GREETINGS FROM NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

I would estimate that 80-90% of the more than 1,000 subscribers to the Trackchaser Report are only casual racing fans or maybe not even race fans at all.  These folks are either friends of mine, people I’ve met at the tracks or individuals I’ve met during my trackchasing travels.

 

From the emails I get back from readers, it sounds like people enjoy the “People/Strategy/Travel News” section of these writings the most.  You know…..I do too.  After seeing racing at 993 tracks there is very little left to see that is likely to surprise me at the track.  I still find the idea of visiting a new racetrack most entertaining.  I can always count on the people and places to provide those new and different experiences that make these trips so much fun.

 

The Strategy

 

I’d be less than honest if I didn’t mention that there is still a trackchaser or two who seems to think I go trackchasing to the extent that I do this simply because I have the money to do it.  

If I was a more skeptical person than I am, I might think there is a serious case of trackchaser envy among a couple of the top 10 trackchasers.  Since we’re at the beginning of a new season, I’d like to take a moment to address this particular issue.

 

Overall, this reaction doesn’t surprise me.  People in life are competitive.  By way of example, I offer the following.  On most Tuesdays and Thursdays, I play golf with a group of retired executives that range in age from 50-85.  By the way, our oldest member is 85 years old.  He shot a 92 this past Tuesday.  I’m not sure there are 10 people reading this who could shoot that score on the course we play, including me on some days.

 

Regardless of their age, each of these guys plays to win.  I can guarantee you that every person is trying to hit their very best shot each time they swing the club.  No one would ever consider cheating to win, because that would take the fun out of winning.  After each round of golf, the victors get their fair share of the winnings; everyone has lunch together and needles each other about the events of the day.

 

Each of us has to decide in life how they want to react to their competition doing well.  There are really just two broad choices.  One can congratulate the winners and sincerely wish them the very best.  The second choice is to reject your competition’s achievements with comments like “He can afford the very best golf clubs”, “If I had as much time to practice as he does” or “He always gets the lucky bounce.”

 

It’s pretty much the same thing in trackchasing.  You can congratulate the winners or complain about the winners.  Heck, that’s just human nature and it’s certainly not unique to trackchasing or anything else.  I choose to congratulate the winners in the areas of life where I play.  At the same time I will do my best to compete with them as hard as I can.

 

Let me give you another example in which to think about this topic.  Let’s say you had all the money you thought you would ever need.  Would that increase the number of options you had for spending money or decrease your options?  I think most people would say their options would be increased.

 

As an example, if you’re hungry and have only three dollars, your choice of restaurants is severely limited.  If you have $300, you are suddenly faced with a much different dilemma.  Now, when you walk down the street, there is hardly a restaurant in sight you cannot afford. 

 

The point here is that if you have the financial resources, then you have a very broad range of choices in which to spend your time and money.  Really, the money creates the plethora of options to spend your time.  If you are fortunate enough to be retired your activity options are really opened up.

 

I guess I would be more accepting of my critics if they simply said, “That guy is way too motivated about trackchasing for my tastes.”  It’s just inaccurate to play the “Wealth card.”    This is not the first time I’ve heard this comment from these rat bastard commie pinkos.  All right, I admit that I stole this expression from an American Airlines pilot friend of mine.  He uses that line each time he misses a four foot putt.  I’m not really calling any of my fellow competitors RBCPs, but it did kind of shock you didn’t it?

 

I appreciate the compliment about my wealth but it just isn’t true.  I happened by the kitchen sink yesterday and Carol was washing out the inside of a plastic bag so it could be reused.  Wealthy people don’t do that.  Heck, I don’t even think poor people do that!  However, if you would like to see how wealthy people live check out the following link:

 

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/2005/03/10/cx_sc_bill05_0310home.html

 

This is the Forbes billionaire list.  By the way, I’m not on it.  The link shows some fine pictures of the homes of the richest people in America.  Now, there is wealth for you.

 

I have offered to make my financial records public to the trackchasing group.  I would do this if the remaining members of the worldwide trackchasing top 20 provide their complete financial records for review by an independent blue ribbon committee.  So far, I have received no response on this idea.  I have also floated the idea that we create a ban on trackchasing during the winter months and even during the mid-week of the summer trackchasing season.

 

Limiting the days that people can trackchase might give the “Poor little guy” a better opportunity to keep up.  So far, no feedback on this trackchasing money saving idea either. 

 

The primary cost factors for trackchasing in order of money spent are 1) Airfare, 2) Hotel, 3) Rental car, 4) Food and 5) Race tickets.  I rarely fly anywhere for just one race.  The only cost factor that is less efficient for a one-day flying trip compared to a multi-day trip is the airfare.  All of the other expenses are priced on a daily or per use basis.  On the other hand a $300 airfare amortizes out for a one track trip at $300.  If I can spread a $300 airfare over a three track trip, then my airfare expense is only $100 per track.

