Delaware County Fairgrounds

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

 

Note! 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

 

 

A good day…a real good day.

This was going to be a good trackchasing day. I planned to see my 98th and 99th lifetime tracks in the state of Iowa. I have long contended that the best local dirt track racing comes from Iowa.

 

 

I’ve been going to dirt track stock car races in the Hawkeye state since the late 60s. My first sales territory in 1972 included the eastern half of Iowa. In those days Iowa was the hotbed for short track racing. Somehow I ended up having sales calls in Iowa towns that were holding mid-week racing specials. It was funny how that happened so often!

 

In the 1970s Iowa drivers dominated the dirt late-model seen on a national basis. Then somewhere along the line they got “out-monied”. Their national dominance fell off dramatically.

 

 

Extended Stay America.

I would begin my day in Rockford, Illinois at an Extended Stay America hotel. These Hotels are somewhat basic but I like them for a few reasons.

 

First the rooms are normally quite large. They always have a full kitchen including stove and refrigerator. The “grab and go” breakfast isn’t much though.

 

 

I can usually get these hotels on Priceline for about half the going rate. The price point is normally lower than what a Motel 6 would be charging. ESA properties offer so much more than a Motel 6.

 

 

 

After doing my laundry in the hotel last night I didn’t get to bed until almost 4 a.m. I asked for and was given a late check out of 12 noon.

 

I began my day with a 45-minute power walk in beautiful mid 70° weather. It’s a lot easier doing a power walk when I’m not checking out until noon compared to leaving the hotel at six or seven in the morning!  It was interesting to find an exotic dance club across the street from my hotel.

 

 

I had only a three hour drive over to Manchester, Iowa this afternoon. The races were scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. so I could take my time.

 

Storage. It’s something I have to monitor.

Both my phone and laptop are beginning to fill up with video clips and photos. Today I stopped at a McDonald’s parking lot to use their complementary Wi-Fi. Here I downloaded several gigs of photos and videos from my iPhone to my MacBook Pro. Imagine if I made that statement twenty years ago. No one would know what I was talking about.

 

 

McDonalds. In trouble?

I didn’t eat much today. My only food stop was at McDonald’s. Some folks say McDonald’s is in trouble.

 

 

I don’t buy into that fully. Currently their sales are flat. However their total sales are about $29 billion. They are 29 times bigger than Chipotle.

 

 

However no matter how big a company is it is never too big to fail. In 1980 I made 58% of my base salary in bonus money. How? I had the company’s biggest account, K-Mart. K-Mart was growing by leaps and bounds. Now K-Mart is virtually out of business!

 

Mickey D’s has their core group.

Quite a few McDonald’s have expanded their drive thru lane from one lane to two. I’m sure this is all about getting the food to folks faster. Fast is important to lots of people. That’s why McDonalds has $29 billion in sales.

 

 

Today I stopped in for a McDouble, which is essentially a double cheeseburger. I added a large Diet Coke to my order. The bill including a 10% tax came to $2.60 U.S.

 

 

People! This is the year 2015. I think a double cheeseburger and a large Diet Coke probably cost more than $2.60 back in 1975, 40 years ago, at most places. Is it a surprise that McDonald’s sales are flat? They sell their stuff so cheaply there’s no way they can build sales growth into their business plan!

 

Where’s the beef?

I’ve been hankering for some steakhouse eating over the past few days. So far it just hasn’t worked out yet but it did today.

 

 

As I almost always do I checked with Yelp! I wanted to see what my fellow diners were recommending. With help from Yelp! I came up with the Timmerman’s Supper Club in East Dubuque, Illinois.

 

Timmerman’s is an old-line supper club that originated all the way back in 1961. My theory is simple. If a restaurant has been in business since 1961 it must be doing something pretty well.

 

 

I would still need to drive nearly an hour from the supper club to tonight’s race track. I was happy they began serving cocktails at 4:30 p.m. and dinner by 5 p.m.

 

 

Work and play.

I brought my laptop into tonight’s dining facility. The maître d’ gave me the restaurant’s password. Since I was dining by myself I figured I could do some work while I ate.

 

 

My server could have been a twin to Danica Patrick. However, she was much nicer. No I have never been a DP fan.

 

Although I came in for a steak I ended up ordering the 16 ounce Iowa pork chop. It was cooked just right and delicious. A swig or two of whiskey and the pork chop made for a wonderful dinner.

 

 

Timmerman’s sits high on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Their beautiful view is supplemented with outstanding service and very good food. I would definitely go there again.

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

Delaware County Fairgrounds – Manchester, Iowa

 

 

Special.

There was going to be something very special about tonight’s trackchasing in Manchester, Iowa. I would be able to get a “same facility” trackchasing double.

 

 

What is a same facility trackchasing double? Good question. It’s when I get a chance to stay in one place, typically one grandstand, and see racing on two different tracks.

