Greetings from Dale, Texas
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Rally Ranch
Dirt road course
Lifetime Track #2,399
THE EVENT I have had the opportunity to follow my trackchasing hobby all over the world. As this is written I have seen racing in 77 countries. My lifetime track total is nearly 2,400. Long ago I wrapped up seeing racing in every American state. Some eleven years ago I moved into the “World’s #1 Trackchasing” spot. Of course, that’s if that title is awarded to the person who has seen the most lifetime tracks. Frankly, I don’t think it should be. Maybe “Most Prolific Trackchaser” is a better description. Anyway my trackchasing totals exceeded all others more than 1,300 tracks ago. Different trackchasers including Rick Schneider, Ed Esser and now Guy Smith have held the second spot behind my trackchasing results. The trackchasing leadership has always had a difficult time managing the “politics” of trackchasing. Even the leaders have been toppled by trackchasing politics. When Mr. Schneider dropped out over a dispute Ed Esser became the #2 ranked trackchaser. Sadly, just four days after Ed and I went trackchasing together in Canada he passed away. This moved Guy Smith into the #2 spot. Since the year 2000 I’ve seen nearly 900 tracks more than Mr. Smith. Currently my advantage over trackchasing’s #2 exceeds 600 tracks. I would lobby that the “World’s #1 Trackchaser” title should go to the person who has seen racing in the most countries. For the longest time the real “World’s #1 Trackchaser” was Roland Vanden Eynde of Belgium. He was closely followed by Will White of Pennsylvania. I never had all that much interest in international trackchasing. I was nearly 40 years old when I saw my first track outside of the U.S., in Canada. I never thought international trackchasing was worth the expense or the hassle. When I gained an airline sponsorship all of that changed. Now I have seen racing in 77 countries and toured the world in more than 90 countries. Long ago I passed up Mr. Vanden Eynde for the true “World’s #1 Trackchaser” title. I didn’t think there were very many other states on my “100 track” horizon. I’ve seen more than 100 tracks in six different states. Granted I’ve “only” seen racing in Texas at 81 tracks at this point. However, with all of the UTV racing and all of the ranches in Texas I might be able to get up to seeing 100 tracks in Texas in 2-3 years! Stay tuned. My hobby is not only about racing. Yes, that is one part of it. However of equal importance are the logistics of trackchasing and the opportunity to see the world. I live in Southern California. The vast majority of tracks are located in the Midwest and East. It takes a good deal of logistical planning to get from where I live to where the tracks are. For the past 15 years I have traveled about 175 nights each and every year. Surprisingly to some, more than half of those overnights were not part of trackchasing. Then there’s the travel just for the fun of seeing new things. You won’t want to miss my “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions” page or my “Sports Spectating Resume” page on my website at www.randylewis.org. That will give you some understanding on how important seeing the world and just “seeing stuff” is with my hobby. Today’s adventure was one more of the 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the 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 I woke up this morning at 3:49 a.m. in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. On Thursday night I had seen a Division I college basketball game in Boston, Massachusetts. Friday morning I took a tour of the state capitol building in Hartford, Connecticut. Then on Friday night I trackchased in Trenton, New Jersey. Saturday afternoon I was inside the Center of Progress building seeing the 25th Annual Indoor Championships in Syracuse, New York. Now my whirlwind visit to the East Coast was ending. When I got out to the parking lot this morning ice crystals had formed all over the steel body of the Alamo Rental Car Racing Ford Fusion. It was 26 freaking degrees! Yes, old man winter‘s head was peeking just over the horizon and would be here very shortly. If I could get a seat on a standby basis for a flight from Boston to Austin, Texas I would be trackchasing with my grandson this afternoon. If I didn’t make that airplane I would look for a way to get back home to Southern California to reunite with Trackchasing’s First Mother. No matter how the airplane situation turned out I was going to be a winner. I made the flight from Boston to Austin! I was most surprised that the scheduled flight time was four hours and three minutes. I would have thought the flight time would have been much shorter. I guess I was traveling a significant amount of miles west and then south. When I landed in the Austin airport I had a few minutes. I figured I could get some power walking in before I started my Texas day. As I was walking a young woman