Greetings from Topeka, Kanas
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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Heartland Park
Dirt off-road
Lifetime Track #732
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Heartland Park
Asphalt road course
Lifetime Track #741
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Heartland Park
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #1,071
I made my first two visits to the Heartland Motorsports Park back in 2004. The visits were a week apart. I first went to see racing on their dirt off-road course. Then I was back to see racing on their permanent asphalt road course. Two years later in 2006 I returned on July 3 to see racing on their more traditional dirt oval. . . Just click on the tabs to see what I was writing about back then. Of course there were the words about the racing itself. However, there were also predictions on how the 2006 trackchasing season was going to turn out. I went into some detail about my trackchasing expenses that were part of this trip. Trackchasing is not just about the racing itself. It also involves the logistics of getting from point A to point B without spending a fortune. There’s a lot to trackchasing and I love every bit of it. Reprinted with permission from my July 11, 2004 Trackchaser Report. . . . PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS Would anyone like to see NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon race against our own trackchaser, Andy Ritter? That’s not likely to happen since it would be difficult for Andy to compete with Jeff Gordon’s equipment and experience. Actually, in most sports it’s difficult or impossible for two people of differing abilities to have fun competing against each other. Fortunately, that is not the case with golf. . . I’ve spent a good deal of time helping my “non-racing” friends understand the game of trackchasing this season. Today, for those “racing” friends who are interested, I’m going to show you how two golfers of widely different abilities can enjoy their day on the course in a friendly match. . . If you want to know more about the United States Golf Association and how this group creates a level playing field for golfers please read below. . . First, let’s think about our dream race between Jeff Gordon and Andy Ritter. Let’s say these boys want to race on a one-mile racetrack. Jeff’s got a real hotrod with the Dupont sponsored Chevy and can average 180 M.P.H. That means he can complete a lap in 20 seconds. Even though Andy has some local sponsorship behind him he can only average 90 M.P.H. It takes Andy 40 seconds to complete a lap. Jeff Gordon drives around the track twice as fast as Andy does. How can we make this a fair fight? . . In a 100-lap race It would take Jeff Gordon 33.33 minutes to finish. We could give Andy a 50-lap head start. That way he could complete the remaining 50 laps in 33.33 minutes and it would be a real fight to the finish. However, we can’t do that. Trackchaser rules require that everyone start at the same time. . . Let’s give Andy some sort of advantage. Maybe we’ll reduce the weight of his car or give him a bigger engine or maybe Will White could increase Andy’s sponsorship dollars. Well, that’s what we do in golf. We give the less skilled player (Greg Zimmerman would say “slouch”) a few extra strokes to deduct from his final score. . . If you’re still with me so far the following is going to get into a little more detail. Pacific Golf members may want to hitch up their pants and try to understand this as well. . . When golfers go out to play golf they must play by the rules. That means they need to count ALL of their strokes. Remember, if you’re not playing by the rules of golf, you’re not playing golf. When you add up all of your shots, you have your gross score. Let’s say that total is 90. To start the handicap process you need to come up with an adjusted score. If your handicap in between 20 and 29, meaning you might normally shoot somewhere between 90 and 100, then the maximum score you can take on any hole is an 8. Let’s say in your hypothetical round of 90 you had one bad hole of 8 and a really bad hole of 10. You get to deduct the strokes you made that were greater than seven. In this case, you get to deduct three strokes from your score of 90. This is your adjusted score. Your adjusted score is now 87. . . As Guy Smith knows an 87 on a introductory business finance test is not as meaningful as an 87 on an advanced business statistics course. What I mean to say is that it’s not the same to shoot an 87 on an easy course, as it is if you shoot an 87 on a very difficult course. . . The U.S.G.A. uses both a course rating and a slope rating to give an indication about the difficulty of a golf course. The course rating is mainly linked to the distance of the course. The longer the course the higher the course rating. . . The slope rating is more closely tied to the golf course’s overall difficulty. If a course has a lot of bunkers, is hilly or has a lot of water in play, its slope rating will be higher. The average slope rating of a golf course in the U.S. is 113. A good local municipal course might have a slope rating in the low 120s. A challenging golf course will be somewhere between 130 and 145. . . So let’s review what we have here. First, we have a gross score of 90. Our adjusted score is 87. We’re going to assume the course rating is 70.0. Let’s also assume the slope rating for this course is 130. . . Now we have to decide just how valuable that adjusted score of 87 really is. Hang in there; it’s going to get bumpy. First you subtract the course rating from your adjusted score. Our course rating is 70. Well, 87 less 70 is 17. This 17 is your differential. It’s not really like a differential in racing but we could say it was. . . We’re going to take that differential of 17 and come up with a converted differential. How do we do that? First we divide the national average slope rating of 113 by the course’s slope rating of 130. That quotient (right, Guy?) would be .869. We’ll multiply 17 by .869 and the product (come on Guy, give me a high five!) is 14.77. Your converted differential is 14.77. . . Now we’re going to have you come back after you’ve played 20 rounds. You’ve done the math and come up with a converted differential for all of your rounds. Just to make it a bit easier for you, we’re not even going to count the worst 10 rounds you played. We’ll just take the average of the lowest 10 converted differentials you have. Too give you even more of a break we’ll multiply the average by 96%. Let’s just say that number comes out to 15.83. Your index is 15.83. Now, how much easier could this really be? Remember, your index is not your golf handicap. Some people think it is, but it isn’t. . . When you go to the golf course you’re playing for the day, you need to convert your index to a golf handicap for that course on that day. How in the world would you do that? Most of the heavy lifting is already done. You just take the slope rating of today’s course (we’ll say that’s 135) and divide that number by 113 (the national slope average). Again our quotient (I love saying that word) is 1.194. . . Now multiply your index, 15.83 by the 1.194. This would give you 18.90. We’ll round that number up to 19. Your handicap today is 19. You get 19 strokes. If your gross score is 90 you must subtract your handicap of 19 to get your net score. Your net score is 71. If you are playing metal play, also known as stroke play, the player with the lowest net score wins. You could also play match play. Match play will be a story for another day. This boys and girls is exactly the mental gymnastics that Gabe Gordon goes through each and every time he plays a round of golf. . . So just like we gave Andy a little help so he could compete with Jeff Gordon we’re going to give the less skilled golfer (Greg Zimmerman would say “sorry loser”) a larger handicap than the more skilled golfer. At the end of the day if both players play an average round for them they should end up tied based upon their different handicaps. That means that Gordy can play Allan and even though they may have different abilities the handicapping system provides a “leveling” effect. . . There’s