THE EVENT

 

 

I first went to the Ventura Raceway back in 1986. I’ve been there a few times seeing such luminaries as Sleepy Tripp (above), Rip Williams and Stan Fox win. I didn’t begin writing my famous Trackchaser Reports until I had seen about 430 tracks. Therefore I don’t have specific notes from my early Ventura visits.

 

 

In 2001 we ventured up (pun intended) to Ventura for their country fair figure 8 racing. You can read about that experience behind the “Figure 8” tab in this post.

 

 

In 2016 Carol and I made a return visit to the Ventura Raceway. It’s a tacky little 1/5-mile dirt oval within yards of the Pacific Ocean. That makes the track very unique. I hope you enjoy my experiences at the Ventura Raceway.

 

 

Today’s undertaking was just one of more than 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the long and dusty trackchasing trail. If you would like to see where I’ve been and experience those adventures here’s the link:

 

 

Randy’s Complete Track List

 

 

If you’ve got a question, comment or whatever please leave it at the bottom of this report.  It’s very easy to do.  Or you can visit me on Facebook.  Thanks!

 

 

Randy on Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

No interstate traveling for me this weekend. I was staying home in California. However, there was still racing on our entertainment agenda. Tonight, Carol and I were heading up to the Ventura Raceway in Ventura, California.  We had spent the past couple of days just relaxing in San Clemente.

 

 

So why wasn’t I hitting the road to trackchase somewhere across the United States? It was pretty simple. There were no convenient, entertaining new tracks to visit this late in the season.

 

 

When I don’t have a new track to visit I will simply tell you that. Other top trackchasers will give you some song and dance excuse to make you think that they had an interest in something other than trackchasing… when in fact they really had no place to trackchase which is why they ended up doing something else. Why can’t these folks be a little more honest?

 

 

I never want to wear out my own personal car trackchasing. Trackchasing is expensive enough that I don’t want to ruin a brand-new car in 3-4 years by putting thousands of trackchasing miles on it.

 

 

The Ventura Raceway is some 134 miles from the driveway of our modest seaside cottage in the sunny little village of San Clemente, California. If we used the Carol Lewis owned and MFunds sponsored Lexus RX 350 we would be putting eight days of “normal” miles on it in the space of about 10 hours. That didn’t seem like a good idea.

 

 

I would rent a car to make the drive up to Ventura. I could rent a car at the Orange County airport for $27. Was it worth spending $27 to avoid putting 208 miles on my Lexus? You be the judge.

 

 

To rent a car we would still have to drive our car up to the Orange County airport and park it there. We would cover 60 miles round-trip doing that. However, I have a full parking sponsorship at the airport. There would be no charge to park our car there.

 

 

The National Car Rental Company has been a long time sponsor of my trackchasing. For every five rentals I make with them they give me a $75-100 credit toward a future one-way rental. By renting a car today I would earn $15-20 against that program.

 

 

During the winter months National has a special program for me. For every two rentals that I make they give me a $75-100 credit toward a one-way rental. Today’s rental would give me nearly fifty bucks toward a future rental.

 

 

I was paying $27 to rent the car. However, they were giving me $75-100 in future rebates that I would easily use. I love math.

 

 

Next up was the gasoline savings. Of course I can pick any car on the National Car Rental lot. Today I chose a beautiful new Chrysler 300 with chrome wheels and a double sunroof. I’ve never seen a double sunroof before.

 

 

The Chrysler 300 will give me about 30 miles per gallon on the drive up to Ventura and back. Our Lexus would come in at about 21 MPG. That would save me another 10 bucks in gasoline.

 

 

Sometimes mathematics can provide the answers that up to that point were unknown. Why was I renting a car? By doing so I was going to SAVE more than $80. I would also avoid putting 208 miles of wear and tear on my own personal car. Remember this. When you simply can’t figure out why someone does something the way they do it… often times if you follow the money you’ll get your answer.

 

 

The Ventura Raceway starting times were most unusual. The actual racing was scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. They were having time trials at 3:30 p.m. I couldn’t believe that information when I read it on the website so I had to call the track. They confirmed those details.

 

 

On the way up to the races we stopped in Thousand Oaks, California. Thousand Oaks is an upscale suburb on the north side of Los Angeles. We were looking for an early supper.

