DAY 1 – SPRING MONSUNAL TRACKCHASING TOUR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY’S HEADLINES

 

How will I ever keep up with my fellow competitor trackchasers with so many non-trackchasing commitments during April...................more in “The Objective”.

 

Have you ever had Korean BBQ cooked on a grill at your table? …………..details in “The Trip”.

 

Tonight reminded me of my “racechasing” days.  That felt good. …………..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.  Recently I visited the Dover Raceway in Jamaica.  There is a “chat group” in Jamaica that talks about all racing in the country.  They became aware off my visit and viewed the photos I shot and the story I wrote about their racing and their country.  This is what several members had to say:

 

 

your website seems to be chock full of information at first glance ... browsing.

 

 

thanks for visiting we are glad you come are you gonna come again?

 

 

Welcome

 

 

Glad u enojoyed yourself...spread the word please. Help dispel some of the myths and malicious press reports we have to put up with

 

 

welcome.....glad to see you enjoyed yourself....what you do definitely should definitely be fun…from looking @ your pics we can see that you definitely had fun on your visit to our local circuit track and hope you come back....those are some nice pics by the way

 

 

Welcome and nice pictures.  You really captured the Jamaican culture.

 

 

nice pics ...

 

 

Another happy Tourist leaves Jamica  but will return another day. 

 

 

Nice pics, sorry I missed the event Funny he said he never paid that much for a pit pass at $1500Ja lol remember that is only about 20bucks US lol. Way cheaper that any race event I have been to here, well except for drag racing.

 

 

Really great and detailed pics. Glad you had a wonderful time. 

 

 

Truly fascinating

 

 

Great pics!!! Glad you had a great time!! Come back soon!!!

 

 

i really admire ur dedication to this track chasing thing...... glad u enjoyed jamaica!!!

 

 

amazing work and now it is international more people can see what lacal cicuit racing is all about which is : speed, fun, family food etc. thanks for displaying our racing culture to the world. BLESSED !!

 

 

Good stuff

 

 

 

 

It was indeed a pleasure meeting you yesterday at the Dover race track.Thanks for the compliments.I met quite a number of tourist as well and they all made favourable remarks of the meet.The Carnival spirit of the Jamaican people also met with favour.

There is no doubt that our promotional team achieved their objective to establih a new record in relation to increasing spectator attendence.We broke the old record that stood for many years and estimated at just under 6,000 on May 25,1998.

Regarding the actual racing attricion was in my view the worst ever.So we set two record one good one bad.

I would appreciate your candid views of the days proceedings.Constructive criticism can only help to improve conditions.Any recommendations for the better would be welcomed.

Hilary Jardine – President Jamaica Race Driver’s Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Don’t forget to try my new picture format at my website.  There are more pictures to see and they load a lot faster.

 

 

 

 

GREETINGS FROM SWAINSBORO, GEORIA.

 

 

 

 

I WOKE UP THIS MORNING IN AN ATLANTA, GEORGIA INTERSTATE REST AREA.  I WENT TO SLEEP IN SWAINSBORO, GEORGIA.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

 

 

 

The Objective 

 

April is going to be a very tough trackchasing month for me.  You might recall that I’ve scaled back my 2008 trackchasing plans because of the large number of non-trackchasing commitments I have this year.  I plan to see just over 100 new tracks in 2008.  I’m hoping that will be enough to give me a podium finish for the year (top 3) in the ’08 annual trackchasing standings.

 

I figure there are three trackchasers who could best my total this year.  These three trackchasers are Ed Esser, Mike Knappenberger and Roland Vanden Eynde (listed in alphabetical order).  Although I could be wrong, I don’t think any other trackchasers could muster up the resources, time or commitment to challenge.

 

I figure I only have to beat one of these three fellow competitors in order to get my top three finish.  If I make it, I will have finished in the worldwide top three for each of the past nine years.

