Greetings from first Seaford, Delaware
and then Georgetown, Delaware
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Delmarva Motorsports Park
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #1,217
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Georgetown Speedway
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #1,218
Reprinted with permission from my July 6, 2007 Trackchaser Report THE EVENT At track #1,040 I moved into the “World’s #1 Trackchasing” spot. Here’s the funny thing about that. I was perfectly content to remain in about seventh place in the worldwide trackchasing standings. Then I had rotator cuff surgery, which knocked me out of golf for about six months. With no golf and time on my hands I turned up my trackchasing by a notch or two. I discovered I liked MORE trackchasing and LESS golf. It didn’t take all that long to move up to the top of the world trackchasing standings at that point. 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. I commonly travel 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! FOREWORD TODAY’S HEADLINES Can you guess why we picked the “Delmarva” area for this weekend’s trackchasing trip?……………….more in “The Trip”. I’ve seen 80 new tracks in 2007. Tonight, I saw the best racing of the year ………………..details in “Race Review – Georgetown Speedway”. Which race drivers are considered “countable” in the hobby of trackchasing and why?……………….more in “Race Review – Delmarva Motorsports Park”. Greetings from Seaford, Delaware and then Georgetown, Delaware We woke up in this morning in San Clemente, California. We went to sleep in Laurel, Delaware. This is what transpired today. PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS The Strategy July is a big trackchasing month. With county fairs, there may be more trackchasing opportunities in July, and maybe August, than any other month of the year. If you can’t add a good number of tracks during this month, you’re going to lose to the field. Even though I needed some valuable National Geographic Diversity points, to fend off an expected attack from my fellow competitors, I chose to go for as many tracks as I could get even though there was no NGD benefit. I’ll go NGD point chasing in the near future. The Trip Two things are always true about a trackchasing trip. First, I put all kinds of time, effort and creativity into each and every trip I plan. Secondly, no trip EVER goes according to my original plan. That’s just a fact of life. It’s trackchasing version of Murphy’s Law, what ever can go wrong will go wrong. In my life nothing much goes wrong, it just goes different. Different can be good. It can usually be challenging. This trip was no exception. Stay tuned for the second and third reports from this trip to see what I mean. The original plan was to go to Arkansas and Louisiana. Louisiana was important for Carol. She has been trackchasing is 46 separate states. She still needs to see a track in Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland and Rhode Island. Unfortunately, it was going to be raining “cats and dogs” all weekend in Louisiana. We couldn’t go there. Maybe we could pick from the other three states she needs so she could get number 47. After our usual early morning departure from San Clemente, we arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Our planned United Airlines flight to Washington’s Dulles Airport was surprisingly wide open. With the Fourth of July being on a Wednesday this year, it was difficult to predict what impact that would have on weekend flights following the holiday. You see, travel planning for a west coast based trackchaser is as critical and track planning. With a wide-open flight, we have a much better chance of being upgraded from coach class to either first or business class. Today, there was one business class seat and one coach seat available for Carol and me. Who would get the business class seat? I insisted that Carol take it. She insisted that I take it. What happens when we both insist on opposite things? We do it the way she wants to do it. Usually, that’s not what I’m looking for, but today she won out and I benefited with a luxurious business class seat! The quality of a first class or business class seat can vary depending upon the type of aircraft being used. Today’s plane on United Airlines was a Boeing 777. Business and First Class seats are very expensive compared to coach seating. As an example, a one-way no advance purchase coach seat from LAX to Washington-Dulles goes for $347. Business class costs $819 and First Class for $814. Yes, business class was more expensive than first class on this trip. Pricey, huh? I was able to get my business class seat for a good deal less than any of these prices today. What do they offer in business class? First, the seat reclines to a nearly flat position. That’s good if you want to get some shut-eye. The seat in front is about three