 

 

As you probably know trackchasing rules in the hobby of trackchasing allow three types of track configurations to “count”. Those configurations are ovals, road courses and figure 8 tracks. Tonight the Myers Promotions racing organization would offer racing on a dirt figure 8 course and a dirt oval track.

 

It’s either a fact or an opinion.

In my Trackchaser Reports I offer you facts and opinions. I believe Iowa, along with Nebraska and Michigan, has the best “big car” figure 8 racing in the world. Although that is my opinion it is probably also a fact.

 

 

Iowa has several permanent dirt figure 8 courses. Right off the bat I can’t think of any other state that has ANY permanent dirt track figure 8 only race facilities.

 

Tonight’s racing was done at a county fairgrounds. They had a very large modern covered grandstand that was packed to the gills. I’m not very good at estimating crowd sizes but I would say there were 800 people or so in the stands.

 

 

A good deal.

Fans twelve and over paid $10 to see the races, have unlimited carnival rides at the fair and free parking. I believe youngsters under the age of twelve paid just three dollars. Those were both good values. I sure the price point and product offerings were most instrumental is getting such a big crowd.

 

The tracks and the cars.

Tonight’s dirt tracks will be classified as temporary in nature. The racing surface was flat. However a large six-foot high dirt berm surrounded the entire racetrack. These dirt berms would protect the fans from errant figure 8 racers.

 

 

Inside the oval-shaped dirt berm’s were too large tractor tire markers. These markers were approximately 50 yards apart maybe a little more. The figure 8 racers would use those markers for their track.

 

 

The state of Iowa does something that very few other states do. In situations like we had tonight they will have both figure 8 racing and oval track racing on the same night.

 

 

The main attraction is the figure 8 racing. Tonight there were three classes of figure 8 cars. Two of the classes were V8 powered. The other class was a four-cylinder division.

 

Cruisers!

Several Iowa tracks race a “cruiser” division. The cruiser division is most unique. Cruisers are low level stock cars. The driver controls the gas pedal and steering. His passenger controls the brakes! Ya, kind of like driver education!

 

 

That’s got to be a combination that is a handful to drive. In Iowa the cruisers race on an oval configuration. That meant tonight they simply raced around the two tire barriers without crossing in the middle as the figure 8 cars would be doing.

 

 

Novelty racing.

Lots of figure 8 racing followed by trackchasers is what I would call the “novelty” variety. In these novelty races the cars are junk, the speeds are low and the real racing entertainment is limited.

 

However the V-8 powered Iowa figure 8 racers really do “race”. Their cars are powerful, evenly matched and competitive. 

 

 

A job well-done by the Meyers folks.

The program started on time at 7 p.m. The Myers promotion team had a stout PA system to work with a quality announcer. Overall it was a first-class operation.

 

 

The temperature at tonight’s starting time was in the low 70s. There was some rain off to the west. It looked as if we would get the race in before the rain hit. We did.

 

 

The overall program was well run. The program included a 15 minute intermission. The entire operation wrapped up by 9:30 p.m. I took the opportunity on the walk back to my car to stop in the pit area. As always don’t miss the videos and photos.

 

Nearly all of the cars were already parked on their trailers when I entered the pits. What I was seeing was a most unusual sight. Virtually every car in the pits was sitting on an open trailer just as the cars used to be carried around when I was a youngster. You won’t see that much in today’s short track racing world.

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

Nighttime driving….a must in my world.

I would have a nearly a three hour drive to my hotel in West Des Moines, Iowa after the races. Twenty years ago a three hour drive would have been nearly unheard of. Why? The next track usually wasn’t that far away. However nowadays, with my remaining tracks spread all over, I can knock off a three-hour drive after the races without any trouble whatsoever.

 

On my drive back to Des Moines I ran into the rain that had shown itself on radar earlier tonight. It wasn’t too heavy. Luckily, I missed most of the really bad stuff.  There was just enough wet stuff to keep my windshield clean!

 

100 tracks!

There’s a reasonable chance that I will be able to see my 100th Iowa racetrack in just a couple of days. If I do I will be able to say that I have seen 100 or more tracks in three different states. I would be talking about Iowa, Michigan and California. No trackchaser has ever done that. 

 

 

However I have learned never to count my chickens before they are hatched in trackchasing. Therefore I will just look forward to my opportunity in Iowa with much anticipation.

 

 

Good night

 

 

 

 

Iowa

 

 

The Hawkeye state

This evening I saw my 98^th and 99th lifetime tracks in the Hawkeye state, yes the Hawkeye state. I hold a #1 trackchasing ranking in Iowa.

 

 

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

Iowa sayings: My mom told me to do well in school because if I don’t I’ll end up yelling “Go Hawks” from the trailer park. I’d much rather yell, “Go Cyclones” from the suburbs.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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 – 2,123

 

 

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.  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.

 

 

Fun at the fair in Iowa….tracks #98 & #99