Greetings from Midland, Michigan
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Lifetime Track #1,886
Why did Jesse James rob banks?……………more in “The Details”. The stingy man pays the price……………more in “The Details”. Did I pay more by paying less? ………..details in “The Details”. The real highlight of the day………..details in “Attractions”. Dow. Dow. Dow. ……..details in “Attractions”. You sir, in the back row….in the plaid shorts………..details in “Race Review”. I am a trackchaser now not a racechaser………..details in “Race Review”. Why did Jesse James rob banks? I woke up this morning in Midland, Michigan. I went to bed in Romulus, Michigan. This is what today looked like. The infamous Jesse James was once asked why he robbed banks? His response was simple and too the point. “That’s where the money is!”. Like Mr. James I go “where the money is” or in my case “where the tracks are”. I don’t know why. For some reason, unknown to me, Michigan has more county fair racing during the summer than any other state. I’ve seen racing at nearly 100 tracks in the Wolverine state. I STILL have nearly 100 trackchasing opportunities, mainly at county fair, in Michigan remaining to conquer. I guess you’ll be hearing from me in Michigan in the future. Back in time, way back in time. Today I woke up in a place called the Midlands Resort and Conference Center. I don’t know if you have travelled much, and if you have, if you traveled much during the 1970s. I didn’t fly on my first airplane until I was 21 years old (1970). I started working for “the man” and an occasional women in 1972. From July 3, 1972, my first day of professional employment I would begin flying every week. I’ve been doing that now for more than 40 years. What comes with flying? Hotels! I estimate that I have stayed in hotels for somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 nights since age 23. How many nights did I stay in a hotel prior to that? I have no way of knowing for sure but I would say about 25 nights. Heck, on this trip alone I will stay in a hotel for about 25 nights! Conference Centers. Tonight’s hotel venue, the Midland Resort and Conference Center reminded me of the “conference centers” I stayed in back in the 70s. The interior walls of my room were red brick. The rooms themselves were built in a perimeter surrounding a huge indoor pool. Think “Holidome” and you will be close. Frequently “conference center” was code for “no TV in the room”. I found this place on Priceline.com. There was nothing really wrong with the hotel. It was just dated. It was also nearly vacant. Maybe that was why I could get it on Priceline for just 40 bucks when the normal rate was around $100 per night. Being vacant made doing my laundry much easier last night at 1 a.m. Since I had stayed in Midland, Michigan last evening and tonight’s races were in Midland I didn’t have far to travel. That meant I had all day to explore the town. I never could have done it this way. I always wondered about the trackchasers who routinely slept overnight in their cars. There have been several. I can understand waking up in your car and then driving 400 miles to the next race. But what does one do when he wakes up at 7 a.m. on what will be a hot and sultry day with nothing to do until the race begins that evening? Think about it. No shower, no internet (more so back in the day), no bathroom, no nothing. This would be a fun and busy day. On the other hand I will have a very busy day today. My first activity was a 45-minute powerwalk. Just across the street was a beautiful tree-lined residential neighborhood. The temperature was still cool. I could walk until my heart’s content in this place. Carol and I enjoy going to the movies. We go often and always tie it in with dinner at a local restaurant. When I’m on the road, and have the time, I’ll see a movie that I think Carol wouldn’t be that interested in. Sometimes after I see a particular show that I think she would like I’ll recommend it for the both of us to see when I return home. There’s no need to mention to her that I’ve already seen it. I know her movie tastes pretty well and I don’t mind seeing shows like these a second time. I will tell you this. She didn’t care for the “Wolf of Wall Street” seen under the above circumstances. Today I saw a movie titled “2 Guns” starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. It was a fun and entertaining show. I’m becoming a Mark Wahlberg fan. In reading his biography it sounds like he was a pretty wild and tough character as a kid. In a way, the parts he plays frequently tie in closely with that personality. The stingy man pays the price. It is sometimes said, “The stingy man pays the price”. I believe that to be a true statement. Carol always says that people who hoard their money lose its value in the long