Greetings from Kent, Washington
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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Pacific Raceways
Asphalt road course
Lifetime Track #961
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: . . . . Carol and I came to the Pacific Raceways road course back in 2005. The year 2005 was my record-breaking trackchasing season. I ended up seeing racing at 182 different tracks for the very first time. That record stands to this day! . . I sometimes see two or more tracks in a single day. That was the case with our visit to Kent, Washington. After seeing racing at the Pacific Raceways in the afternoon we ventured over to the Western Speedway in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada for some trackchasing action that evening. When I do that I will commonly combine my observations from both tracks into a single Trackchaser Report. That is the case today. . . 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! . . Reprinted with consent from my September 24, 2005 Trackchaser Report Greeting from Kent, Washington and then Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, . . . SPECIAL NOTICE . . Does anyone ever enjoy the unexpected? The unexpected always seems to happen when it is unexpected. I guess that why they say “it’s unexpected!” Check out the RENTAL CAR UPDATE below to find out more and give me your opinion on next steps. . . . PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS . . We can’t stop spending. Even though we are now at 130% of our Vacation & Entertainment budget through August of this year, we cannot stop trackchasing. I, and when Carol comes along we, simply have too much fun seeing the sights and experiencing the adventures that are out here “on the road”. . . Today’s trackchasing plan will involve some unusual transportation methods. It all came about by my desire to get “just one more track”. The original plan called for an afternoon race in Kent, Washington (still on the schedule) and an evening race in Port Angeles, Washington. Both of these locations could loosely be called Seattle suburbs. . . Somewhere along the line, I stumbled across the fact that the Western Speedway in nearby Victoria, British Columbia, Canada raced on both a figure 8 and an oval track. As long-time Trackchaser Report readers know, this situation counts as two tracks in the official worldwide trackchaser standings . . Change of plans. That was good enough for me! We would be going to Victoria, B.C. rather than Port Angeles on Saturday night. Of course, not every good idea is easy or inexpensive to implement. You cannot drive to the Western Speedway directly from the state of Washington because the Western Speedway sits on an island, Victoria Island. . . I love riding ferryboats. We would need to ride a ferryboat over to Victoria Island. This sent me scurrying to www.google.com to get information about ferries to the island. I found three different boats that connect the U.S. and Canada in the area. The frequency of crossings decreases after Labor Day and the summer demand subsides. Nevertheless, I found a ferry, the M.V. Coho, which would fit our plans. . . The crossing is only 23.59 miles but it takes 90 minutes to make the trip. We could park the car on the Washington side, ride the boat as “foot passengers” only and then take a cab to the speedway. Alternatively, we could put the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala on the boat and drive it to the track. We chose to take our car with us. The one-way fee for both Carol and me and the car was only $50.50. I thought that was reasonable. Little did I know we might come to regret this decision. . . The boat would get us to Victoria Island at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday night. The racing at Western Speedway starts at 7 p.m. The track is only about 10 miles from the ferryboat landing area. If things were on time, we would be in good shape. . . I found an online travel agent to book us at the Embassy Inn in Victoria for the night. Our hotel was less than a half-mile from the ferryboat docking area. This was a very nice hotel. If you visit downtown Victoria, I would recommend it. . . Don’t miss tomorrow’s report. If you think, riding a ferryboat is an unusual method to use when trackchasing, just check tomorrow’s report to see an even more non-traditional method of transport to get to the tracks. By the way, in case you are wondering, I had ridden a car ferry two other times in pursuit of trackchasing immortality. The first trip ended up taking me to the Eagle Track Raceway in Republic, Washington back in 2000. In 2003, Carol and I rode a ferryboat from Connecticut to Long Island, New York to see both the figure 8 and the oval of the Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, New York. RACE TRACK STATS: . . . PACIFIC RACEWAYS (ROAD COURSE), KENT, WASHINGTON – TRACK #961. . . My afternoon event. This Washington track is my 14th countable track to see in the state. It is my first new track to see in the Space Needle state this year. I am ranked at #3 in Washington. Allan Brown leads the state totals with 17 tracks. . . This afternoon was Carol’s 218th lifetime track. The Pacific Raceways is her second track to see in the state of Washington. . . . WESTERN SPEEDWAY (OVAL) AND WESTERN SPEEDWAY (FIGURE 8), VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – TRACKS #962 & #963 . . #1 in British Columbia. These two British Columbia tracks increase my total in the province to three tracks. That ranks me #1 for trackchasing in the province. I guess trackchasers don’t go to British Columbia very often! It’s my first visit to this western Canadian province since 2001. . . Tonight’s action at the Western Speedway increases Carol’s lifetime trackchasing total to 220 