Greetings from Macon, Illinois
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Macon Speedway Dirt oval Lifetime Track #242 THE EVENT Editor’s note: It’s fun to go back to some of the best tracks that I’ve ever visited. That’s called trackchasing. It’s also fun to visit these tracks with family and friends. My sister Becky and her husband Bob joined me for a return visit to the Macon Speedway. I AM A TRACKCHASER. My name is Randy Lewis (above with Wisconsin race fan, Matt Record). I live in San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so. Trackchasing for me is all about three things. First, I enjoy auto racing. Secondly, my hobby requires a good deal of overnight travel. When I venture out to see a race at a track I’ve never seen before I do not want my trip limited to racing only. The very last thing I want when I’m done trackchasing is to have memories of only racing. I want to take some time to see the local attractions of wherever I might be visiting. Those visits in many cases will provide more long-lasting memories than whatever I saw on the track. Finally, I want to create a logistical plan that allows me to accomplish the two points mentioned above without depleting my retirement account. That’s trackchasing for me. Hundreds of trackchasers have stopped for a moment to create their own personal trackchasing list. I think that is great. However, I will tell you that no one has ever taken trackchasing more seriously than I have. Do I have any data to back up that assertion? I do. To date, I have seen auto racing in 85 countries at more than 2,700 different tracks. Does that sound serious to you? I’ve been able to see the world doing this. If you’re interested in exactly what I’ve been able to experience all around the U.S. and the world I recommend you click on this link. Trackchasing Tourist Attractions After each and every event that I attend I post a YouTube video, a SmugMug photo album and a very detailed Trackchaser Report about the experience on my website at www.randylewis.org. My trackchasing contributions generate a good deal of interest in what I am doing. My YouTube channel (ranlay) has more than 1.3 million views. My website gets more than 20,000 views every month. Because I have seen racing in 85 countries at this point I am considered the World’s #1 Trackchaser. That’s good enough for me. Now I encourage you to drop down a few spaces and read about today’s trackchasing adventure. As you discover what went on at this track just think about the idea that I’ve done this more than 2,700 times. I don’t mind admitting I am addicted to the hobby of trackchasing. It’s just fun! If you’re interested in looking back and seeing where I’ve been the following link is for you. 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 Monday, May 31, 2021. MONDAY I could have returned to Southern California today because it’s Memorial Day. However, I chose to stay on the road an additional night. I wanted to do a bit of “racechasing. “ What’s the difference between racechasing and trackchasing? Racechasing is not the same as trackchasing. As a racechaser, I choose a track or follow a driver of importance. Whereas I choose a racetrack I’ve never attended with trackchasing. The idea of seeing racing at a new track is my motivation for going there. These two forms of my racing hobby are distinctly different. This evening, my plan was to attend Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois. I’ve been there one other time; in 1994. If I had been exclusively into racechasing since 1994, I would’ve returned to Macon Speedway many times. Because I am a trackchaser, I had no major interest in returning to the Macon Speedway…until tonight. Have things changed? So, what changed? What’s the deal? Actually, I was effectively forced to change. I have so few new tracks left to see. When I used to get three or four in a weekend, now I’m relegated to one or two new track visits. I’m certainly not gonna fly across the country to see one new track. Still, if I can see one permanent oval track for the first time, while throwing in a novelty race (UTVs; karts etc.) and a return visit to one of the best tracks that I’ve seen in the past, then this makes for a good weekend. This weekend, that’s exactly what I did. I went to a permanent oval in Nebraska, followed by a morning UTV race the next day. Those stops were followed by returning to one of the best tracks in the country. I could go with that plan. Trackchasing Tourist Attractions to the rescue! Today, I would be driving five hours from Springfield, Missouri to Macon, Illinois. I enjoy breaking up a long drive like that with something interesting. I called those activities and stops along the way “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions.” Today’s TTA was unplanned. It was motivated by the series of constant billboards that