Randy Lewis

This had to be the prettiest paint job I've seen in all of 2007.  Look closely at the woman's hair.  Click HERE to see the road racing at the brand new Eagles Canyon Raceway in Texas and my visit to the No Problem Raceway Park in Louisiana.  (December 1-2, 2007) 

This weekend's trackchasing trip was special.  Carol saw racing in Louisiana, her 48th trackchasing state.  When we go trackchasing we want to see what's happening in the local area, not just what goes on at the racetrack.  With that in mind, we took a guided tour of the Hurricane Katrina damaged New Orleans area.  This was a sight to see.  Click HERE to see the Katrina storm damage and the racing highlights of the weekend from Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Nevada.  (November 2-4, 2007)

This is what a dirt oval looks like when it is turned into a dirt road course.  The C.O.R.R. action in Ft. Worth, Texas was fun as always.  Click HERE to see what the one track trip looked like.  (October 19, 2007) 

It was a rainy day at the racetrack today in British Columbia, Canada.  Click HERE to see our tailgate party at a sunny Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and then the rainy day action at the track in Mission, B.C.  (October 6-7, 2007) 

This is my "home away from home", LAX!  Most of my trackchasing trips originate from here.  Today I headed to the Wichita, Kansas airport and eventually ended up in Oklahoma.  Click HERE to see the adventure from my one day trip to the Sooner state. (October 5, 2-007)

They were arriving in bunches tonight at the Champion Park Speedway in Minden, Louisiana.  Click HERE to see the action at this unusual Louisiana and California trackchasing weekend.  (September 28-29, 2007) 

2007 TRACKCHASING ANNUAL REPORT

IN MEMORIUM

This year saw the passing of some people who made watching racing such an enjoyable activity for me.  My 2007 Trackchasing Annual Report is dedicated to those people.  Rest in peace, Darrell Dake, Benny Parsons and Ruby Sorenson.

THANKS

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.  She is the most valuable asset I have in my life.

I also want to thank our son, J.J. for deciding to change careers and become an airline pilot.  Just when it looked to my fellow competitors like I might be slowing down, he dumped the ability to fly just about anywhere, anytime and for not very much money on me.  That was quite a trackchasing gift.

I want to thank each and every one of you who gives me vital info about race dates, travel destinations and other sundry and various heads ups.  All of your efforts are most appreciated.  It seems that I always get several short emails after each Trackchaser Report offering encouragement and congratulations.  It might not seem like much to you, but it does to me.

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 2007.  This year more TV, radio and newspaper interviews came my way than in any other year.

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.  I don’t travel to find things, I travel to get lost.

TRAVEL AND BUDGETING

This season I made it to 160 new tracks, my second best total ever.  To get those tracks I traveled just over 187,000 miles in rental cars, airplanes and a ferryboat.  During the past four years, my travels have covered right around 721,000 miles!

Here is how the 2007 season travel miles broke out in each transportation category

Airline – 143,601

Rental car – 42,120

My car – 1,454

Friend’s cars – 92

Ferryboat - 9

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, 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 42 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.  Actually, it’s really not that bad.  I figure I earned the money, then I saved some of it and now I spending most of it!  Here’s how I did against the budget I established for trackchasing at the beginning of the year.

Airfare – 54%

Rental cars – 111%

Gasoline – 107%

Airport parking – 73%

Hotels – 93%

Food – 89%

Race tickets – 80%

Total – 87%

My airline sponsors provided 123 flights for me and 26 for Carol.  We were even able to fly first class on 21% of our flights.  This year I added several other airlines including Southwest, American, Mexicana, Midwest and Alaskan Airlines as associate sponsors.  SkyWest, United and Delta Airlines continue to support RANLAY Racing on a primary sponsor ship basis.

I’m already starting to get that, “Ya, you can do this because you get free airfare” attitude.  Of course, I remind those folks that I established the all-time season trackchasing record not that long ago in 2005, with 182 tracks and I paid full-price for every airline ride I took.  I am fully prepared to do that again should the need arise.

I was also able to dramatically upgrade my hotel accommodations during the season.  With “anywhere/anytime” flying came “name your own price” hoteling.  I am now staying in some very fine hotels.  Just a few years ago, I stayed in the lowliest rat holes, you would be likely to find.  There was no way “Jill would approve” of those places.  Now, I’ve got Sleep Number beds, room service and the works.

