Greetings from Overbrook, Kansas
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Overbrook Osage County Fairgrounds
Dirt road course
Lifetime Track #2,263
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: 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! ON THE WAY TO THE RACES SATURDAY Last night I had seen my 41st lifetime track in Nebraska. That broke a tie with good buddy Ed Esser for the Nebraska trackchasing lead. Tonight I will be trackchasing in Kansas. Currently Ed holds the Kansas trackchasing lead with 40 tracks. After tonight I will have seen 39 tracks in the Jayhawk state. Tonight might have been the night I was ending up in a tie with Ed Esser for the Kansas lead. However, only one car showed up at the fair in Goodland, Kansas figure 8 show last week making it a “no count” for me. Today’s racetrack in Overbrook, Kansas was “only” a 3 ½-hour drive from my hotel in Lincoln. In my world that’s a pretty short drive. That meant I could relax in my hotel, checkout late and still be at the race in plenty of time. I secured a checkout time at 1 PM. I slept in and then went on a 45-minute power walk around the industrial neighborhood. At a 4 MPH walking pace I covered 3 miles. According to my “Lose it” iPhone app that 3-mile powerwalk burned up 341 calories. That’s not great but it’s better than nothing. I could use that 341-calorie debit to offset some of the calories I was going to consume at Don & Millies. Don & Millies is a seven-store fast food hamburger chain with locations in Omaha and Lincoln. They were founded in 1989. Today would be my fourth stop at Don & Millies in the last month! Everyone knows about In N Out Burgers, which is headquartered in Southern California. It’s an iconic brand. If you’re an expert on fast food (like me) you’re probably going to say that In N Out burgers is the best burger joint in the country. I would say that. However, I am now beginning to question my own thinking. In N Out Burgers is fantastic. It truly is better than any other major competition. However, I actually think the cheeseburgers and French fries COMBINED at Don & Millies are just a notch above In N Out Burgers. There, I’ve said it. I can’t take it back. Don & Millies produces a mean double cheeseburger and their fries are to die for. Of course Don & Millies does not have hamburgers and French fries only. They do hotdogs shakes and they’re famous “cheese frenchee. That’s a deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich! After consuming the 842-calorie double cheeseburger and a 265-calorie small order of French fries I felt that my life for the day was validated. I would have to eat responsibly for the rest of the day but my stop at Don & Millies was worth it. I don’t know how I missed this place for so long since I’m in this part of Nebraska several times each year. Soon I was pulling out of Lincoln, Nebraska the state capital. The folks down in Overbrook would be hosting an event sanctioned by the Kansas City Off-Road Racing Association. I’ve seen their events before. They’re small but entertaining. Race time was 7 p.m. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive from Lincoln down to Overbrook. The weather was nice with generally clear skies sunny conditions and temperatures ranging from 85-90°. The humidity was light so everything with the weather was good. THE RACING Overbrook – Osage Fairgrounds – Overbrook, Kansas I wasn’t sure what kind of course they would be using tonight. I was thinking it might be out in a wooded area someplace. Some of there racing happens on courses like that. However tonight racing will be part of the Overbrook – Osage County Fair in Overbrook. With a race time of 7 p.m., I arrived an hour and 15 minutes early. The good thing about being early is you get the chance to scout out local surroundings. Tonight I was going to get a county fair thrown in with what I thought was only going to be a dirt off-road side-by-side race. That was a good thing. I found a good spot to park and just relaxed for a few moments. The Kansas City Chiefs NFL exhibition game was being broadcast over a very robust PA system at the fair. The folks of Kansas City are huge supporters of their baseball and football professional teams. You don’t see that everywhere but a lot of places in the Midwest really go out of the way to support their local teams. You wouldn’t see that so much in Los Angeles. Tonight’s fair at the Overbrook – Osage Fairgrounds was on the smaller side. I judged that by the size of the carnival and animal barns. The carnival had only five or six rides. They were small and older. Just a few minutes before the racing was scheduled to begin I noticed a crowd was forming alongside the road near the fair. I went to investigate. A parade was moving through! I couldn’t miss that. There were a couple of high school marching bands. Some guys were driving in the parade with their tractors. Politicians were sporting their placards and throwing candy to the kids in an effort to curry their parent’s favor. The organization’s Facebook page had a very nice multi color poster describing the details for tonight’s event. They were off a bit on the times. The poster called for