GREETINGS FROM BALSAM LAKE, WISCONSIN

ALL PICTURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED AT WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM  FOR THIS TRACKCHASING TRIP.  MY WEBSITE HAS MORE THAN 5,000 PHOTOS OF THE TRACKCHASING SIGHTS I’VE SEEN DURING MY TRAVELS.

I WOKE UP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA THEN SLEPT OVERNIGHT IS SEAT #5A ON THE LOS ANGELES TO BALTIMORE RED-EYE.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

As you will see, I had a very full weekend BEFORE I decided to go trackchasing.  I could have easily lain down on the sofa and watched the Daytona 500 in high definition.  However, I didn’t!  Why?

 

A track seen in February is just as important as a track seen during any other time of the year.  There are East coast trackchasers who are always looking to dethrone this West coast based chaser.  Of course, I am happy to know that each of you has thrown in your lot with the West and wouldn’t want me to take for granted any of my Eastern based trackchasing brethren.

 

That being the case, I need to keep the pressure on.  In days gone by, the Eastern trackchaser had an advantage over me because they could go ice racing in the winter.  I would frequently emerge from the winter season only to be looking up at several of these cold weather Neanderthals (spoken with a smile) in the early season standings.  That has changed.  I am now an ice racing trackchaser as well.  Never again, will the Eastern trackchasers kick a mixture of ice and snow in my face.

 

Once I decided to go trackchasing, I had to figure out where.  My original plan had me debating between locations in Quebec and Wisconsin.  Quebec was aced out because of the lack of available airplane seats.  I think I would have ended up in Wisconsin regardless of the load factors with my airline sponsors.  Why?  Wisconsin offered me the chance to get one more NGD point and Quebec did not.

 

 

The People

 

Trackchasing is important to me, but it is not nearly as important as doing things with my family.  Since two of our three children live out of state (Honolulu and Chicago), Carol and I do not spend our weekends that often with our children.  We are also willing to move things around so that as many activities and celebrations can be handled during the week.  This frees up many weekends for trackchasing.

 

Whenever there is a family activity planned, then trackchasing takes a back seat.  This was the case this weekend.  Carol and I were able to spend time with daughter Kristy and her fiancé James (www.jamesandkristy.com) doing a couple of things I had never ever done before.  When those activities were finished, it was off for just one day of trackchasing.  Since these family outings were so unique and affected my weekend of trackchasing, I wanted to share them with you.

 

Friday

 

Many of you may now that our daughter is an attorney.  She has been practicing for more than three years with the largest legal firm in Los Angeles.  The firm has more than 3,500 lawyers worldwide.

 

Several months ago, Kristy applied for a leave of absence.  No, she did not want to begin a career on the trackchasing circuit.  She wanted to try something that was about as far removed from being a lawyer as you could imagine.  She was interested in getting into show business.  Specifically, she wanted to become a TV host.  When Kristy decides to try something new, she can be very successful.

 

In no time, she acquired a show business agent.  Then she started going on casting calls and auditions at a rapid rate.  The Los Angeles area has a lot of very talented people trying to “make it” in show business.  Nearly everyone waiting tables in the city of Angels is waiting for their big break.  This is not an easy business to enter.

 

We are always supportive of our children in whatever they decide to try.  This move seemed a bit non-traditional.  However, I’ve seen Kristy face longer odds in other things she’s tried.  A couple of months into her new career endeavor, we were surprised to hear that she had auditioned for and been accepted for a part in a full-length movie.  During this time, she was also getting small walk-on parts and had done a couple of commercials.

 

Today we were able to finally see the first evidence of her theatrical success.  The movie she was in debuted at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles (http://www.paff.org).  This is the largest African film festival in North America.  The film was part of nearly 170 different movies (64 full-length films) that had been selected to be shown over the 12-day run of the program.

