Essa Agriplex

 

 

 

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:

 

 

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

 

 

 

I often see two or more tracks in a single day or in a single weekend. Sometimes when that happens I will combine my observations from multiple tracks into a single Trackchaser Report. That is the case today.

 

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

TUESDAY

Today was a transitional day. I had no official trackchasing activity planned. Nevertheless, I would have a very full day of touring.

 

 

I took advantage of the hotel’s check out policy of 12 noon. The Nichols Hotel and Spa in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania was a bit on the rundown side. It was probably built in the 60s or 70s. I’m almost certain it was under the signage of one of the big hotel brands sometime in the past. 

 

 

I took the opportunity to do my laundry at the hotel. However, the vending soap machine was out of detergent. Therefore I made myself at home in the hotel’s laundry itself. Without anyone being in the laundry I grabbed the amount of soap that I needed to complete the wash. I figured it was the least the hotel could do for me at that point.

 

 

At 4 o’clock I had a major media event planned. I would be doing an interview with Ryan Myrehn the sports director voice for ESPNUP (970 AM/93.3 FM) radio an affiliate of ESPN. This was my second ESPN radio interview. A few years ago I did one with ESPN’s affiliate in the state of Washington.

 

 

The interview went very well. Ryan asked some thoughtful and intelligent questions. We wrapped up everything in 15-20 minutes. You’ll be able to hear that interview on my Facebook page as well as on my website in the media section.

 

 

My next stop on this “relaxation” day was going to be over in Binghamton, New York. I would be seeing a minor-league baseball game between the Binghamton Mets and the Hartford Yard Dogs. Yes, minor league teams have some very unusual nicknames don’t they?

 

 

I’m not sure how people can afford to go to minor-league baseball games. Most of the minor league games I’ve seen actually cost more to park and/or buy tickets than what I pay for major league games. That’s not what one would expect is it?

 

 

When we go to Angels games in Anaheim, California we have been known to pay just three dollars to park. I’ve also bought my share of major-league baseball tickets from Stubhub.com for five dollars and often less. Tonight I paid four dollars to park and eight dollars for the cheapest general admission ticket available.     

 

 

Each time I go to a baseball game I am reminded on how slow the sport is. I would much prefer to see a basketball game or football game. However, if I bring my cell phone along I can entertain myself during the significant lapses between pitches.

 

 

However, going to new ballparks or new anything is really what my trackchasing hobby is founded upon. I just like that experience of seeing something for the first time. It’s not likely that I’ll returned any of these baseball parks again. But I certainly enjoy the opportunity to go there once.

 

 

I always make it a point to explore every inch of the ballpark. Tonight I ordered refreshments that included the jumbo hotdog and a Diet Coke. They were out of jumbo hotdogs. They agreed to give me two hotdogs for the price of one regular hot dog. I couldn’t beat that deal.

 

 

By the way I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about the service I received today in and around this part of New York. At the hotel, the Waffle House and the ballpark I encountered some of the most solemn dis-interested young workers I’ve ever seen in my life. In away it was like they were zombies. They couldn’t seem to focus enough to handle the task at hand. Sadly, I must tell you that most of these employees were young women. It was a sad situation. What type of future do these young people have with this attitude….and what I suspect are a distinct lack of job skills. Are they at fault? To some degree yes. However, it is the parents and overall family situation that I would hold most accountable.

 

 

During the seventh inning stretch the home team had the game in the bag with a 7-1 lead over the hapless Yard Goats. I headed out for the final activity of my my off-day evening.

 

 

Tonight, just 27 miles from the NYSEG Stadium, was the I-88 Speedway in Afton, New York. The speedway would be hosting the Empire Super Sprint series. The ESS group was making a somewhat rare midweek stop at this venerable old track. You might recall that NASCAR’s Tony Stewart was racing with the Empire Super Sprints in New York when his tragic accident occurred.

 

 

I had first visited this track when it was known as the New Afton Speedway. The year of my visit was 2001. Carol was with me. We were in New York just one month and a day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Not too many people were traveling at that time back then. At the time the New Afton Speedway was my 527th lifetime track. Yes, I’ve seen a few tracks since my last visit to Afton.

 

 

I was expecting that by the time I got to the track, which was a estimated to be about 9:15 p.m., they would no longer be charging admission. That was the case. Everything I was able to see tonight was seen on a complementary basis.

