Dumplin Valley Speedway

 

Ten years; 159 nights out each year and more fun than you can ever imagine………….more in “The Details”.

 

 

My first round of golf in nearly five months.

………….more in “The Details”.

 

 

Have you ever stayed in the Hotel C10?………….more in “The Details”.

 

 

I have funding challenges…………..more in “The Details”.

 

 

From the outhouse to the penthouse. …………..more in “The Details”.

 

 

Do YOU have a lifetime warranty on YOUR sunglasses? …………..more in “The Details”.

 

 

The seasons of trackchasing…………..more in “The Details”.

 

 

Way too much practice……..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

What is the area of “Kodak” named after?……..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

When does the #$%#$ first race begin? ……..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

“Light ain’t workin’” ……..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY

 

 

10 years; 159 nights each year.

Every year I hope to travel just a little bit less than I did the year before.  However, it seems as if the trips just sort of sneak up on me.  Here’s a summary for the last ten years on the number of nights I have spend on the road.

 

2004 – 143

2005 – 163

2006 – 160

2007 – 146

2008 – 162

2009 – 167

2010 – 159

2011 – 162

2012 – 142

2013 – 186

 

10-year average – 159

 

 

In 2014 I planned to get the number below 150 for the year.  Can you imagine someone thinking they are successfully controlling their overnight travel if they can get their annual number of stays under 150?

 

 

This year is beginning just like most of the last decade.

When I get back from this trip I will have spent 31 of the first 67 days away from San Clemente to begin 2014.  Considering most of that time, if not all, would be considered the trackchasing “off-season” I may not be doing very well controlling my travel.

 

 

We’re hoping to sell Carol’s 2007 Lexus GS 350.  I have three internet sources running an ad for the car.  At this point the car’s been on the market for about eight weeks.  However, for the last NINE straight weekends I’ve been on the road.  Most people who would want to buy the car work for a living.  When are people off during the daylight hours during the winter.  The weekends!  That’s right most of the people would want to see the car on the weekend.  However, I haven’t been home on any of the weekends since the car has been for sale.  Net, we haven’t sold it!

 

Up and down the coast and all over the U.S. and Canada.

Those nine weekends that I’ve been away included travel to 1) Central California/Minnesota, 2) Central California/Oregon, 3) Trinidad and Tobago, 4) Oregon/Tennessee, 5) New Jersey/Quebec, 6) New York/Ontario, 7) Florida, 8) Colorado and 9) Tennessee/Georgia.  I didn’t stay very close to home did I?

 

 

All of that travel hasn’t been just for trackchasing.  Family business, UCLA basketball and racechasing (as opposed to trackchasing) took me from home.  However, if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t do it.  I must have wanted to go on every one of those trips!

 

 

My first round of golf in nearly five months.

This weekend’s trip was somewhat unusual.  This afternoon (Thursday) I played golf with good buddy George Robertson.  I was only a day or two shy of going five months since the last time I played.  Considering I averaged about two rounds of golf every week for the past twenty years that’s a lifestyle change!  I was most happy to shoot 83 as I prepare for our annual college fraternity golf outing.

 

 

By the way I dropped out of golf because of a bad back.  Now, with my Egoscue training, my back is in fine shape.  I’ll play some more golf, maybe 15-20 rounds for the year.  However, I don’t ever see myself playing golf with the frequency that I used too.  For one thing I don’t have the time.  Secondly, I don’t like getting up at 6 a.m. for an 8 a.m. tee time!

 

 

Directly from golf I battled Thursday evening rush hour traffic up the San Diego (I-405) Freeway to get to LAX.  It really wasn’t a bad drive.  I listened to NPR (Marketplace) commercial free business podcasts emanating from my iPhone.

 

 

Doesn’t anyone do what I do?

I was shooting for a seat to Portland, Oregon (PDX).  I ended up being the only late night standby passenger (can you imagine that) and got one of the three remaining seats.

 

I had a decision to make.

My flight would land in Oregon at 11 p.m.  I would have a nearly 11-hour layover in Portland before heading to Atlanta, Georgia on Friday morning.  I had a decision to make.  By the time I took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel and then back to the airport in the morning I might have just eight hours or so at the hotel.  That’s not bad but I decided against getting a hotel.  I would sleep overnight in the airport.  I consulted www.sleepinginairports.net and found generally positive reviews about PDX.

 

 

FRIDAY

 

Hotel C10.

I went to bed last night in the Portland airport (gate C10) at about midnight.  For the most part I got a decent night’s sleep spread over four chairs with no armrests.  As stated on www.sleepinginairports.net the only minor annoyance was a P.A. announcement about every 15 minutes from the Portland police chief advising everyone to keep an eye on their bags.  I was up at 5:30 a.m. to begin my day.

 

 

But Randy……

I know what some might say.  “But Randy, if I had to sleep overnight in the airport I wouldn’t be a trackchaser”.  I can understand that comment.  If you travel overnight 10-20 nights per year on your vacations spending a night or two (10-20% of your total time) in a airport might not seem like a winning idea.

 

I have funding challenges.

However, as you can see, I need to fund a 150-180 night per year vacation habit.  That’s 150-180 hotel rooms, 50 rental cars, 180 days of airport parking, 200 airplane rides, 200 days of eating on the road, some 100 tanks of fuel and race tickets for nearly 100 racing events.

 

 

No job!

One other thing about funding this effort.  I don’t have a job!  No job, no retirement pension and no inheritance.  Does this sound a bit like Bernie Madoff to you?

