North Carolina Motor Speedway
I first went to “Rockingham” in late October, 1985. I was there to see the NASCAR Winston Cup race. On that cool Sunday afternoon Darrell Waltrip drove his Junior Johnson owned #11 into victory lane. The North Carolina Motor Speedway was my 156th lifetime track. I didn’t begin writing about my experiences at the track until about track #430.
Ron Bouchard and Harry Gant followed Waltrip to the finish line. Some NASCAR names from the past ran in that race. How about Tim Richmond, Buddy Baker, Allan Kulwicki and Richard Petty to name a few. Forty cars started the race. Just seven cars finished on the lead lap. That’s a far cry from the competitiveness of today’s NASCAR racing.
Rockingham was the 26th race on the NASCAR schedule in 1985. Dale Earnhardt had four wins up to that point but was mired in 10th place in the point standings. Bill Elliott had TEN wins but could only manage to be second in the point standings behind Darrell Waltrip who had three wins.
Reprinted with permission from my October 22, 2005 Trackchaser Report
GREETINGS FROM ROCKINGHAM, NORTH CAROLINA AND THEN ELM CITY, NORTH CAROLINA
The weather was again near perfect for this three-day, three new tracks and one old one track, trackchasing trip to North Carolina and Virginia. My consecutive streak of trackchasing days without a rainout now stands at 89 days. During that time, I have seen 134 new tracks.
My season total of new tracks is now 165. I have returned to an additional 11 tracks for a current 2005 total of 176 different tracks. Somewhat surprising is the fact that I have not paid a second visit to any of these 176 tracks in 2005. It is also surprising, to me anyway, that 70 of my 165 new tracks do not appear in the National Speedway Directory. As recently as 10 years ago, I suspect that U.S. trackchasers would rarely attend a race meeting not listed in the NSD.
I used to be able to regale readers with tails of my getting lost along the trackchasing road. With all the navigational technology at my disposal, it is rare that I lose my way anymore. Gasoline was less than $3 per gallon everywhere we went. The average price we paid was $2.74 for the 1,115 miles we drove during the trip.
It was fun having a day on both ends of the trip for sightseeing at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina and visiting our friends in Eden, North Carolina. The NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Martinsville, Virginia was a fun and full day. Touring NASCAR race shops was a special highlight. Flying all the way across our country just to see a race is not what trackchasing is all about. Getting to see sights and sounds of local culture IS what trackchasing is all about for me.
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
Carol and I travel all the U.S. and the world with this trackchasing hobby as well as our personal travel. Just this year, I have been to 8 foreign countries and 25 different states for racing. I have pointed out in the past that I think folks living in the tri-state area of Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska are the nicest.
I must say the restaurant servers in North Carolina are by far the friendliest, happiest and most upbeat bunch we have ever encountered. We ate in several different places across the state and each server was well above average. One Steak N Shake server reminded me of a female Gary Coleman. She was probably our best server and I am sure she was surprised to get a tip equal to the restaurant bill. She deserved it.
I will offer a RANLAY RACING MONEY BACK GUARANTEE for tonight’s eatery in Sanford, North Carolina. I have added several new readers recently so permit me to re-explain my money back guarantee. If you go to an establishment that I recommend and you don’t like it, just let me know and I will give you a complete refund.
I’m talking about Ron’s Barn Barbeque and Seafood. It’s down home cooking is a southern atmosphere. Our waitress explained to us that the buffet was really the best deal compared to ordering from the menu. She told us how much more we would get and closed the deal with this comment, “It’s not but 50 cents more.” Sold! We started with hush puppies, graduated to BBQ pork and fried shrimp before finishing off with our dessert. We got our money’s worth.
Our late afternoon drive from Rockingham to Elm City, North Carolina was about 140 miles long. We stopped at a grocery store to pickup some provisions for our cookout at the Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon. The last hour of the drive gave us time to listen to the UCLA Bruins play host to the Oregon State Beavers on XM radio. Once at the track I set Carol up with the XM broadcast in the grandstands of County Line Raceway. I suspect she was the only person in the stands listening to UCLA play football. The Bruins prevailed 51-28.
We spent all day Monday in Eden, North Carolina visiting the Robertson and Martin clan. It was great seeing Elizabeth Ann, Sandy, Rita, Harold, Preston and, of course, Mrs. Martin! Thanks to George for taking the time to show us around his boyhood home and the towns of Leaksville, Spray and Draper. I always enjoy learning about my friend’s childhood cultures.
