Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Today’s trackchasing was all about
Carol as she attempted to do what no other woman trackchaser has ever done...................more
in “The People”.
Our portable GPS unit is the best
piece of technology I have ever had.
However, today it almost cost me a track………………..details in “The Trip”.
Ever had a $16.50 milkshake that
weighed six pounds?……………….more in “Trackchasing
Tourist Attraction”.
Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take
you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at www.ranlayracing.com
http://www.ranlayracing.com/july682007.htm
GREETINGS FROM
TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION
Yes! See below.
WE WOKE UP IN
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL
NEWS
The Strategy
There are several different
objectives I have ongoingly in trackchasing.
I may be trying to get more tracks than anyone else does in the lifetime
standings or for an individual season. I
might be trying to lead the prestigious National Geographic Diversity rankings or
get ahead in an individual state.
However, today’s trackchasing did
not have as much to do with me as it did “Trackchasing’s
First Mother” aka wife Carol. She
has her own trackchasing objectives. One
of those is to see racing in all 50 of the
The Trip
Our portable GPS unit is absolutely
indispensable. We can be in the heart of
a major city trying to leave, the GPS unit painlessly takes us on a series of
rights and lefts, and soon the city is in our rearview mirror. I don’t think the non-user can fully
appreciate its value until it has been used for a day or two.
When we want to drive to a certain
location, there are three ways to enter the info. The best way is to use the exact
address. However, if you don’t know the
exact address, you can enter the city location.
That will at least get you near enough to your location that you can use
your own intuition or some local knowledge to get you the rest of the way.
There is a third way to find some
locations. We can go into the machine and
enter a location by name, such as “Jimmy Carter
Presidential Library”. If the
attraction is big enough or well known, it is likely to be in the GPS database.
Today we used this third option and
plugged in the name, “
We were on a tight time
schedule. We had just left the
Hunterstown Speedway following their countable racing. We had just enough time to get Carol to the
I was driving and Carol was reading
off the directions as we went along. We
were closing in on the
Soon the GPS told us we were
arriving at the
We were NOT at the speedway. As a matter of fact, it was nearly 7 p.m. and
we were 57 MILES from the
To put it politely, it was now panic
time. I could certainly get Carol to her
I hustled us along. We arrived at
I was lucky in one respect. The
I arrived at 8:53 p.m. The Shippensburg Speedway’s program had begun
at 6 p.m. I was definitely cutting it
close. When I pulled in, I had to make
way for a racecar hauler that was leaving the track. The sun had set just minutes ago. It was starting to get dark. I jumped out of the car and rushed into an
open paddock. I saw most of the cars in
the pit area already sitting on their trailers waiting to head home.
I breathlessly asked a woman
carrying a clipboard, how many races were left.
“There’s only one race left, our slick track
feature event. They are watering the
track now, and it will start in a few minutes,” she told me. Wow!
This was a lot closer than it should have been.
After taking a few pictures in the
pit area and around the facility, I sat down next to a gregarious man, who was
the spitting image of Mike Knappenberger’s older brother. Of course, he was a handsome devil. This fellow, a former late model (’57 Ford)
racer from upstate
I had only one other thing to
remember to do. When I had dropped off
Carol at the
TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION
CHICK AND RUTH’S DELLY,
The gift Carol gave me for Father’s
Day is going to be a great source of Trackchasing Tourist Attractions. When you’re traveling you never know where
the really good places to eat are located.
I really want to avoid chains, unless I have absolutely no time to
stop. I was lucky to have my copy of
Roadfood with more than 600 listings of the best barbeque joints, lobster
shacks, ice cream parlors, highway diners and much, much more with me.
Chick and Ruth’s Delly is located in
the heart of downtown
Chick and Ruth’s is certainly one of
a kind, cramped and full of life.
Imagine having a full-sized deli located inside a passenger train
car! It’s a lot like that. As the book says, we would be eating “cheek to jowl” with our fellow diners and we
were.
I had the crab dip that was sinfully
delicious. The dish featured moist
French bread for dipping in a baked crab dip that had a real kick too it. I quenched my thirst with several refills of
cherry Diet Coke. Carol went with the
corn beef hash and eggs. There were huge
chunks in corn beef, which I snuck from her at every opportunity.
