From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Farwell Fairgrounds – Figure 8 – Track #1,904
I don’t want this to end……………more in “The Details”. A special surprise for Carol……………more in “The Details”. 42 out of 43….would not be enough……………more in “The Details”. From the Taj Mahal to the Great Wall……………more in “Attractions”. You are getting this advice from an expert…………..more in “Attractions”. Street cred………..details in “Race Review”. Free-standing figure 8 events were not part of my racing DNA………..details in “Race Review”. I don’t want this to end. We woke up this morning in Bay City, Michigan. We went to bed in Romulus, Michigan. This is what today looked like. I can’t believe it. Today is day #26 of my 28-day trackchasing trip. I don’t want it to end! Carol always feels less strongly than I do on that point. A special surprise for Carol. We had a late checkout of our Fairfield Inn. I took the extra time to go for a 45-minute powerwalk. I had been saving a very special surprise for Carol until the end of this trip. What was the surprise? A visit to the world’s largest Christmas store “Bronner’s” in Frankenmuth Michigan. I been there for the first time just last month. I sensed Carol would love the store and she did. We spent a couple of hours browsing and picked up a few special items for special people. Of all the places I have ever visited this is one of the very best. Can you imagine a store, selling only Christmas items, being three football fields long? In order to fit in lunch we took a break from our Christmas store shopping. I’ll tell you all about our visit to both Bronner’s and the somewhat equally famous Zehner’s chicken dinner restaurant behind the “Attractions” tab. Small town; big racing. After our touring was complete, at about 5:30 p.m., it was time to head for tonight’s race. It was a relatively short one hour and 15 minute drive up to Farwell Michigan. After the race we would turn around and drive down to Detroit, a two hour and 15-minute adventure. We have an early morning flight tomorrow morning out to New York. It’s the last trackchasing day of the trip. After that we’ll head home to the little city by the sea, San Clemente. 42 out of 43….would not be enough. When this trip ends I will have been gone for 42 of the last 43 nights. Most rationale people, of which I admit I am not, would stay home for a while after an adventure like that. No, I am not one of those folks. Just three days after I return home I will embark on another 10-day golfing and trackchasing escape. Despite all of this travel I can guarantee you with 100% accuracy I will meet my goal of staying off the trackchasing trail for 24 full (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) weekends. You can bet on it. TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION I very much enjoy the racing when I go on trackchasing trips. However, I am not the type of person who would feel the trip was complete if I simply left home, went to the race and came back home. I do a good deal of traveling. I want to do my best to see the local area when I come for a visit. There are usually unusual attractions that one area is noted for more than any other locale. I want to see those places. I want to touch them and feel them. When I leave an area, I want to have memories of these special places that I call Trackchasing Tourist Attractions. I will remember those experiences long after the checkered flag has fallen on whatever race I have seen that day. Bronner’s CHRISTmas Store – Frankenmuth, Michigan From the Taj Mahal to the Great Wall. Boy and girls I have traveled the world. I’ve seen everything from the Taj Mahal to the Great Wall of China and just about everything north, south, east and west of those places. Never ever before. However, I have never seen such a thing as the Bronner’s CHRISTmas store. Even if you were Jewish you would want to buy your Christmas stuff at Bronner’s. Even if you were penniless you would at least like to look around at Bronner’s. I had been to Bronner’s for the first time about 30 days ago. I had been passing their highway billboards for years. I finally had to stop. I was blown away. Carol would have to see this….and today she did. She was blown away also! How big is big? They have literally hundreds of thousands of SKUs (stock keeping units for those of you who did not grow up in the business). One of the very best things is that they will personalize every Christmas ornament you buy. I now have a beautiful white ornament with cross checkered flags and “Randy Lewis Racing 2013” painted on it. Celebrities like Laura Bush and Bill Clinton (trying to be politically correct for all of my die-hard Republican and Democratic friends) have visited the founder Wally Bronner. Don’t miss the intermittent movies shown in their movie theatre including the family story of how the Bronner’s made all this happen. Oh, ya. There’s the chapel another don’t miss item. Now you can be sponsored by Randy Lewis Racing. It’s a fantastic place. To show you how much I liked it I’m going to sponsor my first two reader’s visits to Bronner’s. Go there, buy an ornament and send me the receipt. Your first ornament is on me*! *Must be the original receipt. This offer is void where prohibited by law and open to all of my readers who receive this message via my Randy Lewis Racing email distribution list. That’s more than 1,000 of you. Prize is limited to $10 U.S. reimbursement. All prizes will be awarded within 4-6 weeks of my receiving your receipt. Bronner’s rocks. