Greetings from Urich, Missouri
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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Grand River Speedway
Dirt outer oval
Lifetime Track #1,395
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Grand River Speedway
Dirt inner oval
Lifetime Track #1,396
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Grand River Speedway
Dirt figure 8
Lifetime Track #1,397
Reprinted with permission from my November 23, 2008 Trackchaser Report. . . . . 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 sometimes see two or more tracks in a single day. Today I saw three different tracks in one location. When I do this I will commonly combine my observations from each track into a single Trackchaser Report. That is the case today. . . . “THE MAKE OR BREAK WEEKEND” TRACKCHASING TOUR . . . . . HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!! …..even those Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers. May your stuffing be tasty, may your turkey be plump. May your potatoes ‘n gravy have nary a lump. . . . . Coming soon! China souvenir winners (next report) . . RANLAY Racing widens technology lead . . How do fellow P&G retirees really think? TODAY’S HEADLINES Why do people think everyone should trackchase like they want them too?…………..details in “The Objective”. . . The Grand River Speedway is very friendly toward trackchasers………………more in “The Objective”. . . The racers were first rate at Grand River……..details in “The People”. . . . . . GREETINGS FROM URICH, MISSOURI I work up Sunday morning in Dallas, Texas. I went to sleep in my own bed in San Clemente, California. It was a busy day. . . What you are about to read is based upon a true story. . . . PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS . . . The Objective This weekend’s trackchasing trip was called the “make or break” weekend for me. If I had any hope of seeing 100 tracks in 2008, I needed to see three new tracks this weekend. A few days ago, the weather forecast was not very good for any of my three planned venues. This being late November, I had absolutely no backups in case the weather prevented me from going with the original plan. Nevertheless, I set off on what would be a more than 4,000-mile journey in the hopes of reaching my goal. I never could have guessed that I would far exceed any expectations I had for the weekend. Not only did I see three new tracks, I saw five. However, what I will remember most about the weekend and today in particular are the people I met. Let me tell you about my day. The Grand River Speedway runs on Sunday afternoons. They don’t have any lights so they can only race during the daylight hours. Very few dirt ovals race regularly on Sunday afternoons. That’s why the Grand River Speedway had been on my tentative list for at least ten previous trackchasing trips. I had met the track owner Greg Clemmons a couple of years ago in Columbia, Missouri. He was promoting an indoor event at the time. He was intrigued by my trackchasing and the trackchasing of others. He told me to come over to the Grand River Speedway as soon as I could. . . As I drove out to the track, I knew I would likely face a trackchasing ethical question. I decided in advance how I was going to handle things. You see, the Grand River Speedway has three trackchasing countable tracks. They started racing five years ago on a nearly circular dirt oval about 1/6-mile in distance. That oval was extended to a ¼-mile oval that is their primary track today. They also have a figure 8 track that includes part of the smaller oval. Using trackchasing guidelines all three of these tracks are permanent tracks although they are not all used each and every week. This is where my ethical question came in. My advance research told me they raced primarily on the quarter-mile oval these days. However, other trackchasers have visited Grand River and seen more than just the quarter-mile oval. Having met Greg before, he had told me that if I came to Grand River he would have his guys race on more than one track. I made up my mind, in advance, that I would not do anything to encourage this group to race on more than the track they normally used. I don’t believe it is ethical to do that. I don’t say that anyone else has done anything wrong in pursuing additional tracks at Grand River or anywhere else. I just draw the line at not trying to convince people to do something just on my account. . . . We’ve had these types of issues crop up in trackchasing from time to time. The trackchasers have a set of rules. If you meet those rules then you can count the