DAY 1 (SORT OF)– IT’S GOLFING TIME WITH THE DSP BROTHERS TRACKCHASING TOUR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY’S HEADLINES

 

I’ve added a new feature to the Trackchaser Report.  My readers commonly ask questions and I will post them from time to time along with my response...................more in “Reader Questions for Randy”.

 

What is Ed Esser trying to do in the Far West? …………..details in “Far West Trackchasing Update”.

 

I’m proud of what my fellow DSPers have achieved in life…………..details in “The People”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 BOISE, IDAHO.

 

 

 

 

I WOKE UP IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA THIS MORNING.  I WENT TO SLEEP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

Medical Update

 

I am still getting hepatitis B shots as a follow-up to my trip to South Africa.  No, international trackchasing is not for the faint of heart.

 

 

 

Reader Questions for Randy

Q.  Last year you talked a lot about the National Geographic Diversity contest.  This year you haven’t said a thing about it.  What gives?

 

A.  The NGD results are still important to me.  However, I’m concentrating more on international trackchasing this year.  I will continue to post NGD results later in the year.  I will keep an eye on my fellow competitors and react as needed.

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

 

 

I have spent the past couple of weeks going to weddings, visiting with college fraternity brothers and playing golf.  There has been no time to go trackchasing.  However, if I don’t have time to go trackchasing a lot, I had better make time to go trackchasing a little.  If I don’t then I will never reach my goal of seeing more than 100 tracks in 2008.

 

I have averaged 154 new tracks for each of the last four seasons.  I will say this.  It is getting somewhat more difficult to find new tracks.  This is especially true during the winter months and on Sundays anytime during the year.  This scarcity of tracks has not affected me in the past but I suspect it will from this point forward.

 

This is the 16^th full week of 2008.  I have gone trackchasing at least once in fourteen of those weeks.  That’s a lot of trackchasing for the months of January, February, March and most of April.  Nevertheless, I have only seen 31 tracks in those 16 weeks.  That’s an average of less than two tracks per week.  My international forays hurt my weekly average.

 

If I’m going to see more than 100 tracks this year, I’m going to have to average at least two tracks per week.  That will be fairly easy to do during the summer months of June, July and August.  However, when October, November and December roll around, it will become more difficult to get those two new tracks in each and every week.

 

When I think about how much trackchasing it takes to get 100 new tracks in a season (only four other trackchasers have ever done that), it boggles my mind on how I ever averaged more than 150 per year during 2004-2007.  I’ll just have to keep after it and see how many I can get.

 

 

    

The Trip

 

This weekend was scheduled for a golf trip with my college fraternity brothers.  I left San Clemente early Thursday morning to begin the outing in Las Vegas.  It’s about a 4 ½-hour drive from San Clemente to Las Vegas.  It’s sort of a toss-up about the best mode of transport to use to get there.

 

With the need to arrive at the departing airport an hour or more early to clear security, then fly for an hour and then hassle with baggage and golf clubs, I like the idea of driving.  It’s also nice to have a car once I hit town.  The downside to coming to Las Vegas is that along the famous “Las Vegas Strip”, they have some of the worst traffic in all of in all of America.

 

On the trackchasing front, there are not that many tracks in all of the Far West remaining for me to see.  In the state of Nevada, there are just three permanent racetracks that run a regular summer schedule.  In fact, many Far Western tracks race only every other week.  I think they do this because the population density is so small they can’t attract cars and/or people on a more frequent schedule.

 

Our plan was to golf on this trip on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  One of my three remaining Nevada regularly scheduled ovals was racing on both Friday and Saturday nights this week.  I really wanted to visit this track.  However, I had a commitment to my fraternity brothers.  I couldn’t just leave them without playing golf each day and attending the Las Vegas shows and dinners we had planned for each evening.

 

It must be noted that it took most of the restraint I had to refrain from “begging off” from a dinner to attend a new track.  However, I withstood the trackchasing urge and stayed away from the tracks.

 

We have a great time reminiscing during our lunches and dinners.  With a group of seven, we always need a large table.  We also have a rather unique method to determine how the bill is paid.  Some of our brothers are more enthusiastic about this method than others.  How do we pay the bill?