 

If I could take everything I’m told as the gospel, then gaining a top three spot would be a cinch.  Like I say, I plan to get just over 100 tracks this year.  Ed has not made a public comment regarding his plans this year but he can always be counted on to break the century mark.  Mike has already told me he will top out at about 85 tracks.  Roland has also indicated he plans to cut back on his totals from the past couple of years and will finish somewhere below 100 new tracks.

 

Can I count on these guys living up to their prognostications.  In a word, “No”.  That being the case, I have to see as many tracks as I can early in the year just in case all THREE off these chasers band together to prevent my standing on the end of the year podium.

 

As I said, April is going to be a tough month for me.  To begin with, I have a three-day golf outing with some P&G friends in Alabama.  We’re going to play courses that are part of the famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.  I will return from this 8-night trip to spend one night in San Clemente.

 

Then Carol and I are off for a three-day weekend to San Francisco to attend the wedding of the daughter of our good friends, the Moody’s.  I hope to spend 3-4 days at home following that wedding before I must leave for Las Vegas.

 

I will be in Las Vegas for four days for a golf outing with six of my fraternity brothers from college.  I have not seen two of them since college.  I graduated in 1971.  One of those guys is now an attorney.  My last memory of him was when we were both arrested……..um, I mean detained by the sheriff of Miami, Ohio for some misdeeds that could never be proven.  O.K., they probably could have been proven but Sheriff Ralph T. Jones chose not to pursue the issue.  Our outing in Las Vegas should be fun.

 

Couple all of the above with the fact that Kristy and James will be moving into a new townhome during April.  Of course, I will help them with their physical move.

 

Yes, I know each and every reader leads a busy life.  Somehow, my April is even busier than normal.  It won’t get any better in early May.  We have a baby shower closely followed by a long international trip.  I had no idea that retirement life was going to be this busy.  O.K.  Yes I did.  I’m not complaining just explaining.

 

 

     

The Trip

 

While I’m gone on this trip, Carol will entertain two of her high school girlfriends at our home in San Clemente.  It’s always better when I take a longer trip to know that she has a project or two to keep her busy while I’m away.

 

Flying standby with golf clubs is never a good idea.  Since I didn’t want my clubs and me to be separated, I decided to fly on a frequent flyer ticket for this trip.  I’ve got a Frontier Airlines MasterCard credit card.  The card has one of the lowest mileage requirements to earn a free round-trip airline ticket of any card that I’ve seen.  I need to charge only $15,000 to earn 15,000 miles to get a free round-trip ticket on Frontier.

 

I charge everything.  If I go into a convenience store to get a Diet Coke, I charge it.  First, I never have to carry change around since I rarely spend cash.  Secondly, everything adds up and it doesn’t take long to earn another free ticket.

 

Since I’ve got confirmed space on the plane, I know (for the most part) my golf clubs will make it.  I’m going to be gone for eight nights and Carol will not be traveling with me.  Therefore, it made sense for her to drive me to the airport.  This would save a considerable amount in airport parking charges.  I’m not doing well against my overall trackchasing budget.  I’ll tell you more about that in a subsequent report.

 

We left for the airport in time for us to have dinner before I left on my 8 p.m. flight.  We were lucky to stumble across a Korean BBQ restaurant.  We mistakenly thought this was a Mongolian BBQ restaurant, one of our favorites.  At the Korean restaurant, each individual table had its own BBQ grill.  Our server cooked the food ON OUR TABLE.  It was delicious and made for great picture taking.  One of the best perks of living in an urban area is the wide array of dining and entertainment choices.  I like this very much except right after I’ve been stuck in a bad traffic jam.

 

Tonight’s flight from Orange County did not leave for Denver until after 8 p.m.  Once in Denver I would have a one-hour layover before changing planes and heading to Atlanta.  We ended up landing in Atlanta at 4:45 a.m. Eastern time (1:45 a.m. San Clemente time).  That’s tough time to land, but at least I wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel.

