Greetings from Norway, Michigan
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Norway Speedway Asphalt oval Lifetime Track #2,633 THE EVENT Editor’s note: At this point in time I have seen all but about 20 tracks listed in the famous National Speedway Directory. That fact certainly limits where I will be trackchasing next! However, today I was able to come up with a weekly racing track that’s been in business since 1942. Why did it take so long to make it to the Norway Speedway? Well….they are a little off the beaten path or at least my beaten path! I AM A TRACKCHASER. Are you new to the hobby of trackchasing? If so, let me give you just a little bit of background. Before I go any further I will tell you that a lot of people get pretty enthused about what I’ve been doing with trackchasing. I will offer this warning. If you try it yourself it could become addictive. Our son J.J. and I enjoyed checking out the Lewis chain of stores. They were located everywhere throughout South Africa. My name is Randy Lewis. I hail from the sleepy little village by the sea, San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so. Trackchasing is a “collecting” hobby. Trackchasing is a “counting” hobby. It’s really not all that much different than when you were a kid and you collected stamps or beer cans or bottle caps. Trackchasing is all about visiting new auto racing tracks for the very first time. Believe it or not, trackchasing has “rules“ as to what kind of racetrack and race car and race driver count toward a chaser’s lifetime totals and which ones would not. In a nutshell, a trackchaser can count a track where adult drivers race cars or trucks at ovals, road courses and figure 8 tracks. That covers 98% of the rules. In addition to the racing part of trackchasing for me, I really enjoy seeing the local sights and sounds of whatever area I am visiting. I called these “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions”. If you go to my website at www.randylewis.org and click on the Trackchasing Tourist Attractions tab you’ll see where I’ve been all over the world. Here’s a link to that tab. Trackchasing Tourist Attractions I also really enjoy the logistical part of the hobby. I have been retired for nearly 20 years. During that time I have not earned a single dime of work income. That means I have to manage my money pretty closely enable in order to be able to do what I do. Logistically I have to handle seven different categories of trackchasing expenses. Those expenses include airplanes, rental cars, hotels, airport parking, gasoline, food and race tickets. As an example, you can just imagine what traveling from Southern California out to the Midwest for four days of racing would cost. In any given year I will travel well over 200,000 miles. I’ll stay in hotels 150-200 nights a year, rent 50-75 rental cars every year and buy a full tank of fuel about 100 days a year just for trackchasing. After each and every event that I attend I post a YouTube video, a SmugMug photo album and a very detailed Trackchaser Report about the experience. My stories are not just about what happened at the track but about my visit to the area and what exactly it took to make the trip happen. That’s where the racing, the touring and the logistical challenges come from. I told you that trackchasing is a “counting” hobby. Trackchasing is ultra-competitive as well. Lots of people don’t recognize that when they are initially exposed to this hobby. Trackchasing has had all of the political drama, cheating, accusing people of cheating and other aspects of poor personal behavior that any other competitive activity might have. This is why I am NOT a member of any organized trackchasing group. The management of these groups has been so poor over the years these groups are not something I want to be associated with whatsoever. As this is written I have seen racing in 85 different countries at more than 2,650 racetracks. During all this time I have never tried to benefit financially from my hobby. This is despite being interviewed by hundreds of track announcers, newspaper reporters and radio and TV outlets as well as doing a TV pilot. I’m a volunteer. I do this 100% for the fun of it. Because I have seen racing in 85 countries at this point I am considered the World’s #1 Trackchaser. That’s good enough for me. Now I encourage you to drop down a few spaces and read about today’s trackchasing adventure. As you discover what went on at this track just think about the idea that I’ve done this more than 2,600 times. I don’t mind admitting I am addicted to the hobby of trackchasing. Yes, today’s adventure was one more of the 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the proverbial 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. Or you can visit me on Facebook. Thanks! FOREWORD Friday, July 31, 2020. I’ve told you in the past that in order for me to be successful in my trackchasing hobby I need three things. First, I have to be able to confirm a race date. Then I need to figure out a way to get from Southern California to wherever that race is happening all over the United States in most cases. Finally, I have to have a good