Greetings from Stronghurst, Illinois
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Lifetime Track #1,867
I still love Illinois…………….more in “The Details”. Sports, the Marine Corps and a good wife………………more in “The Details” Where’s the best place to live? ………..details in “The Details”. Is this where all the Sherman tanks ended up? ………..details in “Race Review”. THE PLAN. Nope! Nothing is ever easy. I had planned to come to the Henderson County Fairgrounds yesterday to see county fair racing on their oval track. However, at the very last minute, AFTER I had checked my golf clubs onto the airplane (THAT’S LAST MINUTE) I discovered that yesterday they were racing on their figure 8 track. Carol and I had seen them race on that track back on July 21, 2011 (it was my track #1,680). In point of fact, the Henderson County folks were racing on their oval track tonight not last night. That meant I had to scramble, at the very last minute, to come up with a track to see last night. I did. It required a different airplane and rental car. I even had to sleep overnight in the airport last night. However, all of that rigaramo allowed me to see a track last night in Iowa and tonight at the Henderson County Fairgrounds in Stronghurst, Illinois. I still love Illinois. I love trackchasing in Illinois, my boyhood state. It bums me that I’m not #1 in the state where I grew up. Nevertheless, Ed Esser holds that distinction with 99 tracks. Tonight I was seeing my 86th-lifetime track in Illinois. You never know, I could still catch Ed. It’s just that there are very few tracks in Illinois left for me to see. Maybe I’ll take a close look at Ed’s 99 Illini tracks and discover a track or two that I may have overlooked. There are a few things that one can learn from having a travel schedule like I’ve had from yesterday morning until this evening. First, no matter how much you plan the plan may not work. When that happens it’s imperative to come up with a new plan….quickly. Of course, all of this is predicated on having clear and specific objectives in life. I wanted to see a track last night and one tonight. Of course, I wanted to do all of that as time and cost-effectively as I could. If I had to change airplanes after my bags were already checked on the first plane so be it. If I had to sleep overnight in an airport then so be it. I think I learned this technique of “take no prisoners” first in sports and later in the Marine Corps. Of course, in sports the objective is to win. I’m not a big fan of “everybody gets a ribbon” now proffered in many youth sports leagues. In the Marine Corps (boot camp and I’m assuming combat) the objective was simply to get through the day. You knew you were going to be dressed and ready to go at 5 a.m. You knew you would be tucked away in your “rack” at 9 p.m. For the 16 hours of waking time every ounce of energy was spent trying to stay out of the “limelight” of the drill instructor so that you could safely get to the end of the day. Yes, I give full credit to sports as a youngster and the Marine Corps as a young man for anything I may have achieved as an adult. Of course, to top off all of that early training it’s important to have a good wife! THE TRIP. Who clears airport security at 1 a.m.? I woke up this morning in in my favorite spot in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. I went to bed in Palatine, Illinois. This is what today looked like. Nothing is ever easy with trackchasing travel. However, if you have the “passion” for it none of this is a big deal. I arrived at the Minneapolis airport last night at about 1 a.m. I had just completed a nearly 200-mile one-way drive from the racing events in Sibley, Iowa. Most airport security passages are closed by 1 a.m. Not so at MSP. I was able to clear security (but could not use my TSA pre-check privileges). Then I migrated to my favorite place of any U.S. airport for about four hours of shuteye. From there I was at my airplane gate at 6:30 a.m. to begin my trackchasing day with gusto. This meant first flying to Chicago. From there it was 233-mile one-way drive to Stronghurst, Illinois a small town of just 900 people. I suspect that when one has a travel schedule like this that the “bounce in the step” is not quite as high as if I had slept in an “opulent” hotel until the sunshine awakened me. Nevertheless, it was what it was. THE EXPERIENCE. San Clemente, California I grew up in Illinois. The lifestyle where I live at the beach in Southern California is just about 100% the opposite of what it is in small-town Illinois. Is one better than the other? Let me answer that question this way. They are both very different. I live in SoCal because I think the lifestyle in the very best in the country and the world. I suspect that folks who live elsewhere would beg to disagree. One of the things that I have discovered throughout all of my travels is that nearly everyone loves where THEY live. However, if economic and family constraints were removed I suspect the roads to Southern California would be jammed beginning in about Oklahoma! Nevertheless, I still enjoy going back to Illinois. How do I know that? Because, of my own free will, I’m back here quite often. However, you won’t often find me in the Illini state between Thanksgiving and Easter. HENDERSON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS – STRONGHURST, ILLINOIS I have a history in Stronghurst. Carol and I went to the races (figure 8) in Stronghurst a couple of years ago. They had just had a huge rainstorm and the “track” was a quagmire. They raced that night but the mud was so thick I doubt they ever got going faster than 20-30 M.P.H. I spoke to the fair board race promoter before I visited this year. He told me he had seen my YouTube video of that mud bog type figure 8 racing event. He agreed it was probably their worst show ever. Here’s a link to that muddy YouTube affair: Tonight was drier but just as hot as our last visit here. The Midwest has some terrible weather in the winter. However, you can’t overlook the sweltering summers and wet and cold springs. I am a subscriber to the Hawkeye Racing News and have been for more than 40 years. Every spring the columnists can’t believe how cold and rainy the spring has been. They bemoan the rainouts and cancellations. Then just a few weeks later (about 15) they are telling their readers that they can’t believe it’s fall already. If the Midwest had 30 days of good weather as nice as we have 90% of the time I would be surprised. However, I like the people of the Midwest a lot. Tonight I had come back to see the racing on the fairgrounds’ oval track. They race on the figure 8 Thursday and Saturday of the fair. The oval race takes place on Friday. There was a good field of 30-40 stock cars on hand for tonight’s racing. These cars were built like Sherman tanks. They would run full speed into other competitors and/or the wall and bounce off with ZERO damage. I have no idea what these cars weighed. However, they were built to sink a battleship. The drivers were instructed that they were “racing” and this was not a destruction derby. Some may not have heard those instructions. Don’t miss the video of this event. Some of the crashes were the hardest I have ever seen at these speeds. If there were 40 cars at the track tonight I would guess that the cumulative value of ALL the cars would be less than $100,000. That was in stark contrast to the huge piece of farm equipment used to water the track. I think the machine is called a “water buffalo”. That had to cost about $400,000 brand new. How do I know that? A farm equipment salesman once told me that EVERY piece of farm equipment costs about $400,000! Nevertheless, I had a nice night at the races under very warm and humid conditions. For the last several races I moved over to turn #4. That’s where I got some of my best video of the racing action. Don’t miss the “Superman” V-8 powered Chevy tearing through the concrete barriers and stopping just short of the fan’s seating area. STATE COMPARISONS Illinois The Illini State This evening I saw my 86th-lifetime track in the Illini state, yes the Illini state. I’ll be back. 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: America’s gut
TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 1,535 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport – trip begins Sibley, IA Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport AIRPLANE Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Chicago, IL (ORD) RENTAL CAR #2 O’Hare (Chicago) International Airport – trip begins Stronghurst, IL TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Osceola County Fairgrounds – $7 Henderson County Fairgrounds – $6 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 – 1,867 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 
Nothing is every easy.
Take no prisoners.
Sports and the Marine Corps…everybody should have that experience.
It was what it was.
How do I answer this question?
How do I know?
To me climate is one of the most important lifestyle aspects of all.
Is this where all the Sherman tanks ended up?
How do I know this?
