Randy,

So glad you made it, but I do wish it was for one of our regular events.
This event is a participant-based event that we have now done for five years
and is generally one of our most successful events of the season.

This year was no different. Friday: 91 stock cars, 49 mod lites, 44 micro
sprints, 19 strictly stocks for a record 203 cars. Though it was our
smallest crowd of the year, it was a record for the Friday portion of the
show and a record pit count. Saturday: 95 stock cars, 54 358 modifieds, 40
e-mods, and 30+ demo derby cars for a total of 189 race cars + demos.

We did have a larger crowd Saturday even though the weather was much cooler
with a 70-80% chance of rain.

Friday racing started at 7 p.m. and finished at 1:15 a.m. Saturday we
opened the pits at 11 a.m. The rain delayed the 4 p.m. scheduled start to 6
p.m. and the demo concluded just after 2 a.m.

On a typical night we race the sprint cars, big-block mods, sportsman mods,
stock cars, and strictly stocks. We start at 7 and generally finish between
10:30-11:30 averaging 110-125 cars per night.

BTW...I just made reservations today with Tom Schmeh from the National
Sprint Car HoF to go to your driver's license state (a.k.a. Hawaii) in
November for the USAC sprint races. I am very much looking forward to this
trip.

Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy Lewis" <ranlay@...>
To: "Randy Lewis" <Ranlay@...>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 1:07 AM
Subject: [TrackChasers] Mercer Raceway Park, Mercer, Pennsylvania - Track
#779


>
> GREETINGS FROM MERCER, PENNSYLVANIA,
>
>
>
> AND THE READERS RESPOND
>
> Recently I wrote:
>
> ...Speaking of retirement, I'm now in my third year.
> When I think about it, I'm doing the same things in
> retirement I did when I was working. I still get up
> and go to the airport about 30-40 times a year. When
> I'm home, I still go in my office for 3-5 hours a day.
> I still play golf 1-2 times during the week (I hope
> no P&G folks will report me on this!)...
>
> Former P&G colleague and friend, Barb W. from
> Washington State writes:
>
> Randy, we all knew this...we just figured if you could
> get the results you did in 3 to 5
> hours per day, more power to ya!
>
>
> Louis from Philadelphia had this to say about my
> recent bout with running out of gas:
>
> Good morning Randy.... Your gasoline story was great
> but has me thinking. I may be totally wrong but here
> goes.
>
> Filling up 40 miles prior to reaching the airport may
> have cost you $5.45 for a gallon of
> gas. However, you ran out of gas and had to pay $3.19
> for the gas container, which you either left at the
> gas station or in the rental car.
> If the gas cost $1.95 for a gallon of regular (I'll
> use the current price for gas in Philadelphia), the
> total comes to $5.14 or a savings of $.31. I don't
> know if you put dollar figures on the value of your
> time but I'm sure your time is worth a lot more that
> $.31. Editor's note: Louis, I no longer charge as
> much for my time as I used too!
>
> By the way, I've only run out of gas once in my entire
> driving career. That was back in 1964 when I borrowed
> by Grandfathers 1950 Chevrolet 2 door coupe to drive
> to Atlantic City and back. I remember coming back
> rather late (for 1964) and there were no gas stations
> open. The car finely stalled about 3 miles from my
> grand parent's home.
>
> I love it when the readers respond!
>
>
>
>
> 3 to go!
>
>
> PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS
>
> This may be the most important weekend trip of the
> year. I have a chance to make trackchasing history.
> I may reach 100 new tracks in one season this weekend.
> I only need four more as I start tonight. I have
> five tracks on my schedule. On Friday, I plan to see
> one new track, then three new ones on Saturday and one
> new track on Sunday.
>
> There's only one problem. The weather forecast for
> Saturday (when I plan to see three tracks) calls for
> an 80% chance of rain. Yuck! One of the Saturday
> tracks is at a county fair. They are likely to race
> rain or shine. However, if the other two Saturday
> night tracks get rained out I will be stuck at 99!
