Greetings from all over the United Kingdom
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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My 2000 Trip to the United Kingdom!
Tracks seen during my 2000 visit U.K. Overview I have now made nine separate trackchasing trips to the United Kingdom. I first started going there to see their racing in 1999. I returned in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013 and most recently in 2016. You will be able to read all about the tracks I visited and the things I’ve seen and experienced all over the United Kingdom. I’ve done my share of driving on the “wrong side of the road”. However, I didn’t begin writing my famous Trackchaser Reports until I had seen about 425 tracks. That means I have no complete Trackchaser Reports from my 1999 U.K. trip. Ya, I know. I bummed about that too. As you will read throughout my U.K. Trackchaser Reports I love so many things about the racing in this country. Almost no rainouts, inverted starts, lots of contact and few yellow flags. They know how to handle their racing in the United Kingdom. My complete U.K. track list is published below. As this is written I have seen racing at more than 2,600 tracks in 85 different countries. These many trips 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: 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! My travels have taken me to 63 tracks all over the United Kingdom. As you read through my reports you will see…..I love U.K. racing. Below is my current U.K. track list. IPSWICH STADIUM My visit to the Ipswich Stadium came on Saturday, July 29, 2000. The stock rods were the main attraction. The races were watched in a major rainstorm. It was worth it though. I saw the “Super Rod World Final”. This track has also been known as the Foxhall International Raceway. I made these comments about my trip to Ipswich. Greetings from the United Kingdom, Today marks my first day in England and the first race of a planned 11-race tour of both England and Scotland. The venue was Ipswitch Stadium in Ipswitch. The 410-meter tarmac oval was my 448th racetrack. I arrived in London at 1 p.m. (5 a.m. my time!) and made the 107-mile trip to Ipswitch in good order. I do have to pay attention when driving right side steer cars from the left side of the road. Foxhall Stadium began racing in 1954. The general admission price was 8 pounds. The current exchange rate is approximately $1.60 per English pound. That makes it about $13 to get in. There was an additional one-pound charge for being able to sit in the covered grandstand. That one-pound was wisely invested in the covered seating as a strong shower passed through the area during the program and lasted for 20 minutes or more. One of the things I LOVE about English racing is that they race rain of shine. When the rains came the fans popped open their umbrellas and the cars continued to race. Also, many English racing formulas race in the clockwise direction. Virtually all American racing is done in a counter-clockwise direction. Tonight’s action featured the Super Rod World Final. Although the field for this race was small, 12 cars, the racing in the rain was exciting and competitive. The Super Rods are made up of Sierras and Ford Monteos (that’s what my Hertz rental car is). The stock rods also had their World Final tonight with a feature field of about 25 cars. There were drivers there from Scotland, Ireland (the winner) and England. This was another entertaining event. The 1 pound 10 pence program was detailed and complete. It also had info on other Spedeworth promotions of which I will partake in the Yarmouth event this coming Thursday. Refreshments were many and varied. Since I had eaten too much earlier I settled on the unusual combination of a Diet Coke and four sugared donuts! They were good. Not only do these folks race in the rain they also continue to race when a car spins and remains disabled virtually anywhere on the track. This rain/yellow flag policy is a racechasers dream. There are virtually no delays and it’s exciting to see the cars racing around these on the course obstacles. It’s sort of like American Enduro racing but it is done with most formula in the U.K. The racecar haulers are also very unique. Think of an upscale Greyhound bus with the back opened up to allow a racecar to fit inside. There were some very nice rigs in the pits. Also, there is no charge to enter the pits. You just walk in! We Americans need to take a few pointers from the Brits 1) no rain delays, 2) very few yellow flag delays and 3) no outrageous pit pass fees. That sounds pretty good to me. Overall, this was a very good start to what is going to be a great vacation. I’ll give the racing a 7.5 and the track a 6.5. The racing was extremely close and you can get very near the action. I found this interesting info from Wikipedia about this track. Foxhall Stadium is a Stock car stadium located in Foxhall near Ipswich. The Stadium is also used by the Ipswich Witches Speedway team, which race on most Thursday nights from March to October starting at 7.30 p.m. The stadium also hosts carboot sales on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from March until the end of September opening at 6.00 a.m. and costing £9.00 to sell and 50p a person entry. The Stadium is run by Spedeworth UK Ltd stock car promoters. The traditional main events at the Stadium include The National Hot Rod Championship of the World held the first weekend every July and the Gala Night Held the closest Saturday Night to Guy Fawkes Night. At both events, a large entry of Stock Cars, Hot Rods and Banger Racers can be expected as well as a sell-out crowd of around 10,000. More recently the Unlimited Banger World Final has been staged here since its move from the now-demolished Plough Lane venue in London. The world final first ran at Foxhall in 2008 and proved to be a successful change. The world final is predicted to stay at Foxhall for the foreseeable future. Foxhall has also hosted the Superstox World Championship race seven times including the first running back in 1961. The stadium opened in the mid-1950s and has been in continuous operation since. HILLTOP RACEWAY Something happened during my visit to Hilltop on Sunday, July 30, 2000, that had never happened to me ever! That’s saying something considering the Hilltop Raceway was my 447th-lifetime track where I had seen racing. The promoter invited me to drive in one of their races! Wow. I was all over that. In order to race, I needed a “firesuit”. Everyone went scurrying around the pit area to find me one. I’m a lot taller than the average Englishman. Finally, there was ONE guy about as big as me. He would loan me his driving uniform. In reality, the piece was about as thick as a light sweatshirt. It barely fit me. I would be driving a Ford Fiesta with car number B106H on the side. The “BH” stood for Breden Hill, one of the local race groups. This was a right-side steer car. I had to shift with my left hand. Ten cars started the race on a flat small dirt oval. We were racing in a clockwise direction. All of this was the opposite of how we do things in the states. This was the famous autograss type racing that is popular all over the United Kingdom. All ten starters lined up side by side in one row. When the green flag flew I had a hard time getting off the line. I had never ever driven this car before. Finally, when I did get going I moved up from tenth place to eighth, which is where I finished. When the race was over I was given a small award and allowed to take a “victory” lap around the track as the announcer explained to the fans who I was. My experience at the Hilltop Raceway was super special. As this is written I have driven in about 10 races. I have probably ridden in another thirty or forty. Folks, the view and experience from being inside the car is a whole lot different than watching from the grandstands. My Trackchaser Report from the Hilltop Raceway covered this information. Greetings from Tirley, England, This distribution of this race report is expanded because the activities of the day were so unusual! Today’s race comes from the Hilltop Raceway near Tirley. This was my 449th racetrack and the most unusual thing that’s ever happened to me in racing occurred today. More on that in just a moment. The Bredon Hill Autograss Club sanctioned the racing. Autograss racing is very informal, low budget racing often done in a farmer’s field. The Hilltop Raceway is a well organized ¼ dirt oval. It has permanent fencing, an announcer’s booth, starting