Greetings from Radford, Virginia and then…
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Rural Retreat, Virginia
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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Motor Mile Speedway
Asphalt oval
Lifetime Track #1,026
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Wythe Raceway
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #1,027
Reprinted with permission from my April 29, 2006 Trackchaser Report.
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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. When I do I will commonly combine my observations from both tracks into a single Trackchaser Report. That is the case today.
GREETINGS FROM RADFORD, VIRGINIA AND THEN RURAL RETREAT, VIRGINIA
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PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
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The Strategy
When I hang up my trackchasing boxer shorts, I would like to be remembered as the trackchaser who brought strategic thinking to the sport. My idea of strategic thinking is very simple. I simply want to uncover every possible option that exists in the pursuit of my daily, weekly, monthly or annual trackchasing plan.
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When I know what ALL the options are, I can then decide which choices to make that allow me to increase my trackchasing totals in the most logistically and cost effective manner. That pretty much sums up my approach to trackchasing. It’s the same approach I have used in the financial planning side of my life for more than 30 years and that’s worked out well.
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Developing consistently good strategies is very similar to playing the odds. The more time the odds are in your favor the better you will do. It’s important to note that even though the odds are in your favor, you will not always have a winning strategy. Even when your strategy doesn’t work out, you will have that inner satisfaction of knowing that you did the best you could with the information at hand.
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Here’s how our strategy played out today. Part of it worked and part of it did not. Following Friday night’s racing, we drove two hours to get to our hotel in Waynesboro, Virginia. Waynesboro is home to the Eastside Speedway. This put us less than five miles from our Saturday morning track. We decided to drive the two hours on Friday night rather than Saturday morning because our body clocks were on West coast time.
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Our Saturday morning track (11 a.m. start time) was a bit iffy. The Eastside speedway was scheduled to race Senior Champ Karts on their asphalt oval. That was the only countable class for us. At their last race, only one champ kart showed up. We pulled into the track today and learned there were no champ karts racing on the Eastside Speedway asphalt oval at all today. Bummer! We also learned that the website’s statement that go-karts (and maybe champ karts) would be racing on the dirt track was a misprint. Like I said, a good strategy does not always work out.
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We now had three extra hours to enjoy the Virginia countryside as we made our two hour drive down Interstate 81 to Radford, Virginia for their 4 p.m. show. Following Radford, we had a decision to make.
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We could drive further south to Rural Retreat, Virginia. That drive was only 50 minutes and their program was not scheduled to begin until 7:30 p.m. Rural Retreat would put us almost five hours south of Charles Town, West Virginia. We needed to be in Charles Town no later than 10 a.m. on Sunday morning for their road racing show.
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On the other hand, we could travel north back to the Eastside Speedway following Radford for their evening sprint car show on their dirt oval. This option had a couple of drawbacks compared to going to Rural Retreat. First, it was a two hour and 15 minute drive from Radford to Eastside, compared to a 50-minute drive from Radford to Wytheville.
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Additionally, the Eastside program started at 6:30 p.m. an hour earlier than Rural Retreat’s 7:30 p.m. start. That meant if we chose Eastside over Rural Retreat we would see less racing. Of course, going to Eastside had a major plus. We could be back in our hotel by 10 p.m. or so with only a 2 hour drive to Sunday morning’s Charles Town location. It would be nearly a five-hour drive to West Virginia if we chose the Rural Retreat option. That would mean getting back to the hotel at about 1 a.m. and leaving no later than 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. We would be in the hotel for less than seven hours.
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Which option did I pick? Rural Retreat! I chose the Wythe Raceway for two reasons. First, we could arrive at the Wythe Raceway for the 7:30 p.m. start. If we had chosen Eastside, we would not have arrived at the track until 8:45 p.m., which was more than two hours after they started. We would be able to see the entire show at the Wythe Speedway if we chose too.
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The second reason we went with Rural Retreat was that it’s in a remote spot in the Southwestern corner of Virginia. I guess its name would tell you that! Eastside is a little more accessible to both Richmond and Washington, D.C. All else being equal, it’s always better to get the remote track now and the more geographically centered track later. Of course, that does not work out best 100% of the time but it’s good trackchasing strategy.