I wish we had more time and I had
more room for excess calories. Chick and
Ruth’s offers a “colossal milkshake”. It costs $16.50 and weighs six pounds! The super colossal Reuben sandwich goes for
$28.50. A picture of it showed a
full-sized dinner plate with various deli meats stacked more than a foot tall. This was quite a place and I have the
pictures to prove it at www.ranlayracing.com. I love my Roadfood book.
The People
Currently Carol ranks 31st
in the world trackchasing standings.
She’s been making good progress and passing a few people during the past
several years. There are still four
women who rank higher than Carol in the lifetime standings.
As luck would have it, these four
women rank consecutively in positions 20th through 23rd. Pat Eckel of Easton,
Carol has a long way to go to reach
the overall quantity of tracks that each of her fellow female competitors has
achieved. However, Carol’s geographic
diversity achievements rank her very far up the list of women chasers.
There are nine trackchasers who are
members of the 50-state club. All of
those people are men, except Nancy Brown.
Nancy, along with her husband Allan, operates a racing business that
takes them all over the country selling a racetrack directory. Therefore,
The other women still have a long
way to go in order to gain admission in the 50-state club. Pat Eckel has 41 states, Eleanor Weidman has
39 states and Pam Smith has 37 different states to her credit. These are all very respectable totals. Will one of these women be the first to join
Nancy Brown in the 50-state club?
Not if Carol has anything to do with
it! Today, Trackchasing’s First Mother
picked up her 47th lifetime state,
Carol became the first woman to ever
see a new track in a new state while unaccompanied. All of the woman mentioned above are wives of
leading male trackchasers. In the entire
history of trackchasing dating back to the very first race in the early 1900s,
a woman has never ventured out on her own, into the wilderness if you will, to
see a new track in a new state until Carol did today.
While Carol was trackchasing in
Today, I was off to
If you would like to send Carol a congratulatory
note, her email address is bruintrio@yahoo.com. I am certain she would enjoy hearing from
you.
In the meantime, the RANLAY Racing
travel department is busily looking for trackchasing opportunities in the three
states that remain before Carol can join the 50-state club. Those states are
CAROL’S COMMENTS
I was glad the
It’s hard to believe I’m the first
woman to see a new track in a new state by myself. It was good to get
STATE RANKINGS
This was Carol’s
first ever track in the old line state.
She now occupies a tie for 32nd place in the state that calls
the Baltimore Oriole its state bird. Guy
Smith leads the rankings here with 13 tracks.
The track(s)
we saw in
Carol now
holds sole possession of 47th place in
RACE REVIEW – HUNTERSTOWN
I called the promoter on the way to
today’s track. I knew they would be
racing about 20 classes of go-karts. The
track’s website shows the order that each class will appear. The promoter told me the senior champ karts
would be racing near the end of all of those classes.
He and I agreed that if Carol and I
showed up by 4 p.m. we would not miss the champ karts. One thing led to another and we didn’t arrive
until 4:30 p.m. No problem, the champ
karts did not race until nearly 6 p.m.
In the meantime Carol and I picked a
nice spot in the shade and watched several go-kart classes race. There was no charge for admission, so we got
more than our money’s worth. There were
good car counts (for kart racing) in all classes, however the flagman was much
too quick with the yellow flag.
The facility is just like a good
quality dirt oval except on a smaller scale.
I would really like to see, make that hear, kart tracks announce their
activities and try to appeal to the spectator a little more. As soon as the six-car senior champ kart race
was in the books, we were off to the second half of our day/night trackchasing
double. Carol’s back half of her double
would be in
RACE TRACK STATS:
HUNTERSTOWN
Track
details
Website: http://www.hunterstownspeedway.com/
Weather: It was 90 degrees. However, we sat under a shade tree with a
nice breeze. We were very comfortable.
Track
type: oval
Surface/length: Dirt, 1/5-mile
Grandstands: We sat in a five-row aluminum bleacher type
grandstand that was covered in shade from several large trees.
P.A.: Not much good.
Announcer: Only used to call racers to the grid.
On
time: There were just two countable
classes racing today. They raced near
the end of the program.
