Greetings from Thornburg, Virginia
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Dominion Raceway
Asphalt oval
Lifetime Track #2,276
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Dominion Raceway
Asphalt road course
Lifetime Track #2,317
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. Or you can visit me on Facebook. Thanks!
ON THE WAY TO THE RACES
THE PREAMBLE.
I don’t think it would be inaccurate to say that I have a more robust travel schedule than anybody I know and that anybody you know. As Dizzy Dean used to say it’s not bragging if it’s true or you can do it. Don’t remember Dizzy Dean? Google it.
I do not travel for travel’s sake. However sometimes my travel schedule is even more than what I would have expected or planned for. It just works out that way at times.
In early August I left on what was to become a 19-day trackchasing adventure. When that trip was finished I came back home for three days. Then Carol and I left for a week of family visiting and UCLA football in Texas. Following that fun trip I came back to Southern California for a single day. Then I headed out to the East Coast for nearly another week of trackchasing. Did you know that less than half the nights I spend on the road are devoted to trackchasing? Surprising huh?
My trackchasing season is winding down now. This trip will be my last chance at a very productive, hopefully five tracks in four days, result. I didn’t want to pass up that opportunity.
WEDNESDAY
I started my day with a 45-minute power walk along the beaches of the Pacific ocean in San Clemente. I normally drive my car down to the beach even though our back door is only 100 yards from white water.
I’m not really sure why I take my car. I just got into that habit and like parking in the San Clemente pier bowl. They start charging for parking there at 10 a.m. This motivates me to complete my exercise by that time.
It’s so relaxing to exercise in 65° temperatures under cloudy skies. That’s my favorite type of exercise weather. There’s always a really nice breeze coming in off the ocean. Lots of other people exercise in the morning at the beach. I really can’t think of a better and more conducive place to get in a little workout.
With a big kiss and a hug from “Trackchasing’s First Mother” I left home at 12 noon. My flight from Los Angeles to Boston was leaving at 3:50 p.m. This gave me plenty of time to stop at Costco for gas and Jack-in-the-Box for a low-carb lunch.
I was going to have to manage my rest on this trip. There was a distinct possibility that I would be staying in a hotel on only one night of the next four. During that time I would fly the better part of 5,000 miles and drive nearly 2,000. As I have mentioned, no one else in the hobby trackchases the way I do.
There’s a reason I can make such a statement. First of all no one else tries to do this hobby from such a remote location as I do in Southern California. My trips are expensive. I buy travel at less than 50% of what anyone else would pay. Nevertheless, it’s still expensive to make these trips from where I need to begin headed to where most of the tracks are located. It’s been that way for decades. That’s absolutely ZERO problem for me.
Here’s an overview of this trip. I would land in Boston and drive eight hours down to Virginia for a Thursday night race. Then I would most likely stay at my one and only hotel on the trip. I would overnight near Baltimore.
That will be followed by a Friday night race in Pennsylvania, my 98th track in that state. There might not be time for a hotel in the Keystone state. My New York racing event started at 8 a.m. bright and early on Saturday morning.
Following the New York race I would have a six-hour drive up to northern Ontario for my Saturday evening adventure. Then I would have a 9-hour overnight drive from Ontario to Massachusetts. If all went well I would see a Sunday morning race there. Then I would simply hop on a late afternoon flight from Boston back to Los Angeles.
Again if all went according to plan I would be sleeping in my bed in San Clemente Sunday night. This whirlwind trip could add five tracks to my lifetime totals. A couple of days after returning home Carol and I would head off to Maui for our annual fall relaxation trip. Son Jim would join us from his home in Honolulu.
However I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. It’s easy to TALK about a trip. Now I just had to DO it.
My plane landed at Boston’s Logan international Airport at nearly 1 a.m. Thursday morning. By the time I hopped on a very inefficient airport rental car center bus I wasn’t getting my car until nearly 2 a.m.
I was disappointed to see that only SUVs and pick-up trucks were available for executive members of the National Car Rental frequent renter program. I was going to be driving nearly 2,000 miles. I needed to get a comfortable and fuel-efficient car. An SUV didn’t sound like a good idea to me.
I pleaded my case with the National Car Rental representative. However, she didn’t seem to be too empathetic to my cause. She recommended the one and only sedan on the lot at that early-morning juncture. It was a Nissan Altima with 33,000 miles on it.
