Greetings from Forsyth, Montana
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Rosebud County Fairgrounds Dirt road course Lifetime Track #1,476 Reprinted with permission from my Sunday, August 9, 2009, Trackchaser Report. THE CLASSIC TRACKCHASER REPORT Editor’s note: This is a CLASSIC Trackchaser Report. What the heck does “Classic” mean? It’s simply a Trackchaser Report that comes from my trackchasing archives. Typically these will be stories from tracks I visited five years or ten years or more ago. For whatever reason (usually not enough time) it didn’t get posted to my website when I first made the track visit. Often a classic TR will not have a video and/or photo album attached. I didn’t begin producing my YouTube videos until 2009 (YouTube channel: RANLAY). I didn’t begin writing a complete Trackchaser Report until I had seen about 425 tracks. Photo albums were sort of hit or miss during the early years of my trackchasing. Additionally, if you see a website link know that link worked when the TR was originally written. Will it work now? Your guess is as good as mine! Nevertheless, this CLASSIC Trackchaser Report has finally bubbled to the surface and is now available for everyone to see at www.randylewis.org. I hope you enjoy it. I AM A TRACKCHASER. My name is Randy Lewis (above with Cincinnati Bearcats cheerleader). 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. 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 Sunday, August 9, 2009. “I’VE BEEN MISSING THE NORTHWEST” TRACKCHASING TOUR Greetings from Forsyth, Montana, TODAY’S HEADLINES See how my leisurely planned trip to Oregon turned out to be more. …………..details in “The Objective”. I was hoping a young family would have their dream vacation to Disneyland disrupted………………more in “The Trip”. Some people deserve to be unemployed. …………..details in “The People”. Things you might have noticed had you been paying more attention in school. I will maintain my policy of affording anonymity to readers who send in interesting bits of information or who provide cutting edge analysis. FROM THE BEST READERS IN RACING I received this email while traveling down the road from Jim Sabo long-time reader who resides in Florida. For those readers who not avid followers of winged sprint cars, the “Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals” are the most prestigious gathering of sprint cars in the world. I’ve seen this program three times. This is what Jim had to tell me. “The Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals are on the Speed Channel Saturday 8/15 at 10 PM. Also a replay 8/21 at 8:00 PM (EST)” This is exactly the type of program I would enjoy watching. However, I was on the road. I would not be home before this program aired. Not to worry, I simply recorded the program on my DVR at home remotely from my iPhone while driving in Montana. Yes, this tech stuff is amazing. P.S. Jim again followed up with word that the Knoxville Nationals had been rained out. I then reprogrammed my DVR again thanks to the good info from Mr. Sabo. SPECIAL NOTICE This note is for long-time reader Mike Skonicki: A 4.5 fl. oz. Mai Tai has six WeightWatchers points. THE OBJECTIVE, THE TRIP, THE PEOPLE…AND A WHOLE LOT MORE The Objective I found a “something” This trip was meant to be a simple “two-nighter” for Friday and Saturday races in Oregon. However, when I’m given some hotel time and an internet connection, I always seem to come up with “something”. That “something” this weekend turned out to be a Montana “Bump n Run” show. Very few trackchasers have ever seen this group run. I have seen more Montana tracks than anyone has and I had never seen a Bump n Run show. That was about to change. I checked their website at http://www.bumpnrunracing.com/index.html. This group runs at about ten tracks all over Montana from May until September. Wouldn’t you know it? They had a race in Forsyth, Montana on Sunday following what was supposed to be just a two-day trackchasing trip in Oregon. Yes, I am lucky to find these unusual races in unusual places. Now…..where the heck was Forsyth, Montana and how could I get there by 12 noon on Sunday. Answers to those questions and more in the “Trip” section. Predictin’ is hard. This was my 76th new track visit of the season. At the beginning of the year, I estimated I would see 50-75 tracks in 2009. How could I have predicted a PERFECT weather year up to this point? I would have expected to lose a few shows to Mother Nature. Now, I’m not sure how many tracks I will finish with. I have a number of non-racing weekend date commitments that will make it difficult to go trackchasing from this point until the end of the year. The Trip They can match me some of the time but not MOST of the time. O.K., it’s fair to say that I have some advantages over my fellow trackchasing competitors. First, I found the Montana race date. Most of my competitors could do that. However, it was late Saturday night and I was in Medford, Oregon. As I looked on my Rand McNally electronic mapping system, I learned that Forsyth was some 1,220 miles from Medford. I certainly couldn’t drive that distance in the next 12 hours. My fellow competitors couldn’t either. I would have to fly to Forsyth or thereabouts. Can you imagine trying to arrange air transportation from somewhat remote Medford, Oregon to very remote Forsyth, Montana? I wanted to leave in the next 6-8 hours too! To top it off, I also wanted to sleep in my own