FOREWORD

 

Sunday, June 26, 2005.

Greetings from Jones, Michigan (above)….no, make that Shelbyville, Indiana,

 

 

AND THE READER’S RESPOND:

 

PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS – PART 1

Today is a sad day for me in trackchasing.  Why?  I had to put Carol back on the bus this morning.  Her six-day trackchasing contract was up and she must return to California.  I hope you can picture a classic Norman Rockwell painting with a woman outfitted in a 1950s dress holding a suitcase in each hand with a sign hanging crookedly just over her head, that reads, “Bus Stop”.

OK, I didn’t drop her at the bus stop, but I did drop her at the airport.  She has everything in those bags she came with except two things.  First, my socks and underwear that Carol carried from California in those bags came to the Midwest clean.  They will return to the Golden State dirty.  Secondly, I have all of her twenty-dollar bills.

 

I did my best to entertain the “littlest trackchaser living west of the Mississippi”.  She loved Lambeau Field.  So much so that I think I could get her to come back with me in the middle of the winter to see a Packers game.  She thought our Sturgeon Bay boat outing was fun and really enjoyed the waterfront suite we lived in for two days.  We had several sit down restaurant meals (something I rarely do when I am by myself) and many fun conversations.

 

She did a good deal of the driving.  She made sure I always had my reading glasses.  She wrapped up the crackers from our restaurant meals so I would not go hungry in the car.  She reminded me when we were getting low on fuel.  She allowed me to listen to Rush Limbaugh for three hours each weekday that we were in the car.  Finally, she simply allowed me to look at her while she drove.  

 

Recently Trackchaser Report reader Michael B. of Chatsworth, California wrote to me about his wife Nancy and amongst other topics said, “Nancy’s still a bitchin’ mom”.  If I may borrow some of Michael’s phraseology, “Carol’s still a bitchin’ wife and trackchaser companion”.  I can’t wait to have her on our next trackchasing trip.  Stay tuned to see what Carol’s new trackchaser nickname will be once she gets her 200^thtrack and becomes a listed trackchaser.

 

 

PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS – PART 2

Once I dropped Carol at the airport, I headed out toward Jones, Michigan.  I had a bit more than four hours to make it.  The drive was 2.5 hours and I would lose an hour by crossing into the Eastern Time zone.  I was concerned that I might be tied up in construction traffic going through Chicago but I was able to get through the city and into Indiana with no problem.

 

I was headed for the enduro that was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the Thunder Valley Motorsports racetrack.  The 4 p.m. starting time was very convenient for me considering that today I woke up in Wausau, Wisconsin, drove to Chicago’s O’Hare airport and then would have to drive to Jones, Michigan.  That distance was nearly 450 miles, some of it in heavy city traffic.

The start time was not exactly determined randomly.  I had called the promoter a couple of weeks ago to inquire about the enduro start time.  He told me at that time that he had not really decided when the race would start.  I told him who I was and what I was up too.  He asked me what time would be best for me for his to start his race.  I told him that 4 p.m. would work well.  “Done”, he said, “We’re starting at 4 p.m.!”  That is what I call service!

 

This afternoon as I was about an hour from the track, I thought it might be best to call the track to reconfirm the start time and make certain that Jones, Michigan was really in the Eastern Time zone.  No one answered the track phone.  That seemed unusual but not unheard of.

I tried the National Speedway Directory number for the Public Relations manager.  I got a live voice and asked what time the race would start.  There was some hesitancy in his voice.  “We’re not racing”, he said.  That was bad news.  I asked why.  He said, “The track owner is right beside me.  Let me have you talk to him”.

 

Cass Castelucci told me the race was canceled because of the heat.  It was hot.  My Chevy Malibu thermometer told me it was 96 degrees where I was.  Cass told me he had surveyed the drivers and they felt that a 300-lap enduro in nearly 100-degree heat would be more than they wanted to tackle.  OK, we’ll catch you some other time Thunder Valley Motorsports.

I was supposed to meet Roland (above) at the Thunder Valley Motorsports track.  I had no way to contact him about this cancellation.  I believe he said he would go to Mottville if Thunder Valley canceled. 

 

As soon as I get the news that a planned track has canceled, I pull over and immediately develop a new plan.  Fortunately, I was just coming up on a travel plaza on the Indiana toll road.

 

I powered up the RANLAY Racing Dell computer and searched the RANLAY Racing scheduling database.  There was only one countable race within driving distance considering it was 2:30 p.m. and I was in northern Indiana.  The Shelby County Speedway was holding a mini-car enduro, which was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.  The track is located in Shelbyville, Indiana. Shelbyville was 184 miles from my current position according to my GPS system.

 

This was good news because it reduced my drive from five hours to just one hour for my planned Monday show in North Vernon, Indiana.  It was minorly bad news because I had planned to visit the Shelby County Speedway oval during the next few weeks.  I’ll take a track today and worry about getting a replacement track to fill the schedule next month.