 

Everyone throws a credit card into the center of the table.  The credit cards are shuffled up and thrown in a hat.  Then one of the restaurant employees is chosen to pick that lucky credit card out of the hat that will be used to pay the bill.  You can imagine the angst that some members of the group have when that card is drawn.  Our dinner bills, that include several rounds of drinks, appetizers, entrees and desserts, can add up to a pretty penny in the more upscale dining establishments we frequent.  Some of the rest of us get the biggest kick out of just watching the reactions of everyone at the table.  I am happy to report I was not picked to pay for any meals under our “Russia Roulette Randomness” method of paying the check.

 

However, on Sunday morning it was “get away” day.  Everyone would be heading back to their homes.  Most of the guys would be returning to the Chicago area.  This was my chance.  I searched and searched for a track I could get to from Las Vegas that might be racing on Sunday.

 

I found one.  The Pleasant Valley Raceway had an event scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Boise, Idaho.  As I did more research, I discovered this would be their first ever oval-racing event.  I didn’t see any other worldwide trackchasers in attendance, so I suspect I will be the first trackchaser to add the Pleasant Valley Raceway to my career list.

 

There was just one other problem.  A few days ago, it had been 75 degrees in Boise.  However, winter had not given up its grip over the area.  A cold front had moved into town.  The forecast called for temperatures of about 40 degrees, a wind of 15 M.P.H. and a 50% chance of rain/snow!

 

This made the prospect of getting up early on Sunday morning, battling the super crowded Las Vegas airport and flying the 520 miles to Boise less than appealing.  I called the track on Saturday to see how the weather was looking.  I was told the racing was a go.  I called two more times on Sunday morning.  They were still racing.

 

It was with some trepidation that I left Brother Mike (my roommate for the weekend) in a sleepy state and headed off to Idaho.  Yes, my fraternity brothers think I’m absolutely crazy to “chase those tracks”.

 

 

 

The People

 

It seems as if it were a long time ago when I went to college with my fraternity brothers.  That’s because it was!  For our trip to Las Vegas, I would be meeting up with six members of the Eta Mu chapter of Delta Sigma Pi.  I had not seen two of these guys for more than 35 years.

 

All of us graduated from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.  If you don’t live in the area, you may not know much about NIU.  In recent years, the football team has been very good.  We managed to beat Alabama, Maryland and Iowa State all in one season a few years back. 

 

On the less positive side, you may remember Northern Illinois University as being in the headlines with a student shooting.  This happened just a few weeks ago and several students were killed.  It’s a shame there are so many crazies who somehow have the guts to shoot innocent people but rarely are alive after the shootings to explain why they did it.

 

Although we all graduated from a regional school, our records of accomplishment have been strong.  I wouldn’t hesitate to compare our results against just about any other school.  Sometimes I think I’ve done pretty well since leaving college.  When I put my resume up against these six, I might likely rank at the bottom.

 

Check this out for a record of success.  We have one fellow who is the comptroller of a major electronics company and travels all over the world on business.  Another is president of his own ad agency.  Yet another is a sales executive for a major consumer products company.  One fellow retired at age 45 from a large railroad concern and then went on to teach at NIU for nearly 10 years.  We have one brother who has been president of his own real estate development and construction firm for years.  Finally, one of the fraternity brothers on this trip is an attorney and real estate guru.

 

Heck, I feel like what I am, a “retired pensioner living on a small and fixed income” when I’m with these guys.  Nevertheless, I will attempt to soldier on and live the good life.

 

When we come to these golf outings, it’s time to catch up with everyone’s lives.  It was a whole lot of fun seeing the two fellows who I had not seen since college more than 35 years ago.

 

The attorney and I were in the same pledge class.  We reminisced about last seeing each other at the Miami, Ohio police station.  We were “detained” for a few hours for pulling a prank.  Some might call our activity kidnapping while others might go for petty larceny.  Whatever you want to call it, we can laugh about it now!

 

One of our fraternity brothers lives in Las Vegas, and played host to our golf group by setting up the golf courses we would play and the shows and hotels we would use.  He’s been a big fundraiser for the Nevada Cancer society.  It would be safe to say he’s a “big hitter” in the field of charity fund racing in Las Vegas.

 

During one of our golf rounds, we had a chance to stop by and see his house.  It’s a large and gorgeous home.  What’s so impressive and unusual about his home is that he holds an annual cancer fund-raising party there each year.  There are 700 guests on the invitation list.  They hire outside entertainment to separate their guests from some of their cash all for a good cause. 

