Randy Lewis

SIMCOE REFORMER

BY STEVEN NOBLE, SIMCOE REFORMER
October 8, 2006

Randy Lewis was a trackchaser before he even knew there was such a thing. Today he holds the world record for tracks visited.

The resident of San Clemente, Calif. woke up to catch a 3:30 a.m. flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, Utah where he jumped a connecting flight to Toronto. From there Lewis rented a car and headed to Simcoe for the first time. Showing up at the Norfolk County Fairgrounds yesterday in time for the figure-eight race and the demolition derby, Lewis checked off track No. 1,113, padding his lead.

He began officially chasing tracks in 1999. He was planning a visit to a track in England when his online research introduced him to two things: a) he was a "trackchaser," and b) there are more people like him out there.

"I started out because I enjoyed races and I wanted to see new places," said the retired Proctor & Gamble sales account manager last night. When he signed in with www.trackchasers.com -- the official web site and forum for people who visit different race tracks as a hobby -- in 1999, he was ranked 15th in the world, with 500 tracks visited.

Lewis says there is no real way to prove if someone is telling the truth about their visits. Trackchasers go by an honour system, although he backs his visits up with photos and stories about each visit on his own web site.

His favourite track of all time is his home track in Peoria, Illinois where he grew up as a child. But he points out that the biggest spectacle he's ever seen at a track is either the Indy 500 or the Daytona 500.

Lewis has visited tracks in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, but his hobby is hardly limited to the U.S. He's visited tracks in Australia, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and of course, here in Canada.

For his efforts he's actually signed a sponsorship deal with United Airlines and Delta Airlines, so he gets flights at a hefty discount -- a perk of being a world No. 1.

From Simcoe Lewis will fly to Lacrosse, Wis. where he'll visit track No. 1,114 before returning home.