run. However, it is sometimes just as accurate to say “The thrifty man pays the price”. I had seen some “tight” people in my life when it comes to spending money. I can understand that, to some degree, if money is scarce. However, being thrifty (tight) for thrifty’s (tight’s) sake is a character flaw in my opinion. Did I pay more by spending less? Let me provide my own example of the “Thrifty man paying the price”. I am in the midst of a 27-day trackchasing trip. To begin the trip I rented a car for nine days. My long-time rental car sponsor, National, wasn’t too friendly with their price for nine days of car rental. They came in at $350 U.S. I figured I could beat that and did. Using Priceline I bought the same sized car, from Budget Rental Car, for $200 over the nine-day rental period. A rental car is a commodity. One major company’s car is pretty much just like another’s. What’s makes the difference in the purchase of a commodity? Price. By not renting from National I lost my sponsorship credit. My Budget Rental Car turned out to be a Chevy Impala. That car would end up giving me 29 M.P.G. That wasn’t bad but I could have done better. Had I rented a car from National I could have picked up a Hyundai Sonata. Those cars get around 35 M.P.G. Considering I drove the Impala more than 2,300 miles the difference in gas mileage significantly ate into my rental price savings. Had I rented from National I probably could have just given them a call and extended my rental period from nine to eighteen days. As it was, because my Priceline rental with Budget was locked into nine day, I would have to drive two hours back to Detroit tonight and return my car. Then I would rent a National car for nine MORE days. Did I really save $150 on this rental. The short and sweet answer is, no I did not. For my second nine-day rental period I was able to get my National car for $289. That was a savings of $75 over my corporate rate. I thought about trying to beat that deal with Priceline. However, the sting of a low price, without enough benefits was still fresh enough in my mind to stick with National. After the races…… I wasn’t giving up on Priceline. However, I wasn’t giving up on Priceline. I think they are best when you need a quality hotel room at a great price. Airport hotels can sometimes be very expensive. I ended up getting a Comfort Inn at the Detroit airport, which was selling online for $84.99 plus tax (over $100 bottom-line) for just forty dollars. I wish I had stuck all the money I had saved compared to what “most people pay” in a mattress somewhere. If you save fifty bucks here and fifty bucks there for years and years it adds up! The real highlight of the day. Despite all of the above activity, the real highlight of the day was my Trackchasing Tourist Attraction. Normally, when I come into a place like Midland, Michigan I don’t know the first thing about the town. Often times I am just “in and out” and even when I leave I don’t know much about the place I have just visited. However, on those occasions like today when I have the time I normally find some things that will have me remembering the place I visited for a long time. That was the case today with Midland, Michigan. Dow. Dow. Dow. My research told me that Midland doesn’t have a very large population just a bit more than 40,000. The big hitter in Midland is the Dow Chemical Company. Dow was founded in 1897 and still has their headquarters in Midland. The Dow name is everywhere. Nature is found in abundance at Midland’s Dow Gardens. The 100-acre (40 ha) flower & vegetable gardens plus arboretum were the original gardens of the Herbert H. Dow homestead and are open for tours. In addition, the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio offers tours of this landmark American architect’s unique and influential style. Alden Dow designed the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library, Midland’s public library named in his mother’s honor. The Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League play their home minor league baseball games at Dow Diamond. Other than the Dows, Gary Gerould famous California short track race announcer and now voice of the Sacramento Kings in the NBA hails from Midland. Where should I visit today? Then I used TripAdvisor.com to find out what the top touring opportunities were. That’s when I found out just about everything in town was or is owned by the Dow family. Please take a look behind the “Attractions” tab. I think you’ll enjoy it if you do. TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION I very much enjoy the racing when I go on trackchasing trips. However, I am not the type of person who would feel the trip was complete if I simply left home, went to the race and came back home. I do a good deal of traveling. I want to do my best to see