 

 

When I’m in an unfamiliar location I always use Yelp to help me decide where a good place to eat might be. Carol and I were craving Mexican food. I came across a Yelp recommendation for the Establos Meat Market.

 

 

This was a combination Mexican meat market grocery store and deli like Mexican restaurant. Was it authentic? The first woman that tried to take my order, because of the language barrier, had to bring in her assistant. That’s authentic!

 

 

Soon Carol and I were dining on their outside patio with carnitas, chips, Mexican drinks and the like. How many people do you know who will stop at a Mexican meat market for supper?

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California

 

 

We arrived at the Ventura Raceway a few minutes before starting time. The Ventura Raceway is located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California.

 

 

Its location is one of the most unique of any racetrack in the country. It is mere yards from the Pacific Ocean. A well-placed pitching wedge from the pit area could easily find its way into the Pacific Ocean on the fly.

 

 

I have a solid in history with the Ventura Raceway. I first went there thirty years ago in 1986. Over the years I’ve seen such greats as Sleep Tripp, Rip Williams and Stan Fox win at Ventura. In 2001 we went up to the Ventura County Fair for their figure 8 race program.

 

 

Tonight we will be seeing three racing classes compete. The USAC midgets were headlining the group. They would be supported by the California Lightning winged sprints (above) and a dwarf car class.

 

 

We arrived a few minutes before starting time. Admission for people of age was just $11. General admission was $15. I wasn’t that wild about the $5 parking charge. Southern California tracks do that. Why? Because the can. My mother used to complain about the 25-CENT parking fee levied by the Peoria Speedway back in the 1950s.  By the way they still sell a racing program at the Ventura Raceway.  Not many people do that anymore.  It was priced at four dollars.

 

 

I was surprised at how small the crowd was. One expert observer estimated the crowd to be just 350 people.  They have to have a pretty strong back gate to keep from loosing their shirts with a small crowd like that for a USAC midget show.

 

 

The Ventura Raceway is a compact little 1/5^th-mile dirt oval. There’s not a bad seat in the relatively large grandstands to watch the racing. We grabbed a top row just to the left of the press box.

 

 

I had first learned about this race from a Facebook post from my buddy, racetrack promoter Chris Kearns. His post made it sound like a good thing to do so Carol and I decided on an evening out in Southern California.

 

 

The races started on time with three heats for each of the three classes. The track was a little bit more one groove than I remembered it. However, my records showed that my last visit to the oval was in 1998. Maybe my memory is fading.

 

 

During the heats I sent a text to Chris Kearns thanking him for the Ventura Raceway reminder. He texted back that he was in the house and soon came up to join us.

 

 

Chris is the promoter of the popular and famous Wild West Shootout stock car/modified racing program. He puts this program on in Arizona each January. This year the event is moving over to the Arizona Speedway located in a suburb of Phoenix. If you’ve never seen this show what are you waiting for? It’s a good one spread over two weekends in sunny Arizona.

 

 

It’s always fun talking to Chris. He has so many insights and behind the scenes information on what’s happening in the racing world. I never know what I should share based upon what we talk about. I certainly don’t want to spill the beans on anything that might be confidential.

 

 

He did tell me the news about a new track that will be opening up in California in the next year. I’ll be there when they race. He had lots of comments about drivers and good news about his Wild West Shootout. If you get the chance you should try to make that event. There will be lots of top drivers making their appearance in Arizona during those races.

 

 

Tonight I was impressed that three of the starting twenty-four USAC midget drivers tonight were women. They all represented themselves well.

 

 

There were several flips tonight, probably five or six in total. All but one of them came in the midget division. There was no dust at the track. They ran the program efficiently although the intermission was a little bit longer than we were expecting.

 

 

Nevertheless, we were out of there by about 8:30 PM. I would classify the show as pretty good. It was a great value for 11 bucks. However having to drive more than four hours round-trip to see the program was a drawback. I know….I drive a lot longer than that to see new tracks all over the country. Yes, but that’s in search of a new track!

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

The “Turkey night midgets” will be coming here over the Thanksgiving holiday. That race has been moved from the Perris Auto Speedway to Ventura this year.