Pit
area: Located behind the front stretch.
Classes: There were about 20 classes of karts. There were just six senior champs that raced
in the race we saw. It looked like there
might be a second class of senior champ karts a couple of races later, but the
promoter had told me there was just one senior champ kart class racing today.
Radio
Frequency: I normally don’t use my
scanner when I am trackchasing with Carol and didn’t today.
Concessions: I had a sno-cone but the fresh cut French
fries looked good.
Scoreboard: No
Extras: A high quality small car track, like most of
its genera are.
RACE REVIEW – SHIPPENSBURG
I guess I was lucky to see any
racing tonight at the Shippensburg Speedway.
I arrived at 8:53 p.m. for their program that was scheduled to begin at
6 p.m. I was somewhat surprised that the
entire program had been completed except for one race.
As I walked through the pit area,
without having to pay, I surveyed the cars that were already on their
trailers. This was a down-home bunch,
but I would have liked to have seen them race.
There was just one race left.
That race would be a 15-minute affair for nine “slick
track” competitors.
The track’s management had two large
water trucks giving the quarter mile banked dirt oval a good soaking. They must have watered the track for at least
20 minutes. I was told they run this
type of race about once a month. I guess
if I had arrived on one of the other non slick track weekends, I would have
been too late for any countable racing whatsoever.
The nine cars that made up the slick
track group were a homely bunch. They
looked like demo cars. There was a good
deal of crashing, banging, sliding, stalling and spinning before the white flag
and then the checkered flag came out to end the program.
I had arrived at 8:53 p.m. I was leaving the facility at 9:33 p.m. I had been at the track for just 40 minutes,
but they were the right 40 minutes.
During that brief time, I took lots of photos in the fading light, had a
big bowl of chili beans, met a local resident and former Maine-based driver and
got my countable race in. Life was good,
but now I had to jet back to the
RACE TRACK STATS:
SHIPPENSBURG
Track
details
Website: http://www.shippensburgspeedway.com/
Weather: It was a most pleasant evening for racing by
the time I arrived at 8:53 p.m.
Track
type: oval
Length/Surface: 1-4-mile, dirt
Grandstands: There was bleacher grandstand seating and
well as fixed plastic molded seats.
Several fans sat in their own lawn chairs.
P.A.: Not very good.
Announcer: I could hardly hear anything the announcer
was saying.
On
time: I have no idea. I do know the program was supposed to begin
at 6 p.m. By 8:53 p.m., they had only
one race left to run.
Pit
area: Located beyond the backstretch and
off of turns three and four.
Classes: They had mini-sprints, some low level stock
cars and the slick track (demo type cars) racing tonight.
Radio
Frequency: I did not bring my scanner
into the track.
Concessions: I was starving. I went with a $2 bowl of chili that was long
on the chili beans and short on meat.
Nevertheless, I liked it. The
chili along with a plastic bottle of Diet Coke went for just $3.25. In a “first-ever,”
I noticed the track was serving TWO kinds of bologna sandwiches. They had “sweet”
bologna and “LaBaron” bologna!
Scoreboard: Are you kidding me?
Extras: Not a lot of extras here. At least I didn’t need to pay to get in.
RACE REVIEW –
I’ll give my impression of the
I pulled into the parking lot at
about 10:15 p.m. It looked like the
ticket booth was still selling tickets, but fans were already starting to
leave. I walked past the man at the
track’s entrance as if I owned the place.
Either he was intimidated by me or asleep. After having been to two tracks already
today, it didn’t seem right that I should have to buy a ticket after 10 p.m.
The straights are long at this
half-mile dirt oval. I’m guessing the
late models get up to speeds of 130-140 M.P.H. on this track. Whatever they do, I know they are fast. I was disappointed the track’s P.A. system
was not any better than it was.
The lighting is state of the
art. The track’s organization is
outstanding.
I was most pleased for Carol. She had been the first woman, earlier in the
evening, to ever get a new track in a new state while unaccompanied. She may be small in stature, but she can hold
her own. Congrats to Carol on her 47th
state.
