Lexington 104 Speedway

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

THURSDAY

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

This trackchasing weekend features Mother’s Day on Sunday. The weekend also includes “The first Saturday in May”. These two celebrations are noteworthy for a couple of reasons.

 

 

The trackchasing demographic.

The people who participate in trackchasing generally follow along a fairly predictable demographic. The hobby caters to men. The hobby caters to single man. The hobby caters to men who are married but without children.

 

 

It is presumed that all Trackchasers have had a mother. However, because the trackchasing group is not made up much of “family people” Mother’s Day, as a celebration, is way down on the list for most trackchasers.

 

 

Then there was “Trackchasing’s First Mother”.

However I am married to “Trackchasing’s First Mother”. That’s right wife Carol is also known as “Trackchasing’s First Mother”.

 

 

She was the first trackchaser ever to enter the group as a mother. Frankly, she still may be the only person loosely associated with the hobby to any significant degree who is also the mother of children. Is that like winning a one-car senior champ feature event?

 

 

How could I reward Carol?

Being that this is Mother’s Day I had to find a suitable celebration and reward for Carol’s great family stewardship. This began some forty-one years ago for us. I thought I had the perfect gift.

 

 

This is where the “First Saturday in May” comes in.

That’s where, “The first Saturday in May” comes into play. Did you know that the first Saturday in May is when the Kentucky Derby happens every year? Of course most folks know the Kentucky Derby emanates from Louisville, Kentucky.

 

 

I’ve been wanting to go to the derby for many years. I have a rather extensive list of sports viewing activities attached to my “Spectator Sports Resume”. I’ve always been a huge sports fan. If you take a look at my sports viewing resume I think you will agree. I’ve attended most of the big events in the U.S. sporting world. Here’s a link to that page on my website:

 

 

My sports spectating resume

 

 

 

I’ve seen horseracing at nearly 20 tracks. I’ve seen horse racing from Santa Anita to Saratoga to Hialeah. I’ve even seen horse racing in Argentina.   However I had never been to Churchill Downs. I had never seen the Kentucky Derby. That was going to change this week…hopefully.

 

 

What did Carol think of the idea?

When I first approached Carol with the idea she loved it. Then I asked her a question that I was most interested in finding out her opinion about. During the Kentucky derby weekend trip would she like to see any auto racing?

 

 

Banned!

You may or may not know that Carol was effectively banned a few years ago from the trackchasing hobby when Guy Smith, current trackchasing commissioner, took over power. Did Guy let the power go to his head? Possibly so. He immediately changed the long-term policies held by Will White with regard to Carol’s track lists. This left “Trackchasing’s First Mother” on the outside looking in.

 

 

Since that time Carol’s active trackchasing has diminished a good deal. Nevertheless she is part of the “World’s #1 Trackchasing Couple”. She helps the Lewis clan add to their worldwide leading total from time to time. I thank her for that.

 

 

I might as well add a few tracks.

Carol told me, “That if I’m going to be out on the road I might as well add a few tracks”. Yes I was somewhat surprised by that answer but it sounded good to me.

 

 

Carol and I would leave the greater Southern California area on Thursday afternoon. After a quick flight up to Seattle and then on to St. Louis we were ready to get this Kentucky Derby party started.

 

 

Stumbling blocks are all part of this game.

However when you travel as much as I do you know that you are likely to encounter unknown and unexpected stumbling blocks along the way. Our flights to St. Louis were without incident. However, when we picked up our rental car “issues” surfaced.

 

 

I selected a big old Buick from the National Car rental lot. Those cars ride nice. The car was upgraded with a sunroof, leather seats and the like. This was going to be a grand a piece of transportation for our four-day trip.

 

 

We left the rental car lot at a little past midnight. Just a mile or two out of the airport a warning light on the dash told me we had a low left rear tire. I got out and checked. The tire didn’t look low. Nevertheless, since we were so close to the airport we elected to return the car.

 

 

A most helpful staff.

Most of the staff at the National Car Rental location in St. Louis were more than helpful. I must say the older lady working the exit gate was a real sourpuss. Nevertheless, the other folks went out of their way to help.

 

 

Not only did the Buick have a low tire it also had damage to the left front fender. I had not noticed that in the dark. We sorted all of that out and they agreed we hadn’t done any damage. The staff was most apologetic about the flat tire.

 

 

Soon they rolled out a big beautiful brand-new gray Chrysler 300. This is an excellent road car. It also seems to get pretty good mileage. Carol is thrilled with the comfy luxurious and smooth ride. It lets her write her postcards without any problems.

