SUMTER COUNTY MOTORSPORTS PARK, BUSHNELL, FLORIDA

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RANLAY Racing Trackchaser Report

DAY 1, 2 & 3 – “IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO RETURN TO THE SUNHINE STATE” TRACKCHASING TOUR

AND THE READERS RESPOND

I frequently receive messages from interested readers regarding something I’ve written or commented on. Many times, I believe these notes would be of interest to everyone. In those cases, I will share the feedback I get from those loyal, interested and creative Trackchaser Report Readers.

Readers were responding to the following that I wrote in my recent Costa Rica Trackchaser Report:

Nevertheless, I woke up on Sunday morning well rested. I took a shower and a shave and opened my bag to get my first change of underwear on this trip. Surprise!! Several articles of clothing in my rolling luggage bag (that I had been forced to check at the door of the airplane in San Diego) were soaking wet. Actually, just three pieces of clothing were sopping wet, most everything else was dry. What were those three pieces? They were the three extra pair of underwear that I had brought on the trip. Someone must have left my bag out in the driving rain when I connected in Atlanta.

Now I was faced with a dual dilemma. First, what was I to do? Should I go with two-day old underwear for a THIRD day or put on nearly ringing wet underwear on a damp and humid day in Costa Rica when there was no chance they would dry? My second dilemma was how I was going to be able to explain all of this to you. I’ve probably told you more about this situation that I should have……or that you wanted to know. I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to what I did.

From the Midwest:

Regarding your Costa Rica underwear situation, as I see it you had three choices:

1. Wear the two day old underwear

2. Wear clean but wet underwear

3. Wear no underwear

My bet is that you chose #3

From the Southwest:

Should you ever in the future have another underwear dilemma, I have only one word of advice for you: Commando

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

You’ve been reading for several reports now that I would be telling you how RANLAY Racing had widened its lead in technology within the trackchasing hobby. I know many of you were asking yourselves, “But, Randy, you already HAD a big lead in technology, how could you make it even wider”? That is a legitimate question indeed.

The purpose of technology is not to confuse the brain but to serve the body. That sentence says a lot. I saw an ad recently that showed two men sitting on a bench waiting for the bus to come by and pick them up. One man appeared to be in his 50s and the other was in his 20s. The man in his 50s sat on the bench and stared ahead while he waited. The man in his 20s chatted on his phone while he listened to music through his ear buds all the while reading his email on his SECOND phone.

I’ve seen this example in real life. I even have a picture of my example on my website. Carol and I were in Europe at the airport. The picture shows several young people using handheld technology items while the older people were reading newspapers.

That brings me back to one of the most practical statements I have read in a very long time. “The purpose of technology is not to confuse the brain but to serve the body”. This is similar to the value of money. Money in itself is no good. You can’t eat money and you can’t use dollar bills to create shelter. However, you can trade money. It’s what money can do for you and your loved ones that make it valuable.

I was lucky when computer technology first came around. I worked for a large corporation that both provided and required we get up to speed with computers. Back in 1985 (that’s 23 years ago!), I was provided with a state of the art IBM desktop computer. What was my first reaction? I didn’t think we needed it! I had a secretary and she had an IBM Selectric typewriter that worked just fine. However, I was only 35 years old and too young to retire. I was also too young to resist progress. I analyzed the situation and decided it would be best to get with the program.

As time went by, the company kept involving us more and more in the use of technology, not to confuse the brain but to help the body. Desktops morphed into laptops. Snail mail evolved into fax machines and email. Landlines switched over to car phones and then mobile phones and today into cell phones.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the impact of my family on my growth with technology. Carol and I are most fortunate to have three children (and now a son-in-law) that all are as “smart as whips” whatever that means. They are also more than willing to share their “young person’s” knowledge with me. I know at times they think I’m way over the hill in this area, but I also suspect they secretly are proud of an “old guy” who tries to learn new things with a brain that is wired with some aging wire.

Of course, I use my technology skills and appliances in every aspect of my life. However, this is a Trackchaser Report. It’s here that I will explain why technology can really serve the body while not confusing the brain. The boys and girls involved in trackchasing are generally a nice lot. However, many of them have been a bit slow to engage technology for the purpose of helping them enjoy the hobby. We have one or two that do very well in this area. Most of the trackchasing group is over the age of 50. The fact that they find technology somewhat intimidating does not make them any different than others in the population who make think that technology “confuses the brain more than it helps the body”.

With that introduction I will tell you that I have been operating with an Apple iPhone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/) since this past Father’s Day. Actually, I didn’t get the iPhone on Father’s Day. I received a certificate for one. You see they were so popular that there were none in the store to buy when J.J. and Kristy decided I needed one!

It would be a gross misnomer to consider the Apple iPhone ONLY a phone. This appliance can do more than my laptop in so many ways. I know that many of you have been introduced to the value of GPS units via these reports. I also know that some of you already have an iPhone. To those folks, I will “speaking to the choir”. However, if you’ve been slow to get going with technology or love technology but were looking for that next big item…..this is it. I have never seen a single device that offers so much by a factor of ten.

In my next Trackchaser Report I will begin to tell you about what the Apple iPhone has to offer. I will share one application “app” in each report. It will probably be in late 2009 before I run out of things to tell you about with this machine. I suspect many of you will probably go out and buy one. If you do, then my service to mankind will be more than satisfied.

