Mountain View Speedway

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

Welcome to Boone, North Carolina.

I woke up this morning in Norton, Virginia. I went to sleep in Boone, North Carolina. Tonight I would trackchase in Boone seeing my 2,077^th lifetime track at the Mountain View Speedway. This is how the day turned out.

 

 

Boone is a town of about 17,000 residents located in Watauga County and home to Appalachian State University. The town is named after explorer Daniel Boone. Appalachian State is the largest employer in town. Evangelist Franklin Graham, son of the famous evangelist Billy Graham lives in Boone.

 

 

No self-respecting retiree should have to do this…unless they want too.

I started my day with a 7:30 a.m. Eastern time zone wake up call. No one who is retired, on vacation and recently acclimated to the Hawaiian-Aleutian time zone should have to do that.

 

 

Don’t pay for what you don’t get.

This morning I discovered that the safe in my Super 8 motel room, for which I was being charged a dollar a day, did not work. Subsequently I found that the rate they were charging me when I checked in was not the rate that I had booked online.

 

 

Of course I felt it was my duty to bring these “outages” to the attention of the checkout clerk this morning as I checked out. The young early 20 something tattooed woman seemed overwhelmed by what it would take to make this right. A long line of departing customers ensued behind me. It took just about all of the intellectual brain cells this woman had to almost handle the situation.

 

 

Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.

Next I was off to my second visit of the trip to the Hardee’s restaurant located next door to my motel. I had been in here yesterday for a quick snack. I had hoped for a local recommendation of a walking route nearby. There was no one in the restaurant except for the four female employees and me.  

 

 

When I asked these four mental giants where I might be able to do a power walk without fear of being run over they looked as if I just tasered each one of them. One young lady suggested I walk along the four-lane highway out in front of the restaurant. I mentioned this might be a dangerous activity. She seemed to think about that for a moment and nodded her head, “Yes it would be”.

 

 

Finally a Trackchasing Tourist Attraction.

I have not had much time for trackchasing tourist attractions on my trips lately. That changed today. I would have time for a round of golf at the Boone Golf Club in Boone, North Carolina.

 

 

Boone is “up in the mountains” of North Carolina. The elevation is 3,333 feet. They get snow in Boone and have several ski operations in the area.

 

 

Buying good stuff cheap.

I will only play high-quality golf courses. I have preached many times that I don’t want to buy cheap stuff cheap; I want to buy good stuff cheap. That goes for golf clubs, golf balls and golf courses. It doesn’t cost much more to go first class.

 

The Boone Golf Course.

The Boone Golf Course was constructed all the way back in 1950. They’ve had a lot of rain in North Carolina recently. The course was green and lush.

 

 

I like to arrive at the golf course at least 45 minutes before my tee time. That allows for a leisurely amount of time to become acclimated with the clubhouse, driving range and putting green. When I arrive later than expected, like I did today, there is not enough time to get loose and relaxed.

 

 

Good yesterday; not so good today.

The day before at a driving range in Tennessee I had one of the very best practice sessions I have ever had. I was expecting good things at the course today. Unfortunately my play was disappointing shooting a 45 on the front nine and a 41 on the back nine for an overall score of 86.

 

 

Managing expectations.

Lots of people would be very happy with that score. However, I had hoped to break 80. Much of golf mirrors life. In golf most players have misaligned expectations. That can happen in life too. I was expecting to do better today. I didn’t. I was disappointed. Nevertheless, this was only a practice round. I’m playing golf in North Carolina in preparation for my college fraternity golf outing in Las Vegas. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

 

 

Hello, my name is Randy.

During my business career I spent a good deal of time meeting people for the first time. I quickly learned had to strike up a conversation with folks I had just met about one thing or another. I did that for 30 years. I think I’m pretty good at it.

 

 

One of the nice things about golf, when I travel, is that I am paired up with fellow golfers whom I have never met. I like that aspect of golf. Some don’t.

 

Let’s think about this for a moment.

That’s right. Let’s think about this for just a moment. When you go to the movie theater the theater operator doesn’t say “We’re going to have you sit with Joe and Mary (whom you have never met) for the next four hours. You’ll be able to talk to them about the movie as you go along and enjoy the movie together.” No, they don’t do that at the movies.

 

 

Golf is different. When you show up at the course as a single, like I did today, you are more than likely going to be joined up with other golfers. You might be “paired” with 1-3 additional players. If the number is three it might be a threesome of folks who already know each other or three singles or whatever.