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By picking the Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Virginia, we will simply have to bite the late night driving trackchasing bullet. That decision is made a bit easier with Trackchasing’s First Mother being available for her share of the driving duties.
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The People
Part of the fun (a very big part) of trackchasing is to see all of the beautiful and unique spots that are hiding in the United States and the world for that matter. If you just go to the track and nothing else, you might as well stay home in my opinion.
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I noticed two very unusual things about Virginia. First, many of the folks have some of the most unique accents you will find in America. Second, much of the landscape is gently rolling hills. Those hills, even along the interstate, are dotted with very old farmhouses and barns. There was also a good deal of cattle grazing on the sides of these lush green pastures.
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We passed up all the chain restaurants to have breakfast at “Weasie’s Kitchen” (540-943-0500) in Waynesboro. If you visit Eastside Speedway or are passing through the area (I-64, exit 94) don’t miss Weasie’s. The food was O.K. but the ambience was small town old Virginia.
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The menu items were cheap and featured items I have either never heard of or have not heard of for a very long time. My favorite unusual item was “2 large pancakes with chipped beef gravy.” You could order that entrée for just $4.50. Chipped beef gravy as a side was 75 cents and for the budget conscious among us, sausage gravy was only 50 cents. I will buy your next meal at Weasie’s if you ever eaten pancakes with chipped beef gravy before. Heck, I will even give the restaurant a RANLAY Racing Money Back Guarantee. The guarantee would be for the ambience not the food.
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Eating in a healthy manner is difficult when I’m out on the road trackchasing. I always have a plan to eat salads and fruits, but the plan usually fails. Below is a list of foods I ate today. By the way, Carol ate much of the same thing, only with smaller portions.
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Breakfast
Fried bologna with two fried eggs, hash browns, corn bread and orange juice. Carol had eggs, sausage, grits and a biscuit with coffee.
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Bookstore
Bought four white chocolate key lime Almond Joy candy bars. Hey, they were only 25 cents each, although the sign said you could buy 4/$1.00. No, you cannot put anything past these Virginia Tech engineers. We shared just one of the candy bars.
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Pre-lunch (at Virginia Tech)
I had spaghetti with red sauce and Carol had a small Caesar salad. I had a large Diet Coke and she went with Snapple.
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Lunch (at the track)
Peanuts (brought from home), corn dog nuggets and diet Pepsi. I have never in my life eaten “Corn dog nuggets” (you have to get your vegetables where you can find them!). These were shrunken two-bite size corn dogs fried in grease until the batter couldn’t absorb any more. Carol shared in the above, but also had popcorn. By the way, I tried to buy a draft beer but I didn’t have a “Beer bracelet” and was too lazy to go back to the front gate where they were being dispensed to get one.
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Gas stop
I went with a 22 oz. blueberry Icee. Carol observed that this tasted like drinking syrup directly from the bottles used to make sno-cones. I told her that’s why I liked it! Carol went with coffee.
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Water stop
All of the above made me thirsty. I pulled into a 7-11 to get us both a bottle of water. Of course, sitting next to the cashier was a Krispie Kreme display. I picked up a chocolate iced, cream filled delicacy for 72 cents. I could have bought three for the price to two, but I thought I showed great restraint.
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Dinner (at the track)
There were two new menu items at “P.J.’s concessions.” I bought them both. The first was the “Quarter pound hillbilly” sandwich. It featured a quarter pound of friend bologna (my second helping of bologna today), with melted cheese on a sesame seed bun. By the way, even though we grew up poor, we always called folks poorer than us “Hillbillies.” The second new menu item, strawberry swirl cheesecake, supplemented my sandwich that I shared with Carol. The Cheesecake Factory is an excellent chain eatery in Log Angeles and other parts. The Wythe Speedway’s cheesecake would give the Cheesecake Factory a run for its money.