approached me. Yes, that happens a lot. It’s something I have to deal with. The woman today was someone I knew. It was Krista, our son Jim’s girlfriend. She was waiting for a plane to take her to a week of work in California. Over the years I’ve run into a lot of people in airports. Why? I guess I’m in airports a lot! I’ll be seeing Krista and everyone else from Texas next weekend with Carol. I wished Krista well on her trip and soon resumed my power walking. By the time I finished, my mileage count was at 3.5 miles. That number included what I got earlier this morning in the Boston airport. I love walking in airports. It’s a great way to multitask (exercise, meeting people, transportation)! Soon our daughter Kristy and those nine-year-old grandkids, Astrid and Mitch, were meeting me at the airport. Kristy and Astrid had a book club meeting for the afternoon. Mitch and I were going trackchasing. I had a big surprise for Mitch.He would get to pick out our rental car for the day. We walked over to the rental car center while I explained all of the things we would be experiencing for the day like a good Grandpa should. Mitch initially picked out a Chrysler 300, one of my favorites. However, we agreed that it might be a good idea to explore the entire selection of 30-40 cars before we made a final decision. While we were doing that a little old lady about 5 feet tall grabbed our Chrysler 300. I wanted to tell her that car was way too much for her but didn’t. In the end Mitch selected a huge black Nissan Murano SUV. I figured that car would get about 2 gallons per mile. Nevertheless we wouldn’t be driving far. This was really the perfect car. Why? Because Mitch picked it out. On the way to the Rally Ranch in Dale, Texas we went looking for a Whataburger where we could stop for lunch along the way. We were out in the country by now. There were no Whataburgers. No, we didn’t find a Whataburger. We found something equally as good. Our Waze GPS route, covering 29 miles, took us directly past the Circuit of the Americas road-racing track in Austin. We had a little bit of time. I figured we would pull in and see if they might be having a race. Maybe Mitch could pick up an unexpected track for his lifetime resume. It was our good fortune that the World Racing League was holding an eight-hour enduro today. They were racing on the property. To add to our good fortune there was no admission charge. We pulled the National Car Rental Racing Nissan Murano into the paddock area and began our exploration. I had been to the Circuit of the Americas facility on two different occasions. I went there for a Red Bull Rallycross event in 2014. The mixed surface road course was my 1,963rd lifetime track. In 2013 I saw some SCCA racing on their 3.4-mile asphalt track. That was lifetime track #1,828. My experience with the track helped me make sure Mitch saw the highlights at the Circuit of the Americas. The Circuit of the Americas road course is the only place where the United States currently holds World Formula One events. It would be expensive and crowded to go to one of those races. It’s better to go on a day like today where we could explore everything up close and personal. That’s exactly what we did. We sat in the VIP section, explored the paddock area and generally had a good time in the 30 minutes or so that we spent at the track. We would have liked to have stayed longer but our main mission today was to see a race at the Rally Ranch in Dale, Texas. I was still looking for a Whataburger. However, we were really out in the Texas countryside now and that wasn’t going to happen. THE RACING Rally Ranch – Dale, Texas We figured we needed to find the track before we did anything else. My Waze GPS system navigated the dusty gravel roads taking us to the entrance of the Rally Ranch. We pulled up to the front gate and asked a few questions. We confirmed the UTV race would begin at 2:15 p.m. We also learned there was no food at the track. The track workers told us where we might be able to find something to eat. Off we went in search of lunch. Soon we were pulling up to the Red Rock Country Market. This was a cross between a gas station convenience store and a small-town Texas grocery. We gabbed some sandwiches, chips and drinks and headed back to the track. Just walking into a retailer like this was a cultural experience for both of us. I had tried to contact the people who run the Texas Off-Road Championship Series (TORCS) without much luck. Nevertheless, I have a proprietary method for getting track information when I run into roadblocks like this. A few days ago I found a fellow by the name of Collin Huber (above). He drives UTVs with the TORCS series. Collin was great at giving me information about the starting procedure for these kinds of races. He answered lots of other questions too. Thanks Collin. Mitch and I were roaming around the grounds meeting lots of people including Curtis, who runs the TORN Racing series in the Dallas area. Today we even