one more bit of information you need to now about golf handicaps, just so you don’t lose the milk money mom gave you. Some players want to have the lowest possible handicap they possibly can even when it’s not earned. They’ll give themselves tricky downhill four foot putts that even Tiger Woods would sweat over. If they do this a few times per round then their handicap will be understated. As they say in the golf world, they “can’t play to their handicap”. Avoid this individual as a partner. . . Every coin has two sides. You’ll also run into folks who want to have as high of a handicap as they can reasonably get away with. They might mysteriously miss a few putts just to increase their scores so their handicap stays higher that it really should be. You should avoid these folks as friends because it’s not a good idea to associate with dishonest people. On a one-day basis only, they might be good to have as a partner I’ve never understood why someone would want to admire a golf trophy in their home that they won with an intentionally inflated handicap. . . Later on this week, I’ll go into some detail on what a golfer might do to improve their handicap. We’ll also talk about “golf welfare”. Please bear with me, it’s 98 degrees outside in Tulsa, I’ve got time on my hands and I’m not going outside in these conditions til the first heat is on the starting grid. . . P.S. Even though I’m a big Jeff Gordon fan I’d be pulling for Andy Ritter in this race of all time. . . . Omaha, Nebraska Airport – trip begins Columbus, Nebraska – 111 miles Urbana, Missouri – 569 miles Bolivar, Missouri – 609 miles Adrian, Missouri – 811 miles Nevada, Missouri – 857 miles Topeka, Kansas – 1,127 miles . . TRACK ADMISSION PRICES (U.S. DOLLARS): U.S. 30 Speedway – $0 Dallas County Speedway – $7 Bolivar Speedway – $10 (includes being able to park trackside and watch the races from inside my car. Adrian Speedway – $10 Nevada Speedway – $8 (maybe they were discounting the $10 advertised price since I arrived late) Heartland Park-Road Course – $15 . . RACING NEWS: I had seen the C.O.R.R. off road racing group one other time in Dresser, Wisconsin. That race was on an interesting course carved out of a hilly wooded area at a local ski resort. Today’s course was very similar to the M.A.O.R.A. “off-road” course that Roger Ferrell and I saw last month in Charleston, Illinois. . . By the way, congratulations to Ron Stubblefield of Marion, Illinois for submitting a faxed entry that most closely aligned to the description I gave of the road course at Charleston. Of all the faxed entries I received, his most closely matched the actual track layout. Ron, on his next trip to California, will be enjoying some fine In N’ Out hamburgers. Look for more contests where you can win cash and prizes. . . It was hot and it was windy. Since I got lost (see below) I didn’t arrive until 2 p.m. The races were scheduled to start at 11 a.m. with the last race starting at 3 p.m. They had seven or eight feature races to run. I was hoping they might no longer be charging admission by the time I arrived. They were. Fifteen post-retirement dollars down the drain. Can I just send in the $15 to trackchaser headquarters to be added to the annual trackchaser Christmas party fund rather than have to go to some of these races? . . There were not many people in the grandstands for this event. Let’s see, 98 degrees, extremely humid, very windy, lots of dust and no shade to be found. The American public is not as stupid as you (fill in the blank with conservatives/liberals) think. I would guess maybe 200 or 300 at the most. A large number of those folks were pit people who came over to the spectator grandstand when their car or truck was racing. The track was dry from the hot and windy conditions and the wind blew the dust directly into the stands. I’m glad Carol wasn’t with me for this race. . . The track layout used the Heartland Park dirt oval for a majority of the road course. The driver passed the traditional oval start/finish line, drove down the front straight and made a huge jump off the banking of turn one into a large flat area beyond the oval. Here they made a big u-turn before re-entering turn 2 of the oval with another large jump back onto the turn 2 oval banking. They then raced down through the oval infield over a couple of jumps before entering turn 3 of the oval and racing around both turn 3 and turn 4 of the oval. They hit one final jump at the finish line before starting the lap all over again. All in all, it was a very similar layout to the track in Charleston, Illinois. . . The announcer was a surfer dude. He wore surfer shorts and an aloha (it’s not called a Hawaiian shirt anymore) shirt and talked like a surfer dude. He told the crowd he was bummed that it was so dusty. He warmed to my trackchaser press release. Allowing that he had “never heard of trackchasing”, he talked about it with loud rock music playing in the background. Rick Schneider got some major press. He thought this was “an awesome hobby” and finished his dialog with an approving chuckle that seemed to say, “hey dude, this is awesome” as the rock music blared. Right arm, I mean right on, out of state, I mean out of sight Mr. Surfer Dude announcer. I think if we marketed this trackchaser stuff, we could take it to the World Wrestling Federation level. . . The racing itself was pretty good. I stayed for two features. The dust was not friendly to my cherry limeade, which was the definite highlight of the day in addition to the announcer. I saw the pro-lites and pro-fours. These trucks looked identical to the trackchaser banned western off-road racing group. Fortunately, these “off-roaders” are doing their thing in the safe confines of a Midwestern oval track rather than in the wide-open spaces of the western dessert where they were designed to race (said with dripping sarcasm). . . Overall, I hope I don’t have to go to very many more of these hokey “off-road” races. I will be back at Heartland Park for an SCCA event on their asphalt road course next Sunday. I can always use the afternoon to work on my tan. Chill, dude. . . . RACE TRACK FOOD: The temperature sign at the entrance to the track read 92 degrees. It was sunny and very windy. The only concession stand with food was the normal track location, which offered the usual boring track fare of hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, etc. The last C.O.R.R. event I attended in Dresser, Wisconsin with Ed Esser had a county fair atmosphere with all kinds of food choices. I passed on the food but had a customized 32 oz. “cherry limeade” drink for $4. It was outstanding. . . RENTAL CAR UPDATE: The National Rental Car Racing Buick Century had to go out of its way on a very hot day in Topeka. I had one set of directions to the track I planned to use. Before I got to my planned turnoff, a highway sign pointed out a different direction to the track. I decided to continue on the I-335 Kansas Turnpike with my original directions. Big mistake. The next exit beyond the exit I should have taken was 30 miles down the road. Can you believe a major toll road just five miles so of a large city like Topeka doesn’t have an exit for 30 miles? I thought about making a u-turn across the median even though road signs warned against doing this. I would have made the u-turn except I had a toll card that I thought would have shown the toll collector that I had originally been traveling in the other direction. I could have said I lost my ticket. Then I remembered that one small lie leads to a bigger lie, etc. It’s almost always best just to tell the truth right at the beginning. I drove the full 30 miles, the attendant allowed me to make a u-turn at the toll booth without charging me and I motored back another full 30 miles before getting to the exit for the track. I didn’t miss much at the track. It was probably better sitting in an air-conditioned rental car than the grandstands at the track for the hour I lost. . . . ED ESSER UPDATE: I’ll bet Ed Esser is at a track right now. The following section of this track report will focus on budgeting and taxation as experienced on a typical racing trip. We are all liable for paying federal and state income tax if we earn enough