Greetings from West Liberty, Ohio
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Mac-O-Chee Raceway Asphalt oval Lifetime Track #2,709 THE EVENT Editor’s note: Race watching as a fan is usually more fun if you know who the drivers are. I know the drivers of the Buckeye Outlaw Kart Racing club. I’ve talked to them and I’ve interviewed them. The Buckeye boys and girls have a good little group going on in their part of the world. Good on them. You won’t want to miss my video from Mac-O-Chee where I interviewed six of the key players. I AM A TRACKCHASER. My name is Randy Lewis (above with one of the many people I met while trackchasing in Indonesia). I live in San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so. Trackchasing for me is all about three things. First, I enjoy auto racing. Secondly, my hobby requires a good deal of overnight travel. When I venture out to see a race at a track I’ve never seen before I do not want my trip limited to racing only. The very last thing I want when I’m done trackchasing is to have memories of only racing. I want to take some time to see the local attractions of wherever I might be visiting. Those visits in many cases will provide more long-lasting memories than whatever I saw on the track. Finally, I want to create a logistical plan that allows me to accomplish the two points mentioned above without depleting my retirement account. That’s trackchasing for me. I’ve been able to see the world doing this. If you’re interested in exactly what I’ve been able to experience all around the U.S. and the world I recommend you click on this link. Trackchasing Tourist Attractions After each and every event that I attend I post a YouTube video, a SmugMug photo album and a very detailed Trackchaser Report about the experience on my website at www.randylewis.org. My trackchasing contributions generate a good deal of interest in what I am doing. My YouTube channel (ranlay) has more than 1.3 million views. My website gets more than 20,000 views every month. Because I have seen racing in 85 countries at this point I am considered the World’s #1 Trackchaser. That’s good enough for me. Now I encourage you to drop down a few spaces and read about today’s trackchasing adventure. As you discover what went on at this track just think about the idea that I’ve done this more than 2,700 times. I don’t mind admitting I am addicted to the hobby of trackchasing. It’s just fun! If you’re interested in looking back and seeing where I’ve been the following link is for you. 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! FOREWORD Sunday, June 13, 2021. SUNDAY One word: Logistics. I’m always telling you that logistics plays an important part in my trackchasing hobby. Last night at 7:30 p.m. I left Jonesboro, Arkansas. I was headed to today’s race location in West Liberty, Ohio. That’s a driving distance of 603 miles. The drive takes about nine hours to complete. I drove seven hours and stopped to sleep in the Greenfield, Indiana Interstate 70 highway rest area. I woke up 3 1/2 hours later and completed the final two hours of the drive. The West Liberty Trifecta. Today I will be completing the “West Liberty trifecta”. What the heck is the West Liberty trifecta? Here goes. West Liberty, Ohio is a small town. Their population is around 1,800. West Liberty was laid out in 1817. In 1833, West Liberty contained five stores, two taverns, one tannery, a merchant mill, a sawmill, a carding machine, and about 20 residential houses. Yes, West Liberty is small-town America. Nevertheless, the tiny burg is home to three different small race tracks. That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? West Liberty’s Crown Jewel. The crown jewel of those three racing facilities is the McClure Raceway (above). The McClure Raceway was built in about 2015. It’s a tri-oval dirt track. The little track was constructed to be a miniature Pocono with three different kinds of turns. The other two West Liberty race tracks are located at Lions Club Park in West Liberty. One of the tracks is fashioned out of a tractor pull area at Lions Club Park. It’s a paper clip track (above). They race there each Labor Day weekend. The final track of the three is called Mac-O-Chee Raceway (above). This is an asphalt track that is primarily used for quarter midget racing in town. The Buckeye Outlaw Kart Racing club. All of the racing at these three small ovals is organized and sanctioned by the Buckeye Outlaw Kart Racing club. I tried to visit Mac-O-Chee last year but the race date was canceled because the women’s softball team was playing at the ballfield right off of turns three and four at Mac-O-Chee. If it’s not one thing; it’s something else! The first and only trackchaser to see the West Liberty Trifecta. I was the first trackchaser ever to see any racing at the McClure Raceway and also at the Lions Club Park tractor pulling area. Today I was also among the first trackchasers ever to see any racing at Mac-O-Chee. I told the racers after I came to the McClure Raceway and published a video that other trackchasers were going to be following me to see racing and trying to complete their own West liberty trifecta. That was the case today as Bryan and Sue Dolphy showed up as well as Rick Schneider. Some of the Buckeye drivers tell me that trackchasers have come to their other tracks since I first darkened their