met Collins’s parents. They seemed impressed that I pursue trackchasing as I do. They were a little bit surprised when I told him that yesterday afternoon I was trackchasing up in Syracuse, New York. The turbo UTV class started five or six racers. They all started at once. The non-turbo group brought about 17 entries. They ran off in three different rows. The 800s and 900s followed everyone else all starting their class at the same time. It was quite a dusty start. You’ll see that in the video! Just five seconds or so after the cars left the finish line they were totally obscured by the Texas dust. From there Mitch and I began to explore the entire track by walking through the tall grasses of the ranch. Even though we didn’t go out into the woods part of the track we were able to get some great views from lots of different locations. You won’t want to miss my racing video. This afternoon we soon found ourselves encircled by the track with no way of getting out of our location without crossing the track. That didn’t seem like a wise idea with a nine-year-old. Overall, we had a great grandfather/grandson afternoon of trackchasing. Yes, it was a lot different than when I went to the Peoria Speedway as a nine-year-old with my own grandfather. I guess that is to be expected when sixty years has passed! AFTER THE RACES The track had a most unusual policy for pricing admission today. People six years of age and younger as well as people 60 years of age and older were admitted for free. That meant there was no charge for me but a $10 charge for nine-year-old Mitch! Yes, there is always something that’s a little bit different at every track I visit. On the way home we needed a little snack as grandfathers and grandsons often do. Even though we were out in the middle of nowhere, we came across a huge Mexican grocery store. There we bought drinks and chips as well as pork curls a.k.a. pork skins a.k.a. pork rinds. Granddaughter Astrid scored a chocolate treat for later. It was a great cultural experience for the both of us. The “Mercado” was one of the best looking Hispanic grocery stores I’ve seen. We were back home by 5:30 p.m. just in time to meet up with son Jim, Astrid and daughter Kristy. Kristy cooked up some Texas sausages with green peppers and onions. Then we all sat around the table enjoying family life in Texas of all places. It had been a great trackchasing day. Of course I say that after every event from Monaco to Daytona. However, this was extra special with Mitch joining me. I was leaving Texas tomorrow. I wouldn’t be gone long. I’ll be back next weekend with Carol. There are no race plans for next weekend. We’ll be in Texas to celebrate Christmas family holiday spirit. Tonight it was fun seeing the twins decorate their Christmas tree. MONDAY After landing at LAX I got another mile of power walking on the books. I was back home in San Clemente by about 7 p.m. Soon I was in the loving arms of Trackchasing’s First Mother. I had trackchased in New Jersey, New York and Texas on this trip. I had seen a college basketball game in Massachusetts and toured the state capital in Connecticut (above). I guess that was enough for a four-day weekend. My 2,399th lifetime track was in the record books. Where will trackchasing track #2,400 come from and when? I think I can fit that special track into the 2017 trackchasing season. I hope you’ll stay tuned for that. Good afternoon from Dale, Texas. Texas The Lone Star state This afternoon I saw racing at my 81st lifetime track in the Lone Star state yes the Lone Star state. I hold a #1 trackchasing ranking here as I do in 24 total states. The second leading trackchaser in Texas is Ed Esser with 53 tracks. I’ve seen 81 or more tracks in nine states. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser Peoria Old Timers Racing Club (P.O.R.C.) Hall of Fame Member Texas sayings: Just fell off the turnip (watermelon, tater) truck. QUICK FACTS LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS The three most important trackchasing comparisons to me are: Total lifetime tracks seen Total “trackchasing countries” seen Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results Total Lifetime Tracks There are no trackchasers currently within 600 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 20 countries of my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today. 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. UTV racing and Christmas tree decorating from Texas! 
In the early morning Kristy and I were off for a four-mile power walk. That’s always fun. She and I have done that a lot.
Then I was down to the Austin airport for my flight back to Los Angeles. The flight was leaving in the afternoon. I didn’t need any power walking in the airport. I spent the time in the American Airlines Admirals Club.
Unsophisticated:
He’s so country he thinks a seven-course meal is a possum and a six-pack.
They lived so far our in the country that the sun set between their house and town.
