Spoiler alert #1!
My very next newsletter posting will cover the 2023 update of my “Financial Plan of a Lifetime”. For some of you, this annual message might have been when you first became acquainted with what I share in my newsletters.
About this time of year, I begin to get emails reminding me, as if that was needed, that it’s time for my annual financial review. It’s always an exciting time to review my fiscal year to see exactly whether the results were good, bad, or ugly. Spoiler alert #2! The results are almost always good!
Did you know that the most popular collecting hobby is collecting stamps? People love collecting. They will collect coins, baseball cards, comic books, and dolls amongst many other things.
My trackchasing is also a collecting hobby. I collect experiences. Those experiences include all kinds of things on the way, at and after visiting the world’s automobile racing tracks. Yes, a big part of collecting those experiences involves the people I meet and the places I visit. Trackchasing is an outstanding collecting hobby.
For this trip, I was going to Canada to trackchase. During the weekend, I would see racing at my 200th different racetrack north of our border.
Ever been to Canada? Any guesses on how many different trackchasing trips I have made to Canada? Even I was surprised at this number before I looked it up. 114! I made my way into all 10 Canadian provinces at one time or another 114 times. That means I have answered a LOT of questions from Canadian border officials like, “You came all the way up here just to see a race?” Just a couple of years ago I saw a race in all 10 provinces in one calendar year. Not bad, eh? See what I did there?
During all those visits, I have met a lot of very friendly Canadian people. One of the very best is a woman named Kristi Germain. Kristi and her husband Devon operate a motorsports business devoted primarily to demolition derby. Their company is called Impact Motorsports.
If you live in the United States, you are likely very familiar with our country’s county fair system. County fairs in the United States have been around for more than 150 years. They operate mainly in July and August. That’s not exactly the case in Canada.
First, fairs in Canada are not necessarily “county” fairs. They are more often a fair attached to a particular town. I’ve been told that most fairs in Canada are privately owned, which is certainly not the case in the United States.
There is one state that holds different auto racing events at county fairs in the U.S. much more than any other state. Guesses? That would be Michigan. Why? I have no idea. Up until this year, there were three major demolition derby companies operating in Michigan at well over 100 fairs.
In Canada, it is Ontario that dominates the auto racing business at the Canadian fall fairs. There is very little fair racing in any of the other nine Canadian provinces, bordering on zero. About 50 of the 82 track visits I’ve made in Ontario were at Canadian fairgrounds.
Impact Motorsports is the leading demolition derby operator in Ontario, Canada. Kristi told me they have 37 different shows this year. Their total alone is more than all the other demolition derby-type operators in the province combined. That’s impressive.
For this particular weekend, I would be “collecting” four different new track experiences in the space of just three days. I had this weekend in September reserved for my outing to Canada since I first knew the schedule last winter. Kristi and Impact Motorsports were nice enough to invite me to the weekend events as their guest.
It is with this as background that I will tell you how this trackchasing trip to Ontario, Canada happened. There were so many positive experiences. All of this was mainly bordered on simply meeting people and letting them tell me their stories.
But first, why don’t we cover the logistics of the trip? I live in Southern California. SoCal is a LONG way from most of the tracks I visit. When people meet me at the track, they are always telling me they would love to do what I do. Carol is always telling me, and I agree, that people have no idea what it takes to do this.
I sort of think of my appearance at a racetrack as being on stage. Most people see me only at the track. They have little idea what it took to get to the stage and what it will take once I leave the stage! That’s OK. The whole thing creates a “magic” for the people I meet.
For this trip, I chose to fly from Los Angeles to Detroit round-trip. Once in Detroit, I would make the 3 1/2-hour drive over toward the Toronto area. Making Detroit the beginning of my trip seemed to make a little bit more financial sense than going in and out of Toronto. Speaking of finance, it does take a few “loonies” to make this happen. By the way, a loonie is a one-dollar Canadian coin.
I have seven different trackchasing budgeting categories. Those would be airport parking, airfare, rental cars, gasoline, hotels, food, and race tickets. I would be gone on this trip for five days and four nights. You can do the math. A trip like this would take a few loonies, wouldn’t it?
I ended up flying on Spirit Airlines. Spirit Airlines is a discount air carrier. Some people wouldn’t want to fly in Spirit. This doesn’t bother me. I made it through the United States Marine Corps boot camp! Can you believe that the cost of my entire round-trip airline ticket was only $113 U.S.? In today’s inflationary times, I’m not sure that price can be beaten.
Spirit Airlines charges for just about everything in addition to their base price for the flying portion of the ticket. They charge for food and drinks on the airplane. They charge if you want to carry a bag onto the plane beyond a certain size. They charge to check a bag and they charge extra if you want to board the plane early or want a particular seat.