tracks. The two British Columbia racetracks give her a second place world ranking in B.C. She is tied with Gary Jacob of Turlock, California. . . . . RACE TRACK NEWS: . . . PACIFIC RACEWAYS (ROAD COURSE), KENT, WASHINGTON . . Microsoft Streets and Trips. This road course is the former Seattle International Raceway. The track has been here for more than 30 years. The facility is home to a drag strip and is located is a heavily wooded area of Evergreen trees. . . I recently discovered that my Microsoft Streets and Trips mapping software has local landmarks and attractions available. Many of the more significant or well-known racetracks are part of the program. I was able to input “Pacific Raceways” and get directions right to the track. I normally use the National Speedway Directory or the track’s website for directions. The advantage of the Microsoft program is that is gives me systematic directions from exactly where I am coming from rather than from a direction preordained by the direction givers noted above. The program even has four or five Hungry Hobo locations listed! . . Normally road courses have good track food, especially when compared to the oval track edibles they call food. I would not say the Pacific Raceways excelled in this area. I ordered a cheeseburger that came with fries ($7) and a Diet Coke ($3). That seemed expensive for the quality I received. . . Cutting back on Carol’s food budget. Since we’re at 130% of our Vacation and Entertainment budget, I had to limit Carol on her food intake. Her budget was just $4 and allowed her to purchase a bran muffin and coffee. Everyone has to cut back somewhere! . . The paddock area…one of the best things about road racing. We arrived at the track at 9:30 a.m. This gave us an hour and a half to check out the paddock area and more than 100 sports cars in attendance. The SOVREN Vintage Racing Club sanctioned today’s event. Like all sports car clubs a minute-by-minute schedule is posted for the entire weekend. They were right on schedule and the first race began at 11 a.m. . . Prior to the first race, we scoped out the “Lazy Boy Recliner” special event “vehicles” that raced during the luncheon break. These contraptions were electric powered. Lazy Boy recliners had been added to a go-kart chassis. This is the way to race! . . The main spectator grandstands, which are substantial, line the drag strip portion of the road course. The paddock area is behind those grandstands. The novice spectator might see this part of the course and think, like we did, there’s really not much to see. If one stays on this side of the track, you will see the cars for less than half a full lap around the road course. . . Listen and learn. At the point I was thinking this was a pretty boring road course layout, I struck up a conversation with one of the course workers. He informed me “you need to see the back part of the track”. He explained there was only one way to cross the track and that was near the start/finish line. We waited until the first race was finished and crossed over. We discovered less than 10 spectators back in this rural and wooded section of the road course. . . Wow! What a change. We found “S” turns that changed elevations by at least 100 feet. It was like playing a golf course where the front nine runs through a suburban neighborhood with houses in full view and where the back nine runs through the woods with nary a house in sight. If you go to the Pacific Raceways make certain you take a walk along the ENTIRE track. You won’t regret it. . . Great scenery. One of Seattle’s most famous landmarks is Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier can be seen from most locations in and around Seattle including the Pacific Raceways. Even during the summer it is snow-capped. . . The weather was perfect and we enjoyed our day at the Pacific Raceways. Road racing like this is similar having a picnic in the park. You get lots of fresh air, exercise and today we saw some very beautiful racing cars. That’s makes for a nice afternoon of racing. . . . CAROL’S COMMENTS . . The Pinewood Derby. Carol was impressed with the backside of the Pacific Raceways course. It was cooler back there because of the shade provided by the large Evergreen trees. She was impressed with the cars racing the “S” curves up and down the backside hills. The recliner racing reminded her of the Cub Scouts’ Pinewood Derby with so many homemade creations. We met the driver’s school instructor of the Pacific Raceways. He took some time explaining the various children’s charities the raceway helped support. Carol liked what they were doing. . . . . WESTERN SPEEDWAY (OVAL) AND WESTERN SPEEDWAY (FIGURE 8), VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – TRACKS . . Two is better than one. Tonight’s race location was preferred for one simple reason. They race on two different tracks, an oval and a figure 8 track. Inconveniently, the Western Speedway is located on an island, Victoria Island to be specific. It is also in a foreign country, Canada to be specific. . . Our ferryboat arrived in Victoria exactly on time at 6:45 p.m. We were the fifth car off the ferry out of nearly 100. Our first stop just a few yards from the ferryboat was to clear Canadian customs. I was very much surprised that customs passage was so easy after my terrible experience earlier this summer at the North Dakota border. We simply showed our IDs, only a driver’s license for me, and we were off. . . The Western Speedway is only about nine miles from where our boat landed. We arrived into the track parking lot at 7:09 p.m. This part of the plan could not have gone better. We paid our $13 Canadian admission price and grabbed a seat in the grandstands. . . First the figure 8 track. The track was just beginning a mini-car figure 8 heat race, so the figure 