Decatur County Fairgrounds – temporary oval

 

 

How does he pay for all of this?…………….more in “Randy Lewis Racing Special Report”.

 

One of the most fun parts of the day……………..more in “The Experience”

 

How to find out what your friends think about sensitive subjects…………..details in “The Experience”.

 

We have trackchasing’s “Founding Fathers” to thank for novelty racing………..details in “Race Review”.

 

 

 

 

RLR – RANDY LEWIS RACING SPECIAL REPORT

My special reports are meant to be “critical thinking” pieces on the state of trackchasing and stuff indirectly related to trackchasing.  Sometimes the reports are just “news” items.  Often times the “trackchasing hierarchy” will consider them controversial.  At other times they are just good ways to think about the right things.  Remember the best way to learn about new things….is to listen.

Sometimes my special reports will be major “news flashes” about the direction I am going with trackchasing.  I will always try to stay ahead of the curve as I continue to pursue more and more tracks.  Regardless of where you stand on the trackchasing “political fence” everything is meant to stimulate thought about what can, should and frequently will be done in this hobby or with subjects that relate to the hobby.  I hope you enjoy the commentary.

 

 

I GET THIS QUESTION A LOT.

As I travel the world I often get the same questions about my trackchasing hobby.  One of the most frequent queries is “How do you pay for this?”.  The question is often asked in different ways but I know what people want to know.

 

 

How do I routinely travel nearly 250,000 each and every year and pay for it all?  Of course, frequent readers know that I am a “retired pensioner living on a small fixed income” or something like that.  Whenever you don’t know the answer to a question if you “follow the money” you will likely know the answer to your question pretty quickly.

 

 

I AM NOT A “PACK” TRAVELLER.

Of course my fellow competitors have long ago formed “packs”.  They travel together to save costs.  They might not really like each other but they have a “business relationship” with the other.  You will almost never see them travel by themselves.  Their “trackchasing business model” requires that they take along a business partner.

 

 

My trackchasing model is exactly the opposite.  Some of that is by design; some by necessity.  I am the only leading trackchaser living west of the Mississippi.  It is virtually impossible for anyone to keep up with my travel schedule based upon location and expense.  My travel schedule is also the most “fluid” of anyone who has ever attempted what I do.  I may be headed in one direction at one point and a minute later headed a thousand miles in a different direction based upon a better opportunity, an improving weather forecast of whatever.  Folks, that’s just the way it is.

 

 

I CAN’T AFFORD TO WASTE MONEY.

However, I do try to spend my money wisely when I travel.  I’m not sure exactly why I do it that way.  It’s probably because I grew up poor in the Midwest.  Whatever, spending money judiciously is a good mental challenge.

 

 

Over time, I have seen some pretty big penny pensioners in my life.  I don’t want to be like them.  They are cheap with themselves, their friends and their family.  If anyone have been around me they know I am much more likely to pick up a check than not.

 

I love the saying, “The cheap man pays the most.”  Carol says that people who are stingy with their money also pay more (in many ways) in the end.

 

 

I often say, “I don’t like to buy cheap things cheap, I want to buy good things cheap”.  This is a very important tenant of my financial plan.  Life is too short to be cheap.  Yes, a junker will get you from point A to point B about as fast as a brand new Lexus.  However, I want to get there in comfort and style.  I’ll always be on the look out for opportunities to buy “good things cheap”.

 

 

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

In my hobby of trackchasing I have seven major expense categories.  Those are airfare, airport parking, hotels, rental cars, gasoline, food and race tickets.  You might imagine how expensive even a single day on the road with all of those expenses can be.

 

 

This particular trip to the Midwest will cover eight days and seven nights if all goes well.  Track with me for a moment on how each of the seven “expense categories” is handled.  However, please do me one favor in advance.  Calculate in your mind, before you read any further, what eight days on the road would cost with all of the above expenses and flights from Los Angeles to New York to Cincinnati to Chicago to Omaha to Minneapolis to Indianapolis to Cleveland and back to Los Angeles.  Throw in a couple of one-way car rentals just to mix up the pot.  When you have a “grand total” write it down and see how close you might come to what I actually spend by just keeping an eye on deals.

