Greetings from Erie….er….
Dacono, Colorado
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Colorado National Speedway
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #173
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Colorado National Speedway
Asphalt figure 8
Lifetime Track #856
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Colorado National Speedway
Asphalt oval
Lifetime Track #857
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 74 countries. My lifetime track total exceeds 2,300. Each and every year I will trackchase in 25-30 states. At track #1,040 I moved into the “World’s #1 Trackchasing” spot. I have quite the history with the Colorado National Speedway. The track accounts for three of my 21 lifetime Colorado tracks. Tonight I was going for number 4 at CNS. We thought we had outsmarted the weather. I guess in reality it had outsmarted us. However, my hobby is not only about racing. Trackchasing for me centers around three things. The racing part is pretty obvious. However of equal importance is 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 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! Reprinted with permission from my May 28, 2005 Trackchaser Report. Greetings from Dacono, Colorado and then Commerce City, Colorado, EDITOR’S NOTE Count me as one who would like to see the NASCAR Nextel Cup races shortened. Nextel Cup racing is the only racing I watch on TV. Since I am away from home on most weekends, I begin to watch each Nextel Cup race on Monday. Sometimes it takes me until Thursday to complete the race! I would recommend races be 2-3 hours in duration. PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS There are three primary types of countable tracks in the world of trackchasing. They are ovals, road courses and figure 8 tracks. As a trackchaser, I try to get as many countable tracks as I possibly can. This is involves a good deal of planning and logistical strategy. Check out the racetrack news to see some of the strategy that was needed to pull off tonight’s trackchasing triple. Since this is the people section, I would be remiss if I did not comment about the people at the Colorado National Speedway. When I say people I as really talking about the women. Recall last year when I visited the Tulsa Speedway. Maybe they were having the Miss America contest in Tulsa during the same weekend I visited that track. Either that or the Tulsa Speedway is secretly a very hot dance club following the final race of the night. I can only offer up this conjecture. This year’s Miss America contest has been relocated to Denver! I have never seen more beautiful women at a racetrack in my life. Forgive me for sounding like a chauvinist. The men may have been equally as beautiful, it is just that I didn’t notice them. I have pre-approved this paragraph with Carol. She understands this is a journalistic endeavor and I am bound by my journalistic oath to report, as accurately as I can regarding the most significant elements that dot the landscape. Trust me; it was an amazing gene pool. Today’s additional tracks now put me within less than 100 tracks of Guy Smith’s total. Guy ranks as 5th in the worldwide trackchaser standings. Guy is now on my radar screen and I am sure I am on his. RACE TRACK NEWS: COLORADO NATIONAL SPEEDWAY – OVAL – TRACK #856, COLORADO NATIONAL SPEEDWAY – FIGURE 8 – TRACK #857, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL SPEEDWAY – FIGURE 8 – TRACK #858 The above three tracks increase my lifetime trackchasing total to 858. These are my fifth, sixth and seventh tracks in Colorado. This increases my National Geographic Diversity ranking from 11th to 2nd in the state of Colorado. I had seen the Colorado National Speedway oval back in 1988. I had also seen the Rocky Mountain National Speedway, then known as Raceland, in 1982. With the ovals already counted, that left the figure 8 tracks at each location to see this coming weekend. CNS is located in Dacono, Colorado and RMNS is in Commerce City, Colorado. The facilities are about 25 miles apart. Freeways and a toll road connect the two locations, so the driving time is about 25 minutes. If both tracks ran their figure 8 races at the same time a double would be impossible. I called CNS earlier in the week to find out their schedule. CNS does not run heat races. They only run “B” mains and “A” mains. That might sound like semantics to some, but I am not authorized to call their “B” mains, heat races. The CNS overall program started at 6 p.m. I was told to be at the track by 7:15 p.m., so as not to miss the figure 8 “B” mains. If I saw the “B” main, I might not be able to stay for the figure 8 “A” main that would start later in the evening. The RMNS program also started at 6 p.m. Their figure 8 class ran heat races, but they did not run them on the figure 8 track. They were contested on the oval. I know, it is a bit confusing, but that is how they do it. I was told to be at the track by 9:30 p.m. to see the figure 8 race, which was the last event of the night. Therefore, with all those variables, I formulated my plan. I would drive up from my afternoon road course location in Fountain, Colorado. That drive is about 100 miles, so I could comfortably reach the Denver area in time for the RMNS 6 p.m. start. I wanted to see some races on the RMNS oval and take some pictures in the daylight. If I didn’t go to RMNS then, I might not see anything at RMNS, if I wasn’t able to see the figure 8 group at CNS early