 

The title of the film that Kristy appeared in had a somewhat provocative name, "Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up: Peeping the Multilevel Global Game."  Here is how the film was described on the film festival’s website, “Based on author E. Raymond Brown's socio-political satire, this piece explores and confronts the complex dynamics of power in our modern world.  From the streets to the White House to Iraq to the corporate boardroom to the preacher with the Rolls Royce, who does "put the game down" on whom??  The driven home message- In today's technologically complex, globally interwoven society, you've got to EVOLVE or GET MANIPULATED, STRAIGHT UP!

 

The Pan African Film Festival screens at the AMC Magic Johnson (Yes, the former Los Angeles Laker) theatre complex in south central Los Angeles.  This location is in the heart of the Rodney King riot area.  I had not been in “South Central” LA in several years.  I was somewhat hesitant to go back.  I shouldn’t have been.  This area has been totally revitalized.  All of the buildings are new and the leading chain stores of America (Macy’s, Home Depot, Target, etc.) are here.  They have made an amazing transformation of this area.

 

We didn’t really know what to expect from the film especially given its title.  Several of Kristy’s friends joined us for the film’s first of two screenings.  One of the first scenes of the movie shows a black pimp slapping a young white blond woman who appeared to be his “ho.”  One of Kristy’s friends later said she thought this young blond woman was Kristy.  I must admit the same thing crossed my mind.  Happily, Kristy was not cast as either a “pimp” or a “ho!”  She played the part of a journalist/interviewer.

 

Several leading black rappers were featured in the film including Ice T, KRS-1 and Fillmore Slim.  Of course, I don’t listen too much rap music, so I was out of my league here. 

 

We were shocked and amazed to see the name “Kristy Lewis” under the “star” billing on both the movie poster in the theatre lobby and in the beginning and ending credits.  You just can’t discount anything this gal puts her effort into.  Way to go, Kristy!!  Of course, photos of the outing are available on the home page of www.ranlayracing.com.

 

We obviously had a great time seeing and doing something that most parents, including us, would never have the chance to experience.  I thought you might be interested in hearing about a weekend family activity that would keep me away from trackchasing.  By the way, you can see a trailer of the film at www.ghettophysics101.com.  If and when the film is being shown in an area near you, I’ll be certain to let you now. 

 

Saturday

 

I think you’ll agree that going to a commercial movie theatre to see your daughter on the “big screen” is more than unusual.  Today’s activity matched yesterday’s in being both unusual and entertaining.  Actually, that’s one of things that draws me to trackchasing.  Every visit is unusual in one way or another.

 

Today Carol and I along with Kristy and James (www.jamesandkristy.com) would visit the Queen Mary ship that is moored in Long Beach, California.  Our visit had nothing directly to do with the Queen Mary except that our “event” was being held there.

 

We were going on board to see the Wienerschnitzel “Chili Cheese Fries” eating contest.  The contest was fully sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (http://www.ifoce.com/).  Yes, you might say we Lewis’ go in for the unusual entertainment fare. 

 

I’ve seen a few of these types of contests on ESPN in the past, although I have not really paid much attention.  Kristy and James, (www.jamesandkristy.com) but especially Kristy are big fans.  In some ways, this activity is like NASCAR.  This sport’s fans know who the stars of competitive eating world are just like NASCAR people love “Smoke,” “Junior,” and Jeff Gordon.

 

We were soon hearing the biographical backgrounds of Joey Chestnut, Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas and “Humble Bob” Shoudt.  We were even treated to a meeting with the sport’s Richard Petty.  That would be Takeru Kobayashi who was in town to do a TV commercial.  Takeru has lost only once in a competitive eating contest…….to a bear.

 

If you’ve never been to a competitive eating contest, I recommend you go.  If you can’t go soon, you can check out www.ranlayracing.com for photos of this Saturday’s contest.  It was a riot.

 

As I mentioned we were here to see a chili cheese fries eating contest.  The event carried a $10,000 total purse for the eleven participants.  Recent contests have included timed events where contestants ate:  meatballs, mince pies, Krystall hamburgers and Jalapeno peppers as well.