 

 

An adventure.

I actually consider the idea of sleeping overnight in an airport to be sort of an adventure.  Kind of like camping.  I won’t do it that often.  Maybe five and no more than 10 nights per year.  It will almost always be my strategy of choice when my landing flight and my departing flights are separated overnight by a layover of less than 12 hours.

 

 

From the outhouse to the penthouse.

When I did wake up I ambled over to my private dining club.  That’s right.  I went from acting like a homeless person sleeping on a park bench to the hoity toity atmosphere of a private club.  Everyone should have one of these.  I’m talking about my food and drink sponsor the Board Room with Alaska Airlines.

 

 

I only need to visit the Board Room 33 times each year to break even.  After that all of my food and drink for the entire year will be free.  As they say “Free is good”.  I’ve only been a member of the club for 53 days and today was my 22^nd visit (including Carol’s visits as well).  I’m well on my way to making this sponsorship pay off in a major way for the rest of the year.

 

 

It was time to sleep uptown.

I would need a hotel for two nights when I reached the Atlanta area.  This would be an opportunity to “buy good stuff cheap”.  Atlanta is one of the better areas for using Priceline.com.  I tried a couple of bidding strategies without success.  Then I went with an “Express Deal”.

 

 

For $47 per night that yielded an upscale Crowne Plaza hotel near the airport.  That would be a perfect location.  The best internet rate for the Crowne Plaza was $99/night or $85/night if the guest had AAA membership or was a senior citizen.  My “Express Deal” saved me about $100 when all taxes were included.

 

 

Sometimes you have to pay more for better stuff.

My National Rental Car deal for my two-day stay came in at $101.  I figured I could beat that on Priceline but I feared I might be buying “cheap stuff cheap” and that doesn’t appeal to me.

 

 

With National, a long-time sponsor of mine I would get a $15 credit for the rental lowering my cost to $86.  With Priceline I could get a full-sized car for just $53.  However, with National I can pick any car in the fleet.  With Priceline I would likely be stuck with what they gave me.

 

 

I expect to drive about 650 miles on this trip.  National would likely be able to provide a Hyundai Sonata with it’s 35+ M.P.G. gas mileage.  At Priceline I might get something like a Chevy Impala.  If that car gave me just 27 M.P.G. (which it might) then I would lose $18 in gasoline expense.  That made the comparison more like National $86 and Priceline $71.  If I went with National I would almost certainly get a car with satellite radio.  That would be most worthwhile on a two-day 650-mile driving trip.  There was even a possibility my $15 sponsorship credit would be even more.  I concluded it would be best to stick with National even though their price was a bit higher in this case than Priceline.  This is an example of “buying good stuff cheap”.  I’m sure the financially astute among my readers, that would be everyone right, can appreciate my thinking.

 

 

By the way with the internet and a handy spreadsheet I can do the above “work” in less than five minutes.  It took me more time than that to tell you about it.  Why mention it in the first place?  It’s simple.  If just one of you picks up on these valuable ideas for your own use, even if I never hear about it, I will be most pleased.

 

 

SATURDAY

 

 

Just do it.

Do you do much shopping in outlet malls?  I love shopping there for a few essentials.  What do I consider essentials?  Athletic shoes and athletic socks!  I’m partial to Nike.

 

 

I would estimate I’ve bought almost all of my athletic shoes from outlet malls for the past several years.  I’ll go through 2-3 pairs of shoes each year.  If I like a pair of shoes I’ll buy two pair just to save time and money so I don’t have to shop that soon again.

 

 

I just had to stop….and shop.

Today, on the way up to Tennessee, a billboard caught my eye.  It was advertising the outlet mall in Calhoun, Georgia.  I had time to stop or so I thought.

 

 

I ended up with two pairs of Nike athletic shoes (size 14!) and nine pairs of socks.  That should hold me for a while.  I think the quality of the items I have purchased in outlet stores is identical to what I would get in a traditional store.  Buying in an outlet store gives the impression I am getting a bargain.  I’m not sure if I am or not.

 

 

I forget stuff.

Earlier in the trip I discovered I had not brought any sunglasses with me.  Two of my three tracks this weekend will race in the afternoon.  I would need sunglasses.

 

 

I never pay much for sunglasses because I lose them break them or get tired of them.  We have a 99 cents only store in San Clemente.  I’ll go in there and load up on every pair of sunglasses that fits.  I’ve been know to buy 5-6 pair at a time.

 

 

Most people in my family have spent worldly sums on their sunglasses.  For me it’s a way of “cutting back”.  However today would be different.  I ended up paying $40 U.S. for a single pair of sunglasses.  I know.  Lots of people pay much more than that.

 

 

Do YOU have a lifetime warranty on YOUR sunglasses?

Not only did I get a good pair of glasses I also got a nice case and a “lifetime warranty”.  If I break the glasses during the first year they will replace them for free.  If I break them during the second year they will give me a twenty-dollar credit.  I didn’t read the warranty any further.  I’ve never HAD sunglasses for more than two years!

 

 

I love the Four Seasons just not the weather type.

One of best things about trackchasing is experiencing the four seasons.  I love the Four Seasons.  They made some great records.  However I don’t LIKE the four seasons if you understand my point.  I have ZERO interest in living in a place with four seasons.  However, I don’t mind spending a weekend somewhere where “spring is springing” or “fall is upon us” or whatever.

 

The seasons of trackchasing.