>
> I hoping to set a worldwide trackchasing record by
> seeing 100 new tracks earlier in the year that anyone
> in the history of trackchasing. Only two trackchasers
> have ever seen 100 tracks or more in a season.
>
> Andy Sivi of Clarion, Pennsylvania saw exactly 100
> tracks in both 2000 and 2001. In the year 2000, he
> reached the century mark on November 26 in Lake City,
> Florida. He also made it to 100 different new tracks
> in 2001. In that year, it took him one day less,
> November 25, to make that number. He did it in
> Birmingham, Alabama.
>
> Andy's record held for a couple of years until
> Madison, Wisconsin's, Ed Esser came along with a
> blockbuster year in 2003. Ed set an all-time
> trackchaser record last year with 114 races. Ed
> reached the 100 mark on October 24, 2003 in Lacombe,
> Louisiana.
>
> This weekend I will be attempting to break Ed's record
> of seeing 100 tracks earlier than anyone else. Note,
> that Andy and Ed achieved their records in the
> southern part of the country. I will attempt to break
> the record somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
>
> Why would I go into the northeast during October to
> try to break the record? Why not just head down south
> where the temperatures are likely to be 20 degrees or
> more warmer? Here's the reason.
>
> A couple of weeks ago, in Farmington, Pennsylvania,
> while watching the races at the Farmington V.F.D.
> (Volunteer Fire Department) Speedway, I sat next to a
> young man from Mercer, Pennsylvania. At one point in
> the program, he leaned over and said, "Aren't you the
> trackchaser?" We struck up a conversation and I
> learned he is the public relations manager for the
> Mercer Raceway Park in Mercer, Pennsylvania. Mike L.
> and I had a great time talking racing, especially from
> an operational point of view, for the rest of the
> evening.
>
> He told me about their season ending special event to
> be run the weekend of October 1-3. He told me this
> was an event not to be missed. He did mention that
> last year during the race they had snow flurries. In
> case you had not noticed, the "#1 trackchaser living
> west of the Mississippi" does not go anywhere when
> snow flurries do.
>
> I had no intention whatsoever of going to Pennsylvania
> for races in October. I would be in Alabama or
> Florida or somewhere warm. Nevertheless, I got to
> thinking. Maybe I could make a trip to the Keystone
> state. Actually, this will be my third flight into
> Pittsburgh over the last 10 weeks. Theresa
> Heinz-Kerry doesn't visit Pittsburg that often.
>
> If I do get rained out this weekend, I will still have
> two more weekends to beat Ed's record date of October
> 24. My shoulder operation is on October 6. Carol has
> promised to drive me to Las Vegas on October 23 as
> long as we can get a portable morphine drip. Keep an
> eye on the weather channel and see how the rain looks
> in central Pennsylvania on Saturday.
>
> Like most trips, I was up early for this one and out
> the door at 4:45 a.m. I let Carol sleep in today.
> She deserves it. Normally, I try to get to bed at a
> reasonable hour the night before a trackchasing trip.
> That was not the case last night.
>
> We were celebrating our oldest son J.J.'s birthday
> last night. He'll turn 30 on October 11. J.J. was
> born in Phoenix, Arizona back when Manzanita Speedway
> was my home track. Happy birthday, J.J. (Jeffrey
> John).
>
> Last night's entertainment was "The Groundlings".
> This is an improvisational comedy group that has
> provided the Saturday Night Live TV show with many of
> its stars over the years. The theatre is located on
> Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. For the adventuresome,
> I recommend this trendy in a funky way location to see
> California's unusual.
>
> The show was absolutely hilarious. There were eight
> cast members. The producer would select two or more
> actors to go on stage. She would say, "these two
> people are doing what?" and the audience would fill in
> the blank with anything they could think of to shout.
> The actors would then take the audience input and
> improvise a 2-4 minute or so comedy sketch. My face
> hurt from laughing for two hours straight. Several of
> the show's talent are currently working on L.A.