Other stuff coming soon!

How do fellow P&G (http://www.pg.com/en_US/index.shtml) retirees really think?

2008 Trackchasing Annual Report (coming in January)

TODAY’S HEADLINES

Each new mile sets a trackchasing record …………..details in “The Trip”.

I’m just too nice of a guy..................more in “The People”.

What is the primary objective of retirement?…………..details in “The Objective”.

If you would like to see photos from today’s trackchasing adventure go to www.ranlayracing.com, click on the “Trackchaser Reports” tab and then click on “#1,399” for the Sumter County Motorsports Park pictures and story.

GREETINGS FROM BUSHNELL, FLORIDA

I WOKE UP FRIDAY MORNING IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA. I WENT TO SLEEP IN AUBURNDALE, FLORIDA AT MY STEPFATHER’S PLACE ON FRIDAY AND SATURADAY NIGHTS. THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED DURING THE TRIP.

What you are about to read is based upon a true story. Heck, I’m hearing some of this stuff for the first time myself!

THE OBJECTIVE, THE TRIP AND THE PEOPLE…AND A WHOLE LOT MORE

The Objective

What is my primary retirement objective?

My objective in retirement is to have fun. I worked from age 16 to 53. That’s 37 years of work. To be honest, I never really liked work. It was too restrictive for my tastes. However, I liked money. Permit me to rephrase that…..I like what money could buy. That sort of made me like work. I’ve had a number of jobs in my time. I rode an ice cream bicycle (2 cents commission on each 10 cent popsicle sale), trimmed Christmas trees (with Annette Benning’s (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000906/bio) first husband, Steve White), worked in the Caterpillar factories for three summers ($3.33 an hour including the graveyard shift bonus) and cut weeds for the city with a scythe (think Russia) for three summers on a hillside eight hours a day in the stifling heat and humidity of Illinois. Paul Newman had it easier in “Cool Hand Luke”.

I only called in sick for two days during those 37 years of work (impacted wisdom tooth). If nothing else, I can say I always showed up. If I can get 37 years in retirement, that would make me 90 years old, then I’ll consider the “work/play” score even.

Can Randy come out and play?

When I was a kid my friends would knock on the door and yell, “Can Randy come out and play”? Of course, this was before RANLAY Racing became a legal entity! Now that I am retired, I am playing again. However, in retirement “play” is somewhat more complicated. As a kid with no money, play only required a basketball, a baseball glove or a bicycle.

In retirement, “play” is a tad more expensive, but there are more choices. I absolutely love trackchasing. I really do. My “civilian” friends think that means I love racing. Racing is O.K., but it’s not as good as it used to be. When I say I love trackchasing, I’m mainly talking about the planning that goes into making up a trip, the travel, the sights and the people I meet along the traveling trail. If I were not married with a great family, I would probably do this more than I already do.

I’ve seen my share of tracks since I retired.

I retired in June, 2002. That year I went trackchasing 61 days (76 tracks). For some odd reason the very next year (2003), I went trackchasing only 46 days (60 tracks). In 2004, I didn’t even see my first new track until the last part of March. In today’s trackchasing world that is unheard of. I wasn’t trackchasing all that much in the early years of my retirement.

However, in 2004 I elected to have rotator cuff surgery. That took me off the golf course for six months. In retirement, one needs things to do. With no golf, it was time to show those “dreaded east coast trackchasers" what someone could do if they really got serious about this hobby. Despite not seeing my first race in 2004 until March 19, I finished up the season with 127 tracks in 84 trackchasing days. At the time, no one had ever seen that many tracks in one year.

I was really starting to love this trackchasing and everything that it involved. It was time to get things into high gear at a level never seen before. In 2005, I went to 182 tracks over 121 trackchasing days. Now those boys on the east coast were starting to get concerned…..real concerned.

In 2006, tracks were becoming somewhat more difficult to find. Nevertheless, on May 21 I saw my 1,040^th lifetime track at the Milwaukee Mile (http://www.milwaukeemile.com/) road course in West Allis, Wisconsin. On that day I moved into the position of being the “World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser”. So far, I’ve been able to hold onto that title.

May 21, 2006 was a big day in my life as a trackchaser. However, another “big” day was about to come my way in the last part of 2006. By late September, I had already seen 120 tracks in 89 days of trackchasing. My lifetime track total at that point was 1,111 tracks. Little did I know that my approach to trackchasing was about to change in a big way.

Trackchasing sponsorship comes to the hobby.

With son J.J.’s help I was able to secure the biggest trackchasing sponsorship in the history of the hobby! For those first 1,111 tracks, I had spent a good portion of my life on an airplane and in an airport. I paid for it all myself! With my airline trackchasing sponsorships now in place, I could fly on a moment’s notice. I could cancel one trip and schedule another without any financial penalties. This was trackchasing nirvana.

I wrapped up the 2006 season with 147 tracks spread over 115 trackchasing days. In 2007, I saw 160 tracks in 119 trackchasing days. That meant during the period of 2005-2007, I had trackchased an average of 118 days each year. No one in the hobby had ever done such a thing. Now, those dreaded east coast trackchasers were chewing each other’s arms off! They didn’t know what to think. Would they do what I was doing if they could afford it? Were they just a little bit envious of someone else doing it even if they couldn’t or didn’t want too?