 

 

When turkey night was held at Ascot Park I never missed the event for 15-20 years. They used to draw huge fields with lots of very well known drivers.

 

 

Since Ascot closed I’ve seen this race at Bakersfield, Irwindale and Perris. Only the Bakersfield running was good in my opinion. The event has become expensive to attend, the car counts are way down and it just didn’t come anywhere close to providing the entertainment that Ascot Park used to have.

 

 

I suspect car counts will increase when the event comes to Ventura next month. However with reserved seats selling for $45 each it doesn’t seem like a very good value. I think I’m glad we came tonight to see a somewhat similar show for one quarter of the price.

 

 

 

 

Good evening from Ventura, California

 

 

 

 

California

 

 

The Golden state

I’ve seen 153 tracks in the Golden state, yes the Golden state. I hold the #1 trackchasing spot in California.

 

 

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

California sayings: Bro!

 

 

The South has “y’all” for a group of people — California has “Bro.”

 

 

While mainly a SoCal thing, it’s just one of those words. Whether in frustration — “C’mon, Bro!” — or in a friendly manner — “Oh thanks, Bro.”… it’s what we call each other. Stranger, friend, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is Bro.

 

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS 

The three most important trackchasing comparisons to me are:

 

Total lifetime tracks seen

Total “trackchasing countries” seen

Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

 

Total Lifetime Tracks

There are no trackchasers currently within 575 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,287

 

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 72

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.47

 

 

 

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

 

 

Greetings from Ventura, California,

 

TRAVEL/PEOPLE NEWS

I usually fly to most of the tracks I see but I normally do not fly to tracks I visit in California. This was not the case for the Ventura Raceway figure 8 track. Fate had me tied up in a business meeting in Phoenix on this day. At the end of the meeting I had to hurriedly catch a flight from Phoenix to Burbank and battle rush hour track for the 61-mile trip from Burbank to Ventura before reaching my destination.

 

 

Editor’s note:  This visit happened in 2001.  I didn’t retire until 2002.  Had I been retired I wouldn’t have had to deal with those pesky business meetings or worry about cashing the company checks.

 

 

As trackchasers know from personal experience I usually stop to eat before going to the races even when time is short. This has ALMOST cost me a new track a time or two but I’ve always managed to make it. When you come to California and want to eat burgers and fries the ONLY place to go is In and Out Burgers. In and Out is a regional chain with stores in California and Las Vegas. If you want the taste of old time burgers it’s got to be In and Out!

 

RACING NEWS

This was my 40^th race of the season and 38^th new track. It was also my 6^th visit to the Ventura Raceway venue and first time at the Ventura County Fair. The Ventura Raceway is the only track I know of that gives you a full 180-degree ocean view from the top row of the grandstand. When there’s a lull in the racing action just turn around and enjoy the view. Ocean viewing folks also know the wind almost always blows in hard off the water. Therefore, when you go to Ventura dress for the occasion or you will freeze your tail off.

 

 

The Ventura County Fair and the crowds that went with it had the normal parking strategy screwed up. When I went to the normal entry gate I was told I would have to back track about a mile to buy a fair ticket or I could buy a pit pass ($15) from where I was. Since I was running late I chose the pit pass.

 

 

Ventura is a very racy short 1/5-mile dirt oval. Tonight’s classes included pony stocks aka mini stocks (about 20), street stocks (about 20), figure 8s (14) and demolition derby cars (25). The pony and street stocks features had lots of banging and close entertaining racing.

 

 

The figure 8 races had some of the same cars that raced at the Perris Auto Speedway figure 8 race. A few of the cars had sprint car wings on top of their stock car bodies. Ventura has a traditional figure 8 track that uses the 1/5-mile track’s turns. Not a lot of great figure 8 action in the 20-lap main event.

 

 

These races were followed by a 25-car demolition derby. I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen a demo derby. Ventura Raceway is a strong two hours from home. It had previously been announced that the Interstate 5 section of highway that goes past my house was going to be closed from midnight to 5 a.m. for construction on this coming morning. The demo derby was to begin about 9:30 p.m. I had to decide to stay for the derby and risk having a major traffic problem after midnight or leave early. I chose the derby and then drove like Darrell Dake (my all-time favorite driver from Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and got home a couple of clicks before the stroke of midnight.

