Randy Lewis

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My trip to Florida this weekend was so busy I had to pull over to the side of the road when nature called wherever I could.  You can see more about my four track trip (March 17-19) by clicking on the following Gibsonton, Florida, Barberville, Florida, Fruitland Park, Florida and Fort Meade, Florida.

My brother, Mark, joined me for the racing action at Speedworld Speedway today.  Check out what we saw in Surprise, Arizona (February 19).

No shorts today!  This picture doesn't do much justice to the weather conditions Jim Sabo and I faced.  It was in the 40s with a biting 25 M.P.H. wind that shook us to the core.  Nevertheless, the 2006 trackchasing season was underway (January 14-15).  To see photos from this trip click on Cordele, Georgia and then Jasper, Florida.

Randy Lewis - World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser.

2006 TRACKCHASING ANNUAL REPORT

 

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL AND BUDGETING

 

 

Last year I had a personal best in number of tracks seen with 182.  To get those tracks I traveled about 147,000 miles in rental cars and airplanes.  This year I “only” made it to 147 tracks.  You might think my travel mileage would have decreased compared to 2005.  Nope!  I ended up traveling 208,314 miles this year!

 

 

I could compare 208,000 miles to many things to try to convince you that’s a lot of seat time.  Somehow, I don’t think I have to do that.  Here is how those miles broke out.

 

Airline – 161,751

 

Rental car – 42,354     (I drove my personal car about 15,000 miles in 2006)

 

My car – 2,178

 

Friend’s cars – 2,031

 

 

There are some good things that came about with all of this travel.  First, I didn’t use my car much, so it’s not worn out from trackchasing.  Secondly, with my airline sponsors coming on board in September, my airline expense wasn’t as high as it could have been.  Finally, it has been my practice to not include mileage from my house to my home airports.  I probably should include it, but I didn’t from the beginning and wanted to keep my records comparable from year to year.  With 37 airline round-trips this year, that would probably add another 3-4,000 total miles.

 

 

Of course, with that amount of travel, you might think it would wreck havoc with my trackchasing budget.  If you thought that, you would be partially correct.  Here’s how I did against the budget I established for trackchasing at the beginning of the year.

 

Airfare – 62%

 

Rental cars – 126%

 

Gasoline – 154%

 

Airport parking – 103%

 

Hotels – 100%

 

Food – 118%

 

Race tickets – 86%

 

Total – 95%

 

 

The airfare results were reduced dramatically when I started flying for free or near free for the last three months of the year.  I just underestimated what it would cost to rent cars.  The various taxes that are added to the base rental car fee are onerous.  That situation definitely goes against the “no taxation without representation” maxim.

 

 

You might think the over budget gasoline result was due to higher gas prices.  That was only half of the problem.  I underestimated how much I would be driving.  I averaged nearly $49 in gasoline for EVERY one of my trackchasing days.  That’s a little more than a tank a day.

 

 

I was pleased to come in on budget in the hotel category.  Food and race tickets are two of my lower budgeted items by dollar amount, so I was O.K. with my results here.

 

 

I finished 2006 at just 95% of my overall budget plan.  I’m happy with that.  The airline sponsorship made that happen.  I don’t expect to trackchase quite as much as I did this past year, but then who really knows.  My 2007 trackchasing budget is only about 75% of what I spent in 2006.  I expect to achieve full year savings from the airlines and have actually increased my budget for rental cars and gasoline.

 

 

I go about budgeting my trackchasing expenses just like I do my household expenses.  If you don’t have a budget, you don’t know where you’re going and you won’t know whether to celebrate or cry once you reach the finish line.

 

 

 

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS

 

 

 

At the end of the 2004 season, I wrote, “I still have 1,054 tracks in the United States and Canada that I have not seen.  I should be able to experience that new track thrill for a long time into the future.  That being said, if I keep up with my 2004 pace I would see all of the remaining 1,054 tracks in just about eight years.  Then what would I do?  I guess I better slow down a bit, so I can still be seeing new tracks when I’m 80 years old!”

 

 

In 2005, I saw 182 tracks.  In 2006, I saw 147 tracks.  That’s a combined total of 329 tracks.  You would think after seeing this many tracks in the past two years, my 2004 total of 1,054 tracks still to be seen would be significantly reduced.  Wrong!  Really wrong!!  My fellow competitors and I have been discovering North American tracks so rapidly that even after having seen 329 new tracks in the past two years, I STILL HAVE 1,252 tracks in my database still to be seen.  I will be lucky if I ever get the remaining tracks total below 1,000 in North America.

