DAY 2 – CAROL’S FIRST EVER ICE TRACK TRACKCHASING TOUR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY’S HEADLINES

 

Was I good today or just lucky?  You be the judge....................more in “The Trip”.

 

Which trackchaser has seen ice racing in more of America’s states and Canadian provinces (combined) than any other worldwide trackchaser? …………..details in “State Rankings”.

 

Hackensack, Minnesota is home to the statue of what famous person’s girlfriend? …………..details at “www.ranlayracing.com, press “Trackchaser Reports” press “#1,302”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND THE READERS RESPOND

 

 

From time to time interested readers write me about one thing or another.  Many times, I feel that my other readers would be interested, informed and/or amused by the comments I get. 

 

 

From California (newly joined Trackchaser Report member from the Pacific Golf Club) regarding 2007 Trackchaser Annual Report

 

 

“I actually read this from start to finish and thoroughly marveled at your dedication to this Trackchasing.  Congratulations.”

 

 

 

 

From Texas (subject:  photos from my recent visit to the Eagles Canyon Raceway, Slidell, Texas)

 

 

I am Ken Hughes and have been involved with ECR from when it was nothing more than a general road grader-cut streak in the topsoil of Wise County.   I am now the ECR Wise County Community Relations point man and am in the process of building a very powerful MS power Point presentation to show to the county and community leaders and businesses.  The Texas Tourism Board in Austin will get deeply involved with tourism development, read as investment therein, but the initiative must start within the county; it can't come unilaterally from Austin, ergo the need for a kick-ass presentation on my part……….To get to the bottom of this missive, it's about your really great shots from the CVAR at ECR.  There were a few shots of the December CVAR event on the ECR site, but they don't have any, not even a whisper of the quality of your shots of the event that are on the CVAR site.  How do I go about using some of them in my presentation?  Of course being an old photog, I have zero problems with the by-line, but what else do we need to do and how much will it cost? 

 

Editor’s note:  My reply to Mr. Hughes was very simple.  Each photo posted on www.ranlayracing.com is for sale.  The price is $500 per picture………just kidding.  I do not charge anything for my photos to be used elsewhere when I am asked in advance.  For those folks who don’t ask, I simply slap them with a copyright infringement lawsuit.

 

 

 

From Texas:

 

“Congratulations on #1,300 and a great Asian trip!  I want to thank you for the Priceline.com tip.  I’ll be staying at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas (never stayed there before, but it’s rated as a 4 star hotel) next week for four nights for $85 per night, including Sunday night which is Super Bowl night.  I checked the prices on their website after I booked with Priceline.com, and without Priceline.com I would have paid $269 per night!  A savings of over $700 for four nights stay is pretty hard to beat.”

 

 

 

 

 

Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at

www.ranlayracing.com

 

http://www.ranlayracing.com/jan26272008.htm

 

 

 

 

GREETINGS FROM HACKENSACK, MINNESOTA AND THEN GARRISON, MINNESOTA.

 

 

 

 

WE WOKE UP IN DETROIT LAKES, MINNESOTA.  WE WENT TO SLEEP IN MINEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA BEFORE RETURNING HOME TO SAN CLEMENTE ON MONDAY.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

 

The Objective 

 

My trackchasing objective is to see as many tracks as I can while meeting the trackchaser rules as listed at www.trackchaser.net.  Additionally, I’m out here to have fun and have a complete racing experience at each track I visit.  I don’t want to miss a thing.  I want to explore the entire racing property, sample the track food and the restroom facilities.  I want to speak with local promoters and fans.  When I leave the track, I don’t want to have missed any of that track’s ambience and activity.

 

With the above being said, you are going to have to read “The Trip” section to decide if I was lucky or good or maybe both with our trackchasing endeavors on Sunday, January 27, 2008.

 

     

The Trip

 

Today’s ice racing at the Birch Lake Ice Track in Hackensack, Minnesota was scheduled to begin at 12 noon.  Carol and I got a little bit of a late start on our 74-mile drive from Detroit Lakes to Hackensack.  We arrived at Birch Lake at 12:25 p.m., about 25 minutes after the scheduled start time.

 

We ended up seeing a feature and two heats.  The astute observer might say, “But Randy, didn’t you really see two heats and THEN a feature?”  Nope!  The Birch Lake Ice Racing Association runs three different sets of “two heats and a feature”.  The first race to be run after we arrived at the track was the feature event of the first set.  Then we saw the first two heats of the second set of races.  There were only 10 cars racing in the feature event and five cars in each heat race.

