Miami County Raceway

 

 

 

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

 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

Why was I heading out to the Midwest this weekend? Carol and I had just returned from a nine-day trip to Texas to be with our grandchildren. The third quarter of my 2016 trackchasing season had just finished up. During that quarter I traveled overnight some sixty nights. You might think I would want to rest up. I don’t rest up.

 

 

This was likely my last opportunity to see a new track in Kansas this year. I entered the weekend with 39 lifetime Kansas tracks on my resume.

 

 

The state trackchasing leader in Kansas is Ed Esser. Ed saw 40 Kansas tracks during his career. Sadly, Ed passed away about four years ago just a couple of days after he and I went trackchasing together in Canada.

 

 

I never lose sight of the fact that if Ed (second from left above) had lived longer many of his records would have been untouchable or at a minimum difficult to reach. It would have been fun trying to catch up with Ed in the states that he used to dominate. He was one of the most competitive trackchasers I ever came across. He and I met up more than 30 times coming from opposite directions. At the same time Ed, unlike most other highly ranked trackchasers, never minded the friendly competition and banter. Good on Ed. Rest in peace good buddy.

 

 

When we are not traveling Carol and I go out to dinner several nights a week. Usually the night before one of my solo trips we try to make it a special evening one way or another. Last night we added a movie to our dinner plans. We saw Ben Affleck in The Accountant. We both agreed that it was an excellent movie.

 

 

There’s another benefit that will come from flying out to Kansas this weekend. The NASCAR Sprint Cup racing series will be performing on Sunday afternoon at the Kansas Speedway.

 

 

I don’t have a ticket. Tickets in the grandstand sell for $100-$150 a seat. I’ll tell you how I ended up getting a ticket after I end up getting a ticket!

 

 

However, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I still have a logistical issue of getting me from Southern California out toward Kansas. I knew that hotels in and around Kansas City were going to be extremely expensive. When NASCAR comes to town the hotels jack up the rates and normally institute minimum stay requirements.

 

 

As an example the Westin was going for $199 a night. The Kansas City Marriott was $249 and the Country Inn and Suites was $310 a night!   I do not and never have had the trackchasing budgets that the Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers operate with. Nevertheless I have been able to get up and down the road reasonably well over the last many years.

 

 

I ended up making hotel rate reservations on both Friday and Sunday nights at Extended Stay America hotels in the Kansas City area. Priceline.com, my long trackchasing sponsor, helped me out here. What was my average price for the two nights during a NASCAR weekend? How does $38.50 per night U.S. sound? It sounded pretty good to me.

 

 

I was planning to fly from Los Angeles to Seattle and then on to Kansas City.  However the weather in Seattle was so bad the flights were delayed coming and going. I elected to take a nonstop from Los Angeles to Kansas City instead.  LAX is being remodeled.  They’ve done a fairly nice job given what they had to work with.  By the way why wouldn’t I just take the nonstop to begin with?  When you don’t know the answer to a question just follow the money.

 

 

Of course getting a rental car in a smaller city during a NASCAR weekend can be a challenge as well. However, with the National Car Rental Company I can call up 24 hours in advance and get a reservation anywhere anytime. National even kicked in with a free day during my three day rental!

 

 

Now I had my airfare, hotels and rental car all set up. I sat down at my desk in the executive offices of Randy Lewis Racing and created something that was going to save me lots of money.

 

 

I was creating the “sign”. Have you heard the saying that not advertising is a lot like winking at your girlfriend in the dark? You know what you’re doing but nobody else does.

 

 

I was going to use the sign at the Kansas Speedway. It was my form of “advertising”. When all is said and done I would end up buying a ticket for well below face value. This is how I do things.

 

 

As the trip began I had to make a stop over at the LAX World Parking corporate offices. LAX World Parking has been a long time sponsor of Randy Lewis Racing. My car will be parked at the airport somewhere between 175 and 200 days a year.

 

 

In a major city like Los Angeles you can just imagine what the airport parking charges would be to cover that situation. However with LAX World Parking I don’t pay what everyone else pays. It’s important to note that I couldn’t do any of this without my long-term loyal sponsors like National Car Rental, LAX World Parking, Priceline.com and my airline partners.

 

 

I landed at the Kansas City airport just a few minutes before midnight. Kansas City folks renting cars have to hop on a central rental car bus. It’s a five-minute ride out to a huge rental car complex that houses all of the major rental car companies.

 

 

When I got there I simply walked out to the main car lot for National Car Rental. I went over to the “executive” section and surveyed the cars available for this weekend’s trip.

 

 

Right in front of me was a shiny black Toyota Avalon. The Avalon is one of my all-time favorite rental cars. It even came with Pennsylvania license plates. The irony of it all.