money. I thought it would be interesting to see how many and how much other taxes I would pay on an 11-day racing trip. I’m going to keep a spending diary during this trip. I’ll show you the kinds of things that a trackchaser might spend money on and the taxes associated with each purchase. The first number will be the amount spent in total on a particular expense and the second number will be the amount of tax paid. . . SUNDAY, July 11, 2004 Food – Subway – $6.64/$0.45 Race tickets – Heartland Park – $15.00/$0.00 Food – Heartland Park drink – $4.00/$0.00 Tolls – Kansas Turnpike – $6.85/$6.85 Food – Kicks 66 – $4.19/$0.21 Food – Spangles, Wichita – $6.78/$0.40 Race tickets – Park City Raceway – $8.00/$7.50 Lodging – Motel 6, Wichita, KS – $40.42/$4.43 Gas – Wichita, KS – $28.98/TBD Food – Quick trip drink – $1.37/$0.08 SATURDAY, July 10, 2004 Food – Hardee’s – $5.10/$0.41 Golf – Millwood Golf & Country Club – $53.25/$3.30 Food – Steak N’ Shake – $7.10/$0.44 Race tickets – Adrian Speedway – $10.00/$0.00 Food -Adrian track – $3.75/$0.00 Race tickets — Nevada Speedway – $8.00/$0.00 Food – Nevada, MO track – $4.50/$0.00 Hotel -Super 8, Nevada, MO – $50.47/$4.68 (state and bed taxes) Gas – Nevada, MO – $26.37/TBD . . . FRIDAY, July 9, 2004 Food – Subway – $6.09/$0.40 Golf – Shoal Creek driving range – $11.03/$0.73 Food – Steak N’ Shake – $9.41/$0.44 Gas-Kansas City, MO – $25.50/ Food – McDonalds – $1.08/$0.08 Race tickets – Bolivar Speedway – $10.00/$0.00 Lodging – Motel 6, Springfield, MO – $44.86/$4.87 . . . THURSDAY, July 8, 2004 Airfare – United Airlines – $75.00/0.00 – (Ticket re-issue, destination changed from Tulsa to Omaha, when my friends at Junior Raceway Park in Tulsa decided to stop racing on Thursdays) Airfare – United Airlines – $19.00/$19.00 – Airport security tax Miscellaneous – Skycaps – $3.00/$0.00 – (I’ll leave it up to them to declare this money on their income taxes.) Miscellaneous – L.A. Times – $0.50/$0.00 – (The airport used to collect sales tax on this type of purchase but no longer do) Miscellaneous – Delivery fee for Columbus Telegram – $2.00/$0.00 Food – Steak Escape – $8.49/$0.61 – (sales tax on food in Denver Airport) Food – McDonalds – $2.14/$0.14 – (food to go tax) Food – Ranchers Choice Café – $20.38/$0.93 Food – U.S. 30 Speedway – $3.75/$0.00 Food – Super 8 Motel vending machine – $1.50/$0.00 Lodging – Super 8 Motel-Columbus, NE – $48.30/$4.20 (sales and lodging tax) Randy Lewis That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average. . Since we’re in an election year, remember, when there’s not enough government someone will steal your strawberries, when there’s too much government, the government will steal your strawberries. **Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio, June 12 **Charleston Speedway, Charleston, Illinois, May 22 **Sunshine Speedway (oval), Pinellas Park, Florida, April 3 **Central Arizona Raceway, Casa Grande, Arizona, January 20 11-Jul Regular program Park City Raceway Valley Center, KS 12-Jul American Sprint Cars Tulsa Speedway Tulsa, OK 13-Jul American Sprint Cars Tri-State Speedway Pocola, OK 14-Jul Ken Schrader night Clarksville Speedway Clarksville, TN 15-Jul Thunderin’ Thursdays Music City Motorplex Nashville, TN 16-Jul Regular program Clay County Speedway Flora, IL 16-Jul Natl Modified Midgets Wayne County Speedway Wayne City, IL 17-Jul MAORA Off Road Soggy Bottom Raceway Greenup, IL 17-Jul Regular program Montgomery County Speedway New Florence, MO 18-Jul SCCA Regional Heartland Mtrspts Park Topeka, KS 18-Jul Regular program Thayer County Speedway Deshler, NE . . . . You might have remembrances of the Heartland Motorsports Park. 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. Reprinted with permission from my July 18, 2004 Trackchaser Report. PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS Not much people or travel news to report this morning. I would not recommend the Eastwood Motel in Columbia, Missouri, unless you like pinkish/purple sinks and baby blue showers. The clientele reminded me of what Ellis Island must have looked like in the 1930s. CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES: Omaha, Nebraska Airport – trip begins Columbus, Nebraska – 111 miles Urbana, Missouri – 569 miles Bolivar, Missouri – 609 miles Adrian, Missouri – 811 miles Nevada, Missouri – 857 miles Topeka, Kansas – 1,127 miles Valley Center, Kansas – 1,287 miles Tulsa, Oklahoma – 1,466 miles Pocola, Oklahoma – 1,752 miles Clarksville, Tennessee – 2,346 miles Nashville, Tennessee – 2,427 miles Wayne City, Illinois – 2,759 miles Greenup, Illinois – 2,865 miles New Florence, Missouri – 3,057 miles Topeka, Kansas – 3,295 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES (U.S. DOLLARS): U.S. 30 Speedway – $0 Dallas County Speedway – $7 Bolivar Speedway – $10 (includes being able to park trackside and watch the races from inside my car. Adrian Speedway – $10 Nevada Speedway – $8 (maybe they were discounting the $10 advertised price since I arrived late) Heartland Park-Road Course – $15 Park City Raceway – $8 Tulsa Speedway – $15 Tri-State Speedway – $12 Clarksville Speedway – $18 Music City Motorplex – $5 Wayne County Speedway – $5 Soggy Bottom Raceway – $8 Montgomery County Speedway – $12 Heartland Park-Road Course – Free . . . RACING NEWS: This is my second consecutive Sunday at the Heartland Park racing complex in Topeka, Kansas. Last Sunday, it was 92 degrees and I saw the C.O.R.R. Off Road sanctioning group. Today, it is only 84 degrees and I’m here to see the Sports Car Club of America. I arrived at 12:50 p.m. just in time to see the “race 1” cars taking the track. Granted the naming of race classes on little Podunk tracks is not terribly imaginative as in street stocks, hobby stocks, factory stocks, mini-stocks, etc. At least the different variations of stock cars is a bit more creative than the generic “race 1 group, race 2 group” monikers used by the SCCA. The Heartland Park Road Course is my 741st lifetime track. . . There will be five feature events today. I stayed for two, race 1 and race 2. Today’s races take place on a 2.03-mile road course. The terrain is flat. The main straight of the road course parallels the drag strip. From my grandstand position, I can see the entire track although parts of it are far away. I also have a clear view of the Heartland Park oval track. The oval track has been converted today into a motocross track with a layout similar, if not identical, to the road course for C.O.R.R. of last week. . . Each of the two races I saw had duration of seven laps. Group 1 is the closed wheel class. Group 2 is the open wheel class. The fast timer of group 1 toured the course in one minute and 23 seconds. The group two fast qualifier averaged around 96 M.P.H. that was the fastest time of all divisions. . . The Midwest division of SCCA runs at several road courses during this year. They include Hallet, OK, East St. Louis, IL, Pacific Junction, NE, Memphis, TN and here. The SCCA National headquarters building is just a couple of miles down the road from the entrance to Heartland Park. . . Reaching this track brings with it its own share of difficulties. Last week I was lost and ended up driving 60 miles out of my way. Today I came in on I-470 west, took the #177 exit, and then after paying my toll made an immediate right onto Topeka Avenue. The track is five miles down Topeka Avenue on the left. . . According to the track map at the race communications building, Heartland Park also has an off-road dirt track. I’m not sure what they might race on this. . . . RACE TRACK FOOD: Coming off my first stop of the trip at Burger King, I limited my racetrack food consumption to a Diet Coke and Art’s and Mary’s Hot and Zesty Home-style Tater Chips. The chips were so hot, I didn’t taste the zesty. . . . RENTAL CAR UPDATE: It’s been a while since I’ve driven a rental car more than 3,000 miles on a single trip. The National Rental Car Racing Buick Century still has dirt from Bolivar Speedway in the rain channels of its trunk. . . The following section of this track report will focus on budgeting and taxation as experienced on a typical racing trip. We are all liable for paying federal and state income tax if we earn enough money. I thought it would