Greetings from Belleville, Illinois
.
.
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
.
.
Bedrock Raceway
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #2,227
THE EVENT Editor’s note: This Trackchaser Report covers the weekend of June 10-12, 2016. Over the weekend I attempted to see racing at four different tracks. I almost made it! In just ONE Trackchaser Report I’m going to tell you about each of the three tracks I saw this weekend AND the final track where I was rained out. This undertaking was just one of more than 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the 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! I often see two or more tracks in a single day or in a single weekend. Sometimes when that happens I will combine my observations from multiple tracks into a single Trackchaser Report. That is the case today. ON THE WAY TO THE RACES Thursday Please don’t worry about me. It is true that I only returned with Carol from a two-week trip to Europe on Monday. Less than three days later, on Thursday morning, I was heading back on the trackchasing trail toward the Midwest. Don’t worry. It’s what I do. O.K., you can worry about me. I was traveling injured. Earlier this morning I called my doctor thinking I had a sinus problem of some sort. I had a major toothache and sore right side of my face. However, the doctor told me it was likely not related to sinus issues. He suggested it was a tooth problem. There wasn’t time to see a dentist. With that in mind the Ear, Nose and Throat physician gave me a prescription. He told me to take lots of ibuprofen too. I scheduled a dental appointment for when I will return from this trip. The medication did a good job but it would wear off every four hours or so. The mail must be delivered. I didn’t feel all that much for going out on this trip. However, I always show up for work. In thirty years of working for Procter & Gamble I only took two sick days (wisdom teeth!). However, if everything worked well I would be able to see four tracks in three days on this trip. That was enough to motivate me to get off the couch and travel more than 5,000 miles over the next three days. Three days; three states. The racing I was planning to see was located in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. That being the case I considered flying into Indianapolis Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis. Any of those locations would work for me. Summer travel is just beginning to heat up. It’s becoming more difficult for me to find a standby flying seat. This will be the situation through Labor Day and possibly a bit more. My first and preferred plan was to take an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis. However the seats melted away on that flight making it look like a poor choice for my style of travel. The next option was to fly to Seattle and then catch an overnight flight to Chicago. Again the Chicago flight seats went away quickly. Be flexible or parish. I made the flight to Seattle from Los Angeles. Once I landed in Seattle I quickly scanned the “departures” board. The only workable flight was one leaving in an hour headed for St. Louis. It had seats! I quickly jumped into the Alaska Airlines Board Room. I could get an internet connection there. Once online I signed up for the flight to St. Louis. Then I secured a rental car and a hotel for this evening in St. Louis, Missouri. I travel fast and I act fast. I love the results that lifestyle gives me. Always open to new ideas. A friend in the 3,000-member Procter & Gamble retiree email conference recently recommended Costco travel for rental cars. I have had a great deal of success all along with National Car Rental. In order to do well in life one needs to be open to new ideas. Just for fun I checked Costco travel. I was amazed! Amazing but true. For this trip I reserved a full-sized rental car with the Budget Rental Car Company through Costco travel. Three full days of a full-sized car was incredibly cheap at $50 for the entire rental. I can’t recall ever getting a rental car of that type that inexpensively. Then I went to my buddies over at Priceline.com. I would need a hotel for tonight. Originally my plan was to fly overnight on a jet airplane to Chicago. Now with me landing in St. Louis at midnight a hotel near the airport would be a good choice. I soon secured a room at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. I paid the princely sum of $50 for the privilege. What was the best rate being offered on the Renaissance website? $176 plus tax. When I arrived at the hotel I used my Marriott Rewards platinum status to get an upgraded room, complimentary breakfast on the private concierge level and free internet Wi-Fi that goes for $10-$15 per day for normal guests. How does he pay for this stuff? One of the questions I often get about my trackchasing hobby is, “How do you pay for it?” Take a look at what I told you above. I had gotten premium services at minuscule costs. I was also able to do it at the very very last minute. Does that answer the question? If that doesn’t answer the question click on the link below. I have created an entire post on the subject. How does he pay for all of this? There’s a reason. There’s a reason the top NASCAR teams can beat the lesser equipped teams week in and week out. They have better stuff, better people and overall better resources. It works the same way in trackchasing. Friday I do not want to discourage people. I didn’t check out of my hotel room until noon. I spent the morning talking with people all over the world about upcoming trackchasing opportunities. You won’t believe the locations I am considering visiting. Where are those places? I can’t tell you now. It would only serve to further discourage my fellow competitors. However if you continue to read my reports you’ll soon find