 

 

Priceline was there for us.

Priceline.com had set us up with a beautiful upgraded one-bedroom suite at the Towne Place Suites by Marriott hotel in Fenton, Missouri. Despite ordering the room from Priceline I was given all of the amenities awarded to a normal full price paying platinum Marquis member.

 

 

 

FRIDAY

 

 

Just resting up.

This trip was going to have an odd series of wake up calls. On this morning we could sleep in late and we did… 11 a.m. We even slept through the complementary breakfast period.

 

 

With an extended check out of 1 p.m. we knew we could relax and get a couple of key projects completed. That quiet time was interrupted at 11 a.m. by a fire alarm screaming throughout our building. Fortunately there didn’t seem to be a fire anywhere nearby.

 

 

The Kentucky Derby was going to be a big deal.

The Kentucky Derby is a very major sporting event. I would put it right up there with the World Series and Super Bowl in terms of demand for tickets.

 

 

We were headed all the way across the country to attend this large sporting event and we didn’t have any tickets. I had been researching things for the past week or two. I found the tickets to be very high-priced. Anything in the grandstand started at about $300 a seat and went up into the $2,000-$3000 range.

 

 

This was not my first rodeo.

Nevertheless, I have a good deal of experience in dealing with situations like this. We were going to get into the Kentucky Derby and watch the race. I just didn’t know exactly how that was going to work out. Carol can sometimes be skeptical about my wild-eyed positive laced plans. However in her heart of hearts she knows I always come through.

 

 

We were dealing with some logistical obstacles. It was now too late to have anybody mail us tickets to the derby. Except for the infield all Kentucky Derby tickets must be on “card stock” paper. That means a real ticket and no electronic tickets.

 

 

When Carol told me she wanted to go to some auto races on Friday night I quickly found a track that neither of us have been to in Lexington, Tennessee. However after going to Lexington on Friday night we couldn’t get into the greater Louisville area until nearly 3 a.m. early on Saturday morning.

 

 

Flying under the radar.

Most hotels in and around Louisville quadruple the rates during Derby week. Most require a three-day minimum stay. I was lucky to find a Motel 6 about 45 miles south of Louisville charging just $50 per night. I made a reservation there a few weeks ago. I knew I could cancel if we ended up not coming to the derby. I have found that Motel 6 properties generally don’t jack up their rates when a major sporting event is nearby.

 

 

We had our airfare locked up, a rental car and our hotel. We were set up for the Kentucky Derby spectacle. However we still didn’t have any tickets.

 

 

At this point there was no time for anyone to mail us tickets. We couldn’t physically pick up any tickets until we got into Louisville on Saturday morning, the day of the race. This would give us a soft negotiating position with potential sellers. Sellers want to get their money now and exchange the tickets as quickly as possible. They wouldn’t want to wait until a few hours before the race to get rid of their ticket….unless they had too.

 

 

Craigslist?

Nevertheless I continued to check Craigslist. I was also scanning various ticket brokers to see what was available. I was constantly phoning and texting people about the availability of their tickets. We always had the fallback position of buying general admission tickets in the infield. I really didn’t want to do that.

 

 

We could probably get into the infield of the Kentucky Derby for $60 or so. However, I’ve been told that the infield was so crowded with people that I might not be able to see the race. I was interested in seeing the Kentucky derby just to say, “I did it”. I certainly didn’t want to be in the infield and not be able to see the race. That would defeat my objective.

 

 

No not that experience this time.

Watching from the infield would be a totally different experience. I just didn’t want my one and only derby experience to be THAT experience. I wasn’t interested in buying cheap things cheap. I wanted to buy good things cheap…or at least not outrageously expensive.

 

 

It was a beautiful weather today. The temperature was 77° with blue skies. Tomorrow, derby day, was going to be have similar weather. That probably would increase the demand for tickets as well.

 

 

Are you still selling your tickets?

We continued to motor on down Interstate 55 toward Lexington, Tennessee with me searching, analyzing and communicating with potential tickets sellers. Our fallback position for grandstand seating would be to simply show up at the derby with my “Need Two” sign. We made a substantial cash withdrawal from our checking account. We had the cash. We were ready to spend it on one super Mother’s Day weekend in celebration of the “First Saturday in May”.

 

 

A mood movie.

On the plane ride out here I had downloaded a special iTunes movie titled, “First Saturday in May”. It was a documentary about the Kentucky Derby and the small horse racing teams that were trying to make the big event. It got us both in the mood for what we were about to see.

 

 

On the injured reserve list.