Tuesday was getaway day, but not before we had one more racing experience. Most of the NASCAR race shops are located in and around Charlotte, North Carolina. I came across a great website for finding the locations of these shops. The site is www.raceshops.com. The fellow who runs this site has directions, descriptions and reader feedback on all of the major NASCAR race shops.
We had time for only two visits. Based upon the feedback I saw at www.raceshops.com, we ended up visiting the Rick Hendrick Motorsports compound and the Roush Racing headquarters. Both were very worthwhile although I would give a clear nod to the Hendrick operation.
The museum portion of Hendrick Motorsports houses about 15 of the team’s racecars. They had the 1997 Daytona 500 winning car driven by Jeff Gordon; Ken Schrader’s demolished #25 from a super speedway crash and several others. There are also viewing areas of team personnel working on the cars and an extensive gift shop. I couldn’t resist getting a Jeff Gordon t-shirt, as he is my favorite NASCAR driver. I also like Mark Martin and Ken Schrader along with Earnhardt Jr.
There are two other Hendrick buildings that fans will want to visit. One building includes the #5 and #25 NASCAR teams. The other building has both the Jeff Gordon #24 and the Jimmy Johnson #48. Everything in the Hendrick shop is new, spacious and spotless. Hendrick Motorsports employs more than 500 people.
There are three buildings to visit at Roush Racing. The first is a museum of sorts and a gift shop. The museum portion isn’t as extensive as Hendrick’s, but Roush does have a movie theatre where they show a racing film of the various Roush Racing cars.
The other two Roush Racing buildings house fully assembled racecars and racing chassis. The Roush garage areas are much smaller. The cars are parked nearly on top of each other. The Roush employees wear their shirts outside their pants. They do not seem nearly as squared away as their Hendrick counterparts do.
We ran into a few other tourists at both of these shops. One couple was from Iowa. The Iowa man told us only two things come out of Iowa, 1) Musco Lighting and 2) Featherlite Trailers. I guess he wasn’t a farmer! Another fan from Pittsburgh told us the Bill Davis Racing shop was a “must see.” Apparently, you actually get to walk out into the shop at BDR and can actually touch the cars. You can bet I will be back to tour the rest of the NASCAR shops as soon as time permits. I will show each of my readers exclusive behind the scenes photos from these championship shops on my website at www.ranlayracing.com. This is just another in a long line of benefits reserved for each Trackchaser Report reader.
RACE TRACK STATS:
NORTH CAROLINA SPEEDWAY – ROAD COURSE, NORTH CAROLINA -TRACK #973 (CAROL’S #225) – 10/22/05
This North Carolina track is my 18th countable track to see in the state. This is my second visit to the Tar Heel state this year and my third new track to see in the North Carolina this year. I am now tied for 10th spot with Allan Brown and Norm Wagner in North Carolina. This saves me five overall points in the National Geographic Diversity standings. Guy Smith leads the state totals with 63 tracks.
RACE TRACK STATS:
COUNTY LINE RACEWAY, ELM CITY, NORTH CAROLINA -TRACK #974 (CAROL’S #226) – 10/22/05
This North Carolina track is my 19th countable track to see in the state. This is my second visit to the Tar Heel state this year and my fourth new track to see in the North Carolina this year. I am now in sole possession of 10th spot in the state.
RACE TRACK NEWS:
NORTH CAROLINA SPEEDWAY – ROAD COURSE, NORTH CAROLINA
Today’s track, the North Carolina Speedway is the former North Carolina Motor Speedway home to NASCAR Nextel Cup events for more than 30 years. NASCAR has been moving their events from small markets like today’s Rockingham, North Carolina to bigger markets such as Dallas and Los Angeles. A couple of years ago NCMS lost one of their two NASCAR dates and this year they were removed from the schedule entirely.
I saw Darrell Waltrip win a NASCAR Winston Cup race at “The Rock” back in 1985. I had the same companion with me that day as I did for today’s racing action at the Rock’s road course. That would be “Trackchasing’s First Mother” aka wife Carol.
This might be the first year that road racing has taken place at the North Carolina Speedway. The N.A.S.A. sanctioning group is overseeing the races this afternoon. The events on today’s schedule included HPDE (High Performance Driving Education), practice, qualifying as well as two races. The first race was for the “Lightning” division and the second race for the “Thunder” division.