 

Some might consider me lucky to get a new track.  I’ll give credit for getting a new track to simple natural curiosity, systems and technology.  If I wasn’t curious I never would have called the track and found out the race was canceled.  Of course, I had the most current National Speedway Directory that gave me the right phone number to call.  Without systems and technology meaning a cell phone, an Excel race date database and my GPS mapping software, finding a new track quickly would have been impossible.  Remember, I’ve already taken more than 800 tracks off the U.S. map and it was a Sunday night to boot.

 

As you will soon find out, I also saw racing on a temporary oval tonight.  As I mentioned above I will credit the first track to solid trackchasing theory and application.  I will credit the second track to pure blind luck.  In golf, better golfers seem to have better luck.  Maybe that happens in trackchasing.

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

Shelby County Speedway – permanent oval – lifetime track #883 & Shelby County Speedway – temporary oval – lifetime track #884, Shelbyville, Indiana

 

These two speedways bring my Indiana state total to 42 tracks.  My trackchaser ranking is now 13^th in the Hoosier State.  Roger Ferrell leads the state of Indiana with 94 tracks.  I have 37 countable tracks in the state still to see, of which about 8 race on a weekly basis.

 

I was attracted to the Shelby County Speedway for what was advertised as a mini-car enduro.  I arrived at the speedway about 45 minutes before the scheduled start time of 7 p.m.  It was 95 degrees when I got there and still 82 degrees with no wind when I left at about 10 p.m.

 

Tonight was the first night of the Shelby County Fair.  The carnies were just getting all of the amusement rides set up.  This fairgrounds has an old covered, wooden grandstand.  There were about 150 people watching the races.

 

There did not seem to be any rush to get the program going even though it was really hot and still under the covered grandstand.  The car counts were atrociously small.  There were two stock car classes.  The pure stocks had 7 cars and the mini-stocks had 5 cars!  These two classes raced on the normal oval at the Shelby County Speedway.

For some reason, it was necessary to have time trials for these 12 automobiles.  Time trials started at 7:39 p.m.  Actual racing did not start until 8:01 p.m.  There was a house car mini stock that could be rented by the night.  Tonight that car was being driven by “The Wild Mailman”.  I could not tell if this was P.J. Hollebrand driving or not.

 

The mini-stocks ran one heat for their five cars and the pure stocks ran two heats.  The first heat had four cars and the second heat had two cars (the BR-549 scratched).  Of course, Heehaw fans will understand the significance of this number.  The minis ran a five-car, 12-lap feature and the pure stocks ran a six-car, 12-lap feature that included the BR-549 car but with another car scratched.

This was a real down-home crowd.  I saw lots of young people with very short hair, several county fair queen candidates in their formal dresses and a few aging hippies with ponytails.  The most notable t-shirt read, “Christian, Pro-American, Heterosexual, Pro-Gun, Conservative – Any Questions?”  The guy wearing this t-shirt was tall and muscular with a 10-gallon hat and cowboy boots.  I wanted to take his picture but was fearful he might jam my camera up a place where I would have a hard time retrieving it.

I was out on the midway ordering a huge lightly breaded pork tenderloin when the cars hot lapped.  I heard the mini-car enduros cars hot lapping but did not suspect anything unusual.  However, after the stock car heat races, the announcer instructed the heavy equipment operator to place two large tractor tires on the main straightaway. There was going to be racing on a SECOND oval track configuration tonight!! Oh my. What good fortune.    

 

We were going to have a mini-car enduro where the cars raced around these tires in an oval configuration.  The tires were placed about 40 yards apart.  I would like to say there was a great field of mini-cars for the enduro, but I must admit there were only four.

 

The length of the race was 15 minutes.  The car completing the most laps during this time was the winner.  After just four minutes, the red flag flew so the track could be watered to alleviate the dust.  With just five minutes remaining, another red flag was displayed so the tires could be returned to their starting positions.  It seemed the cars kept pushing the tires closer and closer together until they were only about 25 yards apart.  The winning car completed 81 laps!

 

According to the announcer, this was only the second time for stock cars to race at the SCS.  This was the first time the mini-cars had ever raced on the temporary oval.

 

In terms of racing, you will not see many lower car counts than 4, 5 and 7 for tonight’s three classes of racing.  Of course, I would rather see a great 20 car, 30-lap feature race with any of my favorite classes.  However, that is not really what trackchasing is all about.  Trackchasing is about tracks.  We all have tracks on our list where we saw very few cars race very few laps. 

Some people might not like to count a track where only four cars raced, or a temporary track or whatever.  I use the same theory for trackchasing as when I was coaching my sons in youth basketball.  Many times the kids would complain that they really didn’t foul their opponent.  I didn’t want them complaining all the time because I thought it affected their game. 

I would say this to them, “I know you fouled the guy”.  They would ask me how I knew?  I would say, “Because the ref called the foul on you”.  What I was trying to teach them is that the ref was responsible for applying the rules.  If he called a foul on a player, it didn’t matter if the player actually fouled their opponent or not, it was a foul. Heck, presidential candidates could learn something here!