> sitcoms including Will and Grace. If you come to
> L.A., get tickets to The Groundlings. We'll be back.
>
> RACE TRACK NEWS:
>
> The Mercer Raceway Park oval track is my 779th
> lifetime track to meet or exceed all current
> trackchaser rules. This is my 97th track of the
> season. Only three to go to reach the century mark.
> This track is my 53rd countable track in Pennsylvania,
> which does not even rank me in the top 10 in the state
> rankings.
>
> I arrived at 7 p.m. for what would be day one of a
> two-day show. General admission was $13 and a pit
> pass was a rather steep $30. What did I see once I
> entered the pit area? Racecars! There were lots of
> racecars. I have been to a number of tracks that were
> short of cars but that would not be the case at Mercer
> Raceway Park.
>
> Here is the schedule of races for tonight's program:
>
> 2 strictly stock heats - 6 laps each
> 8 stock car heats - 8 laps each
> 4 micro sprint heats - 8 laps each
> 1 stock car dash - 6 laps
> 6 mod lite heats - 8 laps each
> 4 stock car B mains - 10 laps each
> 2 micro sprint B mains - 8 laps each
> 3 mod lite B mains - 8 laps each
> 1 strictly stock A feature - 20 laps
> 1 stock car A feature - 25 laps
> 1 micro sprint A feature - 20 laps
> 1 mod lite A feature - 20 laps
>
> That's a lot of racing. The heats started 10-12 cars
> each. There were about 95 stock cars on hand. This
> class closely resembles the Iowa IMCA stock cars,
> which is one of my favorite classes.
>
> Tonight I am the guest of Mike L.'s gracious
> generosity. When I first got to the track, I scoped
> out the huge pit area that was jammed with nearly 200
> racecars. When I finished my pit tour, I sat in the
> grandstands to get a feel for the track. The track is
> well lit and organized. When one race was finished,
> the next one was ready to drive onto the track. This
> is the sign of a well run track. The track does not
> have a curfew. I'll be interested in hearing from
> Mike on when the final checkered flag flew tonight.
>
> When I was sitting near the flag stand, it was
> difficult to hear the announcer even when the cars
> weren't running. Later when I visited other areas of
> the track the P.A. worked fine. Maybe they turned up
> the sound later in the evening. The track had several
> large advertising billboards along their backstretch
> ala Ascot Park. A couple of the billboards even had
> dents in them (from being hit by racecars) just like
> Ascot as well. There were several large trees lining
> the pit area and just outside turn number one. This
> reminded me of the trees at now long gone Santa Fe
> Speedway.
>
> Mike works in the scoring department of the track's
> VIP tower. He's on the radio a lot directing general
> traffic I believe. I'm not sure I've ever seen this
> many employees at a track this size. They all wore
> bright yellow shirts and there must have been twenty
> or thirty folks doing one thing or another. I also
> noticed about 10 pieces of heavy equipment in the back
> pit. This equipment looked like it could redo
> Interstate 80 from one end of Pennsylvania to the
> other in just one summer.
>
> I spent nearly an hour in the announcing booth with
> the track's announcer, Mike. We did an interview and
> covered the trackchasing hobby very thoroughly. Mike
> is also the former announcer at Lernerville. I think
> he's been at Mercer for 18 years. While we were in
> the booth, the track announcer from Deerfield, Ohio
> came by to say hello. Tonight's min-sprints will be
> racing at Deerfield tomorrow night.
>
> Mike, the announcer's, wife Sandy dropped by the
> booth. She's not really into racing that much but
> supports her husband's vocation as most wives do. She
> related a funny story to me about racing and the early
> stages of their marriage. Apparently, Mike told Sandy
> that he would like to take her to see Richard Petty.
> Sandy told me she thought, at the time, that Richard
> Petty was a country and western singer. She would
> come to find out that was not the case.
>
> I enjoyed my evening at Mercer Raceway Park. I stayed
> for 23 races (three hours) which included two of the B
> main events. That was plenty of racing for me. I
> encourage our trackchasing group to get to know Mike
> L. He's a good guy and on his way to adding to his
> trackchasing totals when ever Mercer isn't running.