I was also “traveling injured” on this trip. Nearly two weeks ago I went to a UTV race in Rosedale, Indiana. I saw the Hogback Challenge Midwest Cross Country racing event.

 

 

I was pretty proud of myself for hiking all the way out into the woods to see the really fun racing. The UTVs race up and down hills and through mud bogs and the like. Little did I know I was traipsing about in huge patches of poison ivy!

 

 

The problem did not manifest itself until a few days ago. That was about a week after I had encountered the unknown problem. I was wearing shorts at the time. I always wear shorts. Virtually no one else was doing that in the large group of spectators out in the woods. Maybe they were smarter than me?

 

 

Now my legs have broken out into blisters and large red blotches in all the areas that were unprotected. I’ve been to the dermatologist. I’ve now got prescription medications I will need to use over the next 2-3 weeks before the problem goes away. It sure is itchy!

 

 

$500 for one or both?

All along the 300-mile plus drive down to Tennessee from the greater St. Louis area I continued to monitor Craigslist and other sources for Kentucky Derby ticket information. One fellow was offering two seats for $500 each. I mistakenly thought he was selling his two tickets for $500 in total. I offered him $400, which I would come to find out was $600 short of his original offering price! My “generosity” was met with rejection.

 

 

Then another guy had two really good seats at $500 for the pair. His listing was on Craigslist for less than 20 minutes. I called him up only to find out he just sold the tickets. I can always wait until tomorrow. We’ll be on the ground of Churchill Downs. However, if I could I thought it might be a good idea to wrap things up early. Early in my world would be terribly late in other people’s world.

 

 

What about a “walk around” ticket?

My next best ticket option was something called “walk around” seats. Believe it or not these tickets, which do not provide a formal seat, are highly prized. They would give us access to the third floor grandstand. People were “dressed to the nines and celebrities frolicked about” or so I was told.

 

 

Did I want to give a major part of my life savings to these guys?

I had already been in contact with some “characters”. Did I want to entrust a minimum of $600 plus to them? Did I want to count on them holding their tickets until I showed up in Louisville on Saturday morning? If they sold them out from under me I would be back to square one.

 

 

I found a guy with two walk around tickets for sale. He was asking $700 for them. I offered $600. He came back with a counter of $650 for the two tickets. We texted back-and-forth for a few moments and finally agreed that $600 would be the selling price.

 

 

My new partner and I had to agree not to screw up the other’s weekend.

I then picked up the phone to give my new business partner a personal phone call. When he answered I told him we each had the potential for screwing up the other’s Kentucky Derby weekend. If he sold his tickets before I got there that would be bad for me. If I didn’t show up with the cash as promised that might be bad for him.

 

 

He sounded like really a nice guy and concerned about my benefit. In business I was trained to read people from the first moment they uttered a word. Frankly, I think I’m pretty good at it. I could tell this guy was sincere.

 

 

I know what you’re thinking. Con men are trained to sound sincere. However, I am an excellent judge of people. I knew this guy was going to come through.

 

 

He promised not to sell his tickets until I picked them up tomorrow morning (Saturday – race day) at 11 a.m. I promised that come hell or high water I would show up with the cash. He texted me his home address and at that point we were all set. We had tickets to the Kentucky derby!

 

 

I would be less than sincere if I didn’t tell you I immediately checked Zillow.com to insure I would be visiting a quality neighborhood. Carol hates it when I do that. It’s all part of the backup plan to insure a quality contact. The seller’s neighborhood passed muster.

 

 

Now it was time for auto racing.

We were now just a few miles from the Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tennessee. I think this place used to be called “Bargertown Speedway.

 

 

Life is a series of choices.

We had a choice. We could stop and get something to eat now or we could chance it by going to the track. I don’t take the chance on track concessions that often anymore. You just never know what you’re going to get. I guess this is a case of a few tracks ruining it for the one’s who do a good job with concessions.

 

 

I would Yelp! it.

A quick search of Yelp! showed a place called Exit 87 BBQ. They had a four and one-half star rating from 30 reviewers. They were also located just off the next highway exit. Exit 87 BBQ is located in Jackson, Tennessee where Pringles potato chips have been manufactured since day one.

 

 

Exit 87 is a food truck of sorts. It’s permanently anchored and not going anywhere any time soon…but it’s still a food trunk. I’ve got no problem with that.

 

 

They had several picnic tables where we could eat our food. I ordered three quarters of a pound of pork barbecue and a large order of baked beans. Carol had a slaw dog. We both had drinks. The entire bill came to only $10.87. That was more than reasonable. This was certainly a unique eatery. I wouldn’t quite give it a 4.5-star rating but it fit the bill at that point in time.

