Last night I drove overnight from the Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, North Carolina to the Charlotte airport. It wasn’t a bad drive. I’m sure the 5-Hour energy drink that I consumed helped quite a bit. I did stop to take a 30-minute nap. I wasn’t as concerned about myself driving overnight. However, I did wonder why my fellow drivers were on the highways at 3 a.m. on a Friday night. It was what it was.
I get a lot of requests for help and advice from people who follow my hobbies of trackchasing and finance. I am always more than happy to help. I believe in karma. If you help someone that will probably come back to you in one positive form or another. One woman in the Midwest was involved in a head-on collision destroying her car. She wanted to learn more about my new car buying process. I sent her a link to my website on the subject. If she follows the instruction exactly as described she will be able to buy a new car as inexpensively as possible. Another fellow called me. One of his kids wanted to know how to get tickets to the Mexican World Formula One race in November. His son and grandson were going. They were looking for some help. Another person messaged me that he had a son vacationing in Iowa. He was wondering if I could recommend a dirt track for him to see that would be nearby during their stay. Still another person sent me a picture of him wearing one of my Randy Lewis Racing T-shirts. It was pretty well trashed from him working on his race car. Like I say I’m more than willing to help folks because it’s just the right thing to do. That’s how I grew up. Today’s racing is going to take place in North Branch, Michigan. It’s being promoted by Unique Motorsports. Over the years I’ve seen a number of their promotions. My current track total in the Wolverine State stands at 141. Michigan easily has more county fair racing during the summer than any other state. Neighboring Indiana has a lot of county fair racing whereas nearby Wisconsin and Illinois don’t have very much at all certainly by Michigan standards. I don’t really know why that is. Before I could make any of this happen in Michigan, I had to catch a flight from Charlotte to Detroit. My flight was wide open so that was good news. However, in today’s post-pandemic era flights can be delayed or canceled at a moment’s notice.
I woke up this morning in an interstate highway rest area somewhere in the state of North Carolina. I was reminded that Michael Jordan’s father was killed in a North Carolina rest area. I slept for only one hour. Then I was off to the Charlotte airport in the hopes of catching my flight.
Just before I left the rest area, I was notified that my flight from Charlotte to Detroit had been canceled. That was not good news. That was a problem. I have several apps that I can use to try to mitigate a last-minute flight cancellation. I put all of them to use. First, I used an app that allows me to check every departure from Charlotte to anywhere so I could see what my options were. The Charlotte airport is dominated by American Airlines. They had a flight (I was flying standby) leaving in about an hour and 15 minutes to Indianapolis. The problem was I was about 25 minutes from the airport in the rest area. I thought I might be able to get one of the very last seats on this plane. However, if I couldn’t reserve a rental car in Indianapolis the flight would be of little value. Often my rental car sponsor does not allow me to make a last-minute rental. If I give them 24 hours’ notice, I am absolutely guaranteed to get a car. Today on almost no notice they accepted my request for a reservation.
I know you might be saying that it’s easy to make a last-minute car reservation. When I say that, I’m talking about getting a last-minute smoking hot deal on a full-sized car with low miles on the odometer. I won’t wait in line to get it. I will simply walk out to where the cars are parked, pick the car I want, throw my bag in the backseat and drive away. Comparing one offer to another successfully really depends on the details. With many things, the devil is in the details. Off I went to the airport. I ended up getting the very last seat on a plane even though there was a young woman who was ahead of me on the standby list. However, she had tried to circumvent the gate agents. They noticed that and they didn’t like it. The agent gave me her seat. I was the unusual beneficiary of someone else’s misplaced aggressiveness.
I’m a big fan of the Indianapolis airport. They have one of the best terminals in the country. They always have a couple of Indy cars on display in the airport as well.