By the beginning of the 2008 season, I had concluded that trackchasing that much wasn’t good. I still loved trackchasing. However, there was no way I could spend enough time with my family and other hobbies to do them justice if I was on the road trackchasing all the time. Just like when I was a kid, my “retirement” friends would call up and essentially say, “Can Randy come out and play”? Much more often than not, I would have to tell them I was going to be in Abilene or Cheyenne or Albany and I couldn’t join them to “come out and play”. I didn’t really want to cut back on trackchasing but I needed too.

Changes were going to be made.

I am happy to report that back in January of this year I established a goal of cutting back on my trackchasing. My friends were skeptical about this claim. They didn’t think I could do it. I didn’t know if I could do it. I was the reigning four-time trackchasing annual champion 2004-2007 (http://www.ranlayracing.com/pasttrackchasingchamps.htm). It was going to take a good deal of restraint on my part NOT to get on that airplane.

How have I done so far in 2008? With less than three weeks remaining in the year, I have been trackchasing on “just” 79 days. That’s a 33% drop, almost as much of a decline at the Dow Jones Industrial Average!

This amount of trackchasing, or maybe a little less, feels “about right”. It has definitely given me more time for my other hobbies. It looks like I might play more rounds of golf this year than the days I went trackchasing. If I pull that off it will be the first time it’s happened since I retired.

If you’re trackchasing less, then what are you doing with the extra time?

Folks might be asking, “Randy, if you’re not trackchasing so much what ARE you doing with your retirement time”? Since my last trackchasing trip just two weeks ago in Costa Rica, I’ve been busy. Permit me to explain. I’ve played golf five times.

Of course, the big UCLA-usc football game was played in the Rose Bowl. Our beloved Bruins were a deserved 33-point underdog in that game. The Bruins scored first to take a 7-0 lead. We left at that point fearing a blow out over those dreaded trojans. I still haven’t checked to see what the final score was but I’m nearly certain we blew them away (O.K. Don’t write. I stayed for the entire game and really do know the final score).

The very next day was a special birthday celebration for “Trackchasing’s First Mother”. Contractual agreements prevent me from “getting into the numbers”. We celebrated by having “High Tea” at the Langham Hotel, formerly the Ritz-Carleton, (http://pasadena.langhamhotels.com/en/) in Pasadena. I can’t ever recall going to “tea” before. It was fun! Daughter Kristy organized the entire event. The twins even had a chance to attend their first “tea”. This event was followed by our blow out Christmas party for the “Tuesday/Thursday” golf group at our club that I helped organize. Then THAT was followed by a “Larry the Cable Guy” concert a couple of days later. He was good but not as funny as I was expecting.

This is the “objective”.

All of the above is a not so simple, nor concise, explanation of what the “Objective” really is. In retirement, people want to enjoy themselves after spending many many years working. No one has to do what anyone else does. If they have planned properly, they’ll be able to do just about anything they want.

Folks can do a myriad of things, many of which can be creative, challenging and rewarding. If you have good health, the time and a couple of nickels to rub together, retirement truly is “nirvana”. For those of you who are already retired, I wish you many more years of retirement enjoyment. For those of you who are yet to retire, hang in there, your time will come.

The Trip

Each mile sets a new trackchasing record.

With each new mile I travel for the balance of the year, I establish a new trackchasing record for miles traveled in a single season. This trip takes me over the 252,000-mile mark for the year.

This trip offered a special family bonus.

A bonus for this trip is that I will be able to spend time with my stepfather, Bill and his wife Betty. They are retired and living in central Florida. Bill and I have been racechasing and trackchasing since he married my mother back in the early 60s. Our first joint effort took us to the Davenport Speedway (http://www.drttrak.com/). We have trackchased together at more than 130 tracks. My mother passed away in 1997. Since then Bill has remarried and we have been racing many times over the past ten years. Bill has a career trackchasing total of just under 200 tracks. Of course, because he is a U.S. resident he is not permitted to be a listed trackchaser since he doesn’t have the requisite minimum of 200 tracks. I don’t even want to get into the fact that people living outside of North America can receive recognition for their trackchasing efforts, such as they are, when they have in many cases seen less than 200 tracks. I’m not complainin’ I’m just sayin’.

A few years ago, when a certain U.S. presidential candidate was running for office, Bill said he would move to Mexico if this person were elected. He wasn’t and Bill didn’t have to move to Mexico. I don’t know if that strategy would have helped him in his quest to become a listed trackchaser or not!

The People

I am always running into people in the airport.

Maybe I spend too much time in airports. Maybe my friends and associates spend too much time in airports. While I was at LAX waiting for my flight to Tampa, I noticed a familiar face. It was P&Ger George Rahlf. I had not seen George since before I retired. I suspect I had not seen him in 6-8 years. He and I were able to talk for just a couple of minutes. George is doing well. He did have one interesting question, “Are you still working for us or did you retire”? That should tell you that Procter & Gamble is a big place!

I’m just too nice of a guy.

Long-time readers will recall the time I parked our rental car on a ferryboat without applying the parking brake. In rough waters, it was ALLEGED that my car moved and slid into another. Somehow that car’s owner went down below to the parking area during our journey (even though that was prohibited by ferryboat rules) to check on his car. Soon my name was being called over the ship’s P.A. system to come to the purser’s office.

