Greetings from Powell, Wyoming
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Park County Fairgrounds – Dirt Road Course
Lifetime Track #1,992
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Park County Fairgrounds – Figure 8
Lifetime Track #1,993
Just having the time of my life on this 42-day trip. I woke up this morning at home in St. Louis, Missouri. I met Carol in Colorado. We went to bed on the first night of this trip in Westminster, Colorado before relocating to Greybull, Wyoming for the next two nights. These were days 16, 17 and 18 of my 42-day mega trackchasing trip. I had a great time at the figure 8 races last night in Missouri. It was fun meeting the promoter, the track photographer and the drivers. That added an entirely new dimension to my trackchasing outing. Wednesday – Day 16 of 42 From the Midwest to the Rocky Mountains and beyond. Today was a repositioning day. I would wake up in St. Louis and go to bed in Denver. There will be a couple of repositioning days like this during this long trip. I must have miscalculated the time needed to make my flight this morning. I cleared security some 90 minutes before flight time. I normally shoot for 45–60. Nevertheless as Gerry O’Reilly once told me “If you’re not early your late”. Forty-five bucks to check two bags! Today I’ll be flying from St. Louis to Denver on Frontier airlines. I was pretty bummed to have to pay $45 to check two bags. Nevertheless it was comforting to know that I paid only $89 for my basic airline fare. Please! I need a gasoline sponsor. After 15 days all over the Midwest and more I turned in my rental car with 6,680 miles on the trip odometer. That translated to just a little bit more than 13 full tanks of gasoline in 15 days. Yes, I am still looking for a gasoline sponsorship. Friends. There is one, of many, great benefits to the traveling during my business career. That benefit continues into retirement. What is the benefit? Despite living in such a faraway place as Southern California I get to see my friends who live a long distance away frequently. For dinner this evening I’ll be joining up with two of my Procter & Gamble “colleagues” who now live in the Denver area. Following dinner I’ll drive over to the Denver airport and pick up Carol. She will join me on two separate occasions during this trip. Her participation will allow us to maintain our position was the “World’s #1 Trackchasing COUPLE”. Baseball. Major league baseball. However before I meet up with any of those folks I will grab a rental car and head over to the Colorado Rockies baseball park. They call it Coors Field. The Rockies are one of the five home teams I haven’t seen play yet. I have a plan in place to knock off the other four before the end of 2014 season. I do a lot of traveling with my trackchasing hobby. I was surprised that simply adding 10 major-league ballparks, with their geographical diversity, to my travel schedule was noticeable. The plan to see all of these ball parks definitely increased by 2014 travel commitment. However when it’s all said and done I think it will be worth it. I have no idea. For some odd reason Frontier Airlines does not do TSA pre-check. I’m sure there are other domestic airlines that don’t as well but I’ve never flown them. Having been a member of the TSA pre-check program for years it’s most inconvenient not to have that perk. The Tempe Tornado likes cherry pie. I have flown into the St. Louis airport 1 million times. Maybe 2 million. I once bought a piece of cherry pie for Leland McSpadden, the Tempe Tornado, in the St. Louis airport. Of course for those who don’t know Leland McSpadden was a very successful sprint and midget driver in the 80s and 90s. I was randomly seated next to Leland on a flight from Indianapolis to St. Louis. Of course, no one else on the plane recognized Leland…but I did. I asked him a million questions during our flight. Then while we waited for our connecting flight from St. Louis to Phoenix I invited him for a piece of pie while I quizzed him some more. Leland was a wild driver that I rooted for until he retired from the sport. He had a big scare from cancer in about 2003 but I’m happy to report he’s still with us. I’ll do what it takes for a little special treatment. When I travel I want to be efficient, effective and comfortable. With no official status on Frontier Airlines the line was long to clear line security. I had no TSA pre-check. However I did have my American Airlines platinum card. I flashed that and was admitted to the premium line. I probably saved a good 15 minutes of waiting in line. The St. Louis airport has hardly changed since I first started running through there in the early 70s. With only 3-4 hours of hotel sleep last night I slept almost all the way during the two hour flight from St. Louis to Denver. The pressure was on to get a good rental car. “Good” by my standards means getting good gas mileage and having satellite radio. I don’t want one without the other. I had a choice between a Hyundai Sonata (37 MPH) and a Toyota Prius (about 50 MPH). I had to go with the Sonata and it’s satellite radio option. I was going to be out in the boonies a good deal on this trip. That meant