 

Please do not take my observations about tonight’s car counts as a complaint.  I was thrilled to get one track in based upon the last-minute cancellation at Jones, Michigan.  To get two tracks under these circumstances was nearly unbelievable.

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

A little Wisconsin rain cleaned up the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu this morning.  The dust from tonight’s track trashed the car again.

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

These trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.

 

3. Any Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 977
4. Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 969
5. Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 964
6. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 884
7. Jack Erdmann, DePere, Wisconsin – 872
8. P.J. Hollebrand, Webster, New York – 817
9. John Moore, Knoxville, Tennessee – 795
10. Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 785 (courtesy note, please try to keep up. If you fall more than 100 tracks behind for a period of greater than seven days, Trackchaser Report bylaws will force me to remove your name from this list)

 

 

2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 75
2. Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 57
3. Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 39

 

CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES:

Chicago O’Hare Airport – trip begins

Marshfield, Wisconsin – 288 miles

Menomonie, Wisconsin – 537 miles

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – 1,767 kilometers

Grand Forks, North Dakota – 1,327 miles

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin – 1,960 miles

Jefferson, Wisconsin – 2, 005 miles

Plover, Wisconsin – 2,171 miles

Antigo, Wisconsin – 2,826 miles

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – 2,974 miles

Luxemburg, Wisconsin – 3,023 miles

Unity, Wisconsin – 3,326 miles

Crandon, Wisconsin – 3,521 miles

Tomahawk, Wisconsin – 3,576 miles

Three Lakes, Wisconsin – 3,619 miles

Shelbyville, Indiana – 4,276 miles

 

Total trip air travel – 3,472 miles

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Marshfield Super Speedway – Free

Red Cedar Speedway – $12

Victory Lane Speedway – $20 Canadian

River Cities Speedway – I’m bringing you in for free!

Raceway @ Powercom Park – $9

Jefferson Speedway – $9

Golden Sands Speedway – $10

Langlade County Speedway – $12

Thunderhill Raceway – $12

Luxemburg Speedway – $12

Monster Hall Raceway – $10

Crandon International Off-Road Course – $15

Pepsi Raceway Park – $10

TNT Speedway – $9

Shelby County Speedway -$8

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21^st century

That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, all of the children are above average and the real estate prices are way above average.

 

Planned new racetracks (on the last day of each racing trip I will post my tentative plans for my next trip)

June 27 – Jennings County Fairgrounds, North Vernon, Indiana

 

June 28 – Paducah International Speedway, Paducah, Kentucky

 

 

Racetracks visited in 2005

(** not the first time to visit this track)

 

810. Sungold Stadium aka Premier Speedway, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, January 1

 

811. Freedom Hall – Oval – Louisville, Kentucky, January 15

 

812. Freedom Hall – Figure 8 – Louisville, Kentucky, January 15

 

813. Southern Illinois Center, DuQuoin, Illinois, January 16

 

814. Golden Aisles Speedway, Waynesville, Georgia, February 25

 

815. Zephyrhills Antique Racecar Track, Zephyrhills, Florida, February 26

 

816. Dirt Devil’s Speedway, Land O’ Lakes, Florida, February 26

 

817. Ringwood Raceway, Ringwood, England, March 25

 

818. Birmingham Wheels, Birmingham, England, March 26

 

819. Boiling Hills Farm, Sleaford, England, March 27

 

820. Snetterton Circuit, Snetterton, England, March 27

 

**     Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27

 

821. Great Yarmouth Stadium (Figure 8), Yarmouth, England, March 27

 

822. The Grove Farm, Monkland, England, March 28

 

823. Grimley Raceway, Grimley, England, March 28

 

824. Castle Combe Circuit, Castle Combe, England, March 28

 

825. Boyd Raceway, Boyd, Texas, April 1

 

826. Port City Raceway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 2

 

827. Outlaw Motor Speedway, Oktaha, Oklahoma, April 2

 

828. Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, Jennings, Oklahoma, April 3

 

829. JPR Speedway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 3

 

830. Charlotte County Speedway – Figure 8, Punta Gorda, Florida, April 9

 

831. CORA Speedway, Dixon, California, April 16

 

832. Reno-Fernley Raceway – Road Course, Fernley, Nevada, April 17

 

833. Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas, April 22

 

834. Salina Speedway, Salina, Kansas, April 23

 

835. Jetmore Motorplex, Jetmore, Kansas, April 24

 

836. Oberlin Speedway, Oberlin, Kansas, April 24

 

837. USA Race Track, Tucson, Arizona, April 30

 

838. Tucson Raceway Park (inner oval), Tucson, Arizona, April 30

 

839. Driesum Race Track, Driesum, Netherlands, May 5

 

840. Autosportsdadion de Polderputten, Ter Apel, Netherlands, May 5

 

841. Bellekouter Autocross – oval, Affligem, Belgium, May 8

 

842. Bellekouter Autocross – road course, Affligem, Belgium, May 8

 

843. Circuit de Croix-En-Ternois, Saint-Pol sur-Ternoise, France May 8

 