 

 

From the parking lot I could see the sprint cars were just being pushed onto the track. It appeared that my timing was perfect. I grabbed a seat in the grandstands and sat down for a busman’s holiday.

 

 

I was thinking I was about ready to see the Empire Super Sprints race their 20-25 lap feature. I soon learned that was not correct. In point of fact I was seeing the I-88 Speedway’s 305 sprint car class (CRSA) race their 25-lapper.

 

 

I didn’t have a real good idea where we were at in tonight’s program. I knew I was about ready to see a feature race. However, I did not know if this was the first feature of the night or even the last.

 

 

I filmed the first couple of laps of the feature. The track was extremely dusty once the sprints got rolling. It was so bad that it was impossible to read the car numbers most of the time anywhere on the track. That’s dusty! The lighting wasn’t great either.

 

 

Additionally, because I was focused on filming the start of the race once they got going I had absolutely no idea who was leading the race. After a first lap caution the cars ran non-stop to the finish. When the checkered flag flew I still had no earthly idea who was winning.

 

 

Following that race the Empire Super Sprint cars appeared on the speedway. These are 360 cubic inch powered machines. The most powerful class of sprint car racing in America is the World of Outlaws “410” class. There was not a significant difference in the dust level with the 360s versus the track “305” cubic inch class. Tonight was a real dustbowl. Carol would have hated it. I would have probably have recommended she go to the car. There was an elderly couple (remember I’m 67; but feel like I’m 35) sitting next to me. They both wore bandanas and goggles. Good on them! I asked another person sitting near me if it was always so dusty. He told me that it was.

 

 

I finished out the evening with a 103-mile drive back to Cicero, New York a suburb of Syracuse. That would get me positioned well for tomorrow’s activities.

 

 

As you can see even on an “off day” I stay very busy. I try to observe people. I like to see and do as many things as I can that I’ve never done before. I think that keeps me young and alert.

 

 

 

Good evening from Afton, New York

 

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY

 

 

Today was my second straight day with no official trackchasing activity. I don’t have very many of those days when I’m on the road. However, when I do I want to put them to good use.

 

 

Earlier in this trip I had some very long driving days to get from one track to the next one. However, from now through the rest of this trip my driving times are going to be much more reasonable.

 

 

This allows me to get to my hotel in the evening at a respectable hour. I can also sleep in to an appropriate time. That gives me time for morning exercise. Let me tell you this. When I get to the hotel at 2 a.m. and have to leave by 8 a.m. I am not very motivated to work out! I’ll still be driving six hours a day but that’s a lot less than having to drive 10-12 hours or more.

 

 

I was staying at the Budget Inn in Cicero, New York. I had gotten my reservation through Priceline.com. This part of the country doesn’t have as many chains participating in the Priceline program at reasonable prices as other locations. Hotels in the Northeast have always been a lot more expensive than anywhere else that I travel.

 

 

With a noon check out I was out the door earlier for a morning powerwalk. I was able to exercise for a full hour. My walking took me through a very large new car/used car business area called Driver’s Village. They had thousands of cars on their lots……thousands.

 

 

When I’m on the road I try to eat in the most unique restaurants that I can possibly find. I will bypass chain restaurants at every opportunity to eat in a hole in the wall location.

 

 

One of the best websites for finding these off the beaten path eateries is a website called Roadfood.com. I’ve been using them for years. I used them again today to find a place called Mother’s Cupboard. The place wasn’t all that far from my hotel.

 

 

Mother’s is the kind of place that most people wouldn’t walk into on their own. It’s small and old and looks like it could be a biker bar. However, Roadfood.com was recommending it. All of the reviewer’s on Yelp were offering glowing commentaries. I had to give it a try.

 

 

After my hour’s worth of exercise I had burned about 450 calories. I was craving pancakes. Mother’s Cupboard would not disappoint me in that regard.

 

 

I walked into the place to find an interior that had not been improved since the 1950s. That’s not a criticism. That’s a compliment. There was a counter that sat about eight or ten people. There were tables and chairs that accommodated another 20 folks.

 

 

This place opens at 6 o’clock in the morning. They close at 1:30 p.m. They serve breakfast all “day”. They have a line of sandwiches as well.

 

 

I was getting hungry and wanted to chow down on some of their famous pancakes. However the menu warned against ordering two of them. I asked my server what her take was on the idea of ordering two pancakes. She said you need to know they are “one-foot across.” That WAS all I needed to know. I would order one pancake.

