Greetings from Goodells, Michigan
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Goodells County Park
Dirt figure 8
Lifetime Track #922
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Goodells County Park
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #2,349
THE EVENT I have had the opportunity to follow my trackchasing hobby all over the world. As this is written I have seen racing in 74 countries. My lifetime track total exceeds 2,300. Each and every year I will trackchase in 25-30 states. At track #1,040 I moved into the “World’s #1 Trackchasing” spot. Here’s the funny thing about that. I was perfectly content to remain in about seventh place in the worldwide trackchasing standings. Then I had rotator cuff surgery, which knocked me out of golf for about six months. With no golf and time on my hands I turned up my trackchasing by a notch or two. I discovered I liked MORE trackchasing and LESS golf. It didn’t take all that long to move up to the top of the world trackchasing standings at that point. The rules in the hobby of trackchasing allow chasers to count racing on three different track configurations. Those are ovals, road courses and figure 8 tracks. Sometimes when I’ve seen ONE of those configurations at a facility there will be an opportunity to return. Why would I come back? It might be because that location was hosting a racing event on one of the two configurations I hadn’t yet seen at the property. That was the case with the Goodells County Park. Back in 2005 I saw racing on the Goodells’ figure 8 track. Tonight I came back. Why? They were racing on an oval configuration! My hobby is not only about racing. Trackchasing for me centers around three things. The racing part is pretty obvious. However of equal importance is the logistics of trackchasing and the opportunity to see the world. I live in Southern California. The vast majority of tracks are located in the Midwest and East. It takes a good deal of logistical planning to get from where I live to where the tracks are. For the past 15 years I have traveled about 175 nights each and every year. Surprisingly to some, more than half of those overnights were not part of trackchasing. Then there’s the travel just for the fun of seeing new things. You won’t want to miss my “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions” page or my “Sports Spectating Resume” page on my website at www.randylewis.org. That will give you some understanding on how important seeing the world is with my hobby. Today’s adventure was one more of the 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: 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! FOREWORD Last night I trackchased at the Roseau County Fairgrounds in Roseau, Minnesota. That location is just 8 miles south of the Canadian border in northern Minnesota. Following the races I drove five hours through the night. I finally stopped at an Interstate 94 highway rest area about 30 minutes from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. There I slept for 75 minutes before returning my rental car to MSP. I had my rental car for 19 hours. During that time I drove it 833 miles. Carol thinks my name should be on a “list” with the rental car people. She’s probably right. I had originally planned to trackchase in Minnesota again today. However, the weather forecast for where I wanted to go called for 1-2 inches of rain beginning in mid-afternoon. I thought with that forecast they might cancel. They did. The promoter texted me with info about the cancellation. I think they will reschedule later in the year. If they do I might get to go then. With the rain problems in Minnesota that meant I had to exit the area. For me, that translated into a flight from Minneapolis to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh would be a good location for tonight’s racing destination in Goodells, Michigan. If you pulled out your electronic map you might not agree. As this trip unfolds you’ll see why it wasn’t a bad choice. My flight was departing at 6:50 a.m. Due to the earliness of the hour they were several open seats on the plane. I wasn’t worried about getting on but I needed to clear security efficiently in order not to be late. It always seems that when I’m running a little late the normal parts of my well-oiled machine don’t work quite as well. When I entered my confirmation number at the airline kiosk my TSA pre-check number was not included in my boarding pass. Without pre-check it might take me another 10-20 minutes to clear security. I waited in line for about seven minutes in order to get that important TSA pre-check number added to my boarding pass. Then when I actually went through security I was selected for “random screening”. This happens once in a while and I don’t like it one bit. This process took me another 5-7 minutes to clear. The young female TSA agent took her sweet time. I was not impressed. A nine-year-old girl traveling with her family was seated right behind me in first class. This was her first ever flight. She began by saying “I’m nervous”. She said that several times. Then about midflight she switched over to “Oh my gosh” as she looked out the window. By the time we landed she was saying, “This is awesome”. I think we have a new flyer ready and willing to add to the crowds of our nation’s airport. The