track you see. It seems every trackchaser has their own set of “minimum” standards. I think it’s important to note that no one’s standards are any higher or lower than anyone else’s. You either meet the trackchasing rules or you don’t. . . I know a few trackchasers who have “paid the purse” to have a group hold a special race. Had the purse not been paid, the group would not have raced on that track. This is not the end of the world. However, I don’t believe in doing that. There is no rule against doing it, so it’s legal in trackchasing. Some believe I have more financial means than others in the hobby. I don’t know about that. I am not permitted to see others’ financial statements. I don’t believe anyone in trackchasing has ever seen my financial statement. I do know that I don’t want to take advantage of the situation by offering money to racers to race on tracks where they wouldn’t if I wasn’t there to give them money. We have also had lots of heartburn in trackchasing regarding how long someone should stay to see a race. I have a minimum standard but no maximum time to stay at a race. Unless, it’s some major race or sanctioning body I like to stay until I’m not receiving any more entertainment for the time and money I’ve spent at the track. I hope that with a major race or sanctioning body, I never reach the point of running out of entertainment value! We like going to the movies, as well as basketball and football games. Those events last about 2-3 hours. I normally don’t enjoy staying at races much past three hours. The entertainment value diminishes rapidly at that point for me. It is sometimes called the “sore butt” syndrome. We have a few trackchasers who will leave a track after being there for a very short period. I don’t support that either if the time frame is too short. Again, this is my personal preference. In trackchasing, the rules call for seeing “competitive racing”. That’s open to anyone’s interpretation as to how long it takes to see competitive racing. Often times I have a plane to catch or a very long drive ahead of me when the racing program ends. Sometimes I don’t feel like staying until the last street stock 10-lap feature receives the checkered flag at 1:30 a.m. Sometimes, I attend a track with the express purpose of seeing another track that very same day. I know some trackchasers will appear for just a few minutes and then bolt off to the next track. . . I can only remember doing that one time, although I may have done it another time or two that I can no longer recall. The one incident I do recall was my very first ice trackchasing trip. I went with trackchasers Guy Smith and Will White to Quebec. It was -38 degrees outside when we pulled up to an ice track. It was so cold we couldn’t get out of the car for more than a minute or two. We were also a long viewing distance from the track and couldn’t see much. There was another ice track racing nearby. If we wanted to see that second track, we couldn’t stay at the first one for more than about ten minutes. We decided to “try for the double”. I really didn’t feel badly about leaving that first track after such a short time. It was so cold there wasn’t much entertainment value in watching the race at the first track. I had no idea when I would be back in Quebec again. I believe that Guy and Will felt the same way about leaving after ten minutes. That situation did get me to thinking. I didn’t want to be leaving tracks after such a short time. Therefore, I decided to set up my own trackchasing guidelines for how long I would stay at tracks when I didn’t intend to stay until the very end. In those circumstances, I had set as a minimum that I would be at the track for at least one hour following the beginning of the race program. About 2-3% of my nearly 1,400 tracks have fallen into this category. I figure that in one hour I can see several races and visit every part of the facility that is open to me. To be clear I do not support the idea of being at the track for only a few minutes, but at the same time, I acknowledge that other people feel differently. Let me provide a few examples of what I mean. I have sponsored visits to England for trackchasers Allan Brown and P.J. Hollebrand. Heck, I was sponsoring them before I had any major sponsors myself. Allan prefers to stay at a track to its conclusion regardless of the quality of the program. On the other hand, P.J. gave me express instructions that we had to see a “minimum” number of tracks or he wasn’t interested in going on the trip. After being at the track for only a few minutes he was getting “ants in his pants” and wanting