out all the details. I’ll be driving a Ford Fusion on this trip. It’s not my preferred rental car model but it will do. I do like the telescoping feature of the steering wheel. Of course I had to Google a YouTube video to figure out how to use it! Waffles! My lunch was at a nearby Waffle House. There are no Waffle House locations in California. A couple of waffles will get me down the trackchasing trail just fine. The weather for this trip is scheduled to be rain free. Yes, I know, famous last words. However I couldn’t believe how hot it was going to be. Temperatures for each of the three days I’ll be trackchasing are estimated to be 95–98°. Folks, it’s mid June. What’s up with temperatures like that? I like my world. They know me here. It would be a quick 5 1/2 hour drive over to Carrollton, Kentucky from St. Louis. In my world a 5 ½-hour drive IS a quick trip. I will be using my iPhone to listen to satellite radio all the way. I’m a big fan of the “Tradin’ Paint” show on the NASCAR channel featuring Chocolate Myers and Jim Noble. Most county fairs in the United States run during July and August. There are probably only about 10 states that feature much auto racing, other than demolition derby’s, at their county fairs. Kentucky is generally not one of those states. However in the past couple of years a group called Top Dog Promotions has been adding “circle track” racing to their demolition derby program. I’ve seen several of their shows. THE RACING Carroll County Fairgrounds – Carrollton, Kentucky Demo derby is big. Demolition derby is really big within their own community. Across the nation demolition derby dwarfs figure 8 or oval track racing at our country’s county fairs. Top Dog Promotions does not offer circle track racing at every one of their events. However tonight, at the Carroll County Fairgrounds, in Carrollton, Kentucky circle track racing was on the agenda. Just to make sure I contacted the promoter, John Peck, to confirm there would be “trackchasing countable” racing. John is a man of few words but did assure me circle track racing would be held tonight. The program was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. As is my practice I showed up early to scope things out at 7:15 p.m. It was still hot with temperatures in the low 90s. There was a two-dollar parking charge. A $10 bill gave people like myself admission to the fair and the races. Meeting the people. I took the early arrival opportunity to tour the pit area and renew acquaintances with John Peck. Since this was a Friday night competitors were still pulling into the gate at 8 p.m. I suspect that with people working a full day and driving whatever distances they needed to cover to get to the fairgrounds it was a challenge getting to the track on time. If you’re not early…wait for it…you’re late. For whatever reason the program did not start on time. In point of fact it was very late. The actual racing did not begin until 10 p.m. They did have a power wheels race for young children (not my favorite) and some remote control car racing earlier than that. This is the first show from this promotional group that has started as late as it did. The driver’s meeting. I attended the drivers meeting. No mention of a late start was offered. It was sad to hear about the untimely passing of two of the group’s demo competitors. The promoter runs his driver’s meetings differently than just about any I have ever attended. He offers some general comments and then talks to each class individually. Tonight those classes included the circle track racers, lawn mover riders and the drivers in the demolition derby. I’m not sure how many demo cars they had. I’m going to guess about twenty. They would be racing for a purse of $1,500. At the drivers meeting the competitors decided that they wanted to make the payout $1,000 for first, $300 for second and $200 for third. It was a very democratic process. As John Peck said, “It’s your money you decide how you want it paid out”. Only two lawnmower racers showed up. At that point I was glad I was not a lawnmower trackchasing follower. Circle track racing. There were 21 four-cylinder low-dollar stock cars that would race with the “circle track” group. This was one of the best turnouts for this class that I’ve seen at a Top Dog Promotions event. It was decided the 21 cars would be divided into five heat races of four or five cars. The winner of each heat race would transfer to a feature race. There would also be one consolation race of second-place heat race finishers. The winner of that consolation race would also be advanced to the main event. Always something new. I have now seen Racing at 2,225 racetracks in 71 different countries. You would think by now that I would have seen everything possible but of course I have not. As I explained above there would be six cars transferring to the main event. However there would not be one main event there would be two. That’s right. The six cars from the preliminary races would transfer to two main events not one. Each feature event would have three cars competing. They decided to do it this way so that the prize money could go to a broader group of racers. I can’t recall ever seeing fewer cars scheduled to compete in the feature race than in the heat races. Time to watch the racing. When it was time to go racing I grabbed a seat in the top row of the northern grandstand. This grandstand was about 10 rows high. It offered a great view of the action. As you might expect with the hot and dry conditions the track needed watering from time to time. Despite there being only four or five cars in each 10-lap heat race the racing action was very good. The drivers were generally clean and raced hard. The fairgrounds itself was small but well attended. When the sounds of the car engines began to fill the air the crowd filtered in from the midway