 

Nevertheless, getting a track in the middle of January that is guaranteed to happen (no rainouts for indoor racing) is OK with me.  There is one more drawback to a one track flying trip.  There’s a lot of wear and tear on the body.  Getting up at 3:40 a.m. on day 1, flying for 4-6 hours, then driving 444 miles and getting up at 3:30 a.m. California time the next morning to fly home takes a toll.  However, I can’ t complain.  One of my stated trackchasing objectives is to put more time and resources into the trackchasing hobby than anyone else. This is what it takes to accomplish that objective.

 

 

The trip

 

Now let’s get back to today’s trackchasing trip.  It’s only a one-day trip.  It’s not exactly as simple as driving across town to go to Wal-Mart.  It’s even a little more intricate than driving 50 miles for the day to visit your Aunt Millie.

 

Today I will fly from San Diego to Washington, D.C.  I’ll be in the Virginia area for about 18 hours and then fly back to San Diego.  Having money does not prevent me from taking a trip like this.  On the other hand, having money might discourage me from making a trip like this.  If you had enough money to do just about anything you wanted to do, would getting on an airplane and flying back and forth across the entire country in a 30 hour period be at the top your hit parade?  Maybe not.

 

Let me share the details of my 30-hour travel escapade as simply another January day in the life of “Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21^st century.”  Remember the prize at the end of the particular rainbow is track #994.

 

I’m flying on Jet Blue Airlines today.  I’ve never flown them before, but everyone says they are great.  I’ll be flying out of San Diego.  There are six commercial airports within an hour or so of my home.  I rarely use San Diego, but you’ll learn later why I picked this airport.

 

I’ve got a non-stop flight that leaves on Friday morning at 6:30 a.m.  Without traffic the airport is an hour south of San Clemente.  There should not be any rush hour traffic at the time I plan to leave.  The only potential problem is night time road construction, which is very popular in SoCal.

 

If I miss my flight or the flight is delayed by as little as two hours, I could miss tonight’s race and the entire trip would be a failure.  I needed to get up at 3:40 a.m. and be on the road by 4 a.m.  How early is 3:40 a.m. for me?  I normally get up around 7 a.m.  That means I’m getting up 2 hours and 20 minutes earlier than normal.

 

How early do you get out of bed?  If you have to go to work, maybe 5 a.m.?  Then my wakeup call came at about 1:40 a.m. “Your time.”  Remember, it’s all in the name of trackchasing!

 

On trips like this I always set two alarms.  Remember, if I miss the plane, I miss the track.  I have my bedside alarm clock as well as my cell phone alarm for days like this.  You never know when the electricity might go down and then the cell phone backup will save the trip.  When my bedside alarm went off at 3:40 a.m. I bolted from bed and into the shower.

 

We have our water heater set on a timer to heat the water from around 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.  Whenever I’m up for an early morning trackchasing shower, I am instantly reminded of this energy conserving policy!  Ya, it takes a while to get the hot water.

 

After a quick shower and shave, I hustled into my laid out the night before wardrobe selection.  Even though it’s the middle of January and I’m flying to the East coast, I’ll be going with shorts.  It’s what I do.

 

At 3:57 a.m., I walk over to the bed to see if Carol is awake for a quick goodbye smooch.  She is.  Not only is she awake but she’s holding my cell phone.  I guess I had forgotten my backup alarm.  It went off while I was in the shower, waking Carol.  She was nice enough to hand it to me rather than throw it at me.  I will see her again in just 34 hours.  She will be starting her 2006 trackchasing season very shortly.  Stay tuned.

 

At 3:59 a.m., I’m backing out of the driveway (one minute ahead of schedule).  At 4:02 a.m., I’m on the Interstate 5 freeway headed southbound.  It’s dark and there is very little traffic or road construction.

 

Even though I am delayed by a freight train just a mile from the San Diego airport, I arrive into section T2C1 (written here so I don’t lose track of my car!) of the close-in parking lot popularly priced at just $18 for day one and $24 for each additional day.

 

I grew up in Illinois.  I first sat foot on California ground on October 1, 1971 at this very same airport in San Diego.  I liked it so much that I chose a spot to live just about 100 yards from the airport runway for 13 weeks.  Back then I couldn’t afford any housing with an ocean view.  Therefore, I settled for a metal Quonset hut (ala Gomer Pyle style) to live with my fellow boot camp Marines.

 

On that occasion I also arrived at the airport in the dark.  It was about 10 p.m. in the evening.  Other recruits on my flight were quickly escorted onto a gray Navy school bus and driven less than a mile to the United States Marine Corps Depot, which does indeed abut the runways of the San Diego’s Lindbergh International Airport.