A $113 airline ticket is not much of a value if you must add on all these ancillary-type charges. Spirit Airlines charges $77 for a carry-on bag each way. I had a way around that which I have used many times. I simply took an old army field jacket that I had and stuffed the sleeves full of clothing. Then I took my small, rolling carry-on bag, which meets Spirit Airlines’ draconian measurements for a carry-on bag, which is 18” x 14” x 8”. I was good to go. As they say this wasn’t my first rodeo.
I rented a car in Detroit. The car would cost me more than three times what the airline ticket expense was. It used to be that rental cars were really inexpensive. That is no longer the case. I now must pay approximately $100 per day to rent a car.
I was able to stay in a Marriott-branded hotel for each of the four nights that I would be gone for this trip. I’m a big fan of Marriott. They treat me very well. They upgrade me when they can and almost always give me a complimentary breakfast.
When I come to Canada, there are two food items that I never miss. One of those is poutine. Are you familiar with poutine?
Poutine is a special concoction unique to Canada. Essentially poutine is a perfect blend of French fries, brown gravy, and white cheese curds. I told you I have been to Canada 114 times doing what I do. I’ll bet I’ve had poutine 114 times during those trips and likely much more often.
The second food item that I never miss when I come to Canada? You can buy these at Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons? Yes, Tim Hortons. “Timmy’s” is as common to Canadians as McDonald’s is common to Americans. In case you didn’t know Tim Hortons is named after a former National Hockey League player. Why do I go to Tim Hortons? I like donuts. Who doesn’t like donuts? My plan was to stop at Tim Hortons just one time during the trip. I failed on that plan. I went to Tim Hortons three times!
When I take the time and effort and spend the money that is required to pursue my trackchasing hobby, I want to be as productive as I possibly can. On this trip, I would fly in on Thursday. Then I would be able to make four new track visits from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. That’s productive.
I would make stops beginning on Friday night at the West Niagara Fairgrounds in Grassie, Ontario. Then on Saturday afternoon, I would be at Odas Park in Orillia, Ontario. That evening, you could have seen me at Elgin Park in Uxbridge, Ontario. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, I would be at the Orono Fairgrounds in Orono, Ontario. All these locations were just outside of Toronto. You’ll be able to see my video of the racing from each of these locations. The video link is at the bottom of this Trackchaser Report.
Just a heads-up if you are driving in and around Toronto. The Toronto area drivers are absolutely nuts. Folks, I drive on 16-lane freeways nearly every day and have done that for decades. I know what big-city driving is all about. Way too many Toronto drivers try to drive 160 kilometers per hour when the prevailing heavy traffic is doing the speed limit at 110 kph. These drivers tailgate, make lane changes quicker than Kyle Larson, and honk. It’s quite the scene. You’ve been warned!
Most of you, when you were a kid, probably went to a demolition derby. A “derby” is an event where several cars are put into a ring, which really isn’t a ring. It’s a rectangle. The cars crash into each other until there’s only one driver, who has a car that continues to move. That driver is the winner. Last man standing. However, women do derby as well!
The hobby of trackchasing is a counting hobby. Trackchasing is a very competitive hobby. How do you know if someone is competitive in trackchasing? They will try to tell you that trackchasing is NOT a competitive hobby. That’s how you know.
I’ll share one other note about my hobby as well. I have never really heard anyone else say that trackchasing is about much else than counting and racing. Counting and racing are important to me as a trackchaser as well.
It’s just that meeting people, seeing the local sights, and managing the logistics of trackchasing are JUST as important to me as counting and racing. Racing, after seeing racing at nearly 3,000 tracks, is rarely going to provide any new experiences for me. However, each and every person I meet will be unique. Their story will be unique. Seeing the local sights is always fun. I call those visits “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions”. I even have a special section on my website at www.randylewis.org for TTAs. Here’s the link if you want to check that out. Where has Randy been sightseeing?
Demolition derby really isn’t a “race”. By trackchasing rule, you must see a race at a track to count the track. Therefore, demolition derby does not count in the hobby of trackchasing.
However, most demolition derby companies offer other events to keep their crowds entertained beyond just demolition derby. Those events can include figure 8 racing, democross, racing, autocross, racing, and power wheels competitions. These power wheels events are for youngsters who drive their battery-powered electric power wheels toys.
This weekend Impact Motorsports was having both figure 8 racing and democross racing at the shows I planned to see. Each of the four Canadian fairs that I visited, was offering one of those choices which allowed me to count all four tracks over the weekend.