to the racing grandstand. I had made the commitment. I have been at the track since 7:15 p.m. Tonight the heat racing wrapped up at about 10:35 p.m. At that point I figured I had committed all of the time to this particular promotion that was warranted. I passed on the two rider lawnmower demo. I passed on the demolition derby and the three-car feature(s) circle track race. If I hadn’t been at the fair for such a long time and didn’t have a drive that would get me to my hotel at midnight or later I would have loved to have seen the demolition derby. I enjoy a good DD. AFTER THE RACES It was an hour and 15-minute drive over to Seymour, Indiana. I would be staying the night there. Along the way I would have to get gas for the Budget Rental Car Racing Ford Fusion. Last week in Europe my Mercedes rental car gave me 600 miles of driving before I filled up with still more than a quarter of a tank remaining. Today’s Ford Fusion couldn’t even give me 400 miles on a tank of petrol. I paid $2.57 per gallon of fuel. That was sure is a lot less than the six dollars and more that I paid in the United Kingdom. I have never smoked. I had reserved a hotel in advance for tonight at the EconoLodge in Seymour, Indiana via Priceline.com. Priceline doesn’t off the greatest value in smaller towns. On the drive over to Seymour it dawned on me that I should call the hotel. I needed to confirm my late arrival and make sure they were not going to give me a smoking room. I didn’t call them until past 11 p.m. I knew I should have called sooner. I usually do. When I did call I learned that all they had was a smoking room for me. That wasn’t going to work. Sprayed. When I did show up at the EconoLodge the front desk manager was most apologetic. She told me, with a heavy smoker’s cough, that she had “sprayed” the room. She asked that I check it out to see if it would be acceptable. I did and it wasn’t. She agreed to refund my money. I would first need to call Priceline. Then they would contact the front desk manager at the EconoLodge to confirm the refund. They don’t make it easy to back out. It is not easy to get a cancellation or a refund from Priceline.com. Part of their deal is they offer low prices but absolutely no refunds. This is the second time I’ve had to use the “smoking room” reason for a Priceline.com cancellation. It only works if the hotel agrees to offer the refund. Now I was in Seymour, Indiana at past midnight with no hotel. Fortunately Seymour is located along an interstate highway. There were a lot of budget motels. I soon found a “Knight’s Inn”. They had non-smoking rooms but for $10 more than I had paid at the EconoLodge. The Knight’s Inn is a poor man’s Motel 6. That is not a compliment. Not opulent. I prefer opulent. Nevertheless, I was quickly admitted to a non-smoking room in a single level building. The room was large. It was old. It was not opulent. I prefer opulent when I can get it. However, it was available and I welcomed that. Just before I went to bed I did think to make another Priceline reservation for tomorrow night in St. Louis, Missouri. As good fortune would have it I got the Renaissance Hotel at the St. Louis airport. That is where I stayed last night. From the palace to the poor house and back. I was going from the palace to the poor house and back to the palace on this trip. That’s the way it works sometimes. I am a pretty flexible trackchaser. I can handle the highs and lows of the hobby. Good night from Seymour, Indiana. ON THE WAY TO THE RACES Saturday Sad news. I woke up this morning to learn of the passing of a racing buddy, Jim Brennan. I first met Jim online many years ago when he was a racing writer/ contributor for the Hawkeye Racing News. Jim lived out toward Omaha, Nebraska. He wrote about my trackchasing hobby a time or two in the HRN. Although we never met personally he seemed like a real nice guy. Rest in peace Jim. Always on the go. It is a rare treat to be able to relax in my hotel room until the 11 a.m. checkout time. Quite often I have to be out the door many hours earlier to meet my trackchasing agenda. However this morning I spent a couple of hours fine-tuning past Trackchaser Reports, researching future racing schedules and planning what is hoped to be a trip to trackchase in country number 72. I had stayed overnight in Seymour, Indiana. Seymour is a much bigger town then I expected with lots of traffic. They must have every chain restaurant and hotel known to man. Steak N Shake is a big favorite. I selected a Steak N Shake restaurant for lunch. I grew up eating “Sunday dinner” at Steak N Shake. We didn’t have a lot of financial resources when I was a kid. For us eating at Steak N Shake following church on Sunday was a big deal. Google it. The Steak N Shake menu has grown a great a lot since I was a kid. Back in the day they featured mainly burgers, fries, Cokes and shakes. They also had “Curbies”. Don’t know what a curbie is at a drive-in restaurant? Google it. Today was going to be a robust trackchasing day. This was especially true given that temperatures would reach 95°. Non-traditional. I had an afternoon planned for racing in Indiana. The evening would move me over to my boyhood state of Illinois. Neither of these tracks would offer “traditional” racing. I’ve already visited virtually all traditional oval tracks in the United States. No disrespect intended. That leaves what I call “novelty” racing. Of course, what is a novelty event to one person is a staple for another. Certainly no disrespect meant toward any track or group of racers. Most European fans I have met think oval racing is far too simplistic. They prefer road racing. You would be hard-pressed to find an American racing fan that grew up on dirt ovals being a huge asphalt road racing supporter. THE RACING Lawrence County Recreational Park – Roseville, Indiana More Indiana. More