844. Nurburgring, Nurburg, Germany, May 13

 

845. Lopik – oval, Lopik, Netherlands, May 14

 

846. Lopik – road course, Lopik, Netherlands, May 14

 

847. Ten Boer Autocross, Ten Boer, Netherlands, May 14

 

848. Rennplatz “Casper Gerd”, Rutenbrock, Germany, May 15

 

849. Zuidwolde Autocross, Zuidwolde, Netherlands, May 15

 

850. Midland Speedway Circuit, Lelystad, Netherlands, May 15

 

851. Aalten Autocross, Aalten, Netherlands, May 16

 

852. Circuit de Peel International Speedway, Venray, Netherlands, May 16

 

853. U.S. 30 Speedway – permanent inner oval, Columbus, Nebraska, May 26

 

854. Hitchcock County Speedway, Culbertson Nebraska, May 27

 

855. Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado, May 28

 

856. Colorado National Speedway – asphalt oval, Dacono, Colorado, May 28

 

857. Colorado National Speedway – figure 8, Dacono, Colorado, May 28

 

858. Rocky Mountain National Speedway – figure 8, Commerce City, Colorado, May 28

 

859. Broken Bow Wilderness Park – figure 8, Fullerton, Nebraska, May 29

 

860. Casino Speedway, Watertown, South Dakota, May 29

 

861. Sioux Speedway, Sioux Center, Iowa, May 30

 

862. Madison Speedway, Madison, Minnesota, May 30

 

863. Hawkeye Downs, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 3

 

864. Autobahn Country Club – North Course, Joliet, Illinois, June 4

 

865. Shadyhill Speedway, Medaryville, Indiana, June 4

 

866. Pottawattamie County Fairgrounds, Avoca, Iowa, June 5

 

867. Dawson County Speedway, Lexington, Nebraska, June 5

 

868. Marshfield Super Speedway, Marshfield, Wisconsin, June 14

 

869. Red Cedar Speedway, Menomonie, Wisconsin, June 15

 

870. Victory Lane Speedway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, June 16

 

871. River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, North Dakota, June 17

 

872. Raceway @ Powercom Park, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, June 18

 

873. Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, Wisconsin – outer oval, June 18

 

874. Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, Wisconsin – inner oval, June 18

 

875. Golden Sands Speedway, Plover, Wisconsin –June 19

 

876. Langlade County Speedway, Antigo, Wisconsin – June 21

 

877. Thunderhill Raceway, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – June 22

 

878. Luxemburg Speedway, Luxemburg, Wisconsin – June 23

 

879. Monster Hall Raceway, Unity, Wisconsin – June 24

 

880. Crandon International Off-Road Course, Crandon, Wisconsin – June 25

 

881. Pepsi Raceway Park, Tomahawk, Wisconsin – June 25

 

882. TNT Speedway, Three Lakes, Wisconsin – June 25

 

883. Shelby County Speedway – permanent oval, Shelbyville, Indiana – June 26

 

884. Shelby County Speedway – temporary oval, Shelbyville, Indiana – June 26

 

 

You might have remembrances about this track.  If so, please feel free to share your memories 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.

 

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

 

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

 

 

Greetings from Sparta, Kentucky and then Shelbyville, Indiana

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

Do you ever want to take an AK47 sub-machine gun, simply walk into a business, and mow people down?  Ever want to take a two-pronged hammer and smash someone’s skull in?  How about taking a person’s fingers and bending them backward slowly until each one breaks at the knuckles?  Me neither.  However, there are times……………………….

 

What in the world would motivate me to write the above?  How about the crack staff at the Super 8 Motel located off Harding Road in Indianapolis, Indiana.  You might remember me mentioning this hotel about three weeks ago.  On that stay, I discovered the room had no towels or soap.  That should have been my signal to never stay there again.

 

You see, we wanted to drive about an hour after Friday night’s races.  If we did that, our drive on Saturday morning would be more manageable.  An hour’s drive from last night’s race would put us in Indianapolis.  I called the Super 8 toll-free number and asked for a location near the airport.  The reservationist then took over and put us in the motel from hell operated by the unconsciously incompetent.

We entered the motel lobby at about 11 p.m.  There stood five of the most incompetent, uncaring, unprepared and socially unworthy boobs (actually there were 10 of those) waiting to serve us.

 

This is not a story about women.  These folks could just have easily been men.  This is a story about poor customer service and people who should not be in positions where they interact with the public.  These people should be working in chicken slaughtering plants.

I walked in and told the five women who looked like they were rejects from Heehaw that we had a reservation.  I believe they thought I was speaking in tongues.  Each looked at the other as if to say, “Why don’t YOU help him”.  After a five-minute search through a stack of paper reservations, they discovered they did not have any paperwork on us.  After a little more research by the techie of the group, we were “found in the computer”.

 

They then turned the reservation process over to the “trainee”.  She was totally lost.  Occasionally, but rarely, one of the others would wander over and give some keystroke advice to the trainee who had absolutely no idea what she was doing.  This process had now taken more than 10 minutes.

