Greetings from Bemidji, Minnesota
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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Gimli Motorsports Park
Asphalt road course
Lifetime track #1,090
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Bemidji Speedway
Dirt oval
Lifetime track #1,091
THE EVENT
Today’s undertaking was just one of more than 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. I’ll try my best to respond. Thanks!
I often see two or more tracks in a single day or in a single weekend. Sometimes when that happens I will combine my observations from multiple tracks into a single Trackchaser Report. That is the case today.
SPECIAL NOTICE!
I take my responsibilities as editor of my Trackchaser Reports very seriously. I’m always looking for ways to entertain my readers with the latest in technology.
I hope you’ve been able to sample my website at www.randylewis.org by now. I have added an audio link if you would like to hear my interview with Jim Birkemeyer of radio station KRJB (106.3) up in Ada, Minnesota. The interview is more than six minutes in length and is very similar to the at the track interviews I do at many tracks that I visit. Here’s the link:
Radio interview from Ada, Minnesota
Greetings from Gimli, Manitoba, Canada and then Bemidji, Minnesota
RAINOUT UPDATE
I’m unhappy to report that we were rained out on Saturday night in our attempt to see racing at the Thunder Mountain Speedway in Bottineau, North Dakota. The weather forecast was bad. I probably could have saved this date by heading south. However, to head south would have prevented Carol from getting a new Canadian province, Manitoba, on Sunday afternoon.
I chose to give North Dakota a shot and lost. Our cell phones were working hard in an area that does not have enough cell towers. We were also faced with a population scarcity that resulted in a racetrack scarcity. Everyone within our driving distance cancelled as far as I know. The bright side of this rainout was that it got us to Canada at a much more reasonable hour.
This is my third rained out day of 2006. I have 69 successful days in 2006. I do not fly planes out of California in order to be rained out. Nevertheless, I’ll take a 69-3 record.
Carol and I woke up in Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba, Canada this morning after staying in Jamestown, North Dakota prior to our rainout day. This is what transpired today.
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Strategy
We were working and benefiting from several trackchasing strategies on this trackchasing day. Here is the outcome of these strategies:
- This was Carol’s first ever trackchasing trip to Manitoba (she and I camped in Manitoba during our college days, although her mother doesn’t need to know this).
- We saved $204 on our rental car by using National Rental Car Frequent Renter points.
- This was quite a trackchasing double. It involved TWO countries! There are very few of those.
- I saw my 100th track of the season. I know I saw my 100th track of 2005 on July 23. That puts me 21 days behind my 2005 record-breaking pace. Just call me a slacker.
All of the above was achieved by the cumulative results of making the right choices day in and day out for a long time.
The Trip
The main part of this trip was to get Carol her fourth Canadian trackchasing province. Had we elected to bypass Canada, we could have driven south and avoided a Saturday night rainout. However, it was more important to get her to Manitoba. The potential and ultimate reality of a trackchasing day being rained out was acceptable under these circumstances.
We travel internationally often. For trackchasing, this was my 93rd international track and Carol’s 34th. Canada is a country that you can trackchase like it’s just another location in the United States if you want. What I mean by that is you can go in for the day, watch the race and have very little of the “International” feel that can and should come from trackchasing on an international basis.
When we trackchase, or tour for that matter, we want to get the fullest international experience that we can. That means no eating in American chain restaurants, staying in American chain hotels, etc. Of course, we can’t always stick to this mantra, but we try. I do recall eating at the McDonalds in Moscow, Russia and it actually ADDED to our Russian experience.
We would be in Canada for only about 20 hours. We would do our best to have an “International” experience. We crossed into Canada at the Pembina, North Dakota border crossing. I had a good deal of trouble crossing here last summer, but we cleared into Canada today without incident.
The drive from the border to Winnipeg, Manitoba is about 75 miles. This drive features flat topography and isn’t much to look at. It was past 8 p.m., when we pulled into southern Winnipeg. We did see the American chain restaurants (McDonalds, Burger King) and American chain hotels (Comfort Inn, Super 8). It would have been easy to pick one of these, especially on the hotel front. However, those wouldn’t work for us.