I saw. That was, of course, until I reached Phillipsburg, Missouri. What was in Phillipsburg? The world’s largest gift shop! Can I prove I was really seeing the world’s largest gift shop? Maybe not. I take people’s words for things until they prove they can’t be trusted. By the way the above is one section accounting for about 1/100th of the entire store. They had a lot of gifts! Candy! Right next to the world’s largest gift shop was a place called the “candy factory.” I stopped there first. The candy factory was an interesting place. There were bushel baskets full of trial-size brand-name candies, taffy, and an extensive unique selection of old-time soda drinks in glass bottles. I hadn’t planned on buying any candy. Nevertheless, everyone in the store was really into it. Soon I was as well. Figuring I was purchasing my candy supply for the rest of the summer, I tried to get at least two pieces of every selection I made. While doing that, I noticed they didn’t say anything about the prices. How expensive could it really be? Well, it turned out to be $3.99 per pound. That’s sixteen dollars per pound. I suppose it was expensive, but it depends on how much candy you buy. I also bought a separate combo package of kettle corn, caramel corn and cheddar cheese corn. I polished that off before getting to Macon. Was I ready for this? My next step, the world’s largest gift store, was right next door. I’m unsure how large a gift store must be before it’s number one in the world. Nonetheless, I must say that they had a lot of stuff. It was all neatly organized in a huge building. I wondered what the “inventory turns” were on some of these items. Trust me. They had a lot of stuff. The one-word Covid solution? Vaccines! While traveling over Memorial Day weekend, I could tell things were “opening up” since most people have been cooped up during the COVID-19 pandemic. For some people, the pandemic is still happening. Though, the coast is clear for most. What was the solution? The vaccines! Macon has one good promoter. Once I passed through St. Louis, I could devote my full attention to tonight’s race at the Macon Speedway. Macon Speedway is promoted by a fellow by the name of Bob Sargent (above). I met Bob when I was a speaker at the PRI trade show, hosted in Indianapolis a couple years ago. It was my good fortune to sit down for lunch with around eight folks, of which Bob was one. I don’t know Bob. What’s more is that I’m sure he couldn’t pick me out of a lineup at this stage. Still, I had heard of them. I watched him at lunch. There, I could see that he was hanging on every word of those who were speaking. Maybe his secret to success was that he was a good listener. Macon Speedway is a classic little dirt bullring. It is a high-banked black oval dirt track, 1/5 mile around. They’ve been racing there for the better part of seventy years. I went there myself in 1994; my one and only visit until tonight. Folks, that’s twenty-seven years ago. A little more expensive but worth it. General admission was eighteen dollars. That’s more than normal but they had quite a few divisions racing. Overall, this probably justified the increased admission price. Racing was scheduled to begin at six p.m. I pulled onto the grounds at five p.m., expecting to be early. I wasn’t early. I would say that seventy-five percent of the crowd – or more – were already in the stands. Trackchasing with family. Tonight, I was joining my sister Becky and my brother-in-law Bob at the races. They had made a three-hour drive from northern Illinois. This was a special occasion for Bob, since he was seeing racing while attending his fiftieth new track. Peas in a pod? During the evening, I discovered that Macon Speedway had many similarities to my boyhood track of Peoria Speedway. Peoria was a high-banked quarter mile. While Macon was similar, it was just a tad shorter. Both facilities were excellent at providing side-by-side racing in the turns lap after lap. Macon’s flag stand and announcing stand were unique and similar to those Peoria Speedway incorporated for more than 50 years. The “judges stand” was on the inside of the track, about midway down the front straightaway. This location housed the flagman, track announcer and scorers. It was fortified by huge tractor tires and more. I won’t see a set up like that at more than one out of a hundred tracks. Just plain cool. Smartphone apps…nice. “MyRacePass ” (a smartphone app) told me there were 125 cars signed into the pit area across seven different classes. That was two or three classes more than I wanted to see but it was what it was. Why doesn’t everyone promote this way? Racing was scheduled to begin one hour earlier than their normal Saturday night program at six p.m. The free one-page program told me the national anthem would be sung at 5:58 p.m., two minutes before racing would start. I