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE! ONE CANNOT LIVE WELL OR SLEEP WELL IF ONE HAS NOT DINED WELL Zehnder’s – Frankenmuth, Michigan You are getting this advice from an expert. I happen to consider myself an expert on “Chicken dinner restaurants”. Admittedly I don’t know much about many things. I’ve been told this by many people. However, in the world of “Chicken dinner restaurants” I am the man to listen too. How can I say this with such authority? The easy answer would be to say because I am writing this report. However, there is more to it than that. Knott’s Berry Farm Chicken Dinner Restaurant. The Knott’s Berry Farm Chicken Dinner Restaurant is located in Buena Park, California. It sits adjacent to the Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park. Mrs. Knotts started serving chicken there in 1934. I’ve been to Knott’s with my family tens of times. The VERY BEST chicken dinners along with all the fixins’ (more rolls please) are served there. I always order the white meat fried chicken. Now that my beloved grandmother (the best fried chicken maker of all time) is no longer with us I only eat fried chicken at Knott’s. Raised on competition and Knott’s dinner rolls. Our kids were raised on competition. That could be performing, schoolwork, athletics or Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant dinner rolls eating championships. I’ve been known to say to our server, “You’re tip is based solely upon just one thing. Never let us run out of dinner rolls. By the way I am a big tipper.” And in this corner. Today we stumbled across the idea of another restaurant being famous for serving chicken. The place was called Zehnder’s. It was located in Frankenmuth not all that far from Bronner’s Christmas store. As chicken dinner aficionados we had to try it. The place is big and it was packed on a Sunday afternoon. All of Frankenmuth was crowded. We were led to our table only to find a server that was more than friendly. She would help us meander our way through the restaurant’s offerings. We had to try to “family style” chicken dinner meal. Check out the picture above. Did they think Carol and I were bringing our 12 children to lunch today? Nevertheless, we tried to try everything served just to sample things. And now for the main event. Then came the chicken itself. I’m sorry Michiganders. No dice. Zehnder’s does not hold a candle (whatever that might mean) to Knott’s when it comes to chicken. It’s like comparing Five Guys to In N Out Burgers for gosh sakes. Do I expect Zehnder’s to close immediately based upon my review? No. However, I’m going to guess that the vast majority of diners today have never been to California and/or Knott’s Berry Farm. It almost makes me want to buy each and everyone of them an airline ticket. The chicken wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t have dessert. Hold it just one second. I don’t want you to think that Zehnder’s chicken was bad. It wasn’t. It just wasn’t anywhere close to what Knott’s serves. Nevertheless, we got beyond the substandard chicken and moved onto dessert. The apple pie soufflé with vanilla ice cream was superb. I don’t think I’ve ever met a sweet soufflé of any kind smothered in vanilla ice cream that I didn’t like. However, if you must have fried chicken I recommend you save up your money for a trip to Buena Park, California. Before and after you stop to eat chicken at Knott’s you can visit the amusement park. When it comes to wild rides it’s better than Disneyland. Farwell Fairgrounds – Farwell, Michigan Street cred. Folks, again as this is written, I have now seen figure 8 racing at 226 tracks. No one had ever topped that mark. That might make what I have to say have a little more credibility. Michigan, along with Iowa and Nebraska has the best big car figure 8 racing. By “Big car” I mean cars powered by V-8 engines. Ontario, the province not the Inland Empire city, and Pennsylvania have the best small car figure 8 racing. By “Small car” I’m talking about those racers powered by four-cylinder engines. U.S.A. Derby. Tonight’s racing was sanctioned by the U.S.A. Derby group. They do a nice job of promoting figure 8 racing all over Michigan. Their competitor Unique Motorsports does an equally good job. It would be great if EVERY state had a figure 8 track promoter or two. Are you listening Chris K.? Free-standing figure 8 events were not part of my racing DNA. I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that before I became a trackchaser I have never ever attended a “free-standing” figure 8 race. That’s true. However, trackchasing changed me on that front. Many times a figure 8 show is run over a short and very muddy track. Sometimes the cars can’t get going much faster than 20 M.P.H. Is that racing? Don’t get me started. However, tonight’s V-8 stock car figure 8 racing was most entertaining. They were racing for gosh sakes! The huge crowd on hand loved it. Carol and I loved it. The Farwell fair was small itself. There wasn’t much to see there. However, they would not have drawn such a big crowd if the racing was not excellent. Don’t miss the video on this one! STATE COMPARISONS Michigan The Wolverine State This evening I saw my 106th lifetime track in the Wolverine state, yes the Wolverine state. Michigan is not the only state where I have seen racing at more than 100 tracks. My California track total, as this is written, is 127. What’s my next potential “century” state? Iowa. I’ve seen 89 tracks there. I might be the first to ever see 100 or more tracks in the Hawkeye state, yes the Hawkeye 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 Randy’s sayings: I live in my own world. People know me here.