To make a long story short, it was alleged that my car had damaged the other guy’s car. By the time I got down to the parking area, he had already moved his car several feet from mine. The “ding” on his rear bumper could not be seen with the naked eye. I ran my finger over the “intrusion” and wasn’t sure I could feel a thing. Nevertheless, the guy pursued his “damage” with a repair estimate the next day. My insurance company followed up with his for several months. I never did hear from him or from my insurance company as to what the final resolution was. I do know this; I never would have pursued such a thing.

A few years ago, Carol and I built our new home in San Clemente. During the construction process, my next-door neighbor’s son would park his little red MG convertible on the street in front of our house. One day the neighbor rushed over to our house and started to yell at my construction workers. His son’s car had been damaged (broken taillight, scraped painted, etc.) and he thought one of the people working for me had done it. My workers denied any culpability.

My neighbor thought that I should pay the $1,500 in damages because it “must have been” my workers who damaged his son’s car. There are only 5-6 houses on our street. While our home was being built another was also under construction just three doors down. Of course, they had their own set of construction workers at their site. We also have trash trucks and mail trucks driving past our house on what is a narrower than normal street. My neighbor acknowledged that I personally could not have damaged his son’s car as I was out of town (surprise!) on the day the damage was done. Nevertheless, he felt I was responsible for any actions of my workers even though there was no proof that they had caused the damage. To be a nice neighbor I agreed to pay $750 (half of the damage) just to “keep the peace”. My neighbor, who makes $250,000-$300,000 per year, accepted my check but gave an attitude as if he were being taken advantage of! A couple of weeks later during one of our rare rainstorms, I saw my neighbor’s 17-year old son driving his MG down a rain slicked street backwards and then doing a 360-degree turn and heading forwards again. No, I never would have pursued a claim as my neighbor did.

It wasn’t long after this incident and during our construction that we discovered the hose bib that my neighbor had been using to wash his cars and water his plants was actually on MY property. The hose bib would have to be relocated or eliminated to accommodate a planter that was part of our landscaping plan. This plan would prevent my neighbor from having any water at all to the front of his house. What did I do? It crossed my mind to tell him that he could use MY hose bib for just $751 per year! What did I really do? I relocated the hose bib, while still on my property. I told my neighbor that he could use the new hose bib as much as he wanted, of course at no charge. To this day, they water their plants and wash their cars with our water with no thanks whatsoever.

Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored Lexus LS 430 involved in accident.

That brings me too yesterday. I was driving north on the I-5 freeway less than 15 miles from our home. I was returning from a round of golf as I approached the U.S. Border Checkpoint. Folks who have traveled this area, know that these checkpoints are located some 50-60 miles north of the border. Mexican workers can come across the border to work but are not allowed beyond a certain distance from the border without the proper documentation. The border checkpoint makes sure “illegal aliens aka undocumented workers!” don’t go beyond the checkpoint. Of course, the freeway traffic comes to a crawl as border patrol agents wave each car past at slow speeds.

I was sitting in “stop and go” traffic when “bam!” the Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored Lexus LS 430 was rear-ended! It wasn’t a hard hit. I had been sitting still and the driver behind me probably lost concentration and hit me. I have seen this happen several times at the border checkpoint in the past.

I motioned the driver over to the side of the road. He complied. He was driving a relatively used up panel van for a commercial company of some sort. I wasn’t sure he spoke English and he looked to be on the lower end of the economic totem pole. I motioned him to the back of my car to assess the damage. The rear bumper of the Lexus is made of hard rubber. There were a few minor scratches but no major dents of any kind. I figured that with a little elbow grease and some rubbing compound that “Trackchasing’s First Mother” could have the scratches removed in no time.

I wasn’t hurt. The car didn’t seem to be hurt in any major way. I looked at the fellow who had hit my car. Would it be worth it to pursue a claim? If I pursued a claim would it affect his employment. Would he lose his job? Should I just try to shake him down for some cash like they do in Illinois? The damage was SIGNIFICANTLY greater than what had been incurred in the “ferryboat” incident.

I looked at him and said, “It’s not that big of a deal, let’s just forget it”. With that he slapped me on the shoulder, smiled and we both went on our way. No harm no foul, right?

When I got back to San Clemente in preparation for this trip, I ran a few errands. At one point I had to put the car in reverse. The Lexus has a rearview camera (why shouldn’t it?) located in the car’s dash. As I backed up the camera was working but there was a continuous beeping sound. The car does have a “collision avoidance” system (why shouldn’t it?) that beeps intermittently when the car comes within a few feet of another object.

The continuous beep was caused by the rear end collision. I don’t think any reasonable person would have thought to put their car in reverse to check things out after a minor rear end collision. Because I had elected to “forget about it” I did not get any of the offending driver’s personal information. I was on my own. I would not be able to operate the car with such an annoying sound every time I put the car in reverse. As Carol always says, “No good deed goes unpunished”. We see this happen frequently in our lives. We always laugh about it.

I’m just too nice of a guy!!

RACE REVIEW

SUMTER COUNTY MOTORSPORTS PARK, BUSHNELL, FLORIDA

After trackchasing for so many years, it is very difficult to find a track racing outdoors in December that I have never been too. However, the Sumter County Motorsports Park was holding an event. The track was advertising a “Florida Winter Series” running from October to January. The details showed more than 20 classes of go-karts that would be racing. Only one of those classes, the “senior champ karts” was trackchasing “countable”.