bed back in San Clemente following the races on Sunday night. No, my fellow competitors could not pull that off either. Just think about it…..why would they want to sleep in my own bed? This was a complicated last-minute trip. I would end up flying from Medford at 6 a.m. on Sunday to Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake, I would fly to Billings, Montana. From Billings, I would drive about 100 miles over to Forsyth. This sounded pretty simple and certainly doable to me. I retired. I didn’t have to be anywhere on Sunday. I got one of the last seats on the plane from Medford to Salt Lake. Once in Salt Lake, I figured if I couldn’t get on the flight to Billings, I would simply walk across the hall and grab a flight back to home in Orange County. But, you guessed it; I got on that flight to Billings. I am not Bill Gates. I am often considered the “Bill Gates” of trackchasing. I think that nickname should come from my technical prowess and not from my net worth statement. Would Bill Gates be flying commercially? I don’t think so. Do you think Mr. Bill has ever stayed in a Motel 6? You get my point. Maybe Carol doesn’t need to read this. I am just a simple trackchaser trying to provide for my family. If there are a few sheckles left over at the end of the month, I might schedule a trackchasing trip. Speaking of family, my flying into Billings was a special treat today. I did not fly on an airplane until I was 21 years of age. Does that sound like Bill Gates to you? That flight took me to, where else, Billings, Montana! At the time I was headed to Dayton, Wyoming to visit a girl I was dating in college at the time. Yes, this was my first ever flight. Do you know anyone who is under 40 years of age that didn’t have their first flight until they were 21? By the way, you might be concerned that Carol would be concerned with my reason for going to Billings as a 21-year old. First of all, Carol rarely reads these reports. I asked her why and she says, “I live it, I don’t have to read about it”. Fair enough on that one. Therefore, I don’t have to be very concerned with her reaction to what I write about her or her “fellow competitors” in the world of romance and marriage. Why would she care about something that happened almost 40 years ago? There’s another reason for her not to be concerned. She was the “girl” I was going to visit in Dayton, Wyoming. And now you know the rest of the story! After the races……….. Flying standby on Sunday nights is tough. Following the very last feature event, it was time to hightail it back to Billings. Again, I got one of the last seats on the plane to Salt Lake from Montana. Now, I had a shot at getting the very last Sunday night flight from Salt Lake to Orange County. If I broke each day up into three segments, morning, afternoon and evening and then looked at the seven days of the week I would have 21 segments. If I had to pick the most difficult segment of these twenty-one segments to try to get on a standby flight it would be Sunday evening. This is when everyone is returning from his or her week or weekend activities. Flying standby on Sunday night is tough. Would a family cancel their trip to Disneyland so a trackchaser could sleep in his own bed? As luck would have it, there were four seats remaining on my flight back to Orange County. However, a family of six was ahead of me on the standby list. My only hope would be that this family of six would be unwilling to split up. Under this perfect storm scenario, they would all agree to wait for the next flight where they could all get on. This way I would be able to go ahead of them and be home “in my own bed” tonight. I could just imagine this mom and dad explaining to their four younger children that, yes, they had planned this trip to Disneyland for a very long time. However, they would have to admit to their children that mommy and daddy were “too cheap” to buy tickets and now their plans to fly to Disneyland for a once in a lifetime dream vacation were dashed. I imagined the children first showing severe looks of despair and then crying their eyes out. They might even take the psychological pain with them from this drama into their adult lives. All the while I would whisk by this falling apart at the seams family and get on the plane. It didn’t exactly happen as I imagined. The family decided to have four of their party of six go on the four available seats. Most standby flyers understand how the game is played. A “bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. The other two (of six) would wait for the next flight (tomorrow). All the while, this was happening I was on my laptop and my iPhone beginning to arrange lodging for myself at the local airport hotel for the evening. The game wasn’t over yet. However, the game wasn’t over yet. I was now standing with the mother and oldest son from the group of six that were yet to get a seat. That meant that the three of us didn’t have a seat on this plane. However, even though a passenger may be “checked in” on a flight that doesn’t mean they will actually board the flight. The most common problem is with connecting passengers. People might have originated their trip in Spokane, as an example. When they boarded in Spokane they effectively checked in for their flight from Spokane to Salt Lake AND for their connecting flight from Salt Lake to, in this case, Orange County. However, if their flight from Spokane is delayed for whatever reason they