door. I don’t mind doing the research that provides a future trackchasing plan for my fellow competitors. It’s the least I can do so they don’t get discouraged and quit the hobby out right…after they see my lifetime totals! Met a lot of my Buckeye Outlaw Kart friends today. Today I followed up with several of the friends I’ve made with the Buckeye Outlaw Kart Racing club in the past. The first person I got a chance to say hi to was Bob McClure. Bob is the elder McClure of the farming clan and also the starter for the races. He goes by “Robert E” or “Bob”. I also got a chance to talk to Nick Hostetler, Dallas Rose, Robert McClure, Alex VanHouten and Brandon Dingey. The folks that are part of the Buckeye Outlaw Kart Racing club are a friendly bunch. Buckeye races three different classes of cars. The modifieds are the top class followed by the stocks. A modified is just a little bit more powerful and sophisticated than the stocks. They’ve also got a group for the youngsters aged 8 to 13 called Jr. Stocks. They just started this class last year. Buckeye has had about 25 cars and drivers garner points this season. Today was a warm and humid day. It wasn’t quite as bad as Arkansas was yesterday. Nevertheless, I was operating on just three hours of sleep. It was even more of a challenge for the drivers. Can you imagine wearing long pants and the upper half of a fire suit on a day where the temperature is approaching 90° with matching humidity? That’s tough. Glad to have the chance to interview today’s drivers. Today I did something that I haven’t done very often and I wish I did more of. I interviewed several of the drivers asking them questions from what’s your racing background to how did you come up with your car’s racing number. Everyone I asked to be involved was more than accommodating. I’d highly recommend you take a look at my video to see the key players that make up the Buckeye Outlaw Kart Racing club. They’ve been racing here since 1959! I was told they’ve been racing quarter midgets at the asphalt Mac-O-Chee Raceway since 1959. That’s more than 60 years. Current modified point leader Nick Hostetler, won a 100-lap quarter midget race when the track was brand new. Nick is still racing today and ended up winning the modified feature. Part of trackchasing’s political drama. I hadn’t seen trackchaser Rick Schneider for years maybe as much as a decade. You’ll be happy to know that he’s still as grumpy as ever. Rick stopped reporting his tracks many years ago because of a dust-up with track commissioner, Will White. If I had to guess Rick’s track totals are somewhere around Guy Smith’s totals in the 1800s. Today I was seeing racing at my 2,709th-lifetime track. I also got a chance to chat with Brian and Sue Dolphy. They live way down by St. Louis on the Illinois side of the river. They were out enjoying the idea that St. Louis is a fairly central location for a very large number of race tracks. If you were to take a radius of 500 miles and make a circle around St. Louis that might be the most racetrack dense 500-mile circle anywhere in the country. Today’s racing format would feature each class having two heat races and a feature race. Robert McClure (above far right) was one driver who was competing in both the stock and the modified divisions. That’s a difficult challenge on such a hot and humid day when each feature race for those two classes was 30 laps. Free. They don’t charge any admission for the racing in West Liberty. This allows the fans to bring a lawn chair and find a comfortable position to watch. Anybody can walk right into the pits and speak with the drivers as well. It’s a very down-home approach. As I mentioned the highlight of my day was getting to interview so many of the Buckeye race drivers Dallas Rose (above) was one of those drivers. Do NOT miss that video. It is linked elsewhere in this report. Mac-O-Chee required a good bit of driving for me. When the racing was finished it was time for me to hightail it over to St. Louis. That was going to entail another six-hour drive and a bit more than 300 miles of driving. When I return the National Car Rental Racing Toyota Camry tomorrow it is going to have just a little bit more than 3,000 miles on the trip odometer. I’ve had the car for eight days. Where did all the workers go? On the way out of town, I stopped at the Dairy Queen. I was a little bit discouraged when I saw 10 cars waiting in the drive-through lane. I figured I would outsmart everyone and go inside and order what I wanted. That’s when I saw a sign that said because of a staffing shortage the lobby ordering option was closed. Everyone had to go to the drive-through. I couldn’t wait for that. The next place on my list of options was a stop at the Steak n’ Shake in Urbana. When I was a kid, we always went to the Steak n’ Shake on Sunday after church. When I pulled up in the drive-through line to order I saw a sign that said they would be closing early because of a staffing shortage. I am seeing all kinds of signs everywhere I go advertising the need for workers. Maybe when the extra unemployment insurance runs out in September and when the stimulus checks have floated away maybe more people will want to get back into the labor force. I hope so. This had been a very busy and productive trip. This had been a very productive trip. I got off to a rocky start a week ago