Not every National Car Rental location is of the same quality. Salt Lake is probably the worst. Boston hasn’t been that great at times either.
Whatever. I got all of my gear set up in the Nissan automobile. Then I saw a couple of new cars being delivered freshly washed from the cleanup area. It was about this time that the National rep presented herself at my driver’s window. I lower the window (note: I did not “roll down” the window) and heard her ask, “Would you like a Toyota Avalon?” Of course I would!
And Avalon was just about the nicest car I could expect under the circumstances. It was so important to get a good rental car when I was going to be averaging 500 miles of driving each and every day of this trip. I moved all of my stuff from the Nissan over to the Toyota. I left the lot at 2 a.m.
I needed to be at the Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia by 7 p.m. on Thursday night. That was 17 hours from now. The driving time from Boston to Thornburg was eight hours. You can do the math right?
However, I was going to be driving through some major population centers. First of all I had to get out of the greater Boston area which has some of the most congested traffic of any place in the country. Then I would need to drive through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington before getting down into rural Virginia. Each of those places, if I hit it them at the wrong time, could be problematic traffic wise. There would be no time for a hotel at this point.
I hoped that I could drive from Boston to just south of New York City and beat their morning rush-hour. That drive would take me about 4-1/2 hours. There was hardly a car on the roads leaving Boston at 2 a.m. In Los Angeles at that time of day the traffic would have been much heavier.
I made it all the way down into New Jersey along the New Jersey Turnpike by about 6 a.m. There I found a rest area. I slept for about three hours until I woke up at 9 a.m. I was golden now. All of the boys I used to work with in the factories of the Caterpillar Tractor Company used to say that. I learned a lot from those guys. A lot of what I learned was what not to do in life.
THURSDAY
Once I knew I was going to make my flight to Boston, on a standby basis, I made a hotel reservation in the Baltimore, Maryland area for Thursday night. I knew that if all went well I could stay there for a few hours on Thursday afternoon and then after the races on Thursday night. It would almost be as if I were getting two hotels for the price of one.
I buy almost all of my hotels on the road from Priceline.com. On average I would say I save about 40-50% off of the very best rate that can be found for an individual hotel on their website.
For Thursday I was able to get a Hampton Inn and Suites property. The best rate offered on their website for normal customers was $139 plus tax for the night. That rate would add up to about $170 including taxes.
What type of offering did I get with Priceline? I paid just $43 plus taxes and fees which came to a grand total of about $56 for my one night stay. Like I said, I normally pay about half and sometimes even less than what the general public is being charged. That’s just one of the reasons that I can do this as often as I do.
I did something with my rental car that I rarely do. I purchased a “toll pass”. The charge for my four-day rental was about $15. There would be two benefits to having a toll pass on this trip.
The first advantage was simply convenience. I could drive through the “E-ZPass” lanes without having to stop and pay tolls with cash. Normally I wouldn’t pay for such a convenience. I didn’t know if travelers on the East Coast paid the same with an E-ZPass compared to paying cash. In Chicago motorists who pay cash pay TWICE the amount that people with electronic toll passes do. Can you believe that!
However, it was the second advantage that made the toll pass attractive to me. I wanted to make sure I avoided getting on toll roads that don’t accept any form of cash. I’ve done that a couple of times this summer. When that happens not only do I get a bill for the tolls after I have completed the trip but also a surcharge from the rental car company for their “participation” in the process.
I won’t know until after my trip is completed what my total bill for tolls will be. I can tell you this. Tolls in this part of the country are frequent and expensive. I wouldn’t be surprised to see my overall toll charges be the better part of a $100 bill.
This afternoon I got a much-needed three hours of sleep at my Hampton Inn and Suites Hotel in the greater Baltimore, Maryland area. A person has to pace themselves if they’re going to keep up the schedule that I do. That includes me too!
Tonight racing was going to take place about two hours south of my hotel in Thornburg, Virginia. The Dominion Raceway is a brand-new replacement track in the Old Dominion state.
There are very few new racetracks being built anywhere in the country. Oval tracks are closing at a dramatically faster rate than they are opening up. No one seems to want a brand-new racetrack in their own backyard. Some folks don’t want existing racetracks in their own backyard either!