 

 

I made it a chocolate chip pancake and added the additional option of whipped cream. When the pancake came out of the kitchen all I could say was, “Wow!”

 

 

It was going to take some concentration and motivation to eat all of this single pancake. There was zero chance that I could have consumed a second or any part of a second.

 

 

So what does a chocolate chip pancake cost that’s a foot in diameter? It was only $5.50 plus a buck and a half for the whipped cream. The pancake was stupendous. It was delicious. It was low priced. What a great combination from Mother’s Cupboard. I hope I get to go there again sometime.

 

 

I had a special activity planned for 6:30 p.m. tonight. I still had the afternoon and was looking for something to fill up my dance card. I checked my Fandango iPhone app to see what movies were playing nearby. I’ve already seen some of the current flicks. Today the film with the best timing and a 98% Rotten Tomatoes rating turned out to be “Hell or High Water”.

 

 

This movie starred Jeff Bridges. I like his unique style of acting and very much enjoyed the film. Whenever I see a film on my own that I think Carol might enjoy I’m more than willing to see it a second time. As it turned out we were in Austin, Texas a couple of weeks later and Carol, Kristy and J.J. saw that movie. They loved it.

 

 

A little bit later I moved onto the NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse. That stadium is the home-field of the Syracuse Chiefs AAA minor league team in the International league. Tonight they were playing host to the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders.

 

 

Parking was five bucks. I bought a reserved seat ticket in the upper deck. It was just six dollars. That seemed like a good value. I had a large draft beer for another seven dollars. I was set for the evening.

 

 

As you know teams in both the minor and major leagues offer special promotions from time to time to attract fans. Carol and I try to go to as many Angels’ games as we can when they offer some form of premium as in a free shirt or whatever. We’ve got a lot of Angels’ memorabilia hanging around our house!

 

 

Tonight’s promotion was one that I had never heard of before. It was “bring your dog ” night. Fans were encouraged to bring their dogs to the ballpark. Typically dogs, except service dogs, are not allowed at a baseball game or most indoor sporting events.

 

 

I don’t want to offend any of my dog owning, or dog loving readers. However I would be less than genuine if I didn’t tell you I am not a dog lover. I’m not sure I can fully explain why. I just don’t care much for animals in any regard. There I’ve said it. I can’t take it back.

 

 

Tonight dog owners were getting a special silver “doggie bowl ” when they showed up with their pet at the game. It was the kind of large silver bowl that one might use to offer candy to visiting trick-or-treaters. However, I hope the dog owners reading this don’t offer trick or treaters candy from THEIR dog’s bowl. You wouldn’t right?

 

 

I found a spot in the upper deck where I could sit out in the low 80° temperatures with a good view of the game. I watched the baseball game without being near any of my four-legged friends.

 

 

The NBT Bank Stadium seats about 11,000 people. I’m guessing tonight’s crowd was 2,000-3,000 at most. The funny thing about it was the parking lot had so many cars it looked like the crowd could’ve been 25,000 people.

 

 

I’ve attended several minor league baseball games this season. I’m surprised by a couple of things.

 

 

First, at almost all the parks where I’ve been the involvement and reaction by the crowd is minimal. There are no chants, there are no loud continuous cheers. The fans pretty much just sit on their hands and watch the game. Actually lots of folks watch their cell phones or talk to their friends. Baseball is a game for that.

 

 

I’ve seen several minor league baseball games where the quality of play is dreadful relative to the major leagues. However, tonight’s game was a AAA level competition. These guys were dramatically better than what I have seen in the rookie leagues and lower levels of the minor leagues. I think there is a very large jump up to the majors from the minors but the AAA guys were playing a high-level of baseball.

 

 

Following the game I had a 150-mile drive over to Niagara Falls, New York. I’d be staying there tonight. That location positioned me well for a drive up into Ontario, Canada tomorrow.

 

 

Wait! I have to ask you a question. How many people, out of all the minor league fans who attended a game this year, drive 150 miles to where they are staying AFTER the game. I have an unusual hobby and even within that hobby I do it unusually.

 

I’ll be up in Canada for a couple of days. The weather forecast looks good. I expect to see at least two tracks during my international visit. Today was a very good “non-trackchasing day”.

 

 

 

Good evening from Syracuse, New York.

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY

 

 

My Radisson Hotel was situated on a boat marina adjacent to Niagara Falls, New York. Much of my morning power walk was around the marina. At 10 a.m. it was already looking to be a hot and humid day.