For some reason, trackchasing’s forefathers decided that “flat” karts should not count. This decision makes it very difficult for the trackchaser (me!) that travels a long way to insure the racing will be countable. I would be flying more than 4,000 miles round-trip for this event. If I came all that way and only flat karts showed up I would not be able to count this track. This has only happened to me once and I don’t want it to happen again.

The track’s website, http://www.sumterracing.com/index.html, was also advertising winged mini-sprints, micro-sprints and slingshots for the December 13 show that I planned to attend. All of those racing types ARE countable by trackchasing rules.

However, I have seen many “kart” tracks advertise mini-sprints and slingshots and not deliver. I decided to call the promoter. I called the track’s phone number during the day in the middle of the week. A fellow by the name of Bill Cleary answered. It turned out he was the promoter. Yes, he told me they had micro-sprints and slingshots coming to this event. Some were coming all the way from Alabama to race.

I must tell you that I am absolutely the most gullible person on earth. I grew up in a family where no one lied about anything. I can never remember a person lying too me in my growing up years……ever. I guess I was like a pet rabbit. I thought everybody told the truth. If a promoter tells me it’s not raining where he’s at I keep driving….even when my own weather radar shows nothing but green. If the promoter tells me the show will start at 7 p.m. I believe him.

Bill Cleary sounded like a reasonable fellow. I asked him if he were sure there would be cars racing from the countable classes I needed to see. He assured me there would be. From there we went on to talk a little bit about trackchasing. When we wrapped up this call one more promoter in this big world of ours was introduced to the hobby of trackchasing.

The Sumter County Motorsports Park is new to trackchasing countable racing. They don’t show up in the National Speedway Directory nor is there a listing for them on www.autoracingrecords.com (formerly www.trackchaser.net). The track website does have directions to the track from both Tampa and Orlando. However, I would not be coming from either of those two metro areas. The website also invites readers to call for directions and the track’s employees will be glad to assist. That’s a nice touch.

However, I was looking for an address. I didn’t see one on the track’s website. Therefore, I went back to my tried and mostly true Google Earth program. I first learned about Google Earth from trackchasing’s unofficial commissioner, Will White. Son J.J. then educated me further regarding Google Earth.

Here’s how I found the track. First I used Google Earth to drill down from a satellite photo of the entire earth! I knew the track was “near Bushnell, Florida”. From there I moved around until I found the Sumter County Fairgrounds. This had to be the track. Google Earth gave me the fairgrounds location in degrees, minutes and seconds from a longitude and latitude perspective. From there I used a conversion program to convert my information into a decimal number for the L/L. At that point I entered this decimal information into an Excel program on my Lenovo laptop. The final step was to download the Excel info into my Garmin Street Pilot GPS unit. Our son-in-law James gets full credit for educating me on this entire process. Who said you didn’t need to use technology in trackchasing? Alternatively, I could have driven around aimlessly until I saw the lights at the fairgrounds!

With this preparation, my stepfather, Bill, and I headed up to the track. Our drive was about 55 miles along rural two-lane highways in central Florida. Drives like this remind me how rural the Sunshine state really is.

I will say that Bill is even more enamored by “Tonto” my faithful GPS companion than I am….if that’s possible. When Tonto announced that the Sumter County Fairgrounds was on the right, we looked out the passenger’s side window and what did we see……the Sumter County Fairgrounds. I love it when a plan comes together.

We arrived at just before 5 p.m. I had been told that racing would begin at 5 p.m. It gets dark around here by about 5:30 p.m. That gave me just 30 minutes to get some photos for you to view at www.ranlayracing.com. I must admit I was still skeptical I was going to see any trackchasing countable classes. I feared pulling into a track as I did with the infamous Dale Terry in South Carolina to see tons of flat karts but no trackchasing countable racing classes.

We parked our car just beyond turn four of what turned out to be a relatively flat 1/5-mile dirt oval. It was actually almost circular in design. We paid our three dollars to get in. I was thinking the admission charge was going to be five bucks. Maybe they gave us a senior discount.

My first item of business was to find the promoter and introduce myself since he had been so kind as to sign my guestbook at www.ranlayracing.com. However, he was out on the track tending to business. The young woman who sold us our tickets sent me to meet Bill Cleary’s wife. I’m sorry I’ve forgot to write down her name. She was a friendly young woman who was aware that a “trackchaser from California” was coming to visit. When I said “Hello”, she immediately responded with “You’re the trackchaser from California aren’t you”? How did she know? Did I look like I wasn’t “from around here”? I didn’t think I looked like I was from California. I was wearing the one and only pair of blue jeans that I own, because I was expecting a cold evening of racing.

After our meeting we were off to the pit area. What I saw was somewhat surprising and even more pleasing. There were PLENTY to countable racecars here tonight. There were four countable classes racing tonight including the gadgets (7), micro-sprints (13), legends (about 8-9) and slingshots (about 7). There were also three classes of flat karts with about ten competitors in total.

We spent some time talking with the gadget competitors. I had never seen a “gadget” race but I did see one in the weeds at the Thunderbowl Speedway of Ocala in 2006. Gadget racecars have evolved from the four-wheel Odyssey ATV line of off-road machines. A stock Odyssey ATV is not a countable form of racer. However, when you slap what looks like a midget body on one and add a wing, you’re in “trackchasing countable” business. These guys race all over central Florida. Please don’t miss the pictures of the gadget cars or the others that made the show tonight.