 

In the past, they’ve had the Beach Boys, Robin Williams and Jim Belushi as entertainment.  I will know that I’ve “made it” when I have the Beach Boys playing for my friends in my back yard.  First, I have to get a back yard!

 

So……all of our guys appear to be doing well and are in good health.  Some are retired and some are not.  I’m very proud of these boys.  I’m just happy to report I can still kick their butts on a golf course.  Travel safely fellas and I look forward to our next chance to get together.

 

 

 

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

 

I very much enjoy the racing when I go on trackchasing trips.  However, I am not the type of person who would feel the trip was complete if I simply left home, went to the race and came back home.

 

I do a good deal of traveling.  I want to do my best to see the local area when I come for a visit.  There are almost always unusual attractions that one area is noted for more than any other locale.  I want to see those places.  I want to touch them and feel them.  When I leave an area, I want to have memories of these special places that I call Trackchasing Tourist Attractions.  I will remember those experiences long after the checkered flag has fallen on whatever race I have seen that day.

 

Las Vegas Golf, Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Southern Highlands, Las Vegas, Nevada (Course rating: 71.1, Slope rating: 126; score 83)

 

The Las Vegas Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada (Course rating: 70.9, Slope rating: 117, score 90)

 

Red Rock Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada (Course rating: 69.7, Slope rating: 132, score 76)

 

The primary purpose of my trip was not trackchasing but a golf outing with my Northern Illinois University fraternity brothers.  We’re all members of Delta Sigma Pi and graduated from 1971-72.  Yes, that means we’ve been out of college for more than 35 years!

 

We normally get together in the early spring each year for three days of golf.  In the past, we’ve been to such locations as Hilton Head, SC, Palm Springs, CA, Ensenada, Mexico, Bradenton, Florida, Carlsbad, CA and Las Vegas, NV.  This weekend we were returning to Las Vegas.

 

According to Golf Digest, Nevada has the most expensive golf greens fees of any state in the union followed by Hawaii.  We picked a perfect time of the year to come to “Vegas” The temperature ranged from the high 70s to low 80s during our trip.  In the winter, Las Vegas can be cold and windy.  In the summer the temperatures can and do reach nearly 120 degrees!

 

Local brother Jim Hammer was responsible for choosing the courses we would play.  He did a masterful job of getting us on three private courses in town.  The first two courses we played even offered caddies.  About the only time I might play with a caddie is during one of these trips.

 

The caddy’s job is to help the player enjoy his/her round.  He will tell the player how far his next shot is (using a digital range finder), read putts, clean off clubs between shots, etc.  You might recall that my trackchasing hobby took Carol and me to New Zealand recently where we hung out with the most famous golf caddie in the world Stevie Williams.  Although Steve is a world champion stock car driver in NZ, you might know him better as the golf caddy for Tiger Woods.

 

It is estimated that Steve Williams makes well over one million dollars per year carrying a golf bag around the course.  How much do golf caddies make for a round in Las Vegas?  They earn about $40-50 per player.  When you tack that charge on to a daily golf fee of $150 per round, you can see why I spend my time on the road chasing tracks where a ticket can be had for only ten dollars.

 

However, whenever I spend money I try to get a good value.  I’ve been trackchasing so much over the past year that the quality of my golf game has suffered.  In round two while I was struggling to achieve mediocrity, I tapped into our caddy’s knowledge for some quick lessons.  It turned out our caddy was a former golf pro and knew a good deal about how to improve a struggling golf swing.

 

I like to say that “everything I’ve know, I’ve learned from somebody else”.  That’s certainly true in golf as well as just everything in my life I can think of.  I finished up day two with a score of 90 as I continued to work on my swing under the watchful eye of “Tony” our group’s caddy.

 

The next day at the Red Rock Country Club the wind blew constantly at 30 M.P.H. with gusts of nearly 40 M.P.H.  With Tony’s new tips in place, I scored a 76 on a course that carried the highest slope rating (level of difficulty) of any of the three courses we played during the trip.

 

Overall, the golf outing that included seven brothers was a huge success.  We’re already talking about where and when we will go next year.  I can’t wait.

LOVE Cirque du Soleil, Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

 

If you're looking for a show that's a fusion of acrobatics, dance and visual effects, accompanied by a classic rock 'n' roll soundtrack, then all you need is LOVE.  The show is a slightly psychedelic journey through the trends and politics of the '60s and most importantly, The Beatles' history, told through nearly 30 of the group's songs.