>
>
> RACE TRACK FOOD:
>
> I'm always ready to try something I don't see often on
> a racetrack menu. What would that be tonight? How
> about chicken noodle soup and macaroni and cheese! I
> went with the soup and it was very good on a night
> that was starting to get cool.
>
>
> RENTAL CAR UPDATE:
>
> I'll be driving the Hertz Rental Car Racing Ford
> Taurus. This is the second weekend in a row that I've
> been able to rent a full sized car for just $19.95 a
> day. I used www.hotwire.com both times.
>
>
> ED ESSER & P.J. HOLLEBRAND UPDATE:
>
> As of September 27, 2004, the battle for positions
> 7-10 in the worldwide trackchaser standings is as
> follows:
>
> 7. P.J. Hollebrand - 787
> 8. Randy Lewis - 778
> 9. John Moore - 757 (Not updated since 1/1/04. Will
> provide only one update to his total at the end of the
> year)
> 10. Ed Esser - 714
>
> P.J. has added seven tracks to his total since the
> last update. P.J. has 47 new tracks for the season
> and ranks #9 for the 2004 season. He lives in
> upstate New York and has been penetrating the Ontario,
> Canada area lately. It's not uncommon for P.J. to get
> home from the races at 3 a.m. and get up for work at
> 5:30 a.m. P.J., drive safely.
>
>
> Ed has added five new tracks since the September 5
> update. He has 86 new tracks for the season and
> currently ranks #2 in the 2004 standings. Ed's been
> slowing down a bit lately, but I expect him to make a
> late season surge as he always does.
>
> You can keep track of Ed at, www.2arace.com .
>
>
>
> CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES:
>
> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Airport - trip begins
> Mercer, Pennsylvania - 79 miles
>
>
> Cumulative miles driven in rental cars for
> trackchasing trips - 20,138
> Total miles driven in my personal car for all
> activities in 2004 - 7,068
>
>
> TRACK ADMSSION PRICES (U.S. DOLLARS):
>
> Mercer Raceway Park - Free, thanks to Mike!
>
>
>
> Randy Lewis
>
> 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.
>
>
>
>
>
> My past trackchasing stories are available on the
> following website:
>
> http://uk.geocities.com/trackchaser2001/ (photos from
> my racing trips are also available on this Scotland
> based site)
>
>
> Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:
>
> www.trackchaser.com
>
>
>
>
> Planned new racetracks (on the last day of each racing
> trip I will post my tentative plans for my next trip)
>
>
>
>
> 2-Oct Figure 8 (87 minutes) Bloomsburg Fair
> Bloomsburg, PA
>
> 2-Oct Regular Program Greenwood Valley Action Track
> Millville, PA
>
> 2-Oct Special Clinton County Spdwy Lock Haven, PA
>
>
> 3-Oct Late Models Ace High Speedway Monroeton, PA
>
>
>
>
> Racetracks visited in 2004 (** not the first time to
> visit this track)
>
> 779. Mercer Raceway Park, Mercer, Pennsylvania,
> October 1
>
> 778. Lincoln Speedway, Lincoln Illinois, September 27
>
> 777. Clay County Speedway-Oval, Flora, Illinois,
> September 26
>
> 776. Clay County Speedway-Figure 8, Flora, Illinois,
> September 26
>
> 775. Crown Point Speedway, Crown Point, Indiana,
> September 25
>
> 774. Illiana Motor Speedway-Road Course,
> Schererville, Indiana, September 25
>
> 773. Illiana Motor Speedway-Figure 8, Schererville,
> Indiana, September 25
>
