Greetings from Baker, Montana
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
TARA Motorsports Complex Dirt road course Lifetime track #1,557 Reprinted with permission from my Sunday, June 20, 2010, Trackchaser Report. THE CLASSIC TRACKCHASER REPORT Editor’s note: This is a CLASSIC Trackchaser Report. What the heck does “Classic” mean? It’s simply a Trackchaser Report that comes from my trackchasing archives. Typically these will be stories from tracks I visited five years or ten years or more ago. For whatever reason (usually not enough time) this trackchasing adventure didn’t get posted to my website when I first made the track visit. Often a classic TR will not have a video and/or photo album attached. I didn’t begin producing my YouTube videos until 2009 (YouTube channel: RANLAY). I didn’t begin writing a complete Trackchaser Report until I had seen about 425 tracks. This was during the 2000 trackchasing season. Photo albums were sort of hit or miss during the early years of my trackchasing. Additionally, if you see a website link know that link worked when the TR was originally written. Will it work now? Your guess is as good as mine! Nevertheless, this CLASSIC Trackchaser Report has finally bubbled to the surface and is now available for everyone to see at www.randylewis.org. I hope you enjoy it. I AM A TRACKCHASER. My name is Randy Lewis (above with Rob Palmer and Carol up in Montana). I hail from the sleepy little village by the sea, San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so. I live in southern California. That’s probably the most inconvenient location in the country for seeing tracks in the U.S. Most of the racetracks in the U.S. are located well over 1,000 miles from where I live. My average trip covers 5,000 miles and more. I take 35-40 of those trips each season. In any given year I will travel well over 200,000 miles, rent more than 50 cars, and stay in more than 150 hotel rooms. I get the chance to meet people from all over the world. With trackchasing trips to 85 countries and counting just getting the chance to experience so many unique cultures, spend time in the homes of my friends and meet so many people is a huge reward for being in this hobby. I am indebted to several of these folks for their help and friendship. Once you begin researching my trip itineraries from my website, yes you will want to do that, you will be surprised. One day I’ll be in Tucson, the next in maybe Tuscaloosa and the following day in Syracuse. I do that kind of thing all the time. Figuring out the logistics of a trip like that is as much fun for me as watching a figure 8 race. Now you know a little bit about my trackchasing addiction. When you receive one of my Trackchaser Reports or find one on my website at www.randylewis.org I hope you will take the time to imagine in your mind what it took to make this trip from SoCal and understand the fun I had doing it. There you have it. That’s trackchasing…the way I do it. Do others trackchase? Absolutely. Do they share their experiences? Sorry. They don’t. If you want to see the true “essence” of trackchasing you’ve come to the right place. Today’s adventure was one more of the 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the proverbial long and dusty trackchasing trail. If you would like to see where I’ve been and experience those adventures here’s the link: If you’ve got a question, comment or whatever please leave it at the bottom of this report. It’s very easy to do. Or you can visit me on Facebook. Thanks! FOREWORD Sunday, June 20, 2010. DAYS 6-7– “WE MADE IT TO MONTANA!’” TRACKCHASING TOUR Greetings from Baker, Montana, TODAY’S HEADLINES We fell short of the objective on this trip in some areas and surpassed the plan in others.…………..details in “The Objective”. This has already been a full season and it’s not even half finished……………..more in “The Trip”. We have a budding trackchaser among us.………..details in “The People”. THE OBJECTIVE, THE TRIP, THE PEOPLE…AND A WHOLE LOT MORE The Objective We lost some but we gained more. We started out on this trip expecting to see eight tracks in six days. We didn’t meet that objective for two reasons. One track was canceled by rain. Another track chose to race in the afternoon rather than in the evening as their website told us they would. That created a “double booking” and we had to “pick one and lose one”. On the other hand, we added a new baseball stadium (Target Field) in their inaugural season no less, just as we did with Yankee Stadium last year. Rain chased us from North Dakota to Minnesota one night. That worked out rather well. We also had the chance to trackchase with Rob Palmer during two days of this trip. That was fun. He saved the Belle Fourche, South Dakota track for us! Rob is now up to 114 lifetime tracks. I bet he makes it to the hallowed “200 tracks” and becomes an “official” trackchaser in the next few years. The Trip Buffalo, South Dakota is a one-horse town. We woke up this morning in Buffalo, South Dakota. Buffalo is a small town with a population of 380. They have one hotel and one restaurant. We were smart enough to reserve our hotel here on Saturday morning as we headed south from North Dakota. By doing that, this morning’s drive was one and one-half hours rather that three and a half. We invested the savings in sleep! Buffalo, South Dakota really isn’t close to anything. Our phones don’t work out in the “boonies”. That’s not an Apple iPhone issue, it’s an AT&T cell tower problem. Nevertheless, the Tipperary Lodge had “Wi-Fi” so we were able to stay in touch. The No 3 Cafe & Bar had an authentic South Dakota interior. The one and only eatery in Buffalo is the No 3 Saloon Café and Bar restaurant. They have bearskins on the wall as Elk and Deer mounted as well. We didn’t look like our fellow “local” diners. That being the case, I have to be a little more discreet when