Indiana. I easily found the Lawrence County Recreational Park venue located in rural Roseville, Indiana. I’ve got a push on right now to see more Indiana tracks. Today was my 93rd lifetime track in the Hoosier state. I’m well on my way to seeing 100 lifetime tracks here. I suspect that will happen before the end of 2016. Off-road. There are three general types of racing machines that participate in these off-road events. They include the motorcycles, ATVs and UTVs. I was interested in seeing the UTVs race. That is the only one of the three groups that counts in my trackchasing hobby. The UTVs were scheduled to race at 3 p.m. That was an hour earlier than normal. It worked well with my plan of driving over to Illinois for a race there tonight. I arrived early at just past 2 p.m. I paid my $15 admission fee, which included access to everywhere on the entire grounds of the facility. Today’s course would be 3 miles long. Most of the layout, from what I could tell, was out in the woods. I would have to be careful with my race viewing in the wooded areas. Poison ivy! At the last Midwest Cross Country event I attended I was able to get some great pictures and videos from well out into the wooded area. I didn’t discover a big problem until about five days after that race visit. The woods was ripe with poison ivy! I’ve never had poison ivy in my life. After my trackchasing visit to Rosedale, Indiana I DID have poison ivy. About five days after that race the allergic reaction reached a maximum point. Not to be too graphic but I had huge red bumps and pus seeping out of my body. The itching was relentless. This went on for about five days. I saw my dermatologist. He gave me medicine. It was a pretty strong issue with me for a full week. You won’t see me going out into the woods, especially in shorts, that much anymore! Heat, humidity and dust and lots of all three. Today’s weather was hot and humid. The temperatures were in the low 90s. The entire facility was extremely dusty. With just a passenger car going down one of the entry roads vision could be up obliterated for a block or more by dust. As luck would have it the start of the UTV race was delayed by a bit more than an hour. Luckily I would gain an hour in time zone changes by moving from the eastern time zone to the central time zone for tonight’s racing. I wouldn’t have wanted them to start much later. I’ve now seen four or five tracks with these sanctioning bodies. They are very good at starting all of the competitors in an individual class at the same time. That’s a requirement for this type of racing and all racing by trackchasing rule. It’s all about the start. It seems that the most interesting part of the UTV races at these venues centers around the start. There were more than 100 people who brought their ATVs and golf carts to the starting line to see the race off. As soon as the UTVs took the green flag they disappeared in a cloud of dust. Then the spectators disappeared as well each seeking to go back to their campground or possibly find a place where they could see the racers for just a few seconds as they made their three-mile loop for their one-hour race. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a track with this type of dust. I spent most of my two hours of waiting time in the air-conditioned comfort of the Budget Rental Car Racing Ford Fusion. The dust situation hadn’t bothered me much. However, I’m sure it affected my fuel economy. A most unusual way to see a race. I drove around the grounds trying to get a good view of the UTV race action. However, because of the dust and the fact that the UTV racers went out of sight into the woods there wasn’t really much to see. I did see one racer go around a turn and flip over at the bottom of a hill. This attracted the attention of some spectators who went to help. What they may or may not have realized is that another 25 UTV racers would come flying into this turn in a cloud of choking sight preventing dust. The overturned vehicle sat on its side for five minutes before it was righted. All the while the workers were attempting to dodge the oncoming UTV racers who continued their race unabated. This type of racing is about as far a field as it possibly could be from what I grew up on at the dirt oval of the Peoria Speedway. Trackchasing, if nothing else, provides a variety with what a racing fan is likely to see. Some folks are a bit more flexible in this regard than others. The first. I was the first trackchaser to discover side-by-side/UTV racing. I have also seen more races of this type than anybody else by a wide margin. The way things are going I think I will end up seeing more side-by-side racing than figure 8 racing. Three years ago I never would have predicted that. What does that tell me? It’s most difficult to predict the future. AFTER THE RACES AND ON THE WAY TO THE RACES Can you hear me know? Most of these Indiana racing venues are far out into the country. Cell phone service is spotty. When it was time to leave the track I couldn’t grab a GPS signal. I didn’t really know which way to drive. However, there is one major philosophical idea that I have discovered in life. Not making a decision really IS making a decision. When I came upon the fork in the road I randomly chose one direction. I drove along and waited until I could get a cell signal. I was down the road a few miles before that happened. It didn’t take me long to plug in Belleville, Illinois as my destination for tonight. I was headed to the Bed Rock Raceway. Off I went with the knowledge that I had a track in my back pocket from this afternoon and an hour’s time zone advantage to play with. THE RACING Bedrock Raceway – Belleville, Illinois A return trip to Bedrock. This would not be my first visit to the Bedrock Raceway. I showed up last year. However, on the night I was visiting they only had