smiled. What were the chances? Most short-term racing does not start on time. However, this was a Bob Sargent Track Enterprises promotion. Bob had been selected as the national promoter of the year in the past. That’s quite an achievement right there. I’ve been to a couple of his tracks over the past few years. During my visits, I noticed how efficiently they were run. Did the national anthem really get sung on a live time basis at 5:58 p.m.? No, it did not. All in all, I am pleased to report the national anthem was sung five minutes earlier than expected: 5:53 p.m. That was a good start. Mudballs. Becky and Bob joined me during hot laps. The track had just been watered. The cars were throwing mud balls all the way out to the entrance to the men’s restroom; at least a distance of twenty to twenty-five yards. My sister will tell you she isn’t the most mobile person. She has a hard time going up and down grandstands unless there’s a handrail. Tonight, she initially thought her best bet was to sit in the second row of the grandstands. At Macon the second row of the grandstands is about ten feet from the fence. Folks sitting there would be caked in mud by the end of the night. This was not an option. Before too long, I persuaded my sister to come nearly to the top of the general admission grandstand. She didn’t think she could do it. Although, I told her the option of sitting in the second row wasn’t really an option. Even though she made it to the top, it was a challenge. Great track prep. The folks at the Macon Speedway do an excellent job with track prep. There really wasn’t any dust all night. After each race, a series of pick-up trucks came out to pack down the high groove. During their fifteen-minute intermission, they dug up part of the track, watered it all and packed it in again. It looked as good for the start of the feature racing as it did when the first heat race was run. Smooth, moist and black. With seven divisions, they ended up running about fifteen heat races. As soon as one group of racers pulled off the track into the infield, the next heat racers were driving onto the track. There are a few tracks that do it this way but not very many. Macon has zero downtime from one race to the next. The Polish victory lap or just something they’ve done forever at Peoria Speedway? The commonalities between Macon Speedway and the Peoria Speedway were eerie . After a driver won his heat or feature race, he was given the checkered flag. He took a slow lap in the clockwise direction of the track. Fans could see the driver holding his checkered flag near the fence as he slowly circled the track. NASCAR believes Alan Kulwicki was doing something special when he did his Polish victory lap. Peoria Speedway, and I’m sure Macon Speedway, have both done that since at least the early 50s. Each race winner tonight had to assure he didn’t get ran over. After all, cars were coming out from onto the track for the next race. The announcer was good. He could be heard over a solid PA system. He entertained and informed the crowd. I’m sure he was kept busy with driver names and numbers, since there were 125 competitors. Tonight, seven classes were racing. Two would run a fifty-lap feature, the super late models and modifieds. I would have preferred to see a maximum of four divisions. But then, I don’t have to turn a profit at the end of the night like Bob Sargent does. Who paid? I bought the race tickets, while Becky and Bob bought dinner at the track. I was surprised to see that a cold can of Coors Light was only three bucks. I bought a couple. I never do that. Just one thing didn’t work for me. There was only one disappointment during my entire evening at the Macon Speedway. And it came when I really wasn’t expecting it. The concessions menu offered ribeye sandwiches and pork chop sandwiches. I chose the ribeye sandwich. I’m sorry to have to report that it was nearly inedible. Only about five bites from the sandwich were eatable. It wasn’t that big to begin with lots of gristle. I probably tossed more than half of the entire sandwich under the grandstand. These guys need to get with the Boone Speedway over in Iowa. They have the best at-the-track ribeye sandwich I’ve ever eaten. Perhaps Bob Sargent will try one of those and decide the ribeye sandwich needs to be fixed. My sister told me her sandwich was the same, but the pork chop sandwich was good. Tonight, both super late models and the modifieds would run fifty-lap features. Drivers were making time in the thirteen-second range, so a 50-lapper would actually go by pretty quickly. Take a look at the hornet feature above. They had a few yellow flags at tonight’s race, but the track management was excellent. They got the races going again quickly. Often, as the yellow flag came out, they would get back to racing within two minutes or less. That’s nearly unheard of at most