 

For the next couple of hours, we were directed to stand without speaking in the dark on an asphalt parking lot.  We were directed to place our feet on a set of painted yellow footprints and told not to move.  At about 2 a.m., we were marched into the MCRD barber shop for our first attempt at Marine Corps grooming.  My haircut didn’t take long….about 20 seconds. 

 

We then were sent to a barracks and told to remove all of our clothing.  Standing in the nude, we were given a cardboard box, directed to stuff all of our clothing and personal belongings in the box and address the box to be sent home.  Next we were marched down an assembly line getting all of our Marine Corps gear we would need for the next 13 weeks.

 

Precisely, at 4:55 a.m. we were directed to “Hit the rack” and “Grab some shuteye.”  This seemed very nice of the drill instructor after such a long night of Marine Corps acclimation.  Just when I was starting to dream about my girl “Back on the block” (that would have been Carol), I was awakened at 5 a.m. to the sound of our drill instructor rattling a broom stick inside of a large aluminum garbage can.  Five minutes of sleep?  I guess he really wasn’t being that nice.

 

Our platoon of 72 young recruits (I was the oldest at 22) then tried to march in the dark over to the mess hall.  No one had any experience at marching.  We were told to link arms in eighteen rows of four as we struggled to get in line for our first government meal.  To this day, I remember that experience as if it happened last week.  Just before we reached the mess hall I saw a D.I. (drill instructor) kicking a recruit in the stomach while the recruit rolled along on the ground.  From that point forward, getting up early for a trackchasing trip would never seem like a real burden.

 

No wonder I get the twitches whenever I visit San Diego.  No, not really.  The boot camp experience was a great way to lose weight and learn how to apply a chokehold on your friends until they lost consciousness.  I’d recommend it to anyone for just 13 weeks.

 

This morning the San Diego airport had a new security procedure that I have never experienced before.  In addition to a metal detector, passengers enter something made by GE that resembles a phone booth.  Once inside, clear glass doors automatically shut both in front of and behind each individual passenger.  A couple of brief but startling bursts of air strong enough to raise the women passengers’ hair by several inches are shot into the booth.  After 20 seconds, a green light goes on (assuming you don’t have any explosives residue on your person) and the doors open and you’re on your way.  From my point of view, the more security the better.

 

I’m very satisfied with Jet Blue Airlines.  They have leather seating, Direct TV at each seat and enough legroom in every coach seat to meet my needs.  The only drawback is they don’t have any electrical outlets for my laptop.  The flight is non-stop.  That’s good because I don’t need any airplane connection problems in the middle of the winter on my way to seeing a new track.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

NORFOLK SCOPE ARENA, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – TRACK #994 – 1/20/06

 

This Virginia track is my 8^th in the state.  I have now tied National Speed Sports News’ Chris Economacki for 21^st place.  Guy Smith leads Virginia with 43 tracks.

 

Not much chance of having a rainout today.  It’s an indoor event! This was my 104th consecutive trackchasing day without a rainout and my 154th track without a day rained out.  I must have a positive effect on the weather everywhere I go.  The high temperature in Washington, D.C. when I landed was 63 degrees.  This is supposed to be the coldest time of the year!

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

NORFOLK SCOPE ARENA, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

 

It’s most unusual for me to be trackchasing in the month of January.  Exactly how unusual is it?  I have only seen 10 U.S. tracks out of my 993 career tracks in this my birthday month.  Since I wear shorts every day of the year, the January cold of most places outside of California doesn’t work for me.  January is for UCLA basketball and golf.  I wear shorts to every UCLA basketball game and for every round of golf I play in California.  Why would today be any different?

 

Nevertheless, during this trip, I was surprised that I did not see one single person in the San Diego Airport, either of the Washington airports or the racetrack wearing shorts.  Carol said it had something to do with this being winter.  I say that people simply need to “Be set free.”

 

It was a straightforward 201 mile drive from Dulles to the Norfolk Scope indoor Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.  I was cruising along with plenty of time to make the race and listening to the NASCAR channel on my portable XM radio.  I must have been engrossed in the subject matter because I missed the turn to Norfolk.

 

By the time I realized my mistake, I was 20 miles past the turn.  This necessitated a new driving plan.  The detour did allow me to drive through Wakefield, Virginia, the “Peanut capital of the world.”  Because of my inattention to my original driving plan I didn’t have time to stop, but next time I will.

 

The race was scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.  At 6:40 p.m. I was still a few miles away.  About that time I received a call on my cell.  It was fellow racechaser/trackchaser Mike K. who hails from Reading, Pennsylvania.