RACE TRACK STATS:
Track
details
Website: http://www.hagerstownspeedway.com/
Weather: It was a most comfortable summer evening in
Track
type: oval
Length/Surface: ˝-mile, dirt
Grandstands: This is a big-time high quality dirt
oval. There seating capabilities are
huge. The place probably seats between
five and ten thousand.
P.A.: Surprisingly the P.A. system was really bad.
Announcer: Could barely here the announcer.
On
time: I assume so. Carol showed up at 8:07 p.m. for the
scheduled 7 p.m. start. I joined here at
about 10:15 p.m.
Pit
area: Located the infield of the track. I like it this way. None of the infield traffic blocked our view
of the backstretch.
Classes: Several classes of stock cars including late
models (35), late model sportsman (24) and pure stocks (30). It was difficult to tell the late model class
from the late model sportsman class. The
only difference was that the late model class had bigger trailers!
Radio
Frequency: I normally don’t use my
scanner when I am trackchasing with Carol and didn’t today.
Concessions: Carol had a chicken sandwich and a bottle of
water. (Editor’s note: What fun is it to eat like that?) She also said the funnel cake with apple
filling looked good. I asked her why she
didn’t get one. She told me, “It was enough for four people. But the fat guy next to me had one!”
Scoreboard: Yes
Extras: The lighting was fantastic and the seating
area gave everyone lots of room to enjoy the races.
RENTAL CAR UPDATE
We will be driving the National
Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala this weekend.
The car has XM satellite radio and two power adapters.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
On the plains of hesitation lie the
bleached bones of millions who, when within the grasp of victory sat and waited
and waiting died.
AIRPLANE
RENTAL CAR –
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Hunterstown Speedway - Free
Shippensburg Speedway - Free
RANKINGS
LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
There are no trackchasers currently
within 100 tracks of my lifetime total.
1. Randy Lewis,
Other notables
These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.
29. Tom Schmeh,
30. Carol Lewis,
31. Dwight Bucks,
2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Roland Vanden Eynde,
3. Ed Esser,
4. Mike Knappenberger,
5. Carol Lewis,
5. Paul Weisel,
7. Guy Smith, Effort,
8. Pam Smith, Effort,
9. Gordon Killian, Sinking
Springs,
10. Roger Ferrell,
Tracks have been reported by 37 different worldwide trackchasers this season.
LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS
2007 (current thru 6/29/07)**
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
3. Allan Brown,
**Until the end of the year, NGD rankings are unofficial. Rankings are affected not only by the leader’s activities but also by other trackchasers impact on the leader’s position in each state.
Past trackchasing reports are available at:
Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:
Some of the data in this report comes from www.trackchaser.net
and my Garmin GPS
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
Just one more Pennsy track to
see. Then it was off to
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)
1,139. Meremere Dirt Track
Club,
1,140. Meeanee Speedway,
1,141. Top of the South
Speedway,
1,142. Woodford Glen Speedway,
1,143. Robertson Holden
International
1,144.
1,145.
1,146. Angels Stadium of
1,147. Angels Stadium of
1,148.
1,149.
1,150. Grand Prix De
Lanaudiere,
1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track,
1,152. St Guillaume, St
1,153.
1,154.
1,155. Northeast Pond Ice
Track,
1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track,
1,157. New Hendry Country
1,158.
1,159. Honeoye Lake Ice Track –
Road Course,
1,160.
1,161.
1,162. Dawgwood Speedway,
1,163. Toccoa Speedway,
1,164. Tazewell Speedway,
1,165.
1,166. Dacosa Speedway,
1,167. Swinging Bridge Raceway,
1,168.
1,169. Foothills Raceway,
1,170. Mileback Speedway,
1,171. Grand Prix of
1,172. Vegas Grand Prix,
1,173.
1,174. Low Country Kartway,
1,175. Dillon Motor
1,176. Valley Dirt Riders,
1,177.
1,178. Sertoma Speedway,
1,179.
1,180.
1,181. Hollywood Hills
1,182. Meridian
1,183.
1,184. Rocky Mountain Raceways
(oval),
1,185. Rocky Mountain Raceways
(figure 8),
1,186. Modoc
1,187.
1,188.
1,189. Fairplex at the
1,190. Lowes Motor
1,191. Lowes Motor