K BAR ARENA, KUNA, IDAHO

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RANLAY Racing Trackchaser Report

DAY 3 – “THE 1,400 TRACKS….. THAT’S A LOT OF CHILI DOGS” TRACKCHASING TOUR

THANK YOU!!

Special thanks go out to everyone who took the time to write or call with congratulations after I saw my 1,400^th lifetime track. Of course, everyone’s well wishes are sincerely appreciated.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year. My next communication will be my 2008 Trackchasing Annual Report.

INTERESTING THINGS TO CHECK OUT

As you know, I am retired from Procter & Gamble. P&G is a wonderful company. Despite the hard economic times, they continue to do very well. One of the reasons is that we have a wonderful CEO. His name is A.G. Lafley. Mr. Lafley was recently (April 2008) interviewed on the Charlie Rose TV program. If you would like to get some understanding about not only what makes P&G tick, but what is happening in our world economy, I recommend you click on the link below. By the way, the Charlie Rose site has hundreds of interviews that you can watch with all types of world personalities. I highly recommend it.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9053

Long-time Midwestern racing fans may want to check out a site dedicated to racer, Ronnie Weedon. Ronnie raced for about 50 years in and around the Quad-Cities area before succumbing to injuries suffered when his racecar fell on him in his garage.

http://www.ronnieweedon.com/

I have had the opportunity to go trackchasing in 15 countries this season. I understand my world geography much better today than at the start of this season. If you would like to test your world geography knowledge click on the link below.

http://www.geosense.net/

Finally, Grand River Speedway (MO) promoter Greg Clemons is working on a racing related movie. Check out the link below to see what that project looks like.

http://www.outlawspicture.com/

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

The purpose of technology is not to confuse the brain but to serve the body. As promised, I will be providing you information about my Apple iPhone is this section of the Trackchaser Report. With the Apple iPhone users can add “apps” (applications) to the phone. There are thousands of apps to choose from. Some cost from $1-10 to add to the phone but many are free. I have some 40 apps on my phone currently. Virtually all of them were added with no charge. Here are two of my favorites.

“Now Playing”. This is a movie application. It has several useful features. It lists all major movies that are currently playing in local movie theatres. The “app” uses the “Rotten Tomatoes” movie-rating guide. I find the guide to be very accurate in its overall appraisal of different movies. The “Now Playing” app also lists all local theatres and shows which movies are playing at what times. The system updates itself depending what my current location is. If I am in Tampa, it gives me the movie schedules for Tampa’s local theatres. The program also provides a listing of what movies will be coming out soon. Probably the coolest feature is being able to play each movie’s “trailer” or “preview” on my phone. When Carol and I want to go to the movies, we pull out my phone, check schedules and then play 3-4 trailers to decide which movie would be most entertaining for us. This “app” rocks!

My second “app review” is titled “Around Me”. This program lists all major categories of businesses, i.e., hotels, restaurants, gas stations, hospitals, etc. that are within a mile or so of my current location. You can imagine how useful this might be when I travel as much as I do. The program gives me the address and phone number of each business near me. It even provides a map and directions from my current location to the nearby business of my choice. Of course, this is invaluable when I am in an unfamiliar town and need something right away.

Cumulative list of Apple iPhone capabilities

Multiple “hands-free” communication options

Full email capabilities

“Now Playing” complete movie review and scheduler

“Around Me” details all major businesses within a mile or so of my current location

Coming soon!

2008 Trackchasing Annual Report (coming in January….it’s being worked on as you read these words)

How do fellow P&G retirees really think?

I have some really big news set to break by March 15, 2009 or so.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

Do you love to travel? …………..details in “The Objective”.

I had a bad feeling about this trip..................more in “The Trip”.

I don’t think anyone had ever heard of the K Bar Arena before. Should I keep it that way?…………..details in “The People”.

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 “F Bar Arena” for the pictures and story.

GREETINGS FROM KUNA, IDAHO

I WOKE UP SUNDAY MORNING IN DENVER, COLORADO. I WENT TO SLEEP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA ON SUNDAY NIGHT. 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

Do you love to travel?

Sometimes people say they “love money”. What they are really saying is that they love what money can buy. Even if folks don’t spend their money, it can still provide them a feeling of security without ever being spent.