8 track was in the books before the Western Speedway oval. Tonight was a “crash and bang” program. There were four classes racing including the figure 8 cars, a division of claimer stock cars and two “hit to pass” divisions, one cars and one trucks. . . The track did a great job of keeping the program moving along. Each race was lined up in the pits ready to go when the race on the track finished. The intermission was brief while they conducted a four child tricycle race. . . The figure 8 track was run on the oval’s front stretch. They simply moved two huge tractor tires onto the oval track and the cars raced around those tires. There were 14 figure 8 cars racing, they were fast, and they had major crashes. This type of contact reminded me of U.K. figure 8 and banger type racing. . . Ever seen a “hit to pass” race? On the oval track, the “hit to pass” classes were entertaining. The rule is that you cannot pass the car ahead of you unless you hit them, and in most cases, knock them out of the way. Again, these cars were extremely fast and they did some great damage when they overtook the car ahead. This class reminded me of the saloon stock car class of the U.K. . . The Western Speedway is a well-established facility. The grandstands are some 25 rows high and line the entire front stretch. The track’s concessions and souvenir’s are located underneath the grandstand area. . . The lights could have been better. The P.A. system was good and the two announcers were clear, entertaining and professional. Seeing the backstretch wall was difficult due to the cars parked in the infield area. . . Poutine almost. We ordered a hot dog, fries with brown gravy (something I always have at Canadian tracks) as well as popcorn and drinks. I started a conversation with the program seller and it turns out she was the person I corresponded with via email in advance of this trip. . . I received a very nice trackchaser mention from the on track announcer. He was really fired up about my trackchasing and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. They ended up giving us a nice hand for traveling so far to visit their track. . . We were out of the track as the last race of the night started at 9:20 p.m. It was getting chilly. The car’s thermometer registered the same as last night’s temp at 51 degrees. . . CAROL’S COMMENTS . . A real debris field. Carol found the “hit to pass” cars very exciting. I did too. She liked the efficiency of the track as they ran their races, but felt the track could use much better lighting. She was surprised the figure 8 cars were allowed “to mess up” the front straight with all kinds of debris before the oval cars raced. . . . RENTAL CAR UPDATE: . . We were just minding our own business. Carol and I were quietly sitting on the top deck of the M.V. Coho ferryboat doing some reading. I was mildly perturbed because the two sets of backup rechargeable AA batteries for my digital camera had failed. They were supposed to be charged but for some reason they were not working. This was especially disappointing since I wanted to take several pictures of our ferryboat experience. . . Will the owner of…. Our thoughts were interrupted when this announcement came over the ship’s public address system, “Would the owner of the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala please report to the purser’s office.” O.K., actually the announcement went like this, “Would the owner of a white Chevy Impala with Oregon license plates please report to the purser’s office.” Either way, neither Carol nor I had any idea what this could be about. . . We had parked our rental car “below” as directed by the ship’s personnel. After all the cars were parked, everyone was directed upstairs to the passenger levels of the ship. We were told not to return to our car unless accompanied by one of the ship’s personnel. . . Why didn’t you use your parking brake? Nevertheless, I headed for the purser’s office while Carol continued to read on the top deck. I arrived at the purser’s desk and identified myself. The purser informed me that because the ship was rocking a bit more than usual, my car was rocking too much because I had not activated the parking brake. I never put the parking brake on when I park, especially when I am parking in a level space. . . You car has hit another car! I simply told the purser, “No problem, I’ll go down and put the parking brake on”. That should solve the problem. However, the purser had more to say. “Your car has hit another car in the parking area,” he told me. “What!” was all I could say. Then I noticed another man, “Mr. U.” standing next to the purser. It turns out my car had “hit” his car. . . The three of us walked down two flights of stairs to inspect the vehicles. Mr. U was driving a 2004 Z4 BMW convertible. For some reason, certainly unknown to me, Mr. U had decided to go down into the parking area during the voyage (which was apparently against the ship’s rules) because he was concerned about the movement of the ship. There was some rocking of the ship, but I have ridden boats like this many times and I didn’t give the sea’s conditions a second thought. . . My Chevy Impala was parked directly behind his BMW. Although I was directed by the ship’s personnel to pull behind the BMW when we boarded the ship, my car could not have been that close to his when we departed. Carol had crossed between the two cars after we parked to get something from the driver’s side of the car. . . Tampering with a crime scene? Even though my car was in “Park”, it did rock back and forth a bit. This stopped when I applied the parking brake. Mr. U told the purser and me that when he came down into the parking area to check on his car, my car was just “an inch or two” from his and he noticed some damage to his rear bumper. He then drove his