 

 

This season provided my third consecutive worldwide trackchasing championship.  This is my seventh consecutive year of finishing in the top three in the world rankings.  No one has ever done that.  My goal for 2007 is to once again finish in the top three as well as to win my fourth straight championship.  No one, in the modern era of trackchasing, has ever won four straight.  P.J. Hollebrand won six consecutive championships back in the 70s but that was before most people were keeping track of their visits by date.

 

 

I missed my goal of “playing golf the same number of days that I trackchase in ‘06.”  I trackchased 115 days and only hit the golf links 88 times.  That’s better than in 2005 when “I went trackchasing about 125 times and only played golf about 55 times.”  Had I not received my airline sponsorship, which kept me on the road several extra days, I think I would have nearly reached my trackchasing vs. golfing days goal.  My goal in 2006 will be too finally have a 50/50 balance between trackchasing and golf.

 

 

I have a few other goals for 2007.  I want to extend my current worldwide trackchasing lead over my fellow competitors.  Currently, the closest trackchaser trails by more than 60 tracks.  I’d like to get that lead up to 100 tracks or more, but we’ll have to wait and see.

 

 

I also want to continue to write entertaining Trackchaser Reports.  Of course, you the reader will be the judge of that.  I know that the reports are a little longer than some might prefer.  This is why I separate the report into major headline groups just like a newspaper would have different sections.  Hopefully, each reader can hone in on the sections of the Trackchaser Report that are most interesting if there is not enough time to read the entire copy.  Of course, readers can go to www.ranlracing.com and see pictures of the event as well as the text of the Trackchaser Report for each new track.  I suspect that you can get 80% of the feel of the entire experience just by looking at the pictures.

 

 

My final goal is to simply put more time, technology and resources into trackchasing than any other trackchaser.  I want my research, which yields new tracks and new track combinations, to be superior.  Trackchasing research is like squeezing a lemon.  The harder you squeeze the more juice you get.  Of course, I will share the dates on my website for all to see as I always do. 

 

 

The staff at RANLAY Racing and I have been busy planning a fantastic 2007 trackchasing season.  With the support from my current airline sponsors and several additional airlines that are expected to come on board early in the year, my trips should be more creative than ever.  I hope to continue with some international trips, although I don’t know where those might be at this time.  By the time you read this, I will already have a strong start on the 2007 season.

 

 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the one main person I have to thank when I think about being able to trackchase whenever I want too.  That would be wife, Carol.  She is comfortable going on a trackchasing trip and comfortable if I go on a trackchasing trip on my own.  That’s the best kind of life partner to have. 

 

 

For the second consecutive year, Carol went on enough trips to become the #1 woman trackchaser in the world.  She even matched the all-time record for tracks seen in one year by a woman that she established in 2005.  That’s outstanding.  I don’t think Carol has a goal of repeating as champion.  However, that makes her just like every other trackchaser that I compete with.  No one is willing to commit to what they have plan or will achieve.  Everyone plays it very conservatively, but nearly everyone keeps trackchasing nearly every weekend.  I guess it’s just an addictive hobby.

 

 

I thank each and every one of you for reading along with me as I visited racetracks all over the world.  I would also like to thank the track announcers and promoters that made my season so enjoyable in 2006.  As you can probably tell, the hobby for me is more about “The Amazing Race” than the racing itself.  I enjoy the challenge of getting from point A to point B as well as meeting the people along the way. 

 

 

 

 

NUMBERS!  NUMBERS!  NUMBERS!

 

I wanted to share with you the highlights of my 2006 trackchasing season.  Here they are:

 

 

Total new tracks seen:  147

Total states visited 37

Total countries visited 3

2 Canadian provinces

One new country:  New Zealand

 

 

Track breakout

 

Dirt ovals – 68

Asphalt ovals – 22

Figure 8 tracks – 20

Road Course tracks - 15

Kart tracks – 14

Indoor tracks - 8

 

Repeat tracks – 11

 

 

Doubles breakout

 

Day/Night doubles – 16

Same location doubles – 4

Blended double no feature on front end – 5

Blended double feature on both ends – 5

Traditional doubles – 2

 

 

Blended doubles with no feature on the front end at NSD tracks - 1

 

 

Total trackchasing days in 2006 – 115

Total golfing days in 2006 – 88

 

 

Trackchasing days completely rained out – 6

 

 

Total consecutive trackchasing days seen without a trackchasing day rained out – 109 (NWR) carried over from 2005

 

 

Total consecutive tracks seen without a trackchasing day rained out – 160 (NWR) carried over from 2005

