Boone County Fairgrounds – Figure 8

Should I drive 1,024 miles or try to catch a ride on an airplane?……………more in “The Plan”.

I won’t ever milk a cow……………..more in “The Experience”

I had a once in a lifetime experience the last time I came to Albion…………..details in “The Experience”.

This wouldn’t be easy but it was doable.

This is day two of what should be a short seven-day trip.  Last night I trackchased along the Ohio/West Virginia border in Proctorville, Ohio.  Today I would be trackchasing in Albion, Nebraska some 1,024 miles from last night’s track.

Google Maps told me I would have to drive for more than 15 hours to make it.  I didn’t have time for that.  I would use my airline partners to help me out.  Despite having help from my airline sponsors I would still have to drive some 320 miles to get to Albion, Nebraska tonight.

I have a plan.

My plan during July and August is to visit as many county fairs as possible to add tracks to my lifetime totals.  Just about every county fair has their “countable” racing on just one day each year.  It’s a good challenge for me to put together a contiguous trip of racing locations when every fair races just one time per year.

Albion, Nebraska or bust.

I went to bed last night is the front seat of my rental car in Florence, Kentucky.  I stayed overnight tonight in Omaha, Nebraska.  This is what unfolded today.

I was at the Cincinnati airport at 5:30 a.m. this morning.  That seemed a bit early considering it was 2:30 a.m. back home in San Clemente.  It was even more disconcerting when the flight I wanted was delayed some two hours!  I wouldn’t be going on that flight.

This forced me to seek “alternative flying arrangement”.  I really didn’t have much choice.  The only track running today, that I had never visited, was located in Albion, Nebraska.  It was Albion or bust.

I was lucky to get a flight from Cincinnati to Chicago to Omaha.  Omaha is one of those cities that business and pleasure has brought me to several times.

I’m beginning to like Omaha.

While in Omaha I’ve been to the college world series a true highlight for me.  I’m just a few tracks short of taking over the overall trackchasing lead in Nebraska.  Plus Nebraska people are “NIMS” people a group of the nicest folks in the U.S.  If it’s good enough for Warren Buffet it must be good enough.

I will never raise a pig or milk a cow.

I very much enjoy observing people living a lifestyle that is either foreign to me or one that I won’t ever get the chance to live.  Coming to a county fair in rural Nebraska fits that bill.

As I walk through the livestock buildings at the fair I know that I will never raise a pig for 4H or milk a cow.  I won’t likely be on a “fair board” anytime soon.  I won’t be ask to “bring a pie” for the bake sale.  These are all things the local people encounter every day.  I can only look on and enjoy the goings on.

This was a return visit.

This was not my first trackchasing visit to Albion, Nebraska.  I had been here back in 2010 for my 1,566^th track.  On that night I saw some great stock car and sprint car racing on their oval track.  Tonight I was here to see figure 8 racing.

By the way, if you’d like to see what that visit was like click on this link:

Boone County Speedway – 2010 – Track #1,566

They treated me like royalty in Albion, Nebraska

Back in 2010 I was treated like visiting royalty.  I’ve been treated very well in lots of places but never better than at the Boone County Speedway.  On that visit I had contacted the fairgrounds and a man named Dave Noble.  He was most interested in having a worldwide trackchaser come to Albion.

When I visit tracks, despite having been to nearly 1,900 different ones, I almost always have something happen that I’ve never seen or experienced before.  What was unusual about that night in 2010?  Dave gave me my own golf cart to drive around the fair!  I’ve never had that happen before.

I also did an interview over the local radio station and had a nice interview in front of the fans with the local track announcer.  Nebraskans are huge University of Nebraska Cornhusker fans.  I took the opportunity during my track interview to say, “I came all the way out here to see if I could recruit any of you to become UCLA fans”.  You could have heard a pin drop!  Nope no converts on that night.  I did have to tell the crowd I was kidding and that seemed to ease their minds some.

It’s good to go out of your way to lookup old friends.

Tonight I made a special point to look up Dave Noble.  He’s the president of the fair board now.  I introduced myself but initially I don’t think he remembered who I was.  It’s kind of like meeting up at your high school reunion and the person you remembered very well can’t recall meeting you!