While I was on the plane, I made another reservation for a connecting flight from Indianapolis to Detroit. If I made that flight, it would save me a five-hour drive from Indy up to Detroit. I made the flight connection in Indianapolis. I was swinging for the fences with these last-minute airlines and rental car reservations and connecting. That all surprised me just a bit. When I landed at the Detroit airport I hung out and did a little bit more trip-planning research. I have found that you can’t plan enough for these trips. Whatever plan I come up with has a very good chance of not happening the way I want. If the plan doesn’t work out, I need to have a backup option or two. When the planning was finished, I got some of my steps in (airports are perfect for that) and then went to get my rental car. I grabbed another Toyota Camry from National Car Rental. I think this is my fifth car to rent on this trip and all but one has been a Toyota Camry. I get more than 40 miles a gallon with these cars. The other rental, a Chrysler 300, gave me only got 27 miles per gallon. With the day’s higher than normal fuel prices that’s a big difference. Honestly, in the big picture, the difference in MPG doesn’t mean all that much…except…yes, except I was raised not to waste money because we didn’t have any to waste. Now that I do have money to waste, I still don’t want to waste it. That entire situation seems somewhat ironic to me.
Tonight, I was gonna be trackchasing up in North Branch, Michigan. It’s important when I plan a trackchasing effort to make sure that I haven’t been to that location in the past. I have been waylaid a time or two not understanding that I had already been to a track when I thought I was visiting for the first time. Previously I had seen racing in West Branch, Michigan. I had to confirm that North Branch was someplace different and it was.
I had an address for the track that was provided by the track promoter. Google Maps took me to that address. There was no race track. Oh my. Then I ran into a couple of racing teams trying to find the track. I followed them. They were pretty much in the same situation as I was. Their GPS took them to the wrong location just as mine had.
Finally, after some more searching, we got things sorted out. I found the parking lot to the North Branch Lions Club Race Track. General admission was a somewhat steep $15. I could afford that but could the working-class person in the state of Michigan afford it especially if he or she had a family? Yes, I thought $15 was a little high. I was early by about an hour and a half. After having only an hour of interstate rest area sleep last night, I slept for another hour in the car in the parking lot before the races began. Every little bit helps.
I paid my admission fee and began to assess my seating options. I figured I would go down to the track concession stand, grab a hotdog and find a seat in the grandstand area. I could certainly afford 300 calories for a hotdog, right? As I was heading to the concession area, I heard someone in the grandstand calling my name. I turned around to see what was up. To my great surprise, Mr. and Mrs. Allan and Nancy Brown had recognized me. I have a long and pleasant history with those two.
For more than 30 years Allan and Nancy were the owners and distributors of the National Speedway Directory. The NSD was sort of the “Bible” for early trackchasers. This little paperback book was published annually. It listed all of the ovals, road courses, and drag strips that were active in the United States and Canada. The National Speedway Directory was a very valuable book.
I spent the evening sitting with Allan and Nancy reminiscing about our past visits, the state of racing, and a lot more. From the best of our recollections, I had last seen this twosome at another junk car race in Michigan when they were with their nephews. We also thought the first time we ever matched up was in Bakersfield, California. That first time we met was probably 30 years ago or more. The last time we met was nearly 10 years ago.
Allan and I have played golf together. He and I have traveled to England together to trackchase. Allan was an original trackchasing founding father. He has as strong of a racing pedigree as anyone I know. Nancy Brown and Allan and Carol and I have eaten catfish together in Arkansas. They have visited our house and I have stayed overnight in theirs. It was nice running into them tonight.
Tonight’s racing would consist of junk cars racing on an oval track. The track featured a series of jumps that might be more accurately described as hills. This was novelty racing. The racing was exciting. There were a couple of really strong flips. One car drove over the bank and out of the track. Another car did one of the more dramatic end-over-end flips of any I have ever seen at a track like this.
The announcer did a good job but the PA system was extremely loud. It was so loud it hampered my conversation ability with Allan and Nancy. The track was also sandy and dusty. After the first race, the track was a complete dust storm. The promoter stopped the program and watered the track. I didn’t think they had a chance of improving the track all that much but actually, the racing turned out to be much less dusty for the rest of the night.