feet away. That means there is plenty of legroom. The business class seat also offers a nice extending footrest and an individual reading light and video monitor. There is a choice of complimentary movies and satellite TV. We also were served a nice meal, while the coach passengers received a package of peanuts. Oh, yes! Beer and mixed drinks are free! I was most grateful that Carol insisted that I take this seat, although I would have preferred she did. Friday night Hotels along the East coast are the most expensive of any area I visit in the U.S. Just a few hundred miles to the south, in Georgia and South Carolina, the hotels are the least expensive of anywhere I visit. Back in the pre-wireless internet motel days (not that many years ago), I stayed in some real rat holes. Some of those places would make a Motel 6 look like the Ritz Carlton. I am happy to say that I rarely stay in the roach motel anymore, although tonight was somewhat of an exception. I don’t recommend the Relax Inn in Laurel, Delaware. It was a forty-dollar hotel where they were charging seventy. We went there because a normal looking Comfort Inn in a small Delaware town was charging $149 for the night. Yes, East coast hotels are very expensive and I continue to majorly dislike the road systems these folks are stuck with. Anyway, avoid the Relax Inn if you can. The People When Carol and I entered the Delmarva Motorsports Park, Mr. Bob Buckhorn greeted us. Bob is the new promoter at Delmarva. He introduced himself as an “author”. He gave me his card that advertises his book. He had written the book titled “White House Deception”. I don’t’ know which administration is involved in his book. I’m going to check my local library to see if I can get a copy. Bob also told me he had been the track announcer at the King’s Speedway in Hanford, California as well as other California tracks. He told us he has announced at 67 different racetracks. Additionally, he had been a part owner of the 411 Speedway in Tennessee. Now, he’s a promoter in Delaware. Bob has been busy. He also mentioned he had a friend named “Rick Richart” (not sure about the spelling) from down toward Atlanta who went all over seeing racetracks. Anybody heard of him? Did you notice “Delmarva” in the track’s name? Do you have any idea what “Delmarva” means? At first, I didn’t. Then I started to see this name on several local businesses. “Delmarva” is another name for Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Yep! It took a West coaster some time to figure out that one. STATE RANKINGS These were my 4th and 5th tracks to see in the First state. This ties me for 17th place with Kevin Eckert and Bing Metz. I am just two tracks from getting into ninth place and gaining a boatload of NGD points. There is only one problem with that plan. My tracks to see database shows only one more active track that I have not seen in the state that calls the Blue Hen Chicken its state bird. Carol now has three Delaware tracks. She is tied with Johnny Gibson, World of Outlaws race announcer for 25th place in the state. RACE REVIEW – DELMARVA MOTORSPORTS PARK First, the directions we had for this track were terrible. The track’s website direction page was not operational and my other source just missed the boat. Without good directions or a specific address, my GPS unit was rendered ineffective. We resorted to the “old way” of finding a track. We stopped and asked a local. The fruit stand cashier wasn’t sure about her directions, but they turned out to be good. The admission price to the Delmarva Motorsports Park (DMP) was just five bucks. This was the highest price I paid at all of the new tracks I visited this weekend! Race tickets rank #6 in my seven trackchasing expense categories. Only airport parking falls below the cost of race tickets for me. DMP is a “small car” track. It’s only 1/5-mile in distance. That’s normally too small for more traditional stock car and open wheel racing. Nevertheless, racing on a track this size can still be good. This track has been at this location since 1962. In the racetrack business, that’s a long time. Concessions were unusual and cheap. The popcorn was “microwave” popcorn. It was only a buck. My ice cream bar was just 75 cents. These were pre-WWII prices! Our server could have used some lessons in customer service, however. The racing was good; however, most of it was not countable. Why were some of the races not countable? The drivers were not adults. Trackchasing rules require the drivers of all countable classes be adults. Do you know what age constitutes an adult? I don’t. It is often times difficult for the trackchaser, while he/she is at the track, to determine whether adults are racing or I guess, the alternative, “kids”. The announcer usually does not explain what age requirements, if any, exist. This makes counting tracks somewhat difficult when a track website or track rules are not made available