Greetings from Lisbon, Ohio
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Lifetime Track #1,879
The perfect result?…………….more in “The Details”. Easier with most things is better…………….more in “The Details” What was the reward?……………more in “The Details” If you really must know…What was the best part of tonight’s visit?……………more in “The Details” Wow! ………..details in “Race Review”. My trackchasing strategy is to get the most and the best with the least time and money. My overall trackchasing plan is simple. I must “make hay while the sun shines”. Apparently hay does not grow in cloudy conditions. The county fair season in the U.S. runs during July and August. Yes, you may very well be reading this after the county fair season has ended. Don’t worry you’re reading about it in exactly the order that I did this trip and saw each track. I operate with several strategies that can only be mimicked by my fellow competitors. Just to give them a chance I do this from the sleep little seaside village of San Clemente, California more than 2,000 miles from the vast majority of America’s racetracks. I try to do this at the least possible expense while still using quality upscale products and services. I try to do this while minimizing the days away from home so as to maintain a quality family life. At the same time when I’m on the road I try to be as productive as possible with my trackchasing results. As you read this Trackchaser Report and all the others you can be the judge about how well I do against the goals I’m trying to meet. I think you’ll see what I mean regarding the above. If you really must know…. What was the REAL highlight of tonight’s trackchasing adventure? It wasn’t the racing. It was the gospel singing on the “Webb family” stage. Hopefully YouTube won’t prevent me from sharing their songs. Yes, the highlight of the night was listening to gospel music! This plan worked out perfectly. I saw a new track on every day I planned (10 new tracks). I went racechasing at two of my favorite tracks with friends. I saw all kinds of sites along the way. I conducted business from afar just as if I were home. Was there anything missing? I would say “yes”. Carol couldn’t make this trip but she will be traveling overnight with me for about 20 nights over the next 6-7 weeks. That will be good. What else could I do? I woke up in the Bloomington, Minnesota Wal-Mart parking lot at 6 a.m. after sleeping for five hours in my Hyundai Sonata. This was my second stop at this location this year. This is not my preferred method of overnight rest. However, if one wants to trackchase in Mahnomen, Minnesota one night and Lisbon, Ohio the next it’s about the best alternative. I could have slept overnight in one of my favorite airports, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, rather than in my car. However, it was a cool night and comfortable for sleeping “outdoors”. Easier with most things is better. Once at the Minneapolis airport I used my TSA “Pre-check” capability. If you fly much you ought to have this perk. It is advantages like this that makes doing what I do so much easier. Easier in most things is better. When I landed at the Cleveland airport I spent some time planning the details of the remainder of the trip while still inside the terminal. Cleveland offers free Wi-Fi. That’s a nice benefit. However, their rental car location is very inconvenient and one of the worst situations of any U.S. airport. After the races…… Monday I use Mondays to get home frequently. I woke up this morning in Richfield, Ohio. I went to bed in San Clemente, California. This is what happened today. Folks, I left on this trip 14 days ago. The first track of the trip was the Southern Kentucky Fairgrounds in Bowling Green, Kentucky. That track seems as if I went there LAST summer. Even though I am known as the “flying” trackchaser I drive more miles than any other trackchaser too. For this trip I drove 3,875 miles or about 277 miles each day. That’s the better part of a tank of gas for EACH and EVERY day of this 14-day trip. At an average speed of 50 M.P.H. that’s 77 hours of driving or 5.5 hours of driving every day. Don’t forget I also flew more than 6,000 miles. What did I get out of it? Well, I did see ten new tracks. I also got to re-visit (for the umpteenth time) two of my favorites in the Peoria Speedway and Eldora Speedway. It was fun matching up with Greg Robbins, Jim Sabo and Paul Weisel at Eldora. It was fun seeing all of the “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions” as noted in previous reports. It is beyond rare for any trackchaser to attempt a 14-day trackchasing trip. You might think I would go home and rest up for a very long while. Well, I will go home. However, I will be home for just one full day. Then I’ll be off on a trip, that if all goes well, will have me away from home for 27 days! Carol will join me on the beginning and end of that trip. Fraternity brother Mike Skonicki will join me in the middle for some trackchasing and some golf. Who knows who else I will meet along the way. Enjoyment, Efficiency, Effectiveness. Some experiences are for just pure enjoyment. Others are meant to support efficiency and effectiveness goals. When stuff is more efficient and more effective then it leaves me more time and money for pure enjoyment experiences. Make sense? ONE CANNOT LIVE WELL OR SLEEP WELL IF ONE HAS NOT DINED WELL Waffle House – Girard, Ohio I’m using my “Lose It” iPhone app to help drop a few pounds. I’ve found that exercise is helpful to maintain a solid cardiovascular system. However, it’s calorie consumption that effects weight gain. Lose It tells me if I limit my calories to 1,850 per day I can lose on average two pounds per week. Believe it or not eating “just” 1,850 calories per day is more difficult than it might sound. Nevertheless, I had “saved” just enough calories for one waffle at the Waffle House. I try to eat at least once a trip at a Waffle