lights, etc and is very well run. As a trackchaser, I’m often asked two questions: 1) “have you been to Indianapolis?” and 2) “have you ever raced yourself?” My answers have always been “yes” and “no”. Now my answers will be “yes” and “only in Europe!” Here’s what happened. I was being interviewed by the track announcer regarding my trackchasing activities and a couple of the track officials fancied the idea of getting an American set up in a car and racing for real. When they first approached me with the idea I put on a brave face and agreed, thinking it really wouldn’t happen. As soon as I said, “I’d love too”, these guys went into action. They picked the tallest guy in the pits to give me his “overalls”. Overalls is the English word for driving suit. A young lady helped with my one-day driver’s license. They waived the normal $15 fee. George, I don’t know where this ranks in terms of danger relative to my Georgia escapade of last spring. My racecar was a class 2 (there are 10 classes) 1960s Ford Fiesta. Its number was B106H. The B and H stand for Breden Hill. It was blue, orange, yellow and white and powered by a 1300 cc motor. Another gentleman volunteered to operate my video camera. I was about ready to go racing except for one delay. A ladies race had just been completed and one of the women had spun out and become injured. While the paramedics responded to the neck injury I waited in my driving suit. The news came over the track radio system that they would need to wait for a helicopter to come in and airlift the driver to the hospital. Although I was excited to race I didn’t want to see any helicopters taking any more drivers away. At the last moment, they canceled the helicopter and the injured racer left in an ambulance. Now it was my time to race. The fellow who loaned me his overalls offered this advice, “see all the dents in the car now? Bring it back in with a few more!” After with this astute racing strategy I was about ready to make personal racing history. There would be 10 cars in my heat. All of the cars were similar to mine except for one “special”. This guy’s car looked like a dune buggy and would prove to be very fast. The 10 cars were lined up side by side. There would be a standing start. I was positioned in the number one position on the far right. The drivers waited for a green light and then drag raced about 50 yards straight ahead to enter what most folks would consider the backstretch. We raced clockwise. Since I was a little unfamiliar with shifting left-handed in a right steer car and I didn’t want to blow up anything in my borrowed racecar (no, I don’t think it was a case of nerves!) I got left at the line. My slow start put me about 50 yards behind after about 100 yards. I did pass one car during the first lap and another somewhere along the 5-lap race. This gave me an 8th place finish in my first ever real race. The “special” car did lap me and several other cars as well. Overall, I passed two cars and only one passed me. I could have gone a little faster but I did nearly spin out on a couple of occasions and didn’t want to look too foolish in front of the crowd. During the introductions, I sensed the crowd was concerned for my welfare and was secretly rooting for me to do well. Those were the same feelings I had about the situation!! Following the race they asked me to drive my car back to the starting line for a special presentation. As I pulled into position at the start/finish line a beautiful young trophy girl came out and presented me with a red ribbon for my efforts. The highlight of my year up to this point had been shooting an even-par 72 at my local golf course. Today’s racing activity surpasses that. Although I didn’t get everyone’s name I do want to thank the Oval Pages’ Chris Jones for turning me on to this track. Also, the gentlemen who most graciously donated his race car, the track announcers, the fellow who took the video (yes, I’ll send you maps for your USA vacation), the fellow who loaned me his overalls, the lady who gave me my driver’s license as well as the pit officials and fans who wished me luck. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! If you ever get a chance to go to an Autograss race meeting, please do. They had 10 classes of more than 100 cars. They ran the races off fast and there was lots of action. This was the most outstanding day that I will never forget. It was a real kick! Overall, I give the racing a 10. How else could I rate the track where I turned my first competitive laps? The facility gets a 4. It was a little rough but everyone was very laid back and having a great time. SWINDON ABBEY STADIUM Following the racing, at the Hilltop Speedway, I made it over to Swindon Abbey for their special race event. Englishman Peter Wilson, who I had been corresponding with in advance of my trip, joined me. My all-time favorite U.K. racing class was competing. I’m talking about the BRISCA Formula 1 stock cars. I had the following to say about my visit to Swindon Abbey Stadium in 200. Greetings from Swindon, England, This afternoon’s racing action took place at Swindon Abbey Stadium in Swindon. This track was my 450th-lifetime racetrack. There were a lot of pluses to this racing event. Most of them center on the friendliness and graciousness of the English people. First, Kath Lomax, the track’s race director and chief scorer had arranged for my complimentary admission. Mrs. Rees at the ticket window helped with this as well. General admission was 12 pounds. I also met racing e-mail friend and Englishman, Peter Wilson. Peter and I had talked by telephone the last time he visited America and it was a pleasure to meet him in person. The main attraction of the day was the World Semi-Final for the BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars. I believe the BriSCA stands for British Stock Car Racing Association. This group of cars reminds me somewhat of the D.I.R.T. modifieds of the American Northeast. Swindon Abbey Stadium is also an active dog-racing track. They have covered grandstands and an inside bar. My refreshments of the day consisted of “sausage and fries” for 2 pound 50 pence and a Diet Coke. English racetracks have a lot of terrace or hillside seating. I’ve seen very little straight bleacher seating in my 7 lifetime United Kingdom events. Peter and I went up to the scoring tower to visit Kath Lomax. She was extremely hospitable and arranged for us to watch a race from inside the track’s racing surface. As the pit area is outside of the track we were among just a few people getting to watch the race from our position. Peter and I also took a tour of the pits. Frankie Wainnman Jr. is the hot dog of this circuit. He’s only in his early 30s but comes from a strong racing family. He had the best hauler there with a trailer capable of carrying two cars. A street BMW occupied the top space in the trailer. The F1 cars start their races using a unique handicapping system. Cars have their roofs painted to identify their position in the point standings. White roofed cars are least accomplished followed by yellow, blue, red and the “stars”. As the race begins each group starts about 30-50 yards behind the group in front. Frankie Wainnman is a “star” and his starting position is nearly ¾ of a lap behind the front row. Nevertheless, he came from last starting position to win one event. Kath had also arranged for me to be the trophy presenter (no not trophy girl!) that I was happy to do. Peter helped with the video and that will add to the future enjoyment of the vacation. The track’s racing surface did leave a lot to be desired. The shale surface seemed a little sandy and during the racing, it was so bad it was difficult to see the cars. The fans in the main grandstand were downwind and I’m sure will be in need of a shower soon. Also, there was very little commentary coming from the announcing booth at least from the areas I watched the race from. Overall, with the kindness shown by Kath and Mrs. Rees as well as getting the chance to spend the day at the races with Peter, it was a lot of fun. Again, thanks very much too all. I’ll give the racing a 7. This is the top class in the country but they were hampered by the dry and dusty track conditions. I’ll rate the facility a 4.5. There was not much seating and the track conditions weren’t very good. The people I met there get a 10! I went to Wikipedia to find out the history of “Swindon Abbey”. They had a lot of great information about the track’s beginnings. Much of the best racing I’ve seen in the U.K. has