 

At this point in the program, Carol and I had already sampled the cuisine (brats, but they didn’t sell any diet soda) and used the very clean porta-potties.  We had talked with the locals (quote from Minnesotaian “I’ve never met anyone nice from California before!”).  We had our pictures taken at the track and explored everywhere a spectator could go.

 

Then I came up with an idea.  In the comfort of the Alamo Rental Car Racing Dodge Charger, I fired up my laptop, not for warmth (it was about 35 degrees), but for information.  I knew another ice track was racing in Minnesota.  My race date database (proprietary information and password protected) told me that there was ice racing in Brainerd, Minnesota.  It was only 1:30 p.m.  Brainerd was just 48 miles away.  We could get there by 2:30 p.m. and see another track, hopefully.

 

Editor’s note:  Had we not been tardy in arriving at the Birch Lake Ice Track, we could have seen the FIRST two heats and the feature by no later than 12:50 p.m. or so.

 

Our drive down to Brainerd was for the most part uneventful.  We found the Brainerd International Raceway on the first shot.  However, there didn’t seem to be much activity going on.  There were two carloads of folks doing some clean-up work at the entrance to BIR.  No, they did not know anything about ice racing at Brainerd today.  One young fellow said, “Let me go to my car.  I’ve got the newspaper and they might say something about the ice races in there” and away he ran.  An older gentleman offered up his recollection of where the ice races might actually be.  Then he saw the owner of BIR leaving the front gate.  “Wait, I’ll ask the owner if there is any ice racing” and away he ran.  Shortly, the young man came back with news that the newspaper didn’t have any ice racing information.  Then the older man came back with news that there definitely was no ice racing at BIR today.

 

Editor’s note:  What did I learn from all of this?  Minnesota people are too damned helpful and nice!!

 

I bade my potential helpers farewell with a hearty California “thank you”, pulled over to the side of the road, and fired up my laptop again.  I KNEW there was another ice track racing in Minnesota today.  I was shocked and dismayed to learn I had read the info in my database incorrectly.  The Brainerd ice racing was NEXT weekend.  However, upon closer review there was more ice racing today at Mille Lacs Lake in Garrison, Minnesota.

 

It was now 2:30 p.m.  At this point I used a technology capability that no other trackchaser is known to have.  I pulled out my Sierra Wireless gizmo and connected to the International Ice Racing Association website for the exact details of their race schedule for today.  They were running a two hour and 15 minute enduro.  The Mille Lacs Lake road course track was just 20 miles from where we were sitting in Brainerd.  Away we went!

 

I must say that had I known it was Garrison, MN racing and not Brainerd, MN, I might not have made what would have been a 68-mile drive from Birch Lake to Garrison.  However, we were now just 20 miles away from pay dirt, or more aptly described, ice.  We couldn’t give up now.

 

When we pulled into the outskirts of Garrison at 2:50 p.m. the track’s location was not immediately obvious.  I made a hard left into a convenience store and saw a man walking from his car into the store.  As I rolled down my window to ask him where the ice track was, I could here the racecar engines.  Before I could finish my question, the man pointed to exactly where the cars were racing on Mille Lacs Lake.  We could see the cars from the convenience store parking lot!

 

We pulled just off the highway so we could watch the race already in progress.  We could have just sat in the car to watch the remainder of the two hour and 15 minute enduro event.  However, I wanted to get closer to the action.  We walked about 100 yards from our car to the event’s paddock area on frozen Mille Lacs Lake.  As I always do I engaged myself in conversation with one of the racecar team members.

 

We were in luck.  There was still more than an hour to go in this race.  However, there were just six cars racing on what looked like a much longer track than the advertised 0.75-mile circuit.  We had ready been at the track for about 20 minutes.  I must be honest, watching five cars spread out over a long ice race road course is not the most entertaining event I will see in 2008.

 

My conversation continued with the locals in the paddock area.  I was asking questions about today’s racing and the track when the fellow I was talking to waved his hand to the right and said, “You know, they’re racing on an oval right over there”.  With that my gaze moved to the right.  Yep!  About 3/10 of a mile in the distance we could see racecars just beginning an event.  My newfound friend said, “You could drive on the ice to get there, but it’s a little rough.  You might want to get back on the highway and take the entrance just down the road”.

 

Editor’s note:  With that I did one of my best Marine Corps about faces and rushed back to the car.  In my haste to get moving I knocked Carol flat on her butt in the International Ice Racing Association paddock area.  There was no time to waste.  We needed to get moving.