be interesting to see how many and how much other taxes I would pay on an 11-day racing trip. I’m going to keep a spending diary during this trip. I’ll show you the kinds of things that a trackchaser might spend money on and the taxes associated with each purchase. The first number will be the amount spent in total on a particular expense and the second number will be the amount of tax paid. . . Current cumulative totals through July 18 – $1,400.65/$152.18 MONDAY, July 19, 2004 Rental car – National Rental Car – $292.99/$69.72 SUNDAY, July 18, 2004 Burger King – $4.74/$0.29 Food – Taco Bell – $3.28/$0.26 Food – Perkins – $14.75/$0.61 Race tickets – SCCA @ Heartland Topeka – Free Food – Heartland Topeka – $3.00/$0.00 Gas – Hebron, Nebraska – $13.79/$3.09 ($1.94 per gallon) Tolls – Kansas Turnpike – $2.10/$2.10 Miscellaneous – Camera batteries, etc – $7.27/$0.46 Race tickets – Thayer County Speedway – $8.00/$0.00 Food – Thayer County Speedway – $1.50/$0.00 Lodging – Motel 6, Lincoln, Nebraska – $39.59/$3.60 SATURDAY, July 17, 2004 Food – China Buffet, Effingham, Illinois $6.59/$0.45 (Don’t eat here, these people should be deported) Miscellaneous – Wal-Mart – Voice Recorder for trip reports – $41.93/$2.47 Race tickets – Soggy Bottom Speedway – $8.00/$0.00 Food – Soggy Bottom Speedway – $2.00/$0.00 Race tickets – Montgomery County Speedway – $12.00/$0.00 Food – Montgomery County Speedway – $4.25/$0.00 Food – Steak N’ Shake – $8.67/$0.51 Gas – Columbia, Missouri – $27.76/$5.45 ($1.79 per gallon) Lodging – Eastwood Motel, Columbia, Missouri – $40.00/$0.00 . . . FRIDAY, July 16, 2004 Food – McDonalds – $4.32/$0.35 Golf – Hermitage Golf Course – $72.11/$6.11 Food – Famous Dave’s BBQ – $12.97/$0.69 Gas – Henderson, Kentucky – $26.14/$5.75 ($1.80 per gallon) Food – Shell – $2.52/$0.14 Race Tickets – Wayne County Speedway – $5.00/$0.00 Food – Wayne County Speedway – $6.75/$0.00 Lodging – Super 8, Effingham, Illinois – $49.29/$5.05 . . . THURSDAY, July 15, 2004 Food – McDonalds – $5.15/$0.43 Golf – Hermitage Golf Course – $52.44/$4.44 Food – Hermitage Golf Course – $6.00/$0.00 (a pimento cheese sandwich! Haven’t had one of those since our visit to Augusta) Food – Steak N’ Shake – $9.05/$0.60 Race tickets – Music City Motorplex – $5.00/$0.00 Food – Music City Motorplex – $6.00/$0.00 Food – BP station – $2.92/$0.34 Lodging – Red Roof Inn, Nashville, Tennessee – $46.26/$5.77 . . . WEDNESDAY, July 14, 2004 Food – Subway – $5.86/$0.47 Food – McDonalds – $5.45/$0.46 Food – Dairy Queen – $3.28/$0.29 Gas – Jackson, TN – $27.95/$5.85 ($1.89 per gallon) Food – Texaco – $1.52/$0.12 Race tickets – Clarksville Speedway – $18.00/$0.00 Food – Clarksville Speedway – $6.25/$0.00 Lodging – Red Roof Inn, Nashville, Tennessee – $46.26/$5.77 . . . TUESDAY, July 13, 2004 Food – Waffle House – $10.34/$0.71 Food – Citgo – $1.52/$0.13 Tolls – Muskogee Turnpike – $4.05/$4.05 Movie ticket – The Terminal – $5.00/$0.39 Gas – Ft. Smith, Arkansas – $25.82/$5.75 (state & federal gas taxes = $0.405 per gallon) – $1.79 per gallon Race tickets – Tri-State Speedway – $12.00/$0.00 Food – Tri-State Speedway – $3.50/0.00 Food – China City – $10.20/$0.21 Lodging – Motel 6, Russellville, Arkansas $35.35/$3.36 . . . MONDAY, July 12, 2004 All Star Driving Range, Wichita – $6.00/$0.00 Tolls – Kansas Turnpike – $1.60/$1.60 Food – Braum’s Ice Cream – $2.80/$0.21 Race tickets – Tulsa Speedway – $15.00/$0.00 Food – Tulsa Speedway – $9.00/$0.00 Food – Victorian Inn vending – $1.50/$0.00 Miscellaneous – Tulsa Speedway contribution – $3.00/$0.00 Lodging – Victorian Inn, Tulsa, OK – $30.15/$4.16 . . . SUNDAY, July 11, 2004 Food – Subway – $6.64/$0.45 Race tickets – Heartland Park – $15.00/$0.00 Food – Heartland Park drink – $4.00/$0.00 Tolls – Kansas Turnpike – $6.85/$6.85 Food – Kicks 66 – $4.19/$0.21 Food – Spangles, Wichita – $6.78/$0.40 Race tickets – Park City Raceway – $8.00/$0.50 Lodging – Motel 6, Wichita, KS – $40.42/$4.43 Gas – Wichita, KS – $28.98/$6.47 – $1.89 per gallon Food – Quick trip drink – $1.37/$0.08 . . . SATURDAY, July 10, 2004 Food – Hardee’s – $5.10/$0.41 Golf – Millwood Golf & Country Club – $53.25/$3.30 Food – Steak N’ Shake – $7.10/$0.44 Race tickets – Adrian Speedway – $10.00/$0.00 Food -Adrian track – $3.75/$0.00 Race tickets — Nevada Speedway – $8.00/$0.00 Food – Nevada, MO track – $4.50/$0.00 Hotel -Super 8, Nevada, MO – $50.47/$4.68 (state and bed taxes) Gas – Nevada, MO – $26.37/$5.02 – $1.85 per gallon . . . FRIDAY, July 9, 2004 Food – Subway – $6.09/$0.40 Golf – Shoal Creek driving range – $11.03/$0.73 Food – Steak N’ Shake – $9.41/$0.44 Gas-Kansas City, MO – $25.50/$5.04 – $1.78 per gallon Food – McDonalds – $1.08/$0.08 Race tickets – Bolivar Speedway – $10.00/$0.00 Lodging – Motel 6, Springfield, MO – $44.86/$4.87 . . . THURSDAY, July 8, 2004 Original airfare ticket – $0.00/$0.00 (earned by spending $15,000 on my Visa card) Airfare – United Airlines – $75.00/0.00 – (Ticket re-issue, destination changed from Tulsa to Omaha, when my friends at Junior Raceway Park in Tulsa decided to stop racing on Thursdays) Airfare – United Airlines – $19.00/$19.00 – Airport security tax Miscellaneous – Skycaps – $3.00/$0.00 – (I’ll leave it up to them to declare this money on their income taxes.) Miscellaneous – L.A. Times – $0.50/$0.00 – (The airport used to collect sales tax on this type of purchase but no longer do) Miscellaneous – Delivery fee for Columbus Telegram – $2.00/$0.00 Food – Steak Escape – $8.49/$0.61 – (sales tax on food in Denver Airport) Food – McDonalds – $2.14/$0.14 – (food to go tax) Food – Ranchers Choice Café – $20.38/$0.93 Food – U.S. 30 Speedway – $3.75/$0.00 Food – Super 8 Motel vending machine – $1.50/$0.00 Lodging – Super 8 Motel-Columbus, NE – $48.30/$4.20 (sales and lodging tax) Randy Lewis That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average. Since we’re in an election year, remember, when there’s not enough government someone will steal your strawberries, when there’s too much government, the government will steal your strawberries. **Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio, June 12 **Charleston Speedway, Charleston, Illinois, May 22 **Sunshine Speedway (oval), Pinellas Park, Florida, April 3 **Central Arizona Raceway, Casa Grande, Arizona, January 20 18-Jul Regular program Thayer County Speedway Deshler, NE . . . . You might have remembrances of the Heartland Motorsports Park. 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. Reprinted with permission from my July 3, 2006 Trackchaser Report. . . . GREETINGS FROM TOPEKA, KANSAS AND THEN MAYETTA, KANSAS . . Editor’s note: From time to time you will receive my Trackchaser Report a day or two after I actually visit the track. This is why you may see me out on the golf course the same day you receive a report talking about my trip to some faraway place. REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS!!! Before I get to today’s trackchasing news, it is time for my semi-annual trackchaser review and rest of the year predictions. Trackchasers from all over the world look forward to this special information. Some read it to see who has done well in the first six months of the year. Others read it to see my predictions for the balance of the year. So here goes! . . The base data comes from the time period from January 1, 2006 – June 30, 2006. The study was completed with all data posted by July 8, 2006. Of course, we can’t wait forever for anybody tardy in reporting his or her tracks. . . A few interesting tidbits………… . . This year’s top 10 has seen a combined 352 tracks, last year’s top 10 saw 342 tracks in the first half of the year. This is a 2.9% increase in tracks seen by the top 10. . . Only four of the worldwide top 10 career trackchasers rank in the top 10 for the first half of 2006. . . Of the six career top 10 trackchasers who are not in the current 2006 top 10, three do not report their tracks regularly. At least two of those people don’t see very many tracks anymore. The remaining three who do report their tracks have seen a combined total of just 21 tracks. There is strong evidence that as trackchasers “Mature” their production goes down. . . Two of this year’s 2006 top 10 were not even “Trackchaser eligible” at this time last year. Both Mike Knappenberger