 

 

AIRFARE

Since late in the 2006 season I have had a great airline sponsorship.  Our son J.J. is a commercial airline pilot.  As his parents Carol and I can fly just about anywhere we want for little or no cost.  Who wouldn’t want a deal like that?

 

 

However, as Carol reminds me (advice from her infamous father), “There is nothing free but a kick in the butt!”  Every flight we take with this program is on a “standby basis”.  That means that if there is an unsold seat, and some other airline employee/dependent doesn’t have a better seniority/priority position we will get on that flight.  Would you like to be waiting in the Washington D.C. airport on the last flight of the night knowing that if you don’t get on it’s 11 p.m. and there are no more flights?  I’ve been there done that.  On this trip I flew all over the country, covering eight different airports just to see a series of county fair figure 8 races.

 

 

AIRPORT PARKING

We live 65 miles from the Los Angeles International Airport.  Every trip I take requires a 130-mile round-trip drive.  I take about 35-40 trips every year.  Airport parking at LAX cost some $13-17 per day.

 

 

Long ago I discovered that sponsorship of my trackchasing program was key.  I made a deal with the Los Angeles World Parking group on airport parking.  I’ll be gone eight days on this trip.  My airport parking is fully covered under my sponsorship agreement.

 

 

RENTAL CARS

My fellow competitors rarely rent a car.  I rarely drive my own car to a racetrack.  You see I live at the intersection of California, Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.  Folks, there aren’t many racetracks near that intersection.

 

 

Long ago I discovered that I could use “one-way” auto rentals as a trackchasing strategic advantage.  What is that?  On this trip I picked up a car in Omaha and dropped it in Minneapolis.  Give any U.S. based rental car company a call and ask them what they charge to do that or something similar.  You’re likely to get a daily rate of some $100-200.  What did my sponsor, National Rental Car, charge me for the above rental?  How does eight bucks sound?  Yes, I couldn’t do it without my trackchasing sponsorships.

 

 

Later in the trip I had a three-day rental car reservation in Chicago.  Chicago, along with New York, at two of the most expensive cities in the U.S. to rent cars.  My Chicago reservation was going to cost me $190 for three days.  I didn’t like the sound of that.  I decided I could simply fly onto Indianapolis, bypassing Chicago, and rent a car from there.  Three days of car rental in Indianapolis would only be $120 U.S.  Some quick thinking saved me seventy dollars.

 

 

However, when I landed in Indianapolis, I got to thinking.  Why not check out Priceline.com.  Maybe they could beat even the $120 rental car rate for three days.  By the way I always rent full-sized cars or better when I travel (except to Europe where a mini IS a full-sized car!).  This supports my theory of buying good stuff cheap not cheap stuff cheap.

 

 

However, I would need to beat my $120 reservation by a good deal to make it worth the effort to switch away from National Rental Car Company, a long-time supporter and great customer service company.  I established a goal of saving a minimum of fifty dollars.

 

 

To do that I bid just $12 per day for three days of a full-sized car.  Priceline.com gave me the car for that price!  With taxes the total was just $65 for three days rental of a full-sized car.  Remember I started out with a reservation for the three days totaling $190 U.S.

 

 

HOTELS

I stay overnight in a hotel about 150 nights per year.  This year I’m going to top that amount.  Nowadays only about half or a little more of my stays are attributed to trackchasing.  With the price of hotels you can drop a bundle with this expense category if you use hotels for 150 nights.

 

 

Night #1 of this trip was spent on an overnight flight.  There are two benefits to taking the “red-eye”.  First, you don’t need a hotel for the evening!  Secondly, you can spend the day in Los Angeles and then spend the next full day in New York if you want.  Of course, you will likely see New York through some rather bleary eyes.