Most trackchasing years start with winter.  That means ice racing in the northern U.S. and Canada.  When the ice melts toward the end of February I move to the southeast.  I’ll usually trackchase there for a few weekends.  I will be able to see the leaves sprout on the trees as the weeks go by in March and April.  In Tennessee spring was springing.

 

 

Slowly I will move up into the Midwest.  However, if I go too fast I will catch some of the worst weather all year when “spring comes late” as it often does in the Midwest.  Once I hit May, except in the Far West, I can count on improving weather through June.  In July and August I can experience some brutally hot and humid days all over the country including the northern reaches of the U.S.

 

 

When the calendar moves into September and beyond the nights get colder.  By November most places are having terrible weather, by my standards, into December.  I’ve been doing this for a few years so I have some experience with this.

 

 

In reality the weather never changes.

What’s the difference really between 30 degrees and 10 degrees?  The answer is not twenty!  The answer is not much.  In reality, the weather never really changes all that much.  My Midwestern friends still react in astonishment when the spring races are rained out again and again.  Folks still can’t believe the flooding that takes place although it seems to be bad nearly every year.  The tornados come and go with regularity.

 

 

I rarely see much rain.

I miss most of the bad weather because I do my best to avoid being rained out.  We get virtually no rain in San Clemente.  If I have a choice I will go trackchasing in an area with the least chance of rain.  What does this all mean?  I might not see five inches of rainfall in any given year.  That’s not much is it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dumplin Valley Raceway – Kodak, Tennessee

 

 

Way too much practice.

Go-kart racers spend way too much time practicing for my tastes.  I don’t know why.  Earlier in the week I called the track promoter.  I wanted to know what the racing schedule would be for today.

 

 

He told me that practice would begin at 12 noon.  I asked him what time the racing would take place.  He told me about “5 p.m.”.  I quickly replied, “You need FIVE HOURS to practice?  “We have to qualify too” he replied meekly.  OMGoodness!

 

 

The drive up to the track from my hotel in Atlanta would take four hours.  I took my time stopping for an hour or so at an outlet mall (noted above).  My plan was to get to the track between 3-4 p.m.

 

 

Per normal a long walk and a short slide.

I would be seeing a go-kart show.  There would be only one or two “countable” classes racing.  Go-karts frequently have very few racers in as many as 20 different classes.  Why don’t they knock the classes down to five or six and require everyone to race in those groups?  That way they might have more than 3-4 racers in each class.  Nevertheless, I was here to see senior champ karts race.

 

 

What is the area of “Kodak” named after.

Kodak, Tennessee is an unincorporated area named after the Kodak camera!  Trust me unless you want to Google it yourself.  Kodak is just a couple of miles off the four-lane highway.  However, it didn’t take long to notice this was the rural south with rickety old barns, run down house trailers and the like.  Yes, our country has a good deal of diversity.

 

 

Found it!

When I saw the modern color road sign that read “Dumpling Valley Raceway” I knew I was in the right place.  I pulled onto the track property and soon found a place to park my car near the track’s backstretch fence.  It was 4 p.m.  I thought I was early but then I didn’t really know.

 

 

It would not have surprised me if they started racing not at 5 p.m. but maybe even as late as 7-8 p.m.  If that happened I wouldn’t make my planned nighttime event near Atlanta.

 

My timing was impeccable.

After I parked I noticed a small group of 5-6 karters in what appeared to be a race.  My car wasn’t parked more than a few feet from the racing surface.  I called out to the corner worker responsible for turn three racing.  “Is this still practice or is this a race?” I asked.  He yelled back that this was the first race of the afternoon.  My timing was impeccable.  However, the promoter’s estimate of a 5 p.m. starting time was off by a full hour.  Welcome to short track auto racing be it karting or stock car racing.

 

 

I then asked the corner worker when the senior champs would be racing.  I was fully prepared for a “There are no senior champs today” response.  However, he came back with “I think they are the third racing class today”.  This was getting better all the time.

 

 

In point of fact the senior champs were third on the racing agenda!  Just ten minutes after I had arrived the senior champs pulled onto the track for a 15-lap race.  Since there was no P.A. system on the track’s backstretch I had no idea if I was watching a heat race or a feature event.  There were four senior champ drivers competing.

 

 

I watched another flat kart class run and then event #5 was on tap.  This was a race for “senior champ clones” with bigger motors.  There were six in this class.  Without checking my photos I don’t know if some of the racers in event #3 raced in event #5 or not.

 

 

A good value and/or a chilling thought?

I had driven four hours to get to the Dumpling Valley Raceway.  The racing I had come to see was finished 25 minutes after I arrived.  If I had shown up 30 minutes later I might have had to wait another 2-3 hours to see the senior champs compete in their feature events if in fact they even had a second race that day.  If what I did see WAS a feature event then I only made it to today’s racing with ten minutes to spare.  That was a chilling thought.

 

 

With lifetime track #1,936 in my back pocket it was time to drive four hours back toward Atlanta.  Yes, I had driven eight hours round-trip to see about five minutes of actual racing.  No, I can’t explain it.  At this point I don’t even try.

 

 

 

West Georgia Speedway – Whitesburg, Georgia

 

No…not again.

Back in 2010 I made a visit to the West Georgia Speedway.  That was an unsuccessful trip.  Rain was in the area.  The races were scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. on that evening.  For reasons unknown to me they drug their feet and it rained hard at 8:35 p.m.  The program was canceled.  I’ve included my rain out report from that fateful evening in Georgia back in August, 2010.  It’s behind the “West Georgia Rain-Out” tab.  Don’t miss reading it.  Included in that Trackchaser Report is my special essay on the possible “conspiracy” in the counting of international tracks.