 

 

I made one quick stop at a convenience store to pick up some pork rinds, Diet Mountain Dew and bottled water for my exercise this weekend. When I arrived at the hotel there was a huge sign saying they were sold out. Not to worry. I had my reservation. With some of the more challenging logistical aspects of the trip behind me I was ready to go trackchasing.

 

 

SATURDAY

 

 

I opened my weekend by sleeping in until 9:30 a.m. Then I called to extend my check out until 12 noon. That would give me a chance to go out and do nearly an hour’s worth of power walking.  I found a local park where the fall leaves were littered all over the ground.  It was a perfect fall Saturday morning for a little exercise.

 

 

Every power walking day I get in now makes it easier to achieve my annual goal when December rolls around. That’s kind of how life works isn’t it? If you plan today tomorrow will likely be better.

 

 

Today I would be attempting a day/night trackchasing double. This is my most common trackchasing double. It simply means I’ll see one new track during the day and another in the evening.

 

 

If all goes according to plan I will hit the Twin Pines Motel Saturday night in Tipton, Missouri after seeing my 99th track of the 2016 season. I’ve only had 14 doubles in that total. That’s somewhat low for me. Of course I’ve been doing doubles up and down the long and dusty trackchasing trail for a while now. There aren’t all that many opportunities left.

 

Race time at the Miami County Raceway was scheduled to be at 3 p.m. this afternoon. I had selected a hotel south of Kansas City so my drive would be a quick 45 minutes. I didn’t know exactly where the track was.

 

 

However I knew it was located in Paola, Kansas. Paola is a small town of only 5,602 people. How hard could it be to find the track? The answer: pretty hard.

 

 

I was planning to see you some UTV racing sanctioned by the Kansas City Off Road Racing Association. I’ve seen these folks race at two other tracks. Each time they have provided an entertaining race program.

 

 

I must tell you that information is somewhat hard to come by from KCORRA. Their website is out of date. They don’t offer any phone numbers. Finally they do post on Facebook but the posts are few and far between. They don’t really say too much.

 

 

The Miami County Raceway also has a Facebook page. I sent them a message about ten days ago. I had some questions about today’s racing. No reply.

 

 

I’m not sure everyone understands the value of social media as in websites and Facebook pages. If they knew that this was a way to get new customers and/or satisfy old ones maybe they would do a better job. I’m just saying.

 

 

The Miami County Raceway FB page did have a brief message stating that the racetrack was located about 10 miles north of Paola out by the Hillsdale Lake. I found the lake easily. There was no racetrack nearby that I could see.

 

 

I spent a few minutes talking to the park ranger at the lake. She lived in Paola. She had never ever heard of the Miami County Raceway. That seemed odd. It was also somewhat concerning. We both agreed that the best idea was to drive into Paola and check out the fairgrounds. Maybe they were racing there. I did just that. They weren’t racing there.

 

 

I had already tried putting, “Miami County Raceway” into all of my GPS systems. No results. What was I going to do now?

 

 

I checked the Miami County Raceway Facebook page one more time. About two hours ago someone had asked a question about the track’s location. The contact at the track had replied with a specific address. Now we were cooking with gas!

 

 

I quickly put the track address into my Waze GPS system. Away I went. At some point north of Paola I found myself on a gravel road. My GPS system told me that I had “arrived” However when I looked around in a 360° direction I didn’t see anything that looked like a racetrack.

 

 

It was about this time that a cowboy came driving down the gravel road with a huge plume of chalk dust flowing behind his pickup truck.  I flagged him down. He looked exactly like the Marlboro man. Doesn’t ring a bell? Google it. Back in the day people used to smoke. He told me he lived in the area and had never heard of the Miami County Raceway!

 

 

What in the world was I going to do now? Remember I am a professional at this. However, even professionals can get stumped from time to time.

 

 

Here I was sitting out in the middle of Kansas on a gravel road in the National Car Rental Racing Toyota Avalon. My car had Pennsylvania license plates. Why is that noteworthy? Keep reading.

 

 

Just as I was about out of good ideas a beautiful white SUV pulled up beside me. It was as if I were dreaming. I lowered my window and the lovely young woman sitting in the passenger side lowered her window.

 

 

“Do you need some help?” she asked. “Yes, I do,” I told her. “I’m heading to the Miami County Raceway” was my pickup line. Her response was quick, “So are we. Follow us.” I did just that. Very soon we were making a turn into a dirt path that I was hoping would lead me to the racetrack.

 

 

Despite being helped by the angel of mercy in the white SUV I was a bit concerned. Had I just been profiled? That’s right I was concerned about being profiled. I read all the time in the news that people don’t like to be profiled. If they don’t like it why would I like it?