one racer in the winged outlaw kart class. Since that was the only kart racing that night that meant with trackchasing’s somewhat stringent rules I was not able to count the track. That simply wetted my appetite for a return visit. Tonight was the night for that return visit. Earlier in the week I had communicated with Tobias, the track’s owner and promoter. He told me last week they had six karts racing with the winged outlaw group. That was good news. Was the heat keeping the drivers away? It was a hot day in Belleville, Illinois. In the late afternoon I checked the temperatures with my Weather Underground app. It was 101° in Belleville! That was toasty especially for mid-June. Nevertheless, by the time I arrived at 7:30 p.m. the temperature was a quite comfortable 85° under a setting sun. There was no chance of rain. When I took a quick look into the pit area I noticed there were a few karts with wings. This was going to be a good night. Bedrock Raceway….a cool little place. I found several things appealing to me with the Bedrock Raceway. It’s a perfectly manicured little, minorly banked dirt oval track. I am amazed as I travel the country how nice many of the karting tracks are in the United States. Their racing surfaces are as smooth as a baby’s butt. Tonight, despite the high temperatures, the track was smooth and had no real dust. The grounds had been freshly mown. There is no admission charge at Bedrock for spectators. That’s a pretty good deal. Anytime you can go out and entertain yourself and your family at no charge that’s a pretty good situation. Racers with no spectators. Nevertheless, the crowd was small. Go-kart racing is somewhat like amateur automobile road racing in the United States. It’s a participant sport and not much of a spectator sport. For some unknown reason to me spectators just don’t sit in the grandstands to watch this type of racing. Sadly many of the United States stock car tracks on full size ovals are encountering this situation as well. The Bedrock Raceway has a solid PA system. Tonight their announcer did a good job of informing and entertaining the crowd. It’s not unusual for a small go-kart track to not have a PA system or an announcer that communicates with the spectators. Pick your seat. There are at least four ways for spectators to watch the racing at Bedrock. All of the viewing areas sit beyond turns one and two. Fans can watch from their car. That might be a good idea on a warmer night like tonight. This area is out in the country as well. In Illinois in the summer the country gets bugs. There were some tonight. Additionally there is a nice grandstand that could seat a couple hundred people at the track. Some folks brought lawn chairs. They just relaxed as they watched the races with their favorite beverage. I grabbed a seat in a set of 15-20 permanent baseball park style folding chair seats. I wonder where those came from? I didn’t know for sure what time the racing would begin. I knew that if I arrived at 7:30 p.m. I would still be in time to see some of the racing. As it was the first heat race of the night was pulling onto the track just as I got settled. Four classes but just one of them counted for me. There were four groups of karts racing tonight. The first three classes were for flat karts. I think the announcer may have said that a couple of classes were combined to make one race. The fourth and final group to get on the track was the famous winged outlaw car group. There were four of them. That was enough to make tonight’s visit to the Bedrock Raceway a trackchasing countable event. Going to the top. Since I had talked to Tobias earlier in the week I wanted to let him know I was in attendance and had made it to the Bedrock Raceway. I walked over to the concession stand and gave my card to what turned out to be his wife and daughter. They were most friendly. They told me that tonight was a “quiet night”. They suspected the heat and summer vacation schedules had something to do with that. George Steinbrenner never did this. After the first round of heat races were finished they took a moment to put some water on the track. There would be a mini intermission break of about 15 minutes. During that time Tobias, the track promoter, came out to say hello to me. During the break he also went up and said hello to everyone in attendance, about 30 people. He asked them how they were enjoying the races and thanked them for coming. That was a nice touch. Getting the local history. Tobias sat down next to me. We chatted for a few minutes. He told me the track existed because of a nearby construction project. The entire area had been full of bedrock with about 20 feet of dirt covering the rock. The construction project needed some dirt. The land remaining after this dirt removal was to become the Bedrock Raceway. The excavation left a natural bowl where the track now sits. Tonight’s facility is really a miniature little dirt bullring. They have lots of amenities including concession stands, lights, PA systems, announcers, multiple seating locations and a very friendly admission policy. They are located out of the country but really too far from civilization. 