Brooklin Fair

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

I love these little trips to Canada.

I woke up this morning at home in San Clemente, California. I went to sleep in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. This evening I would trackchase at a small Canadian “spring fair”. This is how things turned out.

 

 

Whitby is a town of about 122,022 residents. It is located in Southern Ontario on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Many of the residents commute to Toronto for work a drive of 30-60 minutes. A large number of people also work at the nearby General Motors Canada production plant. Whitby’s most famous sporting team is the Whitby Dunlops, a celebrated ice hockey squad that captured the world championship in 1958 at Oslo, Norway.

 

 

New flash! I like to travel.

Yes, I like to travel. I always have. I didn’t travel any as a child. I didn’t really begin to travel until I started my business career. One of the biggest benefits of my business travel was that someone else was picking up all of the expenses.

 

How did you get started with racing?

One of the questions I get most often about my trackchasing hobby is “How did you get started with racing?” There is a two-pronged answer to that question.

 

In the beginning.

I lived on a small street in a small town in the Midwest growing up. My street was called “Doering” in the town of East Peoria, Illinois. The entire street was home to about ten houses.

 

 

Somewhat surprisingly three of those ten houses kept stock cars on the premises. What were the odds of that? In all of the surrounding area there were not any race teams. However, on MY street there were three race teams!

 

 

I guess I was “pre-destined” to have a link with racing from that early time. However, I was never mechanical and have zero interest in how racecars worked. I just liked the “looks” of it all and still do. I think that is one of the major reasons I like trackchasing. I like going to a place for the first time and just seeing how things “look”. Of course, I like to do that type of sightseeing all over the world. My curiosity is not just limited to racetracks.

 

 

I did drop out of the racing scene for a time.

There was a period of time during college when I pretty much dropped out of auto racing. However, when I began to travel for business at age 23 I was back in it.

 

I was a “sales guy”.

I was always in the sales department. “Sales” meant travel. I didn’t work an “8-5” job. I was simply responsible for making my sales goal. Making and exceeding the sales goal was the all-encompassing business objective.

 

 

I liked the flexibility of sales. I might work all weekend planning and strategizing. I would quite often work evenings with all of the paperwork and analysis.

 

 

My bosses all lived hours and maybe states away. We would talk on the phone about the business. They might come to work with me a few times each year. My first ever boss was actually pretty laid back towards work. I remember him telling me “You can call me any time during the evening to talk about the business. However, I eat dinner with my family from 6-7 p.m. I won’t be available to talk then.”

 

 

It ain’t done this way anymore.

Times have changed. When was the last time you spent the evening talking to your boss about work? I would routinely spend an hour or two once or twice a week talking to my boss from 7-10 p.m. at night. Then when I changed bosses the work load really ratcheted up for about the next ten years. We were on call 24/7 and I do mean 24/7.

 

I love flexibility.

However, with all of that commitment I had tremendous flexibility. I was calling on buyers who worked for grocery and drug chains. They were all chained to an office. I think they sometimes looked down on the salespeople calling on them.

 

 

However, I think I had the last laugh. I might have a 1 p.m. appointment with them. When I left at 2 p.m. they were stuck in the office for the rest of the day. When I left I might head to the golf course or see a movie! I was only responsible for making my sales goal. I could play golf or go to the movies as much as I wanted. However, when the end of the sales period came I had better have made my sales goal.

 

 

Onward and upward.

This made me a pretty driven individual from about 1972-1985. During that time I was promoted to bigger and bigger sales jobs and then sales management jobs. From 1972-1983 we moved from Peoria, Illinois to Cincinnati to Phoenix to Los Angeles to Connecticut to Chicago and back to Los Angeles.

 

Moving was great….after we left Peoria for the first time. The Peoria area was “home”. No one likes to leave home for good. The first job promotion I was ever offered was to go to Memphis. After much deliberation I turned down that job. My management was not all that wild about the rejection.

 

 

Shortly thereafter, while I was 24 years old, a couple of senior managers took me to lunch. They probably weren’t older than their middle thirties. However, they seemed pretty worldly to me. They had a “heart to heart” talk with me. The message was the next time we offer you a bigger job you should take it. In a few weeks another offer came along…this time to move to Cincinnati. Since Cincinnati was not home, when the next offer came this time to Phoenix, it was easy to go.