 

 

Tonight’s trackchasing location was going to be in Thornton, Ontario, Canada. Although I would have to cross an international border to get there my driving time was only expected to be a couple of hours. With the show starting at 7 p.m. I had all day to see the local sites of Buffalo.

 

 

I normally use Tripadvisor.com to give me a heads up on what the best touring spots are. Two of those attractions appealed to me today.

 

 

The number two-rated attraction in Buffalo is the Forest Lawn Cemetery. It’s a cemetery/mausoleum “home” to several famous people. The #17 attraction is the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum. That sounded good too. I figured I could see them both.

 

 

My first stop was at the auto museum. I’ve been seeing a lot of those recently. This museum was on the smaller side. Admission was $10 for adults with no senior pricing options.

 

 

I’m not sure I realized that Pierce-Arrow’s production came exclusively from Buffalo, New York. The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company operated in Buffalo from 1901-1938. They were known for making expensive luxury cars but also manufactured trucks, motorcycles and bicycles.

 

 

The Pierce-Arrow was a status symbol of the day. They never built a lower-priced option for their line of cars. Studebaker got control of the company from 1928-1933. By 1938 Pierce-Arrow declared insolvency and closed.

 

 

Most of the reviews about this museum commented on the Frank Lloyd Wright constructed gas station which sits inside the museum itself. FLW was asked to design a gas station for a local oil company. However, there was a dispute over his fees and his design was never built.

 

 

The folks who run this museum got control of the FLW plans and ended up building the station inside their museum. A $6.3 million grant from the state of New York helped make this a reality. The design has a copper roof, fireplace and lots of other unusual items that you wouldn’t expect in a normal filling station. 

 

 

A most knowledgeable tour guide took about twenty of us through a special area where the gas station and several antique cars were located. He gave us a 10-15 minute explanation which added a lot to the view of their unusual treasure. 

 

 

The museum also had a large display of antique bicycles and smaller collectibles. I could easily see what I wanted to see and take all the photos I wanted in an hour or so. If you go don’t miss the 1948 Playboy automobile.

 

 

I was trying to organize my time well just in case the border crossing took longer than expected. Next up was lunch. If you’re going to have lunch in Buffalo, New York you probably need to be thinking “chicken wings”. Of course chicken wings were invented in Buffalo!

 

 

The Anchor Bar and Grill is considered the location where buffalo wings were originally invented. I’ve been there a few times. It’s O.K. I like the 9–11 Tavern in Buffalo for their wings better. Unfortunately today they were not open until 4:30 p.m.

 

 

With a little Yelp searching I soon came up with the Hop Inn in Buffalo. Some 28 Yelp reviews had given the Hop Inn a 4.5-star rating for their wings. That meant I was going to hop over to the Hop Inn.

 

 

They were opening at 12 noon. I got there just a little bit after that time. They don’t close until 4 a.m. but I didn’t expect to be there for closing time. 

 

 

There weren’t any other cars in the parking lot. It looked like the place might be closed. I wasn’t going to get shut out in Buffalo for chicken wings was I? Nevertheless, I walked in the door.

 

 

What I found was a smallish place with a well-stocked bar. There were only a couple of small tables pushed over into the corner. This looked like one of those places where you might walk into the bar and end up having to go into another room to find the restaurant.

 

 

A cheerful young man wearing a bright green leprechaun shirt greeted me. I asked him, “Am I in the wrong place for the restaurant?” He looked up at me and smiled, “This is it” he told me.

 

 

For the next hour and a half my new Buffalo buddy, Jim, co-owner of the Hop Inn and I would talk about Buffalo and sports and people and politics and the like. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I ordered The “Garlic Parmesan” wings prepared in a butter sauce.

 

 

The wings were good but the conversation with Jim was better. He promised to “hook me up” with tickets to any Sabres or Bills games I might like to attend when I came back to Buffalo. He told me that going to the Bills game was out of sight on the entertainment scale. I would love to make it to a Bills or maybe a Packers game sometime in December. That’s actually a bucket list item for me.

 

 

Jim and I talked for so long that I didn’t have enough time to visit Forest Lawn. That was OK. I prefer talking to local people about their experiences. I can always see another touring attraction on the next trip.

 

 

I crossed the border at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. That process took about 15-20 minutes. There was a major thunderstorm system between the border and Barrie, Ontario where I would be staying for the evening.