tracks. That had to save them well over an hour of track time by the end of the evening. Tonight, there were no “B” features. There were only twenty cars starting in the features. Some drivers might’ve just gone home after the heats. I don’t know that for sure. The fifty-lot modified feature started twenty cars for fifty laps. I wasn’t from around here. Because I’m not from around here, I didn’t really know any of the drivers. There was one exception: Kenny Wallace – a NASCAR star on the track and in the broadcast booth. Kenny lives in the St. Louis area and only a couple of hours from Macon. I think his appearance was a surprise to most fans. From my estimation, the fast qualifier started at the front of each heat race. Meanwhile, the winners of the heats started on the front of the feature. Kenny Wallace won his heat race which put him on the front row pole of the feature event. I was thinking he might win the race, but he didn’t. Kenny Wallace dropped all the way back to seventh place at the start of the modified feature. I was surprised by that, since he looked so strong in his heat race. He battled back to fourth but was no match for the feature winner. The eleven-car super late model race had five fast cars. Likewise, there were five or six other cars that acted as obstacles. This made for a very entertaining race. Bob: Best ever! Once the racing finished, I asked Bob what he thought of tonight’s racing. He told me it was the best racing he had ever seen anywhere at any time. I must admit that the feature races for the modifieds, super late models and several other classes had all kinds of side-by-side racing. It helped that the grandstands were right on top of the racing action as well. Macon speedway gets an A+ rating from Bob. I’m right there with him as well. What’s up with the super high grandstand? The track has another grandstand (above Becky and Bob) that’s even higher than the general admission grandstand. This grandstand is for reserved seating. However, the process of getting one of the seats is a little unusual for some fans like myself. At the beginning of the year, you pay seventy-five dollars upfront to get one of these seats. Then, you pay for your nightly race ticket and get to sit in this special grandstand. I did notice few of those reserved seats were occupied. I was unaware if they were all sold out by seventy-five-dollar season seat holders or not. I would’ve enjoyed watching the race from up there; still, for being a one-time visitor, that wasn’t possible. There were about fifteen heat races. Those and the seven feature events were completed by 9:45 p.m. A show that finishes in less than four hours, having 125 cars in seven divisions, is very good. Bob and I looked at each other. We each agreed that we couldn’t see how it could be done any quicker. I was glad the intermission was short. Within fifteen minutes, they had gotten so much done with the track prep. From there, I along with Becky and Bob, got our photographs taken at the track. We then said our goodbyes. They wouldn’t get home until about one a.m. but I think they had a good time . Time to head back to the barn. Now, I just needed to drive two hours back to St. Louis. I already had a Priceline hotel reserved there. I was going about my merry way. But then, I got a big surprise as I was getting ready to cross from Illinois into Missouri. Dang. Problems. I’m not sure if I was paying the closest attention to the road. I know that I was in my lane. In fact, I didn’t leave my lane. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang and felt a big jolt. I had run over something. At that moment, the dreaded sound of a flat tire greeted me. This was going to make the rest of my evening a little more interesting. The best I could tell was that I had hit a pothole. It was after midnight. I was in East St. Louis, Illinois which is not the most affluent of cities. I’ve had a couple of problems over the years with my cars having bad tires, engine trouble or whatever. For the most part, National Car Rental has come through well. They’ve made these few problems as pain free as possible. I knew that, when I have a problem and it’s past midnight, National will get someone to come out. They will pick up the car and take me to my next stop. But this can take his time. I was “lucky” in one regard. I was only twenty minutes from my hotel. Ultimately, I could get an Uber driver from here to there. That’s what I did. Uber took me to my hotel. I debated whether I should call my own AAA, in the hope they could come change the tire. I presumed there was a spare tire in the trunk! Conversely, I figured that National might not be able to track their car if my provider was handling the repair work. It was time to ask for help. Nevertheless, I called National Car Rental. Despite the odd hour, I got a helpful and cooperative agent. After