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Lexington 104 Speedway – Lexington, Tennessee

 

 

We were early.

We pulled into the Lexington 104 speedway at about 6:30 p.m. I had not been able to confirm what time the racing was to begin. Lots of tracks in the short track racing industry like to keep their customers guessing. Racecars were still pulling into the pit area so I figured they wouldn’t be starting until after 7 p.m.

 

 

A local church group was parking the cars and manning the concession stand. I’m sure they were volunteers and hopefully getting a cut of the concession sales. Nice folks.

 

 

That’s what I’m talking about.

Tonight the track was having a special promotion. All mothers were getting into the track for no charge as part of the Mother’s Day weekend celebration. I’ve been to more than 2,200 tracks. Right off the bat I can’t recall mothers getting in on a complementary basis anywhere in the past.

 

 

From what I could tell tonight’s track used to be called the Bargertown Speedway. I don’t know when that track name stopped and when the Lexington 104 Speedway came into existence. I’m guessing the Lexington name is only a year or two old.

 

 

The track has definitely been here for a while. It’s a red dirt oval about 1/3-mile in distance. The track itself was nicely prepared.

 

 

Lots of classes; not too many racecars.

There were six classes on the racing card tonight. Like last week in Virginia car counts were skinny. Actually they were very skinny. The largest class came with about eight cars. The smallest had three. There were street stocks, E-mods, modifieds, crate late models and a vintage group of 1960s style modifieds. I liked those cars. I’m always a big fan of vintage racing.

 

 

I was told earlier in the night by one of the track officials that hot laps would begin at 7:15 p.m. When that time came and went I figured they might run way behind schedule. Fortunately they started running hot laps at 7:30. The first race got the green flag at 8 p.m.

 

 

Only one division had enough cars for two heat races. That meant that all of the heats were finished in about 45 minutes or so.

 

 

Come on down!

The track announcer, a young woman, asked me to come down during intermission. She wanted to do a quick interview about my trackchasing hobby. Our talk followed a nice tribute to the American flag by Johnny Cash, then a live performance of the national anthem as well as thanking all of the church volunteers for their efforts. I spent a few minutes telling the crowd what my hobby is all about. They seemed to appreciate it

 

 

Meeting new race fans.

Following my interview, which was conducted in front of the entire grandstand audience, a couple of racing fans came up to say hello. One fellow was from Mississippi. He was highly recommending the Corinth Speedway in his home state. I have never been there.

 

 

The other gentleman, named Dan, was from upstate New York. He now lives in Tucson, Arizona. He told me he had already seen 20 races this season. That’s impressive. He had his large motorhome out in the parking lot.

 

 

10 p.m. and we’re out of here.

Going into tonight’s racing event Carol and I were looking at a 10 p.m. departure regardless of where we were in the program. We had a four-hour drive we needed to make to get over toward Louisville for tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby. During that drive we would also lose an hour to time zone changes. Even with all of that we would only get 5-6 hours of sleep.

 

 

If we left at 10 p.m. our expected arrival time, without stops, would be about 3 a.m. into Elizabethtown, Kentucky. That was pushing it but that’s what happens with this hobby.

 

 

No wrecker?

We ended up watching the first two features. The street stocks started eight cars. The E-mods had just three. There were a couple red flag incidents for accidents. The track took a very long time to clear the one-car problems. In one instance the disabled car sat against the crash wall for five minutes before anyone came to tow it back to the pit area. They didn’t have a tow truck but used a skip loader.

 

 

I wish these folks all the luck in the world.

It was a nice night at a track that’s trying to resurrect itself. The crowd was relatively small. The car counts were as well. However they are just beginning. It was nice of them to offer a promotion for Mother’s Day. Friday nights are a tough sell in rural areas when the racecar drivers and fans have to work all day. I wish them all the best.

 

 

Carol’s comments.

Carol had a few comments about tonight’s racing. She enjoyed the wideness of the track and the track’s banking. She tried the two-dollar popcorn and found it a bit salty. She was appreciative that there was no dust to speak of. The crate late models did kick up some dust. They were the most powerful cars to hit the track. Overall it was not a bad night on the dust front. Carol also told me she enjoyed listening to that fellow from California speak during intermission about his crazy hobby. According to her he held his own in a most admirable fashion.

 

 

It was with all of the aforementioned preamble that we headed out of the track along interstate 40 eastbound. Tomorrow is going to be a very big day in our sports watching careers. The Kentucky derby! We couldn’t wait.