us to move on to the next track. Belgium trackchaser, Roland Vanden Eynde was kind enough to drive me around his home country as well as the Netherlands, Germany and France on a European trackchasing trip. He had an agenda planned for me to see several tracks during our visit. We were running behind schedule on one of our days and had been at a track for just a few minutes. Roland was encouraging me to move on to the next track on the schedule. He told me that if we didn’t get going we would likely miss the next track entirely. I told him that I couldn’t leave the track we were at after being there such a short time. He understood. We stayed longer. I knew that Roland was just trying to be a good host and wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any of the tracks he thought I would find entertaining. I believe we have one major problem in trackchasing. I will be kind and omit the names of the people I believe are behaving badly in this regard. We have some trackchasers who believe that everyone should trackchase the way THEY trackchase. If they think staying at a track up to a certain point is the right thing to do, then they can’t see how anyone could possibly want to do it any differently. We have major dissention within our group over this issue. I believe this is based upon the idea that some folks think people should trackchase the way they do. This feeling totally disregards whether our actual trackchasing rules agree with how these folks like to trackchase. Can you imagine if all 52 trackchasers who have seen more than 200 tracks had their own individual requirements that they expected everyone else to meet? I’ve been writing Trackchaser Reports since about track #335. I’ve been posting Trackchaser Reports on my website since about track #810. I have now seen 1,397 tracks. It’s not that difficult to see what I’ve done and what I support. It’s all there in writing for anyone to see. We have rules. We have an objective trackchaser commissioner in Will White to help us all interpret the rules. If someone does something that is not covered by the rules, then we have a procedure for coming up with a new rule to cover a new situation. Some of these newer rules are affectionately called, “Randy rules!” I will never criticize anyone for staying too long and not long enough at a track. I will never criticize anyone for the type of race cars they like to see or don’t like to see. If what you do meets the trackchaser rules, it is acceptable in my book. We have someone in place to monitor the group’s activity. That’s good enough for me. Could it possibly be an simpler than that? All of the above brings me to my face to face meeting with Greg Clemmons today at the Grand River Speedway. It was a cool (52 degrees) and windy (15-20 M.P.H.) day. I sought out Greg and re-introduced myself. I said, “My name is Randy, I’m the trackchaser from California”. I don’t know for sure if he remembered me from our meeting two years ago in Columbia or not. Nevertheless, he shook my hand and immediately said, “Looks like we’ll be racing on more than one track today!” I smiled. He knew what the trackchasing game was all about. Our first meeting was short today. Greg had to get the track watered. This was an adventure in itself. Someone had taken the carburetor from the water truck! They needed another truck to pull the water truck around the track!! While the track was being watered, I met “J.W.” I’ll tell you more about him at the story progresses. As Greg was watering the track, J.W. said, “Where’s he going with that water truck?” I could see what Greg was doing. He was watering the quarter-mile dirt oval AND he was watering the 1/6-mile dirt oval AND he was watering their figure 8 track. . . When Greg came in after finishing his track prep duties, it was time for the driver’s meeting. Greg had everyone sit down in the pit bleachers. He told the drivers and crew members that he was the “promoter, flagman, tech man, water truck driver, ticket taker, security chief and just about everything else except the track fireman”. I think they already knew that. Greg is truly a one-man show with the track he built five years ago on his own property. . . Greg then introduced me to the assembled group. He told them “We have a celebrity with us today. He’s the #1 ranked trackchaser in the world and has seen 1,394 different tracks. We’re going to put on a special show for Randy today. We’ll run on the bigger track like we always do. We’re also going to have a feature event, with a trophy, for the winner on our small oval. This race will replace the event on the small track at