They had enough cars for eight heat races with about eight or ten cars in every race. After each race, they had to take some time to remove the disabled vehicles. About 50% of the drivers fell into that category.
Despite a $15 general admission fee, track concessions were more than reasonable. A can of soda or a bottle of water was only a dollar apiece. A hot dog was two bucks and the polish sandwich was only three dollars. I went with the Polish dog offering.
This was a special night for my trackchasing. I was seeing lifetime track number 2,800. I have always held my “century tracks” in high esteem. Here’s a list of each of the tracks that I have seen that marked a century milestone as in 100, 200, 300, etc. From time to time when I run into someone for the first time, we might talk about my trackchasing hobby. They will ask what trackchasing is and why is trackchasing my hobby. I have a simple explanation. That explanation goes like this. “I try to run around the United States and the world seeing racing at as many different racetracks as I can. For me, trackchasing is a logistics, travel, and racing hobby. I meet people from all over the world”. I have given this explanation to thousands of people. On this night I saw racing at my 2,800th track. Did I meet you at a track? If so, that was ONE track visit. Now the total is up to 2,800. What’s next? The correct answer would be…2,801.
SUMMARY OF “CENTURY” TRACKCHASING ACHIEVEMENTS # 1 – Peoria Speedway (Mt. Hawley – oval), Peoria, Illinois – circa 1955 # 100 – Red River Valley Speedway (oval), West Fargo, North Dakota (Sammy Swindell winner) – July 13, 1981 # 200 – Sumter Rebel Speedway (oval), Sumter, South Carolina – March 28, 1992 # 300 – Brownstown Speedway (oval), Brownstown, Indiana (Billy Moyer Jr. winner) – April 19, 1997 – # 400 – Barren County Speedway (oval), Glasgow, Kentucky – October 1, 1999 # 500 – Freedom Raceway, Delevan (oval), New York – July 27, 2001 # 600 – Trail-Way Speedway (figure 8), Hanover, Pennsylvania – July 20, 2002 # 700 – Thunder Alley Park, Evans Mills (oval), New York – April 22, 2004 # 800 – Five Flags Speedway (oval), Pensacola, Florida – December 3, 2004 # 900 – I-96 Speedway (inner oval), Lake Odessa, Michigan – July 15, 2005 # 1,000 – Auburndale Kartway (oval), Auburndale, Florida – February 10, 2006 (Ed Esser joined in the celebration) # 1,100 – Cambridge Fair (figure 8), Cambridge, Ontario, Canada – September 9, 2006 # 1,200 – Castrol Raceway (oval), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – June 3, 2007 # 1,300 – Bira Circuit (road course), Pattaya, Thailand – January 19, 2008 # 1,400 – Kemper Raceway (indoor oval), Kansas City, Missouri – December 20, 2008 # 1,500 – Glencoe Fairgrounds (figure 8), Glencoe, Ontario, Canada – September 27, 2009 # 1,600 – 85 Speedway (oval), Ennis, Texas – October 8, 2010 # 1,700 – Aylmer Fairgrounds (figure 8), Aylmer, Ontario, Canada – August 13, 2011 # 1,800 – Ancaster Fairgrounds (oval), Jerseyville, Ontario, Canada – September 20, 2012 # 1,900 – Jackson Speedway (inner oval), Jackson, Minnesota – August 30, 2013 # 2,000 – Reading Fairgrounds (oval), Leesport, Pennsylvania – August 4, 2014 # 2,100 – Le RPM Speedway (oval), Saint-Marcel-de-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada – June 6, 2015 # 2,200 – Tullyroan Oval (oval), Dungannon, Northern Ireland – March 26, 2016 # 2,300 – George County Motorsport Park (oval), Lucedale, Mississippi – February 25, 2017 # 2,400 – Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium (road course), Lake Elsinore, California – December 15, 2017 # 2,500 – Midvale Speedway (mixed surface figure 8), Midvale, Ohio – October 14, 2018 # 2,600 – Ice Pragelato (ice road course), Pragelato, Italy – January 6, 2020 # 2,700 – Piney Woods (road course), Castor, Louisiana – May 22, 2021 # 2,800 – North Branch Lion’s Club (oval), North Branch, Michigan – June 25, 2022 When Allan, Nancy, and I had seen eight heat races and the feature event for one of the classes, we decided to pack it in for the evening. It was already past 9:30 p.m. We each had some driving to do to get to our hotels. Some 2 1/2 hours of solid junk car racing was certainly enough for me.
