DAY 1 – MY “LET’S SEE SOME REALLY GOOD RACING” TRACKCHASING TOUR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS INFORMATION

 

 

 

As a retiree of Procter & Gamble, I am a member of a nearly 2,000-person email conference.  In that conference, we share all kinds of “tips” about travel, medical care, financial planning and a myriad of other topics.  Here is something I shared with the conference that might be of interest to you.

 

 

“I don't know if anyone else has had this problem, but I have found a solution.  My personal car requires premium gasoline. I also like to drive until my gas tank is nearly empty. This way, in the long run, I can make fewer stops for gas.

The problem I've had with this strategy is that several gas stations were
limiting my total gas purchase to $75.00. I asked the gas station if they were putting this limit on my AAA Visa credit card and they said they were not.  Then, I called Visa and they told me they were not limiting my purchase to $75.00. This feedback was very perplexing to me.

Last week I came across an explanation of this practice in USA Today.  Apparently, some credit card companies will only reimburse gas stations up to $75.00 in the case of fraud. That means if someone gets your credit card and buys gas, then you tell the credit card company you didn't buy the gas, the credit card company will only pay the gas station 75 bucks. The gas company doesn't want to get stuck with a fraudulent gas bill that exceeds $75, so they put a limit of $75 on the entire gas purchase.  USA Today recommended not paying at the pump. They said if you took your credit card inside, the $75 limit would not apply. I did just that today at my home gas station in San Clemente.  I was able to fill my tank and not be subject to the $75 limit. I safely tucked my credit card receipt in my pocket in the amount of $92.93 and hummed all the way home.....or something like that.”

 

 

I received a response to this message from a fellow I worked with before I retired.  That’s not uncommon since I worked with a large number of people and there are so many people in the conference.  I had not heard from him since I retired nearly six years ago.  I remembered that he had been in charge of some type of approval process.  I frequently had to send him work to be approved before I could follow-up with my customers.  For the life of me, I have absolutely no idea what the subject matter was that required his approval.  That’s how far “work life” has recessed into my brain!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY’S HEADLINES

 

I had to make my final trackchasing plan for the weekend just before I picked up my rental car...................more in “Rental Car Update”.

 

Check out some of the most unusual travel information you are likely to ever see.…………..details in “The Trip”.

 

You’ll never guess who I ran into at the track tonight…………..details in “The People”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on or paste this link in your browser to see the photos from this trip.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Ranlay8/080605ArkLaTexSpeedway

 

 

 

 

 

GREETINGS FROM VIVIAN, LOUISIANA.

 

 

 

 

I WOKE UP THIS MORNING IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA.  I WENT TO SLEEP IN SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

 

 

 

The Objective 

 

I don’t like those mid-week racing shows.  I’m talking about races that are scheduled from Monday – Thursday.  Now that I have “pinpoint airstrike” capability, I can’t resist these events.  These races are like a magnet for me.  I will drop everything and go.  I beg promoters not to schedule these shows.  I want to limit my trackchasing to “out Friday and back Monday”.  Don’t they know that?

 

 

 

The Trip

 

Editor’s note:

 

I am just now seeing the credit card bills from our recent trip to Ireland, Denmark and Sweden.  Ah, yes the weakness of the dollar!  Ah yes, the overall expensiveness of Europe regardless of the weakness of the dollar.  Ah yes, the foreign transaction fees levied on each charge by the credit card company.  It’s just as the credit card company promised about the experience:  Priceless!

 

Today’s trip was simple.  It was out the door at zero dark thirty as every trip of mine begins from the little city by the sea.  I landed in Dallas in mid-afternoon.  From there it was a simple drive just across the state line to Vivian, Louisiana.

 

 

I’ve been wanting to share some travel tips with each of your for some time.  If you have time, take a look at these websites.  The information you get, might make your next trip more enjoyable.

 

 

www.sleepinginairports.com

Sometimes, even though you don’t want too, you just have to sleep overnight at the airport.

 

www.wiki.jeffsandquist.com

When you’re in the airport, sometimes you need an internet connection or a power outlet.  This information source provides worldwide coverage.  Check out this site for some time management pointers as well.

