Greetings from Sparta, Kentucky
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Kentucky Motor Speedway Asphalt inner oval Lifetime track #952 Reprinted with permission from my Saturday, September 3, 2005, Trackchaser Reports. THE CLASSIC TRACKCHASER REPORT Editor’s note: This is a CLASSIC Trackchaser Report. What the heck does “Classic” mean? It’s simply a Trackchaser Report that comes from my trackchasing archives. Typically these will be stories from tracks I visited five years or ten years or more ago. For whatever reason (usually not enough time) this trackchasing adventure didn’t get posted to my website when I first made the track visit. Often a classic TR will not have a video and/or photo album attached. I didn’t begin producing my YouTube videos until 2009 (YouTube channel: RANLAY). I didn’t begin writing a complete Trackchaser Report until I had seen about 425 tracks. This was during the 2000 trackchasing season. Photo albums were sort of hit or miss during the early years of my trackchasing. Additionally, if you see a website link know that link worked when the TR was originally written. Will it work now? Your guess is as good as mine! Nevertheless, this CLASSIC Trackchaser Report has finally bubbled to the surface and is now available for everyone to see at www.randylewis.org. I hope you enjoy it. I AM A TRACKCHASER. My name is Randy Lewis (trackchasing in Antigua and Barbuda, trackchasing country #85). I hail from the sleepy little village by the sea, San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so. I live in southern California. That’s probably the most inconvenient location in the country for seeing tracks in the U.S. Most of the racetracks in the U.S. are located well over 1,000 miles from where I live. My average trip covers 5,000 miles and more. I take 35-40 of those trips each season. In any given year I will travel well over 200,000 miles, rent more than 50 cars, and stay in more than 150 hotel rooms. I get the chance to meet people from all over the world. With trackchasing trips to 85 countries and counting just getting the chance to experience so many unique cultures, spend time in the homes of my friends and meet so many people is a huge reward for being in this hobby. I am indebted to several of these folks for their help and friendship. Once you begin researching my trip itineraries from my website, yes you will want to do that, you will be surprised. One day I’ll be in Tucson, the next in maybe Tuscaloosa and the following day in Syracuse. I do that kind of thing all the time. Figuring out the logistics of a trip like that is as much fun for me as watching a figure 8 race. Now you know a little bit about my trackchasing addiction. When you receive one of my Trackchaser Reports or find one on my website at www.randylewis.org I hope you will take the time to imagine in your mind what it took to make this trip from SoCal and understand the fun I had doing it. There you have it. That’s trackchasing…the way I do it. Do others trackchase? Absolutely. Do they share their experiences? Sorry. They don’t. If you want to see the true “essence” of trackchasing you’ve come to the right place. Today’s adventure was one more of the 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the proverbial 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! Greetings from first Sparta, Kentucky and then Shelbyville, Indiana, Reprinted with permission from my Saturday, September 3, 2005, Trackchaser Report. PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS Do you ever want to take an AK47 sub-machine gun, simply walk into a business, and mow people down? Ever want to take a two-pronged hammer and smash someone’s skull in? How about taking a person’s fingers and bending them backward slowly until each one breaks at the knuckles? Me neither. However, there are times………………………. What in the world would motivate me to write the above? How about the crack staff at the Super 8 Motel located off Harding Road in Indianapolis, Indiana. You might remember me mentioning this hotel about three weeks ago. On that stay, I discovered the room had no towels or soap. That should have been my signal to never stay there again. You see, we wanted to drive about an hour after Friday night’s races. If we did that, our drive on Saturday morning would be more manageable. An hour’s drive from last night’s race would put us in Indianapolis. I called the Super 8 toll-free number and asked for a location near the airport. The reservationist then took over and put us in the motel from hell operated by the unconsciously incompetent. We entered the motel lobby at about 11 p.m. There stood five of the most incompetent, uncaring, unprepared and socially unworthy boobs (actually there were 10 of those) waiting to serve us. This is not a story about women. These folks could just have easily been men. This is a story about poor customer service and people who should not be in positions where they interact with the public. These people should be working in chicken slaughtering plants. I walked in and told the five women who looked like they were rejects from Heehaw that we had a reservation. I believe they thought I was speaking in tongues. Each looked at the other as if to say, “Why don’t YOU help him”. After a five-minute search through a stack of paper reservations, they discovered they did not have any paperwork on us. After a little more research by the techie of the group, we