Boone that was cancelled. We’ll wrap up the day with a figure 8 race.” All of that was certainly good news for me. Greg gave me a moment to address the group. I told them I was happy to be here today. I also told them that I had not asked Greg to run on the other tracks. Racing on three tracks today was his idea. Of course, I thought his idea was great. I just didn’t want any of the drivers to get the idea that “some guy from California had blown into town in a rented windbreaker and was trying to tell them how to run their show.” Actually, I don’t think anyone thought that at all. I heard several drivers express their desire to race on the smaller oval and the figure 8 track. They even had the I-70 figure 8 champion racing here today. They guys are racers. The more they get a chance to race the better. However, I do know that some trackchasers can be a bit on the skeptical side at times. It’s not a requirement to be skeptical to be a member of those “Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers” but it certainly helps. Therefore, Greg gave me his phone number in case the trackchaser commissioner wants to call him to verify any of the facts stated above! Speaking of the trackchaser commissioner, Will White, reminds me that I actually emailed him from the Grand River Speedway before I met anyone at the track today. To my knowledge, no one has ever plotted the Grand River Speedway’s location using latitude and longitude coordinates. I have special software that does that. I sent those coordinates to Mr. White for inclusion in his description of the Grand River Speedway on his website at www.autoracingrecords.com. . . . The Trip I would say that today required a good deal of travel to make happen. I woke up in Dallas, Texas after having driven more than 200 miles up from Houston the night before. I got to bed at about 1 a.m. My wakeup call came at 7 p.m. By 9:05 a.m. I was on a flight from Dallas to Kansas City. I landed at 11 a.m., rented a car and reached the track by about 12:30 p.m. The racing wrapped up by about 4 p.m. From there it was an hour and one-half drive back to Kansas City. I made it just in time to fly BACK to Dallas and then catch a flight to San Diego, California. From there it was a 65-mile drive back to home base in San Clemente, California. No….there is no one in trackchasing that puts more time into travel than I do. . . My fellow seatmate on the flight back to San Diego did show an interest in what I was doing on my laptop during the flight. After my battery had given out, he tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “I don’t mean to be nosey, but I couldn’t help noticing that you were writing something about “trackchasing” on your computer. What the heck is trackchasing”. The use of the word “heck” should have given this fellow away. He’s a pastor in the San Diego area, although with his casual dress and go-tee he could have just as easily been one of the guys having a beer at your local sports bar. We had a few minutes before the plane landed so I “filled him in” on trackchasing. He was like many “civilians” I talk to about the hobby. He couldn’t believe that people do this. If you’re not a trackchaser (and most folks who make up my Trackchaser Report distribution list are not), you probably couldn’t believe it either until you ran into me. Anyway, we had a nice chat. My pastor friend had seen a special on HBO about the “culture of racing” from the Anderson Speedway in Indiana. This gave him some idea about what we trackchasers do. . . . The People One of my very best ever trackchasing experience was at the Empty Jug racetrack in Hawley, Pennsylvania. They were just a bunch of good ole’ boys who loved to race. They didn’t race for money, they raced for fun. My experience today at the Grand River Speedway went a long way toward matching that day at “the Jug”. I’ve been to more famous tracks. I’ve been to better overall facilities. I’ve been to bigger tracks and fancier tracks. However, I have never been to a track with more friendly people. After Greg introduced me to everyone at the driver’s meeting, folks came up during the day just to shoot the breeze. They wanted to tell me about their racing and other tracks in the area. They wanted to know a little bit about my trackchasing. I’m sorry I didn’t get everyone’s name. I’d like to tell you about some of the folks I met. . . Greg Clemmons (above with Matt Marrant feature winner) is the owner and promoter of the track. Greg is an entrepreneur and “idea” man. It’s easy to see that his operation is not well-funded. It definitely is a “one-man