> 772. Illiana Motor Speedway-Small oval, Schererville,
> Indiana, September 25
>
> 771. Anderson Speedway - Figure 8, Anderson, Indiana,
> September 24
>
> ** Anderson Speedway - Oval, Anderson, Indiana,
> September 24
>
> 770. Southern Speedway, Milton, Florida, September 4
>
> 769. Dog Hollow Speedway, Strongstown, Pennsylvania,
> August 30
>
> 768. Nelson Ledges, Garrettsville, Ohio, August 29
>
> 767. Airport Speedway, New Castle, Delaware, August
> 28
>
> 766. Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth, Pennsylvania,
> August 28
>
> 765. Selinsgrove Raceway Park, Selinsgrove,
> Pennsylvania, August 27
>
> 764. Farmington V.F.D. Speedway, Farmington,
> Pennsylvania, August 26
>
> 763. Tonopah Speedway, Tonopah, Nevada, August 21
>
> 762. Sportman's Speedway, Knox, Pennsylvania, August
> 15
>
> 761. Jennerstown Speedway, Jennerstown, Pennsylvania,
> August 14
>
> 760. BeaveRun Motorsports Complex-Wilson Circuit,
> Wampum, Pennsylvania, August 14
>
> 759. BeaveRun Motorsports Complex-Road Course,
> Wampum, Pennsylvania, August 14
>
> 758. Motordrome Speedway, Smithton, Pennsylvania,
> August 13
>
> 757. Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, Berea, Ohio, August
> 12
>
> 756. Wayne County Fairgrounds, Palmyra, New York,
> August 11
>
> 755. Pocono Intl Raceway - Road Course, Pocono,
> Pennsylvania August 10
>
> 754. Butler Fairgrounds, Butler, Pennsylvania August
> 9
>
> 753. Ninety-Three Speedway, Oak Hill, Ohio, August 1
>
> 752. Jackson County Speedway, Jackson, Ohio, August 1
>
> 751. Sportsdrome Speedway, Jeffersonville, Indiana
> (figure 8), July 31
>
> 750. Sportsdrome Speedway, Jeffersonville, Indiana
> (oval), July 31
>
> 749. Gateway International Speedway - road course,
> Madison, Illinois, Illinois, July 31
>
> 748. Warren County Fairgrounds (oval), Roseville,
> Illinois, July 30
>
> 747. Warren County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Roseville,
> Illinois, July 30
>
> 746. Tri-City Speedway (inner oval), Auburn,
> Michigan, July 29
>
> 745. Tri-City Speedway (outer oval), Auburn,
> Michigan, July 29
>
> 744. Munger Fairgrounds, Munger, Michigan, July 29
>
> 743. Ionia Fairgrounds, Ionia, Michigan, July 28
>
> 742. Thayer County Speedway, Deshler, Nebraska, July
> 18
>
> 741. Heartland Park-Road Course, Topeka, Kansas, July
> 18
>
> 740. Montgomery County Speedway, New Florence,
> Missouri, July 17
>
> 739. Soggy Bottom Raceway, Greenup, Illinois, July 17
>
> 738. Wayne County Speedway, Wayne City, Illinois,
> July 16
>
> 737. Music City Motorplex, Nashville, Tennessee, July
> 15
>
> 736. Clarksville Speedway, Clarksville, Tennessee,
> July 14
>
> 735. Tri-State Speedway, Pocola, Oklahoma, July 13
>
> 734. Tulsa Speedway, Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 12
>
> 733. Park City Raceway, Valley Center, Kansas, July
> 11
>
> 732. Heartland Park - Road Course, Topeka, Kansas,
> July 11
>
> 731. Nevada Speedway, Nevada, Missouri, July 10
>
> 730. Adrian Speedway, Adrian, Missouri, July 10
>
> 729. Bolivar Speedway, Bolivar, Missouri, July 9
>
> 728. Dallas County Speedway, Urbana, Missouri, July 9
>
> 727. U.S. 30 Speedway (small oval), Columbus,
> Nebraska, July 8
>
> 726. U.S. 30 Speedway (large oval), Columbus,
> Nebraska, July 8
>
> 725. Butler County Speedway, Allison, Iowa, June 27