 

“Back in the day” really WAS different when it came to work.

Back in the 70s “work” was a little different. For the most part men worked outside the home and most women did not. When I was offered a new job and relocation the decision to take it was normally made “over the weekend”. Then Carol and I would make ONE house-hunting trip. On that trip we would select a neighborhood and a house. We would make an offer and move a couple of weeks later. Carol was seven months pregnant when we moved to Phoenix. In today’s world NO ONE would move in that circumstance.

 

 

There was an excellent reward system for whatever sacrifices we were making.

There was one huge advantage to each of our relocations. Each time I was getting a very nice salary increase. Additionally the company would give us a month’s salary for “moving incidentals”. We always profited on that benefit. I won’t even try to tell you about the “tax gross-up” benefits. The IRS might be reading this!

 

 

The company would pay all expenses of getting out of the old house and into the new house. We didn’t pay a penny. I have always believed in “stretching” when time came to buy the next house. That type of thinking had us buying a home for more than $200,000 all the way back in 1979.

 

 

On that particular move from the greater Los Angeles area to rural Connecticut I would be moving from an outside sales job to the “home office” albeit into a national level sales job.

 

What would you do?

I was told I could keep my current company car, a 1978 Chevy Impala. One of the best benefits ever was having an all expenses paid company car.

 

 

However, with this move I was offered an option of having a “car allowance” where I could spend the money from the car allowance on any type of car I wanted. Lots of people would be quite comfortable knowing they could have a new Chevy all expenses paid. I never thought like that. What if I took their car allowance money and paid for my own car?

 

I always do the math.

I did the math…as I always do. I figured I could buy a brand new 1980 Cadillac Sedan Deville with the car allowance money I was being given. I was only thirty years old. I developed a “contact” that could get me a good deal on a Caddie. I chose the color from a new car brochure “paint chip” while we were still in California.

 

 

When the family moved to Connecticut we were directed to a place down in “Jersey” to pick up our new car. I was looking forward to owning my first ever personal car since joining the company eight years ago. The car had all the bells and whistles that a luxurious Cadillac came with back then. Remember, in 1980, the Lexus brand was only a twinkle in the eye of some Japanese engineer.

 

My Cadillac would come with a maroon exterior and a grey leather interior. That’s why I was so surprised when the guy down in New Jersey pointed over to a fire engine RED Cadillac and said, “There’s your car”. “No” I told him, “My car is maroon.” A little more discussion informed me the “maroon” paint chip was actually “fire engine red” in reality!

 

 

That Cadillac with a diesel engine was one of the worst “pieces of $%#^” I have ever owned in any product category. I went through three diesel engines that were failing all the time. OMG. This experience would put me on a track to begin thinking about leaving domestic cars behind in the rearview mirror…..forever.

 

 

There was one other “funny” thing about my owning a brand new fire engine red Cadillac Sedan Deville. My boss, the national sales manger, drove an older Honda Civic hatchback to work. Here I would come motoring into the company parking lot, at age 30, with this big red Caddie. That may not have been the best “career move” but I did get promoted to an even bigger job out in the field after only 15 months of working in the home office. Maybe my boss wanted to get rid of me and the big red Caddie from around the home office?

 

 

I didn’t leave the domestic car buying world after my awful Cadillac experience. I ended up buying two Lincoln Town Cars after that Cadillac. I really liked those Lincolns. Then I moved into Mercedes, always brand new, until I settled on the Lexus brand. I’ve been a Lexus man since 1999.

 

 

I digress.

But I digress just to give you a little background. My early business career had me traveling about two nights each week on average. In order to have the better paying sales jobs I had to go where the business was.

 

Our company from 1972 through the mid-80s was big on lavish meetings. We went to the biggest and the best resorts for these meetings. I talking about the very best resorts in Bermuda, Florida, Hawaii, Arizona….everywhere in North America.

 

 

I had been exposed to racing in my little lower middle-class neighborhood as a boy. Now a big corporation was paying for me to stay in the best hotels and eat at the very best restaurants any big city could offer.

 

 

Racing and luxury a rather nice combination.

How did I combine my racing interest with all of this first class travel? When our sales meeting ended and everyone headed for home I might “hang around” the area for a day or two.