I’m not sure where they came up with these racing division names. The Lightning division included these classes: SUU, HC1, GTS4, Legends GTS3, KCC-3, HC3, HC4, GTS2, E PS2, SpecE30, HC2, and GTS1. What’s that mean in English? This class included these makes Datsun 240Z, Honda Civic, Porsche 911, Acura Integra and several legends cars.
The Thunder division included these classes: AIZ, SU-O, AI, AIV CMC, FFR, 944, SC, 944Cup, ASC and SpecE30. Again, translating to English there were mainly Mustangs, Camaros and Porsche 944s.
The course today was 2.02 miles long. Each race started about 20 cars. The starting line was the same as the starting line for the track’s oval. The cars raced around turns one and two of the oval and down the backstretch’s oval. Just before entering turn 3, the racecars turned into the track infield and raced back and forth in the infield for about one-half mile. They then re-entered the oval track in the middle of turns three and four. At this point, they drove back up the banking of the oval’s turn four before completing the lap by racing down the oval straightaway.
The facility still looks good even though the oval is not being used at all to my knowledge for competitive racing. No spectators today were allowed in the regular grandstands. The road racing spectators watched from the roof of one of the infield buildings. From this point, we could see the cars race around the entire course.
Each of the two races was scheduled for 35 minutes. There was not a tremendous amount of action for the 25-30 spectators watching from the roof. There was no announcer to supplement the printed schedule and driver roster we were given at registration.
Even though the forecast called for isolated showers, the weather was near perfect with a temperature of 77 degrees on a breezy day. This was my 21st road course of the season. Road courses almost always race during the day. They are a perfect supplement for a trackchasing double with an evening oval. Today was my 22nd day/night double of the year.
CAROL’S COMMENTS:
Carol thought the track was missing a bet by not having any refreshments or track announcing. She also didn’t like the track’s flag stand. She felt the white stand with a flagman wearing a white shirt would be difficult to pickup by the drivers with a similar colored empty grandstand in the background. Even the checkered flag had such small “checkers” it looked like a grey flag. She felt sorry for the facility now that it has been abandoned. Yes, you are getting the female point of view, which of course is invaluable.
RACE TRACK NEWS:
COUNTY LINE RACEWAY, ELM CITY, NORTH CAROLINA
Many of my northeastern trackchasing friends seem to continually knock southern racetracks. Maybe I have my own bias FOR the south, but I don’t see any difference in southern racing than I do in racing in any other U.S. geographical location.
I think almost ALL ‘ma and pa’ dirt track racing suffers from absolutely terrible customer service and efficiency. These deficiencies are not unique to the south. I will say that I dislike southern tracks holding time trials in the “middle” of the race program. I don’t like time trials. That’s why I like the fact that most non-southern tracks run them before I show up. At each of the two North Carolina dirt tracks visited this weekend the time trials lasted about 20 minutes. That’s not too much of a delay, but I still am not interested in seeing this part of the program.
The Thunder Valley Speedway provides a race day schedule by time of day. They say that heat races and qualifying begin at 8 p.m. Feature races are scheduled to start at 9 p.m. They also publish each feature race’s length in both laps and time allowed. As an example, the Thunder and Lightning division is scheduled for 25 laps or 30 minutes, whichever come first.
So what time did this southern dirt track start their feature races when they said they would begin at 9 p.m.? The features started at 8:55 p.m., five minutes early. Although car counts were small, they completed four of the six scheduled features in just 80 minutes. I wish every dirt track I have seen this year all over the United States could match this record. Unfortunately, most can’t.
The wooden grandstands steps would never meet the building codes in San Clemente. Each step varied in height from about 5 inches tall to 12 inches. Small children ran wild all night in front of the grandstands like a pack of wild dogs. Some of the children wore camouflage pajamas, which seem apropos.
The four feature events we saw included the Pure Stock 4-cylinders (4 cars, 15 laps, $200 to win), Pure Stock 8-cylinders (9 cars, 20 laps, $250 to win), Super Stock 4-cylinders (17 cars, 20 laps, $500 to win) and the Thunder and Lightning division (13 cars, 25 laps, $800 to win).