In Canada, just like in the United States, it is the demolition derby that is still the motorsports kingpin. Casual fair-going fans like to see crashing and banging. At most county fairs in United States, it is the demolition derby that is offered on the last night of the fair for their grandstand entertainment. Some of the entries have been through the demo wars!
I have probably met 100 demolition derby promoters in my lifetime. Demolition derby is the heart and soul of Impact Motorsports. At the same time, they do offer some “racing” events. The cars in competition are what I affectionately call “junk car” racing. Most of the time these cars were one step ahead of the junkyard when they enter the race and headed to the junkyard when the race is finished. I just wish these cars could talk. I would love to hear them tell their story when they first pulled into the driveway of their new owner. I can’t even imagine the conversations and activities that occurred in these cars before they became the “star of the show” in their final days of life.
I met so many nice people on this particular trip. If you don’t mind, I’d like to share my experiences with several of these folks and their unique story.
I met a fellow by the name of Graham Shirton nearly 10 years ago. As I recall, he started following my trackchasing activities and corresponding occasionally. I had a contest for followers to guess where my next international trackchasing visit would be. Graham correctly picked “Lithuania”. I went trackchasing to Lithuania with Carol in 2013. Graham’s prize for his winning guess was one of my trackchasing souvenir racing T-shirts.
After that Graham and I agreed to meet up at the famous Oswego Speedway several years ago. He showed up with his brother Glenn. Now over the years Graham and I have met up a handful of times in Canada and New York. Graham is a fun guy to watch the races with. He knows a lot about the U.S. as well. Graham is a huge Michigan Wolverines football fan.
I had a chance to meet another person for the very first time under some very unusual circumstances. This fellow’s name was Kyle Tomaski. Just the week before my visit to Canada Kyle had contacted me for a reason that I never would have guessed in a million years.
Kyle enjoys watching vintage racing films. He was watching a video recording of a race that happened at the Merrittville Speedway located in Thorold, Ontario, Canada all the way back on July 1, 2022. That was going on 22 years ago.
In the middle of the video, the announcer stopped and did an interview with a track spectator. Who was that spectator? Me!
I have done literally hundreds of interviews with track announcers, local newspaper reporters, radio stations, and TV stations during my travels. What made this one particular at the track interview so enthralling up in Ontario, Canada unique?
The interview was done on July 1, 2002. July 1, 2002, was my FIRST day of retirement after working for Procter & Gamble for 30 years. How crazy is that? How random was it that Kyle would be watching that video, hear my interview, and try to search for me to tell me about that interview? That was random!
On that first day of retirement, I had already recorded visits to 581 tracks but in only three countries (U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom). After wrapping up this Canadian trackchasing trip I will have seen racing at 2,918 tracks in 86 countries. Yes, I’ve been busy traveling the world in retirement.
Interested in hearing that interview where I talk about July 1, 2002, being my FIRST day of retirement. Here’s a link to that video. Go to about 56:40 to catch that talk. Randy’s day 1 trackchasing interview.
I was able to give both Graham and Kyle one of my souvenir trackchasing T-shirts. I bought the shirts exactly for that purpose. I don’t intend to sell them. I intend to give them to my friends that I make along the trackchasing trail.
It’s always fun to stroll through the pit areas. A lot of these junk cars have a couple of things in common. Many of them are tremendously beat up. I kind of wonder how they can still be drivable. Also, many of these junk cars have some of the most unusual and colorful paint schemes. I like taking photos of the car’s interiors. If you’ve never walked through the pits at one of these events, you might not know what these things look like.
The Canadian fall fairs that I visited this weekend did not have much of a livestock presence. Animal barns are huge at county fairs in the United States. Not so much in Canada. The Canadian fairs have good-looking carnivals. Several of the fairs in the U.S. I visited this summer didn’t have any carnivals. I’m told carnivals are getting hard to book as many operators have retired. By the way how many fairs of this type do you think I’ve seen in the U.S. and Canada? More than 500! That’s a lot of corn dogs, isn’t it?
All throughout the weekend, I kept a focus on my aerobic exercise. My goal is to walk more than 6.44 km each and every day. Of course, 6.44 km is four miles. I walked more than 4 miles every day during this trip. I can kind of predict in the morning each day where and how far I will be walking. If I don’t think I’m going to have much chance to get my steps in I’ll go out early and make up the deficit.
On Saturday afternoon I nearly missed the afternoon figure 8 racing. The show was set to begin at 1 p.m. This would include both figure 8 racing and demolition derby. I didn’t know when the figure 8 racing was scheduled in the overall program.