 

Editor’s note:  I made up that line about knocking Carol on her butt.  I just thought it made an interesting word picture!

 

Soon we were at the Hardwater Ice Racing Association event being run on a 3/8 mile oval track on Mille Lacs Lake.  Wow!  This was our third ice-racing track of the day.  Our plan had called for just one.  We could see the enduro racing continuing on the road course too our left.  The H.I.R.A. group still had three feature events to go.  They started 10-15 cars in each event with some of the best ice racing I have ever seen.

 

Now I have a few questions of my readers?

 

Was I good today?

 

I had known there was another ice track racing in Minnesota today.  I had used my special technology capabilities to get us to the track on time.  By the way, my technology equipment will add 5-10 tracks to my season total.  A less well-equipped trackchaser would never be able to match this effectiveness.  I had spent enough time talking with the locals to find out another track was running next door.  We could have just sat in the comfort of our car watching five racers run out the rest of their enduro race.  Had we done that, we never would have known another countable track was racing within shouting distance.

 

On the other hand, was I just lucky today?

 

Yes, I had read my trackchasing database info incorrectly.  Heck, if I had read it CORECTLY the first time, I probably would have judged the trip to be too far and would not even have attempted to get a trackchasing double.  Was I just lucky to have arrived at the Mille Lacs Lake road course only to find another countable track was racing on an oval within an easy seven iron (on a frozen lake anyway) away?

 

You the reader have all the power.  You get to be the judge!

 

 

 

The People

 

The Minnesota folks we met were above and beyond nice.

 

 

 

 

 

STATE RANKINGS

Minnesota

Today’s tracks were my 38^th, 39^th and 40^th lifetime Minnesota tracks.  I now hold sole possession of third place here.  Jack Erdmann and Ed Esser hold the top two positions in the state with 66 and 56 tracks, respectively.  It is unlikely that I will ever improve my Minnesota state ranking after today.

 

I now have a third place ranking or better in the following 22 states and District of Columbia.

 

Alabama

Arizona

California

Colorado

District of Columbia

Florida

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Kansas

Louisiana

Minnesota

Mississippi

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Mexico

Oklahoma

Oregon

Texas

Utah

Washington

Wyoming

 

 

 

These were Carol’s 6^th, 7^th and 8^th lifetime Minnesota tracks.  She has moved past Pappy Hough into sole possession of 16^th place in gopher land.

 

Today’s racing increased my ice racing track total to thirteen.  After a slow start with ice tracks, I have now quietly slipped into seventh place in the worldwide trackchaser ice rankings.

 

Despite my inexperience with ice racing, I have now seen ice racing in more states (New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Wisconsin) than any other worldwide trackchaser.  A few others have seen ice racing in three U.S. states.

 

Carol went from zero ice racing tracks before the weekend started to four ice tracks by sundown on Sunday night.  She now ranks 16^th out of the 25 trackchasers who have visited an ice track.  She is the second ranked woman, behind Pam Smith’s 10 ice tracks, in this wintertime category.

 

 

 

 

RACE REVIEW

 

BIRCH LAKE ICE TRACK (OVAL), HACKENSACK, MINNESOTA

 

After going to 1,300 tracks where everyone USED a racing helmet when they raced, my last two tracks have allowed drivers (and their passengers) to race without helmets or roll bars.  In today’s litigious society that seems a bit hard to believe.

 

Today the weather was much warmer.  The temperature hovered around 35 degrees at race time.  I was somewhat concerned that it might get TOO warm for ice racing, but there was very little melting going on.  The racing gods must have been with Carol.  The forecasted low during the next 48 hours was -22 degrees Fahrenheit.  According to www.weather.com, this cold would be accompanied by a 21 M.P.H. wind making the wind chill temperature -43 degrees!  Thank you racing gods!!

 

Since we were arriving some 25 minutes after the scheduled start time, I stopped at a gas station for directions.  Fortunately, Birch Lake was located very near this very place.  We soon found the entrance to both the lake and the track.  The entrance road was nearly a miles drive across the frozen lake.  There was no admission fee.

 

We were just in time to see the 10 full-sized ice racing stock cars taking to the track for a race.  This turned out to be the feature event for the first “segment” of racing.  They had already completed two heats in our absence.  The racing on the 3/8 mile was fast and close with a good deal of sliding on the ice and some contact.