 

After that amount of time, I could take it no longer.  I said, to the person who looked like she might be in charge of this motley crew, “I would really like to get checked in here”.  You would have thought, from the look she gave me, that we had arrived only 30 seconds before and I was criticizing an award-winning Super 8 motel customer service crew.

“I’m training here”, said the ringleader and walked away.  The trainee continued to look blankly at the screen.  Finally, another one of the “Fab 5” came over and offered some minor assistance.  After about 15 minutes, we were given our room keys.  On the way to the room on the second floor, we noticed several spots in the hallway carpet that were totally worn through to the wooden floor.  Do not stay here.  I repeat do not stay here.

 

Upon checkout the next morning at 9:30 a.m., we encountered the “trainee” again.  I recognized her by the red Texas rosebud tattooed across her chest.  She had not gotten any smarter overnight concerning her occupational skills.  I told her I wanted to checkout.  In her best Stepford Wives imitation, she looked at me blankly and said, “O.K.”.

 

She sat down at the computer and stared at it longingly.  With no attempt at any keystrokes, she turned to another woman and said, “You’re going to have to help me with this, it looks like the computer froze up”.   

 

The helper came over and looked at the screen.  “You’re going to have to enter your user name and password.  They make you type in your password the same way every time”.  Oh, my!

 

Finally, we were able to check out in only a minute or two less than the 15 minutes it took us to check-in.  I stay in places like this and report back to you so you don’t have to.

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY (INNER OVAL), SPARTA, KENTUCKY – TRACK #952

The Kentucky Speedway inner oval track is Carol’s fifth track to see in Kentucky.  The oval increases her career trackchasing total to 214 tracks.

 

This afternoon’s track in Kentucky is my 18th countable track to see in the state.  I am now in 6th place in the Bluegrass state and have seen 4 new Kentucky tracks in 2005.  I still have 29 countable tracks to see in Kentucky.  Rick Schneider, surprisingly to me, leads the state with 44 tracks. 

 

This track was the first half of my 17^th day/night double of the season.  Would it be a good idea if we banned day/night doubles?  Why?  There could be two benefits to trackchasers if we did.  First, it would support the country’s energy conservation needs by decreasing the amount of fuel used.  Secondly, it would free up trackchasers to enjoy either an afternoon or an evening of local non-racing entertainment without losing ground to their fellow trackchasing competitors.

 

 

SHELBY COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (FIGURE 8), SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA – TRACK #953

The Shelby County Fairgrounds was Carol’s ninth track to see in Indiana.  The figure 8 track increases her career trackchasing total to 215 tracks.

 

This figure 8 track is my third countable track at the Shelby County Fairgrounds this year.  Previously I had seen racing at the permanent large oval and the temporary small oval.  This is my 52nd track to see racing at in Indiana.  I am now tied with John Moore for eighth place in Indiana and have seen 13 new Hoosier tracks in 2005.  I still have 39 countable tracks to see in Indiana.  Roger Ferrell leads the state of with 103 tracks. 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY (INNER OVAL), SPARTA, KENTUCKY

I always have trouble with time zone changes in states that use two time zones or are on the time zone line.  The K.O.I.L. Legends series website only lists the time the gates open.  They do not say what time zone they use.  They do not say when the races actually begin.  That’s pretty lame.

 

The website indicated the gates opened today at 10 a.m.  I called the promoter and he told me the actual racing would begin “at about 12:30 p.m.”  I asked what time the races would finish up.  His answer, “Somewhere between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.”

 

We left Indianapolis with plenty of time to get the job done.  I elected to take state route 56 for the last 50 miles of the trip along the Kentucky/Indiana border.  You really can’t see the country by driving the interstates although I feel they are much safer than most two-lane highways.  Our two-lane road today was very picturesque as we motored along the Ohio River.

We arrived at the track at 1 p.m., just 30 minutes past what I thought was the starting time.  There were 24 legend cars lined up on the quarter-mile flat asphalt track.  They proceeded to begin a very long race.  It turned out to be a 100 lapper.  I wondered if this feature event might be a makeup from a previous outing.  Why would they be running a feature event just 30 minutes after the unofficial scheduled starting time?  There was no announcer or P.A. system being used, so my only information came from folks in the crowd.

 

It would later dawn on me after we left the track, at a convenience store nearby, what the deal was.  The Kentucky Speedway is in the Eastern time zone, not the Central time zone.  That meant the feature event started at 2 p.m. not 1 p.m. as we thought it did.  It was over by 3 p.m. Eastern time.

 

The legends feature event was the only countable class on the schedule today as far as I know.  The other class racing today was the Bandoleros.  I believe this class is for non-adults only.

The Kentucky Speedway is a first-class facility.  They are currently suing NASCAR in the hopes of getting a major NASCAR Nextel Cup race.  I doubt they will be successful.

Spectators view the inner oval from the infield of the larger oval.  I have seen racing at the inner oval at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Spectators there get to watch the action from the big track’s grandstand.  The view is a lot better in Atlanta.