The flagman was a bit quick with the yellow flag, but they didn’t take long to restart. The track was a dust free, perfectly smooth, semi-banked brown (not red) dirt oval. The lighting was good and the announcer O.K. He gave me a nice trackchaser mention but told the crowd twice that I had seen 974 new tracks in 2005. That would be a busy trackchasing schedule even for me. After watching the heats, qualifying and four of six main events we were out of the track at 10:20 p.m.
My only concession purchase was a Diet Sundrop soda. The Sundrop brand is a southern institution. It’s similar to Mountain Dew soda.
CAROL’S COMMENTS:
Carol was most enthused about the outcome of the UCLA Bruin game she listened to on the radio. Later in the trip, after touring the NASCAR race shops, Carol came up with this, “It looks like they’re making way too much money.” She was impressed with how spotlessly clean and organized the Hendrick shop was. She told me, “Somebody must like Jeff Gordon since all the #24 decals were sold out.”
RACE TRACK NEWS:
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY, MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINA
EDITOR’S NOTE: I am providing a recap of our visit to Martinsville Speedway, a track I have been too previously. Normally, my Trackchaser Reports sticks to my new track visits only. I thought some might be interested in our Martinsville experience. Therefore, it is included below.
The Martinsville Speedway is not a new track for Carol or me. We went there today simply as NASCAR Nextel Cup race fans. Today was my 24th NASCAR Winston/Nextel Cup event that I’ve seen since 1980 (when I first started keeping records by date). This was my fourth trip to Martinsville where I have seen these NASCAR drivers win: ’86 Ricky Rudd, ’94 Rusty Wallace, ’02 Bobby Labonte and today, Jeff Gordon.
My two favorite NASCAR tracks are Martinsville and Talladega. Bristol comes in third. I have seen racing at each venue on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit, although I have not always seen a Cup race at the location. I end up going to about one big NASCAR event per year. I enjoy these races in person but the crowd congestion and the fact that I can see the race better on TV, holds me back from attending more live shows.
We drove up to Martinsville from Durham, North Carolina. It was an 80-mile drive. We drove normal speeds for all but about the last 3-4 miles. From that point, it was stop and go. That’s not too bad of a traffic experience for a NASCAR Nextel Cup race.
The Martinsville Speedway event had been sold out for two weeks. That fact never deters me. I simply had Carol place my patent pending paper plate sign that reads, “Need 2 Tix” in the window. Soon other people in our traffic line were offering to sell us tickets! This proves the power of advertising signage.
I had the foresight to print out a Martinsville Speedway seating chart before I left on this trip. This would help me evaluate the quality of seat locations we would be offered. Ticket prices ranged from $40-72. This is much higher than just about anyone will pay for any other type of auto racing. It’s not out of line for other major sporting events such as football and basketball and in some cases, baseball.
I prefer to buy my tickets at the track from “Ma and Pa” sellers and not ticket scalpers. It’s always better to buy from someone who may not have a good idea of what the value of something they are selling is! I turned down ticket selling offers from folks in our traffic line because their seat locations were too low.
My seating chart told me that row 52 was the top row in several of the track’s grandstands. Low and behold if one of the ticket scalpers wasn’t selling two seats in the Clay Earles (former owner) Grandstand in row 52! He was asking just the face value for the seats of $70. I must be becoming a soft touch in my old age. The seats were so good (top row) that I didn’t even negotiate and paid his asking price.
Now we had our tickets and needed a place to park. We turned down offers to park on nearby neighbor’s property for $10-30. We hung in there and parked on the track property for free. I must admit we had a formidable hike to get from lot 20 to the track but we arrived in our seats about 30 minutes before the green flag.
A couple of our trackchasers criticize NASCAR for charging high prices for refreshments. I’m a champion of free enterprise and feel that you set your price anywhere you want and if the consumer wants to pay it they will and if they don’t they won’t.
The Martinsville Speedway allows fans to bring in coolers of food and drink as an alternative for buying items at the concession stand. I did take the opportunity to write down the concession prices of a few items. You, the reader, can judge whether you think there was any predatory pricing going happening.