THE RACING
Dominion Raceway – Thornburg, Virginia
Tonight the Dominion Raceway was having a rare Thursday night program. They were doing that to tie in with the NASCAR weekend at the nearby Richmond International Speedway also in Virginia. The two tracks are only about 45 miles apart. With all on the NASCAR fans in town for the weekend that seemed like a smart move on their part.
I ran into some heavy traffic on Interstate 95 on the way down to the track. I could have saved about 30 minutes by taking the toll road express lanes. However, I wanted to see what the regular traffic on I-95 would be like. It wasn’t good.
I wouldn’t say that my experience with eating food at racetracks in general has been all that great. Yes, I would scarf down as many Martinsville hotdogs as I could. However, the typical short track racing fare doesn’t meet my standards (which often are not that high) a good deal of the time. I stopped to eat before getting to the track.
Racing was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. That seemed like an early start time for a Thursday night program. On the other hand if they started much later they might have had a late ending time on a Thursday night. I guess that’s why I am not a track promoter.
Just about the only oval tracks that I know that start on time are the ones where I’m going to arrive late. It works the same way with movies. If we show up on time they show 25 minutes of previews. If we’re five minutes late they don’t have any previews and start the movie before we get there! With all of the traffic I was going to be a little late tonight.
I arrived at the track tonight at 7:43 p.m. There was no activity on the track at that point. I didn’t know if they hadn’t start anything or if they had already run some of the races.
I scampered over to the ticket window and purchased my race ticket for a most reasonable $12 or $13. I struck up a conversation with the woman selling me my ticket. I soon found out that she was the wife and part owner of the track. I gave her my business card. She had her son hustle it up to the press box.
It wasn’t long after that the twin announcers were giving me a most hearty welcome. They speculated that I must be in the Guinness book of world records after having seen 2,276 different race tracks. Not yet but you never know. This was a robust welcome to the Dominion Speedway.
This facility is top notch. There are only a handful of tracks of this quality in the country. If you’ve been to the Irwindale Speedway then you have some idea of what the Dominion Raceway was like. They have a huge three-story building complete with an elevator for the convenience of their fans.
The second level is where the action is. Up there they have a complete concession stand, a live bar serving all kinds of adult beverages as well as a VIP area with lush sofas and a gift shop. You just don’t see that type of thing at short track facilities very often.
The track itself was a 4/10-mile high-banked asphalt oval. They have “uniform” banking designed to facilitate side by side racing. Most of the modern tracks have tried this with generally good success.
I feel that the best dirt track racing on a track by track basis comes from Iowa. On the other hand the best short track paved oval racing is in and around the Virginia/North Carolina border.
Tonight there would be three feature race events. One of the things I like about asphalt racing in this area is that they often run a “features only” program. I would love to see other tracks do that. My butt tells me that I don’t like spending 1-2 hours watching five car heat races that don’t mean anything run for six laps with three yellow flags. I’m just sayin’.
The first feature race of the night was already finished by the time I arrived. That was a 35-lapper for modifieds. However I was in plenty of time for the main event, a 150-lap race for late models. It would be followed by a 25-lap race for UCARS, which is another name for mini- stocks.
I watched the races from the second level which is right above the main grandstand. Considering how many cars had filled the track’s parking lot I was a little surprised the grandstands were not fuller (more full?). That seems to be the case at a lot of places I visit. I must not know how to count cars and fans in the stands very well.
The 150-lap late model race was a little anti-climactic. They started 19 cars and about 11 were around for the finish. The pole-sitter lead every lap of this race. There was a mandatory fuel stop at the halfway point.
There was one major crash during the first 75 laps of the race. It took them a long time to clean up the mess. Tonight they were counting yellow flag laps in the 150-lap total. I’m going to guess that about 25 yellow flag laps were used for this incident.
In talking to the fan sitting next to me I learned that a young woman just 15 years of age was piloting the car that ran anywhere from second to fourth all night. She was impressive. Maybe one day we will see Macy Causey’s name on the NASCAR circuit.
As I always do I try to explore the entire track and facility whenever I can. Tonight the cars were pitted in the track’s infield. I was happy to see that that did not block the view in anyway. I did not go down into the pit area at the conclusion of the last race of the night.