 

 

Let’s meet the locals.

That was the case for me today. I was joined by two other players. One fellow was a long time resident of Boone and a high-ranking official at Appalachian State University. Due to confidentiality requirements I will not identify his position. The other fellow was a young college student attending Appalachian State. The youngster was a fantastic golfer.

 

 

Both gentleman were extremely polite and well mannered. That often comes from the south. The younger man was quiet and constantly called me sir. That often comes from growing up on a golf course and being from the south.

 

 

Professional grade.

I’m going to guess the young man shot about even par. I asked him what his what is golf handicap was? He told me “plus one”. Plus one is on the professional side of the handicap scale. I would be classified currently as about a -12. At my very best I was a -5. Had I been playing a match against the younger golfer he would have had to give me 13 shots (+1-12) to make the match fair. Sometimes I think I should give those Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers a bit of a handicap so they can keep up.

 

 

We all had an enjoyable round of golf. It was nice playing with these two because they were both familiar with the course. When we tapped in our last putts on the 18th green we did what all respectable and etiquette knowing golfers do. We removed our hats shook hands and thanked each other for a great afternoon of golf on a quality public golf course.

 

 

Situated perfectly.

Logistically today I was in really good shape. I played golf in Boone, I would be trackchasing in Boone and my hotel was in Boone. That probably happens less than 1% of the time when I’m out on the long and dusty trackchasing trail.

 

 

It was about 4:30 p.m. I elected to drive straight to the track rather than check into my hotel following golf. I figured I would take a look at the track and then drive back into town. I would have dinner at a Mexican restaurant my golfing partners had recommended.

 

I did have a significant concern.

There was one bit of concern that had me worried. The weather! Rain chances were nearly 60% for 6 p.m. The weather radar with lots of green in the area looked bad. I was thinking the races began at 7 p.m. It looked as if the rain was going to hit just before race time.

 

 

You don’t look like you’re from around here.

I must be one of those guys who “looks like he’s not from around here”. I get that EVERYWHERE I go. How can that be? I must be from somewhere right? Why do I mention that? Read on.

 

 

I found the racetrack easily by plugging in “High Country Fairgrounds” into my Waze GPS system. The racetrack at the fairgrounds is now called the Mountain View Speedway. However, since this is the first year of it’s new existence I didn’t think my GPS would pick up that name.

 

 

This was an extremely rural location. They last raced at this facility 17 years ago. The racetrack portion of the fairgrounds reopened in 2015. Tonight was their third Saturday night of racing.

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

Mountain View Speedway – Boone, North Carolina

 

 

Hello ladies.

I pulled up to the pit shack and lowered my driver side window. Two very attractive southern ladies greeted me. I said hello and before I could say anything else they replied, “You must be the trackchaser from California!”

 

 

Were these girls trained in mental telepathy? I was driving a car with a Maryland license plates. I had a Honda baseball hat on. There were no outward identifiers that I might be from the Golden State.

 

 

Apparently they had been expecting me. Of course I expected the folks at Mountain View to expect me. Why was that? I had met the track promoter, via a telephone interview, a few years ago.

 

 

Let’s meet the track promoter.

I’m talking about Mike Budka Jr. You may recall that Mike did an interview with me on his internet radio program a few years ago. At the time he was located in Florida. Since that time Mike has been on my email distribution list. He’s been receiving my Trackchaser Reports and keeping up with my hobby.

 

 

Mike is originally from upstate New York. He’s a real racing fan and has been in the race promotion business on and off for many years.

 

 

Mike emailed me over the winter telling me that he had gotten the promotional rights for the Mountain View Speedway for this coming year. I couldn’t tell anybody about this news. Why? I have a personal policy of not recommending things that I have yet to try.

 

 

The competition.

There were a couple of eastern-based trackchasers who attended the track’s the track’s opening night two weeks ago. That was good news for me. I found it refreshing that I might not have to run into those people when I trackchased at the Mountain View Speedway. Although they provided only a bare-bones summary of their visit to Mountain View I’ll give you all the details you need to know to really have a good time at the place. If you come to Mountain View Speedway I’m sure you will have fun.

 

 

Hello Mike; I’m Randy.

I was soon able to introduce myself to Mike Budka Jr. This was the first time we had met personally. It was nice to finally meet the person whom I had talked to on the phone and corresponded with over the Internet. Mike was glad to have me in the house and told me I had the full run of the place.