At the same time, people often say they “don’t like to travel” or “don’t like to battle the crowds at the airport”. On the other hand, I “love travel”. When I make that statement it’s the same as anyone who might say they “love money”. I don’t love travel just to be moving through airports and standing in lines at the rental car counter or whatever. I have yet to take a trip where I simply went to the airport, got on an airplane, landed, and then got back on an airplane to return home. I doubt I will ever take a trip like that, although I might have “back in the day” if I was trying to earn a special frequent flyer bonus!

When I say that I “love travel” I mean that I love traveling to get to the places that provide a fun, interesting and sometimes challenging experiences. You’ve heard me say that I think I live in one of the very best places in the entire world. We have what is arguably the very best climate in the world. Since I have lived in Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Arizona and California as well as having traveled the world, I feel somewhat qualified to make that assertion.

It would not be the end of the world to spend every day of my in San Clemente, California. I could live my entire lifestyle without ever using a freeway. However, I like going to places like Dubuque, Iowa and Ithaca, New York and, today, Kuna, Idaho. I wouldn’t want to live in these places. I wouldn’t want to spend more than a day in most of these places. Nevertheless, I very much enjoy visiting them for a short time. When you hear me say that I “love traveling” now you know what I mean.

The Trip

I had a bad feeling about this trip.

If you’re going to trackchase as a high level you needed to be committed. No, I don’t mean THAT kind of “committed”. You simply have to be able to overcome the adversity that travel can sometimes throw at you.

Most of my trackchasing fellow competitors drive to their new track visits. This year I used an airplane to begin every one of my 40 trips. The trackchasing driver has more control over their trips than I do. It’s their car and their plan. They can drive in any direction they want. However, they can’t get from point A to point B as fast as I can. After you’ve trackchased for a long time, point A gets to be further and further from point B.

This trip was an example of what I’m talking about. My trip began Friday night when I left Southern California. By 1 p.m. the next day, I was freezing my #$#$% off in an INDOOR arena in Kansas City, Missouri. By nightfall on Saturday, I was sleeping in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado. On Sunday morning, I was pulling into a new track in Kuna, Idaho. If all goes well I will be sleeping in my bed in sunny San Clemente by Sunday night. I know to some this sounds like a terrible way to spend one’s retirement. To others it might sound like a very intriguing and interesting way to spend those “golden years”. As a used car salesman told me years ago, “there’s an ass for every seat”.

This was not an easy trip, but it was intellectually stimulating. After reviewing more than 50 flight choices on the best way to get from SoCal to Kansas City, I concluded it might not be doable. The Christmas holiday airport rush was just too much to overcome on the busiest flying weekend of the year. Therefore, I went out and bought a ticket on Southwest Airlines to insure I would see my 1,400^th lifetime track on Saturday afternoon. I figured that if I at least saw that first new track, I would get home sooner or later.

With my first new track (Kemper Raceway) in my back pocket, I headed for the Kansas City airport on Saturday night. It was a short 20-minute drive. I would be flying standby. The agent told me the flight was booked to capacity in both first class and coach. However, I was the one and only standby passenger on the list. That proves that most people aren’t willing to punish themselves as much as I am, especially at Christmas!

From my experience, I was very confident about getting on the plane. When the flight is not overbooked and I’m near the head of the standby line I always (famous last words) get on. The Temple men’s basketball team was on my flight. They were boarding after losing by twelve to Kansas earlier in the day.

Despite a fully booked flight, not everyone showed up. I ended up in first class. It’s a dirty rotten job but someone has to do this. Getting first class was the highlight of this flight. From there things went downhill fast.

You may have heard of the Continental Airlines (not one of my sponsors) plane that went off the end of the runway (without taking off) this past Saturday night. They did that ten minutes before my Kansas City to Denver flight was ready to leave. This accident caused the Denver airport to shut down for about two hours. No planes could take off for Denver until the airport reopened. I’m glad no one was seriously injured on the Continental flight but it did put my plans in a state of flux.