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So, there you have it. There might be a few hidden calories in the above. However, I think I was adhering to a successful nutritional theory, “Eat a little and eat often.” These food choices may not have had too much fiber or anything else of much nutritional value. I’ve always had this theory on eating right. I’ll wait until I have my first heart attack. If I survive it, I’ll clean up my act. Surprisingly, I have blood pressure of 110/64 and a cholesterol level of about 150. It will probably be something else that gets me.
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By the way, I have absolutely no idea why I’ve been gaining weight!
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The trip
We had three unexpected free hours to explore Virginia because of the missing in action champ karts at Eastside. I can’t wait until I’ve seen so many tracks that I can’t fill BOTH afternoon and evenings with new tracks. I’m not there yet. When I do get there, it will leave even more time to see the local sites.
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While I worked on my laptop, I instructed/asked Carol to be on the lookout for interesting things to do while she drove. It’s a big plus to have her on the trip for her driving assistance among a list of other plusses too numerous to mention.
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I happened to look up for a second to see the exit sign for Blacksburg, Virginia. Blacksburg is home to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University aka Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech was also home to veteran Trackchaser Report subscriber, Leon Jones during his younger days. Long-time readers might also remember I stopped by Virginia Tech during a trackchasing trip a few years ago to see them play Syracuse in their football stadium.
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There was no football today, but it was a gorgeous spring day. Carol and I decided to take a walking tour of Virginia Tech. We parked at the football stadium. It’s at the far end of the campus.
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Carol and I graduated from Northern Illinois University. NIU has one thing in common with Virginia Tech. On a warm, clear and sunny spring day, the young co-eds come out for their first dose of spring sun. This meant there was an abundance of bright white skin to be displayed. Since I was with Carol, I will have no pictures to document this phenomenon. You’ll just have to trust me. I don’t know how many days VT gets like this one, but they were far and few between during our days at NIU in DeKalb, Illinois.
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The campus buildings are beautiful although Carol felt they might have been designed by too many engineers. Most of the buildings featured a white stone exterior. It’s difficult to say how old they are because it looks like they kept with the same exteriors for both their old and newer buildings.
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I was particularly impressed with the arches at the basketball arena. We also lunched in student union, which is named Squires. A required stop on all campus tours is the book store. Since I bought a VT t-shirt during my first visit, we just browsed and bought post cards. I have never seen any college bookstore with more logo items in my life.
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The cashier told us, “Everything with ‘Virginia Tech’ on it is twice the price, or more, of what it should cost. I buy all of my ‘Virginia Tech’ stuff at Wal-Mart for half price.” This didn’t seem like a very loyal employee to me so I summoned the store manager and turned him in. No, I didn’t! Just kidding. We did appreciate his candor.
RACE TRACK STATS:
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MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY, RADFORD, VIRGINA – TRACK #1,026 – 4/29/06
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This was my 10th track to see in Virginia. It was Carol’s third track in the Cavalier state.
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WYTHE RACEWAY, WYTHEVILLE, VIRGINA – TRACK #1,027 – 4/29/06
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This was my 11th track to see in Virginia. I have jumped past Eleanor Weidman’s 10-track total and am now tied with Virginia Schuler for 19th place in the state standings. This was Carol’s fourth track to see in the state. Guy Smith leads the state with 43 tracks.
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RACE TRACK NEWS:
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MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY
The Motor Mile Speedway is a very modern high quality half mile asphalt oval. Think Bristol and shrink it just a bit and you have the Motor Mile. This area of the country (North Carolina/Virginia/Tennessee) has the best asphalt short tracks of anywhere in the world.
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I have previously mentioned that I will spend about 20 dollars extra on gasoline on this trip due to increasing gasoline prices. I’ve been looking to get that money back somewhere along the line. I saw my chance near the ticket window of the Motor Mile Speedway.
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Frequently, there will be people selling tickets, actually re-selling tickets, near the ticket booth of large events. That was the case today. I am professionally trained to spot these people. I came across a man selling what was obviously a “Promotional” ticket. This is a ticket typically given out by sponsors to their customers or VIPs. The general admission price today was $15. The gentleman I ran into only wanted 10 bucks for his ticket.
