Oswego Speedway

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

Editor’s note:  In 1982 I made my first visit to the Oswego Speedway. This famous speedway would be my lifetime track #122. I didn’t begin writing my famous Trackchaser Reports until about track #430. Therefore I do not have a full set of notes from my first visit here. My one recorded comment from that first visit was “Great racing – loud, cold, can’t see well”. Doug Heveron was the race winner. I suspect that racing buddy Jim Sabo was with me but I can’t substantiate that feeling with any data.

 

 

In 1998 I returned to the Oswego Speedway with my stepfather Bill Virt and my brother-in-law Bob Brown. We saw Mike Muldoon win the feature.

 

 

The day before we went to Oswego we were at the Brewerton Speedway. Then the day after my stepfather and I went to the Glad Rag Raceway in the afternoon and the Utica-Rome Speedway in the evening. The Glad Rag Raceway was one of the three worst tracks I have ever visited!

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

The Port City of Central New York.

I woke up this morning in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. I went to sleep in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. This is how the day turned out.

 

 

Oswego is a town of just 18,122 residents. The town is located on Lake Ontario in North Central New York. Oswego promotes itself at the “Port City of Central New York.

 

 

Who’s from Oswego?

Natives of Oswego include Mary E. Walker, the only female doctor in the Civil War and only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and TV personality Al Roker attended the State University of Oswego (SUNY).

 

 

The answer to what ails you….logistics.

Logistics play an important part in everything I do with my trackchasing hobby. The better my plan the more fun I’ll have. Normally a better plan will be more cost-effective as well.

 

 

Last night I stayed at one of my favorite Motel 6 properties. This one was up in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area. I have about five favorite Motel 6 locations. Two of them surround the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

 

 

I didn’t get to my hotel tonight until about 11 p.m. My flight tomorrow morning was leaving Toronto for Boston at 7:15 a.m. In order to return my rental car, clear customs, etc. that meant a wake up call at about 5 a.m., maybe sooner. I’ve been out of this trip for less than 24 hours. A wake-up call at 5 a.m. is 2 a.m. “my time”. That plan didn’t sound attractive.

 

 

Was there going to be room for me?

I called the airline to see how the seat availability looked for me. The first flight was overbooked by four paying passengers. There were also standby passengers who would be ahead of me in the overall rankings.

 

 

Getting up at 2 a.m. did not sound attractive to me especially if I might end up missing the flight. The agent told me that most of the other flights for the day were full today as well. That got me to thinking. Was there another way?

 

Was there another way?…I ask myself that all the time.

The weather forecast for the New York track I planned to visit called for a 50% chance of rain at race time. I didn’t like that forecast. I got to thinking. Was there another way?

 

 

I don’t have all that many tracks that race on Friday nights left to see. However there was one track, the Oswego Kartway at the Oswego Speedway that raced on Fridays. However in looking at their past results only a couple of senior champ karts were showing up each week. From time to time a third driver joined this twosome.

 

 

It would be a risk to consider going there. I was doing all of this thinking from the bed in my Motel 6 in Toronto. It was now approaching midnight. With the “airplane” plan I would get some five hours of sleep or less. I needed to make a decision and I needed to make it now.

 

 

Can’t make a decision? Then you HAVE made a decision.

It’s important to note in life that not making a decision really is MAKING a decision. I would come up with a new plan. This new plan would have me more in control of my own destiny. I thought about it for a moment and the new plan became the REAL plan.

 

 

On Friday morning, meaning today, I would return my current rental car to the Toronto airport. Then I would rent a brand-new car in Toronto, drive it around for three days and drop it off in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

 

My original plan called for 22 hours of driving if I had stuck with the original plan. That plan was to pick up the car in Boston and drop the car there when my trip was finished. This NEW plan, of starting in Toronto, called for 24 hours of total driving. That was just a two hour increase compared to the original plan.

 

 

Most plans come with pros and cons.

So the downside was that I would have to drive two more hours than the original plan. However I felt that this new plan had several positive elements.

First I would not have to fly from Toronto to Boston. That would save me the cost of the flight as well as the mental uncertainty with regard to whether I would make the flight or not.

 

 

My original rental car reservation called for me to pick up the car in Boston drop it off in Boston keep it three days and pay $160. The new plan had me to picking up the car in Toronto and dropping it off in Boston after three days.

 

 

Go to the top.

What would an international one-way rental cost? I called my sponsor National Car Rental to find out. I was initially told that I couldn’t pick up a car in Canada and drop it in the United States. That didn’t sound right. I asked for a manager.

 

 

I got a very squared away manager. He quickly told me there would be no problem picking up a car in Canada and dropping it in the U.S. Additionally the rate was fantastic for a three day one-way rental on a full-sized car. I would only pay $145 US. This was fantastic. The new plan had save me $15 on my rental car and the cost of a one-way flight.

 

 

I would “invest” my savings in sleep.

I could now asleep in to a leisurely wake up call 9:30 a.m. Eastern time. It was important to get a good night’s sleep since I planned to sleep in my car on the final night of my trip.