 

 

It’s for competitive reasons.

On the way to the West Georgia Speedway I considered attending an event in Alabama instead.  However that track’s (yes I am astutely omitting the track name for competitive reasons) website as well as their phone answering machine only mentioned the track would “open at 3 p.m.”  There was no mention at all about what time racing would begin.

 

 

When does the #$%#$ first race begin?

OMGoodness II.  Carol and I go to the movies and lots of basketball games.  I have yet to see a movie theatre or basketball arena advertise that their building is opening at a certain time with no mention of when the movie or game is to begin.

 

 

Who in their right mind would simply say the track opens at 3 p.m.  When does the #$%#$ first race begin?  Forgive me for losing my patience.  But we are in America right?  Folks….get it together.

 

 

I was unaware about what I was soon to encounter.

My iPhone GPS system was telling me I would arrive at the West Georgia Speedway at about 8:50 p.m.  That was O.K. with me.  I figured that would get me there just about in time for the feature racing events.  Little did I know that was true but not for the reasons I was expecting.

 

Just trying to be practical.

The last several miles of my trip to Whitesburg, Georgia was in some very rural country.  The last mile or so was on a gravel road.  It was obviously dark out.  I had not stopped to pee in a very long time.  I knew that when I did arrive at the racetrack I would have to change from my cargo shorts to blue jeans.  Temps were in the low 50s by now.

 

 

I didn’t want to be going through a complete wardrobe change in a darkened racetrack parking lot when I needed a men’s room.  When I have a problem I look to find a solution and implement it quickly.

 

 

I was out in the country and there was no one in sight.  I stopped the car and “did my business”.  At the same time I noticed what a starry night it was.  I knew I was within a mile or so of the track.  There was no noise from the racing engines.  Maybe the track was at intermission.  But what if it wasn’t?

 

 

When my “business was finished” I hopped in the car and drove the last mile to the track.  At this track the ticket booth is at the entrance to the property not the entrance to the grandstand.  From what I could tell they were no longer charging admission.  That was good.  It made my sunglasses cheaper!

 

 

There was absolutely no light in the parking lot.  That made doing a wardrobe change a bit more challenging.  It might have been excruciating if I still had to pee.  Nevertheless I completed that chore to the point where I would be warm for the rest of the evening.

 

 

I walked gingerly through the almost black parking lot toward the track.  Having been here once before helped a good deal.  I wonder what kind of insurance the track has for sprained ankles and the like with no lighting whatsoever for a distance of 100 yards in the parking area?

 

 

Things weren’t supposed to be this dark were they?

There still was no sound of racing engines.  In fact the entire track looked a little darker than usual but there were several track lights illuminated. Could the show be over?  Luckily no.

 

 

As I got my first glimpse of the track I noticed a problem.  Just above the second turn there appeared to be some activity around one of the light poles.

 

“Light ain’t workin’”

I saddled up to one of the locals and asked what was up?  “Light ain’t workin’” I was told.  Yep.  I was in the south.  The darkness made a believer out of this update.

 

 

I asked another fan how much racing had already taken place.  “None” was the answer.  The sun sat at 6:40 p.m. tonight.  It was now just past 9 p.m.  In all that time they hadn’t gotten ANY racing in.  At times I don’t have all that much confidence in the American short track racing industry.  This was one of those times.

 

 

Your chances of winning the lottery are the same whether you buy a ticket or not.

The announcer was calling out “winning ticket lucky numbers”.  I wasn’t going to win that contest.  I didn’t have a ticket.

 

 

Sensing an opportunity and without a ticket I mosied into the pit area.  Nobody seemed to notice I didn’t have a ticket to the grandstand or a pit pass for the pit area.  Although there was some lighting the entire place seemed to be under lit.

 

 

Back in 2010 the West Georgia Speedway had pulled a dirty trick on me when they could have raced.  I was back here tonight because of that trick.  Was I going to be fooled a second time with a cancellation because a track light wasn’t working?

 

 

This looked like a recipe for disaster.

I went over to where the light pole work was being done.  Two men were hoisted up about 25 feet above the ground on the front of a large skip loader.  I’ve seen seven fatalities at the tracks I have visited.  I was hoping that number would not increase to nine with just one wrong misstep by the guys working around the light pole.

 

 

It looked like their work was wrapping up.  Soon the men were lowered to the ground in a way that would make the performers of Cirque de Soleil envious.  Then everyone ran over to the fuse box to see if their efforts were going to pay off.

 

 

A small cheer came over these workers when the turn two light began to throw off some light.  Truth be told, as it always is in these reports, there was all that much difference between when the turn two light was on or off.  I noticed 12 light poles at the track.  In addition to the turn two lighting two additional lights were out.  The West Georgia Speedway is NOT the best lit track I have seen this year!

 

 

Let’s not forget they hung in there.

Nevertheless, I have to give them credit for hanging in there to get the racing going.  It was now nearly 10 p.m. and there had been NO racing.

 

 

Then the man in charge announced over his radio that we would have features only tonight.  Yes!  There is a trackchasing god.  However, despite it being 10 p.m. each class would need to run a set of hot laps and the late models would need to qualify.  Time trials at past 10 p.m.  Oh shoot!

 

 

A silver lining to every cloud.

However, I would encounter an element of good fortune.  Had each of the six classes racing tonight had 30 cars I would have been here until the middle of next week.

