Greetings from Davisburg, Michigan
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Oakland County Fairgrounds – (Dirt Oval Off-Road Derby) – Lifetime Track #1,977
Oakland County Fairgrounds – (Figure 8) – Lifetime Track #1,978
Ohio yesterday, Michigan today, Illinois tomorrow. I don’t think Ed Esser would mind. Not much inventory left in Illinois. Nothing is really free in life. However the proper training can made things seem like they are free. Just like opening your birthday present. The best plan is a fluid plan. Why are county fairs so well attended? Not Daytona, not Eldora, not Knoxville. Which way to go? I know what you’re thinking. Soon I reached my ‘breakeven’ point. I was seeing the best. Ohio yesterday, Michigan today, Illinois tomorrow. I woke up this morning in Holland, Ohio. I went to bed in Lansing, Michigan. Today was the third day of my 42-day trackchasing trip. After the races…….. I don’t think Ed would mind. I had a decision to make following tonight’s racing. I could come back to tonight’s fairgrounds in Michigan TOMORROW night. Tonight they had racing on a dirt OVAL track. Tomorrow night they would be racing on a FIGURE 8 track. Alternatively I could go trackchasing tomorrow night in Illinois. I was born and raised in Illinois. I have seen racing at 87 tracks in the Illini state. Ed Esser, now deceased, saw racing at 99 tracks in Illinois and holds the #1 trackchasing ranking in the state. Whenever I get the chance I try to pick up a track in Illinois. If all goes well maybe someday I will pass Ed’s Illinois total. That would be only fitting as Ed was from Wisconsin. Not much inventory left in Illinois. I have identified about 14 tracks that do or have raced in the past couple of years in Illinois. It is these tracks that I would draw from in the state that might get me to the #1 spot. However, most of these tracks are “iffy”. Sometimes they race and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they run countable classes and sometimes they don’t. And I thought I traveled some during my business career. All of the above was the strategy for tomorrow. I needed a hotel for TONIGHT. I know how to do that. For the past ten years I have averaged staying “out” some 160 nights for each and every year. I used to travel what I thought was a good deal during my 30-year business career. However for most of those years I only traveled about 100 nights per year. I have a plan to upgrade my accommodations this year. I’m trying to upgrade my overnight accommodations this year. I know some people who have quite high standards when they vacation. They would never consider staying in a Motel 6. However I will travel, as noted above, 160 nights a year. I AM a retired pensioner living on a small fixed income….or something like that. I can’t stay at the Ritz 160 nights a year. My default pricing position is the Motel 6. With taxes an average night with that chain would be about $50 U.S. I figure if I can get something better for about that price or just a little bit higher I’ll take it. Nothing is really free in life. However the proper training can made things seem like they are free. That’s where Priceline.com comes in. After consulting Biddingfortravel.com for years I know how to work the Priceline system. Folks if you’re going to buy things that normally sell for a $100 price for just sixty dollars you’re going to need some training. I selected Lansing, Michigan for tonight’s lodging location. Lansing would get me started on the road to Illinois. However, if the Illinois track didn’t work out I would have plenty of time to return to Davisburg, Michigan where they were racing tonight as well. My first bid for a Priceline hotel at a $40 price point in Lansing was rejected. I raised my price to $45 and was awarded the Ramada Lansing Hotel and Conference Center. By the way you don’t “just raise your price” when you are turned down at a lower price by Priceline. That is not allowed. There is other “strategy” that must be used. Write me and I’ll tell you how to do this. With taxes and fees the bill came to $58 for the night. However, the Ramada had three things going for it that beat the Motel 6, which I could have had for a little cheaper price. First, free Wi-Fi was included. Most Motel 6 properties charge for the internet. Secondly, the Ramada included a free buffet breakfast. That was easily a $10 value or more. Their breakfast included hot foods (eggs, taters and bacon) as well as a waffle machine. Finally, the Ramada was just a better hotel than a Motel 6. It was older and looked like one of those Holidomes of the 70s. It offered a swimming pool in the huge “atrium” center of the building. All of the rooms looked into or down on the pool. Just like opening your birthday present. There’s one more advantage to using Priceline.com. It’s a little like opening your birthday presents. How is that? Just like opening a birthday present I am excited to find out what hotel I got. With Priceline.com I don’t know for sure what I will be getting. I do know TWO very important things about the hotel I am about to reserve though. First, I know the general location. If I’m in Pittsburgh I know if I am bidding on a hotel south of the city or north or downtown or wherever. Secondly, based upon the “star rating” I know pretty much what quality of hotel I will get. I routinely buy $100 hotels on Priceline for about $60. Sometimes I will get a $150-200 per night hotel for $60-70. Often times I get upgraded or get a free breakfast or free internet or all of those things for the initial price I paid. Some folks (O.K. most folks) don’t travel 160 nights per year. If they did they would likely follow many of the travel strategies I