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

Carol liked the “cute little cars” and the beautiful weather.  She also felt that “we’re idiots” regarding Indiana time zones.  We once missed daughter Kristy’s college visitation appointment at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana by an hour because we didn’t understand that South Bend was in a different time zone than Chicago.  I’m glad she went to UCLA instead.

 

There were two chain-link fences between the racetrack and us.  Carol didn’t like the view restriction this created.  She liked the hand sanitizer in the porta-potty.  She noted the lack of spectators at today’s show.

 

 

SHELBY COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (FIGURE 8), SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA

Not much action to report here.  There were only 13 cars in attendance tonight.  They ran two heats, a consie and a 10-car 12-lap feature event.  The feature checkered at 8:37 p.m. We decided to try for the Bunker Hill Speedway in Kokomo following the Shelbyville stop.  After being hung up in some early local traffic, we canceled our planned attempt for Bunker Hill and headed for my boyhood home.

I did spend some time talking with the figure 8 promoter’s wife.  She mentioned that crowds really fall off after kids go back to school.  Tonight there were only about 100-150 people in the old wooden covered grandstands.  She told me they would lose money on tonight’s promotion.

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

 

Carol thought tonight’s “action” was more like a demo derby than racing.  She noted the program didn’t take long, only about an hour and one-half. 

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

Our fourth gas stop of the trip saw us paying “only” $2.99 per gallon just north of Indianapolis.  Carol is helping to drive the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu.  I appreciate her help.

 

 

“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 (above left) has seen in 2005 and how many tracks I saw through the same date in 2004 on my way to see, at then a record, 127 tracks.  In order for Ed to win the “Cheese Challenge”, he must see 128 new tracks.

 

Through August 27 – Ed – 93 tracks         Randy – 83 tracks*

 

*Note:  To properly evaluate Ed’s chances, remember I added six new tracks on and after December 26, 2004, in Australia.  At this point in time, Ed has never trackchased outside of the United States.  He will have a difficult time finding U.S. based tracks in late December.  Net, he needs to stay 6-7 tracks ahead of my pace of last year through early December in order to win this challenge.

 

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.

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.

 

1. Rick Schneider – Bayshore, New York – 1,036
2. Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,020
3. Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 994
4. Any Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 993
5. Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 978
6. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 953
7. Jack Erdmann, DePere, Wisconsin – 872

 

Other notables

 

45. Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 215

 

 

2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 144*
2. Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 93
3. Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 72
4. Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 60
5. Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 52
6. P.J. Hollebrand, Webster, New York – 49
7. Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 47
8. Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 46
9. Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 30
10. Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 26

 

* Trackchasing “New Tracks in One Season” record

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21^st century

 

Randy Lewis is a freelance writer, who winters in San Clemente, California and frequently flies in economy class.

 

CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES:

Chicago O’Hare Airport – trip begins

West Allis, Wisconsin – 83 miles

Proctor, Minnesota – 677 miles

Putnamville, Indiana – 1,433 miles

Sparta, Kentucky – 1,624 miles

Shelbyville, Indiana – 1,749 miles

 

Air travel

Orange County, CA – Chicago, IL – 1,726 miles

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Milwaukee Mile – inner oval – Free

Proctor Speedway – $16

Lincoln Park Speedway – $10

Kentucky Speedway – $5

Shelby County Fairgrounds – $8

 

Planned new racetracks

September 4 – Edinburg Veterans Memorial Park (figure 8), Edinburgh, Illinois

 

September 5 – National Sweet Corn Festival (figure 8), Hoopeston, Illinois

 

September 5 – Peoria Speedway (not a new track), Peoria, Illinois

 

Racetracks visited in 2005

(** not the first time to visit this track)

 

810. Sungold Stadium aka Premier Speedway, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, January 1

 

811. Freedom Hall (oval), Louisville, Kentucky, January 15

 

812. Freedom Hall (figure 8), Louisville, Kentucky, January 15

 

813. Southern Illinois Center, DuQuoin, Illinois, January 16

 

814. Golden Aisles Speedway, Waynesville, Georgia, February 25

 

815. Zephyrhills Antique Racecar Track, Zephyrhills, Florida, February 26

 

816. Dirt Devil’s Speedway, Land O’ Lakes, Florida, February 26

 

817. Ringwood Raceway, Ringwood, England, March 25

 

818. Birmingham Wheels, Birmingham, England, March 26

 

819. Boiling Hills Farm, Sleaford, England, March 27

 

820. Snetterton Circuit, Snetterton, England, March 27

 

**     Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27

 

821. Great Yarmouth Stadium (figure 8), Yarmouth, England, March 27

 

822. The Grove Farm, Monkland, England, March 28

 

823. Grimley Raceway, Grimley, England, March 28

 

824. Castle Combe Circuit, Castle Combe, England, March 28

 

825. Boyd Raceway, Boyd, Texas, April 1

 

826. Port City Raceway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 2

 

827. Outlaw Motor Speedway, Oktaha, Oklahoma, April 2

 

828. Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, Jennings, Oklahoma, April 3