It turned out the fair in Orillia, Ontario would have only two figure 8 heat races and that was it for F8. Those started right on the dot at 1 p.m. Wouldn’t you know it? I got stuck in traffic pulling into the fair. As you can see this little fair was jam-packed with fans.
I showed up just in time to see the last few laps of the first F8 heat race and the complete second F8 heat race. That’s enough to count the track. Please, never misunderstand me. Trackchasing is a counting hobby! When the figure 8 racing was finished the program went to demo derby and I went to check out the pits. From that vantage point, I could still catch the DD.
I had a chance to stop and talk with one of the figure 8 drivers. This racing team was all packed up and ready to leave the track. The driver of the #15 F8 car was Kevin Graves. Kevin and his daughter Bristol were both driver and pit crew for the car.
It was fun watching both Kevin and Bristol being part of a father/daughter team. I could tell that they both really enjoyed each other‘s company. Kevin told me that Bristol’s name came from the famous Bristol, Tennessee NASCAR race track. I’m not sure if that’s true, but it makes a good story.
Kevin even gave me a heads-up on a figure 8 show that was happening tomorrow afternoon. I couldn’t make that show but you can bet I put it on my “futures” calendar for next year and beyond. Wait! Why didn’t I mention the name of this track? Hey, this is a competitive counting hobby! Later in the weekend, Kevin messaged me with even more information that would help me with my trackchasing.
I have so many friends I’ve met across the world who take the time to say hi and send a trackchasing tip my way. I can’t begin to thank them enough.
Did you know I’ve been invited into people’s homes to share a meal, meet their families, and relax in such faraway places as Tunisia, Belgium, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Scotland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Portugal, Antigua and Barbuda, Bulgaria, Argentina, Maldives, Ukraine, Brazil, Bolivia and more? I hope I didn’t leave anyone out! Long after the details of the racing I saw in those places have faded from memory I could still tell you nearly word for word the conversations I had with my many foreign friends. Of all the things I’ve been able to do in trackchasing, these are the experiences that I am most proud of. What lifelong memories!
I’m always saying that “people vote with their feet”. It doesn’t really matter what people “say” they will do. What really matters is what people really do.
Impact Motorsports is doing really well. How do I know that? People vote with their feet. Impact gets lots of cars and drivers to attend their show. Their car counts are bigger than just about any other demo derby group that I see. At every one of the Canadian fall fairs where they were promoting, I saw crowds that were standing room only. As a matter of fact, during this weekend’s four days, Impact Motorsports was promoting seven different events at different fairs. That meant they had to split up their crew in order to support each one of those shows. Remember, people vote with their feet. The people in Ontario are voting for Impact Motorsports.
Kristy and Devon Germain (above right) own Impact. They got into the business about three years ago just in time to run into Covid. Kristi’s husband, Devon, who competes in demolition derby events in the United States, is the race director. Josh, (above left) handles the pit area chores.
Kristi is an impressive young lady. She is a people person all the way. Kristi is also the track announcer at her events. I love Kristi’s announcing style. It’s friendly, informative, and humorous. I always say that for the racing fan, the track announcer is the most important employee at the event. Kristi is well suited for that job. At each of the tracks, she told the crowd that I had come from California to see their racing. Thank you, Kristi!
I was able to talk to several different people in the pit area. A lot of these racing teams bring three or four cars to the races. Commonly this is a father with his sons and daughters, all racing their junk cars. Mom is usually nearby supporting the team.
At the final fair of the weekend in Orono, Ontario, I met an unusual race fan. I sat down next to a woman who was a bit younger than me and struck up a conversation. I love meeting people this way.
She was at the fair because of her art. She was displaying her paintings in one of the commercial exhibits. When she heard the sounds of the demolition derby, she couldn’t help herself. She grabbed a seat in the grandstand and enjoyed the action.
I don’t meet up with a lot of artists at demolition derbies. This woman’s name was Debbie. I’m going to tell you that I don’t think Debbie has ever met up with a trackchaser in her life. Most people haven’t!
Nevertheless, as we talked for the next hour, she and I had a lot in common. She had lived in a couple of places in the United States. She had the perspective of an American in many ways. Nevertheless, she was from Canada and loved her home country. Now she was set to spend the rest of her life with her husband on a horse farm in Canada. I would love to have heard what the dinner talk was in her home after hearing more than enough about trackchasing!
At three of the fairs this weekend I would see figure 8 racing. Most of this racing was done in smaller-than-average demo rings.
It’s easy to set up a figure 8 race “course”. All that is needed are a couple of huge concrete cubes that can’t be pushed around by the race cars all that easily. The cars race around these two concrete markers in an “8” configuration. That’s a figure 8 race.