practice at 6:30 and racing at seven. In point of fact practice didn’t begin until about 7 p.m. and racing didn’t start until nearly 8 o’clock. I did not care for the tardy start. I never do. I liked tonight’s track. It was described as a “TT” track. Tonight that meant they would be racing on a flat dirt road course. The entire layout was placed in a space the size of a football field. This made viewing from the grandstand outstanding. The turns and straightaways were separated from each other by large dirt berm’s that were 3-4 feet tall. The announcer didn’t say all that much. He couldn’t be heard virtually at all in the main grandstand. That was disappointing. I would have loved to have known which classes I was watching, how long the races were etc. When the UTV racing machines hit the track for practice the racing surface was dry and dusty. Some water from a local fire department soon remedied that. After that watering the track surface was outstanding. It was better than most weekly oval tracks I see. Nice job on the surface. From what I could tell there were about 23 competitors on the property tonight. I would later learn there were two classes of UTVs and a class for trophy karts. Each of the UTV classes had about 10 competitors. The trophy carts at four. The racers were a little top-heavy for some of the hairpin turns that were required to navigate the track. There were a few flips. The track workers would come out and right the ship quickly. Tonight they would run two heats and a main event for each class. With 4-5 cars in each of the UTV heat races that meant a total of 10 heats for the night before the mains hit the track. Lap times for one class were about 33 seconds per circuit. I didn’t count the laps for the heats but they seemed longer than necessary. The heat races probably ran for about 10 laps. It seemed as if the second round of heats ran for fewer laps. Maybe they changed the plan after seeing the length of the first round of heats. I am in full agreement that UTV races that drive into the woods and disappear have virtually no socially or racing redeeming value for the spectator. It might be great fun for the participants but not being able to see the racers for most of the time they’re on the track is a real downer for fans to come to watch. The dust of those tracks is choking as well. However tonight’s racing, as is the case with most stadium off-road racing, was most entertaining and enjoyable to watch. If you go to a sporting event you want to see all of the action all of the time. This has always been my bugaboo with road racing in general where fans can’t see all of the action. I’ve seen several UTV/SXS races this year. Tonight’s action was definitely one of the best shows of that type I’ve seen. They could tighten it up a little bit with shorter heat races and an announcer/PA system that could actually be heard. Nevertheless, I give a thumbs up on tonight’s show. Tonight I had seen my 39th lifetime track in the state of Kansas. I still trail Ed Esser’s state leading total of forty. When I visit the states where Ed dominated I know that he was here first and he was here most. Good job on Ed. AFTER THE RACES Tonight the Knoxville Nationals were racing up in Knoxville, Iowa. I would likely bet that their racing was probably going to be much more popular and probably better than what I was seeing tonight. However I have made my bed (trackchasing) and I must lay in it. Maybe as the new track opportunities dwindle for me I’ll catch more of the big shows like Knoxville. That might be fun. During the night I follow the progress from up in Knoxville on a website that updated the results on a lap-by-lap basis. It sounded as if the “A” main at Knoxville was an excellent race. There was a time when I was an expert on the World of Outlaws. I saw a lot of their races. Tonight’s winner was Jason Johnson. I couldn’t pick Jason Johnson out of a lineup! It was nearly 10 p.m. when I left the track tonight. I had been in the grandstand for more than three hours. That’s a long time for a 23-race show. Maybe they didn’t need two heat races for each competitor. It was going to take me three hours and 17 minutes to get from Overbrook, Kansas over to Macon, Missouri. I had secured a Super 8 Motel there via Priceline.com. Super 8 doesn’t appear often with Priceline. I was surprised to get it. Tomorrow’s going to be an exciting trackchasing day in my boyhood state of Illinois. I’m returning to a track that I just missed out on a few weeks ago. More on that tomorrow. Good evening from Overbrook, Kansas. Kansas The Jayhawk state This evening I saw my 39th lifetime track in the Jayhawk state, yes the Jayhawk state. I hold the #2 trackchasing spot in Arizona. I’ve seen 39 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: Tornado Warning. What it means everywhere else: When you hide in your basement and pray. What it means in Kansas: When you go outside with a video camera hoping to catch some great footage. 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. 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 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. UTV racing from the Overbrook Osage County Fairgrounds 