This is a most attractive racing facility. I’m not sure the “uniform” banking did its job tonight. I am assuming that the fast qualifier started on the front row. There didn’t seem to be much passing on what looked to be a one groove track. I can’t imagine fans want to see one driver lead every lap from the pole position.
It’s not the most convenient travel plan to get from San Clemente, California to Thornburg, Virginia. I picked up my rental car at 2 a.m. this morning in Boston.
Then I drove through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C. until I arrived in Virginia. I don’t suspect there were any other San Clemente residents in attendance tonight.
Tonight I was seeing my 27th track in Virginia and my 2,276th lifetime track. I was pleased to be able to see a race on a Thursday night. I was probably less pleased to have only been home for one day after a weeklong visit to Austin, Texas. However it was what it was.
I watched the UCAR feature race at the fence just beyond turn four. That was a great up close view. When the final checkered flag flew I headed for the parking lot. It had been a hot and humid and still evening. At 10 p.m. it was still 85° and muggy. The weather made it a most uncomfortable evening. However, it was nice to see the entire second story building was air-conditioned for the fans. They’ve done a nice job building the Dominion Raceway. I’ll be back for racing on their road course one of these days.
AFTER THE RACES
Following the racing I headed north to Baltimore. I could check out of my hotel as late as 12 noon tomorrow. There is a reasonable possibility that it may be midnight on Sunday Eastern time before I have a chance to sleep in a real bed again. I’m going to take advantage of the luxury tonight while I can.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the teeth jarring potholes on the New Jersey Turnpike. I hit a couple unexpectedly. I was a little surprised that the Toyota Avalon didn’t end up on its head.
Then on Interstate 95 it felt as if NASCAR was having tryouts for the Sprint Cup division. There were more than a fair share of Kyle and Kurt Busch type drivers darting in and out of heavy late night Interstate 95 traffic. I don’t understand the thinking to cut in front of somebody at 85 M.P.H. only to pull into a lane that’s going sixty with no other options.
Good evening from Thornburg, Virginia.
Virginia
The Old Dominion state
This evening I saw my 27th lifetime track in the Old Dominion state, yes the Old Dominion state. I’ve seen 27 or more tracks in 23 separate states. No one can match that stat.
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
Virginia sayings: Carry: Translation: To take someone or something somewhere. Usually means in a car – but I guess it could be taken literally. EX: “I’ll be late. I’ve got to carry my aunt to the store first.”
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 575 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,276
Total Trackchasing Countries
There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 72
Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.47
That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report
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.
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!
ON THE WAY TO THE RACES
This afternoon I would be trackchasing in Virginia. Why? Just because I was in the area I guess! How did I end up in the vicinity of Thornburg, Virginia? Here’s how.
Thursday night I hopped on a jet plane and flew from Los Angeles to Seattle. Then on Friday morning, after sleeping in the Seattle airport, I grabbed a plane to Tampa, Florida. Friday night I saw some racing at a rural county fairgrounds in the Sunshine State.
On Saturday morning I hopped on a flight to Memphis, Tennessee. I went to the Red Bull GRC races in Memphis on Saturday afternoon. That evening I headed over toward Nashville for some dirt track racing.
Saturday night I slept for a couple of hours in the Nashville airport. Then Sunday morning I jumped on a plane from Nashville bound for the Ronald Ragan International Airport in the greater Washington D.C. area.
From there it was an easy one-hour or so drive down to the Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia. That is how one ends up, if they live my lifestyle, in Virginia for some Sunday afternoon road racing. The funny thing about it all is that following today’s racing I grabbed a plane back to Los Angeles. I landed while it was still daylight in SoCal on early Sunday evening.
THE RACING
Dominion Raceway road course – Thornburg, Virginia
I made my first visit down to Thornburg to see racing on the new asphalt over at the Dominion Raceway late last year. At the time the Dominion Raceway oval was my 2,276th lifetime track. A little while after the oval opened the road course became a reality.
This weekend I would end up at adding five new tracks to my lifetime totals at four different facilities. I only had to buy a ticket to one of those races.