BMW forward a couple of feet, which is where it was when I first saw it. Is anyone else thinking “tampering with a crime scene?” . . He pointed out the “damage” to me. You should be aware that I am not exaggerating any aspect of this explanation. I am being as truthful and objective as I possibly can. The “damage” was not visible to the naked eye. It simply was not. When directed to the point of “impact”, I could feel what I would call a slight blemish. I could feel it, but I couldn’t see it. . . Imagine something that is about half the size of a #2 pencil eraser. This small area was raised in the most minor way. Remember, it was not visible and could barely be felt with my hand as I brushed across it. . . Essentially Mr. U was an A$$H*$e. I told Mr. U that this didn’t seem like much damage since I could not see it and could barely feel it. His retort was, “This is a new car and it’s my wife’s car. We want it perfect and it’s no longer perfect”. Trust me, it’s a hassle to deal with rich people, no matter which side of the equation you are on. . . In retrospect, I should have been more forceful in this situation. I told Mr. U that he should get an estimate of the amount of damage. I really have no idea what or how much it would take to repair this blemish. The damage is almost imperceptible. Nevertheless, with the way they repair cars these days, it could run from nearly nothing to an entirely new bumper. I am estimating the damage repair might cost from $100-$1,000. Later I would come to find out Mr. U received an estimate for $543 Canadian to repair his bumper. . . The purser seemed to want to play the referee’s role. He said this was between Mr. U and me, because, “if two people have a problem in a parking lot, it’s between them and not the parking lot operator”. That might be true, but I wasn’t driving my car when the “incident” happened. . . Was I really at fault? I would contend that the ferryboat people did or did not do three things they should have done. First, they told me where to park and how close to get to the car ahead of me. Secondly, they did not tell me to put on my parking brake when I was parking on a flat area (the purser said, the parking lot attendants “normally” tell everyone to apply their parking brake). Finally, the purser told us “we normally block the wheels of the cars when the seas get rough like they did today”. The ship did not attempt to block anyone’s wheels. . . So here we are. Mr. U said I should simply “let my insurance company handle it.” I told him my auto insurance deductible is $1,000 per accident. With this amount of damage, I would not be involving my insurance company. I would later find out my deductible does not apply to the other driver’s car. The ship’s purser gave me a headquarters’ contact to call. “We sometimes settle things like this”, he told us. Mr. U seemed to think the ship was responsible in this matter as well. . . We parted company after exchanging addresses and phone numbers. Mr. U lives in Victoria. He will send me an estimate for the repairs to his automobile. I will call the ship’s headquarter contact to see where they stand. . . So what would YOU do? Given the above facts, what do you as loyal Trackchaser Report readers advise? Who do you think is liable and what next steps should be taken? . . When we prepared to disembark the ship, Carol was first exposed to the “damage”. She could not believe anyone in his or her right mind would pursue this amount of contact to this degree. Her comment was, “If we had placed a tissue between the two bumpers it would have prevented this problem”. She was very upset with Mr. and Mrs. U. . . . LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: . . These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total. Other notables 2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS * Trackchasing “New Tracks in One Season” record Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21st century Randy Lewis is a freelance writer, who winters in San Clemente, California and frequently flies in economy class. . . . . . CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES: Portland Oregon Airport – trip begins Banks, Oregon – 37 miles Kent, Washington – 222 miles Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – 381 miles Ferryboat travel Port Angeles, WA – Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – 23.59 miles Air travel Orange County, CA – San Jose, CA – 322 miles San Jose, CA – Portland, OR – 563 miles . . . TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: Sunset Speedway Park – $12 Pacific Raceways – $8 Western Speedway – $13 (Canadian) . . . . September 25 – Evergreen Speedway (road course), Monroe, Washington October 2 – Otay Ranch, San Diego, California “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 September 21 – Ed – 104 tracks Randy – 88 tracks* Ed’s recent activity: September 18 – Clinton Mtrsprts Park, Clinton, OK September 17 – May Valley Speedway, Lamar, CO September 16 – Thayer County Speedway, Deshler, NE 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. ** Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27 ** Tucson Raceway Park (outer oval), Tucson, Arizona, April 30 ** U.S. 30 Speedway (outer oval), Columbus, Nebraska, May 26 ** Rocky Mountain National Speedway (oval), Commerce City, Colorado, May 28 ** Hawkeye Downs (outer oval), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 3 ** 81 Speedway, Wichita, Kansas – July 21 ** Spartan Speedway, Mason (oval), Michigan – August 7 ** Galesburg Speedway (oval), Galesburg, Michigan – August 14 . . . . You might have remembrances of the Pacific Raceways. 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. 
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
Racetracks visited in 2005 (** not the first time to visit this track)