 

 

There was lots of red and yellow on the weather radar. Had that system, which was very wide on an east to west basis been located about 30 miles more northward it would’ve made for a very damp a figure 8 racing program tonight.

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Essa Agriplex – Thornton, Ontario, Canada

 

 

The Barrie Fair relocated out to its current location about five years ago according to a local farmer who I sat with for the evening. They were charging $10 Canadian to get into the fair. This included admission to the racing as well. Right now $10 Canadian equates to about $7.70 U.S. This was a most reasonable charge for the experience.

 

 

When I first got to the track I made my way over to the pit area. I wanted to look up Walter Williams a co-founder of Thrill Show Productions, the group promoting tonight’s event.

 

 

I would give just about anything to have had the experiences that Walter Williams, now age 83, has had. He worked in the thrill show business with his twin brother Billy until they founded Thrill Show Productions in 1966.

 

 

Previously Walter told me that he played the violin and accordion and other instruments as young street entertainers with his twin brother. They graduated into circus acts and thrill show stunt driving. They traveled the world doing their act.

 

 

Walter now drives a Brinks armored truck four days a week and still comes to every Thrill Show Productions race event. We talked for several minutes. Walter took the time to show me a photo he had on this phone.

 

 

The photo shows him doing part of his trampoline act many years ago. That doesn’t sound like much until you consider he was bouncing up-and-down on the trampoline 60 feet above the ground… blindfolded! If everyone in the world was doing as well at age 83 as Walter Williams they would be doing pretty well. Keep on trucking Walter.

 

 

Tonight’s race program arena entertainment started at 7:30 p.m. I thought the website said the start time was at 7 p.m. but maybe I was wrong.

 

 

I was here to see the figure 8 racing. Fourteen cars took to the track in three heat races to begin the night’s entertainment. The winner of each heat race advanced to the feature race. The three second-place cars competed in a consolation race with the winner moving onto the main. All of these races were for 15 laps including the feature which had four cars on the small figure 8 track.

 

 

This is not figure 8 racing like you might see with the big cars in Iowa, Nebraska or Michigan. It is also not figure 8 racing that you might see at some county fair “mud bogs” at low speeds.

 

 

These guys get there four-cylinder powered front-wheel drive cars around the flat dry dirt surface quickly. It’s not exactly novelty racing with few cars and slow speeds on a muddy surface but it’s not some of the highest speed stuff either. Nevertheless I’ve always found the Thrill Show Productions figure 8 races to be good ones.

 

 

Following the figure 8 action was the demolition derby. They had one event for big cars and then a 14-car mini smash demo derby to cap off of night’s program.

 

 

Both of the derbies were entertaining. In watching the crowd around me they seemed to get more excited and vocal with the demo derby than the figure 8. That is the case just about everywhere I go. Of course trackchasing’s founding fathers did not consider demo derby action to be worth counting. It is true that demo derbies are not racing.

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

I have dined on chicken wings exclusively for lunch. Then I had a midafternoon snack using the electronic kiosk in Canada at McDonald’s to order a caramel sundae. At tonight’s fair I had a helping of poutine that was rich with gravy and less so on cheese. After the race I couldn’t stop myself from going to Tim Hortons. Before I went to sleep I consumed a carton of “Timbits”, a chocolate dipped donut and a chocolate cruller. 

 

 

Granted I did burn off about 400 calories with my power walk this morning. However I have 100% certainty I was running a large calorie deficit toward my 2,000 calorie daily goal. Luckily, I guess, I’ve had extraordinarily low cholesterol levels all my life. No, I do not run into a lot of fruits and vegetables on the long and dusty trackchasing trail.

 

 

 

Good evening from Thornton, Ontario, Canada

 

 

 

Ontario

 

 

The Heartland province

This evening I saw my 60th lifetime track in the Heartland province, yes the Heartland province. I’ve seen more tracks in Ontario than any other Canadian province. I’ve seen 60 or more tracks in 13 separate states/provinces.

 

 

 

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: Back-bacon

 

 

Or “peameal bacon” is cured bacon rolled in cornmeal. Yummy.

 

 

Good thing I woke up early for breakfast. This back-bacon is life-changing. 

 

 

 

 

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 – 2,272

 

 

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.

 

Racing from the Essa Agriplex

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I-88 Speedway racing

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Minor league baseball PLUS racing from the I-88 Speedway in Afton, New York

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The Pierce-Arrow Museum, Buffalo’s Hop Inn and racing from Thornton, Ontario, Canada