been done at stadiums primarily built for dog racing. These facilities normally have indoor comfortable seating. They have restaurants and bars. As you can see much of the history at Swindon Abbey relates to dog racing, not auto racing. Swindon Stadium, also known as the Abbey Greyhound Stadium, is a Greyhound Board of Great Britain regulated greyhound racing track and speedway track located in Blunsdon, Swindon, England. Greyhound racing takes place every Saturday evening, in addition to their three ARC fixtures and speedway normally takes place on Monday and Thursday evenings. The stadium is home to the Swindon Robins, who compete in the Elite League; the speedway track has a circumference of 363 metres. The stadium opened to the public on 23 July 1949 when it hosted the Swindon Robins speedway team; greyhound racing followed three years later on 1 November 1952. Swindon had already experienced two short-lived greyhound track venues, in the village of Wroughton and near the town centre in Edinburgh Street, but both had disappeared by the mid-thirties. The stadium occupied a rural setting south of Lady Lane and was named after the Blunsdon Abbey estate in Blunsdon St Andrew, a Victorian estate which had seen its main house destroyed by fire in 1904. The track initially raced as an independent with 2,000 people attending on 1 November 1952 to watch a greyhound called Don’t Care win a 324 yard race in a time of 19.02 secs at odds of 6-1.The stadium came into the hands of the Bristol Greyhound Racing Association, owners of Oxford and Eastville (Bristol) stadiums at that time. This led to the track becoming part of the National Greyhound Racing Club during April 1968. The Silver Plume competition arrived the same year as the track’s principal event. Another independent track to the northwest of Swindon opened during the sixties at Common Platt but had little effect on the business of its larger neighbour. In 1983 ADT (British Car Auctions) purchased the Abbey Stadium and used its large car park as a base for their sales. Other competitions at the track were the Grand National of the West, Pride of the West and the Jubilee Stakes. In 1997 the BS Group sold its Eastville stadium and bought Swindon from ADT. The entire Bristol operation including the racing office, bookmakers, trainers, the Western Two Year Old Produce Stakes and the BAGS contract transferred to Swindon. The BS Group became Stadia UK and then Gaming International, and after the closure of Walthamstow stadium in 2008 the track hosted the Arc competition. In 2018 the stadium signed a deal with ARC to race a Monday, Wednesday and Friday matinée meeting every week. Also in 2018 the Arc competition was discontinued due to expected track changes but following the sudden closure of Towcester, leading owner John Turner stepped in to save the Oaks with a late scheduling in December. The owners, Gaming International, were granted outline planning permission in 2008 to build houses on part of the site and replace the stadium with a new ‘state of the art’ stadium. After several revisions, outline permission was again granted in 2015, for up to 100 houses and a care home. Work began in November 2016 with the construction of the stadium due to complete in June 2017. Following a significant delay, the revised project was due to get underway in January 2018. During 2019 the original plans to re-position the track were changed and the track was reduced in circumference from 463 metres (which used to be one of the largest in the United Kingdom) by creating two new bends inside the old circumference. The 509 race distance was scrapped. The alleged prefabricated buildings that have been built to replace the existing buildings are still to be moved on site. The local council have refused any further housing additions until progress is made with replacing the existing buildings. ONCHAN RACEWAY I went to see the races on the Isle of Mann on a Monday night, July 31, 2000. As you probably know the Isle of Mann is famous for its motorcycle racing. They are known for their Isle of Mann TT Motorcycle racing. Wikipedia said this about that, “The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle sport event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world.” I didn’t go to the island to see motorcycles race although I would love to see their TT race someday. I grabbed a Manz Airlines airplane from Liverpool in northern England. During my time in Liverpool, I was able to take the Beatles tour of the city, where the Beatles originated. This is what I had to say about my Isle of Mann experience from my Trackchaser Report published in 2000. Greetings from the Isle of Man, This afternoon I boarded a Manx Airlines plane in Liverpool (original home of the Beatles) for a 30-minute flight to the Isle of Mann. Contrary to popular belief the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom. It has its own currency, the oldest parliament in the world, yadda, yadda, yadda. Many thanks to trackchaser Will White for turning me on to this trackchasing opportunity and the “fare cracker” sale by Manx Airlines of 59 pounds, 40 pence or about $98 round-trip. If you stick with this trackchasing it will take you about anywhere in the world! The Isle of Man becomes my 4th foreign country to see races in addition to Australia, Canada, and England. My rental car is a 4-door Rover. It comes with a 5-speed manual transmission. So now we have some degree of complexity going on with the driving aspect of this trip. First, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Second, I’m driving on the left side of the road. Third, I haven’t driven a stick shift in a few years. Fourth, the stick shift must be shifted with the left hand, not the right. Fifth, I come upon roundabouts nearly every two blocks which replicate road course chicanes. Of course, for a former European race driver (from track #449!), this can be handled but must be done with some care and feeding. This island is a resort area for United Kingdom tourists. It’s only about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. It’s approximately 50 miles off the coast of Liverpool, England, and can also be reached by ferryboat. As a matter of fact, racecars not from the Isle of Man reach the island by the ferryboat. In the evening the city is brightly lit with multi-colored lights that are draped everywhere. I’m staying at the Island Hotel. This is a small bed and breakfast place with about 12 rooms. The rate is 22 pounds, 50 pence, and includes a full breakfast. My room is small just 10 feet wide and 12 feet long. For the third night in a row my room does not have a telephone, hence no e-mail updates. Since this is a European resort town there are lots of small hotels and even a couple of casinos. Because this is such an unusual place to be watching racing I thought it more important to inform you about the area than provide every last detail about who won each heat race. Tonight’s track is my 451st. The racetrack is a ¼ mile flat tarmac (asphalt) track. An interesting point is the track is ringed by a high-banked tarmac track, which is now used for go-kart rides. The high-banked track was originally constructed in the 50s for speedway bikes. I took the go-kart rides today for 3 quid (English slang for pounds -thanks Peter) for 5 minutes of track time. I held my video camera as I circled the track at some pretty fast speeds. It will be fun to see how that turns out. The track promoter is John Whitehead who also races in the Formula 2 stock car division. His mother runs the go-kart track along with his brother. The track has covered grandstands (as most tracks in this general area do) on the main straightaway and turns one and two. General admission was 4 pounds although the promoter admitted me free since I had come all the way from America. The facility is located less than ½ mile from the Irish Sea. They race every Monday night all summer. Today the weather alternated between heavy cloud cover and blue skies. The wind blew hard off the sea directly into the track. The wind chill was such that I had to change from my traditional shorts to something a little heartier. There were four divisions of racecars: Saloons (5), Formula 2 stock cars (6), 1300s (5) and Bangers (13). The Saloons are driven by boys and girls aged 10-16. The Formula 2 stock cars included a driver from Holland who had stayed over from last Thursday’s Formula 2 special race. He won last week and tonight. The Bangers were a lot of fun as these guys never let off the gas and did a lot