House somewhere. If I didn’t do that I wouldn’t need my Lose It app! I was taking a chance. Tonight’s racing was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The Columbiana County Fair website listed only a “demolition derby” as on tonight’s schedule. You all know that demo derbies don’t count in trackchasing. However, some behind the scenes “sleuth” work indicated there would be a figure 8 race. I sure hoped so! Most short track racing events do not start on time. However, I always show up early just because Gerry O’Reilly taught me that “If you’re not early you’re late”. That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Finding the fairgrounds was not difficult as it was well sign-posted from the major roads leading into Lisbon, Ohio. However, that’s when the “easy” part ended. When I pulled into the fairgrounds a parking attendant pointed me in the direction where he wanted me to park. Folks, what other people want you to do is not always good for YOU. Where I had to park had to be a mile away from the actual race area. Nevertheless, I took off on foot (wearing my blue suede deck shoes – no socks) over a hilly and uneven terrain that even took me through the Rosebud Campgrounds. Folks were relaxing in the campground and seemed a bit surprised to see someone in blue suede deck shoes tromping through at dinner time. By the way I bypassed the “Senior Citizen Shuttle Wagon Loading Area”. Why? First I thought I had plenty of time to walk (I didn’t) and who knew how long I would have to wait for the shuttle. Secondly, when given the choice I always walk. I love walking. After about 20 minutes I spotted the old covered county fair grandstands. All of the people were standing. Why? It was 6:30 p.m. and the national anthem was playing. I could see from a distance that all of the figure 8 cars were lined up on the track and ready to race. Wow! These guys were starting on time. Even though I didn’t have a pit pass there wasn’t time to buy one. I had paid $8 U.S. to enter the fairgrounds. I was told there would be an additional charge for the demo derby. However, when I entered the racing area I found myself walking into the pit area without benefit of a $10 U.S. pit pass. There was no time to buy a pit pass now. They were just about ready to drop the green flag. At a distance of about 75-100 yards I watched the 7- car (or so) 20-lap F8 race. By the way I wasn’t the only one watching from this distance. The place was packed. Fans were watching from every nook and cranny they could. Although I could snap some photos and record some video clips I couldn’t see all that well from my position. In less than ten minutes the F8 racing was done. It was only 6:40 p.m. When the figure 8 drivers returned to the pit area I asked one of them if there would be any more F8 racing tonight. “Nope, that’s it” he said. Wow again! Folks, I had driven four hours after Saturday night’s racing, slept overnight in my car, hopped a plane ride from Minneapolis to Cleveland and then driven nearly 100 miles to this evening’s track. Then……it was all over in less than ten minutes! Is it surprising to you that so few people do this? Is it surprising to you that I do it? I look at it like this. A big game hunter may spend all kinds of money and time to travel to Africa. He/she may spend days on a safari staying in sometimes uncomfortable conditions. Then when the prey is in sight just a single shot that goes off in a millisecond if what the trip was all about. I guess I consider myself a big game hunter of racetracks. Make sense?
TRAVEL ITINERARY Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Dallas, TX (DFW) – 1,232 miles Dallas, TX (DFW) – Nashville, TN – 630 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Nashville International Airport – trip begins Bowling Green, KY Indianapolis International Airport – 315 miles RENTAL CAR #2 Indianapolis International Airport – trip begins Rossburg, OH Peoria, IL Urbana, IL Indianapolis International Airport – 778 miles AIRPLANE Indianapolis, IN (IND) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 177 miles Chicago, IL (ORD) – Sioux Falls, SD (FSD) – 461 miles RENTAL CAR #3 Sioux Falls Regional Airport – trip begins Luverne, MN Eppley Field (Omaha) – 252 miles RENTAL CAR #4 Eppley Field (Omaha) – trip begins Arlington, NE Liberal, KS Beloit, KS Lincoln, NE Eppley Field (Omaha) – 1,191 miles RENTAL CAR #5 Eppley Field (Omaha) – trip begins Rugby, ND Mahnomen, MN Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – 1,131 miles AIRPLANE Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Cleveland, OH (CLE) – 545 miles RENTAL CAR #6 Hopkins International Airport (Cleveland) – trip begins Lisbon, OH Hopkins International Airport (Cleveland) – 208 miles AIRPLANE Cleveland, OH (CLE) – John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York), NY (JFK) – 411 miles John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York), NY (JFK) -Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – 2,485 miles Total air miles – 5,904 (7 flights) Total rental car miles – 3,875 (6 cars) Total miles traveled on this trip – 9,779 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Southern Kentucky Fairgrounds – $13 Eldora Speedway – $40 (not trackchasing expense) Peoria Speedway – $13 (not trackchasing expense) Champaign County Fairgrounds – Complimentary Rock County Speedway – $9 Washington County Fairgrounds – $9 Liberal Fairgrounds Speedway – $10 Solomon Valley Raceway – $18 Lancaster Events Center – $13 Geographical Center Speedway – $8 ($2 senior savings) Mahnomen County Speedway – $7 Columbiana County Fairgrounds – $8 Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $95 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 – 1,879 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 
The perfect result?
What was the reward?
How much effort with this take?
The easy part of this activity had ended.
Wow!
This can’t be a surprise to you.
AIRPLANE