Tonight had been a special night. The night was special because I got a chance to sit next to Allan and Nancy Brown. It was special because I got a chance to see racing at my 2,800th racetrack. I’m a very lucky fellow. I never take anything for granted. If all goes well, I will see Allan and Nancy tomorrow evening at the Lake Odessa County Fairgrounds. We both intend to go to that show. Last year but Lake Odessa was canceled when a tornado hit the area and heavy rain obliterated the fairgrounds the night before the race. Sunday, July 26, 2022 I stayed for the evening at a Hometown Suites by Red Roof Inn hotel property. I can’t recall ever doing that. This is Red Roof Inn’s “long-term stay” offering. Since I was in Lansing, Michigan I had just a 45-minute drive to tonight’s trackchasing opportunity at the Lake Odessa Fairgrounds in Lake Odessa, Michigan. I had all afternoon to simply relax. What did relaxing mean for me today?
First, I stopped over at the Regal Theaters in the Lansing Mall to catch a movie. I have the “Regal Unlimited” movie pass subscription. There was no charge for me today to see the movie, “Black Phone”. This was a horror film starring Ethan Hawke one of my favorite actors. It was probably best that I saw this show today since Carol isn’t into that movie genre.
I searched “things to do in Lansing” and came up with something that would have been of great interest to me. What would that be? The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum. Too bad it’s only open from Tuesday through Saturday. Today was Sunday. I’ll try to catch that museum sometime in the future. I’m normally rolling through Lansing a couple of times or more every year.
My next option on my hit parade of things to see when I’m on the road was the “Brenke Fish Ladder”. How many fish ladders have you been to? It was a beautiful day and seeing the fish ladder wouldn’t take much time. During my visit, I had the chance to talk to a local biker. I find it very interesting and informative to meet local people and hear what they have to say. From there I made a quick stop at a local grocery store. I picked up some lunch meats, vegetables, and a microwavable bag of green beans. I’m staying at the Fairfield Inn tonight near the Detroit airport. These foods will come in handy to get me back home where I can once again begin eating prepackaged Nutrisystem food as I continue to close in on my weight loss goal of losing 33 pounds. Most county fairs hold their fair at the same time every year. Last year I showed up at the Lake Odessa County Fairgrounds in the hopes of adding their bump-and-run racing program to my lifetime totals. That didn’t work.
Unbeknownst to me, Lake Odessa had been the victim of a tornado the night before the scheduled race. The tornado damaged some homes severely just a couple of blocks from the fairgrounds. The rain was so heavy that everything was a complete washout. They canceled a day in advance. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that until I showed up at an empty fairground! Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. Today the weather was perfect. I didn’t expect any problems.
The Lake Odessa County Fair was small compared to most of the other fairs I’ve been to. They did have a nice-sized older covered grandstand. Today that grandstand was packed to the gills. For whatever reason, they didn’t have any aisles or railings for fans to get up into the grandstands. I was able to make my way to nearly a top-row seat. From there I could get some great photos and videos of today’s racing action. Parking was five dollars a car. I hope that money goes to some good use. Admission to the grandstands was $15. I’m guessing that in today’s post-pandemic world $15 is the new $10. It is what it is. It doesn’t do much good to complain about. I’m just telling it like it is.