For the second consecutive year, I went over my budget for gasoline.  You might think the over budget gasoline result was due to higher gas prices.  That is partially true.  However, I also underestimated how much I would be driving.  I drove more than 42,000 miles just in rental cars.  I averaged about $38 in gasoline for EVERY one of my trackchasing days.  That’s a about 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 2007 at just 87% of my overall budget plan.  I’m happy with that.  I actually spent 10% less on trackchasing in ’07 than I did in 2006.  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 2008 trackchasing budget is only about 75-80% of what I spent in 2007.  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.  And now in 2007, I have seen another 160 new tracks.  That’s a combined total of 489 tracks.  You would think after seeing this many tracks in the past three 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 heretofore unknown North American tracks so rapidly that even after having seen 489 new tracks in the past three years, I STILL HAVE 1,156 tracks in my North American database that I have not visited.  I will be lucky if I ever get the remaining tracks total below 1,000 in North America.

This season provided my fourth consecutive worldwide trackchasing championship.  This is my eighth consecutive year of finishing in the top three in the world rankings.  No one has ever done that.  My goal for 2008 is to once again finish in the top three in the ultra-competitive hobby of trackchasing.  If I was forced to put a number on my 2008 tracks to be seen total, I might go with just over 100.  At this time I do not have a goal of repeating as a season champ.  Nevertheless, I am proud to have four championship trophies (figuratively speaking, of course) sitting on the fireplace mantle.  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 numbers of days that I trackchase in ‘07.”  I trackchased 119 days and only hit the golf links 92 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 2008 will be to play golf 100 times regardless of how much trackchasing I do.  My golf goal is not only quantity based, but quality as well.  I don’t want to trackchase to the point that it will majorly effect my golf game.  I expect to maintain my golf index at less than 8.0 at the end of the ’08 trackchasing season.

I also want to extend my trackchasing penetration to even more foreign countries.  I currently have seen racing in 11 countries.  I trail only Roland Vanden Eynde and Will White in this category among active trackchasers.  Will has seen racing in 20 countries.  He has offered to “race you to 30”.  I hope no one is offended by Will’s politically incorrect reference to trackchasing competition.  I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.  I might just take him up on his offer.  I will definitely see racing in a few new countries in 2008.

I have some other goals for 2008.  I want to extend my current worldwide trackchasing lead over my fellow competitors.  Currently, the closest trackchaser trails by more than 140 tracks.  I’d like to get that lead up to 200 tracks or more by the end of ’08.  We’ll have to wait and see how that goes.

I also want to continue to write entertaining Trackchaser Reports and produce a colorful and informative trackchasing website.  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.ranlayracing.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. 

The staff at RANLAY Racing and I are already busy planning a fantastic 2008 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.  By the time you read this, I will already have already begun my 2008 season.

2008 Trackchasing Goal Recap

Lifetime trackchaser rankings (increase lead over second place to 200+ tracks)

Annual trackchaser rankings (finish in the top 3)

Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results (reduce my number of “15” point states)

Far Western states lifetime rankings (gain leadership position in each of the 13 Far Western states (x California) 

Add at least five new countries to my trackchasing list

Play golf at least 100 times with a golf index of less than 8.0

Continue to add to my trackchasing technology/information arsenal.

Finally, my plan is simply to see as many new tracks in 2008 as I want too.  If I don’t go trackchasing, it won’t be because of some form of restraint on my part.  It will be because I found something more fun and interesting to do or I couldn’t find a place to go trackchasing.

2007 TECHNOLOGY/INFORMATION INNOVATIONS

February – Garmin GPS unit to trackchasing arsenal

March – Dell laptop extra strength battery (for those long airplane rides)

March – Full usage of www.priceline.com for trackchasing hotels

April - Executive Travel Skyguide subscription

June – Road Food, culinary travel book

August – Introduction of “anytime/anywhere” laptop internet capability

August – Upgrade to Motorola “Razor” phone with internet/video capabilities

September – Addition of “Slingbox” video capability

December – Ability to program my GPS unit with individual longitude and latitude coordinates

I have some of the best advisors in the business when it comes to technology/information innovations.  My fellow competitors can only wish to emulate my performance in this category. 