the local area when I come for a visit. There are usually unusual attractions that one area is noted for more than any other locale. I want to see those places. I want to touch them and feel them. When I leave an area, I want to have memories of these special places that I call Trackchasing Tourist Attractions. I will remember those experiences long after the checkered flag has fallen on whatever race I have seen that day. Alden B. Dow Home and Studio Tour – Midland, Michigan Highly recommended. TripAdvisor.com said this was one of the most entertaining things to do in Midland. A tour like this sounded like fun. I rang the folks up and learned they do just one tour a day. The afternoon timing worked out well with my exercise and movie plan. This 20,000 square foot structure was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1989. This was the house and studio of 20th century architect Alden B. Dow. Unit blocks…ever heard of them? Dow built his home and studio between 1937 and 1940, using a patented system known as “Unit Blocks”. The Unit Blocks, one foot square, were cast from recycled cinders from the Dow Chemical Company. Dow used them to form walls and terraces, as well as ornamental elements such as stepping stones in the surrounding pond. Tours are given at 2 p.m. On today’s tour about twenty other people joined me for a 90-minute tour of the home and studio and the grounds of this unusual property. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the building expect in one specific area. Nevertheless, there were lots of opportunities to photograph the spectacular grounds. Please…don’t miss the photos and take this tour if you’re in the area. Midland County Fairgrounds – Midland, Michigan People never miss the fair. The Midland fair was large and it was popular. I love county fairs. I guess other people do too. Regardless of the state of the economy, and the economy in Michigan has been in the dumper for twenty years or more, people flock to the county fair. If you live in the city county fairs might not have been a big deal in your life. If you live in certain states county fairs aren’t nearly as big as in the Midwest. There are some places where the state fair rules. Growing up in Illinois the state fair was bigger than the county fair in my area. Fairs are so popular in Michigan they have TWO states fairs in different parts of the state! Tonight’s fair grandstand was modern and huge. It was also packed by race time. I would estimate it held some 2,000-3,000 people. However, I can’t say much about my estimating ability. I’m just making a guess. I do know this. It was hard to find an open seat for those arriving late. The folks that rule figure 8 racing in Michigan. There are two big promoters of county fair auto racing in Michigan. The promoter tonight was the U.S.A. Demolition Derby group, which has been run by a man named “Sonny” for the past 38 years. The other Michigan sanctioning group is named Unique Motorsports. Both groups do a nice job. Both owners are also the announcers. Chris Kearns what are you waiting for? California and Arizona are just waiting for you to do what these folks do in Michigan. I had a top row seat in the middle of the grandstand. Just behind me the carnival rides whirled on. One ride, a huge “windmill” type ride kept circling around with their riders screaming their lungs out right behind me all night. Those folks were having fun! I’ve seen a lot of figure 8 races. Tonight I would be seeing figure 8 racing. I don’t know exactly how many figure 8 tracks I have seen. I do know that I have seen racing at more figure 8 tracks than anyone else but then you probably figured it that way didn’t you? Just human nature I guess. Figure 8 racing was deemed to be “countable” almost ten years ago now in the trackchasing hobby. What state has the most figure 8 racing? Michigan. Where was the trackchaser from who proposed adding figure 8 tracks to the hobby of trackchasing? Michigan. Folks, human nature is not all that difficult to figure out is it? You sir, in the back row… in the plaid shorts. My background is that of a “racechaser”. As a racechaser I chased all over the Midwest and later the West in search of the very best short track racing I could find. Tonight I was seeing a freestanding figure 8 show. How many times did I see a free-standing figure 8 program when I was a racechaser? Anyone? Yes, you in the back row with the plaid shorts. How many times? You are correct! Zero! Never in my life did I darken the door of a free-standing figure 8 race….before they became countable in the trackchasing hobby. Once in a awhile the oval track racing program I was attending would throw in a figure 8 race just for the novelty effect. However, I never ever attended a figure 8 race before the genre became a countable activity