We drove around until we found what looked like a promising Italian pizzeria restaurant. It was now 9 p.m. and we had driven more than 500 miles for the day. We were looking for a good meal. In reality, this was a combination Italian/Greek restaurant. I don’t recall ever seeing such a combo. They had several pictures of the Greek Islands adorning their walls. Our waitress talked us into the pizza which was the house specialty, even though there was a complete menu of Italian and Greek entrees. The pizza was one of the best we have ever had. I went with another recommendation from our server. This was the Canadian Krokokee? beer. I’m not a beer expert but it was good.
Next on the agenda was finding a motel. The track’s location of Gimli is north of Winnipeg. This meant more than an hour’s drive from the restaurant. Gimli is located on Lake Winnipeg, a huge lake to the north of Winnipeg. I figured there would be a large number of hotel offerings around such a large lake. Wrong!
Even though Winnipeg is a large city, the surrounding areas are very rural. It was past 11 p.m. and we had driven for some 30 miles and had not seen a single hotel. Finally, we reached the small resortish town of Winnipeg Beach. This was the last town before we reached Gimli itself. It was now nearly midnight.
We had to stop at a downtown bar and ask some revelers about any nearby hotel locations. They stopped partying long enough to give us three recommendations. The first place had no rooms. The second place had a note on the door saying the proprietors had gone out for the evening and there were no rooms available. We couldn’t find the third place! All of these “Motels” were of the 5-10 room varieties and built before I was born.
On our way out of town, we found a place. It was small and not very well lit. This was the Motel 9. I don’t know where it got its name. They only had six rooms and they cost $57 each, Canadian of course.
At first, we couldn’t find where the office was. The neighbor at the house next door was out in his front yard and he gave me a head’s up. I needed to go into the bar area of the Roadhouse Bar to inquire. The bar maid I met up with told me that all of the rooms had been reserved. However, the folks hadn’t shown up yet, and she agreed to rent me a room. If we hadn’t gotten that room, I don’t know where we would have ended up. Heck, this is just part of the “International” experience.
Our room did not have a phone and got terrible TV reception. However, it was clean, had a large bathroom and good shower and it was quiet. The bar maid had told me she would give us the room on the far end as far away from the bar area as possible. “You’ll have the best chance for a good night’s sleep down there,” she told me with a wink.
The next morning I took my morning power walk. We had breakfast at the bar maid’s recommended locale, Bonnie’s Restaurant. It was so good I will not only give it a RANLAY Racing Money Back Guarantee, but I will provide two free breakfasts to the first two people submitting their receipt to me. It was excellent.
Crossing back into the United States wasn’t too bad. We did have two of our apples confiscated! It seems that when you enter the United States you can bring in fruit that was grown in either the United States or Canada. Our apples had “Made in New Zealand” stickers. I thought about reaching through the window and grabbing the United States Border Patrol agent by the throat until he gave our apples back, but decided we needed to get down to the Kittson County Speedway without further incident.
We were only in Canada for about 20 hours. However, I felt we got as much of a feel for Canada as we could during such a short stay. We’ll be back. Carol has four trackchasing provinces and I have six. There is so much more of Canada to see.
The People
I hope everyone reading this has the opportunity to retire to his or her pleasure someday. I also hope you have someone to share that retirement with. I’m lucky to have a very accommodating wife.
Carol is willing to go on some of these wild trackchasing trips with very few complaints. She jumps right in and shows her interest. She is even willing to do her share of driving when needed.
If you look at the last three full days of driving miles on this trip (512, 559, 663), you can imagine it’s not always a Disneyland adventure. Throw in either extreme hot or cold, a good taste of dust and dirt and some spouses might be less than thrilled to come back the next time.
I came across a huge billboard in Jamestown, North Dakota. It said simply, “Be Grateful.” I am very grateful for the willingness of Carol to join me on these trips. The entire hobby would not be nearly as much fun if she didn’t come along as much as she does.