weather forecast. In the United States rain is the enemy of trackchasing. This morning I woke up in Oregon, Ohio. Oregon is just outside of Toledo. Oregon is in the eastern time zone. Back in California, I live in the Pacific Time zone. There’s a three-hour difference between these two time zones. I had slept in until nearly 9 a.m. I wasn’t planning to depart the hotel for another two hours. This would allow me to get in 2-3 miles of power walking, then get cleaned up and head over to the Detroit Metro airport. If you’re going to be successful in trackchasing flexibility is the key. Then beyond being flexible you need to be willing to go to the ends of the earth on those occasions that demand it. Come to think of it those are some pretty good traits for everyday life as well. I had picked up my rental car two days ago in Chicago. I planned to return it back to the Windy City after seeing my county fair race in Indiana last night. However, I got to thinking. I decided I should go with a new plan. I would pay just a little more and drop off the car in Detroit today. That would make that contract a one-way rental. Then I would re-rent that very same car with a new contract and keep it for three more days before returning it to Detroit on Sunday or Monday. Flexibility and going to the ends of the earth! Trackchasing strategy, successful trackchasing strategy is the keyword to my trackchasing success. This evening I planned to attend a junk car race at the Iosco County Fairgrounds in Hale, Michigan. This morning I was doing just a little bit of extra effort in order to confirm they were racing tonight. That’s when I first received uncertain news and then I got bad news. I talked on the phone with a woman who worked for the fair board at this location. She couldn’t confirm if they were racing or not. She told me that someone had complained about the crowds the race might attract during these COVID-19 social distancing times. She told me she would find out in an hour if they were racing or not. At that point all I could do was wait. While I was waiting I talked to the owner and promoter of one of the most successful bump n run/demolition derby groups in all of Michigan. He told me he had 53 events scheduled for the year. Today was the last day of July and the Unique Motorsports group hadn’t been able to run a single event. He had two tentatively planned for the future and that was it. Not only is Covid deadly for people but for race promotions as well. Then I got the call back from the Iosco County fair board member about their race tonight. The race for tonight was canceled. The governor of Michigan has issued an order yesterday limiting the number of fans dramatically that could attend one of these events. She also told me that their lawyer was frowning on them going ahead with the event. Net result. Canceled. Now I was in Toledo, Ohio and I was scrambling. I needed a replacement that might fit for tonight and also work well with the plans I had for the rest of the weekend for racing on Saturday and Sunday. I had a candidate. That candidate was going to be the Norway raceway. The Norway Raceway has some unique characteristics. Right now it was the only permanent track in the entire state of Michigan that I had not already visited. There was a good reason for that. As you probably know if you have much knowledge of United States geography the state of Michigan is located on the eastern side of Lake Michigan. However the Norway Speedway in Norway, Michigan is located on the opposite side of the lake on the westside. Norway almost seems as if it should be a part of Minnesota and not Michigan. Its remote location had prevented me from considering it for a visit in the past. This is what I was facing. The track in Norway, Michigan was about an eleven-hour drive from my current position near Toledo. I would need to drive nearly 550 miles to get up to the track for their 7 p.m. start on this Friday night. There was one minor ray of sunshine in these black trackchasing clouds. I would gain an hour driving over to Norway, Michigan because they were so far west they were in the central time zone. Thank goodness. With this new information, I bagged the idea of 3 miles of power walking this morning. I used the drive-through lane at McDonald’s and an electronic coupon for a free McGriddle breakfast sandwich to knock the bill for breakfast down from seven dollars to less than four. I use the McDonald’s app on my smartphone almost every day. Last night down in Indiana I had packed the fuel-cell of my National Car Rental Racing Toyota Camry until it overflowed. The Camry has a unique gas gauge. It stays on full for a very long time. Today when I pulled into the National Car Rental return location at the Detroit airport the gas gauge still showed full even though I had driven about 150 miles since re-fueling. I told the return agent that I simply wanted to close out my contract and re-rent the same car. With National, and considering my executive status, that’s no big deal. It took the agent less than 30 seconds to close out my contract. Then I simply made a U-turn and began a brand new contract as I exited the rental car lot with the