101. It was appropriate that the temperature was 101 degrees when I arrived. Tonight I was seeing at my 101st different track in my native state of Illinois. I stayed to watch two complete sets of heat races. With just four cars in the winged outlaw group there was no need to stay for the feature event. It would be the same guys racing just for a few more laps around the oval. During the first outlaw heat race a gray colored number double zero was leading the event. He seemed to have everything in hand. Then with no other competitors around him he spun out. He was relegated to the back of the pack on the restart. That driver would go on to spin out two more times in his heat race for a total of three spins. Then in the second heat race this same kart spun out FOUR times. In two heat races he had spun out seven times. The second heat race had another car spin out twice. I suspect the race, which I think was scheduled for 10 laps, might have run about 30 laps! On the other hand I don’t think the flat karts drew a yellow flag all night. AFTER THE RACES To be a kid again. I left the track at about 9 p.m., maybe a little bit later. Just as I left the track property I was amazed to see that the lightning bugs had come out. As a kid growing up in Illinois we used to catch lightning bulbs bugs and put them in a jar. Of course we punched holes in the lid of the jar! Tonight I took a short video of the lightning bugs “doing their thing”. I passed it onto the family for everyone’s enjoyment. They loved it. From Belleville it was only about a 40-minute drive over to my hotel by the St. Louis airport. I stopped for fuel to gas up the Budget Rental Car Racing Ford Fusion. Gas was just $2.39 a gallon. Prices are low but not as low as they were this spring. I would be staying overnight in the Renaissance Hotel at the St. Louis airport. This is the same place I stayed on Thursday night of this trip. The power of sponsorship. Let me tell you about my hotel sponsorship at the Renaissance. Tonight I paid $55 plus tax to Priceline for a night’s stay at the hotel. This is an upscale place with lots of rooms. They were charging well over $100 per night to their “normal” guests. On Thursday night their best available rate was $176 for a night’s stay. I paid fifty dollars. Renaissance is a brand within the Marriott hotel empire. I have stayed in my share of Marriott hotels since I started in business at the age of 23. Because of my loyalty to Marriott I have been given lifetime platinum status in their frequent stay program. That gets me a lot when I check into a Marriott owned hotel. Recall I had paid $55 for my stay tonight. Even though I was booking with Priceline.com and getting a fantastic rate the folks at Renaissance still wanted to reward me for my business. First they gave me a couple of bottles of water. Then they gave me an option of a food/beverage credit at the hotel restaurant of $10 or more points in my Marriott frequent stay account. I chose the points simply because there wouldn’t be enough time to use the food/beverage credit before I checked out in the morning. Then they waived the $12 hotel parking charge for me. Next up was complementary Wi-Fi, which is $10 a day for the normal guest. Then the desk clerk gave me a free voucher for the hotel buffet breakfast, a $17 value. I had only paid $55 for my stay. They had just given me the better part of $55 in “free stuff”! I can’t afford to stay in Marriott hotels in today’s world on a retiree’s income. No, I don’t have the big trackchasing budgets of the Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers. Just plain wily. Nevertheless, I am a wily fellow. I’m probably just a little wilier than my trackchasing competition. That is likely to and does manifest itself in my trackchasing results. That’s it from Belleville, Illinois. Good night. ON THE WAY TO THE RACES Sunday Uncertainty ruled. I woke up with a good deal of uncertainty today. I didn’t know if the track I was going to visit was going to count in my totals or not. I didn’t know if I was going to get home to California tonight or if I would end up sleeping in an airport in possibly St. Louis or even Seattle. Comfortable with ambiguity. However I have a skill that benefits me in so many circumstances. I am a “comfortable with ambiguity”. What does that mean? I don’t get too upset when I don’t know what the near-term outcome of my life is going to be. I will tell you this. I have spent a good deal of time planning my “long-term outcome” for my life. Of course no one can account for getting hit by a bus or developing some life-threatening disease. Barring those unusual outcomes I have planned for a secure financial future for myself and my family. Maybe that is what allows me to be comfortable with and have a strong tolerance for ambiguity. I know that the near-term situation could be uncertain but in the long run all will turn out well. The area in and around Springfield, Illinois has several small dirt tracks that race winged outlaw karts. There are a few places in the country like this but this portion of Illinois stands out in that regard. I had seen wind outlaw karts race at Ealyville, Sangcris, HBR raceway and last night Bedrock Raceway. These are locations a little bit off the beaten path for the normal dirt oval racing fan. However, as a trackchaser I find these locations. Contacts are everything. I have some good contacts in what I will call south-central Illinois. One of my contacts got me in touch with a fellow in a speed shop. The speed shop guy got me to the promoter of the former Route 54 Raceway. The track is now called “The Raceway Bar Sports Complex”. I talked with the promoter this morning. He could not guarantee me they would have any winged outlaw karts racing today. He did tell me they had three last week. It was going to be a crapshoot on my three-hour round-trip drive up to New Berlin, Illinois. What choice did I have? I was in the area. I would give it a shot. Getting ready for the trip home. This morning I gathered all of my belongings and packed them up for the return home. I left home on Thursday morning. Nowadays I need to leave California a day early to arrive in time for tracks racing in the Midwest and the East. I am more than willing to do that. One of the things I like when I travel “back east” is that I am allowed to visit several eateries that for the most part do not exist in California. On this trip I ate at the Waffle House, White Castle, Steak N Shake and Wendy’s. This may not be health-food but it sure tastes good. After