of sliding and spinning. One promotional technique used in this part of the world is the “lap of honor”. The winning drivers, and sometimes the 2nd and 3rd place driver are paraded around the track at the race conclusion so the fans can see them up close and show their appreciation. I didn’t try any refreshments since I gorged myself on a Chinese dinner before going to the track. The track did offer traditional fare. I noticed sodas were 50 pence and Toffee Krisps were 30 pence. Each class ran two heats and a feature. All races were rather short, 8-10 laps. The program began at 7:45 p.m. and wrapped up at about 9:45 p.m. It was a fun program with lots of close racing action. The weather wasn’t too good and it started to rain lightly at the end of the program. This only increased the sliding and banging in the Banger feature. As you can see they’ve been racing at the Onchan Raceway for a long time. Overall, I give the racing a 6.5 and the overall track rating a 5. Considering the track’s location it was a fun meeting. Editor’s note: Later I learned the following. “The Isle of Man is a small island located between Great Britain and Ireland in the middle of the Irish Sea. Not a country in its own right, the island is actually a self-governing British Crown Dependency ruled over by the British monarchy.” Therefore, the Isle of Man was NOT counted as a new trackchasing country. RETALLACK PARK Greetings from near St Columb, England, I can’t begin to explain how much fun I’m having on the United Kingdom 2000 race tour! Yesterday was a non-race day. After landing at Liverpool at about 1 p.m. it was off to the “Beatles Experience” in the Liverpool dock area. In addition to the self-guided tour through Beatles memorabilia, history etc, I also took the two-hour “Magical Mystery Tour”. During the 60s/70s I was never much of a Beatles fan. In music appreciation class I found it challenging to identify a guitar sound from a violin. Anyway, this tour got me psyched about the Beatles. The tour took us to the boyhood homes of each of the Beatles as well as the Matthews Street area where the group played at The Cavern 292 different times before they made it big. Now that I’ve purchased the double CD of the Beatles “1967-1970” I’m cruising in my Hertz Ford Montego with the volume crankin! The Mrs. Lewis won’t be joining me for a few more days so there are no complaints about volume, music selection, channel selection or political orientation. In fact, no complaints at all (you say yes, I say no, you say stop, I say go). Today’s event is at Retallack Park in St Columb which is my 452nd track. In the parking lot the odometer says 1,014 miles. I’ve filled up a couple of times already and the car takes about 52 liters. At about 86 pence a liter that’s about 45 pounds or about $70. I’m only paying $276 for nine days of renting the car! The petrol will cost me more than the car rent. I’m also getting (he got toe jam football) used to the numerous roundabouts. I’ve dramatically cut down on the occasions I try to get in to drive the car from the passenger’s side! The weather continues from light rain showers to sunny skies. Sort of like Seattle. By the way, I was wondering why they didn’t have the Beatles name on the “Magical Mystery Tour”. Now that I’ve listened to the CD and the song Magical Mystery Tour the tie in hits me. I was asleep during the Beatles original period I’m afraid (there will be an answer let it be). For those of you who tuned in just to read about racing, I must point that trac chasing is a little about racing and a LOT about seeing the people and places in and on the way to track chasing. As my trackchasing friend, Gordy, who’s third in the world says “It all about the people and places”. (What do you think if I sing out of tune, will you still walk out on me)?. I heartily agree. Most of my driving time has been on Motorways, like the M5 and highways which are preceded by an A such as the A30. I have not spent much time on the B roads such as the B3274. B roads are sort of like county roads in the U.S. A “B” road leads to Retallack Park. At it widest spot that road was two lanes and about 15 feet wide. At it’s narrowest it’s absolutely only one lane wide. I followed a Nissan pickup truck pulling a racecar on a trailer that must have been 8-9 feet wide (the long and winding road that leads to your door will never disappear I’ve seen that road before). He was going 30-40 M.P.H. around the curved, narrow road and missing oncoming traffic by just inches. Nevertheless, he made it to the track and won the first heat in the red #75. The general admission price was 7 pounds. Rogers Oval Pages member and Clerk of the Course, Nick Wadge had arranged for my complimentary admission. The track is a 350-meter tarmac flat oval. They featured three classes, F2 stock cars, hot rods and stock rods. The races started promptly at 7:30 p.m. and all of the finals were done by 9:45 p.m. The weather wasn’t too good. It was windy and rained off and on throughout the program. One gentleman, I stood next too said this was the worst weather day in the past six weeks. I also ran into a young couple with a small baby. The man told me he has been to tracks in 11 countries and had seen at every track in England. His wife was wearing a Charlotte Motor Speedway t-shirt. The couple had been to the U.S. and seen races up and down the East coast while following the World of Outlaws. They were rained out at Williams Grove (day after day alone on a hill the man with a foolish grin is keeping foolishly still). He’s not on the Internet and not a member of Roger’s Oval list. I met Nick Wadge right after I arrived at the track. He had described himself as a “ large mustached Cornishman” and he was. He seemed like a great guy and told me the track was happy to have me visit. He even said they had a planned presentation for me following the F2 stock car final (I read the new today, oh boy, about a lucky man who made the grade). I wasn’t sure what that could be. I had a very tasty cheeseburger for 2 pounds and a hot chocolate for 60 pence. Upon admission, they handed out a nice program for free. The ticket taker was also very friendly and made me feel welcome. The program even had this piece in the track scene section: “there is little space for any gossip, but mention must be made of some special guests who plan to be at St Columb tonight. Legendary trackchaser Randy Lewis of San Clemente has the intention of including a visit to St Columb as he will receive a typically warm West Country welcome. Much of his interest and encouragement has come via the internet, and two of the men responsible for so much oval circuit racing being on the web, Dave Carter of Rolling Start, and Roger Venison of Roger’s UK Oval Race Pages, are also planning to be with us this evening.” Nice touch by author Crispon Rosevear. Thanks! After the completion of the F2 stock car final, as directed I showed up as requested by Nick. The lap of honor truck drove me to the presentation area. This track has most of its seating on what is the backstretch. They do have room for automobiles to park around turns 1 and 2. The track announcer is on the front stretch but there are very few spectators on that side of the track. As the three top finishing cars and drivers awaited their awards the track promoter, Cris, took a few moments to interview me about my trackchasing exploits. Following the interview I had my picture taken with the winners (Nick, if there’s any shot of getting a copy of one of those I’d love it!). Then I boarded the lap of honor truck with the three drivers and the race’s sponsor and we took a victory lap at a slow speed. The English fans really appreciate this touch and clap loudly for their winners and yell congratulations. After the lap of victory, the promoter called me over gave me a huge bottle of champagne and a large jug of apple cider. In the excitement of the moment, he gave me some explanation regarding the cider. I’m not sure I understood everything! He said something about not mixing the cider with the champagne and that I might want to dilute the cider to avoid the —–? I also had Roger of Rogers Oval Pages yell a hello during the presentation. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to talk to him after the races. Roger, if you’re going to any of the tracks on my schedule please say hello again. Overall, this was a racy little racetrack. Nick Wadge and the Cris were great and I really appreciate their kindness and generosity. Overall, I give the racing a 7.5 and the facility a 6.6. The racing was close and as a fan, you could get up to the track and watch the action from just a few feet away. I’m told there have been a lot of improvements to this track over the last couple of years and I’d recommend you check it out if you can. GREAT YARMOUTH STADIUM Greetings from Great Yarmouth, England, The major portion of today was spent getting from St Columb to Yarmouth. These places ain’t exactly next door to each other. I did stop by at the Snetterton Road Course on the way to Yarmouth for a quick look-see. As I pulled into the Yarmouth parking lot (after about 6-7 hours of Beatles music) the odometer showed 1,446 miles! Petrol is about 2 U.S. cents per mile so that’s about $300 in petrol/gasoline so far. Now I see why racers need sponsors! Yarmouth Stadium is my 453rd different racetrack and the 6th of my 11 race United Kingdom 2000 tour. I’m thankful a race is never rained out in the U.K. It rained off and on during the entire drive from St Columb. It also rained hard in Great Yarmouth just an hour or two before I got there at 7 p.m. With the amount of rain they got any U.S. dirt track would have been washed out and probably most of the asphalt tracks. Tonight’s program offered three formula: Stock Rods, New Rookie Rods and Rookie Bangers. The Bangers are a real kick. They are sort of like a U.S. destruction derby except they do race on an oval. The English call this “full contact” racing and it is! The program started promptly at 8 p.m. The track like a couple of others is also an active Greyhound dog-racing track. Seating is provided along the front stretch in a nice enclosed grandstand. There is also terraced seating along the turns and backstretch. The track is a small tarmac oval with a figure 8 using both of the oval’s turns. The pits like all U.K. tracks I’ve seen are outside of the oval. As you can see they’ve been holding auto racing at Yarmouth for a very long time. The public address speakers were not very good. If you stood directly on a line in front of them you could hear fine. If you moved 5 feet to the left or right of the speaker it was just about impossible to hear anything. Never seen anything like it. I had a cheeseburger for 2 pounds 20 pence. It was almost all bread with a razor thin burger. Parking was one pound. My mother always hated this idea even when Peoria Speedway was charging 25 cents back in the late 50s. General admission was 8 pounds. It cost another 1 pound to sit in the chair backed grandstand area. That admission price seemed a little on the high side. Like a couple of U.S. tracks, I’ve been too this season the sun sat directly in the face of the audience. Don’t know why they do that. The announcer was quite good. I had heard him at Ipswich on the first night of my trip. They played recorded music between races and since I’d just listened to many hours of recorded music that was the last thing I wanted to hear. The rookie rods were a new class. They had just six cars and the requirement is they are Ford Fiestas or Novas. It was mentioned the winner had built his car for around 250 pounds. Jim the announcer invited me up to the booth for a trackchasing interview. He had made the same invitation at Ipswich but he looked busy and I never took him up on it. Upon viewing my customary attire which is shorts, tennis shoes and a t-shirt or windbreaker he described me to the crowd as a “typically looking American wearing golfing trousers”! I took it as a compliment. He was nice enough to allow me to watch some races from the booth. The track has a fireworks display each Thursday night. That’s a nice touch for the crowd. After the fireworks, Jim and I went down to do an on-track interview. He’s a very engaging fellow and the crowd seems to enjoy his commentary. The show wrapped up about 10:15 p.m. and I was on my way to Lincoln for the night. Tomorrow it’s on to Glasgow to pick up the Mrs. Lewis and then to Cowdenbeath on Saturday night and Barford on Sunday afternoon. It’s been a great trip so far. Before I forget I’ll give the racing a 6.5. The rookie Bangers were very entertaining. The overall facility gets just a 4.5. It could have been a lot better but when you can’t hear the announcer from MOST parts of the track that’s bad. The sun setting in the eyes of the spectator and the parking charge were drawbacks as well. They also need to improve their food. The people I encountered in the announcing booth from the scorer to the race organizer to the announcer were very nice and worked hard to put on a good show. COWDENBEATH RACEWALL Greetings from Cowdenbeath, Scotland, Yesterday was a non-race day. My only responsibility was to pick up the Mrs. Lewis at the Glasgow, Scotland airport at 4:35 p.m. I should be able to handle that even if I’m staying about 300 miles away. My plan was to get out of the hotel about 11 a.m. and drive fast and everything would work out. The Mrs. Lewis doesn’t like to be kept waiting so I needed for the plan to work. I got out of the hotel about 15 minutes late but that didn’t seem like it would be a problem. With the Beatles music continuing to crank I put the Ford Mondeo (finally got the spelling of this right, thanks Graham) in lane #3 and cruised between 80 and 90 M.P.H. on the U.K. motorways toward Glasgow. By the way, what is the speed limit? I have seen virtually no police throughout the trip that now totals 1,900 miles. I did make one quick stop at a Welcome Break (rest stop) and picked up some orange juice and vanilla fudge. I had driven about four hours at pretty good speeds and time was starting to run out. At this stage, I was only minorly worried. With I saw the 50 miles to Glasgow sign I had about 60 minutes to make it. Somehow the mileage distance I had calculated must have been off. Still, that shouldn’t be a problem but my petrol was getting a little low. Since I was Northbound it would help if the airport were on the Southside. As I got closer to Glasgow I waited for the airport symbol on the road signs. It never came. When I was about 5 miles from towne center a major traffic jam materialized at the same time I saw the airport was about 15 miles North of the city. Now I had 15 miles to go and 20 minutes to get there and I was in a traffic jam. Did I mention Mrs. Lewis doesn’t like to be kept waiting? I REALLY didn’t want to keep her waiting after she’s flown 12 hours. As I sat in the city’s evening rush hour traffic the orange petrol light went on. The petrol gauge was dropping fast. I had time to check the glove box and found out the tank holds 61.5 liters of petrol. It also dawned on me that a bathroom call might be in order. With the traffic jam, I had more time to consider these future possibilities. All that I could think of were bad! The question that kept running through my mind was: “Do I run out of gas on the way to the airport in a major city traffic jam and pick her really late or do I pick her up pretty much on time and THEN run out of gas with her in the car”? I should mention she gets afraid we’re going to run out of gas anytime the tank gets below about 3/8 full! Now it was apparent I was not going to make it to the airport on time. The only question was would there be a petrol station at the next junction that was for the airport. There was! I elected to go for the fuel stop. It would be better to get fuel now than run out with her in the car. That would be embarrassing. How much fuel did the 61.5-liter tank take? 59.0 liters. Not only did I just about run it dry, to add insult to injury the bill was about $75 U.S. While I was there I decided it best to make a quick bathroom stop. That went well except upon trying to exit the one staller the lock jammed for a moment and that raised my blood pressure a bit. Now I was within shouting distance of the airport, had a full fuel tank and an empty bladder I was feeling better. One problem was it was now 5 p.m. That made me 25 minutes late. I was also hungry. I grabbed the bag of vanilla fudge and ran into the airport. Just as I entered there was the Mrs. Lewis with her back to me waiting for her bag. Her flight had been delayed and she had just arrived. I pretended like I had been there all along and had waited through her flight’s delayed arrival. It also dawned on me I probably needed a greeting gift. No time to buy one. I looked down at my bag of vanilla fudge. “Her honey, I bought you some fudge, thought you might like it after your long flight”. She was touched by my thoughtfulness. She won’t know what really happened until she reads this sometime in the future! It is nice to have the