Pittsburgh airport is somewhat like the Cincinnati, Ohio airport. Both of those locations lost their status as an airline “hub”. U.S. Air was big in Pittsburgh but when American Airlines acquired them, they pretty much deserted the steel city. The interior of the Pittsburgh airport is one of the better ones in the country. They even have a Rite Aid drugstore inside the airport. I’ve never seen that before. It’s sad to see these huge nearly new airports going unused. Before I could pick up my rental car I had some housekeeping chores to do. First I had to get a hotel. As you might’ve guessed I immediately went to Priceline.com. Soon I was getting an extended stay America property in Akron, Ohio. I chose Akron for two reasons. First it was along the line of my route to tonight’s racing location in Goodells, Michigan. Then it would again be on a line to tomorrow afternoon’s racing location in Brookville, Pennsylvania. Staying in Akron meant I would not be going out of my way. The second reason for choosing Akron as my hotel’s location was the price. Using my semi-proprietary methods, which are identified on my website for all to see, I got a room for $50. This was 54% off of the Extended Stay America hotel’s best price for the evening. I’m also considering refinancing my mortgage. I’m going to guess that I’ve had about 15-20 mortgages, maybe more, on the seven different houses we’ve owned as well as all of our rental properties over the years. In the airport today I was able to electronically forward my past three years worth of tax returns to my mortgage broker. It’s amazing what these banks will loan to someone who hasn’t worked at a job in more than 15 years. I wanted to check into my hotel and take a short nap before making the four-hour drive to Michigan. I likely won’t get to my hotel again after the races until nearly 2 a.m. At least I should be able to stay in my room until about 11 a.m. tomorrow before heading out to what might be a rain plugged in Pennsylvania trackchasing day. We will see. I did get a text from Carol telling me that she had picked up a prescription for me. You should know that I do not take any prescriptions required by any of the physicians I visit. Then why was Carol picking up a prescription for me? It might have something to do with my wanting to expand my foreign country trackchasing list from my current total of 74 countries. I noticed lots of people using their phones for various functions while driving 70-80 miles an hour down the interstate. I don’t worry about me using my phone in such circumstances. However I’m pretty concerned about these other idiots. Oh ya, the road and bridge construction continues everywhere. It’s that time of the year. I had just enough time for a 20-minute nap at my hotel in Copley, Ohio a suburb of Akron. From the Pittsburgh airport up to tonight’s destination in Goodells, Michigan and back to my hotel near Akron it was going to be nearly a 600-mile round-trip drive. I did take a side trip through Detroit. That’s a rough looking city. Now you could see how I could put on more than 49,000 miles with rental cars in a single season a couple of years ago. THE RACING St. Clair County 4-H and Youth Fairgrounds – Goodells, Michigan This would not be my first trip to the Saint Clair County 4-H and Youth Fairgrounds in Goodells, Michigan. Back in 2005 (above) I went there to see some county fair figure 8 racing. Tonight they would be having a bump and run the show. I didn’t know if that would be on a road course or an oval but was pretty sure it would not be done on a figure 8 configuration. Folks, I’ve got to be perfectly honest with you… as I always am. I have seen more than 1,400 tracks since I last paid a visit to Goodells, Michigan. I didn’t have much remembrance whatsoever of that visit some 12 years ago. As I drove up to tonight’s fairgrounds I tried to picture in my mind the various fairs that I’ve seen in Michigan. I wondered if I was returning to one of those? Here’s the funny thing. Even after I paid my admission and parked my car nothing at the fairgrounds looked familiar. When I got toward the center of the fair I saw a huge permanent farm barn. Now things became just a little bit clearer. The reason for my lack of recognition would become more obvious as I roamed around the fair. Tonight I had entered at the southwest corner of the fair. When I came here last time I entered on the exact opposite corner to see the figure 8 racing. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. The St. Clair fair is a good-sized production. They had quite a large number of food booths and carnival rides. It was larger than a small fair but still not huge. Does that give you an idea of its size? Tonight’s admission to the fair was just seven dollars. That also included being able to watch the bump and run auto-racing show. That was a very reasonable charge. Let’s think about this for a moment. Last night I had trackchased up near the Canadian border in northern Minnesota. In the 19 hours I had my rental car I drove it 833 miles. I slept overnight in a highway rest area for 75 minutes. Yes Martha he said “minutes”. Then I hopped on an airplane this morning, picked up another rental car and drove it nearly 300 miles up to the fair tonight. Let me put it this way. I didn’t really feel like going square dancing