 

 

www.bedbugregistry.com

No one likes to be bitten by bed bugs, right?  This site lists U.S. hotels with bedbug reports.

 

www.minimus.biz

When you travel, you sometimes need to pack light.  This site carries all things, well, minimal.

 

 

 

 

The People

 

Tonight I was sitting in the grandstand minding my own business.  I was using my Ponte Vedra Beach based Jim Sabo sponsored Uniden Bearcat race scanner.  I had my Swainsboro Speedway yellow tinted race goggles on.  I was minding my own business.

 

The announcer had given me a brief trackchaser announcement over the P.A. system earlier in the evening.  The announcement had been partially obscured when the first heat race started at the same time.  Nevertheless, one of the fans in the stands had heard the word, “San Clemente, California”.  That fan came to seek me out.  You’ll never guess who it was.  I’ll tell you in my next Trackchaser Report!

 

 

 

 

 

 

RACE REVIEW

ARK-LA-TEX SPEEDWAY, VIVIAN, LOUISIANA

 

It’s rare that I head out on a trackchasing trip where I know the racing is going to be great.  However, this was such a trip.  I was planning to see the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) for four straight nights.

 

These guys bring a large field of cars, they keep the show moving and they have two and three wide racing all night long.  That’s just how they do it at my boyhood track in Peoria, Illinois.

 

Tonight there were 57 USMTS modifieds racing.  They were supplemented by the local “B” modified group.  The USMTS ran six heats, three “B” mains and then their “A” main.  The locals ran three heats and a feature.  I think the USMTS program could certainly stand on its own merits without any support divisions.  I suppose the support classes bring out local fans and generate more back gate revenue for the track.

 

The Ark-La-Tex Speedway is a quality ¼-mile dirt oval.  Despite it having been more than 90 degrees all day, the track was in good shape.  They started the show on time at 7:30 p.m.  The grandstand is unique.  It mirrors the front straight by curving gently from turn four to turn one.

 

They also have hard plastic stadium seats in the lower rows of the grandstands.  I sat there. The top 2-3 rows are concrete slabs, which allow fans to bring lawn chairs.  I would love to bring a lawn chair to most tracks I visit, but since I don’t check any luggage on the airplane that won’t work.

 

The track offered a wide variety of unhealthy food.  This is not unique to this track.  Virtually no track offers much good to eat.  I went with a two-dollar hot dog.  Back in my hometown there was a restaurant near my high school that sold six full-sized hot dogs for a dollar.  Tonight’s hot dog was about half the size of one of those six for a buck hot dogs.  It’s not just the price of gas that has gone up.

 

When I’m by myself, I like to listen in with my race scanner to the behinds the scene action.  Todd Staley runs the USMTS race program.  He was recently profiled in the Hawkeye Racing News.  This guys knows his stuff.  When one race finishes the next one hits the track.  Todd is also physically on the track lining up the races and pushing disabled cars with his four-wheeler.  It’s WAY too bad that most short track racing can’t be run like the United States Modified Touring Series does things.

 

The minor downside to the show was that in addition to being almost 90 degrees during the race program, there was a 20 M.P.H. wind blowing.  The wind blew mainly from turns one and two to turns three and four.  I sat down towards turn four to avoid the dust and grit the best I could.  When you have high-powered racecars like these tonight and an unfavorable wind, spectators are likely to get a good dusting.  My Swainsboro Raceway goggles did their job.  My racing headset kept my ears clean!  I will say this.  Had Carol been with me I would not have let her sit out in this environment.

 

When I left the track, I was sweaty and dusted down pretty good.  My original trackchasing plan had called for me to drive all night from tonight’s track to Alexandria, Louisiana.  From there I would take a 6 a.m. flight to the Northeast in search of those valuable NGD points.  Luckily, for me, the weather forecast up there was bad.  I elected to stay and watch excellent racing with a much more favorable weather forecast.