 

 

Night #2 was spent sleeping in my rental car.  This is the pure let’s “buy cheap stuff cheap” scenario.  Although I do this a few times each year it is not part of my normal plan.  However when my “layover” is less than six hours I will go for the car.

 

 

On this trip I arrived back into the greater Cincinnati area at about midnight.  My flight the next morning was leaving at 5:30 a.m.  There just wasn’t enough time to make getting a hotel worthwhile.  If you were arriving at midnight and had to be at the airport by 4:30 a.m. for a 5:30 a.m. flight would you get a hotel?  One more night on this trip fell into my “less than six hours of layover” category.  What did I do?  I slept in the back of my SUV.

 

 

Another portion of the trip had me staying overnight in Indianapolis for three straight nights.  I noticed that a Motel 6 was selling for $45 per night plus tax.  Motel 6 is my “default” hotel.  I try to get something better than a Motel 6 for equal to or maybe a little more than what a Motel 6 rents for.

 

 

I often use Priceline.com.  With them I “bid” for my hotel rooms.  I can select the geographical area (north Indy, south Indy, etc.) but I won’t know what hotel I will get until after the deal is done.  I can specify what class of hotel I want as well (1-5 stars).

 

 

I always use www.biddingfortravel.com to find out what other travelers have successfully bid with Priceline on hotels in the city where I will be traveling.  You really need a starting point when you want to bid on Priceline for a 4-star hotel in one city or another.  “Biddingfortravel” provides that starting point.

 

 

I discovered that others had recently been getting a 2.5 star hotel near the Indianapolis airport for $35 plus taxes.  I don’t normally accept 2.5 star hotels but that was a great price.  Folks who made that bid were getting the Ramada Inn.  I checked the Ramada’s website.  Their least expensive room was $89 per night or $311 with all taxes for the three nights I would need a room.

 

 

Priceline.com came through for me.  They gave me three nights at the Ramada for just $144, about a $175 savings from Ramada’s best price.  To top it off free breakfast was included with the hotel.

 

 

GASOLINE

Despite being known as a “flying trackchaser” I drive long distances to the tracks as well.  I will rent about 50 cars each year.  I’ll drive anywhere from 20,000-30,000 miles every year.  That’s 2-3 times the miles I put on my personal car.

 

 

By the way, even if the tracks I visit were much closer to me than they are I would still rent cars rather than wear out my own.  My fellow competitors seem to have no real idea of the “hidden” expenses associated with using their own cars to trackchase.  I’m talking about depreciation mainly.  Additionally the maintenance expense increase is a strong deterrent to the financially astute trackchaser.

 

 

I have never had much luck securing a gasoline sponsorship.  However, if any of my readers want to jump in and help I’ve got room for you in my sponsorship portfolio!

 

 

On this trip an offer from the rental car company made sense.  They would sell me a full tank of gas (19 gallons) in advance for just $3.20 per gallon.  The going rate in Indianapolis as this was written was $3.70 per gallon.  Normally this type of offer is a rip-off.  However, I would be using a full tank of fuel for this trip.  The gas savings would be about ten dollars.  That’s not much but it might buy me lunch.

 

 

FOOD

I love to eat “comfort” foods.  As long as my blood pressure, cholesterol and everything else looks great I might as while indulge in my food pleasures.  I don’t really have any sponsorship advantages on my trackchasing trips in this category.  However when I’m home Carol and I eat out 3-4 times per week.  We are as likely or not to be using a “2 for 1” coupon somewhere.

 

 

RACE TICKETS

Tickets to the races are the least expensive of any of the seven major trackchasing cost categories.  I do save money with tickets in two different ways.  First, I’m “experienced” enough to garner senior discounts of 10-20% at times.