tonight. The crowd in the open-air bleachers that surrounded the demolition derby ring, which surrounded the dirt oval track, was humongous. It was a warm night with temperatures in the high 80s and humidity to match. I never did sit in the grandstand. I just walked around around getting views of the action from all directions. The first race was run in heavy dust conditions. The dust was so strong that at points it was impossible to see the cars racing. For a county fair show that’s pretty dusty. They did take time to water the track, which made for better viewing conditions later in the show. The announcer wasn’t too good tonight. He tried to be funny but he wasn’t in my judgment. He also didn’t have all that much to say. Tonight I found the oval track bump and run show to be especially generic. Remember, that’s coming from someone who thinks that he sees something unique at every fairground that he visits. Generic does not mean unique. Luckily, they did water the track so that the fans could SEE the racing. After the first few races I took the opportunity to explore the fair a bit. I watched the Clydesdale horses marching through, took a bit of time to watch a horse sled pulling show as well as visited the various farm barns and commercial exhibits. The farm barns seemed to be especially focused on horses. That’s unusual. Most fairs don’t have much in the way of horses while this fair had more horses by far than any other animal. I did take a quick walk through the pit area. My best judicial interpretation is that my entry might have been judged illegal. When I noticed that everyone was wearing a bright blue wristband and I wasn’t I figured that my entry might be noticeable. Nevertheless, I got some good photos that I think you’ll enjoy. AFTER THE RACES I was going to have to pace myself on the return home. Just 50 miles or so from my hotel on the drive back I had to take a short 30-minute nap. I have now driven more than 1,400 rental car miles in the last 40 hours. I do all my own driving. I do all of my own trip planning. I do all of my own trip doing. I don’t count on anyone else for my success and then there’s that. Now I had seen racing in Minnesota on Thursday night and Michigan on Friday night. I was hoping to head over to Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon to trackchase and then New Jersey on Sunday morning and Vermont on Sunday evening. This area of the country gets a lot of rain. How do I know that? First of all the weather radar tells me so and the Amazon River like green forest would confirm that fact as well. I must tell you that Interstate 75 that runs north and south in Michigan is about as smooth as an Iraqi rocky minefield. It resembles Interstate 65 also a north-south artery in Indiana. The scenery in these parts of the country is about 1% as good as what I’ve been seeing in the Far West lately. I’m glad I’m driving a rental car because I wouldn’t want to take my own personal car on these pothole filled crumbling roads. Of course that’s just me. I returned to the Extended Stay America hotel in Copley, Ohio at just before 2 a.m. It looks as if this trip will have me in a hotel about every other night. It’s always good to get a shower and a shave when I can. I’ll be ready for action tomorrow morning. Good evening from Goodells, Michigan. Michigan The Wolverine state This evening I saw my 122nd lifetime track in the Wolverine state, yes the Wolverine state. I’ve seen 122 or more tracks in two separate states. California is the only state where I’ve seen more tracks than I have in Michigan. 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 Michigan stuff: Turning left What it means everywhere else: Simply activating your left blinker then turning left when the arrow is green and/or there is a lack of oncoming traffic. What it means in Michigan: Getting into the right lane–yes, the right lane–to turn into the left-most lane from there. Now that you’re there, go ahead and activate your left blinker and proceed with your originally intended left turn. 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 600 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 20 countries of my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Reprinted with permission from my August 4, 2005 Trackchaser Report. Greeting from Goodells, Michigan AND THE READERS RESPOND Stan L. of Dixon, Illinois writes, “I am shocked and awed at the number of race tracks you have attended so far this year. I thought you were going to reduce your involvement but I guess the competition made you redouble your effort. It appears that Michigan is fertile ground for the racetrack bug. If Mr. Brown has been to 126 or so and you’ve only seen relatively few, I’d think you might be camping out in that state to fatten your total. I can appreciate the guy that is going to foreign countries and not renting a car or staying in hotels. Sleeping in the pits, under the grand stands and in a stall at the racetrack men’s toilet—now that’s track chasing!” I think Stan is correct on both counts. There is a lot a hay to be harvested in Michigan and the tracks are so close together. I have known Stan for almost 40 years. He lived next door to me in the college dormitory during our freshman year. I must admit that I was prone to pulling pranks on Stanley. Our school was a commuter