 

 

Mike did have one piece of good news. He told me racing was to begin at 6 p.m. and not 7 p.m. as I had first thought. That was important considering the uncertain rain forecast.

 

Let’s take a look.

I then went about taking a complete tour of the pit area. The pits were filling up fast and a little faster than normal. Why was that? A couple of other nearby tracks had already rained out. Some of the racers from those tracks would join in at Mountain View tonight for the first time.

 

 

Ever been to a driver’s meeting?

Next up was the driver’s meeting. I know that many of my readers don’t get the opportunity all that often to listen in on a drivers meeting. Therefore I have devoted a complete YouTube video to the driver’s meeting itself. I think you will find it interesting for how direct and upfront the promoters are at this track.

 

 

The meeting was run by C.J. Flay (right), Mike’s promotional partner. Both Mike and C.J. are up from upstate New York and have a strong history with short track dirt racing.

 

 

You won’t want to miss this.

I thought it was important to share the driver’s meeting talk with you for a few reasons. First Mike and C.J. are very direct people. If you ask a question you get a straight answer. They also have some firm rules that they want their track to operate by. The driver’s meeting is meant to reestablish what those rules are, answer any questions and wish everyone good luck for the racing that evening. If you haven’t been to a driver’s meeting in a long time or maybe ever you won’t want to miss this video. Here’s a link so you can see it right now:

 

 

Let’s listen in on the driver’s meeting!

 

 

 

Let’s go up to the press box.

It was now time to meander up into the grandstand. My complementary pit pass would allow me to roam freely back-and-forth between the grandstand and pen area. That was a nice feature.

 

 

I also spent a good deal of my time tonight up in the press box. There I met the track announcer, Jordan DeVere, a young student from Appalachian State. Jordan is trying to get a foothold into the PR/radio announcing business.  I saw him walking the pits getting background info to share with the crowd on many of the drivers.  That’s always a good idea.  I also met the track scorers both sons of Mike and C.J.

 

 

So how do they ‘score’ at some of these tracks?

If you’re not familiar with short track racing you probably don’t know how “race scoring” has been done almost since the beginning of racing. In a way it’s pretty simple.

 

 

The scorer simply has a pencil and a sheet of paper. When the race begins she watches the cars cross the start/finish line. As each car comes across the line the scorer writes down the car’s number. You have to be quick to do this properly. You can imagine a 25-car feature where the cars can pass the finish line just a few inches apart. It can be quite a scoring challenge to keep up with it all.

 

 

One of the features started 16 cars. That was a nice field on the small 1/5-mile slightly banked dirt oval. I took a few seconds of video from the scoring tower watching the scorers score the race. Don’t miss it if you’ve never seen this done.

 

 

The announcer creates the drama.

Tonight they were having some problems with the public address speaker system. I suspect the wiring was pretty old. I hope they get that fixed for the future. I’ve always said the announcer is the most important track employee at least as far as the racing fan is concerned.

 

 

I know that former racers think the key employees rest on the operational side of the track. It is true that a good racing experience will not happen without the right people running the pit side of the track. However if you want to entertain the fans and create the drama needed for them to return you had better have a good announcer.

 

 

I did a couple of trackchasing interviews with tonight’s track announcer. He was definitely still learning his trade in the racing business but seemed to be a quick learner. I’m not sure anybody in the stands could hear our interview! However when the announcer asked the fans to stand for the national anthem everyone did so. Maybe the system was working better than it appeared.

 

 

Vittles? Did they have vittles?

I had not eaten since before hitting the golf course today. I was looking for some “vittles” from the Mountain View speedway concession stands. I found them.

 

 

The announcer kept reminding the crowd that special peanut butter and banana sandwiches were available tonight. I love peanut butter and I like bananas. However that combination did not sound appealing to me. It must be a southern thing.

 

Yep. They had vittles. Lots of unusual stuff.

I first stopped at the concession stand located under the press box. There I found something that I don’t see very many racetracks. However I had enjoyed this delicacy at my local bowling alley in East Peoria, Illinois as a kid. I’m talking about little pickled sausages soaked in a brine of some sort. These things are a little sour but tasty.

 

 

Kids. Sports. Success later in life.

By the way, I essentially grew up in a bowling alley as a child. I loved it and I think I learned some of my competitive instincts on the bowling lanes….and around the bar area! Sports is one of the very best, if not THE best teaching tools for young kids to learn how to compete not just in sports but in life.