SAME car. The advantage to doing this was I didn’t have to take all of my gear out of the car and then go find another acceptable rental vehicle. This Toyota Camry was going to be just fine for what would now be five days’ worth of rental. I’ve use the special strategy of having one car and two rental contracts tens of times. It’s slick. From the Detroit airport, I made the northward drive toward the Upper Peninsula of the state of Michigan. I noted that the gas gauge didn’t fall below full until I had covered a full 220 miles. Today was a beautiful weather day with temperatures in the low 80s and lots of blue skies and big white non-rainy clouds. Traffic was recently heavy on Interstate 75 northbound. In due time I paid four dollars as a toll to cross the famous Mackinac Bridge. When I did cross that bridge I was officially in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. People who live up here are called Yoopers. Do you know what they call people who live south of the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan? They are called trolls because they live “under” the bridge! During my long 10-11-hour drive I got a lot of personal business done. Thank goodness for having a quality smartphone which for me is the iPhone 11. I’m sure that vacation travel up to the UP country is down because of the virus. This is a very popular tourist destination during the summer. I was able to get a highly rated (8.2) ma and pa hotel in Norway. Michigan for the princely sum of 50 bucks. Lots of hotels were selling their rooms for #200- 300. I also spent some time talking with fellow trackchaser Brian Dolphy. Brian’s trackchasing totals come in right now at about 400. I will tell you this about Brian. I am very impressed with his track research capabilities. I have always had the vast resources of the Randy Lewis Racing research department to help me find new track opportunities. Trackchasers like Ed Esser (above left) did his own research and had the help of a couple of “managers” throughout his trackchasing career. Another leading trackchaser, Guy Smith, seems to be able to convince others to do the work for him while he sits back and reaps the rewards. What I find most impressive about Brian Dolphy’s racetrack research is this. He is still so “new” to trackchasing that he has multiple options on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday when he wants to go trackchasing. He is still in that phase of seeing generally good racing at the more popular tracks as he begins to knock down one track after another. Nevertheless, Brian seems to be able to come up with those off-the-wall racing shows as well. I wouldn’t even be thinking he would look at stuff like that. Because I’ve seen racing at more than 2,600 tracks almost all of the “good” permanent oval tracks have already been seen. Now I am forced to search for those one-off very unusual race locations and race dates. That is my world with trackchasing today. Here’s another interesting aspect of my more than 10-hour drive up to Norway, Michigan. I had not had any personal verbal contact or even a written message from anyone confirming they were racing at the Norway Speedway tonight. Their website said they were racing. Their Facebook page said they were racing. However, it is a very rare circumstance that I venture out to a track without getting some personal confirmation from the track. I hoped my shortcomings in this important preparation area did not come back to bite me in the butt. I did find this interesting historical background on the Norway Speedway from Wikipedia. I thought you might like to see it. “Norway Speedway, located in Norway, Michigan, is a one-third mile asphalt oval track that is slightly banked. Norway Speedway began as a dirt track in 1942 and was paved in 1978. The track held American Speed Association sanction before the sanctioning body closed. The track holds stock car races on Friday nights from mid-May through Labor Day Weekend which is the weekend of the Dickinson County Fair. The fair has games, carnival rides, a demolition derby, and a livestock building filled with animals. Events include the Auto-Value Challenge Series, Race to a Cure Cancer, the Stateline Challenge and the Labor Day 100 championship race held during the Dickinson County Fair. The ARCA Midwest Tour, Mid-American Stock Car Series, and the TUNDRA Super Late Models have raced at the track.” Tonight I would get to experience several unique things that don’t happen every time I go trackchasing. This was going to be a special night at the Norway Speedway. They were doing their annual Hall of Fame inductions. Ronnie Weedon from Pleasant Valley, Iowa. I first saw him race at Davenport and then at Peoria many times thereafter. I grew up watching racing at the Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Illinois. After seeing racing at more than 2600 tracks the Peoria speedway is still my all-time favorite, partially for sentimental reasons and just as much or more for the quality of racing they have at that little dirt boring. About 10 years ago I was inducted into the Peoria Old-Timers Stock Car Speedway Hall of Fame. Scott Shults the founder of