 

 

Non-National Speedway Directory new tracks seen – 65

 

 

Total # of new and repeat tracks seen – 158

 

 

24 straight weeks with at least one new track

9 straight weeks with at least one round of golf

Total cavities in 2006 – 1

Total flying trips – 37

Total driving trips – 5

 

 

Randy’s total overnight stays in 2006 – 160

Randy’s total overnight stays due to trackchasing in 2006 – Most of them

 

 

Carol’s total overnight stays in 2005 – 82

Carol’s total overnight stays due to trackchasing in 2005 – about 55

 

 

Most tracks seen on one trip – 13

Most tracks seen in one month – 20 - June

 

 

There were several states/provinces/countries where I established or tied my personal bests for seeing new tracks.  The first number is my track total for this year.  The second number is my previous best number of new tracks in that state:

 

Alabama 5-5

Delaware 1-1

Idaho 2-1

Kansas 6-6

Massachusetts 3-2

Minnesota 11-8

Missouri 7-7

New Hampshire 8-1

North Carolina 10-9

South Carolina 4-3

South Dakota 3-3

Utah 2-1

Vermont 1-1

Virginia 6-2

Manitoba 1-1

Northern Ireland 1-0

New Zealand 5-0

BEST/WORST TRACKS

 

Most fun trackchasing day of the season

 

Empty Jug Raceway, Hawley, Pennsylvania

Ballymena Raceway, Ballymena, North Ireland

Tri-State Speedway, Sisseton, South Dakota

 

 

 

Best tracks re-visited in 2006

 

Angell Park Speedway

 

 

 

Best racing

 

Western Springs Speedway, Western Springs, New Zealand

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina

 

 

 

Best indoor racing

 

Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia

 

 

 

Most racing in the rain

 

Moroso Motorsports Park, Jupiter, Florida

Huntly Speedway, Huntly, New Zealand

 

 

 

Luckiest tracks to even see a race at (weather, location, etc.)

 

Thunderbowl Speedway of Ocala

Sunny South Speedway, Grand Bay, Alabama

Coldwater Raceway, Coldwater, Alabama

Spring Mountain Motorsports Park, Pahrump, Nevada

Canaan Fair Speedway, Caanan, New Hampshire

OCR Action Sports Park, Rougemont, North Carolina

Huntly Speedway, Huntly, New Zealand

 

 

 

Worst racing

 

Dayton Fair, Dayton, Pennsylvania

 

 

 

Coldest Weather

 

Watermelon Capital Speedway, Cordele, Georgia

Ocala Speedway, Ocala, Florida

Thunder Mountain Speedway, Center Lisle, New York (33 degrees)

Superior Speedway, Superior, Wisconsin (mid 40s, 20 M.P.H. wind in late May!)

Oakland Valley Dirt Oval, Cuddebackville, New York

 

 

 

Hottest Weather

 

Rialto Airport Speedway, Rialto, California

Buffalo River Speedway, Glendon, Minnesota

Rock Castle Speedway, Mt. Vernon, Kentucky

 

 

 

Best newspaper coverage of trackchasing

 

Stevens County Fairgrounds, Morris, Minnesota

Tillsonburg County Fairgrounds, Tillsonburg, Ontario

Enid Motor Speedway, Enid, Oklahoma

Blue Chip Speedway at Baypark, Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand

 

 

 

Tracks I was happy to finally visit

 

Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, South Dakota

Tri-City Speedway (inner oval), Pontoon Beach, Illinois

Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory, North Carolina

 

 

 

Best overall new facility (don’t miss these tracks!)

 

Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Missouri - oval

Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama – road course

 

 

 

Best at the track trackchaser interview

 

Bridgeport Speedway, Bridgeport, New Jersey

Legion Speedway, Wentworth, New Hampshire

Rush County Fairgrounds, Rushville, Indiana

 

 

 

Best at the track radio interview

 

Little Valley Speedway, Little Valley, New York – Dave Sully – WJJL 1440 AM

Norman County Raceway, Ada, Minnesota – Jim – KRJB 103.6 FM

 

 

 

Best physical plant

 

Shenandoah Speedway, Shenandoah, Virginia

Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Missouri

Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, Utah

Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa

Blue Chip Speedway at Baypark, Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand

Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama – road course

 

 

 

Best Finds

 

Qualcomm Stadium

 

 

 

Most memorable

 

Auburndale Kartway, Auburndale, Florida – Track #1,000

East Lincoln Speedway, Stanley, North Carolina – TV pilot

 

 

 

Most Scenic