Greetings from Kansas City, Kansas
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Kansas Speedway
Asphalt oval
Lifetime Track #585
THE EVENT 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: 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! The Kansas Speedway was built in 2001. I went there in 2002 to see IndyCar racing sanctioned by the now defunct Indy Racing League (IRL). Indy cars last appeared at the Kansas Speedway in 2011. Currently, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes two appearances each year at the Kansas Speedway. They also have a road course but there is little wheel to wheel racing on that configuration. The track is owned by the International Speedway Corporation a sister company to NASCAR. At first it was uncertain whether or not the track would be built in Kansas City, Missouri or Kansas City, Kansas. The state of Kansas came up with more funding and the track now sits in Kansas! The track is built on 1,200 acres. Construction began in May 1999. The seating capacity of the track then was 82,000. By way of comparison the largest major league baseball stadium only seats about 50,000. Wikipedia describes the economic impact of the track this way: “The building of the speedway has had a significant impact on the nearby area, even before construction was finished. New commercial developments sprung up around the speedway, including a movie theater complex, an outdoor retail mall, and hotels. A 2008 survey by The Washington Economics Group revealed that Kansas Speedway brings $243 million to the state of Kansas each year. It also provides over 5000 jobs, with 4000 jobs coming directly from track operations. The speedway constructed the $380-million Penn National Gaming Hollywood Hotel and Casino at the track. The hotel/casino overlooks turn two and opened to the public on February 12, 2012. The state-of-the-art casino features a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) gaming floor capacity for 2,300 slot machines, 61 table games and 25 poker tables. It also features 28,000 square feet (2,600 m2) of other amenities including restaurants, clubs and nightlife attractions. The addition of the casino is estimated to bring nearly 440,000 tourists per year and create over 1,000 full-time positions; elevating the state to a first-class, year-round tourist destination.” My visit to the Kansas Speedway came on Sunday, July 7, 2002. With the IRL race being in the afternoon I stepped across the border, actually two borders, and went trackchasing in Iowa in the evening. Just 263 miles to the Northeast sits Brooklyn, Iowa. Brooklyn is home to the Brooklyn Raceway. This facility hosts both oval and figure 8 racing. Iowa has more permanent figure 8 tracks than any state in the country. Greetings from Kansas City, Kansas, PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS The second day of the “reunion tour” is going to be a hot and humid one. It was only a one-hour drive from Cameron, Missouri, last night’s hotel stop, to the track in Kansas City. The ambient temperature is 94 and the humidity is in the high 80s. It is going to be an uncomfortable day. On the way to the track, I stopped at Wal-Mart. I understand why Wal-Mart is the largest company (revenue wise) in the world. They sell good stuff cheap. I bought a straw hat to help fend off the sun. It cost $4.94. An identical hat at the speedway cost $21! I also got a cooler so I will always have water and some healthy foods available as I traverse the 2,500 miles of this trip. RACING NEWS The Kansas Speedway is my 585th track to see. This racetrack is a 1.5 mile asphalt oval with 15 degree banking in the turns. This facility hosts major events and today the Indy Racing League (IRL) cars are running. The entire racing complex is built on 500 acres including the parking lot. I had to walk about a mile from where I parked to the grandstands. In this weather that was uncomfortable. All tickets for today’s races were sold out in advance. That’s not a problem as you can always get a ticket to any sporting event. It’s only a function of price. By sticking one finger up in the air, I signaled to everyone, I was in need of one ticket. Almost immediately, a fellow offered to sell me one ticket. The face value was $45. I offered $30. He said he got it free and would take $20. These people from Kansas are too nice! My seat is in the 52nd row of about 65 or 70 rows. I’m just to the left of the flagman which is a good location. The IRL sanctioning group will run 200 laps which equates to 300 miles. They started 23 cars. The fastest lap run in competition was just a little more than 219 M.P.H. That’s moving! Before the race started, I bought a scanner list and had my race scanner programmed with each driver’s radio frequency. This cost $10 and worked out great during the race. I could hit scan and the radio would go to any driver or crewmember who might be talking. I could also press the car number of any driver and I would be on their individual frequency. This worked well when the driver was coming in for a pit stop. I could also go to the radio broadcast when I wanted too. The race was uneventful. There were no major crashes. They did have a couple of cautions for “debris” during the first half of the race. I think they were more like “competition” cautions and just used to bunch up the field. The race started at noon local time and finished just before 2 p.m. This was great because it would allow me to make the four hour and 20 minute drive up to Brooklyn, Iowa for some evening racing. TRACK FOOD: Since it was a very hot and humid day I just drank liquids, spending $11 on bottled water and lemonade. The track had the normal “major speedway” offerings at high prices. RENTAL CAR UPDATE: The National Rental Car racing Pontiac Grand Prix had 577 miles when I entered the racetrack. TRACK RADIO FREQUENCY: The race scanner is the most valuable when going to a major event. The 200-channel scanner I have can be programmed at the track in less than one minute to include the frequency of every car in the race. This lets me really get behind the scenes to understand what’s really going on. Editor’s note: These URLs were active in 2002. Are they still working today? I doubt it but your free to give them a try. Planned upcoming races 
New racetracks visited in 2002
586
SUN
7-Jul
Figure 8s
Brooklyn Raceway
Brooklyn, IA
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587
SUN
7-Jul
Legends
Brooklyn Raceway
Brooklyn, IA
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588
MON
8-Jul
UMP Summernationals
Shawano Speedway
Shawano, WI
Will White
589
TUE
9-Jul
Regular program
Riverside Raceway
Eagle River, WI
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590
WED
10-Jul
Regular program
Manitowoc County Expo Raceway
Manitowoc, WI
Carol, Will White
591
THR
11-Jul
1/4 mile oval
Wisconsin Intl Raceway
Kaukauna, WI
Carol, Will White
592
THR
11-Jul
Figure 8s
Wisconsin Intl Raceway
Kaukauna, WI
Carol, Will White
593
FRI
12-Jul
World of Outlaws
Route 66 Raceway
Joliet, IL
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594
SUN
14-Jul
Winston Cup
Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, IL
Carol
595
FRI
19-Jul
Featherlite Modifieds
New Hampshire Intl Raceway
Loudon, NH
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596
FRI
19-Jul
Regular program
Lee USA Speedway
Lee, NH
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597
SAT
20-Jul
American LeMans Series
RFK Stadium Circuit
Washington,D.C
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598
SAT
20-Jul
Figure 8s
Trail-Way Speedway
Hanover, PA
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599
SAT
20-Jul
Oval
Trail-Way Speedway
Hanover, PA
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600
SAT
20-Jul
Road Course
Trail-Way Speedway
Hanover, PA
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601
SUN
21-Jul
Regular program 3 p.m.
Stonybrook Raceway
Stoystown, PA
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602
SUN
21-Jul
Regular Program
Latrobe Speedway
Latrobe, PA
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