RACE TRACK STATS:
GIMLI MOTORSPORTS PARK, GIMLI, MANITOBA, CANADA – TRACK #1,090 – 8/13/06 (CAROL’S TRACK #276)
This is my 2nd lifetime track to see in Manitoba. This gives me a second place ranking in the province. The leader, Don McAuley, has 13 lifetime tracks here. No one will be passing him for a very long time, if ever.
This was Carol’s first Manitoba track. Nevertheless, one track is good enough for fifth place in the worldwide Manitoba rankings.
BEMIDJI SPEEDWAY, BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA – TRACK #1,091 – 8/13/06 (CAROL’S TRACK #277)
This is my 36th lifetime Minnesota track. I now have sole possession of fourth place in the state. Mr. Erdmann leads Mr. Esser for the state lead 62-51.
This was Carol’s fourth Minnesota track.
RACE TRACK NEWS:
GIMLI MOTORSPORTS PARK
Countable road racing is held about five times each year at the GMP. They race rain or shine on the 1.3-mile flat road course. This weekend would play host to the Classic Motor Works Vintage race. Just as we arrived, it began to sprinkle lightly. At an oval, this would be worrisome, but not here.
The first race was scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m. We were 20 minutes early. We ran into a gentleman named Keith at the track sign-in location. Since there wasn’t much happening, I struck up a conversation with him. This conversation resulted in us being admitted free. I don’t know if there was an admission charge or not, but we signed the liability release, got our wristbands and entered the track.
The first race actually started 10 minutes early. That was surprising. There were about 13 Honda Civic type racecars in this first race. The cars race down a long straight that is the track’s drag strip on drag racing days. They then race out into some fields, all on paved surfaces, before returning to the starting line. All in all, not very entertaining for the spectator.
The next race up was an event for formula open wheel cars. There were just five or six of them. The track announcer stood on the back of a pickup truck with two large speakers sitting in the pickup truck’s bed. If you were standing directly in front of those speakers, you had best schedule a Monday morning appointment with your audiologist. If you were standing anywhere else, you would have a hard time hearing any announcements.
The track schedule called for three different race groups for the day. Each group would have three races, creatively named, “Race 1, Race 2 and Race 3.” For some reason (lack of cars?), they ran only two groups and then went to lunch. The two races we had seen lasted about 25 minutes. Our plan had been to watch the three races, and all the racecars, on the morning agenda.
We spent a few minutes walking around the facility and taking several pictures. With everyone enjoying burgers cooked on an open grill in the rain, we headed for the exits. I would say the racing action was about 5% of our total experience and the restaurants/hotels/walk was 95%. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
CAROL’S COMMENTS
What can I say about this track? At least we got it in! These little towns were so quiet with nearly no one about, I thought we were in the Twilight Zone and/or everyone had been nuked. We were lucky to find a place to sleep. (Editor’s note: Carol forgets that on a RANLAY Racing trackchasing trip, she always gets housed and fed.) I was looking forward to having my apple on the ride back to the airport. I hope the U.S. Border Patrol agent is enjoying it.
BEMIDJI SPEEDWAY
The Kittson County Speedway in Hallock, Minnesota, located in the far NW corner of Minnesota, was on our original schedule. Unfortunately, they were rained on heavily yesterday and cancelled their Sunday night races. We did stop by the track and looked at their operation. They have a brand new grandstand. They also had a huge lake in their infield that probably won’t be there the next time we visit.
Fortunately, we had a backup plan. Bemidji Speedway located in Bemidji, Minnesota was racing to the southeast of Hallock. We had cruised into Hallock at about 3:30 p.m. Now our new destination was another three hours to the south. We didn’t arrive at the Bemidji Speedway until 6:30 p.m. Their program begins at 6 p.m. and they were already running heat races.
The Bemidji Speedway is about as close to my all-time favorite track, the Peoria Speedway, as you are going to get. It’s a banked quarter-mile dirt track where you can see everything really well. It’s a bit on the rundown side, just like Peoria. That only adds to its charm.