My Garmin GPS unit is possibly the best aid to efficient trackchasing I have ever had.  I no longer take paper maps with me on any trip.  In 2006, I averaged an even 300 miles driving for each track I visited.  You would think that the more tracks I visit, the further apart the remaining tracks would be.  However, after getting my GPS unit, I averaged even less miles driven for each track I saw.  In 2007, I averaged just 263 miles of driving for each of the 160 new tracks I visited.  A 37-mile savings might not seem like much, but then consider I went trackchasing 124 days including rainouts.  That savings amounts to about 4,500 miles.  The cost of gasoline for that much driving would be about $500.  That cash savings would buy two GPS units.

What’s the advantage of having an extra strength computer battery?  Many of my plane rides are three hours or longer.  With the best battery money can buy, I never run out of juice while I’m on the plane planning my next trackchasing adventure.

I’m just beginning to enjoy the benefits of Priceline.com.  I’m getting hotels that are dramatically better than the Super 8s and Motel 6s that I used to stay in for about the same price as I paid for my current hotels.  I’m renting full-sized cars for less than $15 per day.  Priceline, when used properly, rocks!

Many of you may not know what an “Executive Travel Skyguide” is.  Back in my business days, I used its predecessor, the Official Airline Guide or the “OAG”.  J.J. got me back into using this tool.  The monthly guide gives me details on every daily flight in North America and beyond.  When I run into a mechanical or weather related flight delay, this guide is the first thing I turn too.

The “Road Food” guide was given to me as a Father’s Day gift by Carol.  This publication allows me to visit some of the most off the wall eateries our nation has to offer.  Not only does it make each trip more fun, but the food is great too.

Possibly my next best technology/information innovation of the 2007 season, behind my GPS unit was the ability to have “anywhere/anytime” internet capability from my laptop.  No other trackchaser can sit in his/her car at some remote and out of the way little dirt track and be checking weather, making hotel reservations and the like.  As an example, I can never make a hotel reservation until I know the track I plan to visit is actually going to race.  If the track cancelled at the last minute because of weather, I would not want to be stuck with a hotel where the cancelled track was located.  Often I can’t confirm that until I reach the track.  Usually, the track is located in a very remote location.  With my new laptop capability I can make an online reservation from anywhere.  This saves me both time and money and lots of potential aggravation of having to find a motel room after the races is finished, sometimes very late at night. 

Son J.J. was behind my upgrading to a Motorola “Razor” cell phone.  Beyond typical cell phone capabilities, I can now access the internet, as well as get direct video feeds from the Weather Channel and CNN.  Real time, on line information is the lifeblood of any worldwide trackchaser.

When I am out on the trackchasing trail, it’s important to keep myself properly entertained to prevent the “road” from becoming monotonous.  J.J. was able to get my “Slingbox” software working on my laptop after more than a year’s inactivity.  With Slingbox I can watch each of the 500+ channels I get from DirectTV at home on my laptop in real time anywhere I have a high-speed internet connection.  I can even watch programs I have recorded on my digital video recorder (formerly known at TIVO).  This is definitely state of the art technology.

My GPS unit has probably been the best time saving/efficiency idea I have ever added to my trackchasing tool chest.  Now, I have made the GPS unit even more valuable.  With the help of son-in-law James Peters and track website guru Richard Welty, I can now find the exact longitude/latitude coordinates for a track that I plan to visit.  I plug those coordinates into my GPS and I have customized driving instructions directly to the track from any direction.  There is no better way to get track directions anywhere.

NUMBERS!  NUMBERS!  NUMBERS!

I wanted to share with you the highlights of my 2007 trackchasing season.  Here they are:

Total new tracks seen:  160

Total U.S. states visited 34

4 Canadian provinces

Total countries visited 5 (U.S., Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Barbados)

New countries:  Mexico, Barbados

Track breakout

Dirt ovals – 75

Figure 8 tracks – 24

Road Course tracks - 24

Asphalt ovals – 15

Kart tracks – 12

Ice tracks - 6

Indoor tracks - 4

Repeat tracks – 8

Total foreign country tracks - 23

Doubles breakout

Day/Night doubles – 22

Same location doubles – 8

Blended double no feature on front end – 4

Traditional doubles – 4

Blended double feature on both ends – 3

Total successful trackchasing days in 2007 – 119

Total golfing days in 2006 – 92 (about four were successful)

Trackchasing days completely rained out – 4

Trackchasing days with no countable cars - 1

Longest streak of new tracks seen in 2007 without a rainout – 88 (June 21-December 29)

Total # of new and repeat tracks seen – 168