Decatur County Fairgrounds – dirt oval

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

 

My trackchasing hobby takes me all over the world. Each year I will visit 25-30 American states and several foreign countries.  Long ago I moved into the #1 trackchasing position in both the number of different racetracks seen as well as the number of countries where I’ve seen racing.  

 

 

Today’s adventure was one more of the 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:

 

 

Randy’s Complete Track List

 

 

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!

 

 

Randy on Facebook

 

 

 

 

FOREWORD

 

I returned to San Clemente for a brief three nights during my busy July trackchasing season. As they say, you have to make hay while the sun shines. The “county fair season” lasts for only six weeks or so. 

 

 

However, while I was in San Clemente over the Fourth of July weekend, I had three important things to get done. First, and most importantly, I would spend the Fourth of July watching the fireworks from the San Clemente pier with family and friends. The Fourth of July is the biggest day of the year in our town.

 

 

Additionally, I would have just enough time to get a root canal and a haircut. You know you’re pretty busy when you have to schedule these daily activities over just two or three days during the month rather than over the entire month.

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

WEDNESDAY

 

My activity today is simple. I simply needed to drive up to the Los Angeles International Airport and catch a 10:45 p.m. flight to Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

 

I had purchased a ticket on American Airlines. American was my go to airline during my business travel days. However, I believe American Airlines has seen better days. Their staff just isn’t as friendly as Alaska Airlines and others.

 

 

I’d like to make a comment about my fellow passengers as well. They say children should be, “seen but not heard”. That’s how I feel about my fellow airline passengers.

 

 

I don’t want them kicking my seat. I don’t want them tapping so hard on the video screen on the back of my seat that I get a neck ache. I don’t want them leaning into me when they are seated next to me. I don’t want their long legs sticking out into the aisle so that it looks like I am doing a minefield dance just to get back to the lavatory. In short I don’t want my fellow passengers to touch me, talk to me or in anyway interact with me in any fashion whatsoever. Can I be any more clear?

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY

 

I landed in Indianapolis at 5:45 a.m Eastern time. That’s just 2:45 a.m. San Clemente time. I was ready to begin my day when most other Californians were in the middle of their REM sleep.

 

 

I would immediately go to pick up my rental car. I could pick it up this early in the morning because I would be dropping it this early in the morning next Wednesday. I plan to be on the ground for six days. I will try to see as many tracks as I can in that amount of time.

 

 

When I went out into the National Car Rental parking garage all I saw were a series of SUVs and trucks. I was expecting to drive about 1,500 miles on this trip. I didn’t need any of those vehicles for comfort or gas economy.

 

 

The woman working the National car lot saw me wandering around and asked how she could help. I told her that I was looking for something like a Chrysler 300 or a Toyota Avalon. She didn’t have any of those models. Nevertheless, she would check the car selection from those that had just been returned this morning.

 

 

As luck would have it she came up with a shiny black Chrysler 300. That would work for me. When I approach people they will think I am driving a limo.

 

 

Next up was the challenge of checking into my hotel at 7 a.m. The official check in time at the Extended Stay America hotel at the Indianapolis airport was 3 p.m. However, I wanted to check in eight hours early.

 

 

I had purchased my hotel, two nights at the Extended Stay America from Priceline. I was paying just $40 a night plus taxes. Regular guests were paying $79.99 + tax. Now do you understand how I can afford to do this?

 

 

I knew that if they were not sold out last night they would have a room for me to check into early this morning. That turned out to be the case. By 7:30 a.m. I was snoring/sleeping like a baby.

 

 

When I fly overnight and then check into my hotel early I feel like I’m getting a two-night stay for the price of one. I’ll get a few hours of sleep in the morning and then later in the evening I’ll sleep during the traditional hours. Yep, two for one.

 

 

During the day I worked out, worked on my future racing plans and consulted with my mortgage broker. We are refinancing our home. You’d be amazed at what a quarter of a point can save on a monthly, yearly or seven your basis.

 

 

For lunch I returned to the Yelp recommended “The Tamale Place”. Recall I ate here about 10 days ago in Indianapolis. This place is fantastic. If one existed in San Clemente I would eat there every week.

 

 

They offer about a dozen uniquely flavored and wrapped tamales. When you order the food you can see what options they have and what quantities are available on a flat screen TV monitor. The food is so good that I bought two tamales for breakfast in the morning.

 

 

One of the things I like about staying in Extended Stay America properties is the full kitchen privilege. My room has a refrigerator, microwave, stove and even a dishwasher. Heck I could live here!

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

Decatur County Fairgrounds – Greensburg, Indiana

 

 

My trackchasing plan was to visit Greensburg, Indiana tonight. They were having a TQ midget race on their full-sized permanent oval. I had previously been to the Decatur County Fairgrounds in Greensburg back in 2013 (track #1,858) when I saw racing on a smaller temporary oval.

 

 

There was a minor concerned I needed to be aware of. Rain was bearing down on the track. The racing was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The rain was going to hit the area somewhere between 7 and 9 p.m. It looked like I would at least get to see some racing but there were no guarantees.

 

 

I completed my one-hour drive from Indianapolis to Greensburg without incident. I had called the fairgrounds earlier today. I wanted to find out if yesterday’s heavy rain was going to affect tonight’s event.