12 oz. beer – $3
12 oz. canned soda – $2
BBQ sandwich – $3
Popcorn – $2
Bologna sandwich – $3
I went for the fried bologna sandwich. I was expecting a thin slice or two of bologna thrown between two pieces of white bread. I was happily surprised by what I got. The sandwich included a thick slice of bologna, melted cheese, a large slice of onion between two toasted and buttered slices of bread. Although the calorie count was probably not low, it seemed like a good value for three bucks. We finished off the day with ice cream drumsticks for the price of $2 each. Maybe it is “old data” that NASCAR charges high prices for concessions or then again, maybe that was never the case.
One necessary stop before climbing 52 rows to our seats was to get my Uniden Bobcat 200 racing radio “programmed.” This is a very cool process for my radio. For $10 ($20 for a 36 race season long card), my radio was programmed with all 43 driver’s radio frequencies as well as the channels for the MRN radio broadcast and the NBC TV broadcast. The radio man made my day when he said he thought my racing radio was “The best ever made.”
Once in our seats, Carol (with my extra headset) and I were hooked up for sound. With the simple push of a couple of buttons we could listen to any driver we wanted too as he talked with his crew. Robby Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were the only drivers I heard swear during the day. I didn’t listen to Tony Stewart much, but in the past, he has been the champion of the “expletive”.
I did hear an unusual communication from Ray Everham Racing’s Kasey Kahne channel. They read the standard, “All audio on our channel is copyrighted and commercial rebroadcast is prohibited without prior written consent……” That seemed odd.
It’s fun to listen to the NBC TV broadcast on the radio. When they go to a commercial break, you don’t hear the commercials. Instead, you here the commentators talking amongst themselves about what they are going to talk about once they come back on the air. I heard the director say to the chief announcer, Bill Weber, “When we come back on air, I want you to suck up to Subway.” That meant the announcer was supposed to say something good about the race sponsor, Subway Sandwiches.
The race itself was set for 500 laps around the slightly larger than one-half mile asphalt oval. There was a record 19 yellow flags for mainly spins. We had a great view of the track from our second turn perch. The weather was very good. The high temperature was 68 degrees with the sun setting behind us and the wind to our backs under a perfectly clear sky. It was an excellent fall day.
Going to a NASCAR race is a full day event. We had left our hotel at 8 a.m. We stopped for breakfast and even with traffic arrived at the track by about 11 a.m. The race went off at 1 p.m. and ended about 4:30 p.m. We spent some time scoping out the myriad of souvenir booths and returned to our car about 6 p.m.
The crowds at these events are staggering. I feared a stampede with the fans trying to walk out of the track. While Carol and I were waiting for the crowd to thin, I had a conversation with NBC broadcaster, Benny Parsons. Alright “conversation” may be exaggerating. Benny was leaving the grounds with a friend and walked past us. Nobody else in the crowd seemed to recognize him. When he passed I said, “Nice job, Benny.” He replied with a quick “Thank you” and was gone.
Once back in the parking lot, Carol and I implemented our “dinner/traffic” plan. We had brought along from California a portable and disposable charcoal grill. We plopped some cheese dogs on the grill and relaxed while most of the traffic cleared. We were both surprised to see so many charter buses leaving the track. Just as it was getting dark, we doused the grill’s flames and headed back to Durham. It had a been a long and fun day.
CAROL’S COMMENTS:
Carol thought it was a beautiful day, but 68 degrees with a little wind was cool for her taste. She thought our seat locations were great but the 500-lap race was about 200 laps too long. I agree that NASCAR races are a little on the long side. She thought the yellow flag was displayed both too quickly and too frequently. She liked the ice cream drumstick.
RENTAL CAR UPDATE:
The National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala was lightly used. When we average only about 200 miles per day, that is lightly used. Rental cars remain one of the best travel values you can get.