 

 

When I arrived at the National Car Rental return site at the Toronto airport this morning I was greeted with some very friendly National personnel. National goes out of their way to satisfy their “executive selection” customers like me. If one has “status” with a travel partner one is going to get some very good customer service.

 

 

Here’s what I needed.

I told the agent I wanted a car to pick up in Toronto and drop off in Boston that had satellite radio. I was going to be driving for 24 hours over three days and having a good quality radio system was critically important.

 

 

My request was met with a smile. Soon two “runners” were looking all over the garage for a car that would be my specifications. They found one.

 

This special car had a huge sign in the front window. It read “Take me back to the USA”. It turned out that any one-way rental would have to be a “U.S. plated” car.

 

 

Here’s what they had.

One of the runners came back and excitedly exclaimed, “I found a car with XM radio for you and it’s a premium car at that”. She was right. I was getting an upgraded Toyota Avalon. If I could rent an Avalon every trip I would do it.

 

 

Why no Trackchasing Tourist Attractions?

I don’t know if you have noticed lately but I haven’t been telling you much about trackchasing tourist attractions. Why is that? I haven’t been finding many.

 

 

Lately the distance from one track to another has been so great that I only have time to drive to the track, watch the race and sleep. I hope to remedy that in the future but I don’t know if I can.

 

However today there would be time for a trackchasing tourist attraction. I will be returning to a locale that I am visiting several times now. I’m talking about Niagara Falls.

 

 

I don’t know if you have been to Niagara Falls or not. If not I highly recommend it. You’ll be better off if you view the falls on the Canadian side rather than on the U.S. side.

 

 

If you go to Niagara Falls you will have ample opportunity to take some beautiful photographs of the falls and surrounding area. However if you do go to the falls you will not want to miss one of the major attractions.

 

Don’t miss this!

I’m talking about the opportunity to ride a large ferry boat to the base of the actual falls themselves. Carol and I have done that in the past with the Maid of the Mist ship. Today I noticed they seem to have changed things around a bit.

 

 

It looked as if the Maid of the Mist can only be boarded now from the U.S. side of the falls. Another company, Hornblower, manages the boat rides on the Canadian side. I purchased a ticket for about $20 to see the falls up close.

 

 

The voyage isn’t all that long, maybe 15-20 minutes. You’ll board with about 100 other people and be given a complementary rain poncho. You’ll need it.

 

 

You won’t want to miss the video and photos of the boat ride and the surrounding area. Even though I’ve done it before this will be a touring highlight of the year.

 

 

I would be crisscrossing in and out of Canada a few times on this trip.

Following my tour of Niagara Falls (Canadian side) it was time to cross the border back into the United States. Later tonight I’ll be returning to Cornwall, Ontario, Canada where I will stay the night.

 

 

I crossed back into New York using the Rainbow Bridge. The wait was only about five minutes. That’s really short especially on a late Friday afternoon.

 

 

Just my luck I got a hard ass.

The younger woman U.S. border agent was a bit of a hard ass. I wondered how an attractive person like this decided to get into a job like she had?

 

 

She asked me if I were carrying any fruits and vegetables, alcohol or tobacco or drugs or weapons. Then she asked how much money I was carrying. Then she asked for my car key so that she could pop the trunk. She sounded like a real fun date.

 

 

No, this wasn’t California.

From there I was soon onto the New York Tollway. Along the way I stopped at a service area to grab a late lunch at Checker’s hamburgers.

 

 

I asked the server if I could get my triple cheeseburger served in a lettuce wrap. The young man looked at me as if I were from Mars. In point of fact I’m only from California. In the Golden State if one asks for their burger to be wrapped in lettuce that’s how it will be done. That is not how it was done today in New York.

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Oswego Kartway at the Oswego Speedway – Oswego, New York

 

 

 

Back to a famous track’s little brother.

Tonight I would be seeing senior champ kart racing (I hoped) at the Oswego Kartway at the Oswego Speedway. The weather looked generally rain free but it was cloudy, windy and cool.

 

 

The kart track itself is located right behind the backstretch grandstand of the famous Oswego Speedway. Good buddy Jim Sabo, a native of Syracuse, says that Oswego Speedway is his all-time favorite track.

 

How much?

I had a choice to pay $10 for a pit pass, five dollars to drive my car into the spectating area and park next to the track or to simply walk in for free. I could see the pit area very well from the boundary fence. Virtually all of the trackside parking was taken as it was. Therefore I chose the least expensive spectating option tonight.

 

Good fortune.

I was going to be in for a piece of good luck. I could hear racecars warming up on the big track at Oswego. As luck would have it the gates were open to the backstretch grandstand.

 

 

The Oswego Speedway was built about 50 years ago. The folks who build it were in the steel business. They made an all steel grandstand on both sides of the track. The Oswego Speedway can seat a lot of people. I’m guessing 6- 7,000, maybe more. However the old steel grandstand is showing it’s age and rusting through in spots.

 

From the top of the grandstand I could see the kart racing really well. I like to take panoramic photographs. From this perch the panoramic view was excellent.

 

 

The kart situation.