 

Like most trackchasing activities, the main event was preceded by a “semi-feature.”  Today’s under card featured a “haggis” eating contest.  What is haggis? 

 

Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish. Although there are many recipes, it is normally made with the following ingredients: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately an hour. It somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise known as chitterlings), sausages and savory puddings of which it is among the largest types.

 

I have several English and Scottish readers.  I truly hope none of you has ever tried haggis.  The smell was enough to gag a maggot.  Four contestants had five minutes to eat as much of this stuff as they could.  We were seated in the second row.  I feared someone would puke and we would be in the way.  The contestant’s foreheads broke out in sweat as they stuffed haggis into their mouths.  I just about puked myself from the smell.

 

I like chili cheese fries.  In a bizarre twist of fate, I felt like eating some chili cheese fries as I watched today’s contest.  The International Federation of Competitive Eating features a website (http://www.ifoce.com/) with the official rankings, biographies, and personal eating accomplishments etc. of each key player.  Yes, it’s the www.trackchaser.net of competitive eating.

 

A standing room only crowd attended the event in one of the Queen Mary’s ballrooms.  Last year, Sonya “the black widow” (she’s actually Asian) Thomas won this contest by eating just over eight pounds of chili cheese fries in ten minutes.

 

Several of the world’s top 10 eaters were competing today.  The $10,000 total purse offered $4,000 to the winner.  Joey Chestnut is the hot eater nowadays.  He dusted the competition even though he ate just a bit less than six pounds of the Wienerschnitzel chili cheese fries.

 

Following the contest, we entertained ourselves by taking a tour of the Queen Mary.  I love cruising and would have really liked to have cruised on the Queen Mary during her heyday.  We wrapped up the afternoon by sitting on the grass and listening to several bag pipe bands during the Scottish Festival.  Oh yeah, we ate chili cheese fries while we listened.

 

 

The Trip

 

When I first became aware of the trackchasing organization things were a lot simpler.  I would read about some founding father trackchaser’s “adventure.”  They would drive over to the track, watch three heats and a feature and then drive home in time to catch the 11 o’clock news.  Times have changed.  If you don’t think so, then take a read to see how my nearly 23-hour trackchasing trip went this past weekend.

 

1.  My dinner at the King’s Fish House in downtown Long Beach with Carol, Kristy and James wrapped up about 8 p.m. on Saturday night.  They all returned home in their separate cars.  I headed for LAX.  I would be taking the “red-eye” to Chicago.  Once I landed in Chicago, I would then decide whether I would head to the ice races in Minneapolis or Montreal.  There were two Chicago all-night flights.  When I checked them Saturday morning they were wide open with regard to “space available” seating.

 

As I drove to LAX, I marveled at what a wonderful weekend I had already had and it wasn’t over yet.  It’s fun to be able to spend time with your adult children.  We’ve got three of the best.

 

I am a “double-checker.”  I always like to double check everything to make sure the plan is still going well.  Now mind you, if I don’t have any control over the outcome of my environment I don’t waste my time double-checking anything.

 

I had a 40-minute drive to LAX from Long Beach.  With this time, I hopped on my cell phone to confirm those United Airlines flights were both leaving on time and still had plenty of open seats.  Surprise!  Both flights were now overbooked.  Each flight now had about 15 more people trying to get on than there were seats.  I’m guessing that an earlier flight was cancelled, even by a competing airline, and those passengers were bumped back on onto those two Chicago red-eyes.

 

However, I am trained to handle such adversity.  I immediately went into “alternative emergency plan mode.”  My two legacy airline partners are United Airlines and Delta Airlines.  I can check United’s seat availability with an “800” telephone number.  Delta’s space is best checked on line.  Since I only had cell phone capability while I was driving, I spent 30 minutes on the phone checking every United Airlines’ late night flight availability that might get me to the races on time.  Not only did I need a red-eye flight, but also I needed to be able to connect to either Minneapolis or Montreal in time for an afternoon ice race.  I did not find anything that looked like it might work.