enough in the evening. I hope you are not confused yet. It was about 6:15 p.m. and I had finished taking pictures. They still had not started racing at RMNS. I figured I could leave as late as 6:45 p.m. and still be at CNS as requested by 7:15 p.m. Then I started thinking. RMNS had not started yet. What if I hung around here for too long and then missed the figure 8 “B” mains at CNS. At 6:15 p.m. I decided to leave RMNS and head out to CNS. I had a plan on the best way to get from one track to the next. It was then that I made a mistake. I thought I would ask the pit gate man at RMNS how he would make the drive. Don’t local people always know the best way? Although he sounded very confident in his directions, his route was nearly 10 minutes slower than my planned route. I could make that comparison based upon taking my route on the way back. This proves something I have always believed in. A well-informed tourist knows more about the local area than the life long resident does. I pulled into the jammed CNS parking lot at about 6:50 p.m. I had to park a long way from the ticket booth. When I reached the ticketing area, I saw a sign reading, “No video cameras”. I made the long trek back to my car to leave my camera. By the time I reached the ticket booth again, it was just a few minutes before 7 p.m. The announcer was saying the figure 8 “B” main was coming onto the track. Wait just a minute! They were not supposed to be starting until AFTER 7:15 p.m. Short tracks don’t do anything ahead of schedule. They do everything later than scheduled, sometimes much later. I ran to a seat and watched two “B” main figure 8 races on the traditional asphalt figure 8 track. There were 19 cars racing in the two events. Since I had just paid $13 to get in and my countable races were run in the first 10-15 minutes I was at the track, I decided to stay and watch some asphalt oval racing action. I didn’t have to leave the track until about 9 p.m. to catch the 9:30 p.m. or later figure 8 race at RMNS. Following the “B” mains for the figure 8s, I saw the “B” mains for the late models and modified coupes. The modified coupes were ’32 Ford type body styles with full roof wings. The track then went quickly into “A” main racing. There was still time to watch more at CNS, so I stayed for the non-stop 25-lap, 14 car super modified feature. Next up was the 18-car Grand American Modified feature of 30 laps. The final race I saw was the 20 lap, 19 car “A” main for the figure 8 cars. I had seen every class race and the program was well run and entertaining. The Colorado National Speedway is a weekly Dodge series NASCAR track. In virtually every instance, this means it is a quality well run facility. They had a huge crowd, maybe as large as 4,000-5,000. This track’s management has obviously been to the winter promoter’s meetings. They had so many plusses. There were several concession locations with some exotic offerings that included tamales, spuds, smoothies and turkey legs. Since I am on a good health kick my only purchase was a sno-cone. The P.A. and announcer were first class. They had the track’s future schedule posted as well as the point standings for each class. They removed on track accidents quickly, had a large scoreboard and everything at the facility was in tip-top shape. The announcer gave me a very nice trackchaser mention just before the “A” main figure 8 race began. He talked about trackchasing for a few minutes. This is somewhat unusual as “professional” short tracks often are more interested in plugging sponsors than recognizing individuals. I left CNS at 8:45 p.m. This time I took my route between the two tracks. It does cost $3.50 to use the toll road, but the route offers high-speed performance driving, which is what I am trained for. I arrived back at the Rocky Mountain National Speedway just before 9:15 p.m. I was hoping to make the figure 8 track at RMNS a traditional double with the CNS figure 8 track. I figured I would catch a very small portion of the program at RMNS. I was not completely confident that I had made it in time. The track lights were still on, but based upon CNS being so far ahead of schedule, you never know. Dirt tracks don’t normally run shows as quickly as asphalt shows. That would be the case at RMNS. I arrived just as they were watering the track. The modifieds came out to pack the track for 10 minutes. The mods then returned to the pits and the cruisers came onto the oval for their feature event. The RMNS has a huge grandstand. They host World of Outlaws sprint car races. The track is starting to show its age. There is also a tremendous amount of new housing development in the area. This track might be effected by that someday soon. The Second Creek Raceway road course sits adjacent to the RMNS. That was surprising to me. I have tried to get this road course a couple of times, but have not been successful to date. Next up at RMNS was the BST (Blood, Sweat and Tears) modifieds. They started 25 cars and raced the entire feature with only one yellow flag. The BST group races throughout the rural west. They will soon be appearing at the Ripple Ridge Speedway in Rawlins, Wyoming. Next up was the figure 8 race. This was what I was at RMNS to see. The 10-lap race started about 12 cars. It was fairly uneventful until the very last lap. A huge crash at the “X” resulted in the impacted car flipping on its top. This ended the race and the night’s program at RMNS. I had been at the track for an hour and five