I must say that I wasn’t expecting much of a show from a “kart” track. However, it’s probably not correct to even call this racetrack a kart track. It’s nearly a quarter-mile in length. The racing with the micro-sprints, legends, slingshots and gadgets far exceeded my expectations. Somewhere I got the idea the show was supposed to begin at 5 p.m. The first race didn’t hit the track until 6:47 p.m. The first trackchasing countable race took the green at 7:08 p.m. Maybe I had the start time wrong, but if I didn’t the track got off to a late start. Track #1,399 was in the books. I sent a text to tell Carol of that fact.

Bill and I attended the driver’s meeting after spending nearly an hour in the pit area. During the meeting the micro-sprint drivers requested a “competition” caution in the middle of the race to “tighten up the field”. Later on you will see how unnecessary that was.

After the meeting wrapped up I spent a few minutes speaking with Bill Cleary the track promoter. They are just getting started in the car race promotion business. Demo derbies have been very successful at the fairgrounds up to now. Bill’s a nice guy who goes out of his way to welcome competitors and fans. He and his partner Sheldon are in a tough business and a tough economic time. If he can control his costs, he had a chance of succeeding.

When I talk with promoters I try to remind them that they must decide who their core customer is. Is it the competitor or the spectator. It’s very difficult to satisfy both at the same time. If you want to satisfy the competitor then you may have 200 go-karters or motocross riders show up but there won’t be many fans in the stands. These classes don’t typically draw many spectators. Tonight we estimated there were 20 people in the grandstands. There were a few more in cars and trucks, including us, watching the races.

If your core customer is going to be the spectating fan, then those folks need to be entertained. I don’t think traditional racing can do that very well in today’s “entertain me now and nearly every minute I’m here” culture. I recommend “crash and bang” programs to bring the fans to the stands. Micro-sprints and go-karts will not put butts in the seats. Things like figure 8 and banger-type (U.K. style) racing will bring the fans. This type of racing is also inexpensive for the competitor.

I recommended the RPM workshops (http://www.racingpromotionmonthly.net/) as a good place for race promotion ideas for the experienced and new to the business race promoters. The next major meeting is in Florida during February.

Bill and I retired to the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu to watch the evening’s races. The temperature was about 55-60 degrees with a steady wind. Watching everything from the car made things much more comfortable. We did venture over to the concession stand where hot dogs were selling for just two dollars and good-looking cookies went for 50 cents.

Each class ran a heat race and a feature. The classes with more than seven cars ran two heats. The racing on the tight little oval was very good. The slingshots and legends put on the best races. The micro-sprints had a devilish time getting their 25-lap feature completed. They must have had ten or more yellow flags and two red flags during their race. The track has a three spins and you’re out rule. I believe that should be changed to at least “two spins and you’re out” in the feature and maybe one spin and you’re out in the heats.

The track has a 10 p.m. curfew. There are new homes within 100 yards of the pit area. I’m not sure how that’s going to work in the future. The remaining features had to have their lap distances reduced since the micro-sprints took so long to run their race. They ended up doing a “green, white, checkered” to get the micro sprint guys off the track.

The last race of the night was the legends class. They started at 9:30 p.m. On the opening lap one of the drivers hit the hay bales on the backstretch and went for a series of barrel-rolling flips. After about 10 minutes of assessing the situation, the disabled car was still sitting on the track. There was just 20 minutes left before the curfew would stop the racing for the night. At that point, we decided to head on home.

Overall, we had seen some very good racing and met some nice people (track officials and competitors). The program exceeded my expectations. I never expected to see more than 30 trackchasing countable racecars. I didn’t expect to see side by side racing on a nearly full-sized track. This program can only get better in the future. I wish the Cleary’s the very best of luck on they take on the tough and sometimes thankless job of race promoting. If they can stick with it, I think they’ll do just fine.

If you were thinking about visiting the Sumter County Motorsports Park, the week of February 27, 2009 would be a good time to go there. They will be having Slingshot, Micro-Sprint and Legends Winter Nationals. What makes this an especially good time to attend is that the races will be run in conjunction with the annual county fair.

STATE COMPARISONS

Florida

I’ve been going racechasing and trackchasing in Florida since about 1970. That’s almost 40 years. We even spent our honeymoon (February, 1972) in Florida in February but I don’t recall going to any races back then. Actually, I recall almost nothing from that week except that Disneyworld had opened just three months before we got there.

I haven’t been going to Florida just during February Speedweeks. Only about 5-10 tracks run during February in Florida. I’ve been to Florida for trackchasing more than 40 times all during the year. This evening I saw my 52^nd lifetime track in the Sunshine state. I have a second place state ranking here. Ed Esser leads in Florida with 58 official tracks. A very large number of trackchasers, 63, have trackchased down here.

Now you can see the entire up to date trackchaser rankings for the state. Just click on this link or paste it in your browser:

http://www.autoracingrecords.com/tc/statregion.php?country=USA&region= FL

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

Tampa, Florida – Friday/Sunday

I will be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu on this trip. This car felt somewhat underpowered with a 4-cylinder engine. The car also has a couple of poor designs that I noticed on this trip. It has an annoying plastic “notch” as part of the interior front door frame. This is about hip high where the driver slides into the seat. Maybe they have a tie-in with the local hip replacement centers across the country, who knows? Secondly, the sun visor when turned to prevent the sun from bothering the driver through the driver’s side window comes about two inches short of blocking the sun. An engineer couldn’t have come up with a way to extend the visor just two more inches?