Mrs. Lewis back. How many wives are there out there where you could just say, “I’ll meet you in the baggage area of some airport halfway across the world in 8 days at 4:35 p.m.” (actually 5 p.m.) and they would say, “See you there, honey, have fun at the races until I see you”? Not many, I don’t think. By the way, as predicted, she doesn’t like the Beatles music!! Now back to the racing business. Cowdenbeath Racewall marked my first race ever in Scotland. It was my 454th different track. It was Mrs. Lewis’ 92nd different track. The weather is overcast, windy and a little chilly. Overall, this might be the best racing I’ve seen on the trip so far. There were three classes: Formula 2 stock cars (it was their World Semi-Final), Hot rods and Saloons. Whoever said I shouldn’t drive a saloon car was right. These guys are fast and drive like maniacs. I was very entertained by the saloon cars. The track is banked just slightly. It’s the only banked track I’ve seen so far. The pavement needs to be redone, as it’s a little bumpy. The track is also located very near downtown Cowdenbeath and has a 10 p.m. curfew. There is a very large double grandstand and terrace seating around the remainder of the oval. The track is narrow and the drivers never let off the gas. It VERY HARD racing. Because of the narrowness of the track the yellow flag is used to stop the racing in a manner similar to the U.S. Like I said the racing was great. This story, as you’ve seen, is not really about racing but the people at the races. I was fortunate to meet several of the members of the Rogers U.K. Oval Page Internet group. The first person I met was Graham Alexander. Graham is the track starter and an Oval Page member. He is a very active starter and I got many of his antics on videotape. Graham also made it possible for an on-track interview, mention in the race program and a trip around the oval in the lap of honor truck. He was nice enough to come up and chat with Carol and me during one of the breaks. Next, I met up with a fellow named Mike and his son, Andrew. They’re Oval Page members from the Midlands. They’re very active fans and were getting some great video action stationed in one of the turns. Do you guys sell these videos? They are coming to the U.S. in October for some holiday and racing action. Gents, now I know what the England flag looks like! I also had the opportunity to meet up with Adrian, Oval Page member and columnist for Stox World among other writing responsibilities. Adrian has seen racing at about 25 U.S. tracks. He and I did a short interview that should appear in next week’s issue. Adrian pointed out that they’ve been racing for years at Cowdenbeath. I met a young man, whose name I didn’t get, who came up and introduced himself. He’s an Oval Page member and also a saloon driver. His car is out of commission now but he hopes to be back soon. He accurately predicted #68 Harry Burgoyne would win the saloon final. Good luck with your racing young man. We had the chance to say hi to Cris, the promoter at St Columb. He was 550 miles from St Columb and observing the races from the infield. Nice to see you again, Cris. To cap off the evening Graham invited us to his house after the races. Since we were staying just South of Glasgow we were pretty close to Graham’s home in Bonnybridge. Graham had called his wife to warn her we were coming. Can you imagine dragging over guests to the house after 11 p.m. on pretty short notice? Well, that’s what we did. It turned out Graham’s wife was a beautiful and charming host who prepared sandwiches for us even though she had to be at work at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. Very nice on her part, we really appreciate it!! Also, we got to meet Graham’s 8-year-old son, a very energetic young man indeed. Graham showed us a short video of crash highlights from Cowdenbeath in the 80s. It was great. It was now a little after midnight and we had to get up early to go to Barford tomorrow, although not as early as Mrs. Alexander has to get up. That’s it from Cowdenbeath. Thank you very much to the people who made the event such an enjoyable one. Very nice folks. By the way, Graham sent along this photo years later showing a mid-March snowfall in Scotland that created a problem for one of the Cowdenbeath race events. BARFORD RACEWAY Greetings from Durham, England, Today’s event comes from Barford Raceway in Durham, England. This was my 455th different racetrack and my wife, Carol’s, 93rd racetrack. This track was located about 2 ½ hours South of our hotel in Glasgow. By the way, we’ve been staying at the Express, by Holiday Inn. Rates are about 40-50 pounds per night. There are 40-50 of these spread throughout England and Scotland. They’re all brand new with phones and all amenities. I recommend them. The featured event at Barford was the Bangers. Also on the card was the mini-stox and one other class similar to Bangers that I couldn’t identify. Before I went to this track someone told me I better have my “inoculation shots” before going to Barford. I can now understand that comment. This track was in a pretty dilapidated shape. It looks like it was in the middle of the Greek Ruins. Fairgrounds type buildings were in major disrepair with only partial walls standing here and there. There were no grandstands and spectators sat on a barren hillside on the backstretch and among sheep dung over the rest of the viewing area. The Banger races were good. They had about 20 on hand. During the final, only four were running at the end. As all Banger races go this probably would rank low but I’ve only seen Bangers a couple of times and found it entertaining as a change of pace. The track slants downward on the front stretch and is uphill on the backstretch (going in a clockwise direction). The pit area is located about 300 yards from the entrance to the track. The public address system leaves a lot to be desired. General admission was 7 pounds. Programs were free with admission. I will rate this track the lowest of any I’ve seen. The racing gets a 4 and the overall facility a 1.5. Pretty low ratings for one of the most run-down tracks I’ve seen anywhere. The racing rating is as high as it is because the Bangers had some pretty good wrecks. I inadvertently neglected to give a rating to Cowdenbeath Racewall. Here they are: Racing gets an 8.5 rating. These guys were on the gas all night with good competitive racing and solid fields of cars in three classes. The facility gets a 7. They had a good commentator, starter, PA system, grandstands, refreshments and pit area. Overall, this was one of my favorites of the trip so far. Well, I’ve seen 8 races in 9 days and it’s time to take a break. I will be golfing the next five days before I close out the racing next Saturday (Roosecote) and Sunday (Kings Lynn and Swaffham). If you’re attending one of these races and have not had a chance to say hi please try to do so. ROOSECOTE RACEWAY Greetings from Barrow in Furnace, England Well, the Mrs. Lewis is dropped off at the Glasgow Airport and friends, Rick and Mary, are dropped off at the train station in Glasgow for their return to sunny California. The golf is over. We played five rounds (three at British Open sites to include: St. Andrews-Old Course, Carnoustie and Royal Troon). The golf course won but at least we can say we did it. The Mini-van used for the golf has been turned in for a brand new Ford Mondeo. The car had 6 miles on it when I got it from Hertz. Destination today is the Roosecote Raceway, which is about four hours from Glasgow. This is my 456th different racetrack. I arrived at the track at about 4 p.m. and not much was happening in advance of their 6 p.m. start. I decided to drive into Barrow and visit the local Pizza Hut. It was a little like being back in the U.S.A. I got back to the track a few minutes before 6 p.m. This track has a very unusual entrance. The entrance is a long one-lane road with some major potholes as it winds it’s way back to the track. Some form of a factory that is now abandoned surrounds the track. Like Barford, it looks like the Greek ruins with buildings definitely on their last leg. Tonight’s formulas were Metros, Vans and Mini Stox. For my American friends, the Metro formula is exactly what it says. The cars are Geo Metros (or some European look-alike to the Geo Metro). They had a large field and the formula put on some very entertaining racing. They had heavy contact and most of the races had more than half the field crashed at the end. The Vans formula was again exactly what it