I take restaurant pictures of fellas wearing cowboy hats and real spurs! Nevertheless, breakfast was “mighty fine” for us city folks. Seven countries; 19 states and it’s still June! From there we were off to Baker, Montana. It seems as if I’m just getting going on my 2010 season and Montana is my 19th state already. I have seven countries to go along with that including: United States, Malta, Canada, Japan, Chile, Morocco (above) and Brazil. That would be a career for most trackchasers. I’ve been lucky enough to do it during the first six months of this year. Today’s drive would take us through the rural areas of South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. With all of the rain they’ve had this year, everything was green with lots of yellow wild flowers. It was surely beautiful. Don’t miss the pictures. After the race………… When the race was finished, we all drove over to Bowman, North Dakota. That was where we had picked up Rob Palmer. In Bowman Rob was reunited with his truck for the ride home to eastern South Dakota. He had about six hours of driving ahead of him. Carol and I then headed off to finish our four-hour drive to Bismarck, North Dakota our last evening of this trip. This was certainly both unusual and beautiful topography that we enjoyed seeing very much. This is beautiful country in the late spring. I’m surprised at how many lakes and marshes we’ve seen in North Dakota. I doubt I’ll be spending much time up here from this point. I have only one more track to see in both South and North Dakota. You never know though. “Stuff” pops up all the time in the world of trackchasing. Monday. In the world of standby flying the “early bird gets the worm”. That’s right. I have to count on the laziness of my fellow man to get on early morning flights. I theorize that folks have a hard time making those “zero dark thirty” flights. Their loss is our gain. We were early birds! For such a small place the Bismarck airport is a palace. We were up bright and early at 4:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m. San Clemente time) and soon off to board our flight from Bismarck to Denver, Colorado. We’ve been on the road for a week now. That’s just enough time to begin getting used to the time zone we’ve been living in. Tomorrow I expect I’ll want to get up at 2:50 a.m. San Clemente time!! I guess that won’t be so bad as I have an 8 a.m. tee time. I’m still golfing. Despite having traveled overnight 72 evenings since the first of the year, my golf days (24) aren’t really that far behind my trackchasing days (35). My “72-35” fraction is noteworthy. I’ve only had two trackchasing cancellations in 2010 (they don’t count in my trackchasing total days). This means that beyond my 35 trackchasing days, I’ve been on the road for personal vacations another 37 days. I like those comparisons. The People It was fun traveling with Rob Palmer. I don’t travel often with others on the trackchasing trail, other than Carol. Very few people (really none) can keep up with my travel schedule. More importantly, others couldn’t keep up with the flexibility that my travel schedule mandates. Carol and I enjoyed the past two days of trackchasing with Rob Palmer. I first met Rob up in Huron, South Dakota. I was watching the races with “Butch Knouse” the famous South Dakota racing statistician when Rob came up and introduced himself. He had recognized me from my website and introduction in Huron that evening. Rob is a “racechaser” although he is showing tendencies of being a “trackchaser”. Rob, that’s how we all started out as race fans. Watch out! Since that time Rob and I have met up at a couple of other Dakota locations. He and I are frequent “texting” partners when it comes time to do some race planning. Rob is the person who “saved” the Belle Fourche track for us yesterday when he discovered they were racing at 2:30 p.m. and not 7:30 p.m. Rob’s a family man. Rob and his wife have two young children who are still in elementary school. We don’t have ANY active trackchasers with his profile. Most trackchasers are single. The ones that are married don’t have kids or their kids are grown. The “trackchasing lifestyle” is not particularly well-suited for families with younger children. I should know about the above. During the past six full seasons I have AVERAGED 139 new tracks every year. However, during a 14-year period from 1981-1994 I averaged only 11 new tracks each year. Those years were when our kids were in school plays, baseball, basketball and soccer to name just a few of their activities. Rob, there is a time and place for everything! RACE REVIEW The cars got a lot of speed going into turn #5. TARA MOTORSPORTS PARK, BAKER, MONTANA Why don’t trackchasers come to Montana more often? Today I saw my third lifetime Montana Bump n Run racing event. It was the first time for Carol and Rob to see this group race. Very few trackchasers have ever seen a Montana Bump n Run event. That’s unusual considering this race group races at ten or more different venues each season. The real reason that almost no trackchasers have come to the “Big Sky” state is because it’s so “gall danged” far from the homes of most trackchasers. The racetrack is located at the Fallon County Shooting Range. Today’s event took place in just outside of the small town of Baker, Montana. This is a town with just 1,695 people according to the 1990 census. They race here just one time each year. The layout itself was a winding dirt road course with elevation changes and a distance of about one mile. The fans watched from this grandstand protected from the sun. The crowd watched from a small grandstand erected on a hill above the track. Others watched from lawn chairs (thanks to Rob’s advance planning) or from their cars or trucks. It was an absolutely gorgeous weather day. The temperature was in the high 70s and those picturesque white puffy clouds