 

829. JPR Speedway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 3

 

830. Charlotte County Speedway (figure 8), Punta Gorda, Florida, April 9

 

831. CORA Speedway, Dixon, California, April 16

 

832. Reno-Fernley Raceway (road course), Fernley, Nevada, April 17

 

833. Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas, April 22

 

834. Salina Speedway, Salina, Kansas, April 23

 

835. Jetmore Motorplex, Jetmore, Kansas, April 24

 

836. Oberlin Speedway, Oberlin, Kansas, April 24

 

837. USA Race Track, Tucson, Arizona, April 30

 

**      Tucson Raceway Park (outer oval), Tucson, Arizona, April 30

 

838. Tucson Raceway Park (inner oval), Tucson, Arizona, April 30

 

839. Driesum Race Track, Driesum, Netherlands, May 5

 

840. Autosportsdadion de Polderputten, Ter Apel, Netherlands, May 5

 

841. Bellekouter Autocross (oval), Affligem, Belgium, May 8

 

842. Bellekouter Autocross (road course), Affligem, Belgium, May 8

 

843. Circuit de Croix-En-Ternois, Saint-Pol sur-Ternoise, France May 8

 

844. Nurburgring, Nurburg, Germany, May 13

 

845. Lopik (oval), Lopik, Netherlands, May 14

 

846. Lopik (road course), Lopik, Netherlands, May 14

 

847. Ten Boer Autocross, Ten Boer, Netherlands, May 14

 

848. Rennplatz “Casper Gerd”, Rutenbrock, Germany, May 15

 

849. Zuidwolde Autocross, Zuidwolde, Netherlands, May 15

 

850. Midland Speedway Circuit, Lelystad, Netherlands, May 15

 

851. Aalten Autocross, Aalten, Netherlands, May 16

 

852. Circuit de Peel International Speedway, Venray, Netherlands, May 16

 

853. U.S. 30 Speedway (permanent inner oval), Columbus, Nebraska, May 26

 

**      U.S. 30 Speedway (outer oval), Columbus, Nebraska, May 26

 

854. Hitchcock County Speedway, Culbertson Nebraska, May 27

 

855. Pikes Peak International Raceway (road course), Fountain, Colorado, May 28

 

856. Colorado National Speedway (asphalt oval), Dacono, Colorado, May 28

 

857. Colorado National Speedway (figure 8), Dacono, Colorado, May 28

 

**      Rocky Mountain National Speedway (oval), Commerce City, Colorado, May 28

 

858. Rocky Mountain National Speedway (figure 8), Commerce City, Colorado, May 28

 

859. Broken Bow Wilderness Park (figure 8), Fullerton, Nebraska, May 29

 

860. Casino Speedway, Watertown, South Dakota, May 29

 

861. Sioux Speedway, Sioux Center, Iowa, May 30

 

862. Madison Speedway, Madison, Minnesota, May 30

 

**      Hawkeye Downs (outer oval), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 3

 

863. Hawkeye Downs (inner oval), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 3

 

864. Autobahn Country Club – North Course, Joliet, Illinois, June 4

 

865. Shadyhill Speedway, Medaryville, Indiana, June 4

 

866. Pottawattamie County Fairgrounds, Avoca, Iowa, June 5

 

867. Dawson County Speedway, Lexington, Nebraska, June 5

 

868. Marshfield Super Speedway, Marshfield, Wisconsin, June 14

 

869. Red Cedar Speedway, Menomonie, Wisconsin, June 15

 

870. Victory Lane Speedway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, June 16

 

871. River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, North Dakota, June 17

 

872. Raceway @ Powercom Park, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, June 18

 

873. Jefferson Speedway (outer oval), Jefferson, Wisconsin, June 18

 

874. Jefferson Speedway (inner oval), Jefferson, Wisconsin, June 18

 

875. Golden Sands Speedway, Plover, Wisconsin – June 19

 

876. Langlade County Speedway, Antigo, Wisconsin – June 21

 

877. Thunderhill Raceway, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – June 22

 

878. Luxemburg Speedway, Luxemburg, Wisconsin – June 23

 

879. Monster Hall Raceway, Unity, Wisconsin – June 24

 

880. Crandon International Off-Road Course, Crandon, Wisconsin – June 25

 

881. Pepsi Raceway Park, Tomahawk, Wisconsin – June 25

 

882. TNT Speedway, Three Lakes, Wisconsin – June 25

 

883. Shelby County Speedway (permanent oval), Shelbyville, Indiana – June 26

 

884. Shelby County Speedway (temporary oval), Shelbyville, Indiana – June 26

 

885. Jennings County Fairgrounds, North Vernon, Indiana – June 27

 

886. Paducah International Speedway, Paducah, Kentucky – June 28

 

887. Crystal Motor Speedway, Crystal, Michigan – June 29

 

888. Dells Motor Speedway, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin – June 30

 

889. Van Wert County Fairgrounds, Van Wert, Ohio – July 1

 

890. Baer Field (3/8 mile oval), Ft. Wayne, Indiana – July 1

 