>
> 724. Webster County Fairgrounds, Ft. Dodge, Iowa,
> June 27
>
> 723. Dallas County Fairgrounds, Adel, Iowa, June 26
>
> 722. Butler County Speedway, Rising City, Nebraska,
> June 25
>
> 721. Hamilton County Fairgrounds, Aurora, Nebraska,
> June 25
>
> 720. The Speed Bowl, Red Cloud, Nebraska, June 23
>
> 719. Junction Motor Speedway, McCool Junction,
> Nebraska, June 22
>
> 718. Belle-Clair Speedway, Belleville, Illinois June
> 13
>
> 717. Charleston Speedway - Road Course, Charleston,
> Illinois June 13
>
> ** Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio, June 12
>
> 716. Doe Run Raceway, Doe Run, Missouri, June 11
>
> 715. Fredericktown Raceway, Fredericktown, Missouri,
> June 11
>
> 714. Highland Speedway, Highland, Illinois, June 8
>
> 713. Pine Ridge Speedway, Baldwyn, Mississippi, May
> 29 (Carol's #153)
>
> 712. Memphis Motorsports Park-Road Course, Memphis,
> Tennessee, May 29 (Carol's #152)
>
> 711. Simpson County Speedway, Mendenhall,
> Mississippi, May 29 (Carol's #151)
>
> 710. Southern Speedway, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, May
> 28 (Carol's #150)
>
> ** Charleston Speedway, Charleston, Illinois, May
> 22
>
> 709. Coles County Speedway, Loxa, Illinois, May 22
>
> 708. Lincoln Trail Motorsports Off Road Park, Casey,
> Illinois, May 22
>
> 707. Warren County Speedway (oval track), Indianola,
> Iowa, May 21
>
> 706. Warren County Speedway (Figure 8 track),
> Indianola, Iowa, May 21
>
> 705. Firebird International Raceway - East Course,
> Chandler, Arizona, May 2 (Carol's #149)
>
> 704. Pagota Motorcycle Club, Birdsboro, Pennsylvania,
> April 25
>
> 703. Mahoning Valley Speedway, Lehighton,
> Pennsylvania, April 24
>
> 702. Shellhammer's Speedway, Leesport, Pennsylvania,
> April 24
>
> 701. Hill Valley Speedway, Orbisonia, Pennsylvania,
> April 24
>
> 700. Thunder Alley Speedpark, Evans Mills, New York,
> April 22
>
> 699. Belle Vue Greyhound Stadium, Belle Vue, United
> Kingdom, April 12
>
> 698. Buxton Raceway, Buxton, United Kingdom, April 12
>
> 697. Brampton Raceway, Brampton, United Kingdom,
> April 12
>
> 696. York Autograss, York, United Kingdom, April 12
>
> 695. Sheffield Stadium, Sheffield, United Kingdom,
> April 11
>
> 694. Blyton Raceway, Blyton, United Kingdom, April 11
>
> 693. Hunmanby Raceway, Hunmanby, United Kingdom,
> April 11
>
> 692. Skegness Stadium, Skegness, United Kingdom,
> April 10
>
> 691. Silverstone, Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone,
> United Kingdom, April 10
>
> 690. Mildenhall Stadium, Mendenhall, Suffock, United
> Kingdom, April 9
>
> 689. Bovingdon Circuit, Bovingdon, Hertfordshire,
> United Kingdom, April 9
>
> 688. Sunshine Speedway (figure 8), Pinellas Park,
> Florida, April 3
>
> ** Sunshine Speedway (oval), Pinellas Park,
> Florida, April 3
>
> 687. Lubbock Motor Speedway, Lubbock, Texas, March 21
>
> 686. Thunderbird Speedway, Crandall, Texas, March 20
>
> 685. Kennedale Speedway Park, Kennedale, Texas, March
> 20
>
> 684. Texas World Spdwy (Road Course), College
> Station, Texas, March 20
>
> 683. Heart O' Texas Speedway, Waco, Texas, March 19
>
> ** Central Arizona Raceway, Casa Grande, Arizona,
> January 20
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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