school. On weekends, nearly everyone went home to Chicago. Stan and I rarely went home for the weekend. Sometimes we were just about the only people on our floor that housed 50 students, on a Friday or Saturday night. I used to ring the phone on the other side of Stan’s room knowing there was no one there to answer it. I also knew how to set a person’s phone so that when it rang, and was answered, it continued to ring. One night I did this when Stan was studying hard. After the phone next door had been ringing for five minutes or so, he knocked on my door suspecting I was the prankster. Stan is the most mild-mannered person you will ever come across, but he was extremely angry that night! Maybe I feel guilty and that is why I send Stan a postcard from nearly every race trip location that I visit. Later Stan moved to San Francisco just a couple of blocks from Golden Gate Park. We had many fun times up there and have probably eaten in just about every Asian restaurant in the city. I would rather be squeezed by a python than be a dollar bill in Stan’s hand. He is fully qualified to comment on Will White’s fiscal responsibility. PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS I awoke to a pouring rain in Lansing, Michigan this morning. There are several boys’ baseball teams staying in my hotel. All of their games were rained out today. I wasn’t too concerned with the rain since it was so early in the morning. When I finally did get up and looked out the window, I could see how much rain had fallen. My race plan for the day was to visit Goodells, Michigan. The drive from Lansing to Goodells was 107 miles and then my Friday location in Lambeth, Ontario, Canada would make a total of 185 miles. That’s not much distance to get my next two tracks. I even had plans to go to a movie this afternoon. The only problem was the rain chances for tonight were 50%. I had just witnessed a downpour in Lansing and with Goodells being directly to the east, they might get Lansing’s bad weather. What new track alternative did I have? They were racing in Connersville, Indiana down by Cincinnati. Connersville was 253 miles from Lansing and the distance to my Friday night track in Canada was 640 miles. This morning the quoted rain chance for Connersville was just 20%. Another bonus to this track is that I knew trackchasers Roger Ferrell and Ed Esser would be there. Therefore, this is my dilemma. I can opt for the short driving distance through Friday night of 185 miles but with a much greater chance of stopping my no ‘rainout streak’ or drive 640 miles and pretty much guarantee I would get my show in. I decided I was going to Indiana. Checkout time was 12 noon. I didn’t have all of my computer work done by checkout, so I continued on-line in the hotel’s parking lot. With my new computer I can now work on-line anywhere that I am in range of a satellite wireless internet connection. I downloaded all of my credit card charges for the month of July for later analysis. I do this each month as part of my cash flow planning. If I was little more technically astute I would do this in Quicken, but I’ve been doing the analysis in Excel for so long, it’s seems like more work than its worth to change systems. Finally, at almost 1 p.m., I finished my work and was ready for the nearly five-hour drive to Indiana. I thought I would give www.weather.com one more look-see. What did I see? The weather forecast had been updated for Connersville, Indiana from 20% to 40% chance of rain. Now the scales tilted in favor of staying in Michigan. I could drive 185 miles into a 50% chance of rain or 640 miles into a 40% chance of rain. I called the track in Goodells, Michigan and they told me that unless the weather got really bad they would be racing. Figure 8 racing is more likely to run in rainy weather than your typical weekly oval track. On the other hand, I was told that the Goodells track did not have a covered grandstand like most county fair racetracks. That was a bad sign. I couldn’t imagine American fans sitting out in the rain to watch figure 8 racing. With my Michigan destination once again the primary plan, I headed off to my movie. Carol and I see many movies. When I am on the road and want to see a film, I try to pick one that we would not likely see together. Today’s cinema choice was “March of the Penguins” (Randy’s rating: A-). This film National Geographic film was excellent. It was a nature/documentary of sorts narrated by Morgan Freeman. The subject matter was a year in the life of Empress Penguins in Antarctica. The story focused around the penguin mating ritual, birthing process and their quest for basic survival. From the way it was narrated to the behavior of the penguins themselves, the story paralleled human instincts. The lessons around monogamy and family rituals were something all of us could learn from. This film carries a RANLAY RACING MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. If you see it and don’t like it, I will refund the purchase price of your tickets. From time to time, when I see a film by myself, I will be willing to see it again with Carol. That is the case with “March of the Penguins”. Wireless internet access is available and important to me. I am creating an electronic map of all the hotel locations where I stay that have both wireless internet