 

Good night.

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

 

 

SATURDAY

 

 

Bucket list item!

Today is derby day! There’s an outside chance we might see a car race following the horseracing. However, that’s still up in the air. The main focus today is the Kentucky Derby. 

 

 

Tickets. We gotta get those tickets.

The first item on our Saturday morning agenda was to get our Kentucky Derby race tickets. I consider myself an expert on getting tickets to high-profile worldwide major sporting events. I think anybody who has followed my work over the years would agree with that statement.

 

 

Over the past several days I had been researching ticket resale sites such as StubHub and TicketMaster. I spent a good amount of time on Craigslist where a number of Kentucky Derby offerings were available.

 

 

We were not going to be available in Louisville to pick up our tickets until Saturday morning (that was now). We had left California on Thursday morning. This prevented anybody from mailing us the tickets at the last minute. It also prevented us from making a commitment to any ticket seller to get the tickets any earlier than Saturday morning. 

 

 

Our travel plan did not help our ticket-buying plan.

None of those logistics were supportive for our getting tickets. Nevertheless, our travel schedule was what it was and we would have to live with it.

 

 

The least expensive grandstand side seats were in the least desirable portion of the grandstand. Go figure! Those were the “100” level seats. These were bleacher seats with no elevation from one row to the next and no cover. These seats STARTED at $325 per copy and some (from delirious sellers) went up to nearly $1,000 each.

 

 

Those seats looked attractive because they were the least expensive other than infield tickets. General admission infield tickets were selling for $60-$75 each. However, after talking to folks, I wasn’t sure I could see any part of the race from the infield. Obviously the infield was uncovered. The least expensive grandstand seats were also uncovered. We were going to spend 6-8 hours at Churchill Downs. We probably needed to have some shade.

 

 

I had been texting offers to purchase tickets to several people on Craigslist as we motored our way over toward Kentucky from our arrival point in St. Louis, Missouri yesterday. Some responded immediately to my text messages and some did not.

 

 

SRO.

I made contact with one seller who was offering two “walk around” tickets at $350 each or $700 for the pair. In Kentucky Derby lingo a “walk around” ticket is the same as “standing room only”.

 

 

I didn’t care all that much to have a standing room only ticket when we were going to be at the Derby for so many hours. Nevertheless, these walk around tickets gave us access to the second and third level grandstand area. I was told by the seller there would be plenty of open seats for us to sit in and that we wouldn’t be standing all day.

 

 

Multiple negotiations at the same time.

While I was negotiating that deal I was trying to negotiate another situation with another seller. He had two seats, with backs, in the second level grandstand. Those were elevated seats and he wanted $500 for the pair. When I called he told me he had just sold the seats. Dang. Those were one of the best deals I had seen so far.

 

 

Ultimately I negotiated back-and-forth and finally agreed upon a price of $600 for the two walk around seats. Those tickets would give us access to the third-floor grandstand. This morning Carol and and I showed up at the seller’s home in a very upscale neighborhood of Louisville.

 

 

There was a funny thing that happened right after I hung up the phone with the guy I agreed to buy our tickets from. The other fellow with the two very good seats for $500 called me back. His buyers has cancelled their deal with him. He wanted to know if I was still interested. Sorry I told him. I had already made a deal. When I make a deal I stick to it.

 

 

Nice guy.

The fellow in Louisville with our tickets could not have been nicer. I exchanged six crisp $100 bills for the two ducats. He even threw in a local newspaper describing all the dues and don’ts for the Kentucky Derby. With that we bid our farewell and headed on down toward Churchill Downs.

 

 

This was not the Kentucky Derby’s first rodeo.

Today was going to be the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby. Yes, they have been doing this for a while. I was a rookie with the Kentucky derby although I have been to horse race tracks all the way from Santa Anita to Hialeah to Saratoga.

 

 

The boys and girls at TripAdvisor are an excellent resource.

I had been communicating with my friends on TripAdvisor regarding this adventure as well. They gave me several pieces of advice. It’s important to get additional learning from people more experienced in an activity than you are. Nevertheless, when push comes to shove you have to make your own decisions as to how you’re going to do things.

 

 

Some of the advice I had been given told me that parking at the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, which is the football stadium home to the University of Louisville Cardinals, was a good idea. The stadium is only about a one-mile walk to Churchill Downs. That would be our plan. Parking at the stadium was priced at $20 per car.