 

 

Anyway back to those little sausages officially called “Hannah’s Pickled Sausages”. Tonight those sausages looked like the famous Martinsville red hot dogs. I purchased two for a dollar each and drowned the tartness with a Diet Coke for just a dollar.

 

 

Just a short delay.

After a couple of races the track started to break up in turn one. At the drivers meeting it was mentioned that new dirt had been added to the track but it wasn’t mixing well with the existing dirt. They plan to get a greater on the track soon but the weather has prevented them from doing that up to this point. A 15-minute break was needed to rework the track’s first turn. This effort worked for a while but later on in the evening the track was pretty rough in the center of the first turn. Smart drivers could get through easily by just taking the low line or the high line.

 

 

More vittles!

During the time they were working on the track I visited the track’s other concession stand. Here they were serving hot foods such as cheeseburgers, hotdogs and Southern barbecue. Right now I’m not into eating bread. It’s absolutely amazing the amount of bread I have NOT eaten in the past six weeks.

 

 

I am not shy about asking for special orders. I figure “I’m the customer right”. I am also willing to pay whatever price is necessary in order to get what I’d like to eat.

 

 

Tonight I told my server I would like to get a “plate of barbecue”. I also told her I was willing to pay whatever price she thought was fair. That idea was well received by my server.

 

 

She served me a large “box” of barbecue by itself for just four dollars. That was a very fair price. Unfortunately they didn’t have any forks. I told the woman that would not be a problem for me. I could simply eat the BBQ with my fingers. Folks I’ve been on overnight training missions in the U.S. Marine Corps. I didn’t need no stinkin’ fork. Nevertheless, the servers being women thought this was a minorly repulsive idea. They did come up with a plastic knife and I dined on my barbecue in the grandstands gingerly eating the delicacy with a serrated plastic knife.

 

 

I did notice fans walking around with some very large cheeseburgers. I thought toward the end of the evening I might have one last treat…. a track cheeseburger. Unfortunately the guy in front of me got the last cheeseburger! As my good buddy Bill Frost used to say “you can’t sell from an empty wagon.” I settled for a chili dog without the bun of course. That proved to be a messy but tasty affair.

 

I watched the racing from all over the place.

I watched the races from three locations none of which were in the traditional wooden grandstands. Much of my race watching was done in the press box.

 

 

Probably my best viewing spot was in a rickety old elevated stand down by turn one. There was a good deal of grassy moss residing on the stand. I had to step gently to make sure the entire structure would not collapse on me. The platform was about 4′ x 4′ and could hold comfortably 2-3 people. Some of my video comes from there overlooking the first turn.

 

 

A V.I.P. section with potential.

The track’s main hot food concession stand was located just outside of turn one. Just above the concession building was a nicely done private VIP box. There were about 25 seats in this space.

 

 

Tonight’s general admission price was just eight dollars per person. The track is trying to attract families and this is a lower than market price for a full night of dirt track racing.

 

 

Fans could sit in the special VIP seating area for $16 per night or $200 for the season. This little space has the potential to be a definite profit center.

 

 

It needs to be spruced up a bit and definitely have the windows cleaned. I suspect in the summer an air-conditioner might even be needed. However for a small additional fee who would not want to sit in a movie theater type seat in air-conditioned comfort and away from the bugs. The elevated position offers a great view of the racing as well. I could even see a special person designated to take food and drink orders from the fans in the VIP box. I also understand at this stage the promoters have a million things to do from a racing location that has been neglected for 17 years. However I would put a strong emphasis on getting this VIP box squared away for sponsors and fans.

 

If you are not early you are late.

I was happy to see the track started at the advertised time of 6 p.m. Far less than 50% of the short tracks I visit start within 15 minutes of the posted starting time. If you run an entertainment business and can’t start your program within 15 minutes of the time you’re telling people you will begin, and there are no other extenuating circumstances, then maybe you should try another line of work.

 

 

Somewhat nostalgic racing.

Tonight’s racing was down home 1950s and 60s style low dollar racing for the most part. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s a good thing. Purses don’t need to be nearly as high with this kind of racing. This keeps the admission price down for fans. If the races start on time and keep moving the racers, fans and promoters are all going to have a good experience.

 

 

The racers and fans were definitely a rural clientele. From what I can tell in my brief time in Boone this is a most rural area with not a lot of additional entertainment options. This is actually one of the best scenarios for a successful race track promotion.

 

 

The Irwindale speedway in the greater Los Angeles area might be the nicest short track asphalt facility in the country. Nevertheless it will never be gigantically successful. Why? People who live in Southern California have so many other options for entertainment. Short track racing is just one more thing. Heck, the area hasn’t had an NFL team in 20 years and most folks couldn’t care less.