and Carol Lewis have added their lists to the trackchaser group during the last 12 months. . . THE RESULTS AND THE PREDICTIONS Here is my take on the current top 10 trackchasers and their chance for a podium finish in 2006. Pam is the first, and to my knowledge only, Ph.D. we have ever had in trackchasing. She is having a solid season after getting a 10th place finish in 2005, her best ever. The only real question is will Pam become the first woman ever to take a “Qualifying” trackchasing trip by herself. Again, to my knowledge, no woman has ever taken a trackchasing trip by herself, which includes staying overnight in a hotel, driving herself to the track and seeing a new track on that trip. It is rumored that other women are about ready to attempt such a trip. Who will be the first? Guy is one of the leading “Regional” trackchasers of all time. Most of his tracks come from the North American Eastern Region. By they way, I will soon have more information about the regionality of trackchasing. Guy is on pace for an average year and should be able to maintain a lower top 10 2006 ranking. He is one of the younger trackchasers in the career top 20. The only question is, “Will he be able to keep the leaders in sight long enough to use the advantage of his youth?” No chance for a podium finish this season. Roger is coming off three consecutive top 10 finishes during 2003-2005. His best ever finish was fourth. He won’t get that this year, but could improve his current position. Roger gets to some of the more unusual tracks, which can only confirm that he and his behind the scenes research crew, spend much more time with this hobby than they are willing to admit. I am still waiting for my first “Roger sighting” of 2006. This is Gordon’s first flirtation with the top 10 since a 10th place finish in 2004. The current career National Geographic Diversity leader has had a big year including seeing his 1,000th career track. Of the top trackchasers, Gordon gets out of his North American region more most do. Current records show that he spends just over 50% of his trackchasing time in the Eastern Region of North America. It’s unlikely that Gordon will get much higher than his current 2006 position, although he should easily hold onto a top 10 for the first time in two years. Paul is one of the brightest lights of the trackchasing newcomer crop. He along with Roger Ferrell and Roland Vanden Eynde are waging quite a battle in and around the top 20 spot in the career standings. At their current pace, they will all be hovering around positions 10-15 in just a couple of years. Paul’s season has been hampered by a broken foot. This will prevent Paul from bettering his fourth place finish of last year. I think there is a very good chance that Paul will improve his current annual ranking before the year is out. I’ve known this trackchaser longer than anyone else in the worldwide trackchaser group has. She is coming off a very strong 7th place finish from last year. I have some inside knowledge regarding her 2006 trackchasing plans. I suspect she’ll finish about where she did last year, maybe a spot higher. Of all the listed trackchasers who reside in the United States, she has one of the highest percentages of tracks seen outside of North America, trailing only National Speed Sport News’ Chris Economacki and sprint car star Steve Kinser. She may increase that percentage before the year is out. The clear cut “Rookie of the Year” is Mike Knappenberger! Earlier in the year, he was encouraged to submit his track list and become a full-fledged trackchaser. I hope that when he garners his “Rookie of the year” awards, he remembers those who supplied that extra nudge which allowed him to earn such well-deserved recognition. Mike is a motivated trackchaser and still has the advantage of grabbing the “Low hanging” fruit. I think Mike has an excellent chance of hanging onto a top five finish. Roland is coming off two consecutive third place finishes. Politics may play a part in Roland’s yearend finish as he is currently boycotting the United States. Nevertheless, I would expect another third place and podium standing effort from this Belgium resident. Roland is engaged in a voracious battle with Mssrs. Weisel and Ferrell and currently seems to be getting the best of it. Roland’s efforts should allow him to gain several positions in the worldwide career rankings over the next few years. Every time I look back, I see Ed Esser. This guy never seems to stop trackchasing. He is coming off five straight top four finishes or better, including a 2003 championship. I expect that Ed will once again top the century mark, which would be his fourth consecutive year, a record. I’m going to say that Ed will remain in second place for the third year in a row, also a record. It remains to be seen if his geographical driving circle (which is much bigger than anyone else who drives to tracks) will hem him in anytime soon. It may and it may not. If anyone can overcome the limitations of the GDC, it’s Ed. When I started the season, I had a specific amount of tracks I expected to get. I really have not deviated from that number. At this point, barring accident, illness or injury the number I have in mind should win the 2006 championship. At this point, I’m more concerned with getting my trackchasing days to equal my golfing days. So far, trackchasing leads golf 58-35. I still expect my two hobbies to be roughly equal by year’s end. All others Allan Brown, Comstock Park, MI – 16 tracks It’s somewhat difficult to keep track of which tracks are being counted and which are not. This aging superstar could still garner a top 10. Linda Thomas, Watford, England – 15 tracks Linda is a bright young face in the world of trackchasing. She may be a bit inexperienced to hang with these tour veterans for the entire year. Nevertheless, she has had a good year up to this point, especially considering her England location. Will White, Quakertown, PA – 15 tracks Continuing to operate on a Richard Childress (as a driver) budget, both time and money should keep the commissioner out of the top 10 for a second consecutive year. Bing Metz, Titamy, PA – 14 tracks I’ve never met Bing, but I have analyzed his traveling habits. Based upon where he has trackchased in the past, it looks like he has no geographical inhibitions. I would not count him out of a 10th place finish or better. Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada – 14 tracks This Englishman/Canadian started off like a ball of fire. Somewhere along the way that ball of fire, melted all the ice tracks he was visiting. No top 10 for the Rickster, but he still shares nice pictures. Norm Wagner, Bedford, Ohio – 12 tracks The enigmatic Mr. Wagner acknowledges his tracks in bunches. Heck, he may have several more than his current dozen right now. Probably not a top 10 finish, but who knows. Long shots Andy Ritter, Mansfield, PA – 9 tracks Andy will probably rest after being the youngest trackchaser ever (age 35) to see tracks in all 50 states after adding Utah last week. Some day a top 10 is in the cards for this rural Pennsylvania hot shoe. Andy Sivi, Clairton, PA – 5 tracks This guy could easily be in the top 10 if he wanted too. Andy is the former 2001 and 2002 trackchaser champion. Like I’m trying to balance trackchasing and golf, Andy is trying to balance the activities in his life and right now trackchasing is not a priority. It’s very difficult to make accurate predictions about the future. Actually, it’s nearly impossible. However, that’s no reason not to make predictions. This is all done in fun. I’ll be back with you after the first of the year, to let you know how everyone did. I WOKE UP IN FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS THIS MORNING. THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY. PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS The Strategy When we last talked, I was sitting dejectedly in the cockpit of the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala after learning there would be no figure 8 racing at the Windy Hollow Raceway in Owensboro, Kentucky. I needed to put Windy Hollow in my rearview mirror. However, I didn’t know which direction to drive in order to get that dilapidated