were “found in the computer”. They then turned the reservation process over to the “trainee”. She was totally lost. Occasionally, but rarely, one of the others would wander over and give some keystroke advice to the trainee who had absolutely no idea what she was doing. This process had now taken more than 10 minutes. After that amount of time, I could take it no longer. I said, to the person who looked like she might be in charge of this motley crew, “I would really like to get checked in here”. You would have thought, from the look she gave me, that we had arrived only 30 seconds before and I was criticizing an award-winning Super 8 motel customer service crew. “I’m training here”, said the ringleader and walked away. The trainee continued to look blankly at the screen. Finally, another one of the “Fab 5” came over and offered some minor assistance. After about 15 minutes, we were given our room keys. On the way to the room on the second floor, we noticed several spots in the hallway carpet that were totally worn through to the wooden floor. Do not stay here. I repeat do not stay here. Upon checkout the next morning at 9:30 a.m., we encountered the “trainee” again. I recognized her by the red Texas rosebud tattooed across her chest. She had not gotten any smarter overnight concerning her occupational skills. I told her I wanted to checkout. In her best Stepford Wives imitation, she looked at me blankly and said, “O.K.”. She sat down at the computer and stared at it longingly. With no attempt at any keystrokes, she turned to another woman and said, “You’re going to have to help me with this, it looks like the computer froze up”. The helper came over and looked at the screen. “You’re going to have to enter your user name and password. They make you type in your password the same way every time”. Oh, my! Finally, we were able to check out in only a minute or two less than the 15 minutes it took us to check-in. I stay in places like this and report back to you so you don’t have to. RACE TRACK STATS: KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY (INNER OVAL), SPARTA, KENTUCKY – TRACK #952 The Kentucky Speedway inner oval track is Carol’s fifth track to see in Kentucky. The oval increases her career trackchasing total to 214 tracks. This afternoon’s track in Kentucky is my 18th countable track to see in the state. I am now in 6th place in the Bluegrass state and have seen 4 new Kentucky tracks in 2005. I still have 29 countable tracks to see in Kentucky. Rick Schneider, surprisingly to me, leads the state with 44 tracks. This track was the first half of my 17th day/night double of the season. Would it be a good idea if we banned day/night doubles? Why? There could be two benefits to trackchasers if we did. First, it would support the country’s energy conservation needs by decreasing the amount of fuel used. Secondly, it would free up trackchasers to enjoy either an afternoon or an evening of local non-racing entertainment without losing ground to their fellow trackchasing competitors. SHELBY COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (FIGURE 8), SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA – TRACK #953 The Shelby County Fairgrounds was Carol’s ninth track to see in Indiana. The figure 8 track increases her career trackchasing total to 215 tracks. This figure 8 track is my third countable track at the Shelby County Fairgrounds this year. Previously I had seen racing at the permanent large oval and the temporary small oval. This is my 52nd track to see racing at in Indiana. I am now tied with John Moore for eighth place in Indiana and have seen 13 new Hoosier tracks in 2005. I still have 39 countable tracks to see in Indiana. Roger Ferrell leads the state of with 103 tracks. RACE TRACK NEWS: KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY (INNER OVAL), SPARTA, KENTUCKY I always have trouble with time zone changes in states that use two time zones or are on the time zone line. The K.O.I.L. Legends series website only lists the time the gates open. They do not say what time zone they use. They do not say when the races actually begin. That’s pretty lame. The website indicated the gates opened today at 10 a.m. I called the promoter and he told me the actual racing would begin “at about 12:30 p.m.” I asked what time the races would finish up. His answer, “Somewhere between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.” We left Indianapolis with plenty of time to get the job done. I elected to take state route 56 for the last 50 miles of the trip along the Kentucky/Indiana border. You really can’t see the country by driving the interstates although I feel they are much safer than most two-lane highways. Our two-lane road today was very picturesque as we motored along the Ohio River. We arrived at the track at 1 p.m., just 30 minutes past what I thought was the starting time. There were 24 legend cars lined up on the quarter-mile flat asphalt track. They proceeded to begin a very long race. It turned out to be a 100 lapper. I wondered if this feature event might be a makeup from a previous outing. Why would they be running a feature event just 30 minutes after the unofficial scheduled starting time? There was no announcer or P.A. system being used, so my only information came from folks in the crowd. It would later dawn on me after we left the track, at a convenience store nearby, what the deal was. The Kentucky Speedway is in the