minutes seeing the three features. The time I spent at the track qualifies my RMNS figure 8 track as the second half of a blended double with the CNS figure 8 track. The RMNS track announcer spent several minutes with my press release during between race delays. He invited me down to the start/finish line for the trophy presentations following the completion of all of the races. I would have loved to do that, but I had already driven more than 400 miles today and I had another 100 or so before I would fall asleep in Sterling, Colorado. Just as I left the track and walked out into the parking lot, it started to rain. I am a very lucky trackchaser with the weather. This entire section started with a discussion about trackchasing strategy. I spend many hours formulating each track plan. Some folks get a little intimidated by this amount of planning. They feel that because I spend so much time developing a plan, that I am hesitant to change the original plan. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I would estimate that 9 out of 10 trackchasing plans are not completed, without a change after the trip has begun. I can have the best plan possible, but if someone tells me of a better opportunity, I will immediately make a U-turn and go with the better idea. With all of my planning, you can imagine my surprise when I met up with John Moore the next day in Nebraska. I was telling him about today’s trackchasing results. He told me he had seen the asphalt Colorado National Speedway, “when it was dirt”. When it was dirt? I had seen the Colorado National Speedway back in 1988. Frankly, I couldn’t remember if the track was dirt or asphalt when I visited the track some 17 years ago. I checked by records. Back on July 2, 1988 I saw Steve Kinser win a World of Outlaws race at CNS. My brother-in-law, Mike Polakovic joined me for the race. That meant the CNS asphalt oval was a NEW TRACK for me and I didn’t even know it. Wow! What a day. I had seen five countable tracks for the day and four of them were new for me. That’s about as productive a trip as a trackchaser can have. RENTAL CAR UPDATE: The Thrifty Rental Car Racing Dodge Stratus has an ineffective driver’s side sun visor and a very poorly placed cup holder. LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: The battle for positions that could change in the near future is as follows: 2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 49 2.Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 44 3.Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 27 CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES: Omaha, Nebraska Airport, California – trip begins Columbus, Nebraska – 204 miles Culbertson, Nebraska – 482 miles Fountain, Colorado – 797 miles Dacono, Colorado – 925 miles Commerce City, Colorado – 951 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: U.S. 30 Speedway – Free Hitchcock County Speedway – $8 Pikes Peak International Raceway – Free Colorado National Speedway – $13 Rocky Mountain National Speedway – $10 Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21st century That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, all of the children are above average and the real estate prices are way above average. Planned new racetracks (on the last day of each racing trip I will post my tentative plans for my next trip) May 29 – Broken Arrow Resort Park, Fullerton, Nebraska May 29 – Phillips County Speedway, Holyoke, Colorado May 30 – Mid-Nebraska Speedway, Doniphan, Nebraska Racetracks visited in 2005 (** not the first time to visit this track) ** Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27 FOREWORD Yesterday we saw racing at the remotely located Lamar Speedway in Lamar, Colorado. Lamar is in the southeastern part of the state. Continuing with the Colorado theme today we are trackchasing in a more centrally located part of the Centennial state. We were headed to the Colorado National Speedway. I have a history with CNS. I first came here all the way back in 1988. I was there to see Steve Kinser win the World of Outlaws sprint car feature event. But wait you say. CNS is an asphalt track. Steve Kinser winning on an asphalt track? Yes, I guess that could happen. However, when I came to the Colorado National Speedway nearly thirty years ago they were in the very last year of operating as a dirt track. My brother-in-law Mike P. joined me for the fun. Then in 2005, my record-breaking year I came back to CNS. Their asphalt oval and figure 8 tracks were part of the 182 tracks I knocked down in 2005. Folks, that was a lot of tracks to see but a whole lot of fun too. However, on my two previous visits to the Colorado National Speedway Carol did not accompany me. That meant that when she sat in the grandstands tonight she had the opportunity to pick up two new tracks. Tonight they would be racing on their 3/8-mile asphalt oval as well as their demo cross track. We rarely go trackchasing anywhere in the country solely for the benefit of Carol’s trackchasing efforts. We just don’t do that. We’ve got too much going on in our lives to have two active trackchasers. However, Carol Lewis is more than willing to play second fiddle in our trackchasing orchestra. They say without a second fiddle there is no harmony. Tonight I was interested in the Colorado National Speedway’s democross racing. I wasn’t exactly sure what type of “track” they would race on. Nevertheless, I knew it would be a new track configuration for me. They only run the