in my hobby of trackchasing. Now I had seen well over 200 of them. Just in 2013 tonight’s racing will be my 19th figure 8 event. If I had to guess I would say I’ll see more than 25 figure 8 venues before the year wraps up. What has changed? Do I now think that figure 8 racing is really racing? Do I think of it in the same terms as I did when I pulled into the parking lot at Hawkeye Downs to see the Falstaff 100? Yes, some things have changed. Well things have changed. Figure 8 racing really IS racing in some places and it’s not so much in others. Figure 8 races are located in places that I enjoy visiting for a day or so. Oval racing might be my cake while figure 8 racing is my cookie. I find some figure 8 racing to be very entertaining. Much of the oval racing, especially at the tracks I bypassed for the first 20 years of my racechasing isn’t really the end of the world entertaining. I am a trackchaser now not a racechaser. Let’s not forget that I am a “trackchaser”. What does a trackchaser do? He/she sees racing at different tracks. The hobby is not so much about the racing as it is the tracks. I can live with that. The “racing” part of “racing” isn’t nearly as entertaining as it was when I saw it the first 500 times. However, trackchasing be it figure 8 or World Formula 1 or whatever gets me out of the house. Getting out of the house, even our modest seaside cottage, can be a good thing from time to time. Tonight’s program was fun. Tonight’s figure 8 racing took place on what I think was a concrete surface. The track was a good distance from the grandstand so it was somewhat hard to tell. What confused me was that the concrete racing surface was watered. That is not normally done. Tonight they did it, I think, for safety reasons. When a hard surface track is watered it keeps the speeds down. Take a look at my videos and photos to get a good handle on the racing. Smokey. Probably the biggest crowd favorite was not the figure 8 racing but the “burnout” competition. There were about seven competitors, including a full-sized tow truck. These folks drove their car/truck up to a huge tractor tire that must have weight 500 pounds. They placed their front bumper against the tire and then stood on the gas. The tractor tire didn’t move. However the rear wheels of the burnout vehicles did. With the tires moving at 80 M.P.H. and the car standing still the tire smoke was unbelievable. I’m surprised the EPA didn’t shut them down. The crowd loved it except maybe those sitting to my right. That’s where the tire smoke and burnt rubber drifted off too until it passed through the grandstands and into the carnival area. Please don’t miss the videos of this action. You’ll be able to smell the smoke through your computer! Another Michigan figure 8 show was now in my rearview mirror. I’m only on day #9 of 27 days on the road. However, I do have a clean suitcase of clothes. I’ll “warsh”, as I used to say growing up in Illinois, my duds one more time before I head back home. See you tomorrow in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. STATE COMPARISONS Michigan The Wolverine State This evening I saw my 93rd lifetime track in the Wolverine state, yes the Wolverine state. You can bet I’ll be back for some more action in 2013. 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 Michigan sayings: How many Great Lakes does your state have?
QUICK FACTS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 1,745 miles Chicago, IL (ORD) – Detroit, MI (DTW) – 234 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Detroit Metro Airport – trip begins Belleville, MI Butler, PA Urbana, OH Union, KY East Moline, IL Marshall, MI Armada, MI West Branch, MI Midland, MI Detroit Metro Airport – 2,378 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Wayne County Fairgrounds – $10 Butler Farm Show – $12 (not trackchasing expense) Champaign County Fairgrounds – $12 Florence Speedway – Complimentary admission Quad Cities Speedway – $8 ($2 senior discount – not trackchasing expense) Calhoun County Fairgrounds – $10 Armada County Fairgrounds – $8 Ogemaw County Fairgrounds – $8 Midland County Fairgrounds – $10 LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS The three most important trackchasing comparisons to me are: Total lifetime tracks seen Total “trackchasing countries” seen Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results Total Lifetime Tracks There are no trackchasers currently within 350 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,886 Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total. 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 65 Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 5.10 That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report 
1 comment
What a cool looking house! I think I would enjoy touring that.