access and reasonable rates. I will use this map as I resource so that I can easily find hotels that meet my needs when I visit these areas again. RACE TRACK NEWS: GOODELLS COUNTY PARK, GOODELLS, MICHIGAN – TRACK #922 This evening’s Michigan track was my 32nd track to see in the state. It was also my 15th Michigan track to see in 2005. Allan Brown leads the state standings with 126 tracks. Tonight’s racing was for V-8 “Big car” figure 8 racers. Admission was only $5. The show was nearly identical to the program last night in Mason, which charged $14 in total for admission. That’s a pretty big difference in price. Nevertheless, the joints were packed at both places. The program tonight was part of the St. Clair County Fair. This is a small fair with just a few carnival rides. Carol will be joining me soon and we will be visiting some county fairs. I’m going to take her on some the rides. I want to try some of the high-speed stuff and the Ferris wheel. Carol has always been up for the tough rides and doesn’t wimp out. I needed to grab some grub before I settled into the 8-row high aluminum grandstand. By the way, there was seating for folks around 75% of the course. Fans could either sit in the bleachers or bring lawn chairs. There really wasn’t much food to choose from. I went with Chinese food prepared by people of that ethnicity. I ordered shrimp fried rice. Initially I was a bit concerned. The woman put a large serving of white rice into a Styrofoam container and dumped some shrimp on top. I was within about three seconds of voicing my objection when she did an about face and dumped the contents of the Styrofoam container into a wok and then prepared some very delicious shrimp fried rice. I need to learn to be a little more patient. The announcer was bad and the P.A. was weak. About all the announcer told the crowd was the driver name and car number. There was no other commentary. The track like most of these figure 8 venues was enclosed with ‘Jersey’ barriers. The cars entered the track through an opening about 12 feet wide. When the cars were racing, the opening was blocked by the steel blades of two large bulldozers. I’ve never seen that before. Although the weather forecast was for 50% chance of rain, the mean clouds had moved off to the east. This left a warmish and humid night but with mainly blue skies and a few white wispy clouds. When I arrived at my hotel in Marysville, Michigan, both lightning and thunder descended upon the area. I left the track under nearly clear conditions at 9:30 p.m. At 10:45 p.m. just 15 miles away at my hotel in Marysville, Michigan it was pouring down rain. Somebody is looking out for me with the weather! Now that I have escaped bad weather and weather forecasts, the next few days look good for racing. The V-8 stock cars bring lots of power to the track. They are racing on street tires or ‘snow’ tires. With so much power and so little tread width, the tires really dig into the dirt. When the dirt is dry, like it was tonight, the cars shoot out ‘rooster’ tails of loose dirt when they accelerate through the turns. Tonight they had to stop the program twice to water the surface. There were about 40 racecars that competed in six heat races. This was followed by a 25-lap “B” main and a 25-lap “A” main. Those races seemed like a lot of laps, but they were run efficiently. The entire program, which started at 7 p.m., was over by 9:25 p.m. RENTAL CAR UPDATE: I’m looking for volunteers to help me clean the interior of the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu LS V6 before Carol gets here. Do you think it’s possible for pistachio shells to produce maggots? The dried orange peels, from Weidman, provide a nice aroma to offset the smell of Steak N’ Shake chili. LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total. 2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS 10.Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania – 15 Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21st century Randy Lewis is a freelance writer, who winters in San Clemente, California and frequently flies in economy class. CUMULATIVE DRIVING DISTANCES: Orange County Airport, Santa Ana – trip begins Waterloo, Illinois – 329 miles Ludington, Michigan – 883 miles Onawa, Iowa – 1,683 miles Knoxville, Iowa – 1,918 miles Beatrice, Nebraska – 2,214 miles Hartington, Nebraska – 2,489 miles Audubon, Iowa – 2,719 miles Chesaning, Michigan – 3,494 miles Mason, Michigan – 3,690 miles Goodells, Michigan – 3,852 miles Air travel Orange County, CA – Chicago, IL – 1,726 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: Waterloo County Fairgrounds – $9 Ludington County Fairgrounds – $10 Blackbird Bend Speedway – $8 English Creek Speedway – $5 Beatrice Speedway – $8 Cedar County Raceway – $8 Bull Valley Speedway – $7 Saginaw County Fairgrounds – $7 Ingham County Fairgrounds – $14 Goodells County Park – $5 August 5 – Wonderland Speedway, Lambeth, Ontario, Canada August 6 – Cheboygan County Fairgrounds, Cheboygan, Michigan August 6 – Northern Michigan Speedway, Elmira, Michigan ** Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27 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. Let’s walk the fair and see some oval track junk car racing 
Planned new racetracks
Racetracks visited in 2005 (** not the first time to visit this track)