 

 

Usually our sales meeting would end on a Thursday or Friday. That was perfect. I would simply visit the nearest racetrack for a look-see. This wasn’t always a new track but it was an “expense free” way to go back to the best racing in America after someone else had paid for my airfare and most other expenses.

 

 

Getting more for less with the help of others has been my mantra.

During retirement I’ve had all kinds of “sponsorship” help to keep my expenses somewhat low. Here’s how I look at that.

 

 

If I spend $1,000 on a trackchasing trip any of my fellow competitors would have to spend $3,000 to get what I get. However, they aren’t going to spend that kind of money because they wouldn’t think the trip was worth that kind of money. They are certainly right about that.

 

 

However, these folks can’t get $3,000 worth of “stuff” for the thousand dollars I pay. That means they don’t get to do the kinds of trips I do. I’ve told you many times that trackchasing is all about “counting”. As long as my fellow competitors won’t pay $3,000 for a trip and can’t get the trip for $1,000 they will lag behind. There’s nothing wrong with that. Much of the world is ruled by economics.

 

So this is how I came to become a trackchaser.

What you have just read is a long way of telling you how my interest in trackchasing began and is maintained. As a small boy I was closely exposed to racing. Then, a businessman, my hard work was well-rewarded. Part of those rewards was the ability to travel the continent. Those travel opportunities kept me in contact with racing all over the U.S.A. and Canada. Now you know the rest of the story.

 

 

Other people’s stories are the best.

I love hearing the stories that other people tell. I sometimes wonder what their background was that got them to the place they are. You’ve heard my story. How about these people?

 

Toronto? Canada right?

I called the Motel 6 reservation line. I wanted to make a reservation in Toronto. The woman replied, “Toronto? Is that in Canada?” I wondered what this woman’s background was like. What kind of grade did she get in North American geography?

 

 

Then on the plane I sat next to an airline pilot. You may know that when airlines hit bad times they layoff some pilots. Who gets laid off? It’s all done by seniority. The people on the bottom of the list get “furloughed” first.

 

 

The pilot I sat next too had been furloughed for the past THIRTEEN years. He started with TWA. They got bought out by American Airlines. Then “9/11” happened. No one was flying and the airlines had to lay off thousands of pilots. My friend was happy to be getting back to American Airlines after bouncing from one lower level flying job to the next. I wondered what his life had been like over the past 13 years with such unstable employment.

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

Brooklin Fairgrounds – Whitby, Ontario, Canada

 

 

My plans are NOT set in stone.

Just last week I had ZERO idea about coming to Canada this week. However, my plans are rarely set in stone. I find some of my very best trips happen on a moment’s notice.

 

For my eyes only.

I keep a very detailed and complex list of tracks I have not visited. I can sort this list , “any which way to Sunday” as was frequently said in my house as I grew up.

 

 

Of course, the list is proprietary. I’ll share dates with my friends when they need them. However, my overall list is not for sharing. Coca-Cola doesn’t share the formula to their soft drink do they?

 

 

Widows and orphans.

I don’t like to look at “lone” racing dates that stick out by themselves on a week day night. The “Brooklin Fair” Canadian figure 8 date had been shouting “THURSDAY” at me for years. It was time to stop that.

 

 

I would be heading to Toronto and the nearby suburb of Whitby for some Canadian Thrill Show Productions “demolition derby”. Of course a TSP show often includes figure 8 racing as it did tonight. I’ve seen many many Thrill Show Production events over the years. They always do a good job.

 

Walt Williams….what an interesting guy.

Tonight I met Walt Williams formally for the first time. Walt is one of the founders of Thrill Show Productions. Walt and his brother Bill started everything some 50 years ago. That’s right. The year 2015 is their 50^th anniversary. Here’s the background on this most unusual entertainment history courtesy of their website at http://www.thrillshowproductions.com/our-history/.

 

 

Our History

A company with a proud history, rooted in family values, committed to producing the best in entertainment, Thrill Show Productions Inc. is truly a Canadian treasure.

 

 

Walter Williams & his brother, the late Bill Williams are Canada’s original motor sports entertainers, however for them entertaining people began long before they climbed into a vehicle!