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I could see a track employee strongly admonishing another young man just a few feet away for selling these promotional tickets on speedway grounds. I knew it would not be long before my seller was hauled away as well. I quickly closed the deal with him for 10 bucks for the one ticket. At least I had gotten back five dollars of the twenty I needed to stay even with the gas price increase.
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Just at that moment, a track employee walked up to a gentlemen standing near Carol and I. She had a promotional ticket in her hand and asked the man if he needed a ticket. No, he didn’t. I quickly stepped into the conversation and soon Carol was being given this promotional ticket for free! We were told by the track employee never to buy one of these tickets from anyone selling them at the track. That might have been good advice (probably not) but we now had two tickets for a cost of $10 (retail value $30). It’s all good.
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We arrived at the track at 3:30 p.m. for their 4 p.m. start. They were qualifying the late models for their 150-lap feature. They will be running features only today. I love that!
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We saw four feature races including the Mini-cups (15 cars/25 laps), Street stock type cars (10 cars/30 laps), Mini-stocks (14 cars/30 laps) and trucks (9 cars/50 laps). Following these four races, we went down onto the track for a “Meet and greet” with the drivers who would be contesting the 150-lap U.A.R.A. late model stock car feature.
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It was now 6:30 p.m. and time to leave for our evening track that was less than an hour away. We did not stay for the late model feature, which to most was the main event of the day. I am sometimes criticized (hypocritically in my opinion) for not staying for every race or in some cases the main race.
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It’s important to note that I am not in trackchasing for the quality of the racing. Of course, I would rather see good racing than bad racing, but this is not a requirement. I was here to see the track and some countable racing. We saw four feature events contested over 140 laps and four divisions. If I felt like I was missing something I can always go back to the Motor Mile Speedway, but I doubt I ever will.
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Trackchasers are all very much the same. If the very best racing was happening across the street and a new junk car/champ kart/figure 8 race or whatever was happening 200 miles away, you would likely find the trackchaser driving that 200 miles to see a five minute new track countable race. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. That’s why we call this hobby “Trackchasing” and not “Racechasing.”
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The amenities at the Motor Mile Speedway were generally very good. The only bad thing was a poor P.A. The track also had a drag racing event going on today. The drag strip runs parallel to the backstretch but in the opposite direction. The sights and sounds of the drag strip were very noticeable from the grandstand seating area.
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The stands themselves are wide concrete slabs. They are painted in a black and white checker board pattern. This is a NASCAR Dodge Weekly series track, which means it’s pretty much top shelf for a short track. The cars are all pitted in the infield (which I like) and we could see the backstretch well even though the racecar haulers were in the pit area.
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All in all, a very enjoyable late afternoon at a quality asphalt oval. We were lucky to catch the track when they had an unusual 4 p.m. starting time. They normally race in the evenings.
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WITH
WYTHE RACEDWAY
First of all, the Wythe Raceway is pronounced like the word “With.” I’ve been mispronouncing it in my mind for an entire week. Tonight was their first race of the 2006 season. They were rained out in their opener last week. Tonight the weather was cool, but clear.
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The track had a huge crowd. This meant their rural parking lot would be stretched to the limit. We pulled in at 7:30 p.m., their scheduled start time. We forced to park in the far back of the lot.
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The track’s racing surface was located some 6-8 stories below the level of the grandstand. The only other track I have ever seen like this was the Beckley Speedway in Beckley, West Virginia.
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The pitch of the grandstand was extremely steep. It seemed even steeper when the track was so far below. It someone was to fall down the aisle they would not stop rolling until they landed on the front stretch!
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As noted above we had the Hillbilly sandwich and strawberry swirl cheesecake. You won’t find these items on very many track menus anywhere in the country. They were very tasty.
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The announcer had been announcing at the track for some 36 years. He was southern. Actually, he was of the southern hillbilly variety. Since this was the first night of the season, he kept telling the crowd that this driver or that one was not in “His catalog.” I think he meant program. That seemed like a strange way to put it.