There were five classes running this evening. This included mini stocks (3), pure stocks (7), mod-4s (12), super stocks (11) and Midwest modifieds (15). The minis and pures were combined during their feature race. The final feature of the night checkered at 8:24 p.m. They didn’t even have to turn on the lights. That’s my kind of show!
Adult admission was $8. Seniors (60 and over) were admitted for $5. Since I’m only 57, I paid the full rate. It’s rare at racetracks where the senior rate age limit is revealed.
Recently, I read a post about a trackchaser who was given more change that he was entitled too when he purchased his ticket. He didn’t tell the cashier about the error. I would never do that. What would you do?
It was 62 degrees when we entered the track. That’s 40 degrees less than when Kristy and I visited the Buffalo River Speedway just two weeks ago and about 100 miles away. That’s a big change. Tonight most of the fans were dressed in blue jeans and coats. I wore shorts, but believe it or not, we broke out our racing blanket!
The wind blew nearly into the grandstand. That was bad because the track was dusty, even though they watered twice. The track was also slick and became dry slick during the Midwest modified feature. This resulted in some spins, but they didn’t cause long stoppages.
The announcer remembered me from my visit earlier this year to the Hibbing Speedway. He told the crowd, “This guy is a trackchaser. He must spend all of his time traveling.” Well, not all of my time, but a good amount of it. The track has a good P.A. and the announcer was professional and knowledgeable of the local racers.
CAROL’S COMMENTS
The track was smart to combine the mini-stocks and pure stocks into one feature with 10 cars. This place looks pretty rundown, although the track is good. They have a cool looking bright yellow pace truck.
WEATHER CONDITIONS
Two weeks ago, when we were in this part of the country it was 102 degrees at the 6 p.m. race time and 91 degrees at 9 p.m. Today it was 62 degrees at 6 p.m. and 59 degrees at 9 p.m. That’s quite a change but much more comfortable.
RENTAL CAR UPDATE:
I was surprised the U.S. Border Patrol agent didn’t look more closely at our jammed packed National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala. He seemed more intent on making sure New Zealand did not increase their market share in the fresh fruit category.
Minneapolis Rental Car
Wednesday total driving miles – 288 miles (corrected)
Thursday total driving miles – 119 miles
Friday total driving miles – 512 miles
Saturday total driving miles – 559 miles (that’s a lot of miles to get zero racetracks!)
Sunday total driving miles – 663 miles
Monday total driving miles – 7 miles
The driving portion of this trip covered 2,148 miles. We stopped for gas five times. I paid an average price of $3.03 per gallon. The Chevy Impala gave us 28.0 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 10.8 cents per mile. The car cost 1.5 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.
LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,091
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,051 (-40)
- Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York – 1,050 (-41)
- Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-70)*
- Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,019 (-72)*
- Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,017 (-74)*
- Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 926 (-165)**
* Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list.
** Special exemption.
Other notables
These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.
- Sammy Swindell, Bartlett, Tennessee – 279 (+2)
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 277
- Dale Danielski, Onalaska, Wisconsin – 269 (-8)
- Bob Schafer, Oshkosh, Wisconsin – 267 (-10)
2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 100
- Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 66
- Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 59
- Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 55
- Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 54
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 47
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 46
- Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 45
- Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 41
- Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 33
- Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 33
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi
I’m very good with figures and wish people asked me to multiply things more often.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Minneapolis, MN – 1,530 miles
RENTAL CAR
Lindbergh International Airport – trip begins
Morris, MN – 177 miles
Ada, MN – 351 miles
Miller, South Dakota – 812 miles
Gimli, Manitoba, Canada – 1,495 miles
Bemidji, Minnesota – 1,825 miles
Lindbergh International Airport – trip ends – 2,148 miles
AIRPLANE
Minneapolis, MN – Los Angeles, CA -1,530 miles
Total air miles – 3,060 miles
Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 5,208 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Stevens County Fairgrounds – $8
Norman County Fair Raceway – $10
Miller Speedway – $5 with senior discount (Regular admission $10)
Gimli Motorsports Park – Free
Bemidji Speedway – $8
Total race admissions for the trip – about $41
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
Tomorrow is Monday. Carol and I will test the United States airport system. Hopefully, the delays from the recent security concerns will be minimal.