891. Gingerman Raceway, South Haven, Michigan – July 2

 

892. Thunder Valley Motorsports, Jones, Michigan – July 2

 

893. New Paris Speedway, New Paris, Indiana – July 2

 

894. Durand Downtown Circuit, Durand, Illinois – July 3

 

895. Ripple Ridge Raceway, Rawlins, Wyoming – July 8

 

896. Sheridan Speedway, Sheridan, Wyoming – July 10

 

897. Livingston County Fairgrounds (figure 8) Fowlerville, Michigan – July 12

 

898. Eaton County Fairgrounds, Charlotte, Michigan – July 13

 

899. Laird International Speedway, Echo Bay, Ontario, Canada – July 14

 

900. I-96 Speedway (inner oval), Lake Odessa, Michigan – July 15

 

901. I-96 Speedway (outer oval), Lake Odessa, Michigan – July 15

 

902. Thunderbird Racepark, Muskegon, Michigan – July 16

 

903. Bob’s Family Racetrack, Clarksville, Michigan – July 17

 

904. Orleans Raceway, Orleans, Michigan – July 17

 

905. Mid Michigan Raceway Park, Muir, Michigan – July 17

 

906. Franklin County Park (oval), Brookville, Indiana – July 19

 

907. Franklin County Park (figure 8), Brookville, Indiana – July 19

 

**     81 Speedway, Wichita, Kansas – July 21

 

908. McCook Speedway, McCook, Nebraska – July 22

 

909. Pikes Peak International Raceway (oval), Fountain, Colorado – July 23

 

910. I-25 Speedway (oval), Pueblo, Colorado – July 23

 

911. I-25 Speedway (figure 8), Pueblo, Colorado – July 23

 

912. Thomas County Speedway, Colby, Kansas – July 24

 

913. Waterloo County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Waterloo, Illinois – July 27

 

914. Western Michigan Fairgrounds (figure 8), Ludington, Michigan – July 28

 

915. Blackbird Bend Speedway, Onawa, Iowa – July 29

 

916. English Creek Raceway, Knoxville, Iowa – July 30

 

917. Beatrice Speedway, Beatrice, Nebraska – July 30

 

918. Cedar County Raceway, Hartington, Nebraska – July 31

 

919. Bull Valley Speedway (figure 8), Audubon, Iowa – August 1

 

920. Saginaw County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Chesaning, Michigan – August 2

 

921. Ingham County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Mason, Michigan – August 3

 

922. Goodells County Park (figure 8), Goodells, Michigan – August 4

 

923. Wonderland Speedway, Lambeth, Ontario, Canada – August 5

 

924. Cheboygan County Fairgrounds (road course), Cheboygan, Michigan – August 6

 

925. Northern Michigan Speedway, Elmira, Michigan – August 6

 

926. Standish Asphalt Raceway, Standish, Michigan – August 7

 

**     Spartan Speedway, Mason (oval), Michigan – August 7

 

927. Spartan Speedway, Mason (figure 8), Michigan – August 7

 

928. Branch County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Coldwater, Michigan – August 8

 

929. Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds (figure 8), Imlay City, Michigan – August 9

 

930. Bay County Fair Derby Arena (figure 8), Bay City, Michigan – August 10

 

931. Shiawassee County Fairgrounds – (oval), Corunna, Michigan – August 11

 

932. Mt. Pleasant Speedway, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan – August 12

 

933. Waterford Hill Road Race Course, Clarkston, Michigan – August 13

 

934. Jackson Speedway (concrete oval), Jackson, Michigan – August 13

 

935. Owosso Speedway, Owosso, Michigan – August 13

 

936. Grattan Raceway Park, Grattan, Michigan – August 14

 

937. Ionia Fairgrounds Speedway, Ionia, Michigan – August 14

 

**     Galesburg Speedway (oval), Galesburg, Michigan – August 14

 

938. Galesburg Speedway (figure 8), Galesburg, Michigan – August 14

 

939. Lenawee County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Adrian, Michigan – August 15

 

940. Genessee County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Mount Morris, Michigan – August 16

 

941. Berlin Raceway, Marne (7/16M oval), Michigan – August 17

 

942. Will County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Peotone, Illinois – August 24

 

943. Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – August 25

 

944. Tri-County Motor Speedway, Hudson, North Carolina – August 26

 

945. Lake Village Speedway, Lake Village, Indiana – August 27

 

946. Kamp Motor Speedway, Chase, Indiana – August 27

 

947. Jules Raceway, Wilmington, Illinois – August 28

 

948. Milwaukee Mile (road course), West Allis, Wisconsin – August 31

 

949. Proctor Speedway, Proctor, Minnesota – September 1

 

950. Lincoln Park Speedway (oval), Putnamville, Indiana – September 2

 

951. Lincoln Park Speedway (figure 8), Putnamville, Indiana – September 2

 

952. Kentucky Speedway (inner oval), Sparta, Kentucky – September 3

 

953. Shelby County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Shelbyville, Indiana – September 3