the Hall of Fame was behind that move. My induction remains one of my all-time racing/trackchasing hobby highlights. I always marvel at, after having seen so many tracks, that I can go somewhere and still have some experiences that happen to me that I have never seen before. That was the case again tonight at the Norway Speedway. When I entered the track to purchase my ticket they took my temperature! Remember, this was in late July 2020 before having your temperature taken was a more normal and accepted standard because of COVID-19. Of course, the young man screwed it up just a little bit and had to have the young lady sitting next to him correct the situation. I’ve always said I’ll take a conscientious young woman over a less than conscientious young man for most employment responsibilities. I was super impressed with the old county fair covered grandstand here in Norway, Michigan. Don’t miss the photos on this one. Tonight I saw a notice on my phone that said that Governor DeWine of Ohio had canceled all county fairs effective July 31. This action was going to affect some of my trackchasing for the remainder of the year. Don’t miss the video from tonight’s racing on the quarter-mile nearly flat asphalt overall. A highlight for me was seeing the vintage car racing. These old coupes were the kinds of cars that I grew up watching back in the mid to late 50s. I am a huge fan of vintage stock car racing. When I arrive at a racetrack I frequently give my card to one of the track employees. I figure the announcer might like to share the fact that I am watching tonight and have such an unusual hobby. From past experience, I know that fans get a kick out of anybody who will come all the way from California and drive 11 hours on a last-minute notice to see racing at their track. Tonight I gave my card to the young woman selling 50-50 tickets. She told me she would be going past the announcer’s booth tonight and would share the information. It wasn’t long after that a woman came up into the grandstand holding my card. She seemed to be looking for me. I put two and two together and introduced myself. She was one of the track promoters and invited me to come up into the crow’s nest to talk to the track announcer. It has always been my experience that track operators are very proud of their operation. That’s why they are more than willing to show off their work to a visitor with my racing background. It has also been my experience that track announcers are very busy people. They are not only calling the action on the track but they are reading lineups, covering their sponsors over the PA and just generally doing a myriad of activities. That was the case tonight when I met Joe Verdegan (above) the track announcer. He invited me to come down at intermission to talk with him on the track. We did a bit of an interview and then he moved into the Hall of Fame recognition of all of the drivers who were being inducted tonight. I think the fans got a really big kick out of seeing their former heroes return to the track and get their well-deserved recognition. The highlight for me was seeing the vintage racing. They had a nice field of the old coupes and super modifieds. They raced each other and brought back old memories to the crowd. The regular racing was good as well on the very slightly banked paved oval. Don’t miss the video. Following the races, it was a very short drive back to the Mountain Host Motor Inn. This was one of my best hotel finds of the season. Their accommodations were simple yet clean and up-to-date. Tonight has been a very fine trackchasing example of how things that change at the last minute can turn out to be very good plans. It had taken me 71 years to get to the Norway Speedway. I wish I could have come sooner. Good evening from the Norway Speedway in Norway, Michigan. Randy Lewis – 85 countries – 2,633 tracks. Michigan The Wolverine State This evening I saw racing at my 135th-lifetime track in the Wolverine State, yes, the Wolverine State. I hold the #4 trackchasing ranking in Michigan. Michigan ranks #2, amongst all the states, in tracks seen for me in the U.S. California is #1 in this category. Here’s a link to my all-time Michigan state trackchasing list. I have made 80 separate trips to Michigan seeing these tracks. 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 Michigan sayings: “My best friend is a troll.” What? How dare you insult your best friend like that?! Oh, wait — you’re from Michigan, where a “troll” is just another word for someone who lives in the Lower Peninsula, thus residing “under the Mackinac Bridge.” Crisis averted! JUST THE FACTS 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 770 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries My nearest trackchasing competitor, a native of Belgium, has seen racing in more than 30 fewer countries compared to my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today. Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. You can view the album slide by slide or click on the “slide show” icon for a self-guided tour of today’s trackchasing adventure. A long drive and a fun night of trackchasing at a track that began in 1942! 