 

After the feature event, which we didn’t know was the feature event, we visited the concession stand.  They had a neatly printed menu on the window of their portable building.  We both went with brats.  I was surprised they did not sell coffee (Carol) or diet soda (Randy).  There were two very clean porta potties situated on a small trailer that was still attached to the tow vehicle.

 

Very few ice racing tracks have P.A. systems.  They didn’t have one today.  It was only through my conversations with Birch Lake Racing Association officials as well as competitors that I found out how the racing program was going to be run.

 

The ice racing up here in Minnesota has been super efficient.  One race is ready to go after each race is completed.  Maybe they don’t like to waste time because it’s so cold.  There were a few spins, but no yellow flags today.

 

It’s still really strange for me to see 4-5 people in nearly each race car during the race.  Check out these unusual sights at www.ranlayracing.com.  Everybody seems to have a good time as we did as spectators.  After seeing a feature event and two heat races, we decided that with only 10 cars in the entire field, it would be best to head on down the Minnesota state highway.  So…..we did.

 

 

 

 

MILLE LACS LAKE ICE TRACK (ROAD COURSE), GARRISON, MINNESOTA

 

We arrived into Garrison, Minnesota at just before 3 p.m.  I wasn’t sure if we would be in time for any countable racing or not.  The International Ice Racing Association was in charge of a two-day ice racing weekend on Mille Lacs Lake.  I had seen one of their shows at Balsam Lake in Wisconsin last season.  The IIRA is a sports car group and they race on road courses.

 

They are the largest sanctioning body for racing on ice in North America.  Their typical program for the Sunday portion of a racing weekend (as in today) is to have a 30-minute sprint race and a 2+ hour enduro.  When we arrived, they were in the midst of their enduro.

 

I had stopped at a gas station to get directions to the track.  It just so happens that the place where I stopped was just across the highway from Mille Lacs Lake, a huge body of water.  The lake is more than 15 miles across.  We initially parked away from the group’s paddock area in an official parking area just off the road.  We could see the racing action from this position.

 

We sat in the car for a few minutes watching the race.  The road course looked huge, although the IIRA website tells me the track was just 0.75 miles in distance.  Maybe the track looked so big because there were only five cars racing.  One car had dropped out after completing eleven laps.  I’ll be direct.  Watching just five cars run over a large road course some distance from our viewing point for two hours isn’t really that entertaining.

 

Maybe that was the reason, I chose to abandon the warmth of our car and venture onto the frozen lake’s paddock area.  I’m glad I did.  I was soon talking to a fellow who, in the midst of our conversation, mentioned that there were oval ice races being held only a few hundred yards to the right of the road course as we looked out onto the lake.

 

I honestly don’t think the fellow I was talking too understood what type of information he had just relayed to me.  Here’s the deal.  I had planned to see only one ice track today.  Only because the Birch Lake group had just ten cars and ran their program so quickly had I even considered trying to add an additional track to the day’s program.  Now……..I was going to get a third track for the day.  Simply amazing!

 

We had now been at the road course for maybe 30 or 40 minutes.  Those five cars were still racing.  The winner completed 135 laps at an average speed of 44.3 M.P.H.

 

Probably the highlight of this new track visit happened after the race was finished.  Carol and I stopped in the IIRA paddock area and talked with Mark the race’s starter and the individual who had prepared this track.  Mark mentioned that the local economy plus some dissention among the group’s racers had seriously affected the car count.

 

Mark was a racer himself.  He told us about his racing experience at the Dover Raceway in Jamaica.  I’m hoping to visit that track in the not too distant future in my quest to see more racing in foreign countries.  Although the IIRA racing was the best today, I hope to visit other programs they offer on lakes around this area.

 

 

 

MILLE LACS LAKE ICE TRACK (OVAL), GARRISON, MINNESOTA

 

Anytime I get an unexpected track, I consider it a real treat.  The Hardwater Ice Racing Association was in charge of today’s racing on the Mille Lacs Lake oval track.  The great thing about watching the races on the oval was that we could keep an eye on the racing on the road course at the same time.  Of course, with just five cars racing on the road course, there wasn’t much to keep an eye on!

 

The H.I.R.A. group had a nice field of stock cars.  Once again I was able to locate a gentleman near the pit area who had all of the inside scoop on this group.  He even gave me a four page handout that provided the race order, future schedule and much more.

 

There were five classes of competitors racing today.  Only three of those were countable by trackchaser rules.  This included 1) studded, 2) soft rubber and 3) hard rubber.  The non-countable classes were 1) sport ATV and 2) utility ATV.