operation”. Nevertheless, Greg provides a place for his racers to race. He has taken the initiative to promote other racing events in Missouri like the indoor show in Columbia, Missouri where I first met him. Greg is certainly friendly to trackchasers as I am certain those who have visited his track in the past can attest too. He didn’t have to go out of his way today to help me…..but he did. I encourage all trackchasers to get down to the Grand River Speedway as soon as you can. Tell your racing buddies about the track. Greg surprised me with one comment. He’s working on a racing movie!! Yes, you may see his production in a movie theatre some day! I probably spent the most time with “J.W.” He tracked me down and gave me an explanation of who and what was racing today. J.W.’s wife Jesse races a Chrysler produced Neon. This is her first year of racing. She’s doing a great job and has a second place to her credit at the I-70 Speedway no less. During the small car feature she had a flat tire. She came into to have it fixed and was surprised to see they were going to restart her at the back of the field. She figured she should get her original position back after going to the pits. J.W. told me, “She’s pissed. She didn’t understand how the rule works. She’ll get over it”. . . J.W. had a lot of good information about car construction. He told me he paid $500 to have a good roll cage put in his wife’s stock car. He had just driven to St. Louis the day before to pick up a car that he will drive in the future. He told me he “gave $550” for it and it should be ready to go soon. By the way, I grew up in a family and neighborhood where folks said they “gave” a certain amount to buy something and they “traded” at the “filling” station. Those days are a long way from today’s high tech jargon that fills our conversations. Anyway, J.W. was a good guy. I wish Jesse and him the best for a safe and fun racing season. I also met David the driver of a ’97 Ford Fiesta mini-stock. David had a major family tragedy during the past year. He’s racing 3-4 times a week to keep himself busy. David went out of his way to get his car ready for the figure 8 race. He said, “I haven’t raced figure 8 in 25 years!” He had to change two tires (left rear and right front) to make the race. I’ve never seen anybody loosen their lug nuts with a crescent wrench before but he did. David ended up blowing a left front tire in the figure 8 feature but he raced hard until the end. He won the small oval feature. I don’t think Jimmie Johnson was any happier in winning the NASCAR championship than David was in winning that small oval feature. Great meeting you David. I also spent some time talking to the director of the fire and safety crew. Don’t miss the custom paint job he has on his safety truck. . . This fellow told me that the I-70 Speedway is out of business. I had not heard that. He also told me about his early experiences with a Lucas Oil sponsorship he got from Mr. Lucas himself. The Lucas people wanted him to use their oil additive in his $35,000 race engine. My new friend told Mr. Lucas that they didn’t run additives in their expensive racing engine. With that Mr. Lucas told him “that if you blow the engine and it’s your fault or if it’s my fault or if it’s anybody’s fault I will buy you a new engine”. With that my friend accepted the Lucas Oil sponsorship. He proceeded to get out on the track where a piece of metal punctured the radiator. He continued driving the car without water and the engine never blew. The Lucas Oil additive had done its job. . . Finally, it was nice to meet Beverly. She runs the concession stand and serves a mighty fine chili dog for a buck and a half. . . . . RACE REVIEW . . . GRAND RIVER SPEEDWAY, URICH, MISSOURI The boys and girls that race at the Grand River Speedway do it just for fun. However, that does not mean they don’t take it seriously. I will tell you this. At the 99 tracks I have now visited in 2008, I have not seen anybody happier in victory circle than the drivers who won the inner oval feature (David) and the figure 8 feature (Matt). They were ecstatic. My GPS system got me to the track for the most part flawlessly. I took the coordinates from Google Earth. I could barely make out, from the Google photo from space, what looked to be a racetrack on the ground. I used the Latitude/Longitude coordinates from that photo to get me to the track. The coordinates actually landed me at a “mud bog” track just a 100 yards or so from the Grand River Speedway. Racing was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. I pulled in about 30 minutes before then. Most of the