 

2.  My next line of defense was to call son J.J.  He’s always good at coming up with creative travel ideas.  I figured he was home in Chicago.  It was only 10:45 p.m. his time, so I figured I could get his input.  The phone rang several times before he picked up. 

 

It was unbeknown to me, but his day had started at 3 a.m. in Western Canada.  He had flown all day for SkyWest before returning home to Chicago.  He had been sleeping for two hours before I called.  Dang!  I was sorry I had called to wake him up.  From a dead sleep he didn’t have any more ideas that I did.

 

3.  I had now arrived at the “Parking Spot.”  I always use the Parking Spot when I fly from LAX.  I found my normal place to park at on the roof.  My next alternative emergency planning action step was to go online to check out Delta Airlines’ possibilities. 

 

Try to imagine this and compare it to what you were doing last Saturday night.  In the dark, I placed my laptop on the roof of the Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored Lexus LS 430.  I searched for an internet signal.  The Hilton Hotel is next door.  Their signal came up, but there was a $9.95 charge.  I had no leverage and very little time.  I grabbed for my MasterCard and paid up.

 

Delta has hubs in Salt Lake, Atlanta and Cincinnati.  As I do more and more of this kind of travel, I am surprised at how full the all-night flights are.  I am also surprised at how many airline employees and dependents are flying on a “space available” basis.  I spent 30-45 minutes standing next to my car searching every overnight flight that Delta had.  I thought I had a connection in Cleveland, but that didn’t pan out.  Then Cincinnati, but no that wouldn’t work either.  It was 10 p.m. and I couldn’t search any longer. 

 

I had found nothing workable on Delta.  At this point, I considered simply driving back to San Clemente.  I’m sure my East Coast competition would have loved that.  I couldn’t give up without a fight.  I finished changing into my “dress code” acceptable flying attire on the rooftop of the parking garage.  My plan would be to try for the two Chicago flights that were overbooked.  If I didn’t make those, I would seemingly have no choice.  I would return home with a big goose egg for this trackchasing weekend.

 

4.  Clearing airport security was a breeze.  Where was everybody?  I had one more plan with United Airlines to try.  I walked over to the “Departure” monitors to see what other flights were operating overnight.  I had convinced myself that trying to get on the Chicago flights would probably never work.

 

So……….here I was.  I had parked my car at the Parking Spot.  I had cleared airport security.  It was now approaching 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night.  I was standing in front of the airline’s departure TV monitor.  At that very moment, I had absolutely no idea where I was going to fly too.  Have you ever traveled like this?  Would you?

 

I got back on my cell phone.  I noticed the phone’s battery power was beginning to drop.  I checked out United’s flights to Boston, Baltimore and New York.  Those all seemed like out of the way places when my final destination might be Minneapolis.  They seemed that way, because they were.

 

Boston’s flights had lots of seats, but they didn’t have any good connections to Minneapolis or Montreal.  Baltimore had seats AND they had a workable connection to Minneapolis.  I walked up to the Baltimore gate.  They were scheduled to leave at 10:46 p.m.  Everyone had already boarded the flight.  They would be leaving in less than five minutes.  I explained my situation.  In a flash, I was being put on flight #308.  I was in first class no less!

 

We were scheduled to land in Baltimore at 6:33 a.m. on Sunday morning.  I could connect to a 7:38 a.m. flight to Chicago and then get another flight to Minneapolis after that.  As long as the Baltimore flight got in on time, I would at least still be “in the game.”  If the Baltimore flight was late, I would then be on the East coast with no sleep and no race to see.  That didn’t seem like a good outcome.

 

5.  We were on time to Baltimore.  I made the flight to Chicago, again in first class.  By the way, first class is not what it used to be.  It’s better than coach is, but not by as much as you might think.  Nevertheless, I was just happy to be on the plane.