some discussion, we agreed she would call an Uber driver for me – at their expense, of course. Then, a local towing company would come to get the car. To save some time, I wouldn’t have to wait for the tow truck driver. This was very helpful. I had broken down in Illinois alongside the highway. The National agent and I agreed it would be best to be at a fixed address for an Uber driver to pick me up. I had just one choice. I would have to driver nearly a mile across the bridge into Missouri from Illinois on a flat tire. Well…it wasn’t my car. I kept my speed at about twenty-five miles per hour. Very surprisingly, there was no other traffic around me as I crossed the bridge. I got my car as far as the valet parking section of the Lumiere Place Casino Hotel , which is next-door to the Four Seasons Hotel. This was ritzy territory. I figured that, by leaving my car there, National would tow it away in the next few hours. In short, it would be safe. A very friendly Uber driver came by in just thirteen minutes. He picked me up and took me to my Holiday Inn, twenty minutes away in St. Louis. Things, could’ve been worse. What if I had broken down three hours from my hotel’s location instead of twenty minutes? What if National required me to wait with the car until it got picked up? What if the flat tire had done more damage to the car than simply being flat? Yes, things could have been worse. TUESDAY This trip was a little bit different. Normally my trips have me going out on Friday and returning on Monday. This trip was a little bit different. I was going out on Saturday and coming back on Tuesday. Thus, the trip could accommodate Memorial Day. Additionally, for this trip I couldn’t find a suitable location to trackchase on Friday. I was okay with all that. National Car Rental had arranged for a complementary Uber ride from my hotel to the airport this morning. That was a good thing for me. There was less hassle compared with returning my rental car to its location, then hopping on a shuttle bus to finally get over to the airport. West Africa! My Uber driver was from West Africa. He was amazed that an old white guy like me had been to Africa several times. Even though I have not been to West Africa, I have visited a few countries on his continent. This fella was a huge fan of soccer as most people who live outside the United States are. Back in West Africa, this gentleman was a civil engineer. Although, none of his civil engineer accreditations were any good in the United States. He was going back to college to re-certify himself as a civil engineer. I hope that he makes it. Nice guy but from a totally different culture. One of my favorite airline terminals anywhere. St. Louis’s Southwest Airlines terminal is one of my favorites. First of all, it’s brand new. It only accommodates passengers for Southwest Airlines flights. The terminal has a place called the Pasta House. It’s part of my Priority Pass program, where restaurants give me a credit for free food and drink. The credit at the Pasta House is twenty-eight dollars. Today I went with their sausage pizza, six chicken wings and a bottle Diet Coke. My cost after my credit was $1.28. The terminal also had a photo exhibit I found interesting. These were photos from people in the 1940s or so. They looked like pictures of my people from that era. This trackchasing/racechasing weekend had now come to a close. Like every trip I take, it was fun. Lots of things didn’t go as planned, though, including a flat tire on the National Car Rental Racing BMW 228I. These trips become so fun and so challenging when they don’t go according to plan – no matter how much time I put into planning them. As the reader, I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my circumstances as much as I did in encountering them. Randy Lewis San Clemente, California 85 countries – 2,702 tracks. Illinois The Illini State The Macon Speedway was the 27th track where I had seen racing in my boyhood state, Illinois. As this is written I have seen racing at 107 different racetracks. I hold the #1 trackchasing ranking in Illinois. Illinois ranks #7, amongst all the states, in tracks seen for me in the U.S. Here’s a link to my all-time Illinois state trackchasing list. I have made 91 separate trips to Illinois seeing these tracks. 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 Illinois sayings: Meet me in the washroom. JUST THE 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 800 tracks of my lifetime total. That’s a fact, Jack. Total Trackchasing Countries My nearest trackchasing competitor, a native of Belgium, has seen racing in more than 30 fewer countries compared to my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today. See it in pictures! 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. The world’s largest gift shop, the Macon Speedway and a flat tire! 