may not get to Salt Lake in time to board the flight to Orange County. That is what happened tonight. Precisely three connecting passengers didn’t make their connections. This meant that the mother and oldest son, from the party of six, and I got those last three seats. It is somewhat amazing how often I get the last seat on the plane. This travel is not for the spoiled brats, be they children or adults, of the traveling public. It is not for Bill Gates. However, it is for me. The People The bad ones…….. I met some people I really liked in Montana and some that I thought needed to be deported. I’ll tell you about both. Let’s go with the bad people experience first. The rental car counter for National Rental Car in Billings, Montana is hands down the worst in American and probably the world. These folks don’t have a clue. Not even a single clue. The Billings airport is small but colorful. Nevertheless, there were four people working the National counter. They all seemed to be having side conversations with each other while they, slowly, prepared rental documents for their customers. My young agent was painfully slow. She needed to listen into just about everyone else’s conversation while she was supposed to be working for me. This did not endear her to me. Finally, I had to say loud enough for everyone to hear, “Excuse me, but I’m in a hurry. I have an appointment to make and I’m late already.” This got my point across nicely, especially to the heavily tattooed male assistant manager. It also served some notice, although fleetingly I’m sure, that I was disgusted with their service. Fortunately, these people were not serving me food after my complaint. I was also concerned that the car they would give me might not make it to Forsyth if they could help it. The bad ones (continued)…….. I wasn’t finished with the National Rental Car staff in Billings. I would need their cooperation when I returned. I wanted them to “hold my keys” rather than close out my contract when I came back to the airport. This way if I didn’t make my flight out of Billings after the races I could keep my rental car until morning. I have done this successfully a few times in Boise, Idaho. By the way, the staff in Boise is absolutely top-notch. Of course, when I asked the Billings group to hold my keys at the desk until I called them with confirmation that I would or would not need the car, they didn’t know how to handle my request. They would have to check with the “assistant manager” and he was nowhere to be found. The young clerk who had prepared my contract wasn’t around either. Hmmmmm. While the desk clerk went to find him, I slipped off to the men’s room to change from my racing clothes to my flying clothes. It’s kind of a “Clark Kent” thing. Finally, the “decision” came back on my rental car. I would have to keep my keys until I did or did not get on the flight. If I were going to make the flight, I would have to give my rental car keys to a TSA agent and have them get the keys back to National. (John, have you ever done that?). This wasn’t ideal but I made it work. I am sorry to report that the National Rental Car staff in Billings gets a D— grade from me. And now for the GOOD ones…….. However, on the racing front, the people situation was great. I found Jim Fulton’s name as the racing contact for the Montana Bump n Run group in Forsyth. The best I could do initially was to leave him a phone message. Luckily, he returned my call quickly. I explained what I was trying to do in the realm of trackchasing. No, I did not go into the story about those “Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers” or the never-ending battle for trackchasing supremacy with my fellow trackchasing competitors. There would be time for that later. I simply inquired about the basics of Montana Bump n Run racing. I wanted to be sure they would run “rain or shine.” I wanted to understand what time they started. Jim was most helpful with all of my questions. He even offered to provide a pit pass so I could get up close and personal photos of the cars and drivers that make the Montana Bump n Run racing such an entertaining program. Once, I reached the track I asked one official if he could direct me to “Jim Fulton”. With this question, the official began to wave both of his arms in a windmill fashion and said, “Jim’s doing one of these today”. That told me that Jim was busy. I thanked the official and went exploring on my own. I was taking pictures from outside the pit fence when the young man lining up the cars for the next race came over to greet me. “Are you the guy from California”, he asked. Now let’s think about this. I was wearing a red crimson “Harvard” t-shirt. I had on blue L.L. Bean deck shoes purchased at their headquarters store in Freeport, Maine. How does a Montana guy get “Are you the guy from California” out of that? This guy should have been a detective. Of course, he was right; I was the “guy from California”. It turns out that Jim Fulton, a board member of the Montana Bump n Run group had told his staff about my impending visit. All kinds of folks came up to meet and greet me. They were anxious to tell me about their Bump n Run racing program and answer all of my questions. I want to thank Jim Fulton and his entire staff. Everyone made my short visit to their world fantastic. This is “down-home” but hard racing by a group of people dedicated to having fun racing in Montana. This was my first but will not be my