 

 

Had this woman seen my Pennsylvania license plates and automatically assumed that I needed help? Was that a large assumption our part? Or, was it because people from that state have a reputation for needing help to get them from point A to point B. I didn’t know the answer to these questions. I could only wonder.

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Miami County Raceway – Paola, Kansas

 

 

After driving a fairly long distance on a muddy winding dirt road I came across a cheerful young woman standing by a fluorescent yellow sign that read “donations welcome”. The KCORRA Facebook page had said that spectators would be admitted at no charge.

 

 

Nevertheless, I didn’t mind contributing a fiver and signing the liability release. She told me that what I was signing would prevent me from suing her. I had not intended on doing that. Now I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.

 

 

I couldn’t resist telling her that I had a very difficult time finding the track. I suggested that maybe they provide directions on the Miami County Raceway FB page. Maybe they could provide those directions to followers of the Kansas City Off Road Racing Association.

 

 

She simply smiled back and said, “Well we did put up a couple of red and blue helium balloons where you’re supposed to turn. I told her when I saw the balloons I thought someone was having a birthday party! I continued on with the wild-eyed suggestion that they might consider having a sign that read, “Miami County Raceway.”

 

 

This lady was not going to give in easily. She looked at me and again with a huge smile said, “We don’t get a lot of people coming out to the track who don’t already know where it is.” I wasn’t giving up easily either. I told her that with that policy she wasn’t likely to see too many new people darkening her door. With that comment we agreed to part ways as friends.

 

 

I drove a little further and came across a large clearing. The clearing had heavy grass and lots of elevation changes. In the distance I could see what was home to the Miami County Raceway. The going was a little damp and muddy but it wasn’t anything that the National Car Rental Racing Toyota Avalon couldn’t handle today.

 

 

Despite all the difficulties I had finding the track I had still arrived some 40 minutes before the expected race time. I’m usually early. I could see that the drivers were getting ready for the driver’s meeting. They had all congregated in one part of the property.

 

 

Attending the driver’s meeting is very important. It’s not only important for the drivers but for spectators like me as well. It’s a great place to get lots of specific information about how the race program is going to be run. Some driver’s meetings are more informational than others. Today was a good one.

 

 

The leader told everyone there would be four classes of UTV and trophy truck racers. Car counts were skinny. Real skinny.

 

 

There were two trophy trucks and two beginner UTV racers. The leader told us that both of those classes would be on the track at the same time today. There were seven people in the 900 UTV class and four in the unlimited UTV group.

 

 

Each class would run two heat races and a feature event. In total there would be six seats and three features. The heats would run for six laps each.

 

 

I’m going to tell you that the dirt road course was about 8/10 of a mile in length. I’m just guessing at that. There were lots of elevation changes in the track. The surface was wet bordering on muddy in some spots. There were a good deal of jumps, some straightaways, hairpin turns and even a banked oval-like corner. It looked like a good track where spectators could see the racers 100% of the time.

 

 

I think you’re going to enjoy my video of today’s racing action. There were points on the track where I could get within mere feet of the racing action. Whenever I did that I got pelted with dirt and mud balls. I did it for you.

 

 

As a spectator and a long time racing and trackchasing fanatic I would recommend that the Kansas City Off Road Racing Association take a closer look at their safety program. I’ve seen my share of disasters in this hobby. I don’t want to see or hear of any more if I can help it.

 

 

I had seen this group race in Overbrook, Kansas a few weeks ago. They had a nice track set up there that was totally flat with lots of turns and some small jumps. The racing was fun to watch.

 

 

However the flagman and his young, I’m assuming, son stood within 10-15 feet of the actual racing action. There were no barriers between the racers and the flagman. At that point in the track the racer’s momentum was carrying them directly in the direction of the starter. From my vantage point up in the grandstands that was 100% dangerous and probably preventable.

 

 

Today there was one very high-banked right-hand oval like turn that was part of the dirt road course. When the drivers came through there they bicycled up on two wheels in some cases. When they came through that turn the dirt really flew in the spectator’s direction.

 

 

The only barrier between the racers and the fans was a concrete block wall that was about two feet high. It would not have taken much at all for the racers to bicycle completely over that wall. If that happened they might not even touch the wall. What would they hit first? They would hit some of the fans that were standing 5-10 feet behind that “wall”.

 

 

There was a little girl who must’ve been six years old. She was playing next to the concrete barrier. When the cars came by and threw dirt at the little girl she was thrilled. In point of fact she was only 15 feet from the racers themselves with nothing to protect her from them. I hope someone in authority reads this and does something about it.