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 – 1,038 (+64)
- Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,020 (+46)
- Any Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,006 (+32)
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,001 (+27)
- Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 984 (+10)
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 974
Other notables
- Andy Ritter, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania – 231 (+7)
- Bernie Harlen, Goshen, Indiana – 229 (+5)
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 224
2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 165*
- Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 121
- Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 89
- Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 74
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 59
- P.J. Hollebrand, Webster, New York – 58
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 58**
- Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 53
- Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 42
- Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 31
- Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 31
* Trackchasing “New Tracks in One Season” record
** Trackchasing “New Tracks in One Season” record for women
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21st century
I trackchase for the event not the outcome. Remember, it only costs about 85% more to go first class.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
RENTAL CAR
Charlotte, North Carolina Airport – trip begins
Lawndale, North Carolina – 260 miles
Rockingham, North Carolina – 387 miles
Elm City, North Carolina – 559 miles
Martinsville, Virginia – 720 miles
Charlotte, North Carolina Airport – 1,115 miles – trip ends
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Atlanta, GA – 1,941 miles
Atlanta, GA – Charlotte, NC – 243 miles
Charlotte, NC – Atlanta, GA – 243 miles
Atlanta, GA – Los Angeles, CA -1,941 miles
Total airline miles – 4,368
TOTAL RENTAL CAR AND AIRLINE MILES – 5,483 MILES
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Thunder Valley Speedway – $20
North Carolina Motor Speedway – Road Course – Free
County Line Speedway – $12
Martinsville Speedway – $70
Total racetrack admissions – about $102
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
October 28 – Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, North Carolina
“TRACKCHASER CHEESE CHALLENGE 2005 PACE OF THE RACE REPORT BROUGHT TO YOU BY FRONTIER AIRLINES”
This is a comparison of how many new tracks Ed Esser has seen in 2005 and how many tracks I saw through the same date in 2004 on my way to seeing, at then a record, 127 tracks. In order for Ed to win the “Cheese Challenge”, he must see 128 new tracks.
Through October 24 – Ed – 122 tracks Randy – 106 tracks (in 2004)
Prize: If Ed sees more than 128 new tracks in 2005, he wins a round-trip domestic airline ticket to anywhere Frontier Airlines flies. If he cannot see at least 128 new tracks then I win 10 pounds of the Wisconsin cheese of my choice.
Racetracks visited in 2005 (** not the first time to visit this track)
Sungold Stadium aka Premier Speedway, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, January 1
Freedom Hall (oval), Louisville, Kentucky, January 15
Freedom Hall (figure 8), Louisville, Kentucky, January 15
Southern Illinois Center, DuQuoin, Illinois, January 16
Perris Auto Speedway, Perris, California, February 5
Golden Aisles Speedway, Waynesville, Georgia, February 25
Zephyrhills Antique Racecar Track, Zephyrhills, Florida, February 26
Dirt Devil’s Speedway, Land O’ Lakes, Florida, February 26
Ringwood Raceway, Ringwood, England, March 25
Birmingham Wheels, Birmingham, England, March 26
Boiling Hills Farm, Sleaford, England, March 27
Snetterton Circuit, Snetterton, England, March 27
Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27
Great Yarmouth Stadium (figure 8), Yarmouth, England, March 27
The Grove Farm, Monkland, England, March 28
Grimley Raceway, Grimley, England, March 28
Castle Combe Circuit, Castle Combe, England, March 28
Boyd Raceway, Boyd, Texas, April 1
Port City Raceway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 2
Outlaw Motor Speedway, Oktaha, Oklahoma, April 2
Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, Jennings, Oklahoma, April 3
JPR Speedway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 3
Charlotte County Speedway (figure 8), Punta Gorda, Florida, April 9
CORA Speedway, Dixon, California, April 16
Reno-Fernley Raceway (road course), Fernley, Nevada, April 17
Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas, April 22