 

My plan was to get my rental car and be headed out of the Atlanta airport before the morning rush hour hit.  I had my golf clubs and rental car and made it out of the airport by 6 a.m.  It was still dark and it was raining.  Although I was falling asleep at the wheel, I made it about 60 miles to the first rest area along I-75 south of the airport.  From there I put the driver’s seat back and slept for 4-5 hours.  The patter of rain and the cool temps made sleeping very comfortable.

 

From there it was a 200-mile drive down to Southeast Georgia.  If this sounds like a tough trip to you, let me tell you what was the most difficult part.  The weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain for my races on both Thursday and Friday nights.  The above gymnastics is nothing compared to the nagging feeling that I might be doing all of this for no trackchasing return.

 

 

The People

 

I was lucky to have my friend Jim Sabo join me for tonight’s racing.  Jim and I started working together back in 1972.  We’ve been going to races together since the early 80s.  Jim now lives in Florida but is originally from Syracuse, New York.

 

He’s more of a racechaser.  He and I have been to Eldora for their big stock car and sprint car shows at least 20 times.  We’ve also been to big shows at Boone, Lernerville, Syracuse and many, many more.  It’s always fun to go racing with Jim.  Now that he’s retired maybe he will come along more often.  Great seeing you, Jim.

 

 

 

 

 

STATE RANKINGS

 

Georgia

 

This evening I saw my 24^th lifetime track in the Peachtree state.  This breaks a tie with Guy Smith.  I now hold down fourth place all by myself.  Ed Esser is directly above me in third place with 29 tracks.  John Moore leads in Georgia with 35 tracks.

 

Now you can see the entire up to date trackchaser rankings for Georgia.  With so few entries, it won’t take you much time to scan the list.  Just click on this link or paste it in your browser:

 

http://trackchaser.net/statregion.asp?country=USA&region=GA

 

 

 

 

 

COMPLETE TRACK TYPE CATEGORY RANKINGS OF NOTE:

 

Dirt Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Dirt

 

Paved Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Paved

 

Ice Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Ice

 

Mixed Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Mixed

 

Oval Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statoval.asp

 

Circuit (road course) Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statcircuit.asp

 

Figure 8 Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statf8.asp

 

Indoor Track Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statindoor.asp

RACE REVIEW

 

SWAINSBORO RACEWAY, SWAINBORO,  GEORGIA

 

I began my career of race watching as what I lovingly call a “racechaser”.  I went wherever the very best racing was happening.  Back in the 70s and early 80s I saw the biggest Midwest dirt late model and asphalt stock car races there were.  It was nothing to drive over to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a big mid-week show, then get home at 3-4 a.m. and go to work in a Caterpillar Tractor factory or cut weeds for the city of East Peoria in sweltering summer heat on less than three hours of sleep.

 

We made multiple weekend camping trips for the Winchester 400, the World 100, the Rockford Nationals and the World Dirt Track Racing Championships in Pennsboro, West Virginia.  We would go wherever the big shows were and where our favorite drivers (Dick Trickle, Darrell Dake, Don White and others were likely to show up).  As I think back on it, this was one of the most fun times I ever had in racing.

 

Chasing the big races is actually what landed me in the world of trackchasing.  The traveling circuits I followed, ASA, World of Outlaws, DTRA, as well as various unsanctioned events kept going to tracks I had never seen before.  By 1980, I had been to 72 different tracks.  I was 31 years old.  I was not a “trackchaser” at the time.  I went to these races because I wanted to be entertained by the racing.  I would never have given any thought whatsoever of going to a free standing figure 8 race, a go-kart (champ karts) race or a road race (except for our annual college fraternity visit to Elkhart Lake).

 

Then during the 1980s my business travel took me all over the country.  I started tying business trips into mid-week specials.  I discovered that I really enjoyed seeing new geographical locales and racing facilities.  I still saw good shows as well.

 

However, after surpassing the 1,000 track mark, I had seen 90% of the best 500 tracks in the country.  What was left?  It doesn’t take a math wizard to figure out that 90% of the tracks I would see from that point were NOT the best 500 tracks in the country.  That didn’t bother me in the least.  By that point, I had seen so many interesting and entertaining races, I was content just to “see the show” no matter how good or bad it might be.