 

The sound system is unlike any other - there are 6,341 speakers in the theater.  Besides The Beatles, the other star of the show is the 2,000-plus seat theater itself, which features 360-degree seating. There is not a bad seat in the house and the farthest is only 98 feet from the stage.  Our seats were in the fifth row.

 

Overall, I recommend this show 110%.  It’s difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t seen it.  All I can say is you will be widely entertained by the costumes, the acrobatics, the music and the entire scene.  If you get to Vegas, go out of your way to see this show.

 

 

 

 

 

RACE REVIEW

PLEASANT VALLEY RACEWAY, BOISE, IDAHO

 

The Boise, Idaho area is a hot bed for auto racing, especially for the outlaw karts.  There are at least four tracks that race these little guys in a 2-3 hour radius of Boise.

 

As mentioned, this is a brand new track.  Today they raced on a 1/8 mile flat dirt oval.  I hesitate to call this an “inner oval”.  Today it is the ONLY oval track they have.  However, toward the end of this summer they hope to have a semi-banked ¼-mile oval track in operation.  The outline of the larger track exists today.

 

Neither of these tracks has any exterior fencing.  Today’s inner oval had hay bales marking the inner and outer boundaries of the track.  I would call today’s 1/8-mile oval a permanent track.  Beyond the backstretch of today’s ovals sits both a motocross track and a mud bog track.

 

Although the track is in its early stages of development, they had thought about the fans and had a portable P.A. system setup.  The announcer used a hand held mike and did a good job of giving driver names and hometowns; almost a lost art amongst today’s racing announcers.  I had a hard time hearing most of his commentary because I was parked on the outside of turn four of the bigger oval. 

 

I did chat with the announcer for a few minutes.  He asked me “where does Eldora rank on your list?” and “were you there for the Eldora Million?”  The answer is “in the top five” and “yes”.

 

One of the most notable features of today’s racing was the weather.  It was 42 degrees with a fierce wind.  This made for a wind chill temperature of about 30 degrees.  I was dressed for 80-degree golf in Las Vegas.  Wearing deck shoes with no socks along with a golf shirt under a Morton Salt sweatshirt does not quite cut it in weather like this.  At one point it began to hail!

 

There were seven classes of open-wheeled outlaw karts racing today.  All of the karts were caged and looked like smaller versions of their big brother…..the sprint car.

 

Each class seemed to have from 5-10 cars.  They ran heat races and then trophy dashes and then features for each class.  I had a perfect view of the action.  When I stayed in the car, I was more than comfortable. 

 

My new 150-volt inverter came in handy to power my Dell Computer (temporarily replacing my Lenovo that has been in the shop).  I just love the convenience that electronics and technology gives me.

 

The feature events started at 4 p.m. Mountain time.  I had plenty of time to watch the entire program as my flight left Boise for Las Vegas at 6:45 p.m.  Overall, the racing was good since I could watch from me car.  Had I had to stand out in 30-degree wind chill temps to watch, I might not be here to tell you about it!

 

My logistical travel plan was more than ambitious.  When I finished watching the races in Boise and then flying to Las Vegas, I would have to drive home to San Clemente.  That’s more than a four-hour drive.  On Fridays, driving from Southern California to Las Vegas is one of the toughest drives you will see.  On Sundays, especially Sunday afternoon and evening, all of those Southern California gamblers hop back on I-15 and head back to SoCal.  I’ve been in bumper-to-bumper stop and go traffic for the last 100 miles on the trip driving back from Las Vegas.

 

 

 

 

STATE RANKINGS

 

Idaho

 

This was my ninth lifetime track to see in the Potato state.  This increases my lead over second place chaser Allan Brown who has seen six tracks here. 

 

Some folks might ask why I would continue to trackchase in Idaho after taking over the lead here in 2007.  In trackchasing, you can never have enough.  Although only 22 trackchasers have ever come to Idaho for racing (13 of those folks have seen just one track), you never know when some East coast interloper or even Ed Esser for that matter, will try to unseat me.  Today’s track was added for insurance purposes against such a potential onslaught.