I drove the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu 355 miles in the two days I had. I paid an average price of $1.70 per gallon for fuel. The Chevy gave me 27.7 miles per gallon fuel mileage at a cost of 6.1 cents per mile. The car cost 21.7 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

Walking is easy when the road is flat.

TRAVEL DETAILS

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA – Tampa, FL – 2,169 miles

RENTAL CAR

Tampa International Airport – trip begins

Bushnell, Florida – 225 miles

Tampa International Airport – 355 miles

AIRPLANE

Tampa, FL – Los Angeles, CA – 2,169 miles

Total Air miles – 4,338 miles (2 flights)

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 4,693 miles

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Sumter County Fairgrounds – $3

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $3

COMPARISONS

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS UPDATE:

There are no trackchasers currently within 200 tracks of my lifetime total.

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,399

Full Lifetime World Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/trackchasers.php

Other notables

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

26. Kevin Eckert, Indianapolis, Indiana – 455

27. Ken Schrader, Concord, North Carolina – 372

28. Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 371

2008 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

1. Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 163

2. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 101

3. Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 83

4. Brian Hickey, Westport, Massachusetts - 74

5. Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium - 68

Tracks have been reported by 39 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

Complete 2008 Trackchasing Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statyear2008.php

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

After the most recent updates (November 1, 2008), my lifetime NGD lead sits at 16 state position points. That’s not bad but I will have to focus on this for the remainder of the year.

COMPLETE TRACK TYPE CATEGORY COMPARISONS OF NOTE:

Dirt Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statdirt.php

Paved Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statpaved.php

Ice Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statice.php

Mixed Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statmixed.php

Oval Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statoval.php

Circuit (road course) Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statcircuit.php

Figure 8 Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statf8.php

Indoor Track Comparisons

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/statindoor.php

Official Trackchaser Rules

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/rules.php

Past trackchasing reports are available at:

www.ranlayracing.com

Official trackchaser comparisons can be viewed at:

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/index.php

Some of the data in this report comes from

http://autoracingrecords.com/tc/index.php

and my Garmin GPS aka “Tonto”

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

Just one more track for #1,400. Where will it come from? When will it come? As this is written, I don’t really know.

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2008 (** not the first time to visit this track)

1,299. Barnes Lake Ice Track, Ashcroft (road course), British Columbia, Canada - January 13

1,300. Bira Circuit, Pattaya (road course), Thailand - January 19

1,301. Cameron Lake Ice Track (oval), Erskine, Minnesota - January 26

1,302. Birch Lake Ice Track (oval), Hackensack, Minnesota - January 27

1,303. Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (road course), Garrison, Minnesota - January 27

1,304. Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (oval), Garrison, Minnesota - January 27

1,305. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds (oval), Springfield, Missouri – February 1

1,306. Atlanta Motor Speedway (road course), Hampton, Georgia – February 2

1,307. Brainerd International Raceway Ice Track (road course), Brainerd, Minnesota – February 3

1,308. Bay of Green Bay Ice Track (road course), Marinette, Wisconsin – February 9

1,309. Lake Speed Ice Track (oval), Tilleda, Wisconsin – February 9

1,310. Shawano Lake Ice Track – North Shore (oval), Shawano, Wisconsin – February 10

1,311. Cecil Bay Iceway (oval) – Cecil, Wisconsin – February 10

1,312. Mototown USA (oval) – Windsor, Connecticut – February 15

1,313. Moosehead Lake Ice Track (oval) – Greenville Junction, Maine – February 16

1,314. Clarence Creek Ice Track (oval) – Clarence Creek, Ontario, Canada – February 17

1,315. Durban Grand Prix (road course), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – February 24

1,316. Lake La Biche Ice Track (road course), Lake La Biche, Alberta, Canada – March 1

1,317. Rice Lake Ice Track (oval), Rice Lake, Wisconsin – March 8

1,318. Ashland Ice Track (oval), Ashland, Wisconsin – March 9

1,319. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez (road course), Mexico City, Mexico – March 16

1,320. Hartwell Motor Speedway (oval), Hartwell, Georgia – March 22

1,321. Lavonia Speedway, Lavonia (oval), Georgia – March 22

1,322. Dover Raceway (road course), Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Jamaica – March 24