Eastern time zone, not the Central time zone. That meant the feature event started at 2 p.m. not 1 p.m. as we thought it did. It was over by 3 p.m. Eastern time. The legends feature event was the only countable class on the schedule today as far as I know. The other class racing today was the Bandoleros. I believe this class is for non-adults only. The Kentucky Speedway is a first-class facility. They are currently suing NASCAR in the hopes of getting a major NASCAR Nextel Cup race. I doubt they will be successful. Spectators view the inner oval from the infield of the larger oval. I have seen racing at the inner oval at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Spectators there get to watch the action from the big track’s grandstand. The view is a lot better in Atlanta. CAROL’S COMMENTS Carol liked the “cute little cars” and the beautiful weather. She also felt that “we’re idiots” regarding Indiana time zones. We once missed daughter Kristy’s college visitation appointment at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana by an hour because we didn’t understand that South Bend was in a different time zone than Chicago. I’m glad she went to UCLA instead. There were two chain-link fences between the racetrack and us. Carol didn’t like the view restriction this created. She liked the hand sanitizer in the porta-potty. She noted the lack of spectators at today’s show. SHELBY COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (FIGURE 8), SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA Not much action to report here. There were only 13 cars in attendance tonight. They ran two heats, a consie and a 10-car 12-lap feature event. The feature checkered at 8:37 p.m. We decided to try for the Bunker Hill Speedway in Kokomo following the Shelbyville stop. After being hung up in some early local traffic, we canceled our planned attempt for Bunker Hill and headed for my boyhood home. I did spend some time talking with the figure 8 promoter’s wife. She mentioned that crowds really fall off after kids go back to school. Tonight there were only about 100-150 people in the old wooden covered grandstands. She told me they would lose money on tonight’s promotion. CAROL’S COMMENTS Carol thought tonight’s “action” was more like a demo derby than racing. She noted the program didn’t take long, only about an hour and one-half. RENTAL CAR UPDATE: Our fourth gas stop of the trip saw us paying “only” $2.99 per gallon just north of Indianapolis. Carol is helping to drive the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu. I appreciate her help. “TRACKCHASER CHEESE CHALLENGE 2005 PACE OF THE RACE REPORT BROUGHT TO YOU BY FRONTIER AIRLINES” This is a comparison of how many new tracks Ed Esser (above left) has seen in 2005 and how many tracks I saw through the same date in 2004 on my way to see, at then a record, 127 tracks. In order for Ed to win the “Cheese Challenge”, he must see 128 new tracks. Through August 27 – Ed – 93 tracks Randy – 83 tracks* *Note: To properly evaluate Ed’s chances, remember I added six new tracks on and after December 26, 2004, in Australia. At this point in time, Ed has never trackchased outside of the United States. He will have a difficult time finding U.S. based tracks in late December. Net, he needs to stay 6-7 tracks ahead of my pace of last year through early December in order to win this challenge. Prize: If Ed sees more than 128 new tracks in 2005, he wins a round-trip domestic airline ticket to anywhere Frontier Airlines flies. If he cannot see at least 128 new tracks then I win 10 pounds of the Wisconsin cheese of my choice. LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total. Other notables 2005 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS * Trackchasing “New Tracks in One Season” record 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: Chicago O’Hare Airport – trip begins West Allis, Wisconsin – 83 miles Proctor, Minnesota – 677 miles Putnamville, Indiana – 1,433 miles Sparta, Kentucky – 1,624 miles Shelbyville, Indiana – 1,749 miles Air travel Orange County, CA – Chicago, IL – 1,726 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Milwaukee Mile – inner oval – Free Proctor Speedway – $16 Lincoln Park Speedway – $10 Kentucky Speedway – $5 Shelby County Fairgrounds – $8 You might have remembrances about these tracks. If so, please feel free to share your memories in the comments section below. If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com. I’ll try to include them here. 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 That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report September 4 – Edinburg Veterans Memorial Park (figure 8), Edinburgh, Illinois September 5 – National Sweet Corn Festival (figure 8), Hoopeston, Illinois September 5 – Peoria Speedway (not a new track), Peoria, Illinois ** Great Yarmouth Stadium (oval), Yarmouth, England, March 27 ** Tucson Raceway Park (outer oval), Tucson, Arizona, April 30 ** U.S. 30 Speedway (outer oval), Columbus, Nebraska, May 26 ** Rocky Mountain National Speedway (oval), Commerce City, Colorado, May 28 ** Hawkeye Downs (outer oval), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 3 ** 81 Speedway, Wichita, Kansas – July 21 ** Spartan Speedway, Mason (oval), Michigan – August 7 ** Galesburg Speedway (oval), Galesburg, Michigan – August 14 
Planned new racetracks
Racetracks visited in 2005
(** not the first time to visit this track)