appeared as if a third grader had pasted them on the bright blue sky. It truly was a lovely day to relax and watch day racing. The weather changes ‘on a dime’ up here. Baker had received a good deal of rain yesterday. However, the sun had dried up most but not all of that moisture. Some parts of the track were parched. Other sections were so wet, it looked like a mud bog competition. During each race as well as during hot laps cars became stuck in the mud. For sure this is a different form of wheel to wheel racing than I normally see. The program was scheduled to begin at 12 noon. Because it took them so long to tow cars from the quagmires over various parts of the track they didn’t begin until 1 p.m. The heat races were contested over eight laps with about six cars in each race. The races were divided by “class”. The more powerful cars were called “modifieds” and the lesser powered cars were labeled “limiteds”. There was also a group of racers in between these two extremes. This race had a ‘picnic’ atmosphere. Are these girls future trackchaser competitors? In some ways, this looked more like a city picnic than an auto race. Fans spread blankets out and didn’t seem at all concerned about the delayed starting time. We weren’t concerned either. In advance we had agreed that a departure time of 2:30 p.m. would work for us regardless of where the program might be at the time. With a one-hour delay this allowed us to see all six heat races. The action was described by a track announcer using an O.K. P.A. system. There were prizes awarded to “lucky ticket holders” of which we were not included. My trip to the concession stand included a sign that read “Watch out for snakes”. Yikes! The similarities of Montana Bump n Run. They weren’t afraid to lean on each other. Each of my three “Montana Bump n Run” outings have had similarities. They all ran on dirt road courses of about one mile. The competitors all race the big V-8 four door domestic sedans. Their engines are very powerful. From a fan’s point of view this is laidback racing. I’ll catch a few more of these whenever I’m looking for some annual NGD points. Nobody goes to Montana so it gives me an advantage to come here. It’s hard for me to make a double out of an afternoon Montana Bump n Run event since I have only one track remaining to be seen up here that races on a regularly scheduled basis. However, Andy Ritter did get a Montana double in 2007 so it can be done. I believe he was the first ever trackchaser to see the Montana BnR folks race. STATE COMPARISONS Montana This afternoon I saw my 11th –track in the Big Sky State, yes, the Big Sky State. That maintains my first place ranking here. Michigan’s Allan Brown is a distant second with seven Montana tracks. Normally trailing someone by four tracks wouldn’t be much of a deficit. However, this in Montana. Tracks are few and far between up here. Surprisingly, 29 trackchasers have pursued their hobby here although only five trackchasers have seen as many as five tracks in the state. I still have 11 tracks to see in Montana. Most of them are “Montana Bump n Run” tracks. Just one of the remaining tracks races on a regularly scheduled basis. Coming Soon – RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Exclusive Features! Has a conspiracy been committed in the international tracks “counting world”? I’ll soon be introducing two new promotional ideas to the hobby of trackchasing. Neither has ever been offered by any trackchaser in the hobby. My new trackchasing charity effort is set to begin July 1, 2010. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser Montana sayings: It’s everything Colorado thinks it is. TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA, (LAX) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 1,535 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip begins Target Field – 9 miles Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – 31 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Green Bay, WI (GRB) – 251 miles RENTAL CAR #2 Green Bay International Airport – trip begins Whitelaw, WI – 31 miles Green Bay International Airport – 74 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Green Bay, WI (GRB) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 174 miles Chicago, IL (ORD) – Bismarck, ND (BIS) – 715 miles RENTAL CAR #3 Bismarck Municipal Airport – trip begins Wishek, ND – 93 miles Fergus Falls, MN – 378 miles Belle Fourche, SD – 954 miles Sturgis, SD – 989 miles Baker, MT – 1,176 miles Bismarck Municipal Airport – 1,403 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Bismarck, ND (BIS) – Denver, CO (DEN) – 517 miles Denver, CO (DEN) – Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – 861 miles Total Air miles – 4,053 (6 flights) Total Rental Car miles – 1,508 (3 cars) Total miles traveled on this trip – 5,561 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: 141 Speedway – $8 ($4 senior discount savings) Wishek Tri-County Speedway $10 I-94 Speedway – $10 Butte County Speedway – $10 J.C. (Pappy) Hoel Short Track @ the Jack Pines Motorcycle Club – $10 Baker Bump n Run Track – $7 Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $55 COMPARISONS LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS There are no trackchasers currently within 200 tracks of my lifetime total. Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report You might have remembrances about this track. If so, please feel free to share your memories in the comments section below. If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com. I’ll try to include them here. That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. You can view the album slide by slide or click on the “slide show” icon for a self-guided tour of today’s trackchasing adventure. The cars started each race with a “flying” start. Tara Motorsports Complex – Montana – Lifetime track #1,557 