 

 

Despite the small car counts I was very pleased with the racing action today. I’m a big fan of UTV racing when they race on a course where they can be seen at every point. Watching the seven UTV 900s provided just enough competitors to make for exciting racing.

 

 

There were just two trophy trucks racing today. They might have been the fastest racers out of everyone that showed up at the track today. As luck would have it the two drivers got into each other during their heat race. They had some pretty harsh words at the end of the event.

 

 

I was standing very close to the two drivers when they exited their vehicles. There was a lot of in your face trash talking and some pretty crude rhetoric being exchanged. I thought that fisticuffs would break out at any moment.

 

 

After some time the drivers separated. A few moments later the offending driver walked over to his fellow competitor. He told the driver that his girlfriend had just told him that the accident was his fault. He was there to apologize.

 

 

Here we had two guys who were about ready to kill each other just sixty seconds before. Now one was demanding that the other shake his hand. It took a while for that to happen! Finally they did shake hands and off they went to their separate corners!

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

I am proud to have been the first trackchaser to discover UTV racing as a trackchasing countable form. Soon after I began adding UTV tracks my behavior was copied. This is not the first trend where I’ve been out front.

 

 

To this point in time I have seen quite a few more UTV tracks than any other trackchaser. I have noticed something about trackchaser and UTV races. Let me tell you what that is.

 

 

I would classify trackchasers as being in three general categories. This is what those groups look like. The first group consists of the old timers. These are the people who started trackchasing when the hobby was in its infancy.

 

 

However, as one might expect, most of these people have now stopped trackchasing. In several cases they are now deceased. The living members of this group have moved on to other things. Seeing new tracks no longer motivates them as strongly as it did when they were younger men and women.

 

 

The second group of Trackchasers are new to the hobby. In point of fact I would probably label them as “racechasers” who occasionally follow their racechasing hobby to a track they have never visited before. There’s nothing wrong with that.

 

 

I was just like them when I started out. I began as a racechaser. I went to a track because of the quality of racing I was expecting to see. At some point in time I crossed the line from being a racechaser to being a trackchaser. “Trackchasers” go to a new track with very little regard to what the racing is going to be about. Of course they want to see the best racing possible. However, their visit is MOSTLY about adding a new track to their list.

 

 

Both of the groups described above do not have much interest in UTV racing. As a matter of fact they have almost no interest in UTV racing at all. By the way if you are ever skeptical of what I present check out the track lists. People vote with their feet.

 

 

The third and final group of trackchasers is what I call “Avidly active” trackchasers. This small group has shown a significant interest in UTV racing. Most of these avidly active Trackchasers, myself excluded, won’t be found at a wedding, a funeral, a Cub Scout meeting, or a PTA meeting.

 

 

If there is a new track to be seen they are going to see it. If there is no new track to be seen they’re going to try to tell you a story. They’re going to say they went somewhere else other than pursuing the hobby of trackchasing. They will try to tell you they did that because they are simply a well-rounded individual. Do not believe them! These people will go to a new track at the exclusion of any other activity if there is a new track to be seen.

 

 

So there you have it. Trackchasing groups broken out into three separate categories based upon their age, interests and the like. Only a very small group of people are actually interested in seeing UTV racing as part of the trackchasing hobby. Yes, people vote with their feet.

 

 

I’m really surprised some of the UTV trackchasing dissidents haven’t taken action as in a rules proposal to ban UTV race action. It might be too late for that. But then, you never know.

 

 

I find UTV racing on tracks where you can see them race and where there are enough of them to make for an interesting competition to be a lot of fun. I don’t think much of UTVs racing 50 yards from a clearing into the woods and then reappearing 10 minutes later for another 30 seconds in the clearing. This is called “cross-country” UTV racing. That’s my update on the current state of affairs with trackchasers and UTV racing.

 

 

 

Good afternoon from Paola, Kansas.

 

 

 

 

Kansas

 

 

The Jayhawk state

This afternoon I saw my 40th lifetime track in the Jayhawk state, yes the Jayhawk state. This was an important track to see. It rocketed me into a first place tie for the Kansas trackchasing lead with Ed Esser. Ed, nice to be standing on the top row of the podium with you. To be clear, and I discussed this with Ed Esser frequently, if a tie HAS to be broken the trackchaser who got there first gets the nod. I’ve seen 40 or more tracks in 17 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

Kansas definitions: Ladybugs

 

 

What it means everywhere else: Cute little polka-dotted bugs that eat plant insects and are harmless.

 

 

What it means in Kansas: Evil, smelly, aggressive, flying, biting, terrible, invasive creatures known as Asian beetles.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,284

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Miami County Raceway – Kansas City Off Road Racing Association