 

We stood at one end of the track (turns three and four) for the entire time we were at this track.  Therefore, we missed “Stubbie’s” the concessionaire who sold brats and sloppy joes in the pit area at each H.I.R.A. race.

 

We saw each of the feature races for the three countable classes.  Each class had 10-15 cars and the racing was fast and furious.  There was a good deal of 3-4 abreast racing.  Obviously, the non-studded cars were a good deal slower than the racers running on studded tires.

 

A 12-year old driver led one of the features for several laps.  We were told this was the minimum age for driver participation.  There was no upper age limit.  When the sun went behind the clouds as the day wound down, the 35 degree temperatures seemed quite a bit cooler.  However, just finding this track made us feel warm inside!!

 

 

 

 

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

 

I was shocked we saw three ice tracks in one day.  Randy’s a good planning and we had random dumb luck on our side.  The temperatures were much better today, I wasn’t as frozen.  I appreciate the good humor and extreme efficiency of these ice racers.  The Birch Lake Ice Track had nice porta potties and concession stand clean was as a pin.  The relish wasn’t even frozen.  It will be a perfect weekend if I get home and find out my house has not slid down the hill due to the SoCal rains.  The Indian casinos are great.  Food is good and the place is packed with people.  I wished we could have been here on a weekend when the casinos had live entertainment (Oak Ridge Boys, Gordon Lightfoot, and Lily Tomlin). 

 

Editor’s note:  We stopped at two of the Indian casinos for meals.  The food was very good at both places.  I was surprised at what a blue collar older demographic these casinos attracted.  I can’t imagine these people can afford to lose much money.

 

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

 

Minneapolis – Friday/Monday

 

We went with the Alamo Rental Car Racing Dodge Charger on this trip.  The legroom was outstanding.   I drove the car 665 miles on perfectly clear roads in Northern Minnesota.  I paid an average price of just $2.81 per gallon.  The Dodge gave me 25.5 miles per gallon in fuel mileage at a cost of 11.1 cents (U.S.) per mile.  The car cost 10.7 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

If you think there is good in everybody, you haven’t met some of the people I’ve met.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Orange County, CA – Denver, CO – 845 miles

Denver, CO – Minneapolis, MN - 679 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR – MINNEAPOLIS

 

Minneapolis International Airport – trip begins

Cameron Lake Ice Track – 315 miles

Birch Lake Ice Track – 470 miles

Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (road course) – 541 miles

Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (oval) – 541.3 miles

Minneapolis International Airport  – 665 miles

AIRPLANE

 

Minneapolis, MN – Denver, CO – 679 miles

Denver, CO – Minneapolis, MN – 845 miles

 

 

Total Air miles – 3,048 miles (4 flights)

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 3,713 miles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Cameron Lake Ice Track – $5

Birch Lake Ice Track – Free

Mille Lac Lake Ice Track (road course) – Free

Mille Lac Lake Ice Track (oval) – Free

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $5

 

Editor’s note:  I have been to six new tracks in 2008.  I have only been charged admission to one track.  The other fives tracks did not charge any spectators for admission.

 

 

 

 

RANKINGS

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

There are no trackchasers currently within 100 tracks of my lifetime total. 

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,304

 

 

 

 

Other notables

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus or more) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.

 

26.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 439

 

27.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 353

 

27.  Ken Schrader, Concord, North Carolina – 353

 

28.  Max Allender, Des Moines, Iowa – 349

 

 

 

 

 

2008 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 7

 

2.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4

 

2.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 4

 

4.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 3

 

5.  Bruce Eckel, Easton, Pennsylvania - 2

 

5.  Pat Eckel, Easton, Pennsylvania - 2

 

5.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 2

 

5.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 2

 

Several trackchasers with one track.

 

Tracks have been reported by 16 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

Final results to be announced in my next Trackchaser Report!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

I have a very robust trackchasing plan for this coming weekend.  I’ll go for an indoor show, a road course and an ice race.  If the planes are on time, this could work out very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2008 (** not the first time to visit this track)

 

 

1,299. Barnes Lake Ice Track, Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada - January 13

 

1,300. Bira Circuit, Pattaya, Thailand - January 19

 

1,301. Cameron Lake Ice Track (oval), Erskine, Minnesota - January 26

 

1,302. Birch Lake Ice Track (oval), Hackensack, Minnesota - January 27

 

1,303. Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (road course), Garrison, Minnesota - January 27

 

1,304. Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (oval), Garrison, Minnesota - January 27