 

 

As it turned out the car counts of the six divisions were 5 – 5 – 2 – 7 – 5 – 9.  That 33 cars for six divisions!  This afternoon the car counts were four and six in the two divisions I had come to see race.  I would say that racing might be too expensive for the competitors in this part of the country.

 

 

I stayed for five of the six feature events.  I passed on the opportunity to see the last class (mini stocks) with the most cars (9) race.

 

This was a difficult “get”.

Some tracks can be very difficult to “get”.  The West Georgia Speedway would certainly fall into that category.  I don’t expect that I will ever darken the door of their more than dark parking lot again….unless they hold a figure 8 or democross race!

 

 

 

 

STATE COMPARISONS

 

Tennessee

 

The Volunteer State

This afternoon I saw my 27th lifetime track in the Volunteer state, yes the Volunteer state.

 

 

Georgia

 

The Peach State

This evening I saw my 29th lifetime track in the Peach state, yes the Peach state.

 

 

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

 

Tennessee sayings:  Home of the Al Gore invention museum.

 

Georgia sayings:  Without Atlanta we’re Alabama.

 

 

 

 

[]

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Portland, OR (PDX) – 1,745 miles

Portland, OR (PDX) – Atlanta, GA (ATL) – 2,172 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Hartsfield- Jackson (Atlanta) International Airport – trip begins

Kodak, TN

Whitesburg, GA

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Dumpling Valley Raceway – No charge

West Georgia Speedway – No charge

 

 

 

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 375 tracks of my lifetime total.  Don’t blame me.

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,937

 

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 68

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.96

 

 

 

That’s all folks!  Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report

 

 

 

 

On August 13, 2010 I went trackchasing at the West Georgia Speedway in Whitesburg, Georgia.  On that evening I was rained out before I was able to see any racing.  This is an account of that experience.

 

 

RANDY LEWIS RACING SPECIAL REPORT

 

  

My special reports are meant to be “critical thinking” pieces on the state of trackchasing.  Often times they will be considered controversial by the “trackchasing hierarchy”.  Nevertheless, some things just have to be told regardless of whose feathers may be ruffled.

 

 

At other times my special reports will be major “news flashes” about the direction I am going with trackchasing.  I will always try to stay ahead of the curve as I continue to pursue more and more tracks.  Regardless of where you stand on the trackchasing “political fence” everything is meant to stimulate thought about what can, should and frequently will be done in this hobby.  I hope you enjoy the commentary.

 

  

HAS A CONSPIRACY BEEN COMMITTED IN THE COUNTING OF INTERNATIONAL TRACKS?

 

 

Currently Roland Vanden Eynde of Vilvoorde, Belgium has been trackchasing in more countries than any other trackchaser.  His “countries” total is 44.  However, some have called Mr. Vanden Eynde’s total into question.  I will try to lay out the “facts” and you the reader can decide the answer to the question presented above.  Here’s the background:

 

 

Most of you know that Will White is the “unofficial” Trackchasing Commissioner in the hobby of trackchasing.  He had taken on the role of “rules interpreter” over the past many years.  Will is the webmaster of www.autoracingrecords.com.  At this site you can see all kinds of interesting “stats” about the trackchasing hobby.

 

 

Over the years this hobby has had it’s share of “political” squabbles.  This has caused some trackchasers to “divorce themselves” from the hobby.  Others have been unwilling to join the group because of various political meanderings.  Little do they know that this organization is like the “mob”.  You can get in but you can’t ever get out!

 

 

Our group also has a Yahoo Groups message board.  This group has had a few moderators over time.  Often the moderation has been lax.  This has prompted several members to leave the conference only to come back again at a later date.  Some members have been placed on “probation”.  This prevents their posts from either being posted or having their posts monitored.  But Randy, “The way you’ve portrayed this group it sounds a bit dysfunctional” the worried reader might ask.  I might have to agree with that assertion.  However, we are not here to discuss that aspect of trackchasing.  I’m trying to answer, with data, the question posted above:

 

 

 

HAS A CONSPIRACY BEEN COMMITTED IN THE COUNTING OF INTERNATIONAL TRACKS?

 

 

Will White aka “The Commissioner” and Roland Vanden Eynde aka “The Country’s Leader” are very good friends.  I believe that Roland once referred to Will as his “soul mate”.  I won’t go there.

 

 

The issue in question is the counting of countries when an existing country is renamed or it boundaries are redrawn.  It order to provide you with the most up to date information I went directly to Will White for an explanation.  I informed Will that I would be including his remarks in my analysis.

 

 

I wanted to know if a trackchaser can see two tracks in virtually the same location, geographically, and ultimately be able to receive credit for two different countries if the countries either change their names or reorganize their boundaries.

 

 

This is the question I first posed:

 

Q.  The purpose of my writing is to ask for an explanation.  I’m planning to comment in a future Trackchaser Report on the subject of counting international tracks.  Specifically, would you care to give me the background, as an example of counting both a track seen in East Germany and then Germany after East Germany was “no more”.  I think this was also done with Czechoslovakia.

 

 

Will followed with this response:

 

A.  You asked for an explanation of my decision to consider East Germany and Germany as separate countries.  After World War II, the major Allied powers occupied the Federal Republic of Germany with the intent of rebuilding it into a single country again.  However, after a few years, the Soviets went against the agreed upon plans and established a new country, the German Democratic Republic, from the portion they occupied.  What was known as West Germany by westerners was in fact a continuation of the former Germany, while what westerners called East Germany, was a new country.  In 1990, the German Democratic Republic (or East Germany) was reincorporated as part of the Federal Republic of Germany.  Therefore, I consider “East Germany” as a separate country from Germany, but I recognize any track visits to “West Germany” during that period as Germany.