Friday. The track that I wanted to see was canceled because of rain two days in advance of its race day. Nevertheless, we saved that day with a trip to the Outlaw Motor Speedway in Oklahoma. Outlaw was a new track for Carol. I get lots of help from lots of people. Then on Saturday yard kart racer David Hardy helped us out. Even though we almost got rained out at the Whispering Creek Raceway we snuck it in by the narrowest of margins. The next day we were joined by our longtime friends Ron and Sandy Otto for an afternoon of racing at the Ste. Genovese County Fairgrounds in Missouri. A woman spectator or possible employee was run over on the track by a caged kart driven by a youngster. I inquired later to find out that she had no broken bones and only a concussion. Following that race, we had a nice dinner and got a first-hand tour of Ste. Genevieve from Ron and Sandy who grew up there. Big-time sports. In the meantime, Carol and I were able to see one of the Women’s College Softball World Series games. We had intended to see another game, actually one of the championship games of the World Series, but were rained and couldn’t stay for the rain date. That being the case I put Carol back on an airplane on Monday. Then I was off for a series of trackchasing adventures which required quite a bit of driving. Monday was off tonight as well as Tuesday. At least on Tuesday, I got a chance to see a minor-league baseball game in Florence, Kentucky. Then on Wednesday, I joined Greg Stuart for the USAC midget racing at the Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis. $127,000 to win; that’s big. A real racing highlight for me was seeing the 2021 “Dream” race on Thursday night at the Eldora Speedway. That race paid an enormous $127,000 to win. Brandon Overton of Georgia won the big money. Then Overton incredibly came back and won the rescheduled 2020 Dream race at Eldora worth $126,000 on Saturday night. He’ll be eating steak for a while. I was the first trackchaser to visit these three tracks. Friday night I jumped over to Union, Missouri to see about as rustic of a five-car enduro as anyone could see. I was also the first trackchaser to attend a race at that facility. On Saturday John Simpson joined me first in Black Rock, Arkansas and then Bono, Arkansas for some UTV woods racing and later caged kart racing. It was one of the more hot and humid days that I can recall in recent memory. A true touring highlight of the entire year. A real touring highlight of the weekend was stopping at Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana. I’m a big fan of basketball and more specifically high school basketball. Hoosier Gym was featured in the movie “Hoosiers” starring Gene Hackman in 1985. The actual basketball arena was built 100 years ago in 1921. I really want to get back there and see a high school basketball game at Hoosier Gym. That brings us up to today. Today I knocked out the West Liberty trifecta. I was happy to do that. I saw a lot of the friends that I have made over my previous two visits to town. Despite having seen racing at almost all of the permanent oval tracks in the country there’s still enough to keep me busy for pretty much the rest of the summer. Hard to believe but true. Here’s an interesting stat. I’ve seen racing at 36 new tracks so far in 2021. At some 22 of those 36 tracks, I was the first trackchaser ever to visit the track. I find that nearly impossible to believe. We have literally hundreds of people who have submitted track lists and none of those people had been to the 22 tracks that I had seen this year before I went there? What’s up with that? Tomorrow morning I’ll hop on an airplane to fly four hours back to Los Angeles from St. Louis. Then if everything stays normal, I’ll jump on an airplane next Friday and do this kind of thing all over again. My hobby can definitely keep me on my toes during the summertime. C’mon people. Keep the right side up. I might point out as I’ve been driving along this past week but I’ve seen three automobile accidents. They all happened right in front of me. As a matter of fact, when I was driving through Cincinnati a few nights ago I was in the center lane and they were all wrecking in the fast lane and crashing into the median. I had to dodge flying debris on that one. What is friggin’ wrong with people? Randy Lewis – 85 countries – 2,709 tracks. Ohio The Buckeye State This afternoon I saw racing at my 87th-lifetime track in the Buckeye, yes, the Buckeye State. I hold the #6 trackchasing ranking in Ohio. Ohio ranks #10, amongst all the states, in tracks seen for me in the U.S. Here’s a link to my all-time Ohio state trackchasing list. I have made 61 separate trips to Ohio seeing these tracks. 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 Ohio sayings: Sneakers and athletic footwear are strictly “tennis shoes” here. JUST THE 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 840 tracks of my lifetime total. That’s a fact, Jack. Total Trackchasing Countries My nearest trackchasing competitor, a native of Belgium, has seen racing in more than 30 fewer countries compared to my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results 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.
See it in pictures! 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. A day spent at the Mac-O-Chee Raceway, a track built in 1959. 