 

The lion’s share of racing events I visit nowadays would never have even been considered for attendance when I was a “racechaser”.  However, I am a “trackchaser” now.  I attend an event primarily to see the track.  The actual racing is an afterthought of sorts.  I would love to see some good racing, but it is not a requirement and actually doesn’t happen very often.  Some folks seem to mistake this comment that I am not interested in seeing good racing.  Of course, I am.  I just know that with the tracks that remain to be seen, there is not going to be much good racing.  There is still good racing to be viewed, but most of it is at tracks I have already visited.  I’ve already seen those tracks and seen those races.  I want to see new stuff.  “New stuff” translates to new places, new tracks and new types of competition.  That’s all O.K. with me.

 

Coming to the Swainsboro Raceway tonight reminded me of my days as a “racechaser”.  Tonight Jim and I were going to see the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Models.  Some of the best late model drivers in the world were in the pit area including Scott Bloomquist, Donnie Moran and Freddie Smith.  This was the type of racing I grew up on.

 

This would not be the type of program that a real race fan would want to leave before the “A” main was completed.  I have never in my life left a track early when a major racing event like we were seeing tonight was taking place.  When the entertainment is there, I’m there.  However, when the show stinks, I won’t waste my time with it any longer than is necessary.  Easily more than one half of the shows I see in today’s racing world are not worth staying for.

 

Today the weather was threatening.  Weather.com had provided a forecast that called for a 60% chance of rain tonight.  It took all of my willpower to hop on a flight and fly overnight when it was likely I would be rained out.  It did drizzle on the morning of the race.  The weather looked bad all night but it didn’t rain on this special Thursday night event.

 

Jim and I arrived at the track in the late afternoon.  We paid our $20 admission fee and walked into the grandstand.  We placed our stadium seats in a good location near the top of the nine row grandstand.  The racing would not begin for a few more hours so we left the track to explore.  We got a local to give us a recommendation on the best BBQ in town.  They recommended “Ware’s” and that’s where we went.  It was O.K. but not good enough to stake my RANLAY Racing Money Back Guarantee reputation on it.

 

Once back at the track, we were just in time for hot laps.  Hot laps are essentially practice.  Time trials followed the hot laps.  Each late model was given one lap to qualify.  They normally get two but they were trying to beat the potential bad weather.  The 40+ stock car finished time trials in about 30 minutes.

 

From there we saw four Lucas Oil heat races, two “B” mains and then the “A” main feature.  There was only one support division, a local late model group.  Surprisingly, something happened that I cannot ever recall happening.  The track ran the complete Lucas Oil Late Model show before they ran any of the local late model races.  Good for them!  Most of the fans came to see the “big boys”.  By running the Lucas Oil series first, fans could “get on down the road” after the Lucas Oil races were run or stay to watch the locals if they wanted.  That’s so much better than holding the traveling fan “hostage” while the local classes wear out the track and the fan’s posterior.

 

The Swainsboro track is a first class facility.  I was surprised to learn they have been racing down here for 40 years.  The track was a red clay 3/8-mile oval.  Cars were pitted beyond turns three and four giving the fans a great view of all of the racing action. 

 

The crowd wasn’t very large.  I don’t know how these shows can make money with a crowd of 500 or so in the stands and a first place purse of $7,000.  The race program had one other glaring error.  It was impossible to hear the track’s P.A. system.  This is really inexcusable for a show of this caliber and from a track of this quality.

 

The racing was very good.  There was a good deal of passing and some minor inverted starts.  Scott Bloomquist was caught up in a wreck not of his doing during the heat race and never reappeared.  Terry Casey from up Wisconsin way blew everyone’s doors off getting fast time, winning his heat and then the $7,000 to win feature event.  I had never heard of him, but he definitely made an impression.

