Martinville Raceway

 

 

THE EVENT

I have had the opportunity to follow my trackchasing hobby all over the world. As this is written I have seen racing in 74 countries. My lifetime track total exceeds 2,300. Each and every year I will trackchase in 25-30 states. At track #1,040 I moved into the “World’s #1 Trackchasing” spot.

 

 

I’ve met so many friendly and kind people while visiting tracks all over the world. I still stay in touch with many of them. I consider those long distance friendships one of the highlights of my hobby.

 

 

Below I will tell you about the fellow I met while waiting for tonight’s racing to begin. I am always amazed, and maybe I shouldn’t be, by the people who befriend me after we’ve only met for a few minutes. That was certainly the case tonight. Don’t miss that story.

 

 

My hobby is not only about racing. Trackchasing for me centers around three things. The racing part is pretty obvious. However of equal importance is the logistics of trackchasing and the opportunity to see the world.

 

 

I live in Southern California. The vast majority of tracks are located in the Midwest and East. It takes a good deal of logistical planning to get from where I live to where the tracks are. For the past 15 years I have traveled about 175 nights each and every year. Surprisingly to some, more than half of those overnights were not part of trackchasing.

 

 

Then there’s the travel just for the fun of seeing new things. You won’t want to miss my “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions” page or my “Sports Spectating Resume” page on my website at www.randylewis.org. That will give you some understanding on how important seeing the world is with my hobby.

 

 

Today’s adventure was one more of the 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

 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

Following an afternoon of road racing at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex I headed to Ohio. I was in search of a “day/night” trackchasing double. In less than three hours I would be pulling into the small town of Attica, Ohio.

 

 

Attica was a town of just 800 people. Ohio has a lot of those little quaint burgs. What was the attraction of Attica?

 

 

 

Some might have guessed I was headed to the Attica Raceway Park. Nope. I had already been to that track….all the way back in 1993. Jim Sabo and I saw Joe Gaerte win the sprint car feature. The Attica Raceway Park is officially my 220^th lifetime track.

 

 

ARP races on Friday night. Today was Saturday. I was headed to the go-kart track in Attica. It’s called the Martinville Raceway not MARTINSVILLE Raceway. I’ll tell you more about the track’s name origination just a little bit later.

 

 

The kart track sits behind a grove of trees just off turn three of the bigger track in Attica. Little did I know when I pulled into the kart track but I would be getting a behind the scenes tour of the entire Attica racing operation.

 

 

The weather was going to be good. No rain in sight. I pulled into the Martinville Raceway at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

I was greeted with an unusual sight. The track had been heavily watered, probably too heavily watered. Now the operators of the track as well as the drivers and pit crews were staring at a muddy swamp. What were they going to do?

 

 

It appeared that something had gone wrong with the watering system. They had one lonely pick up truck running slow laps around the track in attempt to “run it in”. That poor guy’s truck was going to need a heavy duty wash before all of the mud dried. If that didn’t happened his 2,500 truck was going to weigh about twice that on Sunday morning!

 

 

I drove the National Car Rental Racing Chrysler 300 into the pit area and found a parking spot. It was a great place to park. I could watch the races from inside the car if I wanted. I was located just off of turn number two. I didn’t see anybody collecting any money to watch.

 

 

I was sitting quietly in my car doing some “paperwork” on my computer. Whenever I have a break in the action I’ll take time to tidy up my reports and organize my photos and videos.

 

 

It was about this time when a man walked in front of my car. He stopped and looked at the front of the grill. Then he commented in my direction, “Did you know you have a bird stuck in your grill”? As a matter fact I did not now that! I didn’t recall hitting any birds on the trip. That’s something you would not be likely to forget.

 

 

Soon I was fully engaged in a conversation with my new friend Mark. It turned out he was sort of the groundskeeper for the Martinville Raceway. Mark was an employee of nearly thirty years at the Attica Raceway Park.

 

 

We soon got into a conversation about how Mark had a serious health problem at the track last year. He collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest. He was essentially pronounced dead at the scene. Luckily track medical personnel were able to revive him after they all but given up on him. He told me they had to shock him four separate times in order to get things back on track. Today his pacemaker will shock his heart if his pulse rate exceeds 200. It was good to see that today Mark looks to be in good health.

 

 

We continued our conversation. Mark noted the Illinois license plate on my car.  He was impressed that I had come all the way from Illinois to Ohio to see tonight’s go-kart racing. Of course I could trump anyone coming from Illinois. I told him I had traveled from California to see the races. He was even more amazed by that!

 

 

It’s kind of funny about the reaction I get from people with regard to my trackchasing. If I had to put those reactions into two general categories it might go something like this. I could tell some people I’ve been to 1.2 million tracks in 575 countries and they would pretty much say, “OK, what’s next”?

 

 

Others like Marc seem to “get it”. They have some innate ability to understand what it takes to do what I do. It’s certainly a passion on my part.

 

 

However, when others hear about it for the first time, if they’ve never done much traveling, they don’t have much idea what it takes to get from point A to B to C. Like I say Mark got it. He was impressed with what I do.

 

 

Soon Mark was telling me the back-story on the history of the Martinville Raceway. By the way the track’s name is Martinville NOT Martinsville. It seems the track was built for the son of one of the promoters of the bigger more famous Attica Raceway Park. Any guesses on what the son’s name was? No, not Martinville but Martin! Later in the evening I would get a chance to meet “Martin” at the track that bore his namesake.  I would also have the chance to tour the shop where Martin, now a sprint car driver, maintains his race car.  

