Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
IOWA SPEEDWAY (OVAL), NEWTON, IOWA
How's this for traffic less than an hour before the race was to begin? It was stop and go, but mainly stop. I bought my tickets from the guy in the Ford SUV just ahead.
I like to hold up a sign signaling I need tickets to an event as in "need 2". Another way to do it, is to simply hold up your fingers showing the amount of tickets you need as this fellow is doing.
Carol slips through security undetected.
This is the wide view of the beautiful new Iowa Speedway. Note the helicopter flyover. Also, note the small inner oval racetrack in the lower right. I'll be back for that track someday.
Only 19 IRL cars started the event and just ten finished.
There was very little passing in this race. When they did try to pass each other, they usually crashed.
We had this large Jumbotron directly in front of us, so we could see the TV replays very well.
I always enjoy watching the pit stops.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Working smarter rather than harder
nearly always seems like a good idea...................more in “The Strategy”.
Trackchasing offer so many “fork in the road” decision-making opportunities,
there is never a dull moment…………details in “The
Trip”.
What European trackchaser spent the
evening at my boyhood home track?....…….more in “The
People”.
Ever been to Moonie’s Pub? You need to go there!....…….details in “Race Review –
Click on these links or paste them in your browser to
take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at www.ranlayracing.com
http://www.ranlayracing.com/iowaspeedwayirl.htm
http://www.ranlayracing.com/1213butlermotorspdwy.htm
http://www.ranlayracing.com/peoriaspdwyjun07.htm
GREETINGS FROM
TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION
Yes! See below.
WE WOKE UP IN
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Strategy
Wouldn’t everyone’s life strategy be
to get maximum results with minimal effort?
It’s the classic “work smarter, not harder” idea. It’s
exactly this strategy that motivated me to develop both a right-handed AND
left-handed forehand shot in tennis. I
could get to more balls and run less!
I try to practice this life strategy
not just in trackchasing but anywhere and everywhere that I can. Today, I will give you two examples of how
the “work smarter, not harder” theory was
applied in my everyday trackchasing life.
Today was the first ever Indy car
race at the
How would we get tickets? What would we do? I simply pulled out my “need two” ticket sign from my briefcase. Carol quickly chewed a piece of gum. We used the gum to stick the sign to the
driver’s side window. In less than five minutes,
a woman was waving two tickets out the window of a black Ford Expedition.
When the traffic slowed to a stop,
the driver got out of the car and walked back to my car. His tickets were in the upper level just at
the entrance to pit road. He wanted face
value ($75) for the tickets. That seemed
fair given the existing traffic circumstances.
I gladly dug into my pocket for $150 cash. We didn’t even have to get out of our car for
premium tickets at face value to the biggest event ever held at the
We were in four lanes of traffic
crawling toward the rain soaked grass parking lots of the
As I looked in my rearview mirror,
the traffic was backed up for as far as I could see. The traffic backup was probably more than
three miles. There were going to be a
large number of people who were going to miss a big part of this race.
There were just 20 minutes before
the green flag would fly. What would we
do? How would we get into the track in
time for the start of the race? My
theory regarding parking spaces is “there is always
room for one more at the inn.” Yes,
I guess that comes from my Bible reading.
I was able to perfect my parking strategies as the Eldora Speedway
during several World 100 events. It’s an easier theory to implement when I’m
not driving my own car!
I quickly nudged my way into a spot
just wide enough for the Dollar Rental Car Racing Dodge Charger. Carol and I snuck past a security guard who
was about ready to arrest a guy who had tried a similar but less stealth
move. We put it into Olympic walking
mode. I’m glad Carol goes to aerobics 5-6
times a week. She can easily keep up.
We arrived in our seats just seven
minutes before the race started. We
would have missed the first 50 laps had we not been assertive with our parking
arrangement. The fellow I bought my
tickets from showed up a little later than we did. He said, “I saw
that spot you parked in. I thought about
taking it myself. Good move!”