My primary plan had me leaving Kansas City at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday night. Then I had an hour to connect to a flight to Boise that was overbooked by ten. If I didn’t make that flight I would stay in Denver overnight and try for the one and only Sunday morning flight that would take me to Boise in time for my afternoon race. That flight was fully booked. If I didn’t make it, there would not be enough time to take a later flight to see the Sunday afternoon “outlaw kart” races near Boise.

Getting a first class seat when there is a two-hour ground delay is a blessing sent from the trackchasing gods. Yes, having the right kind of sponsorship can come in very handy. Alcoholic drinks are free in first class. One can drink a few during a two-hour delay as evidenced by the 24-year old nurse sitting next to me in seat 3D. I’m trying to watch my caloric consumption so I simply overdosed on Diet Coke. I felt sorry for the 6’ 10” basketball players that were stuck in coach seats for two hours before the nearly two-hour flight.

As you might imagine, leaving Kansas City two hours late might cause a problem when I had only an hour to connect in Denver. It did. As soon as we landed, I used my voice activated Google search option to find out the status of my Denver to Boise flight. It left some 30 minutes before we landed in Denver. When I got off the plane I immediately went to the “departures” TV monitors. It was now past 11 p.m. on a Saturday night. In an airport the size of Denver, there were only about ten flights that would still be leaving tonight. I scanned the board. None of them was going anywhere close to Boise, Idaho.

For me, trackchasing is a series of “Yes/No” decisions. No, I would not be going to Boise tonight. Now what should I do? It was nearing midnight and I had no place to stay. I thought about calling either Steve Tomasek or Frank Eich, both “loyal and ardent” Trackchaser Report readers who live in the Denver area, but decided against it. My Sunday morning flight would be leaving at 8:07 a.m. That was less than nine hours from now.

I entertained the idea of sleeping in the Denver airport. I’ve done it before. The Denver airport is out in the middle of nowhere. That means there are no hotels nearby. It would be past midnight by the time I could check in if I went the hotel route. I would have to get up by no later than 6:15 a.m. in order to make my flight. This was a “borderline” call. If I had any less time I would have slept in the airport. However, I’m no spring chicken, whatever that means, and sleeping on an airport floor should be saved for when it really needs to be saved for, right?

I popped open my Lenovo brand laptop and used my Sierra Wireless, anywhere/anytime internet capability. I looked up things at www.sidestep.com to see what hotels had a shuttle bus (so I would not have to rent a car or take a taxi) and were reasonably priced. The Quality Inn and Suites met these requirements and was charging just $62.99 per night. That seemed fair given my circumstances. Just because I operate like this, I called them on my Apple iPhone to see if they had a better price over the phone than what was being offered online. Hey, I didn’t get enough money to afford this trackchasing stuff by paying “full boat”.

No, the rate was the same. I hurried to catch the shuttle bus. It was fun to hear the travel nightmares, from their point of view, that my fellow shuttle bus riders had to share at midnight on a Saturday. I didn’t see this as a “nightmare” trip. If I didn’t experience things like this, I wouldn’t have much to tell you about, would I?

By the way, the bright-eyed and bushy tailed trackchasing fellow competitor has the opportunity to really pick up some valuable pointers if they know how to learn. I hope they do. This is my form of sharing and I think it’s the most valuable type of sharing a trackchaser could ever receive.

When I arrived at the hotel, I encountered the slowest check-in clerk ever. Despite positioning myself in a strategic spot on the shuttle bus so that I could beat most people to the check-in desk, I still found myself fourth or fifth in line. This gave me time to peruse the offerings being sold in a nearby refrigerator case. They had TV dinners!! I haven’t had a TV dinner in a very long time because Carol is such an excellent cook.

By the time I was able to check in, I had memorized the contents of the refrigerator case. Along with my room I selected a peppered steak and rice dish (270 calories, 4 fat grams, 0 fiber grams) and a Diet Coke for four bucks. Heck, just a few hours ago in the Kemper Arena the Diet Coke alone sold for four dollars.

It was now approaching 1 a.m. I set two alarms for 6:15 a.m. I would have to “sleep quick” tonight. My Sunday morning flight was now overbooked. If I didn’t make that Boise flight I would turn my attention to the six commercial airports within an hour or so of my house. Not only do we have perfect weather but we have multiple airports to choose from.

Sunday morning.