excuse for a short track racing facility in my rearview mirror. . . You see, I had a number of strategic constraints to factor into my decision-making model. Isn’t that always the case? First and foremost, I have to be back in . The Fourth of July is the biggest day of the year in my hometown. They shoot the fireworks off the San Clemente pier at 9 p.m. every Fourth of July. We live only 500 yards from the pier. Carol, I, and our guests will be enjoying the evening on our roof deck when the first explosion goes off. . . We first moved to San Clemente in 1989 from Laguna Niguel, California. I have never trackchased anywhere on this special day since we’ve moved to San Clemente. It’s a family holiday. The last time I have even seen a race outside of California on the 4th was in 1985. That was a visit to the Peoria Speedway and a visit with my family. . . The dilemma today is that the only flight leaving St. Louis that will get me home in time on Frontier Airlines on the 4th leaves at 6:15 a.m. That’s going to be a tough flight to make after I go trackchasing on the evening of July 3. . . I really only have two choices. These are the distances from Owensboro (where I am now) to the proposed track and back to the St. Louis Airport. Madisonville, Kentucky – 297 miles Topeka, Kansas – 876 miles . . The obvious choice would be Madisonville because the driving distance is nearly 600 miles less. However, in the world of trackchasing (my world anyway), the obvious choice is not always the best one. Here are the factors I had to weigh before I could make my decision. Madisonville – pros and cons First, Madisonville is closer. Secondly, the rain probability is just 20%. Third, they will be racing my favorite class of cars, dirt late models. It’s even a UMP Summer Nationals event, which will draw many of the best drivers from all over the Midwest. Why would I even consider driving to Kansas? . . Here are a few reasons that I found to be important drawbacks to this choice. First, getting the Madisonville track would add just one track to my total. Getting a track in Kentucky would not add any National Geographic Diversity (NGD) points to my annual or career totals. Finally, even though I love dirt late models, the UMP Summer Nationals event a few days ago in Poplar Bluff was so bad, I don’t think I want to sit through more than 20 races in 95 degree heat to see these guys run a 40-lap feature. . . Topeka – pros and cons Driving to Topeka would give me another new state for the year. This would add too my annual NGD totals as well as give me several points toward the coveted NGD career total. There is also an opportunity to see another track, just 32 miles up the road on Monday night. . . Heartland Park races just 10 times per year. Almost all of their dates are Sundays. Seeing any track that races less than weekly is a better trackchasing strategic choice than seeing a weekly track. . . The downside to Topeka? It’s 876 miles of driving over the next 36 hours!! If I go to Topeka, I will have to drive all night in order to make my 6:15 a.m. plane on Tuesday, July 4. One more minor kicker, the rain forecast in Topeka is worse than Madisonville at 30% . . What was my decision? Like any good former corporate employee, I analyzed and evaluated my options. Then, I decided to try to get more information. Tonight, I would drive to the greater St. Louis area for the overnight. This would put me exactly five driving hours from each of my choices. In the morning, I would look at the rain probabilities for each location and make a final decision. . . The next morning the weather forecasts had changed. Madisonville’s rain chances had decreased from 20% to 0%. On the other hand, Topeka’s had increased from 30% to 40%! Weather.com called for 20% at 4 p.m. increasing to 30% by 5 p.m., increasing again to 40% by 6 p.m., and staying at that rate for the rest of the evening. The Topeka races started at 6 p.m. . . It should be pretty clear to just about everyone now. Madisonville was 600 miles closer and had a 0% chance of rain. Topeka was 600 miles further and had a 40% chance of rain. Pick Madisonville, Randy, pick Madisonville. . . It was 11 a.m. and I was still showering at my Super 8. I couldn’t make up my mind. I thought I would put it in the hands of God. My prayer request went up the chain of command and soon my question was answered. . . “Don’t bother me with trivial requests like this. You can decide if you want to go to Madisonville or Topeka,” a loud voice from above my third flour room boomed. “By the way, I’m glad to see you’re whipping those other trackchaser’s butts!” . . That was the word from above. I felt a little silly asking a higher power for help with my trackchasing dilemma. On the other hand, I’m glad to see that He/She is on my side. . . I picked Topeka. I’ve beaten 40% weather odds before. I’ll beat them again. I couldn’t pass up the chance to get two tracks. I couldn’t pass up those valuable National Geographic Diversity points. . . It would be a long drive back to the airport. I figured that if I got out of the second track by 11 p.m., I would have four hours and forty-five minutes of driving time. That would put it at 3:45 a.m. I needed to be returning my rental car by 5 a.m. in order to make airport security and my 6:15 a.m. departure. . . This would give me one hour and 15 minutes of “Free time.” I recorded the interstate rest stop locations on the drive out to Topeka. I have my cell phone alarm and portable alarm clock. I would stop in these rest areas and use my free time to doze for a few minutes. . . This is how the World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser makes decisions out in the field. It’s not a life for everyone, but it’s a life for me. The Trip The return trip from the Thunderhill Speedway to the St. Louis Airport was a tough one. I wouldn’t want to do this very often. This was my first night of the year on a trackchasing trip where I did not get a hotel. There wasn’t time. . . I left the track at nearly 11 p.m. My flight from St. Louis departed at 6:15 a.m. I had 320 miles to cover. There wasn’t much traffic and the weather was good. Normally, during the day, when I get sleepy a 12-minute power nap does it for me and keeps the schedule going. Tonight, I needed two Super Duper 30-minute power sleeps. Those 30-minute periods seemed like they lasted 30 seconds. . . I had an encounter with a drunk driver. He was driving his pick-up from one side of the road to another and nearly ran over me twice. I called 911 and tried to report him. I was transferred to two different police agencies and they didn’t seem all that concerned. I guess they figured that even though I could give an exact location, they would have a hard time finding him. I think people who do that should be locked up for a very long time. . . I pulled into the National Rental Car Parking lot at 4:50 a.m., ten minutes ahead of schedule. There wasn’t much activity (Duh!) going on at the rental car lot or the airport. I was one worn out trackchasing puppy! . . I garnered exit rows seats on both airplane rides, which allowed for a little bit of rest and relaxation. I ended up getting home at about 11 a.m., hitting the sack for some more sleep time. By the afternoon, we were grilling up a storm and getting ready for the fireworks display from the pier. It was nice to be home. . . . The People Not much happening on the trackchasing people front. I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July and didn’t eat too much pumpkin pie. RACE TRACK STATS: HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA (DIRT OVAL) – TRACK #1,071 – 7/3/06 & THUNDERHILL SPEEDWAY, MAYETTA, KANSAS – TRACK #1,072 – 7/3/06 These tracks were my 13th and 14th in the Jayhawk state. It was also my first visit for trackchasing this year in Kansas. This was my 26th trackchasing state of the year. . . I started the day tied for 11th place in Kansas. You may recall that anyone with a rank outside the top 10 gets 15 NGD points for that state. Trackchasers in a state’s top 10, get the same number of points at their rank, i.e., 5th place = 5 points. NGD points are like strokes in golf, the lowest score wins. . . With the addition of two tracks, I moved from 11th place (15 NGD