to the public. I don’t understand why trackchasing’s “founding fathers” thought it was important to limit trackchasing to racing done by “adults” anyway. Racing classes are catering to younger and younger classes all the time. Tonight the first three feature events were races for non-adults, by trackchaser definitions. These included a 270cc mini-sprint race and two mod-lite races. I really like the mod-lite division. They are so similar to one of my favorite classes, the DIRT modified. The fourth feature of the night was for mod-lites driven by adults. There was no age restriction in this class. I would challenge any race watcher to view a video tape of these four features and determine which class might be driven by “adults” and which were driven by whatever alternative definition to the word “adult” you might like to use. Following the fourth feature of sixth, we headed for the exits. There was more trackchasing to do tonight. RACE TRACK STATS: DELMARVA MOTORSPORTS PARK – TRACK #1,217 (CAROL’S #326) Track details Website: http://www.delmarvamotorsportspark.com/ Weather: It was warm with temps in the high 80s at race time. It’s going to be a warm weekend. Track type: oval Surface/Length: 1/5-mile dirt Grandstands: Seven row wooden bleachers. There is also room to bring a lawn chair or watch from your car. P.A.: Good. Announcer: Not very informative. On time: We arrived a few minutes late due to the bad directions we had. Pit area: The pit area is located behind the backstretch at the DMP. Classes: 270cc mini sprints (6), rookie mod lites, kid’s mod lites, adult mod lites, 600 cc mini-sprints and a mini-stock type class. No class had more than 10 cars. Radio Frequency: When I am trackchasing with Carol, I rarely use my race scanner. Concessions: Varied and cheap. Scoreboard: No Extras: The 50/50 went for $167. Considering there were not 167 people in the grandstands that convinced me people are looking for a way out! We’re near the beach. All of the walkways were sand. This and the dust from the track doused our National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala. RACE REVIEW – GEORGETOWN SPEEDWAY We arrived at the Georgetown Speedway at just before 10 p.m. This track would be the second half of a blended double with features on both ends. This is an old track. They just started racing here again last year after a layoff of unknown duration. The track is a long 5/8-mile fairgrounds track with barely adequate lighting. When we arrived, there was not much happening. Were they at intermission? Nope. They weren’t racing because the backstretch lights had failed! A few people were leaving. I asked one fan how many races remained. He told me, “They still have all the feature events yet to run.” That was perfect news! We grabbed a seat in the grandstands and waited for the lights to come back on. This did not look like a good track. It was too big. The backstretch looked like it was “way out there”. The front stretch lighting didn’t look very good and the backstretch lighting wasn’t working. The announcer told us, “Our track is old. The wiring is old. We have not had time to upgrade the wiring since racing started last year.” Great! I’ve seen a lot of tracks and I was certain this was not going to offer good racing. How wrong I was. The Georgetown Speedway offered the very best racing I have seen in 2007. They ran the big block modifieds (16), crate modifieds (24), super late models (12) and crate late model (20) groups. Based upon the car counts, I guess the “crate” engine program is working. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such fast racing and so much passing for the lead and throughout the pack. It was exciting. The super late model race might have been the best of the night. Kenny Pettyjohn, a long-time area regular started on the front-row of the 20-lap feature. Ricky Elliott started back in tenth position. Pettyjohn raced to a huge lead while Elliott began to pick off one driver after another all the while eating into the leader’s advantage. On the 18th lap, they were neck and neck and then something broke in Pettyjohn’s car giving Ricky Elliott the win. All I ask from my racing is that the cars pass each other. I would still be a racechaser and not a trackchaser if that happened frequently. Carol said, “We get a good race like this once out of about 300 tracks we visit”. That might be an exaggeration, but not by much. On restarts, they used double file lineups. That’s fan friendly, but maybe not driver friendly. Double file restarts promote passing and side by side racing. Single file restarts do not. The racing at the Georgetown Speedway was fantastic. The announcer gave me a nice trackchaser mention. When he finished, the crowd gave this West coast trackchaser a nice round of applause. There was a good deal of seating in the 15-row wooden grandstands. It looked like the place was nearly sold-out. They had a REAL trophy