Salina Speedway, Salina, Kansas, April 23
Jetmore Motorplex, Jetmore, Kansas, April 24
Oberlin Speedway, Oberlin, Kansas, April 24
USA Race Track, Tucson, Arizona, April 30
Tucson Raceway Park (outer oval), Tucson, Arizona – April 30
Tucson Raceway Park (inner oval), Tucson, Arizona – April 30
Driesum Race Track, Driesum, Netherlands – May 5
Autosportsdadion de Polderputten, Ter Apel, Netherlands – May 5
Bellekouter Autocross (oval), Affligem, Belgium – May 8
Bellekouter Autocross (road course), Affligem, Belgium – May 8
Circuit de Croix-En-Ternois, Saint-Pol sur-Ternoise, France – May 8
Nurburgring, Nurburg, Germany – May 13
Lopik (oval), Lopik, Netherlands – May 14
Lopik (road course), Lopik, Netherlands – May 14
Ten Boer Autocross, Ten Boer, Netherlands – May 14
Rennplatz “Casper Gerd”, Rutenbrock, Germany – May 15
Zuidwolde Autocross, Zuidwolde, Netherlands – May 15
Midland Speedway Circuit, Lelystad, Netherlands – May 15
Aalten Autocross, Aalten, Netherlands – May 16
Circuit de Peel International Speedway, Venray, Netherlands – May 16
U.S. 30 Speedway (permanent inner oval), Columbus, Nebraska – May 26
U.S. 30 Speedway (outer oval), Columbus, Nebraska – May 26
Hitchcock County Speedway, Culbertson Nebraska – May 27
Pikes Peak International Raceway (road course), Fountain, Colorado – May 28
Colorado National Speedway (asphalt oval), Dacono, Colorado – May 28
Colorado National Speedway (figure 8), Dacono, Colorado – May 28
Rocky Mountain National Speedway (oval), Commerce City, Colorado – May 28
Rocky Mountain National Speedway (figure 8), Commerce City, Colorado – May 28
Broken Bow Wilderness Park (figure 8), Fullerton, Nebraska – May 29
Casino Speedway, Watertown, South Dakota – May 29
Sioux Speedway, Sioux Center, Iowa – May 30
Madison Speedway, Madison, Minnesota – May 30
Hawkeye Downs (outer oval), Cedar Rapids, Iowa – June 3
Hawkeye Downs (inner oval), Cedar Rapids, Iowa – June 3
Autobahn Country Club – North Course, Joliet – Illinois, June 4
Shadyhill Speedway, Medaryville, Indiana – June 4
Pottawattamie County Fairgrounds, Avoca, Iowa – June 5
Dawson County Speedway, Lexington, Nebraska – June 5
Marshfield Super Speedway, Marshfield, Wisconsin – June 14
Red Cedar Speedway, Menomonie, Wisconsin – June 15
Victory Lane Speedway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – June 16
River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, North Dakota – June 17
Raceway @ Powercom Park, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin – June 18
Jefferson Speedway (outer oval), Jefferson, Wisconsin – June 18
Jefferson Speedway (inner oval), Jefferson, Wisconsin – June 18
Golden Sands Speedway, Plover, Wisconsin – June 19
Langlade County Speedway, Antigo, Wisconsin – June 21
Thunderhill Raceway, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – June 22
Luxemburg Speedway, Luxemburg, Wisconsin – June 23
Monster Hall Raceway, Unity, Wisconsin – June 24
Crandon International Off-Road Course, Crandon, Wisconsin – June 25
Pepsi Raceway Park, Tomahawk, Wisconsin – June 25
TNT Speedway, Three Lakes, Wisconsin – June 25
Shelby County Speedway (permanent oval), Shelbyville, Indiana – June 26
Shelby County Speedway (temporary oval), Shelbyville, Indiana – June 26
Jennings County Fairgrounds, North Vernon, Indiana – June 27
Paducah International Speedway, Paducah, Kentucky – June 28
Crystal Motor Speedway, Crystal, Michigan – June 29
Dells Motor Speedway, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin – June 30
Van Wert County Fairgrounds, Van Wert, Ohio – July 1
Baer Field (3/8 mile oval), Ft. Wayne, Indiana – July 1
Gingerman Raceway, South Haven, Michigan – July 2
Thunder Valley Motorsports, Jones, Michigan – July 2
New Paris Speedway, New Paris, Indiana – July 2
Durand Downtown Circuit, Durand, Illinois – July 3
Ripple Ridge Raceway, Rawlins, Wyoming – July 8
Sheridan Speedway, Sheridan, Wyoming – July 10
Livingston County Fairgrounds (figure 8) Fowlerville, Michigan – July 12
Eaton County Fairgrounds, Charlotte, Michigan – July 13
Laird International Speedway, Echo Bay, Ontario, Canada – July 14
I-96 Speedway (inner oval), Lake Odessa, Michigan – July 15
I-96 Speedway (outer oval), Lake Odessa, Michigan – July 15
Thunderbird Racepark, Muskegon, Michigan – July 16
Bob’s Family Racetrack, Clarksville, Michigan – July 17
Orleans Raceway, Orleans, Michigan – July 17
Mid Michigan Raceway Park, Muir, Michigan – July 17
Franklin County Park (oval), Brookville, Indiana – July 19
Franklin County Park (figure 8), Brookville, Indiana – July 19
81 Speedway, Wichita, Kansas – July 21
McCook Speedway, McCook, Nebraska – July 22