 

 

In their early years, Walter and Bill played the violin, accordion, and piano. They added to their talents with gymnastic tumbling and acrobatic roller skating. Not merely content to ‘perform’ in front of each other, the twin brothers decided they would rather ‘thrill’ larger audiences. What better way to ‘thrill’ audiences than to perform on a trampoline…balanced on a single pole…50 feet in the air! This renowned, one-of-a-kind act became known as ‘The Magic Carpet’. Soon after perfecting this act, their touring life began opening for the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. This act would find them performing in the finest circuses and shows the world has ever seen. For Walter & Bill Williams this would be the beginning of a lifetime dedicated to entertaining.

 

 

 

Walter and Bill joined Jack Kochman’s “New York World’s Fair Hell Drivers”, performing over 3,000 times during 1964-65! It was here that they perfected their superior auto stunt-work that we continue to see today in commercials, television and movies. This was also the beginning of what would become the premier motor sports entertainment company in Canada, Thrill Show Productions Inc..

 

 

By late 1965 Walter & Bill Williams had gained enough experience and expertise in the business of auto thrills, to create their own show, the “Trans Canada Hell Drivers”. To this day, it is those standards, set in that original production that all other North American auto stunt shows are measured by. Walter put his talents on display with ramp-to-ramp leaps, reverse spins and precision driving while Bill thrilled audiences with his Canadian Championship style high skiis. Out of this show a legendary Canadian entertainment character was born, “Happy the Clown”. “Happy”, played by the late Bill Williams, brought live clowning entertainment to new heights with his crazy antics, perfect slapstick timing and of course “Happy’s Clown Car”.

 

 

As the sixties progressed and their reputation of ‘safety-first’ grew, the twins were contracted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to assist in the Ministry’s campaign to pass the first seatbelt legislation. Walter & Bill appeared in public service ads demonstrating life-like crashes to prove, “Seatbelts DO Save Lives”.

 

 

Within a few short years, Walter & Bill had become the respected and renowned experts in their field. Known for their skill, professionalism and dedication to safety, the Williams’ twins would now be called on by Hollywood producers. Motion Picture and Television appearances for the Williams’ twins included the Police Academy movies, Perry Mason, Knight Rider, and Thrill of a Lifetime. Commercials for Ford, Dodge and Chrysler also featured the Williams’ twins driving skills and would be seen around the world.

 

 

In the 1980’s, Canada’s #1 Stunt Team produced a series of very successful Automobile Stunt Shows that toured Canada, the United States, Panama, Mexico, and Australia. If you were at a fair or exhibition anywhere in North America during this time, you very likely saw one of these Thrill Show Production events; ‘Molson Motorsport Stunt Show’, the ‘Toyota Sport Stunt Team Show’ and the ‘Hollywood Stunt Show’.

 

 

 

 

In 1991 Walter and Bill Williams were honoured with the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibition’s. “Industry Achievement Citation” recognizing their work entertaining audiences across Canada.

 

 

Thrill Show Productions Inc. continues to bring the best in motorsports entertainment to thousands of fans every year. Symbolizing best the reputation of Canada’s #1 Demolition Derby as the most successful demolition derby producer in Canada is the ‘WILLIAMS CUP Demolition Derby Championship’. Held annually during Thanksgiving Weekend at the Norfolk County Fair in Simcoe, Ontario, this event, the largest in the nation, attracts over 10,000 fans to watch the best drivers battle for more than $20,000 in cash & prizes!

 

 

 

 

Canada’s #1 Demolition Derby dates back to 1969 when the Williams’ brothers held their first organized/sanctioned demolition derby event in Caledonia, Ontario. Since then Thrill Show Productions, Canada’s #1 Demolition Derby has produced over 2000 derbies for more than 4 million fans awarding in excess of $2.5 million dollars in cash & prizes.

 

 

Today the Williams’ family legacy continues to build. Always an industry leader, never content to just ‘perform’, Thrill Show Productions Inc. is ‘thrilling’ audiences by producing Free-style Acrobatic Motocross and Monster Truck events in addition to Canada’s #1 Demolition Derby.

 

 

For 50 years Thrill Show Productions Inc. has been dedicated to the craft of entertaining. Today, under the direction of Willie & Sherry Williams and Chris & Jen Skinner, Thrill Show Productions continues to be inspired by the original passion found within twin brothers who took a ‘Magic Carpet’ ride to the top of the Canadian entertainment industry. It is that inspiration that ensures Thrill Show Productions Inc. will continue to be Canada’s Premier Entertainment Creators for generations to come.

