Greetings from Taylorville, Illinois
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Christian County Fairgrounds
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #2,130
THE EVENT Today’s 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. I’ll try my best to respond. Thanks! ON THE WAY TO THE RACES My mother and sister Becky – circa 1955. I’m an Illinois boy. As many of you know I am originally from Illinois. I lived in Illinois from birth until I was 23 years of age. Then from 1980-83 we moved back to the greater Chicagoland area on a corporate transfer. We have now lived in California since 1983. The #1 ranking in Illinois has eluded me. I have long wanted to be the number one ranked trackchaser in my native state. However for most of my trackchasing career I’ve lived about 1,800 flight miles from Illinois. That didn’t make reaching that goal any easier. As luck would have it noted trackchaser Ed Esser from Madison, Wisconsin went racing all over Illinois. When Ed passed away he had seen racing at 99 different tracks in my boyhood state. This morning 94; this evening 95. Coming into today’s event I have seen racing at 94 Illinois tracks. I would love to reach the top of the ladder in my home state but there just aren’t very many racetracks left for me to see here. The Randy Lewis Racing research department to the rescue. However last year (2014) the Randy Lewis Racing research department came up with a special race to be staged in Illinois. After more than 20 years of no activity the Christian County Fairgrounds was holding some midweek stock-car racing at their county fair. Most county fair racing activity occurs on just one day of the year. That certainly adds to the logistical issues of putting a trackchasing trip together. I almost never venture outside of California or a bordering state for just one track. I need two and preferably three or more tracks to make it worthwhile to step outside the Golden state. I figure if I can see three tracks in one weekend and my fellow competitors see one track over each of THREE weekends I can spend two more weekends at home than they do AND see the same number of tracks. That has been my strategy for years. Taylorville, Illinois would fit into my overall logistical plan…but not without some effort. I was most pleased to be able to incorporate this year’s Christian County racing into my overall plan titled the “Long and Arduous Mega Trackchasing Summer Tour of 2015”. It was a especially nice that the weather was going to cooperate. I would have blue skies and temperatures in the 70s for tonight’s racing. It wasn’t going to be exactly a slam dunk to get over to Taylorville, Illinois for this race. Last night I trackchased and Hemlock, New York. It was going to be a cool 786-mile one-way drive from the track in New York to this evening’s track in Illinois. Don’t worry; I am a professional. However this was not a major problem. I had a full 24 hours to cover the 786 miles. I’m not like some trackchasers. I don’t have to hire a driver to chauffer me from one track to the next. I do all of my own driving. After last night’s racing in New York I made it all the way to Ohio before bedding down in an interstate rest area for the night. I thought I might sleep an hour and drive a little bit and continue that pattern until I made it to Illinois. However once I was in the rest area I figured I would just get a good five hours of sleep. Then for the rest of the trip I would nap when needed. This morning I left the rest area at 6:30 a.m. I was so busy with texting and phone calls to confirm future race days that I didn’t even have time to turn on the satellite radio in my car until 10 a.m.! It wasn’t long after that I stopped for a leisurely breakfast at the Waffle House. THE RACING Christian County Fairgrounds – Taylorville, Illinois Illinois tracks are special to me. Tonight’s track visit to the Christian County Fairgrounds was going to be special. I would be seeing my 95th lifetime track in Illinois. This moved me one step closer to Ed Esser’s leading state total of 99 tracks. I was also getting closer to seeing 100 tracks within my boyhood state. The Christian County Fairgrounds holds stock car races only one time each year. One of the logistical challenges in my trackchasing hobby is molding these “once a year” dates into a workable travel plan. I arrived a few minutes before racing was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. I almost always arrive early. Parking was free. There was no admission to the fair. I had a choice between a $10 reserved grandstand seat or an eight dollar general admission ticket. I chose the eight dollar option because I could sit on the left side of the grandstands closer toward turn one of tonight’s dirt oval track. This would put the sun to my side and allow me to take better photographs. In reality the sun sat roughly between turns one and two later in the evening. When free is not free. Tonight I had paid eight dollars in total