Tonight’s kart track had a PA system and announcer. However the announcer only gave directions to the racers on what was up coming in the racing program. That is commonly the case with go-kart events.

 

 

Just as I began to listen to the announcing comments he came across with some disturbing news. He said the champ karts would be combined with the clone division. They would race after all the other classes at the “end of the night”.

 

 

That was not particularly good news for me. I had hoped to see senior champs run their heat race and then get on the road. I had a three hour drive to my hotel tonight in Ontario, Canada. Then I had to be up bright and early for a four hour drive to the first track on tomorrow’s schedule.

 

A nice little track.

Tonight’s kart track was nearly a circle. It was slightly banked, dust free and looked to be very racy. The flagman did a good job and was assisted by an electronic scoreboard. I can likely count on one hand the number of karting tracks where I have seen an electronic scoreboard.

 

 

I couldn’t really tell if they were running heat races or something else. After watching several races the announcer did say that drivers should lineup for their “B” main events. I can also count on one hand the number of karting tracks where they race “B” mains.

 

 

The races I was seeing had 4-5 karts each. Race distances were 8-10 laps. The track’s management did a nice job of keeping the program moving.

 

 

I did venture over to buy a good-sized Johnson hotdog for three dollars and a 20 ounce bottle of Diet Coke for the same price.

 

 

I text a good deal.

All during the event I was texting Mr. Sabo, who now lives in Florida, with photos from his favorite track. I had not been to the Oswego Speedway in more than 20 years. It was nice to see her again.

 

 

I wasn’t sure I understood the announcer’s comment about the senior champs when he first made it. The flat karts were obviously running heat races. Did he mean the senior champs would run a heat after all the other classes had raced? Or did he mean the senior champs would not race until the very last race of the entire night which would presumably be after all of the flat kart feature events?

 

My questions were soon answered.

I was most happy to see that the senior champs would indeed race a heat race. As previously mentioned the senior champs on hand were combined with the two clone racers (a class of flat karts). This must have been a night for counting things on the fingers of one hand. I don’t know if I can ever recall seeing senior champs have a race with flat carts. Tonight I did.

 

 

I watched and recorded this race at ground level just beyond turns three and four. I found the senior champs to be very racy. They looked more powerful than other senior champs classes I have seen.  There was something unusual about the senior champ race. What was that? Just before their race the weather began to spit rain.

 

I wasn’t expecting this.

This was most surprising as the weather forecast called for a 20% chance of rain. An earlier glance at the weather radar didn’t reveal any problems.

 

 

However when I glanced at the radar at the beginning of the senior champ kart event I noticed rain was almost immediately to the east and heavy rain was coming in from the west although I didn’t expected that reach the track for an hour or more.

 

 

Much of this rain was on the “yellow” variety on radar. That means it’s more than a shower and more likely to be a harder and maybe steady rain. However the senior champs soon completed their 10-lap race and this track was in the books.

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

It was time to head back into Canada.

With that big smile came across my face. The signal the time to hit the road. It seemed as the weather was coming in and I needed to get to Canada.

 

 

Just down the road I stopped to pack my car with fuel. Gas prices were $2.79 USD a gallon. That’s probably about a dollar less than what fuel sells for in Canada.

 

 

If all goes well I won’t need to buy any gasoline in Canada at all. If I do have to stop it will be for only a few gallons to get me across the border back into the United States.

 

 

I wasn’t 10 miles from the track when it began to rain. The rain was definitely hard enough to cancel tonight’s racing. I’ll have to check later to see if they did get rain and if they had to shorten the program.

 

 

Whenever the rain is in the area that concerns me. However I didn’t think the rain was going to be a problem tonight. I guess ignorance is bliss.

 

 

An interesting take on things.

I did hear an interesting comment on the radio earlier today. It directly addressed the situation in the above paragraph.

 

The speaker contended that unhappiness is created by thinking about the situation and not what actually happens in the situation. I think what was being said is that people worry about things that never really materialize. That was my number one learning point of the trip so far.

 

 

I’m only on day one of my three-day rental car contract. By the time I get to my hotel tonight I should have 400 miles on my trip odometer. The entire three-day adventure calls for 24 hours of driving. I’m planning to sleep in my car tomorrow night. That’s the only way I can see the racing on Saturday night and also Sunday at about noon.

 

 

 

 

The Empire state

This evening I saw my 70th lifetime track in the Empire state, yes the Empire state. I have now seen 70 or more tracks in 11 different states. Here’s that list:

 

California

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Michigan

Minnesota

New York

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Texas

Wisconsin

 

I suspect I have visited a state well over 50 times when I have seen 70 racetracks in that state.

 

 

 

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

New York sayings: Once you have lived in New York and made it your home…no place else is good enough – John Steinbeck

 

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) – 2,174 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Toronto Pearson International Airport – trip begins

Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Pearson International Airport – trip ends – 124 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #2

Toronto Pearson International Airport – trip begins

Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Oswego, NY

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Brooklin Fairgrounds – No charge

Oswego Kartway at the Oswego Speedway – No charge

 

 

 

 

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,097

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 70

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.88

 

 

 

That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report