today’s racing I will return to the Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri. I will try to get home tonight but it won’t be easy. Sunday night travel is one of the more difficult times to fly standby on airplanes. Lots of people are returning home from their weekend vacations. Other people are getting an early start on the workweek. I’ll do what I can to try to get back to San Clemente. THE RACING The Raceway Bar and Sports Complex – New Berlin, Illinois Way ahead of the game. There are always a lot of ups and downs in the hobby of trackchasing. However, I have had so many ups that I would have to have about 1,000 downs or maybe more to think I was having bad luck. At today’s track things looked good, then they looked bad then they looked good again before ending being not so good. Let me tell you the story. Missed it. I missed out on seeing the races at the Route 54 Speedway in New Berlin, Illinois where they been running for the past few years. It turns out that track is now closed and won’t be racing anymore. However a fellow by the name of Tommy Shepard Jr. has built a new track just on the outskirts of new Berlin. This is its first year of operation. It’s a most unique go-kart track. The entire track is heavily banked. I’m going to guess even the straightaways are banked a good 10-12°. I have never seen such a thing in the world of go-kart racing. I pulled into the track at just past noon on a very warm but still late spring day. Temperatures were hovering at about 90. Luckily the humidity wasn’t too bad. Illinois is famous for heat and humidity in the summertime. I have been told by track promoter that warm temperatures really hold down the racer participation. That was true today. They were only about 20 carts in the pit area. Last week there were three winged carts racing at this track. When I walked into the pit area I saw two winged carts in attendance. That lifted my spirits. I soon introduced myself to Tommy Shepherd Jr. the track owner and operator. He had some not so good news for me. One of the karts was in what I would call the “senior” division but the other was a junior kart. Tommy told me they would not be racing together. That meant the track would not count for me today. I enjoy meeting people. I introduced myself to James Rhoades the driver of the adult winged kart. He had come to race today from his hometown of Panama, Illinois. James was a good guy. I told him I enjoyed watching his class of winged karts race but for trackchasing purposes I would not be adding this particular track to my lifetime totals. James didn’t like the sound of that. He was a standup guy. Soon he was taking matters into his own hands. I never ask for special treatment. He walked out into the center of the track’s infield and had a brief meeting with the promoter. When he came back he told me he would be racing with another competitor who had come today in the junior winged the class. It’s a long and complicated explanation but a trackchaser can count a track when the race includes two countable racing machines but only one countable driver. I won’t even go into the details of that. Buckle your seatbelt. O.K. I will. Trackchasing rules allows racing to count when any division is open to drivers 18 years and older. Additionally virtually all winged karts are accountable. This meant that James Rhodes and his race team featured both a countable and a countable kart. That was good news. However the other caged kart driver did not meet the minimum age requirement. He was not racing in a division that was open to people at least 18 years old. In point of fact young “Campbell” was only seven years old. Nevertheless, he was wheeling trackchasing countable winged kart. If one countable driver in a countable racer competes against another countable race machine driven by a non-countable driver the race is considered a competition and can count in lifetime totals. I know this because this is exactly what happened to me at the Auburndale Speedway in Auburndale, Florida. What a way to get #1,000. On that evening I was seeing my 1,000 lifetime track. Carol was with me as well as my stepfather and his wife Betty. Even noted trackchaser Ed Esser had shown up for the occasion. The only winged karts on hand were a father/son combination. Both of their karts were similar. The father’s age met trackchasing’s requirements but the son’s age did not. They enjoyed racing together in a single event. This made the Auburndale Speedway a countable track for me. As far as I can tell this was the only time that circumstance has ever existed in the previous 2,227 tracks where I’ve seen racing. Of course that was until today. I did not ask the promoter to run these two different classes together. I did not ask James Rhodes, the driver in the adult class, to take any action on my behalf. However, I would be less than direct with you, heck it would be downright dishonest if I didn’t tell you they were doing it for my benefit. Of course I am an Illinois native. Maybe that put me on the “inside” today. Nevertheless, I didn’t ask them to run the classes together. They decided that that would be a good idea on their own. I don’t but some do. I never try to influence what goes on at a racetrack for my benefit. That is so different than the way fellow competitors like Guy Smith and Rick Schneider operate. To be clear they are not the only ones. They have actually paid promoters to run “special” events for their benefit. I consider that to be highly unethical. I would never do that but then I look at trackchasing a little differently than some of my fellow competitors. I share this by way of fact. You may disagree with my opinion from time to time but you can’t really disagree with my facts. Today’s racing program would include four or five classes. All but the two above mentioned caged karts were flat