democross group about six times a year so showing up at this place has to be planned in advance. However before we get into any trackchasing activity we had other things to do that included Carol’s family. We didn’t even really know if we would have a chance to trackchase. The rain forecast called for an 80% probability of precipitation. The weather moves in and out of Denver rapidly. It had rained on and off all day today. ON THE WAY TO THE RACES I begin with my morning power walk. Our hotel is located in a pretty good area for being able to walk on the streets without fear of being run over by traffic. That’s pretty important. I got back to the hotel just in time to beat one of the first of any rainstorms today. Then we were off to take Carol’s 88-year-old mother June to the movies. That was a treat for her and us. She lives in an assisted living care living facility in the greater Denver area. We put her wheelchair in the trunk of the car and off we went. She couldn’t recall the last time she had been to the cinema. We chose the movie Diary of a Wimpy kid. This was a comedy that everyone would enjoy. The movie theater offered reserved seating. That is common for other countries but not so much in the United States. Carol and I enjoy the movies. We have probably seen movies in more than 10 foreign countries. Today the theater had the big comfy leather seats that recline at the push of a button. With Carol’s mother munching on popcorn and drinking a Coke we all had a nice time. It was a new experience for us handling the wheelchair everywhere we went. Next up was lunch/supper. Where would we eat? Yelp would let us know. Soon we were using our Waze GPS system to direct us to the 4.5-star Yelp rated Chaka’s Mexican Restaurant. Like almost every Yelp recommended location the place lived up to its advance billing. I discovered my new most favorite Mexican dish “Queso Fundito”. It’s essentially mozzarella cheese with chorizo sausage. I would go on to have this dish two more times during the trip. There was going to be a bonus family surprise at Chaka’s. Just by coincidence our nephew Scott and his lovely wife Lisa and their newborn baby Acacia were coming to Denver today. They had just landed into Denver from their home in Alaska. It was perfect timing that we could all meet before they headed up to see more of their family in Wyoming. It’s always nice when these trips can include family and friends like they did this weekend. OFF TO THE RACES After getting Carol’s mother back to her place we were off to the Colorado National Speedway for their 6:30 p.m. starting time. They do time trials at 5 p.m. It’s good for the fans to know what the schedule is going to be. That way, if you don’t like time trials and I don’t, you can plan to show up for the racing and not the qualifications. The weather forecast from my iPhone Weather Underground app, which is one of the best apps that I have on my entire phone, was completely accurate. The app told us the rain would end by 4-5 p.m. and that’s what happened. Unfortunately when the rain moved in the temperatures fell. I am not a big fan of Denver because of the weather. One day it’s 75 and the next it’s 28 and snowing. When we got out of the movies this afternoon the temperature was only 49°. By the time the rain had come and gone the temperature had increased to the high 50s. However, with the wind it felt much colder. THE RACING Colorado National Speedway – Dacono, Colorado I wasn’t that wild about the general admission price tonight. They were charging adults $17 with no senior discounts available. I was here for a last race of the night novelty event, the democross race. It might last ten minutes tops. I guess they were charging extra because of the planned fireworks show. OMG. The Colorado National Speedway (CNS) is the premier auto racing track in Colorado. It’s a huge facility with all of the accouterments that might be an outcome of the promoters having visited the winter racing promoter series. I would classify it as a “Top 40” track. Although with what happened tonight I was disappointed in the track’s operation. They had a very extensive concessions menu. All their selections and prices were printed professionally on boards for the customers to see before they reached the cashier with their order. I like to give you the price of a hotdog as an “across-the-board” comparison of one track with another. Of course, I can’t measure the quality/quantity of the hot dog serving. Tonight Carol had one of those hotdogs for four bucks. It was good sized and they offered fresh lettuce, tomatoes etc. Most tracks wouldn’t go into that level of detail. They also offered a photo booth and a separate track souvenir area. Portable chair backs rented for five bucks each. The grandstands ran all the way from the beginning of the turn four through the middle of turns one and two. There’s also an extensive grandstand seating area people in the pit area. That grandstand was larger than most tracks’ main grandstand. The PA system was solid and the announcer was a professional. We were at the ticket window when the national anthem played. I don’t think the announcer ever took the time to tell the crowd what the program was going to consist of tonight. I would have liked to have heard that. There were three classes racing on the asphalt oval tonight. This included the legends, open wheel modifieds and late models. The first races of the night were called “dashes”. There were two dashes for the