 

 

Often times I will contact the promoter in advance about his/her racing event.  I’ll need to know start times, types of tracks being used, etc. etc.  During the course of the conversation my background as a trackchaser will often come up.  When it does the smart promoter may want to “tie-in” with the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”.  This could come in the form of at the track interviews over the P.A., preferred seating and even free tickets.  I can’t recall ever asking to get a free ticket in the nearly 1,900 tracks I have visited.  However, if a complimentary admission is offered I will accept.  My grandma taught me to be polite and accept any gift that was bestowed on me.  It was the gentlemen thing to do I was told.

 

 

SUMMARY

Take a look at the number you wrote down regarding the total expense you thought I might have incurred for this trip.  Think about what it would have cost if someone were paying “market value” for the eight days and seven nights.

 

 

Now compare those numbers with what you think I might actually have spent with the information I have shared.  I can’t tell you EXACTLY what all this stuff costs.  The IRS might be listening in right?

 

 

Despite my “buying things right” my trackchasing expenses do add up.  I have sponsorship that helps out a good deal.  However, I don’t have a gasoline sponsor or a dental sponsor!  Maybe folks reading this can help out there.

 

 

Just when I was thinking good things about all the money I had “saved” on this trip I made a call home to Carol one evening.  She had bad news and worse news.  Which did I want first?  The bad news was that she had hit her head while retrieving something from inside her car.  The blow was strong enough to draw blood.  Don’t worry she’s O.K. now.

 

 

The “worse” news was that the freezer was blowing up and we would need a new one.  She was undecided between the mid-sized model and the bigger one.  What did I tell here?  “Don’t buy cheap stuff cheap buy good stuff cheap”.  That meant get the bigger model.  Usually bigger is better especially if she needs to store frozen pizza for me!

 

One day at a time.

My trackchasing plan is simple.  I’m out here in the Midwest to see county fair racing.  County fairs mostly race just one day per year.  It’s a fun challenge to figure out when that day is and tie it in geographically with other county fairs on their “single day” of racing.

 

 

I get to sleep in tomorrow!

I woke up this morning in the back of my rental SUV in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Bloomington, Indiana.  I went to bed in Indianapolis, , Indiana.  This is what today looked like.

 

 

I flew from Minneapolis to Indianapolis this morning.  Minneapolis is one of my favorite airports.  More than half of my trips take me through MSP.  Indianapolis had a brand new airport.  I don’t go there often but it is a very pretty new place.

 

 

Following the races I was back to the Radisson Hotel in Indianapolis.  Tomorrow would be a rare treat for me.  I would get to sleep in!

 

One of the most fun parts on my day.

I enjoy meeting all kinds of people.  I learned a long time ago that people like to talk about themselves.  I also read where an individual is considered a “good conversationalist” if they let the other person do most of the talking.

 

 

I enjoy asking questions of other people.  That’s a great way to get to know someone.  In business I was in charge of hiring people.  I did a lot of interviews with potential job candidates.  That’s almost all asking questions of other folks.

 

 

During these experiences I’ve learned a very interesting technique that you might want to use yourself someday.  Maybe you want to ask a friend or acquaintance a sensitive question.  What do you think of abortion?  What’s you’re opinion of the president or whatever.  You might not think asking that question directly would be appropriate but nevertheless you’d like to know what the person you’re talking to thinks about a certain subject.  Here’s how you do it.

 

 

Ask them “How do you think people feel about abortion?”  Of course, the person you’re talking to, unless they are a market researcher, usually has no idea how “people” think about many of these types of questions.  However they know how THEY think on the subject.  They will substitute THEIR opinions for what they might think are the opinions of the “people”.  Just listen and you’ll soon find out how your friends and acquaintances feel on any number of sensitive subjects.

 

 

Tonight, after the races, I had a strawberry shortcake treat.  I needed a place to sit down and eat.  There was an older gentleman sitting on a bench in the shade.  There was room for me to sit down next to him.

 

 

We soon struck up a conversation.  This man was a semi-retired bean farmer from Indiana.  He was a Purdue graduate and so where his kids and grandkids!  He laughed after about every statement he made.  It was fun listening to him recount his farming and travel experiences.