 

 

You also mentioned Czechoslovakia.  In 1993 the country was officially split into the independent Czech and Slovak Republics.  This is a no brainer as I see it.  If Trackchaser A saw a race at Brno in 1992, he saw a race in Czechoslovakia.  If Trackchaser A then took Trackchaser B (aka Mrs. Trackchaser A) to Brno in 1993, they saw a race in the Czech Republic.  Since the group’s prime concern in counting track, not countries, Trackchaser A could not claim a new country, since he already had the Brno track on his list.

 

  

Editor’s note:  One of the reasons I like Will White in the roll of “The Commissioner” is that he always has well thought out points of rationale.  He doesn’t just support his point with the words “Because”.  I’ve had other trackchasers who couldn’t or wouldn’t support their trackchasing theories with ANY points of rationale.  However, I don’t always agree with the commissioner’s decisions.

 

 

I was still unclear about this subject.  That prompted me to ask a “clarifying” question:

 

 

Q.  Thanks for the reply.  I’m a little unclear on one point.  Let me ask the question this way.  Suppose the state of Pennsylvania was it’s own country.  Then let’s suppose “Pennsylvania” was split into two countries by a vertical line running through Harrisburg creating “East Pennsylvania” and “West Pennsylvania”.

 

 

If the trackchaser had seen a race in Pittsburgh under the “old” regime he would have been credited with seeing a track in Pennsylvania the country.  If in the new world, a trackchaser saw a track in Philadelphia he would be credited with seeing a track in “East Pennsylvania”.

 

 

Here’s the question.  What if this same trackchaser saw a track in Erie, Pennsylvania, obviously in the newly created “West Pennsylvania”.  Would the trackchaser be allowed to count three tracks in total, i.e. one in the “old” Pennsylvania and one each in both East and West Pennsylvania?

 

 

What I’m trying to figure out is if a trackchaser can visit one part of the country (in this case Western Pennsylvania) and get credit for two countries?

 

  

A.  Yes, it is possible for a Trackchaser to be credited on my web site with having tracks in three different countries, all of which were part of the original country, as in the hypothetical “Pennsylvania, The Country” example you gave.

 

 

By remembering the following simple explanation of how trackchasers countries are listed, you should be able to deduce what would happen in a given situation.  Whenever a track is added to a Trackchaser’s track list, the database automatically links whatever country the track is located in at that time.  That’s all there is to it.

 

 

Therefore, not only is it possible for a Trackchaser to gain an additional country by visiting a track that was formerly part of a different country already on their list, but it is also possible to not be credited with a new country in which they have actually seen racing.  Here is an example of how that could happen, using your premise of a country of Pennsylvania.

 

 

Trackchaser C see countable racing at Pocono Raceway and is naturally credited with Pennsylvania.  Later, as in your example, Pennsylvania is divided into the new independent countries of West Pennsylvania and East Pennsylvania.  Pocono Raceway in now located in East Pennsylvania.  Trackchaser C subsequently returns to see more countable racing at Pocono Raceway.  The Trackchaser database only recognizes one visit per countable track, thus trackchaser A does not get credit for having seen a race in East Pennsylvania, although in reality he has.

 

 

I believe I understand what Will is saying with his explanation above.  However, I don’t think I agree with it.  Here’s a “real life” example of what has been recorded.
 

Back in June, 1983 Roland Vanden Eynde is credited with seeing the Masarykring track in Brno, Czechoslovakia.  Then in May, 2002 Mr. Vanden Eynde is credited with seeing Automotodrom Brno in Zebetin, Czech Republic.

 

 

Folks, Google maps tells me these two tracks are located just 12 kilometers apart.  That’s about eight miles!!  Yes, at the time the tracks were seen the country’s names were different.  However, it seems to me that this was only a “country name change”.  Should a trackchaser be able to see a track in one country and then move on down the road just eight miles and get credit for another country just because the country changed its name?

 

 

Additionally, Mr. Vanden Eynde has been credited with “East Germany” as a country when he saw racing at the Schleizer-Dreieck track in Schleiz, East Germany on May 5, 1990.  Roland has since been credited with 59 different tracks in “Germany”.  I’m wondering if any of those 59 “Germany” track sits on the doorstep of Schleiz creating a similar circumstance as what occurred in and around Brno in the example noted above.

 

 

Let me make one thing perfectly clear.  I am NOT questioning the integrity of either Mr. White or Mr. Vanden Eynde.  I’ve known Will for more than ten years and have always considered him to be above reproach when it comes to offering a well thought out ruling.  I’ve known Mr. Vanden Eynde for a shorter period of time but have no reason whatsoever to question his ethics.

 

 

Maybe what we have here is a “database” problem.  It seems as if the “database” is being credited with the “assignment of countries”.  Maybe some human interaction should be inserted.

 

 

Under the current rules I could see an oval race in San Clemente and be credited with seeing a race in the United States.  Then if San Clemente were annexed into Mexico I could see a figure 8 race on the very same property and be given credit for seeing a race in Mexico!  That doesn’t seem right.

 

 

Currently, Roland Vanden Eynde has been credited with seeing racing in 44 countries.  I have seen racing in 43 countries.  However, you can “do the math” and determine Mr. Vanden Eynde’s country total without the benefit of favorable rulings in Germany and the Czech Republic.

 

 

I travel some 10,000-15,000 miles round-trip for each new trackchasing country I see.  That’s a lot of time, effort and money only to be negated by what some might see as a “systems” issue.