Pikes Peak International Raceway (oval), Fountain, Colorado – July 23
I-25 Speedway (oval), Pueblo, Colorado – July 23
I-25 Speedway (figure 8), Pueblo, Colorado – July 23
Thomas County Speedway, Colby, Kansas – July 24
Waterloo County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Waterloo, Illinois – July 27
Western Michigan Fairgrounds (figure 8), Ludington, Michigan – July 28
Blackbird Bend Speedway, Onawa, Iowa – July 29
English Creek Raceway, Knoxville, Iowa – July 30
Beatrice Speedway, Beatrice, Nebraska – July 30
Cedar County Raceway, Hartington, Nebraska – July 31
Bull Valley Speedway (figure 8), Audubon, Iowa – August 1
Saginaw County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Chesaning, Michigan – August 2
Ingham County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Mason, Michigan – August 3
Goodells County Park (figure 8), Goodells, Michigan – August 4
Wonderland Speedway, Lambeth, Ontario, Canada – August 5
Cheboygan County Fairgrounds (road course), Cheboygan, Michigan – August 6
Northern Michigan Speedway, Elmira, Michigan – August 6
Standish Asphalt Raceway, Standish, Michigan – August 7
Spartan Speedway, Mason (oval), Michigan – August 7
Spartan Speedway, Mason (figure 8), Michigan – August 7
Branch County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Coldwater, Michigan – August 8
Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds (figure 8), Imlay City, Michigan – August 9
Bay County Fair Derby Arena (figure 8), Bay City, Michigan – August 10
Shiawassee County Fairgrounds – (oval), Corunna, Michigan – August 11
Mt. Pleasant Speedway, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan – August 12
Waterford Hill Road Race Course, Clarkston, Michigan – August 13
Jackson Speedway (concrete oval), Jackson, Michigan – August 13
Owosso Speedway, Owosso, Michigan – August 13
Grattan Raceway Park, Grattan, Michigan – August 14
Ionia Fairgrounds Speedway, Ionia, Michigan – August 14
Galesburg Speedway (oval), Galesburg, Michigan – August 14
Galesburg Speedway (figure 8), Galesburg, Michigan – August 14
Lenawee County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Adrian, Michigan – August 15
Genessee County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Mount Morris, Michigan – August 16
Berlin Raceway, Marne (7/16M oval), Michigan – August 17
Will County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Peotone, Illinois – August 24
Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – August 25
Tri-County Motor Speedway, Hudson, North Carolina – August 26
Lake Village Speedway, Lake Village, Indiana – August 27
Kamp Motor Speedway, Chase, Indiana – August 27
Jules Raceway, Wilmington, Illinois – August 28
Milwaukee Mile (road course), West Allis, Wisconsin – August 31
Proctor Speedway, Proctor, Minnesota – September 1
Lincoln Park Speedway (oval), Putnamville, Indiana – September 2
Lincoln Park Speedway (figure 8), Putnamville, Indiana – September 2
Kentucky Speedway (inner oval), Sparta, Kentucky – September 3
Shelby County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Shelbyville, Indiana – September 3
Edinburg Veterans Memorial Park (figure 8), Edinburg, Illinois – September 4
Peoria Speedway, Peoria, Illinois – September 5
Eagle Park Fairgrounds, Eagle, Michigan – September 9
Dixie Motor Speedway (outer oval), Birch Run, Michigan – September 9
Richmond Good Old Days Festival (figure 8), Richmond, Michigan – September 10
Sandusky Speedway, Sandusky, Ohio – September 10
Mercer County Speedway, Celina, Ohio – September 11
Sunset Speedway Park, Banks, Oregon – September 23
Pacific Raceways, Kent, Washington – September 24
Western Speedway (figure 8), Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – September 24
Western Speedway (oval), Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – September 24
Evergreen Speedway (road course), Monroe, Washington – September 25
Chula Vista International Off-Road Raceway, Chula Vista, California – October 2
Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado California – October 9
Superbowl Speedway, Greenville, Texas – October 14
Texas Motor Speedway – Road Course, Fort Worth, Texas – October 15
Lawton Speedway, Lawton, Oklahoma, Lawton, Oklahoma – October 15
Abilene Speedway, Abilene, Texas – October 16
River River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas – October 16
Thunder Valley Speedway, Lawndale, North Carolina – October 21
North Carolina Motor Speedway – Road Course, Rockingham, North Carolina – October 22
County Line Raceway, Elm City, North Carolina – October 22
Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia – October 23