 

 

However when we arrived into the stadium area we noticed some side street parking available for just $10. This turned out to be more convenient than parking at the stadium. It was cheaper as well. When the races were over we would hotfoot it back to our car and hopefully beat the traffic out of Churchill Downs.

 

 

I like to keep Carol in good shape.

Fortunately Carol is a good walker as am I. I guess all of the money I’ve spent on her 24-Hour Fitness dues has paid off in spades. As I dictate that particular comment she is rolling her eyes.

 

 

What will I remember most from the derby experience?

Probably the most vivid remembrance of the Kentucky Derby will be all of the ladies and their Kentucky derby hats. I would guesstimate that 80% or more of all of the women were wearing these stylish colorful and sometimes outlandish hats. Carol had brought a hat as well. So she fit in quite nicely.

 

 

Quite a few of the gentlemen were duded up as well. The traditional hot set up for the males was the seersucker suit. Years ago I had a seersucker suit myself. There were lots of younger people supporting sport coats and shorts. Bowties abounded.

 

 

The real thing….or I know where you live.

The best thing about buying our tickets from a reputable fellow who let us come to his house to pick them up was that they wouldn’t be counterfeit. I have encountered counterfeit tickets in the past when buying from resellers. You can check out my Georgia Dome NCAA Final Four story for that escapade. However today our tickets scanned quite nicely. We were inside Churchill Downs.

 

 

Let’s look around and buy some stuff.

I wanted to get a program from the Kentucky Derby as a keepsake. They were priced a most reasonable five dollars per copy. I also paid nine dollars for a Churchill Downs racing form. That was a pure waste of money. The Kentucky Derby reprogram had a good deal of the race form information in it so I didn’t need a separate racing form. That was the worst nine dollars I had spent in some time.

 

 

We checked out the official Kentucky Derby souvenir outlets. I would’ve liked to get a Kentucky derby souvenir t-shirt price today at $29. However they didn’t really have anything that caught my eye in the material that I was looking for. Plus I have so many t-shirts from so many souvenir locations that I ended up passing on the offers available.

 

 

Just out of rehab? Try these.

The one thing that anybody who attends a Kentucky Derby should do, unless they are just getting out of a 30-day alcohol rehab program, is to have a mint julep. That was our first concession item of the day.

 

 

If you attend an event like the Kentucky Derby and pass on the iconic items available for sale because of price then you should have stayed home in the first place. Today’s meant juleps were $13 per copy but included a beautiful “nearly glass” engraved souvenir glass. Heck it seemed as if the glass itself would have sold for 13 bucks in the gift shop. 

 

 

Carol wasn’t sure she was going to like the mint juleps. She had one somewhere previously and thought it too strong. However, today she was much more accommodating and enjoyed it very much. I did too. If I had come to the derby on a tour bus I would have invested a lot more of my cash in mint juleps.

 

 

Lunch came from the Mexican eatery booth and also a location that served hot dogs. The tacos passed muster. Although the hotdog was nine dollars it was huge. Later in the day we would have Bloody Marys and alcohol laced lemonades. We probably should’ve stuck with mitt juleps. However they were pretty strong. I would need to drive following the races!

 

 

Derby drawbacks?

There were two major drawbacks to the derby. The first was the expense of the tickets. I have been to the Super Bowl and World Series and many more high-profile events. For many of those shows the business was picking up my tickets. I can’t recall ever spending $300 for a single ticket as we did today.

 

 

The second significant downer at the derby was the crowds. The announced attendance was 167,231. Later when I watched the TV broadcast they said this was the second biggest derby crowd in the 142-year history. Have you ever been to an event with that many folks? I’m not sure I have.

 

 

We did have good access.

It was nice to have the special wristbands that gave us access to the third-floor grandstand. These tickets were going for about $750-$1,000 each. A “box” of six steel folding chairs had a face value on the Kentucky Derby website of $5,000-7,000. Although we didn’t have a seat it wasn’t all that difficult to find seats that were unoccupied. We did get bumped a couple times. However, by that time we had totally trashed the seat area with our concession debris. I know, not very nice huh? Even though we had standing room only tickets we probably sat for 95% of the time we are at the track.

 

 

Today’s racing program.

When I was a boy growing up in central Illinois I used to watch the Kentucky Derby on TV. I wondered why such a large crowd would show up for just one two-minute race. Then, while in college, I started going to Arlington Park near Chicago. That was a great education for a youngster who grown up in a small town.

 

 

Today the Kentucky Derby itself was the 12th race out of fourteen for the day. Post time for the derby would be about 6:30 p.m. local time. By the time we got situated they were already about to begin race number eight. The entire program started at 10:30 a.m. Each race was separated by about 30-40 minutes.