says. These were full-size vans like a Chevy van would be. They even had an ice cream truck type van or Gordy; maybe it was a bread van. Too bad they only had five in the class. The commentator (aka announcer) told me they normally have 20-30 in this class. They were entertaining but limited by the lack of entrants. The mini-stox were also good with a large group of cars. A fourth class, rookie bangers added to the event. The races started promptly but unfortunately, it rained pretty hard during the entire program. The facilities at this track leave a lot to be desired. There is no covered grandstand and with the rain, you had to have an umbrella or you got soaked. Most of the crowd stood next to the fence to view the action. This tarmac oval had the highest bank of any track I’ve visited in the U.K. The commentator was good and you could hear him at all points on the track. Unfortunately, several of the U.K. tracks I’ve been too do not have good public address systems. Food was available in “chuck wagons” aka trailers. I didn’t try anything since I had eaten prior to getting to the track but there was a steady line of customers so I think the food was good. The track offered up a video concession that had tapes of recent meetings as well as banger crash tapes, etc. I wanted to get one but remembered that European tapes don’t play in American VCRs. Don’t understand that since almost all VCRs are made in Japan. I had corresponded with the track’s PR person via Roger’s Oval Page. Too bad he was away visiting Florida while I was at Roosecote. I was able to do a nice interview with the commentator and at its conclusion, I was presented with a very nice metal with a red, white and blue ribbon. They had inscribed the formulae that were running as well as the date and a welcome to the American trackchaser. This was a very nice touch and this piece will occupy a treasured spot in my home. Although it was raining and a little uncomfortable for an American wearing “golfing trousers” the racing was excellent. It was some of the best I’ve seen for being able to see up close and personal. The action was tight and the crashing and banging plentiful as that was what tonight’s racing was all about. I had to leave after about 2 ½ hours but they were still going strong. I think I got some great video of the racing action. Overall ratings for the place would be a 6.8 for the racing. As I mentioned this was a heavy contact meeting and they did exactly that. The facility gets a 3.5. The downside was the entrance to the track and the lack of a covered grandstand during the rain. The upside was a quality PA system with a good commentator. Although the seating was limited you were right on top of the action standing at the fence. When a car banged into the metal fence anywhere near you it definitely got your attention. All of the people I met at the track were A1! If you’ve never been to Roosecote I’d recommend going for some close racing action. Hopefully, it won’t rain but I was told the Lakes Region gets a lot of the liquid sunshine. SWAFFHAM STADIUM Greetings from Swaffham, England, After getting out of Barrow I made it down to the East side of Manchester where I holed up on Saturday night at an Express by Holiday Inn. I thought I could make it from there to Swaffham in three hours. I was wrong. It took me 4 ½ hours. I arrived at my 457th track, Swaffham Raceway at 1:30 p.m. for their 12-noon program. The U.K. does have one unusual (to me at least) habit of running their biggest race of the day early in the program. The big race was the World Semi-Final for Formula 1 stock cars. This race was the third race of the day out of a 12-race program. I arrived just as they were presenting the trophy to the race winner Frankie Wainman Jr. in the #515 Formula 1 stock car. Frankie is the Steve Kinser of U.K. Formula 1 stock car racing. I was told by the regulars that the race wasn’t that good as everyone drove conservatively so as to protect their point positions for the upcoming World Final that I believe will be at Covington later in the year. I did run into Adrian Blackwell, a columnist for Stoxworld racing magazine. He had interviewed me at Cowdenbeath. He presented me with a copy of the magazine and our interview. The story even contained a picture of yours truly. Thanks, Adrian. I enjoyed our talk about racing and travel as well. The next person for me to meet was Chris Jones. Chris is a member of Roger’s Oval Page (ROV) and is also the trackside commentator. Chris had provided the info for my adventures into autograss racing earlier in the trip. Chris invited me to watch the race from inside the racing oval that was fun. Also, Chris has a trip planned to New York around Thanksgiving and is planning to take in some U.S. racing on his first-ever trip to America. Chris thanks for the hospitality. I also met Colin C. a member of ROV. He was inside the oval taking pictures for Stoxworld. Colin has been to about 150 tracks of which about 50-60 are in the U.S. Will White, we might want to consider a ranking for trackchasers living outside the U.S. Colin would rank high on this list. The racing was good. I enjoyed the full contact 1300 Saloons. They had plenty of action. The mini stox even had three rollovers. The Formula 1 cars had a lot of passing in their races. The food was good. Although I did have one of the cheeseburger cooks give me the finger for videotaping his efforts. Hopefully, he was kidding! The lady frying donuts was a little more receptive to the video camera. The track has a good P.A. system and was one of the best on throwing the commentating duties back and forth from the tower to the track. Nice job, Chris. The admission price of 12 pounds was the highest of my 11 races. They had a small covered grandstand and lots of terrace seating for a very large crowd. Overall, I’ll give the racing a 7.2. Lots of action. Too bad I missed the World Semi-Final. I’ll give the facility a 6.5. They ran the races off quickly, had good food, commentating and a good speaker system. I’d recommend Swaffham to everyone. I’m glad to see Swaffham is still racing twenty years after my visit. Wikipedia had some great historical information regarding Swaffham Stadium. Check it out. Swaffham Raceway, originally Swaffham Stadium, is a stock car and banger racing circuit in Swaffham, Norfolk, which also hosted greyhound racing from 1987 until 2000. Disused greyhound track at Swaffham, which borders the active oval motorsport track. Swaffham became a new track on the National Greyhound Racing Club permit scheme in 1987. The 416 circumference circuit was constructed just south of the Dereham Road on the east side of Broom Covert. The track location was remote and relied on the catchment area of the market town of Swaffham to the west and some clientele from the further afield Kings Lynn and Norwich. It ran parallel to the closed Great Eastern Railway Lynn & Dereham line which ran through an area that separated the track from NRM horticulture laboratories. Maurice and Anne Kirby opened the track to the public on 16 November 1987, with Maurice Kirby acting as the Racing Manager on the race nights of Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Distances were 270, 480, 686 & 896 metres behind an ‘Outside Sumner’ hare. There was a large car park, 72 kennels and ten on course bookmakers but limited facilities in terms of structures with just one main stand. Because of a lack of greyhound racing in the area, Swaffham attracted significant trainers such as Kevin Cobbold, John McGee and Ken Peckham. In 1989 Tom Smith was brought into the track as the new General and Racing Manager and by 1992 he had acquired the lease. Together with his son Gavin, they were always looking to improve the mechanical workings of greyhound racing from hare systems to drainage and they produced a new hare that would change the industry. They came up with a hare that was modeled on the older outside ‘McKee-Scott’ but it had modifications that allowed the hare driver to use a simple turn switch and then an even simpler hare rail at ground level with the wire running on pulleys underneath. Within a ten-year period, the popular ‘Outside Sumner’ and older ‘Outside McKee’ had all but disappeared within the industry. The hare was known as the ‘Swaffham’ and this allowed the Smiths to set up a very successful greyhound parts company. A dispute over the security of tenure led to the cessation of greyhound racing at Swaffham on 14 July 2000. Kirby planned to reintroduce greyhounds in 2007 after spending £60,000 on a new greyhound track but Kirby died in 2012. KING’S LYNN STADIUM Greetings from King’s Lynn, England, This summary is being written on the plane back to Los Angeles. Visiting the U.K. has been a great racing trip. 11 new tracks! I drove approximately 3,500 miles with four different rental cars. At about $.02 per mile that’s about $700 for fuel. Ouch! The numbers on my Visa card are pretty worn out at this stage but it was well worth it. I met and was supported by several very kind U.K. residents. I won’t list individual names for fear of leaving someone out. Many of you provided advanced help over the Internet and several more folks introduced themselves and shared with me at the tracks I visited. For this, I am extremely grateful. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! If any of you come to the states and/or need info about U.S. tracks I will do everything I can to help out. We have trackchasers all over the country that can be invaluable resources like you were to me. Now to the task of reviewing my 458th track (and 11th on the U.K. 2000 tour) which took place at King’s Lynn Stadium. Although this track is only about 20 minutes down the road from Swaffham I did have some trouble finding it. King’s Lynn is a shale track and the program began at 6 p.m. This reminded me a little of watching Dick Trickle race at the Rockford Nationals on asphalt on a Sunday afternoon and then driving down to Freeport, Illinois for a Sunday evening dirt show several Septembers ago. As you can see they also race speedway bikes at King’s Lynn. The weather was starting to deteriorate. It began to rain at just about race time. Even though there was a little rain the track management continued to water the track, which was probably a good idea. King’s Lynn does have a couple of covered grandstands as well as terraced seating around the entire track. The first event on the track was a 30-car banger race. I liked the bangers. These guys put on quite a show. At the finish of this race, there were fewer than 10 cars running. Again, I got some great video of the bangers. The Formula 1 stock cars were the featured attraction. The track was pretty wet when they came out. Frankie Wainman Jr. started in the back of about a 20-25 car hear which ran for 20 laps. Although he didn’t make the top 3 because of track conditions he did move up. The tracks in the U.S.A. could certainly improve their shows by starting the fast guys in the back. Somehow the fast guys in the U.K. can make it to the front in a 20-lap race and the World of Outlaw guys can’t see to pass more than one or two cars in a 30-40-lap feature. The contact element of the U.K. sport may be the reason. I do notice the U.K. guys aren’t afraid at all to put a bumper to the competitor in front of them that opens the door to pass. Winston Cup’s Dale Earnhardt has been doing this for years! I saw Chris Jones the pit side commentator at King’s Lynn. Chris, I know we were supposed to do an interview but I ended up leaving about 8 p.m. as I was staying down by Heathrow and wanted to get there with enough time to get some shuteye before my flight. I hope you understand. Overall, I think by the time I reached King’s Lynn I was about “raced out”. After seeing the Formula 1 stock cars on both shale and tarmac I think I prefer tarmac. The bangers were good. I’ll give the racing a 6. They did have some delays between races that reminded me of U.S. tracks. Overall, the U.K. tracks have been excellent about keeping their shows moving. The weather didn’t help. I’ll give the facility rating a 6.5. The P.A. system could not be heard everywhere. The 10-pound general admission price was a little more reasonable than Swaffham. They had a few different food trailers and an indoor bar area. That’s about it from the U.K. for 2000. I’m sure there’s another 8-10 race trip in my U.K. future. Maybe in 2002 or 2003!! Wikipedia provided some historical context on the history of King’s Lynn. King’s Lynn Stadium, also known as the Adrian Flux Arena and previously as the Norfolk Arena, is a short oval stadium situated to the south of King’s Lynn on Saddlebow Road in Norfolk County, England. It currently hosts BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Car Racing, Banger Racing, motorcycle speedway and is also a former greyhound racing track. The stadium was constructed in 1951 on the west side of Saddlebow Road next door to a poultry farm. It originally opened for greyhound racing. Since 1955 it has hosted BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Car Racing for which it has hosted World Final events for in 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019. It’s set to hold the World Final again in September 2020 with this year’s winner Tom Harris defending his title. The stadium has been the home of the King’s Lynn Stars speedway team since 1965. It hosted the Final of the 1984 European (World) Under-21 Championship won by England’s Marvyn Cox. The shale-surfaced track is 342 metres (374 yards) long and is surrounded by a solid steel plate fence and like most international speedway venues, the fences in the turns are protected by an air fence. Racing started on 27 August 1951 and was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club). The racing is believed to have ended sometime during 1966.
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Ipswich Stadium
Ipswich
England
United Kingdom
July 29, 2000
PO
Hilltop Raceway
Tirley
England
United Kingdom
July 30, 2000
DO
Swindon Abbey Stadium
Swindon
England
United Kingdom
July 30, 2000
DO
Retallack Park
St Columb
England
United Kingdom
August 2, 2000
PO
Great Yarmouth Stadium
Yarmouth
England
United Kingdom
August 3, 2000
PO
Barford Raceway
Durham
England
United Kingdom
August 6, 2000
PO
Roosecote Raceway
Barrow-in-Furness
England
United Kingdom
August 12, 2000
PO
Swaffham Stadium
Swaffham
England
United Kingdom
August 13, 2000
PO
King’s Lynn Stadium
King’s Lynn
England
United Kingdom
August 13, 2000
DO
#
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
1
Onchan Raceway
Onchan
Isle of Mann
United Kingdom
July 31, 2000
PO
#
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
1
Ballymena Raceway
Ballymena
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
April 14, 2006
PO
2
Tullyroan Oval
Dungannon
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
March 26, 2016
PO
3
Nutt’s Corner Raceway
Crumlin
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
March 27, 2016
PO
4
Aghadowey Oval
Coleraine
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
March 28, 2016
PO
#
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
1
Cowdenbeath Racewall
Cowdenbeath
Scotland
United Kingdom
August 5, 2000
PO
#
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
1
Anglesey Circuit
Ty Croes
Wales
United Kingdom
April 22, 2011
PRC
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Ipswich Stadium
Ipswich
England
United Kingdom
July 29, 2000
PO
IMPORTANT NEWS FROM IPSWICH STADIUM
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Hilltop Raceway
Tirley
England
United Kingdom
July 30, 2000
DO
THE FIRST OF MANY…..HILLTOP RACEWAY
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Swindon Abbey Stadium
Swindon
England
United Kingdom
July 30, 2000
DO
STOCK CAR RACING AT A DOG TRACK!
Speedway
Opening
History
Redevelopment
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Onchan Raceway
Onchan
Isle of Mann
United Kingdom
July 31, 2000
PO
ONE OF MY MOST SPECIAL TRIPS IN THE U.K.
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Retallack Park
St Columb
England
United Kingdom
August 2, 2000
PO
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Great Yarmouth Stadium
Yarmouth
England
United Kingdom
August 3, 2000
PO
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Cowdenbeath Racewall
Cowdenbeath
Scotland
United Kingdom
August 5, 2000
PO
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Barford Raceway
Durham
England
United Kingdom
August 6, 2000
PO
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Roosecote Raceway
Barrow-in-Furness
England
United Kingdom
August 12, 2000
PO
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
Swaffham Stadium
Swaffham
England
United Kingdom
August 13, 2000
PO
Location
Dereham Road, Swaffham, Norfolk
Coordinates
52°39′17.41″N 0°37′51.52″E
Capacity
3000[1]
Opened
1975[2][3]
Former names
Swaffham Stadium
Length
0.205 mi (0.329 km)
Greyhound racing
TRACK
CITY
COUNTRY
DATE
TRACK TYPE
King’s Lynn Stadium
King’s Lynn
England
United Kingdom
August 13, 2000
DO
Origins
Stock car racing
Speedway
Greyhound racing