for parking, fair admission and admission to the stock car races. A couple of nights ago I was at the Ionia “Free” Fair and ended up paying $20 for those three products and services. Go figure. Christian County has a modern covered grandstand. A covered grandstand will normally amplify the noise from the racecars a great deal. Earlier in the trip I had purchased four sets of earplugs. Tonight I bemoaned the fact that I left those earplugs on the floor in the front seat of my rental car. I was too lazy to go out to the parking lot and retrieve them. They don’t do it like they used too very often. The announcer, an older gentleman, did a very good job of informing and entertaining crowd. He seemed to be a descendent from the “old line” group of track announcers that you don’t hear very often anymore. However the PA system’s volume was cranked up a bit loud for the covered grandstand. Promoters are you listening? There would be three classes of stock car racing tonight consisting of sportsman, street stocks and the hornet division. There were no time trials only hot laps. I liked that plan. I am not a fan of time trialing. All of the hot laps aka practice were completed before the 7 p.m. starting time. There were 11-16 cars in each of the three classes. Each class ran two heat races and a feature event. There were a number of yellow flags in all of the races tonight. The drivers were hard on the gas and took no prisoners. Duh! The heat races offered some of the best racing of the night. I suspect the drivers in the heat races had drawn for their positions. This meant some of the faster cars were starting in the mid or back of the pack. The feature racing was much less competitive. Why? They started the heat race winners at the front of the field. I believe each of the feature winners came from the front row. There was little passing throughout the feature races. Flu bug. The entire show was wrapped up by 9:15 p.m. I didn’t spend any time in the animal barns and only looked at the carnival midway from a distance. I was in the midst of a “flu bug” that probably came on from lack of quality sleep. Driving through the night and sleeping in rest areas will do that to you. Tonight I simply wanted to get in my car and get to my hotel as soon as possible. AFTER THE RACES 36 hours = 1,300 miles of driving. I arrived at my hotel at about 11 p.m. In the past 36 hours I have driven around 1,300 miles. Last evening I had slept interstate rest area. I was ready for a nice hotel bed and a full eight hours of sleep. Sometimes you are the bat and sometimes you are the ball. Tonight I was the ball. However what you want and what you get at times are not the same. I was going to have a problem with my hotel tonight. I have stayed in more than 5,000 hotel rooms in my lifetime. Once in a while I run into a problem. Although that was the case tonight things worked out pretty well in the end. I’ll tell you all about it in tomorrow’s report after I get a good night’s sleep Good night. Illinois The Illini state This evening I saw my 95th lifetime track in the Illini state, yes the Illini state. I’m just four tracks from tying Ed Esser for the Illinois trackchasing lead. I’ve seen 95 or more tracks in four 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 Illinois sayings: Yes, I’m from Illinois. No, I’m not from Chicago. QUICK FACTS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 1,745 miles RENTAL CAR #1 O’Hare International Airport – trip begins London, KY Indianapolis International Airport – trip ends – 766 miles RENTAL CAR #2 Indianapolis International Airport – trip begins Bedford, KY Indianapolis International Airport – trip ends – 603 miles RENTAL CAR #3 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip begins Aitken, MN Morten, Manitoba, Canada LaGrange, IN Manchester, IA Oskaloosa, IA Bowling Green, IN Buncombe, IL Ionia, MI Osgood, IN Hemlock, NY Taylorville, IL TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Laurel County Fairgrounds – $10 (not a trackchasing expense) Trimble County Recreational Facility – $10 Aitken County Fairgrounds (oval) – complimentary admission Aitken County Fairgrounds (RC) – $8 ALH Motor Speedway – complimentary admission LaGrange County Fairgrounds – $10 Delaware County Fairgrounds – $10 Mahaska County Fairgrounds – $5 Sandstone – $15 (include pits) HBR Raceway – $10 (included pits) Ionia Free Fair – $13 Ripley County Fairgrounds – complimentary admission Hemlock County Fairgrounds – complimentary admission Christian County Fairgrounds – $8 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. 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 one-minute “Video Lite” production from the Christian County Fairgrounds. Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. Double click on a photo to begin the slide show or watch the photos at your own pace. Hover over a photo to read the caption. Today’s photo album on the way to Taylorville, Illinois and the Christian County Fairgrounds 