So…..what have we learned from all
of this? First of all, no one looks out
for your own well-being more than you do.
Secondly, it’s better to have a good system than a good shovel. Finally, it’s important to abide by all rules
and regulations. Therefore, when you win
you will have the inner self-satisfaction of a problem well solved. Yes, these are pearls of wisdom. Be smart enough to bend over and pick them
up.
The Trip
Following the afternoon race, Carol
did most of the driving down to
On Monday morning, after a quick
breakfast at the Waffle House, I dropped Carol off at the
I was undecided about my return trip
home. I had several factors pointing in
opposite directions. The plan was for
Carol to be out four nights and me five.
Here are some of the dilemmas I faced.
My extra night out would be because
I wanted to go to the
However, there were some significant
factors going against a trip to
However, I was obligated to return
my rental car to
Therefore, I drove to
I checked flights for my return home
on Tuesday. The only thing that was
semi-guaranteed was a 7:30 a.m. departure from
I considered going without a motel
on Monday night. However, after having
driven 595 miles for the day, sitting out in 90-degree weather for five hours
and sitting through one of the dirtiest/dustiest shows of the year, the idea of
going without sleep and a shower didn’t seem like it would be very appealing to
my fellow airline passengers or even to me!
I am amazed at the feedback I’ve
gotten from some trackchasers regarding the apparent ease of my
trackchasing. As the “Bill Gates” of trackchasing, some have fostered a
perception of me eating caviar to and from the track. As James Brown was the hardest working man in
show business, I believe I am the hardest working man in trackchasing.
Because of the lack of time to sleep
following Monday night’s races, I considered staying out on the road for a
couple more days. I would have done that
EXCEPT I had two problem areas. First, I
had to get back to join Carol for a Tuesday night Angel’s game. She would have let me slide on that if I
wanted too. Secondly, and probably more
importantly, I had only one viable Tuesday trackchasing alternative. Unfortunately, (fortunately?), the weather
forecast for that
There you have the travel plan. I got about three hours and 45 minutes of
sleep on Monday night in
TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION
I only had 90 minutes to spend at
the Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum & Library. That wasn’t enough time especially when I
learned the 45-minute film about his life and times was being delayed an hour
due to a movie projector failure.
This attraction is located in
Compared to my most recent
presidential library visit (Ronald Reagan) this was a modest affair. Nevertheless, I found it very entertaining
and will return again, when I have more time to enjoy everything they have to
offer.
The People
I drove nearly 500 miles out of my
way because I wanted to surprise
He told me that I had already
visited every track on his itinerary for this trip. Therefore, I don’t think he expected us to
meet up. Even though the air quality was
questionable (lots of dust and dirt), the racing was very good. I hope Roland enjoys the rest of his
trip. Safe travels, Roland.
CAROL’S COMMENTS
The
STATE RANKINGS
The
The
evening portion of our trackchasing day yielded my 34th lifetime
Show Me state track. This moves me into
a tie for fourth place with Roger Ferrell of
The
National
Geographic Diversity results are updated below.
RACE REVIEW –
Indy car racing today is not the
Indy car racing of your father’s era.
That’s too bad. They started just
19 cars today on a nearly one-mile oval.
They rarely passed. When they did,
they usually crashed. There were 69
yellow flag caution laps today out of the races total of 250 laps. Only ten cars finished.
I went to the inaugural race more
than 10 years ago at the
I doubt the same fate will be in
store for the Indy cars at the
The
I’d come back for a NASCAR Busch
race. I’ll definitely come back for
their road course and small oval racing.
That won’t be because I like that type of racing. It will be because I am a trackchaser. I’ve learned to check my entertainment
preferences at the door when I go trackchasing.
RACE TRACK STATS:
Track
details
Website: http://www.iowaspeedway.com/
Weather: The forecast called for a high temperature of
85 degrees. We were pleased that the
weather stayed heavily overcast with a temperature of just 73 degrees.