Bright and early Sunday morning I joined some of the same folks I had met on the shuttle bus just seven hours ago. They didn’t look any better than I did. Nevertheless, a new day was dawning. What would it hold?

I cleared security easily, using my American Airlines platinum card to “grease the skids”. I hustled down to my flight to see that I was eleventh on the standby list. I suspected that the ten people ahead of me were probably paying passengers that didn’t get into Denver in time to make the last flight of the day yesterday. The board told me there were just seven open seats. This time it didn’t seem like “7/11” was not going to be a lucky combination.

I had resigned myself to forget Boise and begin planning for an early return to SoCal. I popped open my laptop and began the search process for an acceptable flight. All the while, I get my eye on the TV monitor to see if things might change for the Boise flight.

The gate agent began to call the standby names for the people ahead of me. I secretly wished that they had overslept. However, that would not be the case. Soon, a sign went up on the TV screen that said, “The coach cabin has checked in full”. No, I would not be going to Boise today.

I walked up to the gate agent and asked, “I’m last on the standby list, are you full”? She was a kindly woman and said, “Sit next to me and hang tight”. I didn’t know if she was just lonely during the holiday season or had some special plan for me to get to Boise. I did as I was told.

Through some miracle of “sponsorship magic” the plane had a six-passenger first class cabin. I had not realized that when I saw the sign telling me that the coach cabin was full. In the flash of an eye, I was being given a boarding pass…..a first class boarding pass. Talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse! I was going to Boise!

The People

Who knew about the K Bar Arena?.

I don’t think any trackchaser had ever heard of the K Bar Arena before this Trackchaser Report was published. It was not listed on www.autoracingrecords.com or in the National Speedway Directory. As a matter of fact, only about 50% of the tracks I attended this year are even listed in the National Speedway Directory. This is NOT a knock on the NSD. Those stats simply point out how the hobby of trackchasing has changed over the years.

When I visit a new track that has never had the privilege of having a trackchaser in attendance I feel a special responsibility. I always have to make the call about whether to tell the trackchasing community in advance, before I ever visit the new location, or not. There are pros and cons with whatever decision I make.

As an example, Kuna (pronounced Q-na), Idaho is a suburb of Boise. A trackchaser could be on vacation in the area and this track might fit right into their schedule. Today’s racing program featured “outlaw karts”. This might be the very favorite class of a visiting trackchaser and their only opportunity to see them race in this area. I suspect there are even more reasons why sharing this information in advance would be a positive.

However, Trackchasing’s First Mother always says “No good deed goes unpunished”. I don’t think she was commenting about sharing new track information when she made that statement, so please don’t blame her for the policy I have adopted. I guess my main concern is that someone might schedule a trip to some faraway place (in this case Idaho) and come away disappointed. What if the track decided not to race? What if the program was a bad one? What, heaven forbid, if the chilidogs were stale? No, I do not want to disappoint my trackchasing brethren. I think it is best if I check things out first. If the track passes muster, then I can recommend it to other trackchasers.

Of course, to some, track sharing smacks of “welfare”. Most responsible people that I know don’t want to be given something for nothing. In this regard, I think it’s better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish.

What I do in the information sharing business, I think is actually better than simply providing a new track’s and availability. As you know I write a very thorough report (some say too thorough) about not only the track but the area. When someone finishes reading about my new track visit, they now know not only about the racetrack, but where to eat, where to stay and what tourist attractions might be the best.

What I think is really the most valuable, in many ways, are the photos that accompany each new track visit. This year I have shared more than 10,000 pictures of my 102 new track adventures. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if as few as 100 pictures have been shared around the community by the remaining trackchasing membership. Again, I’m not complainin’ I’m just sayin’. I remain the most outspoken trackchaser in the hobby. My comments have convinced more trackchasers to share more of their experiences, but as a group we still do a very poor job of sharing information about our trackchasing exploits.

When I make comments I always try to be data based. If anyone disagrees with the above hypothesis I ask them to check various websites provided by trackchasers or the trackchaser forum itself. Look at each trackchaser and ask yourself what has each person REALLY shared. The data never lies.