 

 

 

 

STATE RANKINGS

 

Louisiana

 

Tonight I saw my 6th lifetime track in the Bayou state.  A relatively low 31 trackchasers have come to the state to pursue their sport.  In 2007, only seven of 966 official trackchasing visits in the United States were in Louisiana.  Four of those were by people named Lewis.  Don’t people travel to trackchase anymore?

 

I maintain my third place position in the state.  I’m five tracks behind both John Moore and Ed Esser who are tied for the state lead with 11 tracks each.  I won’t be gaining any NGD points here for a very long time, if ever.

 

Now you can see the entire up to date trackchaser rankings for the state.  Just click on this link or paste it in your browser:

 

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

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

 

Dallas, Texas – Friday/Monday

I’ll be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu on this trip.  When I arrived in Dallas, I had a reservation for just one day’s worth of rental car.  I took the rental car bus to the luxurious DFW Airport rental car center.  There I found a nice sofa to access my weekend options.

 

This is where my “anywhere/anytime” internet capability really shines.  I checked www.weather.com.  The forecast for the Northeast was still bad.  I had to make a decision.  Did I really want to drive all night, and then face questionable airline availability to fly into an area where I might get rained out?  No, I did not.  I haven’t achieved the best rain out to race ratio in all of trackchasing by making rash decisions in this area.

 

I decided I would rent a car for four days in Dallas.  This would be an economical option.  First, I tried www.hotwire.com, then www.sidestep.com and finally called up the National Rental Car Company.  I ended up with National.  There charge of $103 for four days of a full-sized car seemed like a good value.  When you go on vacation, do you reserve your rental car AFTER you land?  I didn’t think so and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a professional.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

When Peter says something about Paul, it says more about Peter than it does Paul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA – Dallas, TX – 1,237 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR

 

Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport – trip begins

Vivian, LA – 218 miles

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Ark-La-Tex Speedway – $15

 

 

 

 

 

 

RANKINGS

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

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

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,350

 

 

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 – 366

 

28.  Ken Schrader, Concord, North Carolina – 365

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2008 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 55

 

2.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 52

 

3.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 31

 

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 19

 

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 17

 

5.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium - 17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 32 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 – 1,714

 

2.  Guy & Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,684

 

3.  Allan & Nancy Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,679

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

After the most recent updates (June 7, 2008), I have a comfortable 21 state position lead.  As long as I can keep a 10 state position lead, things will be under control.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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’ll be following the USMTS series for the rest of the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

1,330. Bremerton Raceway (road course), Bremerton, Washington – April 26

 

1,331. Port Angeles Speedway (oval), Port Angeles, Washington – April 26

 

1,332. Evergreen Speedway (1/5-mile oval), Monroe, Washington – April 27

 

1,333. Virginia Motor Speedway (oval), Jamaica, Virginia – May 1

 

1,334. Natural Bridge Speedway (oval), Natural Bridge, Virginia – May 2

 

1,335. Sturup Raceway, Malmo (road course), Sweden – May 10

 

1,336. Ring Djursland, Tirstrup (road course), Denmark – May 11

 

1,337. Nisseringen, Naestved (road course), Denmark – May 12

 

1,338. Valentine Speedway (oval), Glenrock, Wyoming – May 17

 

1,339. Gillette Thunder Speedway (oval), Gillette, Wyoming – May 17

 

1,340. Phillips County Speedway (oval), Holyoke, Colorado – May 18

 

1,341. North Pole Speedway (oval), North Pole, Alaska, – May 22

 

1,342. Tanacross Airport (road course), Tok, Alaska, – May 24

 

1,343. Mitchell Raceway (oval), Fairbanks, Alaska, – May 24

 

1,344. North Star Speedway (oval), Wasilla, Alaska, – May 25

 

1,345. Capitol Speedway (oval), Willow, Alaska, – May 25

 

1,346. Elk City Speedway (inner oval), Elk City, Oklahoma, – May 30

 

1,347. Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex (oval), Sweet Springs, Missouri – May 31

 

1,348. Central Missouri Speedway (oval), Warrensburg, Missouri – May 31

 

1,349. Lucas Oil Speedway (road course), Wheatland, Missouri – June 1

 

1,350. Ark-La-Tex Speedway (oval), Vivian, Louisiana – June 5