever been told is not supposed to be competitive. Of course, my granddaddy told me to judge people’s actions and not their words. I try to live by his advice.
I am also concerned that Mr. Killian’s close friends do not know what his true motives are. In a recent conversation with Mr. Mike Knappenberger, a close confident of Gordon’s, I was assured that “Gordy tells me he doesn’t care about the NGD points”. First, I am concerned for Mike. If he believes this, then what other tales is Gordon telling him? Secondly, I am also concerned for Mike. Maybe Mike knows that the NGD contest IS very important to Mr. Killian and is simply trying to sneak one by me. That would not be right.
There are less than two months remaining in the 2007 trackchasing season. Projecting future NGD results is not much different than projecting a national election. In an election one candidate might be out in front, with still more votes to be counted. The person currently behind can easily overcome a small deficit.
In looking at what will likely be coming up, I project that Gordon has a 63% chance of winning this year’s lifetime NGD contest. This makes me the underdog. I have never won this contest ever. To win, Mr. Killian will have to have his friends drive him around. I don’t believe he has the stamina to do this by himself.
However, if Mr. Killian does win this year’s contest, I am not going to
1) Accuse him of being some rich guy who can go all the way from
2) Accuse him of being some big corporate tycoon (Mr. Killian is a long-time employee of a major
3) Accuse him of using unethical tactics associated with (apparently) all corporate employees. I will not try to paint him with the same brush used to cover the Enron scandal.
4) Accuse him of being a racist.
5) Accuse him of having a track list that is dishonest.
Mr. Killian has been attached to these accusations in the past. He’s paid a price for it. I don’t want to see him placed on probation again by any of the sanctioning bodies who have acted in this manner previously.
If Gordon should end up winning this year’s contest, I will simply do what any fellow competitor would. I will offer my heartfelt congratulations. I will then go about developing a strategy to unseat him in 2008.
Carol implores that if Mr. Killian wins the NGD contest, I should “give him his magazine. He deserves it. He likes it”. Of course, Trackchasing’s First Mother, ever the “Pollyanna” type refers to the annual prize that goes to each man and woman who wins the lifetime and annual National Geographic Diversity contest. Mr. Killian is a current subscriber to the National Geographic Magazine, a prize given to each NGD winner.
I do offer a disclaimer or two. I am not going to be in anyway responsible for Mr. Killian or any of his drivers blowing their retirement savings trying to keep up in the NGD contest. I am not going to be responsible for premature wear and tear on their automobiles as they wear them out driving up and down interstate 95. This can be an expensive game and you shouldn’t play if you can’t pay.
There is a possibility that I will have sponsorship dollars for this year’s lifetime NGD contest. I am negotiating with a national company to provide a $10,000 cash prize to this year’s winner. I won’t know if this award will be coming through for a few more weeks.
Finally, I hope that webmaster Will White can post the results from all of the leading lifetime NGD candidates on more of a real time basis for the remainder of this year. This will allow all fans and contestants to enjoy what is shaping up to be the “trackchasing contest of the century”.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Will Carol repeat as women’s trackchasing champion in 2007? What do household chores have to do with her decision?...................more in “The Objective”.
Where did Carol decide to have her “48th trackchasing state” celebration? …………..details in “The objective”.
What did the customers at the Waffle House in
Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at
http://www.ranlayracing.com/nov242007.htm
GREETINGS FROM
WE WOKE UP IN
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Objective
We ended up in
We were also able to score a trackchasing double, which is difficult to do in November. Carol has now trails Ms. Pam Smith for the women’s division lead by just one track. Carol has no more scheduled new tracks for the balance of this year. If you would like to encourage Carol to give Ms. Smith a run for her money, you can email your support to her at bruintrio@yahoo.com. I’m willing to let her ride shotgun.
I have been discussing the women’s championship with Carol. Recall, she is the two-time defending champion in this category. Carol seems more interested in taking care of things around the house than defending her title. She did give me the option of doing a few chores around the house so that she could go trackchasing more often. I referred that choice to the committee at RANLAY Racing and it was soundly rejected. I predict Carol with finish second this year in the women’s competition. However, her appetite for trackchasing state diversity should hold her in good stead for the annual NGD women’s championship.
The Trip
Trackchasing travel is never easy. With the level of track penetration I have achieved the remaining “points on the map” seem to get further and further apart. Following tonight’s races, we drove about three hours north to
We wanted to find a place to celebrate Carol’s 48th different trackchasing state. A Waffle House along the interstate in
As you know, I am always seeking trackchasing “firsts”. I believe I have achieved another first tonight at the Waffle House. I brought my laptop into the diner so I could find a hotel for us to stay at tonight. From the looks of the late night Friday crowd in
I used my “special super secret” (SSS) ability to connect to the internet virtually anywhere in
Was I surprised that
I pay a monthly charge to have internet capability anywhere, anytime in the
We could not sleep in on Saturday morning. We were out the door by 7 a.m. (5 a.m.
The People
We stopped to fill up in a rural
She told Carol she was moving into a new (different for her) mobile home. Yes, she told Trackchasing’s First Mother, the mobile home had a hole in the floor, but it could easily be fixed. What a positive attitude.
That reminded me that material things are not required. Yes, I would rather have nice things than not, but I grew up with very little and feel that I could live that way again if it were necessary. However, I will be rebalancing my retirement portfolio in the hopes that I can avert any material regression.
STATE RANKINGS
Today was my 18th lifetime track to see in the Volunteer state. This breaks my tie with the racing Eckels and Roger Ferrell. I trail Sammy Swindell by just one track for the seventh position.