 

 

Now you can see the entire up to date trackchaser rankings for Idaho.  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=ID

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

 

Boise, Idaho – Sunday

 

I’ll be going with a two-door Chevy Cobalt Sport on this trip.  This is the first two-door rental car I can remember renting in years.  I couldn’t even make a rental car reservation until I knew for sure I would be making the Las Vegas to Boise flight.

 

Once I knew I was getting on that flight, I used the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport’s free Wi-Fi internet services.  First, I checked out what an economy car would rent for at www.hotwire.com.  They came back with a price of $12.95 per day or about $22 with taxes.  At hotwire.com you don’t bid for things.  They simply offer up one price that is non-cancelable and non-refundable.

 

Once I had the best price from Hotwire.com, I went to www.priceline.com.  I knew I had to beat a price of $22 in order for me to use Priceline.  I bid $10 for one day’s rental of an economy car.  With tax that came to $18.41.  The Avis Rental Car Company was kind enough to give me a car for this low price.

 

Why did I give Priceline a try to save just four bucks?  Was it so I might be better able to keep up with my fraternity brothers from a material point of view?  Nope.  It was just because I could.

 

I drove the Avis Rental Car Racing Chevy Cobalt Sport 32 miles in the slightly more than 5 hours that I had it.  I paid an average price of $3.46 per gallon.  The little Chevy gave me 29.2 miles per gallon in fuel mileage at a cost of 11.8 cents (U.S.) per mile.  The car cost a hefty 56.7 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

Quitting while you’re ahead is not the same thing as quitting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Las Vegas, NV – Boise, ID – 520 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR

 

Boise International Airport – trip begins

Boise, ID – 16 miles

Boise International Airport – 32 miles

AIRPLANE

 

Boise, ID – Las Vegas, NV – 520 miles

 

 

Total Air miles – 1,040 miles (2 flights)

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 1,072 miles

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Pleasant Valley Raceway – Free

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – Free

 

 

 

 

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 – 1,329

 

 

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 – 31

 

2.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 25

 

3.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 18

 

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 10

 

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 9

 

5.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania - 9

 

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 25 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 – 1,687

 

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

 

3.  Guy & Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,668

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 will be happy to get back on the trackchasing trail full time next weekend.  I’ll be seeing three tracks that very few trackchasers have ever visited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

1,325. Screven Motor (oval), Sylvania, Georgia – April 4

 

1,326. Centerville Super Speedway (oval), Centerville, Arkansas – April 5

 

1,327. Central Arkansas Speedway (oval), Plumerville, Arkansas – April 5

 

1,328. Clinton Country Speedway (oval), Alpha, Kentucky – April 6

 

1,329. Pleasant Valley Raceway (oval), Boise, Idaho – April 20

 

 

 

FAR WEST TRACKCHASING UPDATE

 

Editor’s note:  Trackchaser Ed Esser went trackchasing in Colorado this month.  He saw his 13^th lifetime track in the Rocky Mountain state.  This bumped me into second place in Colorado.  I’m going to assume that Ed did not do this on purpose and simply took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and ended up in Colorado by mistake.  Of course, now I will have to make it a priority to get back into first place here as quickly as I can.

 

In the business world, the U.S. is often divided up into geographic areas that are referred to as East, Central and the “eleven Western states plus Alaska and Hawaii.”  No, I don’t know why they don’t just say the “thirteen western states.”  Those states include  Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming and, of course, Alaska and Hawaii.

 

The far west probably has the most beautiful scenery per square mile anywhere in the United States.  This got me to thinking.  Over the next 2-3 years, I’d like to put a “full-court” press on these far west states for trackchasing purposes.  I want to establish a goal of becoming the number one trackchaser in each of these states except California by the end of 2009.  Becoming #1 in California is not a realistic goal at this time. 

 

Below is a listing of these thirteen Far Western states.  The state’s name is followed by my current rank and how many tracks I need to see to gain at least a tie for 1^st place.  As an example, I’m currently in ninth place in Alaska and trail first place by three tracks.  I’m looking forward to spending more time than usual is the Far West, a great part of our country.

 

Alaska – 9^th by 3

 

Arizona – 1^st

 

California – 2^nd by 46

 

Colorado – 2^nd by 1

 

Hawaii – 3^rd by 1

 

Idaho – 1st

 

Montana – 1st

 

Nevada – 1^st

 

New Mexico – 1st

 

Oregon – 1^st

 

Utah – 1st

 

Washington – 1st

 

Wyoming – 1st