employ. I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve tried most things. The bottom bottom line is that I’m trying to get the most I can for the lowest price. This is the overriding point. You’ve heard me say this more than once. I want to buy good things cheap. I’m not very much interested in buying cheap things cheap. I think you know what I mean. Oakland County Fairgrounds – Davisburg, Michigan Day 1 – oval track racing The best plan is a fluid plan. Last night I stayed in Ohio. Tonight I trackchased in Michigan. Tomorrow I hope to trackchase in Illinois for a couple of days. However, my plans are always “fluid”. You will see what I mean as you continue reading. The weather was perfect with highs in the 70s and white puffy clouds floating over bright blue skies. In the Midwest, those are my favorite conditions. Why are county fairs so well attended? I find it amazing that just about every county fair I attend is jam-packed. Why is that? Maybe it’s tradition. Folks have been doing this since they were kids. Maybe it’s because everything is “local”. There’s not much expense in getting there. Some fairs are on the expensive side…., especially for a family. Other fairs are actually a pretty good value. I didn’t care much for having to pay $10 USD to park. I guess they figure they’ve got you by the #$%# so why not? Not Daytona, not Eldora, not Knoxville. Tonight I was seeing “Oval” racing. No this was not a high-banked superspeedway. It was not a high-banked anything. The promoters had simply placed three large tractor tires inside a large dirt outdoor arena. The racing machines would race counter-clockwise around these three tires. That’s how they often do it at county fairs. The cars were low level inexpensive but high-powered racers. Overall, for what it was, the program was entertaining. Again, it wasn’t the Daytona 500 or the World 100 or the Knoxville Nationals. However, the crowd had a good time. I had a good time. Don’t miss the video. Oakland County Fairgrounds – Davisburg, Michigan Day 2 – figure 8 track racing Which way to go? I woke up this morning in Lansing, Michigan. I went to bed in Lansing, Michigan as well but in a different hotel. Today was the fourth day of my 42-day trackchasing trip. I know what you’re thinking. O.K., I know what you’re thinking. “Randy took the easy way out”. He watched an oval track race at these fairgrounds last night, then stayed somewhere close and came back again tonight for the figure 8 racing at the same fairgrounds. Sadly mistaken. If anyone thought that they are “sadly mistaken” as my mother used to say. In point of fact, I drove all the way over toward Western Michigan and stayed the night in Lansing after tonight’s oval racing. I had a plan. My plan was to go trackchasing in Illinois the next night. Why not just stay in Michigan? The answer was simple. I wanted to get another track in Illinois in hopes of someday becoming the #1 trackchaser in the Illini state, my boyhood state. After staying in Lansing I made it all the way over to Indiana the next morning. I was in constant contact with the local weather bureau regarding rain chances for the track I wanted to visit in Illinois. Note: That track is not identified for competitive reasons. Soon I reached my ‘breakeven’ point. Soon I reached the breakeven point just west of Kalamazoo after I had reached Indiana. If I drove any further toward Illinois I couldn’t make it back to the Oakland County Fairgrounds in Davisburg, Michigan for their figure 8 racing tonight if I needed too. I had to make a difficult decision. The weather was just too uncertain in Illinois to keep going. I made a U-turn somewhere in Indiana and hightailed it back to the Oakland County Fairgrounds. It wasn’t efficient but I had to try this plan. Yes, I had driven hundreds of miles out of my way. I had hoped to add another Illinois track. However, I absolutely HATE getting rained out. I would forego the chance for a rainout in a high-value NGD state for a guaranteed nice weather day in Michigan. It is decisions like this that have provided the very best weather-related record in all of trackchasing. The bastards. I didn’t like paying another $10 USD to park for the second night in a row at the Oakland County Fairgrounds. However, I didn’t have any choice. The bastards charge $5 per person just to walk INTO the parking lot if you don’t have a car! I was seeing the best. The very best figure 8 racing happens in Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa. If you like figure 8 racing you need to watch the video of tonight’s racing action. If you DON’T like figure 8 racing you need to watch the video because you might like figure 8 racing after you do. Michigan The Wolverine state Over the past two evenings, I saw my 109th and 110th-lifetime tracks in the Wolverine state, yes the Wolverine state. That’s a lot of visits to Michigan. 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: Be what you are because you were not born to impress someone QUICK FACTS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 1,745 miles RENTAL CAR #1 O’Hare International Airport – trip begins Charlotte, MI Cortland, OH Davisburg, MI TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Eaton County Fairgrounds – $10 Trumbull County Fairgrounds – $4 Oakland County Fairgrounds – $10 ($10 to park!) Oakland County Fairgrounds – figure 8 – $10 ($10 to park….again!) 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 400 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Day 1 of my visit to the Oakland County Fairgrounds for OVAL track racing… . . Day 2 of my visit to the Oakland County Fairgrounds for FIGURE 8 track racing… .
1 comment
I don’t usually watch the videos, but the figure 8 racing was entertaining!