Track
type: oval
Surface: Asphalt
Length: 7/8- mile
Grandstands: The place seats about 50,000 folks now. Just about every seat in the tall aluminum
grandstands is a good one.
P.A.: Solid.
We could here the track’s announcer very well.
Announcer: Professional and knowledgeable.
On
time: They started about 10 minutes
later than the advertised start time of 12:15 p.m. I wish I could get a copy of Monday’s
Pit
area: Located the infield of the
track. Pit road was easy to see from
everywhere.
Classes: Indy Racing League – 19 starters, only ten
finished.
Radio
Frequency: Don’t know. My race scanner battery went dead because I
left it on overnight L
Concessions: We ate at McDonalds for fear of being stuck
in long food lines at the track. As it
was, since so many people were still out in traffic, there were no lines at the
food booths.
Scoreboard: Yes
Extras: The track ran several ads over the P.A.
including ads for the
RACE REVIEW –
It was a toasty Sunday evening in
The most notable features about
tonight’s racing were how warm it was and how dry everything in the area
is. Our car was parked just beyond turns
three and four. When we left, it was
smothered in dirt.
The pit area is located behind the
main straight seating area. During a
break in the action, I was looking over the pit area. Just at that moment, I noticed a hot radiator
spewing boiling water into the air, like “old
faithful”. At the moment, I
didn’t think much of it and returned to my grandstand seat.
A short time later one of the
drivers came running up to our section of the grandstand. He told the woman sitting next to us that her
driver/husband had been burned in the pit area from an overheating
radiator. This prompted a mini-panic as
several folks in the grandstands ran to the pit area. When it was all said and done, we learned the
driver had been burned (not too seriously) and had suffered both a broken wrist
and broken ribs from his recoil after being hit with the boiling water! Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to get up in the
morning.
The features for the five divisions
of racecars began at 8:05 p.m. That was
early enough. We stayed until the final
feature of the night hit the track, the modifieds. We still had 100 miles or so to get back to
the airport so we headed for the exits.
RACE TRACK STATS:
Website: http://www.butlerracetrack.com/
Weather: It was 90 degrees when we arrived at the
track
Track
type: oval
Surface: Dirt and dusty.
Length: 3/8- mile, banked but narrow.
Grandstands: 10 row aluminum bleacher grandstand,
P.A.: Good
Announcer: Kept the crowd entertained
On
time: The show was scheduled to begin at
6 p.m. Following the checkered flag at
the
Pit
area: Located behind the front stretch
grandstand
Classes: Mini stocks - 7, Factory stocks – 12, Street
stocks – 13, Sprint cars – 6, Modifieds – about 16.
Radio
Frequency: Did not use the radio
Concessions: Tasty cheeseburger
Scoreboard: No
Extras: The ladies restroom was adorned with several
paintings and wall decorations. How do I
know this? Trackchasing’s First Mother
was kind enough to take a photo, which can be viewed at www.ranlayracing.com.
RACE REVIEW –
I am interviewed frequently when I
go trackchasing. Some of these
interviews are recorded and most are not.
One of the questions I get most often is, “What
is your favorite racetrack?” My
answer is always, “the
There are a number of reasons why I
say this. Spectators sit right on top of
the cars. Tonight we were sitting in the
fifth or sixth row. We were only 20-25
feet from the racing surface.
If all of the above were not enough,
the
Tonight was special.
Although I am not the “Bill Gates” of trackchasing, I may be the “Donald Trump” of trackchasing as it regards working
with the media. I have a good deal of
media contacts in the trackchasing world.
I contacted Don Baker, sports writer from the
Anyway, I was in the Moonie’s Pub
located just down the street from the
Just as I was leaving, a fellow at
the bar yelled at me. “Hey, come over here.” I did as requested. The bar patron asked, “Are you that guy they wrote about in the paper? That guy from
“Wimp” was impressed that I was the “World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser.” Soon, the whole bar knew it. Wimp was the bar’s ringleader and began
yelling for his buddies to come from all points within the building to meet
me. I was introduced to the Moody’s Pub
manager, a nice young woman who offered me drinks. It was 90 degrees out and I could have stayed
here all evening, drinking with these boys, and talking about the “good ole” days at the
I have seen the
The downside to tonight’s racing was
the dirt and dust. We were fortunate in
one regard, there was no wind. Still,
the amount of dust and dirt made it one of the dirtiest shows I’ve seen in more
than 75 races this year.