The
Tonight was my 6th lifetime track to see wheel to wheel racing at in the Razorback state. This puts me in a tie for 5th place with Allan Brown and Rick Schneider among others. Of note is that this track improves my state ranking from ninth place to fifth place. It also moves Gordon Killian from ninth to tenth. My gain of four positions and Gordon’s loss of one gives me a five-point lifetime NGD point advance.
This was Carol’s second
RACE REVIEW
It was a gorgeous fall day at ARP. There wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky and the temperature was a comfortable 66 degrees. We used our GPS unit, aka “Dusty” to traverse several two-lane
Presto, change-o, a full pit area of campers, racecar haulers and racecars came into view. The GPS unit continues to be absolutely amazing.
I will say this, I fully respect those trackchasers that did this hobby in the 70s and earlier. Back then there was no internet, it cost a princely sum to make a long-distance phone call and there was no National
I lost my copy of the directory a couple of months ago. I think it slid under the seat of my rental car and I didn’t know it. It’s too late in the year to get another one. I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I have hardly missed it. Two-thirds of the tracks, I still have on my North American radar list, at not in the book. I now use websites for track physical addresses and directions. The best of all worlds is to have a physical address that I can put into Dusty.
Next year I will get another copy of the National
The
Earlier in the year, I passed up this track because of bad weather. Today was their last race of the season. I was most pleased to finally get to Atoka located in
This is a high-quality banked dirt oval. It’s about 1/8 mile around. Really the track is just like a traditional quarter-mile short track oval that has been shrunk. The P.A. is good, there was no dust and they ran an efficient race program.
There were eighteen classes of karts racing today. Only two of those classes were countable. The two countable classes were both variations of senior champ karts. One group was the 11th class to run of the day. The other was the 18th and final class.
Today, all junior classes “qualified” by time rather than running a heat race. All of today’s karts use electronic transponders. This allows the track to have several racers on the track at the same time and each kart takes its best time from 4-5 laps run. It’s similar to how the World Formula One does it.
All of the senior class ran a heat race in order to determine the feature lineup. We stayed for the two senior champ heats. Each had about 8-10 karts racing although the fields of cars were not identical. It didn’t make much sense to wait through intermission and 16 classes of non-countable karts in order to see the senior champ kart features.
When we arrived one of the drivers we had talked too last night in
RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL
The Riverside International
We arrived at about 5 p.m. while it was still daylight. I wanted to get some pictures of the track while there was enough light for my camera. This track is located in a downtrodden area. The streets are not well marked and it’s difficult to locate. Fortunately, I had the promoter’s cell phone number to help us find the place.
We entered the backstretch side of the track by mistake. RIS has a huge wooden grandstand on the backstretch. It’s larger than the grandstand on the front stretch. However, the wooden boards in the bleacher look to be filled with dry rot. It’s a scary situation. It looks like they are upgrading some of the seat boards with steel seating, which is long overdue.
The P.A. is not very good. The track surface, which RIS is noted for, was excellent. The black
The track turned into a “bump, spin and yellow flag” affair. That’s one of the worst kinds. Even though the track surface was great, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such ill-handling cars in almost all classes. The late models were particularly lame. Nearly every car “pushed” like a farm plow.
There were several classes racing including some form of mini-stock (13-14), late models (16), mini-sprints (9), 305 wingless sprint cars (10) and modifieds (16). The sprint cars looked like it would not take much to get one launched into the grandstand.
The late model “dash for cash” had something I had never seen before. Each of the six drivers drew a pill for their starting positions. That’s not unusual. However, when the driver got his starting position number, he then had to give it to another driver! The driver who started from the first row pole won the $300 cash prize.
At intermission, they brought out a two-seated sprint car where the passenger sits directly behind the driver. This car had such a long wheelbase it would make a Silver Crown car look like a midget. Actually, tonight’s car looked more like a limo than anything else.
I’ve seen two-seated sprinters several times. I have never seen a driver that was “on the gas” as much as this guy was. The two-seater raced with a wing and seemed to be quite a bit faster than the normal sized wingless sprint cars that raced tonight. The two-seater passenger got the five-lap ride of his/her life tonight.
CAROL’S COMMENTS
I really liked the 13-year-old wingless sprint car driver. I think he’s going to be the next Steve Kinser. The two-seated sprint car I raced in
RENTAL CAR UPDATE
Memphis-pickup/Little Rock/drip – Saturday/Sunday
We drove the National Rental Car Racing
Then, when flights out of
Fortunately, I was able to use another “free day” coupon I had earned with the National Rental Car Company for this one-day drop in
I drove the Grand Prix 250 miles. I paid an average price of $3.00 per gallon. The
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
Everything I know, I learned from someone else.
TRAVEL DETAILS
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – New Orleans, LA – 1,628 miles
RENTAL CAR – PICKUP
RENTAL CAR – PICKUP
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Atoka Raceway
Riverside International
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,
2. Roland Vanden Eynde,
4. Mike Knappenberger,
5. Paul Weisel,
6. Pam Smith, Effort,
7. Carol Lewis,
7. 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 11/3/07**
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
3. Allan Brown,
** Results are unofficial.
Some of the data in this report comes from www.trackchaser.net
and my Garmin GPS
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.
1,224. Iowa
1,225.
1,226.
1,227.
1,228. Lycoming County Fairgrounds (figure 8),
1,229.
1,230.
1,231. Van Buren County Youth Fairgrounds (road course),
1,232. High Banks