legends, two for the modifieds and just one for the late models. Each of those races was for 10 laps and featured car counts as large as fifteen. They were quite a few crashes during these heat races….er…dashes. One of the late-model crashes took 15 minutes to clean up. The car, which was sitting #1 in the point standings, had to be towed away on a flatbed truck. We didn’t know at the time if the dashes were to be followed by heat races and then features or just features. I was NOT looking forward to heat races, following more than an hour of dashes after sitting in the cold grandstands. When the dashes were finished the program went to intermission. That pretty much told me there would be no heat races. I was more than happy with that. It was still light out when the first feature of about 28 legends came onto the track. They started off with a few crashes then raced the remainder of their 25 laps caution free. The battle for the lead was great with the winner taking the lead on the very last lap. The modifieds had a good feature race for their 25-lapper as well. One driver, who had never won a feature race in his life, led the race until the very last lap. He was passed coming out of the last corner. He and his fellow competitor drag raced to the finish line with the winless driver losing by 0.24 of a second. It was beginning to get dark now. For some reason the front straightaway lights as well as the lights in turns one and two had not come on. I had noticed this earlier. I figured they were just trying to save on electricity. The situation was getting more noticeable the darker it got. Soon they sent an electrical repair truck to the track’s infield. To make a long story short those lights never came on. About half of the track was left in darkness. The announcer attributed the situation to the wet weather they had over the past couple of days. At that point the rest of the program was canceled. Canceled! Seventeen dollars down the proverbial drain. Fans were told they could come back for day #2 of the Memorial Day weekend of racing (tomorrow night) for just $10. Tomorrow night they would be racing on the oval and the figure 8 track. Carol had never seen racing at the figure 8 track. However, we had other plans for racing tomorrow night. The track’s answering machine, that I had called in advance, told us that tonight’s racing would be capped off with racing on the democross track. On the way out of the track I spoke with a track employee. She told us the democross racing was always the last event of the night. She also mentioned that both the late model feature on the oval and the democross race would be affected by the lighting problem. Tonight the announcer never did mention anything about the democross racing. That concerned me a bit. Although with the track’s answering machine message as well as the seemingly informed track employee I was pretty sure they were going to race democross if the lights had not been a problem. CNS did offer up a nice fireworks display the cap off the night. The announcer told us the Memorial Day race weekend normally draws crowds from 7-10,000 people and as many as 12,000 on occasion. Tonight with the cold and rainy weather there were less than 1,000 people in the grandstands. I’m sure the track took a bit of a financial hit with this weather problem. I’m a little surprised they raced at all. AFTER THE RACES So we left CNS with one addition to Carol’s lifetime total in her back pocket, the asphalt oval. My back pocket was empty. I wasn’t too happy about that. I was pretty sad actually. It is been a long and busy day. We had been out in the cold at the track for three hours with the wind blowing in our faces. We did get to see a couple of good feature races but that doesn’t quite cut it for me. Nevertheless, I’ll probably come back to this facility another time in search of seeing racing on the democross track. Yes I’ll have to pay $17 or maybe more. I’ll have to sit through a lot asphalt oval track racing on a short track, which is not my favorite option. I have seen some good asphalt short track racing. The Rockford Speedway in Illinois was always a favorite. However, I prefer dirt over tar. When we were back at our Sheraton Hotel in Denver I made plans for tomorrow night. After three nights in one hotel location we will be changing for tomorrow night. We’ll be overnighting in Limon, Colorado. More on that in my next report. Good evening from the Dacono, Colorado Colorado The Centennial state I was shut out in Colorado tonight. That keep my track total in the Centennial state, yes the Centennial state at twenty-one. I hold the #1 trackchasing spot in Colorado. I’ve seen 21 or more tracks in 27 separate 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 Colorado sayings: You don’t need to hide your weed anymore. Forget about lighting incense candles to cover up the smell or getting eye drops ready to hide the redness. It’s all good. Of course, it’s led to Colorado residents becoming the proverbial butt of a series of stoner jokes, but there’s something to be said for getting the last laugh. The recreational marijuana industry has thrived since its inception, with thousands of jobs created and millions of dollars in revenue produced. Who’s laughing now? 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 590 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. From our 2017 visit to the Colorado National Speedway Family fun plus the night the lights went out in Colorado 