1,323. Lake Country Speedway (oval), Ardmore, Oklahoma – March 29

1,324. Swainsboro Raceway (oval), Swainsboro, Georgia – April 3

1,325. Screven Motor (oval), Sylvania, Georgia – April 4

1,326. Centerville Super Speedway (oval), Centerville, Arkansas – April 5

1,327. Central Arkansas Speedway (oval), Plumerville, Arkansas – April 5

1,328. Clinton Country Speedway (oval), Alpha, Kentucky – April 6

1,329. Pleasant Valley Raceway (oval), Boise, Idaho – April 20

1,330. Bremerton Raceway (road course), Bremerton, Washington – April 26

1,331. Port Angeles Speedway (oval), Port Angeles, Washington – April 26

1,332. Evergreen Speedway (1/5-mile oval), Monroe, Washington – April 27

1,333. Virginia Motor Speedway (oval), Jamaica, Virginia – May 1

1,334. Natural Bridge Speedway (oval), Natural Bridge, Virginia – May 2

1,335. Sturup Raceway, Malmo (road course), Sweden – May 10

1,336. Ring Djursland, Tirstrup (road course), Denmark – May 11

1,337. Nisseringen, Naestved (road course), Denmark – May 12

1,338. Valentine Speedway (oval), Glenrock, Wyoming – May 17

1,339. Gillette Thunder Speedway (oval), Gillette, Wyoming – May 17

1,340. Phillips County Speedway (oval), Holyoke, Colorado – May 18

1,341. North Pole Speedway (oval), North Pole, Alaska, – May 22

1,342. Tanacross Airport (road course), Tok, Alaska, – May 24

1,343. Mitchell Raceway (oval), Fairbanks, Alaska, – May 24

1,344. North Star Speedway (oval), Wasilla, Alaska, – May 25

1,345. Capitol Speedway (oval), Willow, Alaska, – May 25

1,346. Elk City Speedway (inner oval), Elk City, Oklahoma, – May 30

1,347. Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex (oval), Sweet Springs, Missouri – May 31

1,348. Central Missouri Speedway (oval), Warrensburg, Missouri – May 31

1,349. Lucas Oil Speedway (road course), Wheatland, Missouri – June 1

1,350. Ark-La-Tex Speedway (oval), Vivian, Louisiana – June 5

1,351. Monticello Speedway (oval), Monticello, Arkansas – June 6

1,352. Paris Motor Speedway (oval), Paris, Texas – June 7

1,353. Grayson County Speedway (oval), Bells, Texas – June 7

1,354. Prowers County Motorsports Park (oval), Lamar, Colorado – June 13

1,355. Moler Raceway Park (oval), Williamsburg, Ohio – June 20

1,356. La Junta Raceway (road course), La Junta, Colorado – June 21

1,357. El Paso County Speedway (oval), Calhan, Colorado – June 21

1,358. York County Fairgrounds (figure 8), York, Nebraska – June 22

1,359. Black Hills Speedway (oval), Rapid City, South Dakota – June 27

1,360. Heartland Speedway (oval), Rapid City, South Dakota – June 27

1,361. Newcastle Speedway (oval), Newcastle, Wyoming – June 28

1,362. Jackson County Sports Park (oval), White City, Oregon – July 11

1,363. Great Basin Raceway (oval), Ely, Nevada – July 12

1,364. Lovelock Speedway (oval), Lovelock, Nevada – July 13

1,365. Saratoga Speedway (oval), Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada – July 19

1,366. Saratoga Speedway (figure 8), Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada – July 19

1,367. Alberni Motorsports Park (road course), Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada – July 20

1,368. Scotia Speedworld, Halifax (oval), Nova Scotia, Canada – August 1

1,369. Centre for Speed (oval), Grand Barachois, New Brunswick, Canada – August 3

1,370. Penticton Speedway (oval), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada – August 9

1,371. Penticton Speedway (road course), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada – August 9

1,372. Tri-Oval Speedway (inner oval), Fountain City, Wisconsin – August 22

1,373. Tri-Oval Speedway (outer oval), Fountain City, Wisconsin – August 22

1,374. Genesee Speedway (oval), Batavia, New York – August 23

1,375. Limerock Speedway (oval), Caledonia, New York – August 23

1,376. Wyalusing Valley Motorsports Park (oval), Wysox, Pennsylvania – August 24

1,377. Utica-Rome Speedway (inner oval), Vernon, New York – August 24

1,378. Hebron Fair (figure 8), Hebron, Connecticut – September 5

1,379. Shadybowl Speedway (oval), Degraff, Ohio – September 6

1,380. Beamsville Fair (figure 8), Beamsville, Ontario, Canada – September 7

1,381. Automotodrom BRNO (road course), Brno, Czech Republic – September 13

1,382. Lambrechten Stock Car Track (road course), Lambrechten, Austria – September 14

1,383. Sherman County Speedway (oval), Goodland, Kansas – September 26

1,384.Thirty-Five Raceway (oval), Frankfort, Ohio – September 27

1,385. Oakshade Speedway (oval), Wauseon, Ohio – September 28

1,386. Big Island Oval Track (oval), Hilo, Hawaii – October 11

1,387. Mountain Raceway Park (oval), Maryville, Tennessee – October 19

1,388. Tipperary International Raceway (oval), Rosegreen, Republic of Ireland – October 26

1,389. Waterford Raceway (road course), Dungarvan, Republic of Ireland – October 27

1,390. South Dakota Circuit (road course), Timehri, Republic of Guyana – November 2

1,391. New Jersey Motorsports Park – Thunderbolt Raceway (road course), Millville, New Jersey – November 9

1,392. The Guia Circuit (road course), Macau, Republic of China – November 16

1,393. Texana Raceway Park (oval), Edna, Texas – November 21

1,394. Gator Motorplex (oval), Willis, Texas – November 22

1,395. Grand River Speedway (outer oval), Urich, Missouri – November 23

1,396. Grand River Speedway (inner oval), Urich, Missouri – November 23

1,397. Grand River Speedway (figure 8), Urich, Missouri – November 23

1,398. Autodromo La Guacima (road course), La Guacima, Costa Rica – November 30

1,399. Sumter County Raceway Park (oval), Bushnell, Florida – December 13