The UMP boys start the fastest cars
in the front. That is never a good idea
and it wasn’t tonight. The 12-car late
model heats were simply a parade along the inside lane. Then when a caution came out they re-started
the cars single file. Talk about
disregarding the fan’s preference and kowtowing to the drivers, this was it.
However, when the modifieds (a local
With 47 late models and 39
modifieds, I probably would have bagged the street stock division on a Monday
night. Nevertheless, the track did not
take a break, ran times trials for 47 late models, ran 10 heat races, three
consies and three features and finished at 10:30 p.m. That’s very good.
The 24-car, 40-lap late model
feature, although a dust bowl that would never pass the surgeon general’s
guidelines on good lung health, was excellent.
There were only one or two cautions.
Billy Moyer Sr. and Shannon Baab are probably two of the top five dirt
late model drivers in the country. They
both came within a couple of car lengths of being lapped by tonight’s winner,
Dennis Erb Jr. Billy Moyer Jr. beat his
dad by several positions in what appeared to be identically prepared cars.
I’ve just reviewed my list of 75 new
tracks I’ve seen in 2007. I don’t
believe any of those tracks surpassed the quality of hard racing I saw tonight
at the
RACE TRACK STATS:
Website: http://dirtslingin.com/bwd/peoriaspeedway/
Weather: It was 90 degrees when I arrived at the track
and 80 when I left at nearly 11 p.m.
There was nary a breeze and it was humid.
Track
type: oval
Surface: High-banked, relatively smooth.
Length: 3/8- mile
Grandstands: 20 row wooden bleacher grandstand.
P.A.: Excellent
Announcer: I’m a big fan of Scott Schults’
announcing. He is a former driver at the
track.
On
time: The website said racing would
begin at 6 p.m. I’m always hoping that
means wheel-to-wheel racing. Sometimes
it does not. Tonight, it meant hot laps
and then time trials for the late models.
Considering the car counts, they still got finished at a very reasonable
hour (10:30 p.m.).
Pit
area: Although the pit area at the “new”
Classes: UMP Late Models – 47, Modifieds – 39, Street
Stocks – 13
Radio
Frequency: Did not listen to the radio
Concessions:
Scoreboard: Used to have one, but not now. They need one.
Extras: If you go to the
RENTAL CAR UPDATE
The
Dollar Rental Car Racing Dodge Charger has one minor little feature I
like. You simply need to tap the turn
signal lightly and it will emit 3-4 “blinks”
to signal a lane change. Carol’s view of
the Dodge Charger? “It’s basic, but it does the job.” I guess Dodge won’t be having her be their
spokesperson anytime soon.
Carol
and I drove this car 2,096 miles. We paid an average price
of $2.97 per gallon. The Charger gave us
26.1 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at a cost of 11.4 cents per mile. The car cost only 9.6 cents per mile to rent,
all taxes included.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
A good system is better than a good
shovel.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Chicago, IL (Midway) – 1,709 miles
RENTAL CAR –
AIRPLANE
Chicago, IL – Las Vegas, NV – 1,516 miles
Las Vegas, NV – Orange County, CA - 226 miles
Total Air miles – 3,451
Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 5,547 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Valley
Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $125
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.
30. Carol Lewis,
31. Dwight Bucks,
2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Ed Esser,
3. Roland Vanden Eynde,
4. Carol Lewis,
5. Mike Knappenberger,
6. Guy Smith, Effort,
7. Gordon Killian, Sinking
Springs,
8. Paul Weisel,
9. Pam Smith, Effort,
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
Should I try for one more
trackchasing trip before coming home 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,