 

 

Tapping into a potential gold mine.

In Boone, North Carolina the Mountain View Speedway can be the MAIN summer entertainment attraction. Boone isn’t that big but is home to an 18,000 student university at Appalachian State.

 

 

A little rural Saturday night dirt track is not a typical hang out for college students. However if the track’s promotional team can tap into any amount of those 18,000 students they could have a gold mine on their hands. I suspect an alcohol license might “grease the skids” if you know what I mean. If I were Mike and C.J. I would make acquaintances with a couple of key college students to get their feedback on what can be done in this area.

 

 

The Mountain View Speedway facilities are not going to be confused with the Daytona international Speedway anytime soon. That’s perfectly fine. They are not competing with Daytona. They are competing with other entertainment options in a small town like Boone. They are competing with NASCAR races on TV on some Saturday night. From the looks of things they are off to a good start.

 

 

This is very important to the racers.

The promoters have gone out of their way to pay the advertised racing purses. Mike was telling me that only one Pure Stock competitor showed up to race last week. The pure stock feature was advertised as $400 to win.

 

 

I suspect the pure stock was added in with another class of cars but was racing for the pure stock purse. That meant the one and only pure stock driver would earned $400 for his “feature win” despite being the only car in his class. As long as the race promoters can afford to pay decent advertise purses the cars will come. When the cars, fans will come.

 

Thanks for the hospitality.

I was very much pleased with the hospitality shown in this trackchaser by Mike Budka. How many other trackchasers get to watch the races from the press box, have interviews with the track announcer and move all over the track back-and-forth from the pits like I did tonight? Not very many.

 

 

Whenever I get that kind of treatment I am most appreciative and thankful. I guess the title of “World’s #1 Trackchaser” carries some clout.

 

 

I have a responsibility to my followers to always give the pros and the cons.

Nevertheless even when I have been treated to a freebie I feel an obligation to both the race promoters and the people that read my reports to offer some suggestive criticisms and recommendations for improvement. That’s why you’ll read a few things mentioned above on where I think the Mountain View Speedway can get even better than it is at this stage. 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

 

Following the late-model feature I took one more walk through the pits toward where my car was parked. Being at this track had a good feel tonight. It reminded me of how racing was “back in the day” at small world tracks. That’s a good feeling.

 

 

 

North Carolina

 

 

The Tar Heel state

This evening I saw my 49th lifetime track in the Tar Heel state, yes the Tar Heel state. I’d better get back there soon to chalk up #50.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

World’s #1 Trackchaser

Peoria Old Timers Racing Club (P.O.R.C.) Hall of Fame Member

North Carolina sayings: UCLA who?

 

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

PERSONAL CAR

San Clemente, CA

McCarran (Las Vegas) International Airport – 282 miles

 

AIRPLANE

McCarran (Las Vegas) International Airport, Las Vegas, NV (LAS) – Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Baltimore, MD (BWI) – 2,100 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Baltimore, MD – trip begins

Kingsport, TN

Coeburn, VA

Boone, NC

Bristol, TN

Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Baltimore, MD – trip ends – 1,230 miles

 

AIRPLANE

Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Baltimore, MD (BWI) – McCarran (Las Vegas) International Airport, Las Vegas, NV (LAS) – 2,100 miles

 

PERSONAL CAR

McCarran (Las Vegas) International Airport

San Clemente, CA – 282 miles

 

 

Total air miles – 4,200 (2 flights)

Total personal car miles – 564 (1 car)

Total rental car miles – 1,230 (1 car)

 

Total miles traveled on this trip – 5,994 miles 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Kingsport Speedway – $7.50

Lonesome Pine Raceway – $7.50

Mountain View Speedway – Complimentary pit pass

Bristol Motor Speedway – $20 (Ticket face value $93, not a trackchasing expense)

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $15

 

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS 

The three most important trackchasing comparisons to me are:

 

Total lifetime tracks seen

Total “trackchasing countries” seen

Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

 

Total Lifetime Tracks

There are no trackchasers currently within 450 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,077

 

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 70

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.88

 

 

 

That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report

 

 

The “Full” racing action video from the Mountain View Speedway

Here’s the link:

 

 

 

 

The movie trailer…you’ll love it!  Here’s the link:

 

 

Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day:

 

A tour of Boone and a fun day of racing at the Mountain View Speedway