RACE REVIEW

K BAR ARENA, KUNA, IDAHO

There is nothing that I would like to do more than tell you about some hellish racing activity the outlaw karts put on in the K Bar Arena. Unfortunately, I cannot do that. They didn’t race!

The forecast called for 3-6” of snow this afternoon. They didn’t get any such amount. Nevertheless, they cancelled the program on the forecast not the actual amount of snowfall they got.

I could have called the promoter in advance to confirm today’s show. I thought about doing that. However, his number was not listed in my last 25 calls on my phone. I was too lazy to start up my laptop to find his number. I figured that these Idaho boys and girls would be tough. I didn’t think they would cancel with such a small amount of the white stuff.

When I pulled into the arena’s parking lot there was no one there. Maybe they were all parked on the other side of the building. Sadly, they were not. I saw a young woman getting out of her car. “Are they racing today?” I asked. “No, they canceled” was her succinct reply.

With that I made a u-turn in the F Bar Arena parking lot. I stopped the car. I pulled out my “Sky-Guide” that would tell me what the next flight home would be. If I hurried, I could catch a non-stop flight back to LAX in a bit more than an hour.

Here I was near Boise, Idaho on a snowy Sunday afternoon. There would be no racing. I wanted and needed to get home. However, there was bad weather moving in and the airport was jammed with Christmas travelers. What was I to do? What could I do?

I’ll cut to the chase. Although the plane was delayed an hour and overbooked by five, I made it. As a matter of fact, I was home in San Clemente in time for dinner! Yep! I had been snowed out in Idaho on a Sunday afternoon and had made it back to San Clemente for dinner and in time to watch 60 Minutes. That’s making the best out of a less than good situation.

STATE COMPARISONS

Idaho

I tried but I did not see my 10^th lifetime track in the potato state. I still have the Idaho state lead with nine tracks. Maybe someday I’ll be back to catch some racing action at the F Bar Arena.

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=ID

RENTAL CAR UPDATE

Boise, Idaho – Sunday/Sunday

I will be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala on this trip. I ended up driving the car just 42 miles. I did something with this car that I can never recall doing before. After my “snow out” I parked the car in the National Rental Car parking lot at the Boise airport. I took the keys inside and asked the agent not to close out my rental. I told him I was flying standby. If I made one of the flights toward SoCal I would call him and he could finalize my contract. If I didn’t make a flight, I would come back for the car as I would be staying overnight in Boise. He seemed to understand my request quite well and agreed to it immediately. As it was, I got one of the last seats on the plane and released the rights to my rental car.

I drove the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala 42 miles in the two hours that I had it. I paid an average price of $1.50 per gallon. The Chevy gave me 27.6 miles per gallon fuel mileage at a cost of 5.4 cents per mile. The car cost 66.9 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.

Somewhat incredibly I had rented two cars on this trip (Kansas City and Boise). My total gasoline bill for BOTH cars was just $4.99!!!

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.

TRAVEL DETAILS

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA – Kansas City, MO – 1,361 miles

RENTAL CAR

Kansas City International Airport – trip begins

Kansas City, MO – 32 miles

Kansas City International Airport – 49 miles

AIRPLANE

Kansas City, MO – Denver, CO – 532 miles

Denver, CO – Boise, ID – 652 miles

RENTAL CAR

Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field – trip begins

Kuna, ID – 23 miles

Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field – 42 miles

AIRPLANE

Boise, ID – Los Angeles, CA – 671 miles

Total Air miles – 3,216 miles (4 flights)

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 3,315 miles

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Kemper Raceway - $37

F Bar Arena – No charge L

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $37

COMPARISONS

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS UPDATE:

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

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,400!

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 – 102

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 (December 19, 2008), my lifetime NGD lead sits at 17 state position points. This should seal this title for 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

That’s it for 2008! I think I achieved every one of my major trackchasing goals for the year. The next report you get will be my 2008 Trackchasing Annual Report. See you in 2009.

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

Check out the home page of www.ranlayracing.com for a complete listing.

Randy Lewis

World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser

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

Past trackchasing reports are available at:

Official trackchaser comparisons can be viewed at:

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

That’s it for 2008! I think I achieved every one of my major trackchasing goals for the year. The next report you get will be my 2008 Trackchasing Annual Report. See you in 2009.