 

 

Place your bets.

Prior to the eighth race I placed our wagers on all of the races through the Kentucky Derby. The betting lines were long and slow. I played five dollar to win tickets on a single horse in races eight through eleven. Then we bet three horses to win in the derby and boxed them all in an exacta.

 

 

New been to a gambling rehab place?

If you don’t know what “boxing them all in an exacta” is then you have never been to a 30-day gambling rehab facility. However those places can be just like prisons. You can use them to educate yourself while you are wiling away your time.

 

 

In the eighth race of the day our horse lost by a nose at the finish. However, in the ninth race our horse, Sharp Azteca won going away at 14 to 1. That winning ticket cashed $70.50. That win covered our entire betting budget of the day of just $65. We were now guaranteed a profit at the betting window.

 

 

Rain? Really?

The possibility of rain was predicted for the greater Louisville area at 6 p.m. and beyond. The 12th race, the Kentucky derby, was scheduled to go off at about 6:30 p.m.

 

 

However, at about 4:30 p.m., during the playing of the national anthem, a significant and someone stray thunderstorm flew over Churchill Downs. We could see from the weather radar that only the corner of the storm had hit our area.

 

 

Now was the time to take cover but there was no cover for the majority of folks.

However it was at this moment that we thanked our lucky stars that we had covered seating for the Kentucky Derby. The folks down in the 100 section, who paid a minimum of $325 for their seats, were scattering like drowned rats at this point. The folks in the infield probably never noticed the rain. Umbrellas are not allowed into the derby along with lots of other things. We were safely ensconced in our covered third-floor grandstand seating area at that point.

 

 

The Kentucky Derby was now!

We had bet three horses to win in the twenty-horse field of the Kentucky Derby itself. I never like to bet the favorites. Favorites win just one time in three on average. They don’t pay much either. I’d rather go with horses paying as much as 20:1 or so.

 

 

One of our picks was leading going into the final stretch. Then Nyquist, the crowd-betting favorite, overtook him. Did you know that Nyquist is named after one of the current players on the Detroit Red Wings? Nevertheless, we ended up finishing second in the derby. Of course, with a “win” ticket that excellent display of prognosticating paid zilch. However, it did give us a thrill during the Kentucky Derby. Now, I have our uncashed betting tickets as a souvenir.

 

 

When will we return? Will we return?

Would I go back to the Kentucky derby again? I don’t think so. It was one of those events that was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime place to attend and be able to say that you “did” the Kentucky Derby.

 

 

However it is expensive. It would be really expensive if we had to pay full price for airfare, hotel, rental car and race tickets. I estimated we paid about 30-40% of what anyone else, with similar services, paid.

 

 

The crowds were bothersome as well. I don’t mind seeing major events where the crowds are huge. That’s what makes the place a major event. However, when you have 167,000 people, and nearly half of them are wearing 3-foot wide brimmed hats it’s a bit much. However I must say there were some very attractive people attending this event. There’s nothing wrong with that. 

 

 

Carol enjoyed her experience. She liked the food. She liked the drinks, which were strong and told me the restrooms were nice. She agreed there were a lot of people and in the end it seemed, “like just another horse race”. She’s been to her share of horse racing events as well so this wasn’t all that new to her.

 

 

If you have a chance you might want to look at the special page on my website at www.randylewis.org titled “My Sports Spectating Resume”. I’ve seen a major event from virtually every major sport that is popular in America. The Kentucky Derby was probably one of the final jewels to add to my sports resume crown. However, I’m sure I’ll think of something else to put in there as well.

 

 

The checkered flag.

When the horses in the Kentucky Derby took the checkered flag, I mean crossed the finish line, Carol and and I bolted for the exits. We had been on the Churchill Downs grounds for about seven hours. Our Kentucky Derby experience had been just that, an experience at a mega worldwide known sporting event. 

 

 

We had missed the experience of watching the derby from the infield. From our level three grandstand area we couldn’t even see the infield. Buildings and other spectating areas blocked it all.

 

 

I suspect it would’ve been fun, for about an hour, to experience the derby from the infield. I’ve heard some pretty wild things go on there. I can only imagine what it was like when the 10-minute rainstorm blew through for all of those folks in the infield. It did seem that I would have been able to see at least some of the Kentucky Derby race from the infield viewing area.

 

 

Easy in. Easy out.

