Chaser stops in Glyndon

By Matt Anderson, The Forum
Published Monday, July 31, 2006

GYNDON, Minn. – In 1955, Randy Lewis attended his first auto race at Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Ill.

Fifty-one years and 1,081 racetracks later, Lewis was at Buffalo River Speedway.

Lewis, the world’s No. 1 track chaser according to the rankings at Trackchaser.com, was at Buffalo River Speedway on Sunday as the final part of a three-track weekend trip through the Midwest.

Lewis, a 57-year-old retired pharmaceutical salesman from San Clemente, Calif., started out as what he called a race chaser – someone who went to tracks to see the racing.

Eventually, Lewis’ emphasis shifted from seeing the races to seeing the tracks.

Randy Lewis

 

“I do it because I like to see new places,” Lewis said. “After I’ve seen 1,080 tracks, the racing is just no big deal.”

In 1999, Lewis discovered Trackchaser.com. Over the next seven years, he has increased his career track total from around 400 to more than 1,000 and has become the world’s top-ranked tracker. According to the rules on Trackchaser.com, only ovals, figure-eight tracks and road courses count in the standings, and all racing must be done by adults.

Lewis begins planning for a season by sorting through more than 1,000 Web sites that list where racing is taking place for the upcoming year.

He then inputs that data into a spreadsheet and sorts the races by location and day. From there he starts making his travel itinerary for the upcoming year. He said he flies to most locations and groups multiple tracks together for each flight.

“I usually plan my trips around the Sunday night track,” Lewis said. “It’s easy to fill in Friday-Saturday once you find a Sunday.”

Lewis said he never calls ahead to the racetrack to let track officials know he is coming, in part because of the reviews he writes on his Web site, Ranlayracing.com.

“I always pay my way in,” Lewis said. “I do that so when I write my track chaser report, that allows me to do it from sort of an unbiased point of view. I think if I was the guest of the track, I might feel obligated to say it was better than it was.”

Amongst the reviews on his Web site, Lewis speculates about how other track chasers might fare in the 2006 season. As for the more distant future, Lewis said Sunday that some of the younger track chasers in the lifetime rankings may eventually pass him.

But how long does he plan on pursuing his track chasing hobby?

“Forever,” Lewis said.

For Sunday’s results, see Page D2.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Matt Anderson at (701) 241-5544