 

I was scheduled to land in Chicago at 8:47 a.m. on Sunday morning.  My connection to Minneapolis would depart Chicago at 10:00 a.m. and land in the Twin Cities at 11:25 a.m.  The track was about 70 miles from the MSP airport.  I figured a half hour to get the rental car and another hour and a half to get to the track.  That would put me there about 1:30 p.m.  I had absolutely no idea what the time schedule was for the races.  Most ice racing I have seen runs in the afternoon until about 4 p.m. 

 

Flying into and out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport is dicey at best especially in the middle of the winter and especially after they’ve just had a major winter snowstorm like they did two days ago.  My Baltimore-Chicago flight arrived 20 minutes early!  That put me in line to catch the 9 a.m. Chicago-Minneapolis flight that was delayed until 9:20 a.m.  The stars were aligning after all.

 

I was able to score another first class seat to Minneapolis.  That gave me a perfect three for three first class seating record for the trip up to this point.  I landed in Minneapolis at 10:50 a.m.  I arrived at the track at 12:30 p.m.  Just 15 minutes after I arrived the FINAL race of the day at the Balsam Lake Ice Track began.  That’s cutting it close.

 

Following the ice race, I headed back to the Minneapolis airport.  I had picked up the rental car at 11:07 a.m.  I dropped the car back at 4:05 p.m.  I had the car for less than five hours, but it was the RIGHT five hours.

 

My flight back to Los Angeles through Denver was uneventful.  From the time my plane left LAX on Saturday night at 10:46 p.m. until the time I landed back at LAX on Sunday night at 9:14 p.m. I had been gone for just 22 ½ hours.  During this span I had flown on five separate flights totaling 4,819 miles.  I had also driven 150 miles in my rental car.  That’s doin’ some traveling.

 

What did I have to show for all of this jet-setting behavior?  One more track!  Yes, that’s the business I’m in.  My mission in life is to see more tracks than anyone else.  I’m happy to do it.

 

By the way, my five flights had a combined scheduled total flying time of 12 hours and 21 minutes.  I was able to cram this flight time into my 22 1/2 hour adventure.  I had my rental car for about five hours and was at the track for a little more than 2 hours.  For the rest of my trip, I just kicked back and relaxed!

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

BALSAM LAKE ICE TRACK, BALSAM LAKE, WISCONSIN - TRACK #1,154

 

This was my 48^th lifetime track in the Badger state.  I increased my state rank from seventh to sixth.  I am now in a tie with Allan Brown and trail Dale Danielski by just two tracks.  Ed Esser leads in Wisconsin with 97 tracks. 

 

Of course, every position gain in every state lowers my overall NGD lifetime average by .02 points.  I entered the 2007 season trailing the leader in that contest by just .08 points.

 

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

BALSAM LAKE ICE TRACK

 

I’ve been to less than ten ice-racing tracks in my frozen water trackchasing career, so I’m still feeling out what a “normal” ice racing experience is.  Today’s racing was sanctioned by the International Ice Racing Association (http://www.angelfire.com/mn/icerace/).  The race was promoted by the Upstart Racing group.  I was told their website is not currently operational.

 

I followed directions offered by the IIRA website.  They were pretty good until I got to the lake.  At that point, I followed a sign that pointed toward the lake.  When everything is covered in snow, it’s hard to tell what lake is and what land is.

 

I came across a man with a very bushy mustache who was weighing his fish.  I asked him “where the cars were racing.”  He looked into my eyes as if to say, “You ain’t from around here are you boy?”  However, his words said something different.  “Just drive beyond that island down there and make a right.  You’ll see the cars,” he told me. 

 

Off I went.  I was driving toward the island that he had pointed to when something dawned on me.  I was not driving on a road.  I was not even driving on land.  I was driving on a frozen lake.  The lake had an irregular shape but must have been nearly two miles wide at several points.  There was no one near me and I began to get a bit worried.  I wasn’t worried about what direction I was going in.  I was worried about driving on ice.  Carol would not have liked this.  She would have been telling me we were going to fall through the ice at any minute.  Moreover, of course, if we did fall through the ice I would have some serious explaining to do.