Today’s show was being promoted by Unique Motor Sports. Unique is one of three demolition derby promoters in the state of Michigan. The other two are USA Demolition Derby and TNT Demolition Derby. They all do a really good job. Michigan has more county fair racing like I was seeing today by a wide margin than any other state. Indiana and Minnesota do well in this category. Pennsylvania isn’t bad. In the other states, especially the southern and far western states, there is almost no racing at the annual county fairs.
I am glad to report the Lake Odessa racing started on time at 6 p.m. Today is Sunday. Presumably, some people in America still work for a living. However, for the working man and woman who have a couple of 10 or 12-year-old kids just going to watch these races today would cost $60. That seems like a large expense to me if you’re making $15-20/hour. Kids five and under were free.
The racing was contested on a flat dirt racing surface. They kept the track watered well. There was no dust. I watched some of the races down by turn one where the cars were racing in a clockwise direction. Fans near me were getting pelted with mud balls. Some people had 15-20 “blotches” on their clothes!
These kinds of events are for what I lovingly call junk cars. These cars had two tires in the junkyard graveyard before they were rescued for one last valiant attempt at a trophy from a dirt track. I suspect the speeds didn’t reach much more than 45 mph. The cars were sliding sideways even at those speeds. The races were short. I never count laps but I would guess the heats were for 8-10 laps. The program consisted of heats, B-mains, and main events. The program was compact and lasted for 2 ½ hours. The fans seemed to enjoy the racing action today. That might have been because last year’s race was canceled because of a tornado and the previous year’s race was likely canceled because of Covid. It’s difficult to predict disasters, isn’t it?
After the racing, I took some time to see the rest of the fair. I always check out the fair either before or after the racing. Always. I didn’t see any livestock barns whatsoever although this was Sunday the last day at the fair. The carnival was small. The fair food selections were limited. I’ve been to a lot of these kinds of fairs. Few deserve a second visit but they ALL deserve the first visit! Following the race, it was time to head back to Detroit. That drive would take me about an hour and a half. On the way back I stopped to fill the rental car with gas. I rent a lot of cars doing this. The positive is that I don’t put virtually any “trackchasing miles” on my personal car. I have an 8 a.m. flight in the morning. I’m going to be getting things together by about 6 a.m. to make their flight back to Los Angeles.
This is been an excellent geographically diverse trip. I started the adventure by seeing a couple of tracks that were separated by five hours of driving in the state of Idaho. Then during the trip, I made three separate entries into the province of Ontario, Canada to see some Canadian racing. I dipped down into very rural Pennsylvania for one night and down into North Carolina for another night of trackchasing. My last two evenings have been here in Michigan. I think that qualifies 100% as a geographically diverse trip! I rented four cars. I flew on seven airplanes. I traveled 9,383 miles in the 11 full days of this trip. When I ran the numbers, they told me that my body had traveled at an average speed of 36 miles per hour for every hour of the 264 hours of this trip. I find that somewhat amazing…but then I do that all the time.
I’ll be home for the next 10 days. That covers the Fourth of July. The Fourth of July is a pretty big holiday in most places but I consider the fourth in my hometown of San Clemente to be the biggest day of the year. We live near the beach. We have a good view of the iconic San Clemente pier. Each year they shoot fireworks off the pier and over the Pacific Ocean. The light from the fireworks creates shadows on the water. It’s fantastic to see. You will rarely find me traveling away from San Clemente on the Fourth of July.
However, in 10 days I have one of the biggest trips of the year coming up. I’ll be going to Sweden for nearly 2 weeks. I have established some really good contacts over there. My buddy Nicklas Åkerlund has helped arrange as many as six different race tracks for me to see in Sweden during my stay. The other night I painstakingly reserved my hotels for Sweden. I’ll be staying in six or seven different areas. I’ve got a good rental car set up. I checked my bank account and I believe I can handle the $8.50 per gallon gas price over the expected 1,500-2,000 miles I expect to drive. See ya’ in Sweden! Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser San Clemente, California USA
