Greetings from Surprise, Arizona
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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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West Valley Speedway
Dirt oval
Lifetime track #1,148
Greeting from Surprise, Arizona
I woke up in San Clemente, California this morning. I went to sleep in Chandler, Arizona. This is what transpired today.
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Strategy
There are all kinds of trackchasing strategies. I am often asked why I lead off my Trackchaser Reports with a discussion of strategy. The question usually goes like this, “Aren’t you afraid that your trackchasing fellow competitors will learn all of your tricks. If they know how to do this as well as you do, then you won’t have an advantage.”
Of course, I consider this question a compliment. No, I do not have the concern mentioned in this question. I like to look at it just as the famous Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, did during the glory days of the “Pack.” His strategic plan was simple. He didn’t mind that the competition knew which plays he was likely to run. He expected his players to execute each play perfectly so that they couldn’t be stopped even if the opposition knew what was coming.
Of course, I can’t execute each trackchasing plan perfectly. However, if I have the best strategy and the best technology and am willing to put the most time into this hobby, then I should get the best results.
I’ll admit I share my strategies for one other reason as well. It helps me overcome the one fear I have in trackchasing. That fear is that my fellow competitors will get so discouraged, they might simply give up. Where would I be if there was no one to compete with? Therefore, I will share all of my strategic ideas and thousands of upcoming race dates so they WON’T give up. I hope my strategy in this area works.
The Trip
It is good trackchasing strategy to get nearby tracks during the “off-season.” First, I have seen nearly every track within 1,000 miles of my home. That being the case, when there is an opportunity to trackchase somewhat near California (Surprise, Arizona is a mere 375 miles from San Clemente), I need to take it.
Secondly, since I would have some difficulty combining anything with the West Valley Speedway, I wouldn’t want to go trackchasing here in the middle of the summer. During the summer, there are so many competing combinable multi-day trackchasing opportunities, but they are all located in the Midwest or the East.
Finally, I certainly wouldn’t want to trackchase in the Phoenix area in the middle of the summer. It’s often more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit then. For all of these reasons, January was a good time for a trip to Arizona.
The flight to Phoenix is about an hour long. Since Southwest Airlines has such cheap fares on this route, I actually BOUGHT a ticket. I will have plenty of time to support my airline sponsors once the season gets into high gear.
Last year, I drove my personal car to Phoenix for the Speedworld Speedway track. That drive ended up being more than 800 miles round-trip. That’s about $100 worth of premium gas for the Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored Lexus LS430. My tire bill on that car is between two and three cents per mile. That meant I wore out about $25 dollars worth of rubber on the trip. Couple those expenses with other general wear and tear on the car, as well as about 15 hours spent driving and the $200 Southwest airfare seemed like a bargain.
The People
Of course, there was another major reason for visiting Surprise, Arizona today. My brother Mark lives nearby in Chandler. He’s a race fan and always enjoys joining me on a trackchasing adventure. He could pick me up, drive me to the track and provide a place to sleep after the races. It is not often that I get such white glove service when I go trackchasing.
RACE TRACK STATS:
WEST VALLEY SPEEDWAY, SURRPIZE, ARIZONA – TRACK #1,148
Today’s track was my 23rd in the Grand Canyon state. Somewhat unbelievably, to me anyway, is that Arizona is the only state in the United States where I hold the lead. I also share the lead in one other state, Oregon. This just goes to show that many people in the hobby of trackchasing can be recognized as a leader in one category or another. We have about 15 trackchasers that lead the standings in at least one state.
By the way, I will be releasing my annual National Geographic Diversity rankings (both lifetime and annual) in the next few days. The NGD rankings will show you where your favorite trackchaser ranks in each state as well as in the overall standings. You will probably see a few surprises.
RACE TRACK NEWS:
WEST VALLEY SPEEDWAY
This weekend was the “Grand Opening” weekend of racing at this track. Mark and I were over here about a year ago visiting the Speedworld Speedway. Speedworld is only a driver and a poorly hit seven iron beyond the backstretch of the West Valley Speedway. Many of the structures on the track property appeared to be temporary.
At that time, I met a fellow operating a bulldozer at West Valley during its early construction phase. He told me he expected the track would be ready in March, 2006. At the time, his prediction seemed optimistic. It was. I’ve been checking their website (http://www.westvalleyspeedway.com/) nearly every week since then. They have had one delay after another.
They did do a good job of keeping their fans posted on the construction progress. They even provided photos of what was being built. When I found out that this weekend would be their first official racing activity, I didn’t want to miss out.
By the way, the track did run an enduro event last weekend. The promoter told me that was more of an exhibition (but still countable) event in preparation for this weekend. The speedway still has a lot of work to do, but at least they were racing.
When Mark and I arrived, they were watering the parking lot. That’s unusual. I don’t see that very often. This track has been built on the far Northwest side of the now sprawling city of Phoenix. Another way of saying it, is they are way out in the desert.