 

Of course, I got lost on the lake for a few moments.  I came across two men who were using a large portable auger to drill holes (ice fishing?) in the ice.  I asked them how thick the ice was.  “It’s plenty thick,” another mustachioed fellow told me.  I wondered.  How thick in “plenty thick?”

 

It was about 12:30 p.m.  I had been traveling for about 12 hours and I had just made it to the track in time.  The group had run a sprint race in the morning for fourteen cars.  A sprint race is a shorter race of about 30 minutes in duration.

 

This afternoon they would be racing an endurance race.  It would last two hours and five minutes.  I asked Renee, the track’s female announcer why the race was two hours and FIVE MINUTES.  Her answer was simple, “I don’t really know.”  That answer satisfied me.

 

Only ten cars had survived the morning’s race.  They lined up in rows of two for the start of the endurance race.  Obviously, the frozen lake is flat.  The track today was a two plus mile road course.  During the middle of the race, there was a mandatory fuel stop.  There was also a mandatory driver change.

 

Fans watched from several places.  The paddock area (pits) paralleled the main stretch of the road course.  That’s where I parked my National Rental Car Racing Saturn SUV.  Nearly the entire pit area was glare ice.  It made walking difficult.  The 20-25 inches of ice was nearly clear.  It was an eerie feeling looking down through the ice.  I expected to see fish, maybe even one frozen in the ice, but didn’t.

 

Overlooking the entire racetrack was a very upscale bar and restaurant.  The building’s exterior was made of cedar.  It seemed much nicer than the rest of the general area.  I made a pit stop here during the race for a few minutes.  They were watching the Daytona 500.  Since I was TIVOing that race, I had no interest in seeing it today.

 

There were also several cars and trucks parked out on the ice.  I watched the latter part of the race from there.  I have pictures from all points on the track at www.ranlayracing.com.

 

The cars raced on a studded tire.  It wasn’t the “ice pick” type studs they used in Quebec a couple of weeks ago.  I spoke with the president of the club about the studs.  He told me the cars were very controllable.  It was like racing on gravel he told me.  The cars really broad slid through the turns throwing up lots of snow and ice.  There was so much snow and ice flying that the view was obscured in several corners of the track.

 

The club president told me that this was only the second ice race of the season for the group.  All the rest had been cancelled because of lack of ice.  Could these be a result of global warming?  He told me they needed a minimum of 18 inches of ice to race.  He also mentioned that the cars “use up” about 12 inches of ice during a day of ice racing.

 

Overall, the racing was good.  My vantage point was also excellent, although I wondered about my personal safety.  I had gotten over the fear of falling through the ice.  Now I was concerned that the only safety barrier between me and the ice racing cars that were traveling over 100 M.P.H. was a snow berm about six inches high.  Again, the club president assured me that their safety record was excellent.

 

Renee, the track announcer, did an excellent job over a P.A. system that could be heard throughout the paddock area.  There were no yellow flags during the program, although stalled cars were removed by a roving pickup tow vehicle.  This group moves around during the season.  They’ve still got a few races scheduled and right now, the ice looks good.

 

I’m not sure an endurance race is my cup of tea.  However, if you only have ten cars racing, I guess that format is as good as any.  I really enjoyed talking to the people at the track today.  They were very cordial and informative.  I’ll be back to see more of their races in the future.

 

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

The weather wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  The ambient temperature was between 15 and 20 degrees with a 10 M.P.H. wind or so.  That still provides a wind chill temperature in the single digits.  The cold was mitigated by the fact that I could watch some of the racing from my car and from the comfort of the upscale overlooking bar/restaurant.  I didn’t even use all the cold weather gear I lugged on five different airplanes.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I never rent SUVs.  I’m not a big fan on that type of vehicle and I don’t like their gas mileage.  Nevertheless, I rented a Saturn SUV today for two reasons.  First, I was going to be interacting with Northern Wisconsin’s toughest of the tough macho icemen.  I couldn’t be seen driving on the ice in a TAURUS.  Additionally, I would not be driving very far.  My incremental gasoline expense with an SUV wouldn’t be much over 150 miles of driving.