race cars were already in the pit area. I parked the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala in one corner of the pit area. By the way, the newest Chevys now have their gas filler opening on the right side of the car rather than the left. I first noticed this when I went to fill the car before turning it back in to National. Although technically there were more than three classes racing today, I will lump them into three classes since that is how they raced. There were three mini-sprints on hand. They did some hot-lapping but I never saw them take a traditional green flag. . . There were about 7-8 “small cars” that might be labeled as mini-stocks at other tracks. They ran a heat and a feature on the outer oval and a feature on the inner oval. They were also three “large cars”. One was a traditional modified and the other two were late models of sorts. They tried to run a heat and a feature on the outer oval but only one of them finished the heat. In the “large car” feature on the outer oval the best finishing two “small cars” joined that race. In the day’s finale on the figure 8 track there were five racers. One was a pickup truck that had not raced earlier in the day. There were also three “small cars” and the I-70 figure 8 champion, Matt Marrant in his #69 late model. . . The track was built five years ago by Greg Clemmons. He built it on his property out in the country. His house sits just beyond turn four. The cars pit right next to his house. There’s on old-time mobile home that serves at the track restroom. The sign on the door to the mobile home simply says, “Knock before entering” because the track’s toilet sits just a few feet inside the door! There is also a concession stand in a building located near the pit/spectator crossover gate. Beverly manages the concessions that feature hot dogs, nachos and various packaged snacks. . . It was a cold and windy day. About midway through the program, I moved my car from the pit area to the spectator area. There I could take a brief break from time to time from the piercing cold, soon to be, winter wind. The dirt oval outer oval has a good deal of banking, especially in turns three and four. It was here that some of the cars had trouble. One car nearly flipped before twirling precariously on its nose before coming to land on the car’s wheels. I was surprised to see so many flat tires. It seemed as if most cars had at least one if not more. . . The drivers at the Grand River Speedway do not race for cash prizes. They race for trophies. I should say they race hard for trophies. Just like any track I visit some teams have “more” than others. A few explained that if they had just a little more they would be winning all the races. There was a laidback style to today’s racing. When one race ended they took some time before the next race came out onto the track. I spent those down times talking with the competitors. For a track like this, their fire and safety crew was top notch. They had two trucks and about six people working in this important area. I came through the pit gate expecting to get one new track. I left with three. Don’t miss the pictures from the Grand River Speedway. Whatever you see will not fully explain what a nice group of people they have racing there. . . . . . STATE COMPARISONS . . . Missouri This afternoon I saw my 42nd, 43rd and 44th lifetime tracks in the Show Me state. A large number of 48 trackchasers have come to the state to pursue their sport. My three Missouri tracks don’t change my state ranking at all. I’ll still third but now only four tracks behind Jack Erdmann. Ed Esser leads in Missouri with 62 tracks. . . . . RENTAL CAR UPDATE . . Kansas City, KS – Sunday/Sunday I will be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala for the Missouri portion of this trip. I picked the car because it had XM satellite radio. I drove the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala 164 miles in the six hours that I had it. I paid an average price of $1.48 per gallon. I saw gas prices as cheap as $1.45 per gallon. Gas prices have really come down lately. The Chevy gave me 33.1 miles per gallon fuel mileage at a cost of 4.5 cents per mile. The car cost 18.5 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser I was trained in ethics, not tact. TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE San Diego, – Dallas, TX – 1,181 miles RENTAL CAR Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport – trip begins Edna, TX – 348 miles Willis, TX – 506 miles Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport – 716 miles AIRPLANE Dallas, TX – Kansas