queen tonight. She had a sash and all, just as they used to do it. RACE TRACK STATS: GEORGETOWN SPEEDWAY – TRACK #1,218 (CAROL’S #327) Track details Website: http://www.georgetownspeedway.com/ Weather: By the time we reached the track, the weather was perfect for shorts and t-shirt. Track type: oval Surface/Length: 5/8-mile dirt Grandstands: Old wooden grandstands. Not much light in the grandstands. P.A.: Very good. Announcer: The track had a good announcer in the press box and an announcer who handled on track interviews. On time: We arrived during a delay for track lights that were down. Pit area: Located beyond turns three and four. Classes: Big block modifieds (one of my favorites), crate modifieds and two classes of late models (my favorite). The feature events ran 12-24 cars. Radio Frequency: When I am trackchasing with Carol, I rarely use my race scanner. Concessions: Our late night snack included a very good slice of slightly burnt cheese pizza, a bottled water and Diet Coke all for $6.25 Scoreboard: No Extras: One of the track’s pace cars was a 1960 Cadillac convertible. The other was a new Dodge Magnum. These cars did a nice job of pacing the field and delivering the track trophy queen. Each feature winner was interviewed and photographed with just about every kid who wanted to walk down to the track’s racing surface. CAROL’S COMMENTS The Georgetown Speedway track was wide and they could pass. They also didn’t have too many cars in each race. The crowd was buzzing. At Delmarva, I thought I was in the middle of the desert. They allowed too many yellows (three) per driver before they sent them to the pits. The DMP concession stand was lame. I wasn’t that wild about Delmarva’s porta potties. Delmarva did have the best set of racing flags I’ve seen this year. RENTAL CAR UPDATE Washington, D.C. – Friday-Monday We will be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala today. It’s an O.K. car, but the interior road noise is unacceptable. I’m picking up this car in Washington, D. C. and hope to return it three days later in Pittsburgh. Rental car companies charge a premium for dropping a car at a location other than where it was picked up. The original charge for the three days was right around $245! However, I thought this was a good time to use some “free day” coupons I had accrued with National Rental Car Company. My full charge for the three days was just $1.21! Nevertheless, I am tracking at 117% of my annual rental car budget. This is somewhat surprising since I increased my budget for rental cars from the amount spent in 2006. Rental cars and gasoline are the only two trackchasing expense categories where I am currently over my year-to-date (YTD) budget. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of millions who, when within the grasp of victory sat and waited and waiting died. AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA – Washington-Dulles – 2,285 miles RENTAL CAR – WASHINGTON, D.C. Washington Dulles International Airport – trip begins Middleford, Delaware – 142 miles Georgetown, Delaware – 157 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: Delmarva Motorsports Park – $5 Georgetown Speedway – Free RANKINGS LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: There are no trackchasers currently within 100 tracks of my lifetime total. Other notables These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total. 2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS Tracks have been reported by 37 different worldwide trackchasers this season. LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS 2007 (current thru 6/29/07)** **Until the end of the year, NGD rankings are unofficial. Rankings are affected not only by the leader’s activities but also by other trackchasers impact on the leader’s position in each state. We’ll stay on the East coast. The weather is dry, although very hot and somewhat humid. 1,139. Meremere Dirt Track Club, Meremere, New Zealand – January 1 1,140. Meeanee Speedway, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand – January 1 1,141. Top of the South Speedway, Richmond, New Zealand – January 2 1,142. Woodford Glen Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand – January 3 1,143. Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North, New Zealand – January 5 1,144. Taupo Motorsports Park, Taupo, North, New Zealand – January 6 1,145. Waikaraka Park International Speedway, Auckland, New Zealand – January 6 1,146. Angels Stadium of Anaheim (inner oval), Anaheim, California – January 13 1,147. Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California – January 13 1,148. West Valley Speedway, Surprise, Arizona – January 14 1,149. Sandia Motorsports Park (road course), Albuquerque, New Mexico – January 28 1,150. Grand Prix De Lanaudiere, Lavaltrie, Quebec, Canada – February 3 1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track, Eulalie, Quebec, Canada – February 4 1,152. St Guillaume, St Guillaume, Quebec, Canada – February 4 1,153. Caldwell Rodeo Arena, Caldwell, Idaho – February 10 1,154. Balsam Lake Ice Track, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin – February 18 1,155. Northeast Pond Ice Track, Milton, New Hampshire – February 24 1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track, Moultonborough, New Hampshire – February 25 1,157. New Hendry Country Speedway, Clewiston, Florida – March 3 1,158. Florida Sports Park, Naples, Florida – March 4 1,159. Honeoye Lake Ice Track – Road Course, Honeoye, New York – March 10 1,160. Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas – March 16 1,161. Houston Motorsports Park, Houston, Texas – March 16 1,162. Dawgwood Speedway, Chatsworth, Georgia – March 17 1,163. Toccoa Speedway, Toccoa, Georgia – March 17 1,164. Tazewell Speedway, Tazewell, Tennessee – March 18 1,165. Malden Speedway, Malden, Missouri, Tennessee – March 23 1,166. Dacosa Speedway, Byhalia, Mississippi – March 24 1,167. Swinging Bridge Raceway, Byram, Mississippi – March 24 1,168. Florence Motor Speedway, Florence, South Carolina – March 25 1,169. Foothills Raceway, Easley, South Carolina – March 30 1,170. Mileback Speedway, Gray Court, South Carolina – March 30 1,171. Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida – April 1 1,172. Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada – April 8 1,173. Huntsville Speedway, Huntsville, Alabama – April 13 1,174. Low Country Kartway, Aynor, South Carolina – April 14 1,175. Dillon Motor Speedway, Dillon, South Carolina – April 14 1,176. Valley Dirt Riders, Berthoud, Colorado – April 15 1,177. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Lancaster, California – April 22 1,178. Sertoma Speedway, Tularosa, New Mexico – April 27 1,179. Sandia Motorsports Park (outer oval), Albuquerque, New Mexico – April 28 1,180. Sandia Motorsports Park (inner oval), Albuquerque, New Mexico – April 28 1,181. Hollywood Hills Speedway, San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico – April 29 1,182. Meridian Speedway, Meridian, Idaho – May 11 1,183. Diamond Mountain Speedway, Vernal, Utah, Idaho – May 12 1,184. Rocky Mountain Raceways (oval), Salt Lake City, Utah – May 12 1,185. Rocky Mountain Raceways (figure 8), Salt Lake City, Utah – May 12 1,186. Modoc Speedway, Modoc, South Carolina – May 18 1,187. Possum Kingdom Super Speedway, Belton, South Carolina – May 19 1,188. Laurens County Speedway, Laurens, South Carolina – May 19 1,189. Fairplex at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, Pomona, California – May 20 1,190. Lowes Motor Speedway (inner oval), Concord, North Carolina – May 24 1,191. Lowes Motor Speedway (road course), Concord, North Carolina – May 24 1,192. Madison International Speedway (inner oval), Oregon, Wisconsin – May 25 ** Madison International Speedway (outer oval), Oregon, Wisconsin – May 25 1,193. Thunderbird Stadium (figure 8), Bremerton, Washington – May 26 1,194. Thunderbird Stadium (oval), Bremerton, Washington – May 26 1,195. Whispering Pines Motorsports Park, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada – May 27 1,196. Magic Valley Speedway, Twin Falls, Idaho – May 28 1,197. Owyhee Motorcycle Raceway Park, Boise, Idaho – June 1 1,198. Race City Motorsports Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada – June 2 1,199. Edmonton International Raceway, Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada – June 2 1,200. Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – June 2 1,201. Hidden Valley Motorsports Park, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada – June 2 1,202. Boyd’s Speedway, Ringgold, Georgia – June 8 1,203. Fayette County Fairgrounds, Washington Courthouse, Ohio – June 9 1,204. Brush Creek Motorsports Park, Pebbles, Ohio – June 9 1,205. Brown County Speedway, Russellville, Ohio – June 9 1,206. Vinton Speedway, Vinton, Ohio – June 10 1,207. Hilltop Speedway, Millersburg, Ohio – June 10 1,208. I-70 Speedway – dirt (outer oval), Odessa, Missouri – June 13 1,209. L A Raceway, La Monte, Missouri – June 14 1,210. Valley Speedway, Grain Valley, Missouri – June 22 1,211. Jamaica Raceway, Jamaica, Iowa – June 23 1,212. Calhoun County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Rockwell City, Jamaica, Iowa – June 23 ** Hamilton County Speedway, Webster City, Iowa – June 23 (new for Carol only) ** Iowa Speedway (outer oval), Newton, Iowa, Iowa – June 24 (new for Carol only) 1,213. Butler Motor Speedway, Butler, Missouri – June 24 ** Peoria Speedway, Peoria, Illinois – June 25 1,214. Kart Kanyon Raceway, Aztec, New Mexico – June 30 1,215. Aztec Speedway, Aztec, New Mexico – June 30 1,216. Sunvalley Speedway, Vernon, British Columbia, Canada – July 1 1,217. Delmarva Motorsports Park, Middleford, Delaware – July 6 1,218. Georgetown Speedway, Georgetown, Delaware – July 6
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)