 

Sunday total driving miles - 150

 

 

The driving portion of my trip to Balsam Lake, Wisconsin covered just 150 miles.  A quick fuel stop near the airport on the way back to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport had me paying an average price of $2.19 per gallon.  The Saturn SUV gave me 25.1 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 8.7 cents per mile for the fuel only.    The car cost 19.1 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

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

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,154

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,105 (-49)***

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,084 (-70)*

 

4.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,066 (-87)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 972 (-182)**

 

 

* Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list. 

 

** Special exemption.

 

***  This is an exciting new development.  I will go into much greater detail in a future Trackchaser Report.  Stay tuned.

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

2007 (current thru 2/18/07)**

 

With gains in Idaho, New Mexico and Wisconsin, I have now erased a .08 deficit (four positions) and have a .06 lead (three positions.) 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 7.04

2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 7.10

3. Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 7.55

 

**Until the end of the year, NGD rankings are unofficial.  Rankings are affected not only by the leader’s activities but by other trackchasers impact on the leader’s position. 

  

 

 

Other notables

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.

 

31.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 304

 

32.  Chris Economaki, Ridgewood, New Jersey – 302 (-2)

 

33.  Gary Jacob, Turlock, California – 301 (-3)

 

34.  Ron Rodda, Lincoln, California – 297 (-7)

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 16

 

2.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 10

 

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 9

 

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 7

 

4.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 7

 

6.  Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania – 5

 

7.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 4

 

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 3

 

9.  Jack Erdmann, DePere, Wisconsin – 2

 

9.  Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 2

 

9.  Rick Schneider, Baytown, New York - 2

 

9.  Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada - 2

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 25 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

 Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

Remember two wrongs don’t make a right, but three rights make a left.

 

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA – Baltimore, MD – 2,326 miles

Baltimore, MD – Chicago, IL  – 620 miles

Chicago, IL  – Minneapolis, MN - 333 miles

RENTAL CAR

 

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip begins

Balsam Lake, WI, ID – 76 miles*

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – 150 miles - trip ends

 

* This is not always the direct mileage from the airport to the first stop as detours along the way may add to the stated mileage.

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Minneapolis, MN - Denver, CO – 679 miles

Denver, CO – Los Angeles, CA - 861 miles

 

 

 

 

Total Air miles – 4,819 miles

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 4,969 miles

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Balsam Lake Ice Track - Free

 

 

 

 

 

Past trackchasing reports are available at:

www.ranlayracing.com

 

Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:

www.trackchaser.net

 

Some of my standings data comes from: www.trackchaser.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

I never would have predicted I would be going to ice races.  Should I go ice racing next week and stick to my traditional February southeastern trips?  I probably won’t make that decision until next Thursday.

 

 

 

 

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)

 

 

1,139.  Meremere Dirt Track Club, Meremere, New Zealand - January 1

 

1,140.  Meeanee Speedway, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand - January 1

 

1,141.  Top of the South Speedway, Richmond, New Zealand - January 2

 

1,142.  Woodford Glen Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand - January 3

 

1,143.  Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North, New Zealand - January 5

 

1,144.  Taupo Motorsports Park, Taupo, North, New Zealand - January 6

 

1,145.  Waikaraka Park International Speedway, Auckland, New Zealand - January 6

 

1,146.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (inner oval), Anaheim, California - January 6

 

1,147.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California - January 6

 

1,148.  West Valley Speedway, Surprise, Arizona - January 14

 

1,149. Sandia Motorsports Park (road course), Albuquerque, New Mexico - January 28

 

1,150. Grand Prix De Lanaudiere, Lavaltrie, Quebec, Canada – February 3

 

1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track, Eulalie, Quebec, Canada – February 4

 

1,152. St Guillaume, St Guillaume, Quebec, Canada – February 4

 

1,153. Caldwell Rodeo Arena, Caldwell, Idaho – February 10

 

1,154. Balsam Lake Ice Track, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin – February 18