 

He was already in the arena and wanted to let me know he was holding a seat for me in section 112.  Mike had given me the dates for the arena racing tonight at the Norfolk Scope Arena as well as its sister track at the Hampton Coliseum just 20 miles away.  You may recall I visited the Hampton track last month.

 

I parked off-site in what looked like a rough area.  It was a short one block walk to the attractive arena that is home to the Norfolk Admirals, a farm club of the Chicago Blackhawks National Hockey Club team.

 

The Arena Racing group really has their act together.  They start on time and run a quality and efficient program.  The group runs their heat races in the late afternoon.  Spectators are not allowed in for the heats.  It’s open to just the competitors and people with pit passes.

 

The evening program consists of four 50-lap feature races.  The top four from the C and B mains along with the top 6 from the A main transfer to the top event of the night, the “Top Dog” feature event.

 

The track itself is about 1/8 mile long.  The mini-cups racecars can make a lap around the metal high-banked oval track in just around nine seconds.  The announcer actually stands inside the oval while he announces the program and interviews drivers.

 

The announcer gave me a couple of nice trackchaser mentions.  Even though the place seats more than 5,000 people, only about 1,000 folks were here tonight.  The announcer could easily look into the crowd and he asked me to give him a wave.  Once I did, it was as if he and I were having a one on one conversation in a 5,000 person arena.  He asked the questions and I sign languaged my answers.

 

It was fun sitting with Mike K.  He’s a nice guy and very knowledgeable about the local racing.  I could tell we were both a little tired.  He had worked a 4 a.m. shift this morning and then driven six hours with his friend and track photographer, Bill Hess.  I’m seen Bill’s work and it great. If you’d like any photos from the Virginia Arena Racing venues give him a call at 610-926-5446.

 

I was a bit wiped out myself.  By the time I arrived at my hotel in Fredericksburg, Virginia after the race, I had driven 444 miles and flown another 2,278 miles in just 18 hours. 

 

This was my second race in the past couple of months sitting with Mike K.  At each of those events Mike has captured a t-shirt thrown into the crowd by the Arena Racing Dancing Girls (“Girls” used her is allowed because that’s what the promoter calls this group).  Mike also gave me a great looking racing hat with the logo “American Indoor Karting” printed on it.  This will become my official 2006 racing hat.  Thanks, Mike.

 

I also learned that Mike is sponsoring an entrant in the “Under 5” worldwide trackchaser division.  Mike took his grandson at 9 months old to the Reading fairgrounds.  He has a solid trackchasing season planned for the young man in ’06 to begin the uphill struggle to unseat young Natalie of the M.A. Ritter family clan.  It should be a great battle.

 

The actual racing tonight is some of the best I will see during the entire year.  Why would I make that statement?  The cars are quick and can move back and forth from the high lane to the low lane in a second.  There’s a ton of passing, a good deal of flips and no meaningless delays.  It’s very entertaining racing. 

 

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I’ll be driving the Budget Rental Car Racing Ford Taurus.  This was a basic car with just 6,600 miles on it.

 

The East coast mileage on this driving trip wasn’t much, just 434 miles.  Of course, I only had the car for 18 hours.  I stopped for gas twice and paid an average price of $2.33 per gallon.  The Ford gave me 26.1 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 9.0 cents per mile.

 

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.

 

1.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,038 (+44)

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,020 (+26)

3.  Any Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (+13)

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,005 (+11)

5.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 994

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 988 (-6)

 

 

 

Other notables

 

41.  Andy Ritter, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania - 233 (+3)

42.  Colin Casserly, Stevenage, England 232 (+2)

43.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 230

44.  Bernie Harlen, Goshen, Indiana - 229 (-1)

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 3

2.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 2

3.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 1

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21^st century

 

Trackchasing doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

San Diego, CA – Washington, D.C. – 2,278 miles

 

RENTAL CAR

 

Washington Dulles International Airport – trip begins

Norfolk, Virginia – 231 miles

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport – 434 miles – trip ends

 

AIRPLANE

 

Washington, D.C. – Denver, CO – 1,478 miles

 

Denver, CO – San Diego, Ca - 851 miles

 

Total air miles – 4,607 miles

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 5,041 miles

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Norfolk Scope Arena - $12.50

 

Total race admissions for the trip – about $12.50

 

 

 

Past trackchasing stories are available at:

www.ranlayracing.com

 

Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:

www.trackchaser.com   

 

Some of my standings data comes from trackchaser.com

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California - January 21

 

 

 

 

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2006 (** not the first time to visit this track)

 

992.  Watermelon Capital Speedway, Cordele, Georgia - January 14

 

993.  Cross Roads Motorplex (asphalt oval), Jasper, Florida - January 15

 

994.  Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia - January 20