City, MO – 460 miles RENTAL CAR Kansas City International Airport – trip begins Urich, MO – 82 miles Kansas City International Airport – 164 miles AIRPLANE Kansas City, MO – Dallas, TX – 460 miles Dallas, TX – San Diego, CA – 1,181 miles Total Air miles – 3,282 miles (4 flights) Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 4,162 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: Texana Raceway Park – $10 (includes $2 senior discount) Gator Motorplex – $10 Grand River Speedway – $15 Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $35 COMPARISONS LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS UPDATE: There are no trackchasers currently within 200 tracks of my lifetime total. Other notables These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus or more) of Carol’s current trackchaser total. 2008 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS After the most recent updates (November 1, 2008), my lifetime NGD lead sits at 16 state position points. That’s not bad but I will have to focus on this for the remainder of the year. Wow! I never expected to have 99 tracks by sundown tonight. This may alter my remaining plans for the year…..and ultimately save me money. My next new track is expected to be in a foreign country. However, this will not be a new country for me. Any guesses? Last minute update! My foreign country track has cancelled. I don’t have any more plans for trackchasing until the middle of December…………unless……….. 1,299. Barnes Lake Ice Track, Ashcroft (road course), British Columbia, Canada – January 13 1,300. Bira Circuit, Pattaya (road course), Thailand – January 19 1,301. Cameron Lake Ice Track (oval), Erskine, Minnesota – January 26 1,302. Birch Lake Ice Track (oval), Hackensack, Minnesota – January 27 1,303. Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (road course), Garrison, Minnesota – January 27 1,304. Mille Lacs Lake Ice Track (oval), Garrison, Minnesota – January 27 1,305. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds (oval), Springfield, Missouri – February 1 1,306. Atlanta Motor Speedway (road course), Hampton, Georgia – February 2 1,307. Brainerd International Raceway Ice Track (road course), Brainerd, Minnesota – February 3 1,308. Bay of Green Bay Ice Track (road course), Marinette, Wisconsin – February 9 1,309. Lake Speed Ice Track (oval), Tilleda, Wisconsin – February 9 1,310. Shawano Lake Ice Track – North Shore (oval), Shawano, Wisconsin – February 10 1,311. Cecil Bay Iceway (oval) – Cecil, Wisconsin – February 10 1,312. Mototown USA (oval) – Windsor, Connecticut – February 15 1,313. Moosehead Lake Ice Track (oval) – Greenville Junction, Maine – February 16 1,314. Clarence Creek Ice Track (oval) – Clarence Creek, Ontario, Canada – February 17 1,315. Durban Grand Prix (road course), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – February 24 1,316. Lake La Biche Ice Track (road course), Lake La Biche, Alberta, Canada – March 1 1,317. Rice Lake Ice Track (oval), Rice Lake, Wisconsin – March 8 1,318. Ashland Ice Track (oval), Ashland, Wisconsin – March 9 1,319. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez (road course), Mexico City, Mexico – March 16 1,320. Hartwell Motor Speedway (oval), Hartwell, Georgia – March 22 1,321. Lavonia Speedway, Lavonia (oval), Georgia – March 22 1,322. Dover Raceway (road course), Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Jamaica – March 24 1,323. Lake Country Speedway (oval), Ardmore, Oklahoma – March 29 1,324. Swainsboro Raceway (oval), Swainsboro, Georgia – April 3 1,325. Screven Motor (oval), Sylvania, Georgia – April 4 1,326. Centerville Super Speedway (oval), Centerville, Arkansas – April 5 1,327. Central Arkansas Speedway (oval), Plumerville, Arkansas – April 5 1,328. Clinton Country Speedway (oval), Alpha, Kentucky – April 6 1,329. Pleasant Valley Raceway (oval), Boise, Idaho – April 20 1,330. Bremerton Raceway (road course), Bremerton, Washington – April 26 1,331. Port Angeles Speedway (oval), Port Angeles, Washington – April 26 1,332. Evergreen Speedway (1/5-mile oval), Monroe, Washington – April 27 1,333. Virginia Motor Speedway (oval), Jamaica, Virginia – May 1 1,334. Natural Bridge Speedway (oval), Natural Bridge, Virginia – May 2 1,335. Sturup Raceway, Malmo (road course), Sweden – May 10 1,336. Ring Djursland, Tirstrup (road course), Denmark – May 11 1,337. Nisseringen, Naestved (road course), Denmark – May 12 1,338. Valentine Speedway (oval), Glenrock, Wyoming – May 17 1,339. Gillette Thunder Speedway (oval), Gillette, Wyoming – May 17 1,340. Phillips County Speedway (oval), Holyoke, Colorado – May 18 1,341. North Pole Speedway (oval), North Pole, Alaska, – May 22 1,342. Tanacross Airport (road course), Tok, Alaska, – May 24 1,343. Mitchell Raceway (oval), Fairbanks, Alaska, – May 24 1,344. North Star Speedway (oval), Wasilla, Alaska, – May 25 1,345. Capitol Speedway (oval), Willow, Alaska, – May 25 1,346. Elk City Speedway (inner oval), Elk City, Oklahoma, – May 30 1,347. Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex (oval), Sweet Springs, Missouri – May 31 1,348. Central Missouri Speedway (oval), Warrensburg, Missouri – May 31 1,349. Lucas Oil Speedway (road course), Wheatland, Missouri – June 1 1,350. Ark-La-Tex Speedway (oval), Vivian, Louisiana – June 5 1,351. Monticello Speedway (oval), Monticello, Arkansas – June 6 1,352. Paris Motor Speedway (oval), Paris, Texas – June 7 1,353. Grayson County Speedway (oval), Bells, Texas – June 7 1,354. Prowers County Motorsports Park (oval), Lamar, Colorado – June 13 1,355. Moler Raceway Park (oval), Williamsburg, Ohio – June 20 1,356. La Junta Raceway (road course), La Junta, Colorado – June 21 1,357. El Paso County Speedway (oval), Calhan, Colorado – June 21 1,358. York County Fairgrounds (figure 8), York, Nebraska – June 22 1,359. Black Hills Speedway (oval), Rapid City, South Dakota – June 27 1,360. Heartland Speedway (oval), Rapid City, South Dakota – June 27 1,361. Newcastle Speedway (oval), Newcastle, Wyoming – June 28 1,362. Jackson County Sports Park (oval), White City, Oregon – July 11 1,363. Great Basin Raceway (oval), Ely, Nevada – July 12 1,364. Lovelock Speedway (oval), Lovelock, Nevada – July 13 1,365. Saratoga Speedway (oval), Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada – July 19 1,366. Saratoga Speedway (figure 8), Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada – July 19 1,367. Alberni Motorsports Park (road course), Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada – July 20 1,368. Scotia Speedworld, Halifax (oval), Nova Scotia, Canada – August 1 1,369. Centre for Speed (oval), Grand Barachois, New Brunswick, Canada – August 3 1,370. Penticton Speedway (oval), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada – August 9 1,371. Penticton Speedway (road course), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada – August 9 1,372. Tri-Oval Speedway (inner oval), Fountain City, Wisconsin – August 22 1,373. Tri-Oval Speedway (outer oval), Fountain City, Wisconsin – August 22 1,374. Genesee Speedway (oval), Batavia, New York – August 23 1,375. Limerock Speedway (oval), Caledonia, New York – August 23 1,376. Wyalusing Valley Motorsports Park (oval), Wysox, Pennsylvania – August 24 1,377. Utica-Rome Speedway (inner oval), Vernon, New York – August 24 1,378. Hebron Fair (figure 8), Hebron, Connecticut – September 5 1,379. Shadybowl Speedway (oval), Degraff, Ohio – September 6 1,380. Beamsville Fair (figure 8), Beamsville, Ontario, Canada – September 7 1,381. Automotodrom BRNO (road course), Brno, Czech Republic – September 13 1,382. Lambrechten Stock Car Track (road course), Lambrechten, Austria – September 14 1,383. Sherman County Speedway (oval), Goodland, Kansas – September 26 1,384.Thirty-Five Raceway (oval), Frankfort, Ohio – September 27 1,385. Oakshade Speedway (oval), Wauseon, Ohio – September 28 1,386. Big Island Oval Track (oval), Hilo, Hawaii – October 11 1,387. Mountain Raceway Park (oval), Maryville, Tennessee – October 19 1,388. Tipperary International Raceway (oval), Rosegreen, Republic of Ireland – October 26 1,389. Waterford Raceway (road course), Dungarvan, Republic of Ireland – October 27 1,390. South Dakota Circuit (road course), Timehri, Republic of Guyana – November 2 1,391. New Jersey Motorsports Park – Thunderbolt Raceway (road course), Millville, New Jersey – November 9 1,392. The Guia Circuit (road course), Macau, Republic of China – November 16 1,393. Texana Raceway Park (oval), Edna, Texas – November 21 1,394. Gator Motorplex (oval), Willis, Texas – November 22 1,395. Grand River Speedway (outer oval), Urich, Missouri – November 23 1,396. Grand River Speedway (inner oval), Urich, Missouri – November 23 1,397. Grand River Speedway (figure 8), Urich, Missouri – November 23 . . . . You might have remembrances of the Grand River 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. Important. Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. Double click on a photo to begin the slide show or watch the photos at your own pace. Hover over a photo to read the caption. Photo Album: A great day at the Grand River Speedway 
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2008 (** not the first time to visit this track)