 

 

I was told that huge rain would not be a problem. However, the rain that was expected to hit the fairgrounds at 7-8 p.m. or so was a potential problem.

 

 

In point of fact the guy I talked to was wrong on both points. When I arrived at the fairgrounds I paid two dollars to park my car in an open field. My next stop was the racetrack itself. It didn’t look good. It was a quagmire. Yesterday’s rains had dealt the racing surface severe setback.

 

 

It was about this time that I ran into race promoter Terry Eaglin. I’ve seen Terry a few times over the years. Last year we met up at a couple of his promotions.

 

 

Of course Terry remembered me tonight. He had two questions. The first was “How many are you up to now”. I told him, “2,241”. Then he replied, “How did you get to be so rich to do this?

 

 

I brushed by that question. Hasn’t he seen Breaking Bad? I asked him if he thought tonight’s rain forecast was going to be a problem. He said “I’m not worried about the rain tonight. I’m worried about the rain that came yesterday and it’s effect on the track.” He was right.

 

 

The fellow I had talked to on the phone this afternoon was a veritable source of bad information. He and the fairground’s website told me that racing would begin at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

Heck, they didn’t even hold the drivers meeting until 7 p.m. They elected to cancel qualifying. Good. The track crew did a nice job to get the track as ready as could be.

 

 

There were 23 TQ midgets on hand. They all took a couple of hot laps as practice. Then at about 8:15 p.m. the first of three heat races took to the track.

 

 

I see a lot of “novelty” racing. That type of racing counts for my trackchasing stats. We can thank trackchasing’s founding fathers and subsequent interpretations for that. Oftentimes novelty racing is not all that entertaining. Sometimes what racing fans consider “real” racing falls short on the entertainment scale as well.

 

 

Most of the shortfalls of tonight’s racing program could be attributed to the really poor condition of the track. I’m a little surprised that the Decatur County Fairgrounds maintenance personnel didn’t get out a little bit earlier to work on the muddy dirt oval.

 

 

At intermission they announced that the B feature was being canceled. Five racers had transferred from each heat race into the future event. With a few cars dropping out during the heats there just weren’t enough cars to make a B feature worthwhile. Good call.

 

 

That meant that 22 cars would start in the main event. That was good enough for me. Intermission lasted a long time as they worked on the track some more.   By the way did you know that NASCAR’s Tony Stewart got his TQ midget racing start at this track?

 

 

I ate my supper at the fairgrounds. I went with the same concessionaire I tried when I was here for the Enduro racing in 2013. Tonight I went with the double pork burger for just five bucks. It was a great value.

 

 

However, probably the best food/drink value of the night was being sold by the Boy Scouts of America. I’m a big fan of the Boy Scouts. Both of our sons made it to Eagle Scout. That’s a really nice accomplishment for young men.

 

 

Tonight the Boy Scouts were selling 24-ounce sized bottles of water and soda. The price was just one dollar. When I bought mine I told them they should raise their prices!

 

 

The scout replied, “But we’re really selling a lot”. That was a true statement. However, if they raised their price to two dollars would sales go down by more than 50%? I doubted that. Maybe the eager Boy Scout will take a course in economics to discover the price elasticity of demand concept.

 

 

Admission to see the races was $10. There was a very small crowd on hand. Most of the fans sat on the hillside on blankets or brought beach chairs. O.K., we Californians call what they were sitting on “beach chairs”. I’m really not sure what Hoosiers would call them. There weren’t very many more than 100 people watching tonight.

 

 

The main event had a couple of red flags for flips. The track’s lighting was spotty especially in turns three and four. There wasn’t a whole lot of action in the “A” main.

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

Racing ended at 9:45 p.m. I have been told that racing would begin at 6:30 p.m. If I were ever asked in a job interview what my weakest point is my reply would be simple. I believe what people tell me. Often in hindsight that’s not a good idea. I believed what trackchasing commissioner Guy Smith told me and what did that get me?

 

 

Anyway I showed up on time at 6:30 p.m. During the three hours and 15 minutes that I was at the fairgrounds three heat races were run and a 20 lap “A” main. 

 

 

I will have to give the group a pass because of the track’s condition based upon last night’s rain. The track really was ruined by that storm. However, if the fair board had done their job the track problem could have been minimized. The rain that was expected this evening totally bypassed Greensburg, Indiana. Overall, I’m just pleased to be able to get a track counted when the rain from last night and the rain from tonight could have caused a cancellation.

 

 

 

Good night from Greensburg, Indiana.

 

 

 

 

Indiana

 

 

The Hoosier state

This evening I saw my 102nd lifetime track in the Hoosier state, yes the Hoosier state. I hold the #2 trackchasing spot in Arizona. Indiana’s favorite son Roger Ferrell is in first place with a big lead.

 

 

 

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 need to know stuff: Hoosiers Are Never Ever “Indianans”

 

 

Hoo-the-heck knows what Hoosier means? It doesn’t matter. It’s what you call people from Indiana, always. And they will totally correct you if you get it wrong.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,241

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 72

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.47

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Going to another midwestern county fair….in Indiana