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The track runs a features only program. This seems popular in this part of the country. All five of the countable tracks we saw on this trip ran “Features only.” I would much rather see a 10-20 car class run a 20-25 lap feature than see meaningless 5-8 car heat races and then a 15-lap feature. I’m not sure if the competitors like it, but for the spectator it’s great. Maybe that is why the crowds at the three ovals we’ve visited up to know were way above average. I’m sure the $7 admission price helped the Wythe Raceway fill the grandstand. Wythe had the most young people and children that I’ve seen in a long time. This demographic seems to come with small towns.
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All of the cars and race car haulers were parked in the oval’s infield. I have never seen so many open trailers recently anywhere. There must have been nearly 100 racecars here tonight. I would guess there were no more than 10-15 enclosed trailers in the entire pit area.
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I liked the racing at Wythe except for the fact they went to super late model time trials at 9:45 p.m. Many southern tracks do this and I don’t care for it at all. We saw the pro modifieds race 12 cars for 20 laps and the crate late models run 23 cars for 30 laps. The late models were fast, but had a caution flag about every two laps. This really slowed things down.
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This track is fast and reminds me of Eldora. I would love to see the high dollar late models run here. I might actually come back to this track some day to see that type of competition.
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CAROL’S COMMENTS
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MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY
This was a mini-NASCAR track. It was great. I liked the black and white checkered flag look of the concrete slab seating area (that was pretty cool looking). The “Meet and greet” session where we got to go down on the track was neat. There wasn’t much passing in the races we saw. It was too bad the announcer’s voice was drowned out when he did your track chaser mention.
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WYTHE SPEEDWAY
This was the largest dirt track I’ve even seen (it was very long and somewhat narrow). The track was in a deep, deep pit. This was great for viewing. I loved being able to see the top and sides of the cars when they drove down the front stretch. Our row was very active with people moving in and out (the grandstand was so steep, people would never stop rolling if they slipped forward off the bleachers). There was a good amount of passing during these races.
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WEATHER CONDITIONS
The weather remained gorgeous. It’s sunny with nary a cloud in the bright blue skies. It’s cool, but not too cool during the day with a high temperature of 68 degrees.
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RENTAL CAR UPDATE:
The National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala LT is filthy. We’ve been in some very dusty parking lots and there has not and will not be a drop of rain this weekend. It’s a comfortable car, but I still prefer Pontiac Grand Prixs.
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LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.
- Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York – 1,039 (+12)
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,027
- Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-6)
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,014 (-13)
- Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (-20)
- Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 998 (-29)
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Other notables
These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.
- Spike Rixon, Watford, England – 251 (+10)
- Virginia Schuler, Allentown, Pennsylvania – 248 (+7)
- Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana – 246 (+5)
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 241
- Don McAuley, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – 235 (- 6)
- Andy Ritter, Mansfield, Pennsylvania – 235 (- 6)
- Colin Casserly, Stevenage, England 232 (-9)
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2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 36
- Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 26
- Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 18
- Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 18
- Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 13
- Linda Thomas, Watford, England – 12
- Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 12
- Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 11
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 11
- Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada – 9
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 9
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Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
America’s #1 European Trackchaser
That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, all of the children are above average and the real estate prices are way above average.
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CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Long Beach, CA – Washington, D.C. – 2,270 miles
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RENTAL CAR
Washington, D.C. Dulles Airport – trip begins
Midlothian, VA – 135 miles
Radford, VA – 395 miles
Rural Retreat, VA – 445 miles
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TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Southside Speedway – $10
Motor Mile Speedway – $10
Wythe Speedway – $7
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
It’s Virginia baby!
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RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2006 (** not the first time to visit this track)
- Watermelon Capital Speedway, Cordele, Georgia – January 14
- Cross Roads Motorplex (asphalt oval), Jasper, Florida – January 15
- Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia – January 20
- Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California – January 21
- Oregon State Fair & Expo Center, Forster Livestock Arena, Salem, Oregon – January 28
- Morosso Motorsports Park, Jupiter, Florida – February 4
- Thunderbowl Speedway of Ocala, Ocala, Florida – February 4
- Cross Roads Motorplex (dirt oval), Jasper, Florida – February 5
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 Raceway, Rural Retreat, Virginia – April 29
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You might have remembrances of the Motor Mile Speedway or the Wythe Raceway. 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.