We hiked back the distance of one mile to where our car was parked. We hopped in and drove north out of Churchill Downs without any delay whatsoever. With such a large crowd on hand we were very fortunate to have such an advantageous parking spot at such a ridiculously low fee of $10 for an event like the Kentucky Derby.

 

 

Rained out.

We headed up to Clarksville, Indiana. There’s a racetrack at the fairgrounds there. They were holding a special “derby” race tonight. However when we pulled into the grounds the entire place was vacant.

 

 

It looked as if the thunderstorm that hit the derby earlier in the afternoon had done the auto racing folks in. We will have to catch that track another time.

 

 

Yelp!

Then we appealed to Yelp! for an Italian dinner offering. Yelp! never disappoints. We came up with Tony Impellizzeri’s Pizza a 4.5-star rated Italian eatery in Sellersburg, Indiana.

 

 

We chose pizza over pasta in this informal strip mall location. The pizza was well above average. Even the small 12-inch pizza was more than we could eat by a long shot. The remainder went in a box and became Sunday morning’s breakfast.

 

 

Well done!

However the real highlight of our restaurant visit was the server. This was a 35-year-old lady who appeared to be the daughter of the restaurant’s operator. To put it simply she was the best server we have had in recent memory covering a period of several years. I told her that while at the same time offering up a tip that was probably one of the largest she had received a very long time.

 

 

From there we ran from the restaurant to our car as some of the largest raindrops that anyone is likely to encounter encountered us. The Midwest was putting on a fine display of lightning and rain as we drove an hour southbound toward our hotel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

 

 

It had been a generally beautiful weather day at the Kentucky Derby. Yes, that stray thunderstorm did quickly pass through. The derby was lucky the really bad weather missed the event by 1-2 hours.

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY

 

 

Maybe one more auto race?

We don’t normally go out of our way to see racing at tracks where I have already been but Carol has not. We just have too many things going on to spend our time in that way.

 

 

However when I had begun planning our trip to the Kentucky Derby I asked Carol if she would like to see some auto racing along with the visit. She allowed that because she was traveling such a long way out into the Midwest she might as well add as many auto racing tracks as possible to her lifetime list. The Kentucky Derby was the main focus of the trip. However, weather permitting, there was time for auto racing as well.

 

 

We met that objective on Friday night with a race that was new for both of us in Tennessee. Then last night in Indiana the event was rained out. We had a couple of choices for Carol penciled in for today.

 

 

Not to be.

I had seen both of the tracks that we might have seen today. However the potential track in Kentucky canceled their event because of an unforeseen “insurance problem”. Then another track over in Illinois had a strong rain forecast for the evening.

 

 

We thought about our situation for a while. Then we decided we might as will try to fly home tonight rather than risk being rained out. That’s what we did.

 

 

One of the biggest advantages of my airline sponsorship program is that we can change plans on 10 seconds notice without any financial penalties. Some might think that being able to fly for less than a normal price is the number one advantage. I don’t agree. I think being able to have 100% flexibility is the real advantage.

 

 

No time to waste.

We hopped in the National Car Rental Racing Chrysler 300 and headed from Kentucky over toward St. Louis. The driving time would be a bit more than four hours. We would gain an hour when moving from the Eastern to the Central time zone.

 

 

I told Carol that we would budget five minutes for a rest stop area visit midway in the drive. Then when we made our final gas stop we would have our final five minutes for “personal” needs. Sound too restrictive? We arrived at the gate about 35 minutes before flight time. That was cutting it tight after a more than four-hour drive.

 

 

We nearly missed our connecting flight in Portland, Oregon. At the last minute it had become overbooked. However, a couple of passengers didn’t show up. We were on! A few hours later we pulled into the driveway at what would be about 4 a.m. Kentucky Derby time!

 

 

Bucket list item. Check.

We had a great time. We had knocked off a “bucket list” item. It was a grand experience.

 

 

Good morning.

 

 

 

 

Tennessee

 

 

The Volunteer state

This evening I saw my 32^nd lifetime track in the Volunteer state, yes the Volunteer state. I’ve seen thirty-two or more tracks in 21 different states.

 

 

 

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

Tennessee sayings: Sweet Tea: All tea in Tennessee. Ever. All tea is sweet because HOW ELSE WOULD YOU DRINK IT?!

 

 

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Lexington 104 Speedway – $8

 

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $8

 

 

 

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 525 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,213

 

 

 

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 – 4.47

 

 

 

That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report

 

 

Click on the link below to see the “Video Plus” 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.

 

 

 

Photos from the Kentucky Derby plus racing at the Lexington 104 Speedway