 

 

The Ventura Raceway figure 8 track was my 504^th lifetime track.

 

 

Restaurants of the day: In and Out, combo meal #2

 

Weather: Breezy and cool bordering on cold. It must have been in the low 60s.

 

 

New racetracks visited in 2001

 

Editor’s note:  The website URLs were listed in 2001.  Good luck with them today!

 

467. Laughlin Event Center, Laughlin, NV (no web site)
468. Loc Moran, Mont Carmel, Quebec (http://www.grabnetworks.net/delta/)
469. Circuit Jacques Rainville, Vanier, Quebec (no web site)
470. Pauline Davis Pavilion, Red Bluff, CA (http://www.rboutlaws.com/)
471. The Pavilion at the Fairgrounds, Chico, CA (no web site)
472. Baton Rouge Raceway, Baker, LA (http://www.batonrougeraceway.com)
473. Mississippi Motorsports Park, Long Beach, MS (http://www.msmotorsportspark.com)
474. South Alabama Motor Speedway, Opp, AL (http://www.southalabamaspeedway.com)
475. Nashville Super Speedway, Smyrna, TN (http://www.nashvillesuperspeedway.com)
476. Beech Bend Raceway (oval track), Bowling Green, KY (http://www.beechbend.com)
477. Beech Bend Raceway (figure 8 track), Bowling Green, KY (http://www.beechbend.com)
478. Soggy Bottom Speedway, Morgantown, KY (http://www.soggybottomspeedway.com)
479. Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA (http://www.buttonwillowraceway.com)
480. Speedway 90, Beaumont, TX (http://www.Speedway90Bmt.com)
481. 105 Speedway, Cleveland, TX (http://www.105speedway.com/)

482   Savannah Speedway, Savannah, MO (no web site)

483. Winston Speedway, Winston, MO (no web site)
484. Stuart Speedway, Stuart, IA (http://www.midiowa.com/showtime/stuart.html)
485. Barberton Speedway, Barberton, OH (http://www.barbertonspeedway.com/)
486. Eriez Speedway, Erie, PA (http://www.statelineeriezspeedway.com/)
487. Anderson Dry Lake, Lucerne Valley, CA (http://hometown.aol.com/mdrracing/index.html)
488. Perris Auto Speedway-(figure 8 track), Perris, CA(http://www.perrisautospeedway.com/)
489. Dixie Motor Speedway – (figure 8 track), Birch Run, MI (http://www.dixiemotorspeedway.com)
490. Dixie Motor Speedway – (oval track), Birch Run, MI (http://www.dixiemotorspeedway.com)
491. Grand Prix of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH (http://www.imgmotorsports.com/)

492   Painesville Speedway – (oval track), Painesville, OH (http://members.tripod.com/pspeedway/)

493   Painesville Speedway – (figure 8 track), Painesville, OH (http://members.tripod.com/pspeedway/)

494. Angola Motor Speedway, Angola, IN (http://www.angolamotorspeedway.com/index.shtml)
495. Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA (http://www.atlantamotorspeedway.com/)
496. Dixie Speedway, Woodstock, GA (http://www.dixiespeedway.com/)
497. Rome Speedway, Rome, GA (http://www.dixiespeedway.com/) Rome uses the same web site as Dixie Speedway.
498. Holland Speedway (oval), Holland, NY (http://www.hollandspeedway.com/)
499. Holland Speedway (figure 8 trackl), Holland, NY (http://www.hollandspeedway.com/)
500. Freedom Raceway, Delevan, NY (http://www.freedomraceway.com/)
501. Allegheny Mountain Raceway, La Mont, PA (http://www.amraceway.com/)
502. McKean County Raceway, East Smethport, PA (http://www.mckeancountyraceway.com/)
503. Bradford Speedway, Bradford, PA (http://www.bradfordspeedway.com/)
504. Ventura Raceway, Ventura, CA (http://www.venturaraceway.com/)

Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day.  You can view the album slide by slide or click on the “slide show” icon for a self-guided tour of today’s trackchasing adventure.

 

 

 

A fun day of touring and trackchasing in Southern California