karts. The program called for two heat races in each class and then a feature event. James Rhodes, the current point later in the winged car division, elected not to run in this heat race. He was trying to save his engine for the feature event. James is a budget racer. If James had elected to run a heat race with the other caged kart driver the track would have been countable. However that did not turn out to be the case. Nuts. As we waited for the program to move along toward the feature events dark clouds were coming in from the north. In Illinois the weather can change on a dime and almost always does. Having grown up in Illinois I have been burned by the weather more often than I can count. Several of the flat kart drivers were having difficulty navigating the dry slick racetrack. The hot weather had done a number on it. Drivers kept spinning out on nearly every lap. This definitely slowed down the program. In the background the track’s water truck was getting ready to enter the track. That seemed quite ironic as the dark black rain clouds were nearly upon us. A veteran of these geographical locations can be his or her own meteorologist. When the wind starts to blow and the temperature starts to fall rain will not be far behind. That would be the case today. A “pop up” rain shower came in and wiped out today’s event. I had made some nice friends who I am sure I will see again at this racetrack. To show how fickle the weather can be in this area just 10 miles from the track it hadn’t rained a drop. The skies were blue. I had come close to scoring a victory at The Raceway Bar and Sports Complex. I came up just a little short. At least the track canceled in time for me to try to catch a flight back home from St. Louis to Los Angeles. AFTER THE RACES Crazy. When I left the track the temperature had fallen to 72°. A few miles down the road in an area where there had been no rain the temperature was back to 94! Yes, the Midwest can have some of the craziest weather you are likely to see. Today this track moved from a “no countable cars” category to “rainout”. This was my third rain out of the 2016 season. My rainout ratio will continue to increase as time goes by. I simply don’t have as many backup options as I have had in years past. Comforting if nothing else. It is comforting to know that I still have the capability of leaving a rural Midwestern based race track at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and sleeping in my own bed in San Clemente, California that evening. Thank goodness for the miracle of GPS and the advent of jet airplanes. On the positive side I am thankful that it rained to clean up my rental car just a bit. It was a true dust pit at the UTV race in central Indiana yesterday. There were additional “problems” that I encountered which affected the appearance of my budget rental car racing Ford Fusion. What were they? I’m sorry but I’m not at liberty to disclose that information. I will simply tell you this. It wasn’t all that easy getting home. The Budget Rental Car Company and the TSA security folks were not on top of their game. Back to the cool ocean breezes of the Pacific. Nevertheless, I made it home to San Clemente, California and our modest seaside cottage just before the clock reached 10 p.m. Yes, at 2 p.m. I had been standing next to a cornfield as a rainstorm washed out my trackchasing dreams for my lifetime track #2,228. Nevertheless, I am a resilient fellow. I will live to trackchase another day. Carol and I have big trackchasing plans for the next couple of weeks. I hope I get to tell you about them before the snow flies. Stay tuned. Good afternoon from New Berlin, Illinois. Kentucky The Bluegrass state This evening I saw my 41st lifetime track in the Bluegrass state, yes the Bluegrass state. I’m only three tracks from the Kentucky state lead. I’ve seen 41 or more tracks in 16 separate states. Indiana The Hoosier state This afternoon I saw my 93rd lifetime track in the Hoosier state, yes the Hoosier state. I’ve seen 93 or more tracks in 6 separate states. Illinois The Illini state This afternoon I saw my 101st lifetime track in the Illini state, yes the Illini state. I’ve seen 101 or more tracks in 5 separate states. 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 Kentucky sayings: Hot Brown: May seem strange to any outsiders, but this delicious open-faced sandwich is a Kentucky staple. Indiana sayings: Corn hole: What it means everywhere else: A place people are told to “shove it.” What it means in Indiana: The best game to play at a tailgate while you get your buzz on. It consists of tossing bags filled with corn seeds onto two boards in order to score points. What it means everywhere else: A place people are told to “shove it.” What it means in Indiana: The best game to play at a tailgate while you get your buzz on. It consists of tossing bags filled with corn seeds onto two boards in order to score points. Illinois sayings: Illinoisans Are The Only Ones Who Know What Real Cold Weather Is. Complaining about the cold isn’t just small talk here. It’s a passion. And everyone from Illinois will insist they, and only they, know what true cold weather is. QUICK FACTS 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 550 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today. Carroll County Fairgrounds – Carrollton, Kentucky – Circle Track Racing . . Lawrence County Recreational Park – Springville, Indiana – Off Road Racing . . Bedrock Raceway – Belleville, Illinois – Caged Kart Racing Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. You can view the album slide by slide or click on the “slide show” icon for a self-guided tour of today’s trackchasing adventure. Carroll County Fairgrounds – My trackchasing day . . A day of cross-country UTV racing from Springville, Indiana . . Bedrock Raceway…..a darn nice little kart track 