points) to 8th place (8 NGD points). This was a huge NGD point day, a gain of seven points. I started the season only 29 overall NGD points out of the career lead. Ed Esser leads Allan Brown for the Kansas state lead 25-23. RACE TRACK NEWS: . . HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA (DIRT OVAL) I was somewhat disappointed in the Heartland Park Topeka Oval. This was the third time I’ve been to this facility. The other times found me watching the SCCA race on the asphalt road course as well as seeing dirt off-road machines racing on the dirt road course, which included a major portion of today’s oval. . . The heat was stifling. It was 96 degrees at race time. I had called the track and looked at their website, but there was no exact starting time to be found. I had read Ed Esser’s trackchaser report regarding his visit to the track a few weeks ago. At that time, the racing on Sunday started at 6 p.m. Tonight, being a holiday Monday night, the show would not end up starting until 7 p.m. even though I was in the parking lot at 5 p.m. . . The admission price was an astoundingly low five bucks. Where can you see four classes of stocks cars (including nearly 50 modifieds) for that price? They even allow use of credit cards. I wish more tracks did that. Then I wouldn’t have to carry so much cash. . . Many things didn’t seem to work just right at tonight’s track. First, it was a long walk from the parking lot to the grandstand. With the weather threatening, I imagined that walk back to the car in a driving rainstorm. . . I picked out a nice spot high in the grandstand for tonight’s viewing. I got my Sabo sponsored stadium seat all settled and sat down. I noticed something I have never seen before. There was a huge canopy, ten feet in length on all sides positioned directly behind the flag stand and occupying rows 5-10. I would later learn that the track scorers would sit here. The canopy blocked the view of spectators sitting above row five for several yards to both its left and right. . . The track’s radio communication was weak. That’s a rarity, I don’t know why. The announcer was young and read several pieces of information at length. That wasn’t very professional. The P.A. system could be heard much better back in the parking lot than in the grandstands. . . The concessions were overpriced with my cheeseburger costing $4.50 (normally about $3 elsewhere). A 16 oz. draft beer was four dollars. I guess these prices offset the low admission price and again I could use my credit card. Later in the evening, I went with one of the largest shaved ices, I’ve ever had at a cost of $4. . . Even though the western skies looked bad, they didn’t seem to want to rush the program along. They started hot lapping at 6 p.m. and ran about 15 sets of practice laps. Finally, at 7 p.m., they started their racing program. . . The track was a little damp. It became much damper after the sixth heat race, when the lightest of sprinkles came our way from the huge dark cloud overhead. That amount of rain was 1/50 the amount we had in Wheatland, Missouri two weeks ago. They stopped the races, put a few trucks on the surface, and were back racing within about five minutes. . . Tonight they ran 14 heats amongst four classes of cars including Super Stocks, Factory Stocks, Modifieds and Bombers. I liked the one spin and you’re out rule. In those 14 heats, there were only 4-5 yellow flags. With the exception of the modifieds, the racing wasn’t very good. It was fast and there were few battles for position. I watched most of the races from the turn three and four grandstand after the “Canopy fiasco.” . . Since I had now been to Heartland Park three times now, I opted for my 23rd trackchasing double of the 2006 season. This would be a Blended Double without a feature on the front-end. This is my fourth double of this type this year and first for something other than champ kart or Autograss type racing. . . THUNDERHILL SPEEDWAY The Thunderhill Speedway is a “Country” track. The fans looked a lot more rural than those at Heartland Park did. I saw a number of men wearing cowboy hats and cowboy boots. I left Heartland Park at 8:40 p.m. and pulled into the Thunderhill lot just 35 minutes later. . . Before I left Heartland Park, I phoned Thunderhill to confirm they were racing. There was rain in the air and I didn’t want to make the 32 mile drive for nothing. On the way out to the track, I drove through areas that had received a good amount of rain. . . When I arrived at Thunderhill, they were just starting their feature races. I paid my $8 senior admission price (Regular $10) and stood down in turn one for the start of the 15-car factory stock race. While they were restarting, I visited the concessions area. I picked up a bag of popcorn and bottled water for just two dollars. I told you it was a country track. . . This track charges if you bring a cooler into the stands. It’s three dollars if the cooler has one handle and five dollars if the cooler has multiple handles! The grandstands were huge and dark. The wooden stands were probably 25 rows high and ran the length of the front stretch. The washboard clay parking lot was enough to jar your fillings loose. I felt several creepy crawly bugs during my stay at the track. . . The track itself is a very high banked, self-cleaning half-mile dirt oval. The pit area sits beyond the backstretch. The parking lot is behind the main grandstand and the concession area sits off turn one. The entrance to the track runs along a 2-mile long gravel road. As you near the track on that gravel road, you drive within a few yards to turns three and four. . . Car counts weren’t great. This was a good track to see “Features only” like I was doing tonight. Following the 15-car Factory Stock feature was the Vintage car feature with just four cars. Those features were followed by the Pony Stocks with four cars as well and the Super Stocks with five cars. The final two races were for Hobby Stocks (11) and Modifieds (22). The small cars counts allowed them to run off the six features in just under 90 minutes. This was a perfect Blended Double with about 90 minutes spend at each track, seeing every car race and driving just 35 minutes in between. . . There were a few unusual happenings at Thunderhill tonight. There was no thunder but there was a good deal of lightning. The nighttime skies would turn white from lightning. The announcer had to comfort the crowd by telling us the lightning show was 15-20 miles away and we would get the full show in. We did. . . The concession stand reduced all sandwiches by 50% but I was too stuffed to take advantage. There were several fire works displays off in the distance that entertained the crowd. One feature-winning driver was named Travis Tenpenny. What was his car number? Ten cents. . . It was a great night to get a double. After driving nearly 700 miles for the day into threatening weather, I felt lucky to get what I did. . . . WEATHER CONDITIONS When I arrived at the Heartland Park Topeka racing facility it was balmy 96 degrees with corresponding humidity at 4:45 p.m. There was a partly cloudy sky that looked like it might bring rain, as predicted, in the not too distant future. This is pretty much the weather one would expect in this area at this time of year. . . . RENTAL CAR UPDATE: The National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala LT gathered a good deal of what looked like cement dust all the way back at the Poplar Bluff Speedway last Friday night. It never rained hard enough to clean that four-day-old dust off. I guess the boys and girls at National will have to take a little extra time with this one to get it back into rentable shape. . Thursday total driving miles – 155 miles Friday total driving miles – 381 miles Saturday total driving miles – 439 miles Sunday total driving miles – 537 miles Monday total driving miles – 451 miles Tuesday (after midnight on the way back to the airport) – 236 miles . . The driving portion of this trip covered 2,199 miles. I filled up five times. I paid an average price of $2.84 per gallon. The Chevy Impala gave me just 22.5 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 12.6 cents per mile. This less than normal fuel mileage was probably caused by my leaving the engine on with the air running when I arrived early to several tracks. It was worth it! The car cost only 7.1 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total. * Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list. Other notables These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total. Steve Kinser’s name has been removed from this list due to non-performance. 