Carol is headed back to San Clemente. I will fly eastward for several more days of trackchasing. Just as President Bush cannot announce his travel itinerary when he makes those surprise visits to Iraq, I cannot preannounce my Eastern location stops.
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2006 (** not the first time to visit this track)
- Watermelon Capital Speedway, Cordele, Georgia – January 14
- Cross Roads Motorplex (asphalt oval), Jasper, Florida – January 15
- Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia – January 20
- Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California – January 21
- Oregon State Fair & Expo Center, Forster Livestock Arena, Salem, Oregon – January 28
- Morosso Motorsports Park, Jupiter, Florida – February 4
- Thunderbowl Speedway of Ocala, Ocala, Florida – February 4
- Cross Roads Motorplex (dirt oval), Jasper, Florida – February 5
1,000. Auburndale Kartway, Auburndale, Florida – February 10
1,001. Ocala Speedway (asphalt oval), Ocala, Florida – February 12
1,002. Speedworld Speedway, Surprise, Arizona – February 19
1,003. Lowe’s Motor Speedway (1/5 mile asphalt oval), Concord, North Carolina – February 25
1,004. Concord Raceway, Concord, North Carolina – February 25
1,005. Antioch Speedway, Antioch, North Carolina – February 25
1,006. Green Valley Speedway, Gadsden, Alabama – February 26
1,007. East Bay Raceway (inner oval), Gibsonton, Florida – March 17
1,008. Volusia Speedway Park West (1/6M oval), Barberville, Florida – March 18
1,009. Speedway Park, Fruitland Park, Florida – March 18
1,010. Sand Mountain Speedway (road course), Fort Meade, Florida – March 19
1,011. Anderson Motor Speedway, Anderson, South Carolina – March 31
1,012. Westminster Speedway, Westminster, South Carolina – March 31
1,013. East Lincoln Motor Speedway, Stanley, North Carolina – April 1
1,014. Margarettsville Speedway, Margarettsville, North Carolina – April 2
1,015. Sunny South Raceway, Grand Bay, Alabama – April 7
1,016. Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama – April 8
1,017. Coldwater Raceway, Coldwater, Alabama – April 8
1,018. Talladega Short Track, Talladega, Alabama – April 8
1,019. Ballymena Raceway, Ballymena, Northern Ireland – April 14
1,020. Oulton Park, Little Budworth, England – April 15
1,021. Somerset Rebels Banger Raceway, Rooks Bridge, England – April 16
1,022. Mendips Raceway, Shipham, England – April 16
1,023. Oval Raceway, Angmering, England – April 17
1,024. Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne, England – April 17
1,025. Southside Speedway, Midlothian, Virginia – April 28
1,026. Motor Mile Speedway, Radford, Virginia – April 29
1,027. Wythe Speedway, Wytheville, Virginia – April 29
1,028. Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point Circuit, Summit Point, West Virginia – April 30
1,029. Old Dominion Speedway – inner inner oval, Manassas, Virginia – April 30
1,030. Shenandoah Speedway, Shenandoah, Virginia – May 4
1,031. Bridgeport Speedway (inner oval – front), Bridgeport, New Jersey – May 5
1,032. Empty Jug, Hawley, Pennsylvania – May 6
1,033. Oakland Valley Race Park, Cuddebackville, New York – May 6
1,034. Thunder Mountain Speedway, Center Isle, New York – May 6
1,035. Motocross 338, Southwick, Massachusetts – May 7
1,036. Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, Fultonville, New York – May 7
1,037. Calumet County Speedway, Chilton, Wisconsin – May 19
1,038. Grant County Speedway, Lancaster, Wisconsin – May 20
1,039. Blackhawk Farms Raceway, Rockton, Illinois – May 21
1,040. The Milwaukee Mile (Road course), West Allis, Wisconsin – May 21
** Angell Park Speedway, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin – May 21 (new track Carol only)
1,041. Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, South Dakota – May 25