 

 

Some folks wonder what the attraction is to attending a figure 8 stock car race on a county fair in some small town in America.  I say this.  How often does a retired corporate guy from San Clemente, California get to talk to someone from another generation, who’s spent his entire life in a totally unrelated occupation to mine in a different part of the country?  I wouldn’t trade these conversations for anything.

 

 

Decatur County Fairgrounds – Greensburg, Indiana

 

 

Good news and bad news.

The racing component of tonight’s program was nothing to rave about.  The Decatur County Fairgrounds has a permanent quarter-mile (or so) dirt oval on the grounds.  However, tonight they were racing on a temporary dirt oval (with dirt mounds strategically added) mostly on the inside of the permanent track.  There was good news in that.

 

 

It meant that someday I could come back to Greensburg, Indiana for some exciting midget racing on their permanent dirt oval.  I would look forward to that.

 

 

Novelty racing comes from our trackchasing “Founding Fathers”.

Tonight’s racing was done with “junk” cars of both the 4 and 8-cylinder variety.  This is definitely “novelty” racing but I guess it’s what trackchasing’s “Founding Fathers” wanted those who followed to see.  I would take a good quality go-kart program over this type of racing any day.

 

 

In compiling the YouTube video for this event I was reminded of one thing.  A good announcer can make the show.  Although the racing was not very good the announcer made it sound like the most exciting event in the history of racing.  I maintain that the announcer is the most important employee at the track.s

 

 

First time ever.

I did see some motorsports activity tonight that I couldn’t ever recall seeing.  Mind you just because I can’t recall it doesn’t mean I haven’t see it.  I’m zeroing in on 1,900 lifetime tracks.  I can’t remember every detail from every track although visiting my website, photo albums and YouTube videos helps refresh what dying brain cells have erased.

 

 

Tonight they had a “kid’s monster truck” demonstration.  I guess they have to start somewhere!  These children drove miniature versions of real monster trucks.

 

 

Despite the racing being less that spellbinding the huge county fair crowd had a good time on a wonderful weather evening.  County fairs are like public fireworks shows.  They bring out the people!  I guess it’s because neither happens very often.

 

 

This was my fifth track on the fourth day of this trip.  I had three more trackchasing days remaining on this trip.  They look to be some of the most productive trackchasing days I’ve had in a long time.

 

 

 

 

STATE COMPARISONS

 

Indiana

 

The Hoosier State

This evening I saw my 72nd lifetime track in the Hoosier state, yes the Hoosier state.

 

 

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

Indiana sayings:  Hoosier daddy?

 

 

 

 

Racing on the temporary dirt oval at the Decatur County Fairgrounds….and more

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – New York, NY (JFK) – 2,475 miles

 

 

AIRPORT SHUTTLE

New York, NY (JFK) – New York, NY (LGA) – 12.2 miles

 

 

AIRPLANE

New York, NY (LGA) – Cincinnati, OH (CVG) – 585 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – trip begins

Proctorville, OH

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – 368 miles

 

 

AIRPLANE

Cincinnati, OH (CVG) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 264 miles

Chicago, IL (ORD) – Omaha, NE (OMA) – 431 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #2

Eppley Airfield (Omaha) – trip begins

Albion, NE

Eppley Airfield (Omaha) – 278 miles – trip ends

 

 

RENTAL CAR #3

Eppley Airfield (Omaha) – trip begins

Mason City, IA

Minneapolis-St. Paul International – 398 miles – trip ends

 

 

AIRPLANE

Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Indianapolis, IN – 503 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #4

Indianapolis International Airport (IND) – trip begins

Greensburg, IN

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Lawrence County Fairgrounds – $10

Boone County Fairgrounds – $10

North Iowa Fairgrounds – $10

Decatur County Fairgrounds – $10

 

 

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 – 1,858

 

 

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