2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis #1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so. CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES: AIRPLANE Orange County, CA – Denver, CO – 780 miles Denver, CO – St. Louis, MO – 832 miles . . RENTAL CAR St. Louis International Airport – trip begins Eldon, MO – 155 miles Poplar Bluff, MO – 412 miles Indianapolis, IN – 790 miles Rushville, IN – 846 miles Mount Vernon, KY – 1,077 miles Owensboro, KY – 1,307 miles Topeka, KS – 1,848 miles St. Louis International Airport – trip ends – 2,199 miles AIRPLANE St. Louis, MO – Denver, CO – 832 miles Denver, CO – Orange County, CA – 780 miles Total air miles – 3,034 miles Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 5,233 miles . . . TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: Lake Ozark Speedway – $12.50 Poplar Bluff Speedway – $20 Indianapolis Motor Speedway – $20 ($10 to park) Rush County Fairgrounds – $8 Rock Castle Speedway – $10 Windy Hollow Speedway – $8 Heartland Park Topeka – $5 Thunderhill Speedway – $8 Total race admissions for the trip – about $91.50 Following this trip, I must return to San Clemente and help Carol prepare for her most exotic trackchasing trip of the 2006 season to date. She’s not going to pass Mike Knappenberger just sitting at the beach. . . Our next trackchasing trip will take us to the East. For security reasons, my trackchasing locations can be revealed to only the most loyal of trackchaser supporters. . . The East has been getting a lot of rain. I will pit my weather forecasting abilities (only one rainout day in the last 159 days of trackchasing with 241 tracks seen during this period) against the vaunted East coast. I will be traveling without a backup plan on several of the dates, so it will be a tough challenge. . . I know I’ve been saying this for a while now, but my good luck with the weather has to change. I’m going to more places where I don’t have much of a backup plan than I ever have before. Tonight was a real gamble driving almost 700 miles round-trip into a 40% chance of rain. . . I’m also in the midst of planning a trackchasing trip for our daughter Kristy and me. I’m looking forward to that. 1,000. Auburndale Kartway, Auburndale, Florida – February 10 1,001. Ocala Speedway (asphalt oval), Ocala, Florida – February 12 1,002. Speedworld Speedway, Surprise, Arizona – February 19 1,003. Lowe’s Motor Speedway (1/5 mile asphalt oval), Concord, North Carolina – February 25 1,004. Concord Raceway, Concord, North Carolina – February 25 1,005. Antioch Speedway, Antioch, North Carolina – February 25 1,006. Green Valley Speedway, Gadsden, Alabama – February 26 1,007. East Bay Raceway (inner oval), Gibsonton, Florida – March 17 1,008. Volusia Speedway Park West (1/6M oval), Barberville, Florida – March 18 1,009. Speedway Park, Fruitland Park, Florida – March 18 1,010. Sand Mountain Speedway (road course), Fort Meade, Florida – March 19 1,011. Anderson Motor Speedway, Anderson, South Carolina – March 31 1,012. Westminster Speedway, Westminster, South Carolina – March 31 1,013. East Lincoln Motor Speedway, Stanley, North Carolina – April 1 1,014. Margarettsville Speedway, Margarettsville, North Carolina – April 2 1,015. Sunny South Raceway, Grand Bay, Alabama – April 7 1,016. Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama – April 8 1,017. Coldwater Raceway, Coldwater, Alabama – April 8 1,018. Talladega Short Track, Talladega, Alabama – April 8 1,019. Ballymena Raceway, Ballymena, Northern Ireland – April 14 1,020. Oulton Park, Little Budworth, England – April 15 1,021. Somerset Rebels Banger Raceway, Rooks Bridge, England – April 16 1,022. Mendips Raceway, Shipham, England – April 16 1,023. Oval Raceway, Angmering, England – April 17 1,024. Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne, England – April 17 1,025. Southside Speedway, Midlothian, Virginia – April 28 1,026. Motor Mile Speedway, Radford, Virginia – April 29 1,027. Wythe Speedway, Wytheville, Virginia – April 29 1,028. Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point Circuit, Summit Point, West Virginia – April 30 1,029. Old Dominion Speedway – inner inner oval, Manassas, Virginia – April 30 1,030. Shenandoah Speedway, Shenandoah, Virginia – May 4 1,031. Bridgeport Speedway (inner oval – front), Bridgeport, New Jersey – May 5 1,032. Empty Jug, Hawley, Pennsylvania – May 6 1,033. Oakland Valley Race Park, Cuddebackville, New York – May 6 1,034. Thunder Mountain Speedway, Center Isle, New York – May 6 1,035. Motocross 338, Southwick, Massachusetts – May 7 1,036. Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, Fultonville, New York – May 7 1,037. Calumet County Speedway, Chilton, Wisconsin – May 19 1,038. Grant County Speedway, Lancaster, Wisconsin – May 20 1,039. Blackhawk Farms Raceway, Rockton, Illinois – May 21 1,040. The Milwaukee Mile (Road course), West Allis, Wisconsin – May 21 ** Angell Park Speedway, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin – May 21 (new track Carol only) 1,041. Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, South Dakota – May 25 1,042. Superior Speedway, Superior, Wisconsin – May 26 1,043. Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota – May 27 1,044. Canby Speedway, Canby, Minnesota – May 27 1,045. Crawford County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Denison, Iowa – May 28 1,046. Tri-State Speedway, Sisseton, South Dakota – May 29 1,047. Sheyenne River Speedway, Lisbon, North Dakota – May 29 1,048. Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, Pahrump, Nevada – June 3 1,049. The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada – June 3 1,050. Hibbing Raceway, Hibbing, Minnesota – June 6 1,051. Buena Vista Raceway, Alta, Iowa – June 7 1,052. Lebanon Midway Speedway, Lebanon, Missouri – June 8 1,053. Rocky Top Raceway, Coal Grove, Ohio – June 9 1,054. Midvale Speedway (oval), Midvale, Ohio – June 10 1,055. Midvale Speedway (figure 8), Midvale, Ohio – June 10 1,056. Spring Valley Raceway, Millport, Ohio – June 11 1,057. Rialto Airport Speedway, Rialto, California – June 17 1,058. Lawrenceburg Speedway (figure 8), Lawrenceburg, Indiana – June 20 1,059. Lawrenceburg Speedway (temporary oval), Lawrenceburg, Indiana – June 20 1,060. Thunder Mountain Speedway, Knox Dale, Pennsylvania – June 21 1,061. State Park Speedway, Wausau, Wisconsin – June 22 1,062. Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin – June 23 1,063. Lucas Oil Speedway (oval), Wheatland, Missouri – June 24 1,064. Lucas Oil Speedway (figure 8), Wheatland, Missouri – June 24 1,065. Tri-City Speedway, Pontoon Beach, Illinois – June 25 1,066. Lake Ozark Speedway, Eldon, Missouri – June 29 1,067. Poplar Bluff Speedway, Poplar Bluff, Missouri – June 30 1,068. Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course), Indianapolis, Indiana – July 1 1,069. Rush County Fairgrounds, Rushville, Indiana – July 1 1,070. Rock Castle Speedway, Mount Vernon, Kentucky – July 2 ** Windy Hollow Speedway (oval), Owensboro, Kentucky – July 2 1,071. Heartland Park Topeka (dirt oval), Topeka, Kansas – July 3 1,072. Thunderhill Speedway, Mayetta, Kansas – July 3 You might have remembrances of the Heartland Motorsports Park. 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.
GREETINGS FROM TOPEKA, KANSAS,
CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES:
Racetracks visited in 2004 (** not the first time to visit this track)
Planned new racetracks (on the last day of each racing trip I will post my tentative plans for my next trip)
GREETINGS FROM TOPEKA, KANSAS,
Racetracks visited in 2004 (** not the first time to visit this track)
Planned new racetracks (on the last day of each racing trip I will post my tentative plans for my next trip)
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2006 (** not the first time to visit this track)