QUICK FACTS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 1,745 miles Chicago, IL (ORD) – Detroit, MI (DTW) – 234 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Detroit Metro Airport – trip begins Belleville, MI Butler, PA Urbana, OH Union, KY East Moline, IL Marshall, MI Armada, MI West Branch, MI Midland, MI Detroit Metro Airport – 2,378 miles RENTAL CAR #2 Detroit Metro Airport – trip begins Greenland, MI Escanaba, MI Escanaba, MI (again!) Hudsonville, MI Greensburg, PA Abingdon, IL Brooklyn, MI Onekama, MI Detroit Metro Airport – 3,429 miles RENTAL CAR #3 LaGuardia (New York) International Airport – trip begins Oreville, PA LaGuardia (New York) International Airport – trip ends – 314 miles AIRPLANE Detroit, MI (DTW) – New York, NY (LGA)– 500 miles New York, NY (LGA) – Montreal, Quebec, Canada (YUL) – 324 miles RENTAL CAR #4 Dorval (Montreal) International Airport – trip begins Essex Junction, VT Brockville, Ontario, Canada Dorval (Montreal) International Airport – trip ends – 482 miles AIRPLANE Montreal, Quebec, Canada (YUL) – Washington, D.C. (IAD) – 489 miles RENTAL CAR #5 Dulles (Washington, D.C.) International Airport – trip begins Reagan (Washington, D.C.) National Airport – trip ends – 110 miles AIRPLANE Reagan (Washington, D.C.) National Airport (DCA) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 929 miles RENTAL CAR #6 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip begins Jackson, MN Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip ends – 366 miles AIRPLANE Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Grand Rapids, MI (GRR) – 374 miles RENTAL CAR #7 Gerald R. Ford (Grand Rapids) International Airport – trip begins Elkton, MI Owendale, MI Farwell, MI Detroit Metro Airport – trip ends – 563 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Wayne County Fairgrounds – $10 Butler Farm Show – $12 (not trackchasing expense) Champaign County Fairgrounds – $12 Florence Speedway – Complimentary admission Quad Cities Speedway – $8 ($2 senior discount – not trackchasing expense) Calhoun County Fairgrounds – $10 Armada County Fairgrounds – $8 Ogemaw County Fairgrounds – $8 Midland County Fairgrounds – $10 Adventure Mountain Raceway – $8 Upper Peninsula International Raceway – $8 Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds – $5 Hudsonville County Fairgrounds – $9 Westmoreland County Fairgrounds – $8 Abingdon Fairgrounds – $10 Michigan International Speedway – $20 Manistee County Fairgrounds – 13 Oreville Kart Club – No charge Champlain Valley Expo – $16 Brockville Ontario Speedway – $5 Canadian Jackson Speedway – $25 Elkton Autumnfest – $10 Silver Bullet Speedway – $11 ($1 senior discount) Farwell Fall Festival – $12 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 – 1,904 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 