 

Now that is an impressive resume isn’t it!

Wow! What an impressive entertainment history. Who knew.

 

 

Almost always just in time.

Tonight’s figure 8 event would take place at the Brooklin Spring Fair. I arrived just in time for the driver’s meeting. There were ten figure 8 racers competing. Several more cars were here for the demolition derby portion of the fair.

 

Chris Skinner was running the program tonight. He told the drivers that each heat winner would get $100 Canadian. The feature winner would take home $350. Compared to “traditional” low-dollar stock car racing programs those are very good payouts.  TSP always has a best-looking car award.  Tonight’s winner (pictured above) took home $25 Canadian.

 

Each of the two heats would have five figure 8 cars racing for 15 laps. The winner of each heat would move into the feature event. The second and third place finishing drivers in the heats transferred to a consolation event. Heat race finishers in 4^th and 5^th put their car on the trailer and were done for the night. The winner of the consolation race advanced to the feature.

 

 

The feature plan.

The plan was to have three cars in the feature. I would have liked to have seen more. Then when one of those cars couldn’t get started for the feature the green flag fell on just two feature competitors for 15 laps. With ten cars in attendance a two-car feature race wasn’t all that exciting.

 

 

Nevertheless, I had racked up track #2,096 tonight. I wouldn’t have to look at a “lone” Thursday night race day jumping off my “race dates” page anymore.

 

Thanks for the mention.

To top the night off I received a nice trackchaser mention from the announcer. The folks at TSP have always treated me well.

 

This was the real highlight of my trip to Canada.

The highlight of the evening was spending some time talking with 82-year old Walter Williams. I could probably spend hours talking to him. I suspect he has had one of the most interesting lives of anyone I have ever met. To this day Walter still “works in the show”. Well done Walter!

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

Now for tomorrow’s change of plans.

When the final checkered flag flew I headed back to my Motel 6 in the Toronto suburb of Brampton. My hope was to standby for a flight from Toronto to Boston. However, the “load factors” did not look good. I could have chanced it but if I failed I wouldn’t get to any race tomorrow night in time to see the racing.

 

 

I did have a way to GUARANTEE seeing a race tomorrow night (Friday). I could drive. Yep. I could rent a car in Toronto and drop it off in Boston three days later.

 

I couldn’t believe my good fortune with this new plan.

I made a couple of calls. My original rental car reservation called for me to pick up a car in Boston and return it to the same location in three days. Cost? $180 USD.

 

 

You can imagine my amazement when I made an after midnight phone call to the National Car Rental Company. They would rent me a car in Toronto to be returned to Boston in three days for just $150 USD. I couldn’t believe my good fortune with this one-way rental.

 

 

Now I didn’t need to get up at 4:30 a.m. to try to catch a flight. I could sleep in until about 9 a.m. and simply drive out to the airport, exchange rental car contracts and then head across the border into New York.

 

 

The logistics just doesn’t work well with this idea.

Earlier I had invited trackchaser Paul Weisel to join me for the U.S. portion of this trip. Luckily, for both of us, Paul had other plans. Why was that lucky? When I changed from flying into Boston to renting a car in Toronto my New York trackchasing plan changed. Had Paul joined me on the original plan he could have seen five new tracks.

 

 

It borders on impossible for me to set up plans to meet other trackchasers along the trail. Why? My plans are just to “fluid”. Honestly, I prefer NOT meeting others on a pre-arranged basis. Once I make a commitment to someone about anything I will do everything within my power to stand behind that commitment. However, it’s not a very good idea to make personal commitments when my travel plans are so fragile…as they almost always are.

 

 

 

Ontario

 

 

The Heartland Province

Tonight I was seeing my 59^th track in the Canadian province of Ontario. I sometimes get this question, “Has anybody seen more tracks in Canada than you?” I suspect I have traveled into Ontario well over 40 separate times to make that happen. Ontario is an easy place to navigate.

 

 

 

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

Ontario sayings: Jam-buster (a jelly-filled donut)

 

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Toronto, Canada (YYZ) – 2,174 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Toronto Pearson International Airport – trip begins

Whitby, Ontario

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Brooklin Far – No charge

 

 

 

 

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,096

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 70

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.88

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day: 

 

Figure 8 racing from up Canada way