1,042. Superior Speedway, Superior, Wisconsin – May 26
1,043. Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota – May 27
1,044. Canby Speedway, Canby, Minnesota – May 27
1,045. Crawford County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Denison, Iowa – May 28
1,046. Tri-State Speedway, Sisseton, South Dakota – May 29
1,047. Sheyenne River Speedway, Lisbon, North Dakota – May 29
1,048. Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, Pahrump, Nevada – June 3
1,049. The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada – June 3
1,050. Hibbing Raceway, Hibbing, Minnesota – June 6
1,051. Buena Vista Raceway, Alta, Iowa – June 7
1,052. Lebanon Midway Speedway, Lebanon, Missouri – June 8
1,053. Rocky Top Raceway, Coal Grove, Ohio – June 9
1,054. Midvale Speedway (oval), Midvale, Ohio – June 10
1,055. Midvale Speedway (figure 8), Midvale, Ohio – June 10
1,056. Spring Valley Raceway, Millport, Ohio – June 11
1,057. Rialto Airport Speedway, Rialto, California – June 17
1,058. Lawrenceburg Speedway (figure 8), Lawrenceburg, Indiana – June 20
1,059. Lawrenceburg Speedway (temporary oval), Lawrenceburg, Indiana – June 20
1,060. Thunder Mountain Speedway, Knox Dale, Pennsylvania – June 21
1,061. State Park Speedway, Wausau, Wisconsin – June 22
1,062. Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin – June 23
1,063. Lucas Oil Speedway (oval), Wheatland, Missouri – June 24
1,064. Lucas Oil Speedway (figure 8), Wheatland, Missouri – June 24
1,065. Tri-City Speedway, Pontoon Beach, Illinois – June 25
1,066. Lake Ozark Speedway, Eldon, Missouri – June 29
1,067. Poplar Bluff Speedway, Poplar Bluff, Missouri – June 30
1,068. Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course), Indianapolis, Indiana – July 1
1,069. Rush County Fairgrounds, Rushville, Indiana – July 1
1,070. Rock Castle Speedway, Mount Vernon, Kentucky – July 2
** Windy Hollow Speedway (oval), Owensboro, Kentucky – July 2
1,071. Heartland Park Topeka (dirt oval), Topeka, Kansas – July 3
1,072. Thunderhill Speedway, Mayetta, Kansas – July 3
1,073. Little Valley Speedway, Little Valley, New York – July 13
** Twin State Speedway (oval), Claremont, New Hampshire – July 14
1,074. Twin State Speedway (figure 8), Claremont, New Hampshire – July 14
1,075. Canaan Speedway (asphalt oval), Canaan, New Hampshire – July 14
** New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire – July 15
1,076. White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, New Hampshire – July 15
1,077. Legion Speedway, Wentworth, New Hampshire – July 15
1,078. Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Fair Haven, Vermont – July 16
1,079. Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, Connecticut – July 17
1,080. Little Log House Speedway, Hastings, Minnesota – July 28
** Elko Speedway (outer oval), Elko, Minnesota – July 28
** Elko Speedway (inner oval), Elko, Minnesota – July 28
** Elko Speedway (figure 8), Elko, Minnesota – July 28
1,081. Chickasaw Big Four County Fairgrounds, Nashua, Iowa – July 29
1,082. Buffalo River Speedway, Glyndon, Minnesota – July 30
1,083. Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah, – August 4
1,084. Atomic Motor Raceway, Atomic City, Idaho – August 4
1,085. Mission Valley Speedway, Polson, Montana – August 5
1,086. Rock Creek Race Track, Kimberly, Idaho – August 6
1,087. Stevens County Fairgrounds, Morris, Minnesota – August 9
1,088. Norman County Raceway, Ada, Minnesota – August 10
1,089. Miller Speedway, Miller, South Dakota – August 11
1,090. Gimli Motorsports Park, Gimli, Manitoba, Ontario, Canada – August 13
1,091. Bemidji Speedway, Bemidji, Minnesota – August 13
You might have remembrances about the Gimli Motorsports Park or the Bemidji Speedway. If so, please feel free to share 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.