In Florida the promoter admitted me as his guest. At the Red Bull Global Rally Cross race in Memphis the guy who parked next to me gave me a free ticket. Today at the Dominion Raceway, for the NASA racing, they were not charging any admission. All I have to do was sign a release of liability form giving up my firstborn child in case of injury or mishap at the track. The only place that would sell me a ticket was the Thunderhill Raceway in Tennessee. Even they gave me a $2 discount for being aged.
The Dominion Raceway is a beautiful new facility. They have one of the best all-purpose buildings of any short track I’ve seen. Fans can ride an elevator to the second floor. There they will find a beautiful food and drink concession area, an alcoholic bar, a gift shop and more.
Initially I thought it was going to be difficult to see much of the racing. It appeared from the concession building view that all of the racing was going to be a long way away. However, I was mistaken. I could certainly get a good overview from this elevated position.
However when I walked down toward the main paddock area I could actually see where they were gridding the cars. From that general location there was a good view of much of the racing that would take place today.
The Dominion Raceway oval track actually sits inside the road course. Lots of NASCAR road course layouts and at many of the other bigger tracks the oval track is incorporated into the road course. That is not the case at Dominion.
I walked all over the paddock area taking photographs of the racing competitors. Did you know that my website has links to well over 500,000 of the photos I have taken? The quantity of pictures offered on my site is so large that I’ve pretty much had to stop counting.
NASA sanctioned today’s racing. No I’m not talking about the people in Houston Texas. NASA is a competitor of the SCCA. NASA has regions all over the United States.
Today’s track activity itinerary told me there would be two races. The first race was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. just following lunch.
This single race event on the daily schedule was actually going to be several races with in one race. There were seven classes that all started their own race at different intervals. The first few started from a dead stop. That’s often called a “land rush” or standing start. The last couple of classes including the Miatas start of their race on the move. That’s often called a “rolling start”.
I timed one of the laps in the race competition today. The clock stopped at 1:39.23 seconds. Although that’s unofficial it will give you an idea of how long it was taking the cars to go around today’s layout.
The Dominion Raceway and Entertainment facility also hosts several musical concerts. They will be featuring such acts as Reckless Kelly, the Graham Parker duo and Leo Dell and the Heat among others. Right now I don’t have any of those group’s CDs.
AFTER THE RACES
I elected not to stay for the second race. By seeing seven feature events over a 40-minute time frame I would still have time to catch an airplane back to Los Angeles tonight.
I had slept just four hours in the Seattle airport (Thursday). Then I had six hours of sleep in a hotel in Tampa (Friday) and finally two hours the next night (Saturday) in the Nashville airport. Getting home to sleep in my own bed on Sunday night sounded like a real good idea.
I was able to bring this trip’s expense in at a very reasonable number. This was especially true since it added five tracks to my lifetime trackchasing total, which now sits at 2,317. I can’t tell you exactly how low the price was. I have various contractual commitments with my sponsors that prohibit such discussion.
I must tell you I did come home to some bad news. When I landed I saw a video that good buddy Pryce Boeye had sent me. My all-time favorite track the Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Illinois was completely underwater.
This version of the Peoria Speedway was built in the mid-60s. It sits next to Kickapoo Creek. With heavy spring rains the creek overflows every few years. The Peoria Speedway has been inundated by flooding many times. Nevertheless, I suspect they’ll be back in action in two or three weeks. By July fans will need goggles during feature time.
On Monday morning I received more bad news. As I went along my one-hour four plus mile power walk a disturbing sign caught my attention. There were several “shark attack” signs along the beach. I had never seen those before. What will they think of next?
Good afternoon from Thornburg, Virginia
Virginia
The Old Dominion state
This afternoon I saw my 29th lifetime track in the Old Dominion state, yes the Old Dominion state. I’ve seen 29 or more tracks in 23 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
Virginia definitions: Carry
Translation: Technically, it means to catch a ride with strangers. So, really, slugging is sanctioned hitchhiking. But anyone who has fought NOVA traffic knows that carpool lanes are key. But if you don’t have someone to ride with, just hop in a slug line and everybody wins. (www.slug-lines.com)
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 585 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,317
Total Trackchasing Countries
There are no trackchasers currently within 20 countries of my lifetime total.
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 74
Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.37
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.
Dominion Raceway oval racing
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Dominion Raceway road course racing
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.
Check out the brand new Dominion Raceway….it’s a very nice place
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Virginia road racing on a beautiful day