 

 

Do I think that a “conspiracy” has been committed in the counting of trackchaser countries?  No, I do not.  Do I think the proper methodology has been used to count countries?  No, I do not.

 

 

Nevertheless, I have signed out to the hobby with the idea of agreeing to “consensus decision-making”.  As long as I feel no malice has been committed in the generation of rules or interpretation of rules I will simply “soldier-on”.  There is still a good deal of water to flow under everyone’s trackchasing bridge.  At least this important topic has been discussed amongst the leaders of trackchasing.

 

 

Of course, if any of my readers have a few on this topic I would love to hear from you.

 

 

 

GREETINGS FROM WHITESBURG, GEORGIA

 

 

TODAY’S HEADLINES

 

Should I petition the commissioner? …………..details in “The Objective”.

 

 

Get those little rug rates butt’s back in school………………more in “The Trip”.

 

 

This was no Eldora Speedway …………..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

 

 

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

 

The Objective

 

I don’t like being rained out.

One of my primary objectives in the hobby of trackchasing is to avoid being rained out.  I travel a long way to get to the races.  I don’t want to take the time and effort and spend the money to get nothing in return.  When I head out on the road, I expect to get results.

 

 

Shall I petition the commissioner?

I’m thinking about petitioning trackchaser commissioner, Will White, for a special “exemption”.  I think I should get credit for the West Georgia Speedway even though they didn’t turn a competitive racing lap.

 

 

“But, Randy”, the ethically minded reader might legitimately ask.  “You know the rules.  You have to see competitive racing.  On what grounds would you expect to have Commissioner White grant you this exemption?”

 

 

First of all, I must congratulate those readers who ask such probing albeit hypothetical questions.  I know many of you at home are thinking the same thing.  How could I feel justified in asking for an exemption?

 

 

It’s simple.  This rainout was NOT my fault.  No, I’m not blaming any “higher beings” for the track’s cancellation.  The track was scheduled to begin racing at 8 p.m.  I was at the track at shortly past seven.  Eight o’clock came and went with no rain and no racing action.

 

 

Since I was on time and the track didn’t begin racing as scheduled I believe it is THEIR fault they rained out without any countable racing being run.  If this were the famous Eldora Speedway the first heat would have been on the track at precisely 8 p.m.  Tonight the rain didn’t come until nearly 8:30 p.m.  Had they begun on time we would have seen a few heat races before the wet stuff fell.  I’m sure, if I go ahead with my appeal, that Commissioner White will give me full consideration.

 

  

I still do well with the rain.

While I was experiencing my second rainout of 2010, Ed Esser reported being rained out in Wisconsin.  This was Ed’s 14^th rainout of 2010.  I guess I shouldn’t be so disappointed but I always am with a track cancellation.

 

 

I was expecting wet weather in Atlanta.  My weather forecasting technology called for a 40% chance of precipitation.  I don’t head out to places with a rain forecast that high.  However, I HAD to be in Atlanta for a Saturday morning flight.  There were no ifs, and or buts, I had to catch that plane.

 

 

Therefore, I ended up in Whitesburg, Georgia when the weather conditions were less than favorable.  I consider this situation analogous to a baseball pitcher who gives up an intentional walk.  Should that “walk” be counted in his “bases on balls” stats?  It had nothing to do with his control.  The manager ordered the walk.  Under normal conditions I wouldn’t and shouldn’t have been in the area given the weather conditions.

 

 

Why go to Atlanta with a bad forecast?

You’re probably asking yourself, “O.K. Randy, what’s so gall-darned important that you have to be in Atlanta on Saturday morning that you would almost intentionally put yourself into a rainout position?”  Another good question.

 

 

Even though there are people “listening” I’m going to tell you why a Saturday morning flight was so important.  Atlanta is one of my main departure cities when I trackchase internationally.  Yes, I will be heading out on the international “trackchasing trail” in search of country #44.  I’ll tell you more about that milestone trackchasing country in my next report if all goes well.

 

  

The Trip

 

The flights are full this summer.

I woke up this morning in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  After just getting in my race up in Elk River on Thursday night it rained all night.  It was still raining when I left the hotel at 5 a.m. Central time (3 a.m. San Clemente time) for my 6:30 a.m. flight to Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

Flights have been fuller than I can ever recall this summer.  I see lots of families traveling with their children.  Heck, I didn’t fly on my first airplane until I was 21 years old.  As a kid our cars didn’t have seatbelts, let alone car seats.  I didn’t even have my first computer until I was 36 years old.  When I started college we used slide rules because calculators hadn’t been invented!  Nevertheless, I feel like I’m about 30 years old.  I never seem to get tired of my, hectic to others, travel schedule.

 

 

Get your butts back in school.

I will be happy when all those little rug rats get their butts back in school.  I want their parents to stay away from airports and get back to work increasing our country’s GDP.  I hope they tell their kids to stay in school for a long time and get a good education.  Then they can get a good job to help pay for the flying family vacations they will take with THEIR kids.

 

 

Lots of people wanted to fly from Minneapolis to Atlanta today.  I had about ten planes to choose from but they were all well overbooked.  The first flight of the day departed at 5:30 a.m.  That flight was overbooked by 33 people.  There was no way I was getting up for such an early plane when I would be at the bottom of the standby list.  I would NEVER get on that plane.  I checked later and the flight took off with eight empty seats!