The parking lot is sandy. When they added water to it, my shoes sunk down several inches. The parking lot is going to be a problem if they ever get a big crowd and it rains. The 25-row grandstand was purchased from the Phoenix International Raceway where they run the NASCAR Nextel Cup cars.
Bathrooms are provided by several porta-potties. A small trailer dispenses the concessions. They have lights, but we were seeing a daytime race today. The P.A. was easy to hear and the track sightlines very good. The pit area is located beyond turn four of the 3/8 mile high-banked dirt oval. They watered frequently. This prevented the track from getting dusty.
You might think of the Phoenix area as being hot. Of course, in the summer it is. However…….in the winter Phoenix can get very chilly. I’m not talking about Chicago or Buffalo chilly, but cold enough for this Southern Californian.
The temperature today was about 45 degrees. It was sunny, but there was a wind. We were definitely approaching Popsicle status by the end of the day. This was day two of a two day racing weekend for the track. There were about 100 spectators in the grandstands.
There were three classes racing today. This included the sports mods (8), IMCA modifieds (14) and Bombers (about 10). I liked the fact that the starter was slow to throw the yellow flag. Often cars would slide over the turn one and two embankment. This put them out of the sight of the starter and the crowd. Nevertheless, the starter waited several seconds and usually the wildly driven car would reappear along the backstretch. This probably saved 30 minutes of unnecessary delays.
On a couple of occasions, the driver did sit at the edge of the track, wait for the yellow, and then drive away as soon as the yellow was displayed. I hope the track corrects that problem. I didn’t think they needed to take a 20-minute intermission on such a cold day. They did have a nice and large grandstand but there were not many people here to day.
Despite somewhat small car counts, the racing was actually pretty good. They ran 4-5 heat races in total. Each class ran a 20-lap feature event. The entire show was finished in a little less than three hours. It wasn’t New Zealand efficient, but it could have been worse.
I am concerned where this track is going to get there competitors from. They didn’t have too many cars today and nearly ten of those were from New Mexico. The promoter told me they would be the only track in the area running IMCA modifieds. Check out the pit area above.
Mark and I spent a few minutes talking to the promoters. They are obviously very proud of what they have built so far, but recognize there is a lot of work still to do. It will be interesting to see what types of crowds they can draw to a somewhat remote location. Car count will probably heavily influence how many people show up. I wish these new racetrack owners the very best of luck.
Following the races we headed over to Cabela’s for a look see. Ever been to a Cabela’s. It’s a pretty cool place.
WEATHER CONDITIONS
It was not a great weather day temperature wise for racing. The cool temps were somewhat off set by it being a bright and sunny day. It won’t be too long before these racers will be running in triple digit heat.
RENTAL CAR UPDATE:
No rental car today. I’ll be riding in the Mark’s Pepsi Racing Oldsmobile Alero. Yes, brother Mark works for Pepsi-Cola, although he has been known to drink a Diet Coke from time to time or even something stronger.
Sunday total driving miles – 73
Monday total driving miles – 19
LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,148
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,078 (-70)*
- Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York – 1,064 (-84)*
- Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 965 (-183)**
* Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list.
** Special exemption.
Other notables
These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 303
- Chris Economaki, Ridgewood, New Jersey – 302 (-1)
- Gary Jacob, Turlock, California – 301 (-2)
- Ron Rodda, Lincoln, California – 297 (-6)
2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
- Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 10
- Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 9
- Ron Rodda, Lincoln, California – 1
- Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 1
- Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1
- Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1
- Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1
Tracks have been reported from 7 different worldwide trackchasers this season.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi
That’s all the news that’s fit to print from San Clemente where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Santa Ana, CA – Phoenix, AZ – 337 miles
RENTAL CAR
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport – trip begins
Surprise, AZ – 27 miles
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport – trip ends – 92 miles
AIRPLANE
Phoenix, AZ – Santa Ana, CA – 337 miles
Total air miles – 674 miles
Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 766 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
West Valley Speedway – $8 (includes $2 senior discount!)
Total racetrack admissions – $8
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
My golf pro once gave me this profound tip. “Take two weeks off and then quit!” I will take the first part of that advice and take the next two weeks off from trackchasing.
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)
1,139. Meremere Dirt Track Club, Mere Mere, New Zealand – January 1
1,140. Meeanee Speedway, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand – January 1
1,141. Top of the South Speedway, Richmond, New Zealand – January 2
1,142. Woodford Glen Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand – January 3
1,143. Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North, New Zealand – January 5
1,144. Taupo Motorsports Park, Taupo, North, New Zealand – January 6
1,145. Waikaraka Park International Speedway, Auckland, New Zealand – January 6
1,146. Angels Stadium of Anaheim (inner oval), Anaheim, California – January 13
1,147. Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California – January 13
1,148. West Valley Speedway, Surprise, Arizona – January 14
You might have remembrances of the West Valley Speedway. If so, please feel free to share in the comments section below. If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com. I’ll try to include them here.