As we continued to talk I think it came back to Dave regarding my previous visit.  I told him I had seen nearly 300 tracks since our last meeting.  He was surprised at that.  As we parted he turned and looked over his shoulder.  “Thanks for taking the time to look me up”, he said sincerely.  Yep.  You can’t be Nebraska people for being nice.

ONE CANNOT LIVE WELL OR SLEEP WELL IF ONE HAS NOT DINED WELL

From Papa Tom’s – Fullerton, Nebraska

Papa Tom’s BBQ – Fullerton, Nebraska

I don’t eat fair food as much as I used too.  There’s just too many calories in most of the stuff.  However, I had not had time to eat supper so eating at the fair it would be.

I asked the track ticket seller what was the best food at the fair.  Mind you this was a small fair.  “Papa Tom’s” is the best I was told.  Then Papa Tom’s it would be.

I was hungry.  I ordered a full slab of ribs for $19 U.S.  However, when they gave me a half slab and told me the other half was coming up I changed my tune.  A half slab had 6-7 large pork rib bones with lots of meat.  I canceled the second half and chowed down.  The meat simply fell off the bones.  When I finished I was full.  I don’t know what I would have done with twice as much as I actually did eat.

BOONE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS – ALBINON, NEBRASKA

Figure 8 racing action

How many places have a grandstand with this history?

I love old covered county fair grandstands.  They are a dying breed.  The grandstands at the Boone County Fair aren’t THAT old but they are special.  The grandstand was once used at Wrigley Field in Chicago home to the infamous Chicago Cubs.  How about that!

Not as good as I would have liked.

Tonight’s figure 8 racing would be done inside a “ring” which is really a rectangle bordered by huge concrete “Jersey” barriers.  The drawback to that plan was that the racing would happen a long ways from the grandstand seating area.  I’m guessing the viewing distance was a good 75 yards or so.

Rain was moving in as well.  It was 81 degrees at 8 p.m. at the fair tonight.  By 8 p.m. the rain chance would increase from 0% to 40%.  That didn’t sound too good.

One of the very best states for F8 racing.

Nebraska’s figure 8 racing is as good as anybody’s.  The only states that compare favorably over a broad range of F8 tracks for V-8 powered cars are Iowa and Michigan in my opinion.  I’m a huge fan of Nebraska F8 racing.

However, I wasn’t that impressed with tonight’s racing.  The distance from the action was a drawback.  It seemed as if the car counts were a little skinnier than normal.  During intermission they took a long time to auction off several huge word carvings.  From a fundraising point of view I’m sure this was a good idea.  However, it seemed to hurt whatever momentum was being generated by the racing program.

Nevertheless, I had eaten good food and become reacquainted with someone who had supported my trackchasing hobby in the past.  I had gotten to sit in a historic grandstand from Wrigley Field no less.  I had gotten my money’s worth.

Rain.

Just a few miles down the road it began to rain.  I can’t count the number of times I have left a race track over the past few years and encountered rain just a few miles from the track.  I am a “lucky duck” as we have said in our family for many years.

STATE COMPARISONS

Nebraska

The Cornhusker State

This evening I saw my 36th lifetime track in the Cornhusker state, yes the Cornhusker state.  I’ll be back soon.

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

Nebraska sayings:  Welcome to the witness protection program.

TRAVEL DETAILS

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – New York, NY (JFK) – 2,475 miles

AIRPORT SHUTTLE

New York, NY (JFK) – New York, NY (LGA) – 12.2 miles

AIRPLANE

New York, NY (LGA) – Cincinnati, OH (CVG) – 585 miles

RENTAL CAR #1

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – trip begins

Proctorville, OH

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – 368 miles

AIRPLANE

Cincinnati, OH (CVG) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 264 miles

Chicago, IL (ORD) – Omaha, NE (OMA) – 431 miles

RENTAL CAR #2

Eppley Airfield (Omaha) – trip begins

Albion, NE

Eppley Airfield (Omaha) – 278 miles – trip ends

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Lawrence County Fairgrounds – $10

Boone County Fairgrounds – $10

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 350 tracks of my lifetime total.  Don’t blame me.

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,855

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 65

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 5.10

That’s all folks!  Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report