 

The track got a little dusty at the end but my purchase of some racing goggles at the track made everything good.  I listened to both the track’s radio channel on my race scanner as well as the “raceceiver” channel (454.000).  This channel is used for the race organizers to talk to the drivers during the race.  This really speeds up the show when the drivers can be told over the radio where to line up.

 

All in all, some very good racing.  If I had my choice, I wish trackchasing could consistently offer race programs like this one.  Alas, I know the hobby cannot.  I’m O.K. with that.

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

 

Atlanta, Georgia – Thursday/next Thursday

 

I’ll be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu for seven days on this trip.  I picked out a nice one with less than 5,000 miles on it, a sunroof and XM radio.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

They don’t boo the losers, they only boo the winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA – Atlanta, GA – 2,113 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR

 

Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport – trip begins

Swainsboro, GA – 224 miles

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Swainsboro Raceway – $20

 

 

 

 

 

RANKINGS

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

There are no trackchasers currently within 100 tracks of my lifetime total.  It’s not my fault!

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,324

 

 

Full Lifetime World Rankings

http://trackchaser.net/trackchasers.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other notables

 

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

 

26.  Kevin Eckert, Indianapolis, Indiana – 450

 

27.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 358

 

28.  Ken Schrader, Concord, North Carolina – 354

 

29.  Max Allender, Des Moines, Iowa – 349

 

 

 

 

 

2008 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 26

 

2.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 16

 

3.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 12

 

4.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 9

 

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 9

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 24 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

Complete 2008 Trackchasing Standings

http://trackchaser.net/statyear.asp?year=2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME COUPLES TRACKCHASING STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy & Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,682

 

2.  Allan & Nancy Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,672

 

3.  Guy & Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,666

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

2007 NGD results are posted at www.ranlayracing.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Official Trackchaser Rules

http://trackchaser.net/rules.asp

 

 

 

 

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 aka “Dusty”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

I’ve probably got too many things on my April plate but I figure I’ll have plenty of time to rest once I’m dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

1,299. Barnes Lake Ice Track, Ashcroft (road course), British Columbia, Canada - January 13

 

1,300. Bira Circuit, Pattaya (road course), 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

 

1,305. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds (oval), Springfield, Missouri – February 1

 

1,306. Atlanta Motor Speedway (road course), Hampton, Georgia – February 2

 

1,307. Brainerd International Raceway Ice Track (road course), Brainerd, Minnesota – February 3

 

1,308. Bay of Green Bay Ice Track (road course), Marinette, Wisconsin – February 9

 

1,309. Lake Speed Ice Track (oval), Tilleda, Wisconsin – February 9

 

1,310. Shawano Lake Ice Track – North Shore (oval), Shawano, Wisconsin – February 10

 

1,311. Cecil Bay Iceway (oval) – Cecil, Wisconsin – February 10

 

1,312. Mototown USA (oval) – Windsor, Connecticut – February 15

 

1,313. Moosehead Lake Ice Track (oval) – Greenville Junction, Maine – February 16

 

1,314. Clarence Creek Ice Track (oval) – Clarence Creek, Ontario, Canada – February 17

 

1,315. Durban Grand Prix (road course), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – February 24

 

1,316. Lake La Biche Ice Track (road course), Lake La Biche, Alberta, Canada – March 1

 

1,317. Rice Lake Ice Track (oval), Rice Lake, Wisconsin – March 8

 

1,318. Ashland Ice Track (oval), Ashland, Wisconsin – March 9

 

1,319. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez (road course), Mexico City, Mexico – March 16

 

1,320. Hartwell Motor Speedway (oval), Hartwell, Georgia – March 22

 

1,321. Lavonia Speedway, Lavonia (oval), Georgia – March 22

 

1,322. Dover Raceway (road course), Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Jamaica – March 24

 

1,323. Lake Country Speedway (oval), Ardmore, Oklahoma – March 29

 

1,324. Swainsboro Raceway (oval), Swainsboro, Georgia – April 3