last visit to one of their events. RACE REVIEW ROSEBUD COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS I was late but not too late. I didn’t reach the Rosebud County Fairgrounds grandstand until 1:20 p.m. The program had been scheduled to begin at 12 noon. Jim Fulton had estimated they would be racing until 4-5 p.m. Despite being late, I felt I would still get the chance to see a good deal of racing. I didn’t get to see as much as I wanted. The Montana Bump n Run group started racing back in 1989. At that time, the drivers wanted to do more with their demolition cars than just compete in a demo derby. They used a random draw to line up their heat races today. I like that idea. The group is also hoping to expand its brand of racing to North Dakota soon. There were two classes racing today, the “Limited” and the “Modified” groups. These racers had already completed five heat races. The only races remaining were the “B” and “A” main for the limited class and the “A” main for the modified class. For me, Montana Bump n Run racing would be a “features” only program. Today the group was racing on a dirt road course. In reality, this was similar to a large crudely constructed half-mile oval with a major chicane out near turn three. This chicane required a strong right-hand turn in the otherwise counter-clockwise direction of racing. The dirt surface was heavily watered in places creating a very muddy surface. The county fair grandstand was large, fairly modern and carried a large flat roof to protect the spectators from the sun, which was ever-present today. The P.A. system was unusually stout and the announcer did a nice job of entertaining the fans. The cars started two abreast with a rolling start. The races were short. The features I saw were 12 laps or less. Montana Bump n Run racing is “full contact”. Anything goes except hitting another driver in the driver’s side door. The racecars were all “Detroit big iron” with V-8 motors. I’m guessing these are the 1980s Chevy Monte Carlos that have to be getting in short supply as racers like these use them up. The cars carry large mud flaps behind their rear tires for obvious reasons. My favorite car of the meet was a ’57 Chevy, although he dropped out early in the competition. Don’t miss the many photos I took today. You’ll see just about every car that raced. You can see photos of the “Rosebud County Fairgrounds” race by clicking on a tab within this post. STATE COMPARISONS Montana This afternoon I saw my ninth different track in the “Treasure” state. Today’s effort helped me maintain my #1 position in Montana. This was also my first ever “Montana Bump n Run” event. Allan Brown is in second place here with seven tracks. Only four trackchasers have ever seen more than three Montana tracks. I have identified 12 tracks that I have yet to see in Montana. However, none of them race on a regularly scheduled basis. I suspect this dozen count of unvisited tracks might have less than 20 total race dates in a single year. Coming Soon – RANLAY Racing Exclusive Features! Why I fear Ed Esser. (Delayed again! Come on Ed I can’t wait forever…..my readers can’t either. They’re beginning to bug me about this). What is Randy’s (speaking in the third person) trackchasing future? (Coming August 2009) Who have been Randy’s three toughest trackchasing competitors? (Coming soon) Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser I’m still trackchasing out of a tiny three-car garage in the faraway but sunny seaside village of San Clemente, California. TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Orange County, CA – San Francisco, CA – 372 miles San Francisco, CA – Medford, OR – 329 miles RENTAL CAR Rogue Valley International – Medford Airport – trip begins Cottage Grove, OR – 147 miles Roseburg, OR – 214 miles Rogue Valley International – Medford – 309 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Medford, OR – Salt Lake City, UT – 575 miles Salt Lake City, UT – Billings, MT – 387 miles RENTAL CAR Billings Logan International Airport – trip begins Forsyth, MT – 103 miles Billings Logan International Airport – 205 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Billings, MT – Salt Lake City, UT – 387 miles Salt Lake City, UT – Orange County, CA – 588 miles Total Air miles – 2,638 (6 flights) Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 3,152 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Cottage Grove Speedway – $5 Douglas County Speedway – $9 Rosebud County Fairgrounds – No charge Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $14 COMPARISONS LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY UPDATE 2009 NGD point changes Randy Lewis – current score = 4.92 (tracks posted thru August 9) Connecticut -7 Iowa -1 Maine -10 Massachusetts -6 New Hampshire -11 North Dakota -1 Rhode Island -8 South Dakota -1 Wisconsin -1 Texas +1 Vermont -8 Wisconsin -1 Net changes -53 Gordon Killian – current score = 5.82 (tracks posted thru July 25) Connecticut +1 Georgia -6 Kansas +1 Kentucky +1 New Jersey +1 New Mexico -4 North Dakota -1 Ohio -1 Rhode Island -1 South Carolina +2 South Dakota +1 Net changes -6 LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS There are no trackchasers currently within 200 tracks of my lifetime total. Official end of RANLAY Racing Trackchaser Report 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. Check out the beautiful Montana scenery with a little Montana Bump n Run racing as well! 