 

 

They were still “ironing” on the track and just about ready for hot laps at this point. Mark suggested we hop in his pick up truck. He would take me on a tour of the nearby Attica Raceway Park. I gladly accepted his invitation.

 

 

Before we could do that we stopped by the farm of the fellow who promotes the races in Attica on Friday nights. At the farm I could see their sprint car operation housed in a huge garage. One of the hobbies at this farm is restoring antique tractors and such. It was so much fun to get a behind the scenes tour of everything with Mark (above).

 

 

Over the years Mark had held down all kinds of jobs with the racing operations at Attica. He had also worked it Eldora Speedway in the past. He was the flagman for the 1997 World 100. That’s pretty cool! Mark told me that race ran non-stop from start to finish with Scott Bloomquist winning. He wasn’t too impressed with Mr. Bloomquist’s attitude and post race interviews.  I’ve never been a big fan of Scott Bloomquist either.

 

 

Mark told me lots of “Earl” (Carol pictured with Earl) stories as well. Of course, I’m referring to legendary Eldora Speedway promoter Earl Baltes. I’d like to pass those along but I’m not sure I have permission to do that. I’m sure if I had a chance to sit down for lunch with Mark I could hear it even more interesting stories about Earl. That would be fun.

 

 

Then Mark drove me over to the Attica Raceway Park facility. The track is located on grounds owned by the fair board. Surprisingly to me, the fair held in Attica is one of only three in the entire state of Ohio held at privately operated facilities.

 

 

I didn’t have much remembrance of my last visit to Attica. Attica Raceway Park was my 220^th lifetime track to see. I went there in 1993 and saw Joe Gaerte win the main event.

 

 

Mark took me on a lap around the track, in the high lane, with this pick up truck. That was fun. I was amazed at the amount of banking. Mark suggested it might be 15-20 degrees of banking. I almost thought it was more.

 

 

You’ll be able to see my ride around the track in my video from the Martinville Raceway. Mark assured me that if I ever wanted to come back to see the racing at Attica Raceway Park I would be the guest of the track. I appreciated that. Maybe I’ll take him up on that someday.

 

 

When we got back to the Martinville Raceway Mark bade me farewell. What a nice guy. He had such a willing and friendly attitude toward people and life. I guess that’s what comes out of a town like Attica with just 800 people living there.

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Martinville Raceway – Attica, Ohio

 

 

I’m guessing there were about 100 kart racing teams in attendance tonight. Most of the racers were competing in flat carts. However there were nine senior champs on hand. Those senior champs would allow me to count tonight’s racing as lifetime track #2,328.

 

 

The Ohio Champ Kart Series folks helped me with race information on Facebook Messenger. I appreciated their help.

 

 

The karts pitted beyond turns three and four. There was grandstand seating in turns one and two and a little bit on the back straightaway. A wooded area was immediately behind the front stretch where the starter did his work.

 

 

Tonight’s racing program would start later than usual because of the wet track to begin with. Each race and class would have two heat races and a feature event. The second heat race lineup for each class would be a complete reversal compared to how they started heat number one.

 

 

Most of the heat races had just 3-5 competitors. The flagman and corner flaggers were very strict. A black flag was levied toward any competitor responsible for unnecessary bumping. After one senior champ heat race there was actually a little shoving match between a couple of competitors. I guess they didn’t see eye to eye with each other on what had happened on the track.

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

I could see that the racing wasn’t going to be completed until about midnight. When I had been at the track for 3 1/2 hours I called it quits. I was invoking the “3 ½ hour rule”. I was looking at a two-hour drive up towards the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

 

 

Nowadays my trackchasing involves tracks that seem to be located some distance from each other. In order to meet my travel arrangement requirements there is not always enough time to justify getting a hotel. That would be the case again tonight.

 

 

 

 

I did stop at a local Arby’s for a midnight snack.  The best part of that stop was this.  Two vintage car racing teams had the same idea.  I wonder where they had raced tonight?

 

 

On Thursday night of this trip I slept overnight in the Portland Oregon airport. On Friday night I drove through the entire night. With 510 miles to cover I did not stop driving until 7 a.m. for a couple of hours of highway rest area sleep. Tonight I would get six hours of rest area sleep just off of interstate 75 at the Michigan Welcome Center.

 

 

Carol thinks I should get a hotel in these circumstances. I’m not she sure she fully understands the travel requirements, which prevent that from being a good physical/fiscal strategy. Don’t worry. I take the money that I save on hotels and reinvest it in her wellbeing.

 

 

And that’s pretty much how my visit to the Martinville Raceway went. I had pulled in here years ago just to see the track when no one was racing. It was nice to get back here and finally see some action on this little track.  Don’t miss the photo album.  It includes shots from things I didn’t have time to tell you about in this Trackchaser Report.

 

 

As is often the case the highlight of my trip was something other than the racing. Being able to meet my new friend Mark and get such an all-inclusive tour of the entire race facility was simply outstanding. There are a lot of nice people in the country. I’m happy to know that I get to meet them on a random basis quite frequently.

 

 

Good evening from Attica, Ohio.

 

 

 

 

Ohio

 

 

The Buckeye state

This evening I saw my 79th lifetime track in the Buckeye state, yes the Buckeye state. I’ve seen 79 or more tracks in nine separate 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

 

Ohio sayings: “You’re fine,” means “No problem” or “No worries.” We’re not complimenting you.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,328

 

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 20 countries of my lifetime total.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 74

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.37

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Peaceful rural Ohio plus kart racing AND a special unexpected tour