 

 

As I planned this trip to Atlanta I wasn’t sure I would make any of the flights.  Therefore, I did plenty of research around the locations I could fly too and still “drive” to Atlanta.  This was certainly not my preferred plan.  However, in “my world” it’s important to have multiple backup plans.

 

  

I like the Atlanta airport.

I was fortunate to get on that 6:30 a.m. flight.  That put me into Atlanta at about 10 a.m.  I like the Atlanta airport for several reasons.  They have multiple places to eat.  You can fly just about anywhere from ATL.  Security is fast at this airport.  Clearing security at the Los Angeles International Airport is one of the worst.  Finally, the Atlanta area provides great hotel rates via Priceline.com.

 

 

I had a reservation tonight at the Westin Hotel near the airport.  This is a great place to stay.  I paid less than half the going rate.  My rate for the Westin was comparable to staying in a Motel 6.  I don’t mind Motel 6 properties at all.  Frequently, I get to see real life versions of the TV show “cops” being played out in the Motel 6 parking lot.  Sometimes I think I’m in LA and seeing a movie being shot on location!

 

 

Since I didn’t have to be anywhere any time soon I sat down in an easy chair at the airport and “tethered”.  By now you know “tethering” simply means I was using my cell phone as a modem for my laptop.  This gives me a Wi-Fi connection for “free”.  It’s the only way to go if you’re on the road like I am.

 

 

I love our military!

Both the Atlanta and Dallas airports have a lot of our military troops traveling through on their way to faraway places.  The airport does something that is more than cool.  They announce when a group of soldiers is coming through a particular terminal and the crowd gives then a loud round of applause.  They are treated like rock stars.  They deserve it!!!

 

 

Recently I heard that when “our military is at war, most Americans are at the mall”.  Sadly that is mainly true.  Far too many people take our freedoms for granted.  History tends to repeat itself.  I hope we never lost those freedoms.  We seem to have more than any other country I visit.

 

 

As a former Marine, I was taught the military’s purpose is to “break things and kill people”.  Yes, this is a “direct” assessment but for the most part very accurate.  I think this is a noble objective.  When people want to “mess with you” they deserve to experience the consequences.

 

 

Atlanta has one of the best rental car facilities.

The Atlanta airport has a new rental car facility.  No longer does a customer have to wait in the extreme heat or cold for a rental car shuttle.  Now folks ride a train a short distance to one location that houses ALL of the rental car companies cars.  This is a fantastic improvement.

 

 

I also learned that in 2012 Atlanta will have completed a new international terminal.  I’m not sure how much international travel I’ll be doing in 2012.  I guess it all depends on what my “fellow competitors” are up too.

 

 

I do know this.  With the new terminal I will never have to give up a bottle of wine that I had reserved for Georgia’s Dale Terry again.  That will be a fine addition to the airport.

 

 

 

The People

 

Sometimes there’s nothing to report.

Not much happening on the people front today.

 

 

 

RACE REVIEW

 

WEST GEORGIA SPEEDWAY – WHITESBURG, GEORGIA

 

 

Minnesota autocross.

 

I had heard a lot of bad things about the West Georgia Speedway.  I was have expecting Junior Johnson to emerge from the woods with a jug of moonshine slung over his shoulder.  I guess until you actually have a “personal encounter” when the output of your imagination you never really no for sure.  I’ll just say this.  This is NO Toccoa Speedway.

 

 

The track’s location is somewhat rural and remote.  However, the steeply banked quarter mile red dirt track looks very racy.  I didn’t see any racing today but someday I’ll be back and I can’t wait.

 

 

My iPhone weather radar showed lots of “green and yellow”.  That’s never good.  Some really mean looking dark rain clouds were coming our way.  It looked like they might just miss us.

 

 

At the WGS they park the racecars and haulers in the track’s infield.  This does not create a vision problem here.  The infield is “recessed” so as not to block the view of the backstretch.  However, as the rain clouds got closer more and more race teams began to leave the infield for higher ground.  In hindsight, that proved to be a smart move.

 

 

I was in contact with the track’s promoter via cell phone.  At 8 p.m., without a car ever having hit the track, I called him.  I asked, “What was up”.  He told me they were waiting to see if it was going to rain.  I’m no meteorologist but I knew it was going to rain!  At about 8:25 p.m. a “gully washer” as my grandma used to say arrived.  Shortly thereafter the program was canceled.

 

 

I was happy the track cheerfully refunded my ten-dollar admission fee.  I’ll be back someday in hopes of seeing some very good high-banked dirt oval stock car racing.  Until then I will settle for some international asphalt road-course racing.

 

 

  

STATE COMPARISONS

 

Georgia

No Georgia track tonight.  John Moore leads Ed Esser by the slimmest of margins in the Peach state, yes the Peach state 35-34.  I hanging in with 25 tracks.  That’s good enough for seventh place.  I’m 11 tracks ahead of anyone who might have designs on knocking me out of the top ten.  I should be safe here for a while.

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

World’s #1 Trackchaser

Georgia sayings:  We put the “Fun” in fundamentalist extremism

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 1,535 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip begins

Elk River, MN – 47 miles

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – 109 miles – trip ends

 

AIRPLANE

Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Atlanta, GA (ATL) – 906 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #2

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – trip begins

Whitesburg, GA – 41 miles

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – 88 miles – trip ends

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

ERX Motorpark – Complimentary (normally $10 U.S.)

West Georgia Speedway – $10 (refunded with rainout)

 

 

 

COMPARISONS

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS

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

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,579

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 1,314

3.  Guy “The Kid” Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,297

 

 

 

Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report