At the Orono Fair, I saw “democross” racing. Democross racing uses three or four of these concrete blocks. The cars race around in an oval direction. This is all pretty simple racing action. The crowds love the contact.
Folks, this was not the Daytona 500 or the 24 Hours of LeMans. I think everyone in the grandstand knew that before they bought their ticket. This is just a fun day at a Canadian fall fair. That’s good enough for me. I was here to “count” the track, meet new people, and see how they do things in a foreign country.
At each of these four fairs, I was the first trackchaser ever to see any racing on these configurations at these Canadian locations. There is something that is always satisfying when you’re first at anything, right?
In general, I find that somewhat amazing. There are literally hundreds of trackchasers who have submitted their trackchasing lists for publication and review. Wouldn’t you think with a hobby that began with tracks being reported as far back as 19/28 and with hundreds of people participating that virtually every race track that has ever held an event would have been seen by somebody?
That is not the case. When I was finished with Canada this weekend, I had seen racing at 65 different race tracks in 25 states and six countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and the United States so far in 2023. I have seen racing this year in four Canadian provinces.
Yes, I’ve been moving around. Yes, it seems as if at least one person should have shown up at just about every track in the world by now. Nope. Of the 65 tracks where I have seen racing this year, I was the first ever trackchaser to see any racing at 33 of those tracks. That means at more than 50% of my track visits in 2023 no other trackchaser had ever darkened their door. I have a hard time believing that statistic but it’s true.
I told you this trip was productive. Seeing four tracks in three days that no one else has ever been to is very productive. At the same time once I made the drive from Detroit over to the Toronto area, I didn’t have to drive very much. That always makes things a little bit easier and more enjoyable.
I’m in the midst of some fairly strong trackchasing travel. Some people might say that I am ALWAYS in the midst of some fairly strong trackchasing travel. It’s always fun to travel from point A to point B. Sometimes that’s a straight line and sometimes not so much.
Last Monday I got back from Australia and Japan. Then on Thursday, I left for Canada. When this trip ended on Sunday, I returned home from Canada on Monday morning. Then the following Saturday I flew out to North Dakota to see just one track. I flew back to Southern California on Sunday night. On Thursday, Carol and I take off for France for a couple of weeks. Do you consider doing all of that in less than a month “fairly strong trackchasing travel?”
I would like to tell you this kind of travel schedule is unusual. It isn’t really. In any given year, since I retired, I will travel 175-200 nights primarily for trackchasing. Trackchasing usually takes me to all these places. Then, once I arrive, it’s all about meeting people, hearing their stories, and seeing the local sights.
I guess it’s important to mention that a trackchasing trip is not exclusively dedicated to sitting in a grandstand watching a race. Not even close.
Our upcoming trip to France is an excellent example of what I mean. We will be gone for a couple of weeks, but we will only be at a race for about three hours on four different days. The rest of the trip will be for sightseeing, meeting people, eating the local food and just kicking back in a foreign culture.
Last year I traveled outside of the United States for 79 days. This year my foreign travel will reach nearly 90 days. I think being out of the country for about three months each year is just right for me!
What will I remember now that this Canadian trip is finished? I’ll definitely remember the people. Kristi Germain has been so nice to Carol and me since we first met before COVID-19 hit. Meeting up again with Graham Shirton is always fun and a highlight for me. Meeting a new person who took the time to contact me after hearing me being interviewed more than 20 years ago on such a special date as my retirement could never have been predicted. Running into people in the pit area like Kevin Graves and his daughter Bristol, and seeing the fun they were having together warms my heart.
As I told you at the beginning of this review trackchasing is a collecting hobby. I am collecting experiences. I just read a book called Die with Zero. It’s written by Bill Higgins. I highly recommend looking at what he has to say. There are some powerful and profound learnings in both finance and personal enlightenment.
Die with Zero simply means that people need to take some of their finances and reinvest them in “memory dividends”. At the end of your life, you’re going to have memories. To put it in numerical terms I’d rather have 100 memories than $100,000 in the bank when I die. Of course, memories and financial security are not mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, I don’t want to check out with few memories and a huge bank account!
That’s it from Canada. This was another outstanding trackchasing weekend.
Randy Lewis
God Bless America, but God help Canada to put up with them!
As promised this is my video from the racing action and more during the 4-track trip to Ontario. Click the link and enjoy!
Figure 8 & Democross racing from all over Ontario!
#2,915 – West Niagara Fair – Grassie, Ontario – Figure 8
#2,916 – Odas Park – Orillia, Ontario – Figure 8
#2,917 – Elgin Park – Uxbridge, Ontario – Figure 8
#2,918 – Orono Fair – Orono, Ontario – Democross