having good radio reception and a wide selection of channels was of critical importance. I would end up “paying” for the satellite radio at the expense of the fuel mileage I would miss with the Toyota Prius. That I was off to the Residence Inn by Marriott my hotel choice for the night. This was another Priceline selection offering great value. The only problem was that we would be using the hotel so little that we wouldn’t be able to experience the value Priceline had created. Coors Field! Next up was a visit to Coors Field in downtown Denver, Colorado. I’d be seeing a game today between the Colorado Rockies and the Washington Nationals. After knocking Coors Field off the list I have only four major-league baseball stadia to see. I plan to see all of them before the end of the 2014 season. I had purchased my ticket from UberSeat a week or so ago. My ticket price an astounding two dollars per seat. I did have to buy a minimum of two seats so my total expenditure was four dollars. Not a great welcome to Coors Field. I did some research on the best place to park at a Rockies game. The best I could do was to pay $14 for a spot in the Colorado Rockies lot. That was expensive but to add insult to injury it was nearly a mile walk or more to the stadium. I rode a shuttle bus to the stadium most of the way to the park. I had to walk to the car on the way back. It’s usually better to give than receive. I had two tickets and only needed one. I saw a fellow standing around looking at as if he needed ticket. He did. I gave him my second ticket for free. It’s all about good karma. Tell me about Coors Field. Coors Field opened in 1995. That makes it one of the older “new generation” stadia build in the last quarter century. Capacity is just over 50,000 for baseball. I found this interesting information about Coors Field on Wikipedia: “During construction, workers discovered a number of dinosaur fossils throughout the grounds, including a 7-foot-long (2.1 m) 1,000-pound (450 kg) triceratops skull. Because of this, “Jurassic Park” was one of the first names to be considered for the stadium. This later led to the selection of a dinosaur as the Rockies’ mascot, “Dinger”. [9] Coors Field was the first major league park with an underground heating system. While most of the seats in Coors Field are dark green, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple. This marks the city’s one mile elevation point. Stadium designers speculated early on that Coors Field would give up a lot of home runs. It is by far the highest park, elevation wise in the majors. Designers knew that the low air density at such a high elevation would result in balls traveling farther than in other parks. With this in mind, the outfield fences were placed at an unusually far distance from home plate, thus creating one of the largest outfields in baseball today. In spite of the pushed-back fences, for many years Coors Field not only gave up the most home runs in baseball, but the most doubles and triples as well. On July 2, 2003, a three-flight escalator malfunctioned, injuring 30 people. One woman, Peggy Nance, eventually would have to have her leg amputated. Overcrowding and a malfunctioning wire were blamed. The Rockies never admitted to any responsibility. In 2011, a man fell to his death when he was attempting to slide down a stair railing during the seventh inning of a Rockies-Diamondbacks game. On April 23, 2013, Rockies and Braves played in the coldest game since MLB began tracking game time temperature in 1991, at 23 °F (−5 °C).” This afternoon I did a complete walking loop around the stadium just to check things out. Then I settled into a seat in the upper deck pretty much behind home plate. That’s my favorite place to watch a game. I enjoyed a Diet Coke in a large souvenir glass that I will add to my burgeoning collection. I passed on the “Elk brats”. The weather changes to a greater degree in Denver from one minute to the next of any major city I know. The stadium was about half-full. There wasn’t a whole lot happening in the game. It was hot, in the mid 90s, humid and sunny. However in Denver the weather is known to change quickly and dramatically. That was the case today. In the sixth inning a strong cloud cover came over. The wind began to blow strongly, as much as 30-40 MPH. Then it began to rain. I was already seated near the top of the grandstand and covered from most of the elements. Some fans retreated to join me under cover. Others headed for the exits. By now the rain was coming down pretty much sideways. With the Rockies leading in the sixth the umpires did not want to bring out the tarp cover the field creating a delay. They played on in the rain. However, the weather pretty much cleared out the crowd. The grounds keeping staff had to add dirt and sand to the pitcher’s mound and the batter’s box to keep things playable. It must have rained for a good 20 minutes. Eventually the rain stopped as we entered the ninth-inning. In the top of the ninth the Rockies reliever tried to protect the 6-0 lead. That didn’t go all that well. With the score now 6-4 with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth it was a nail biter. The final out came on a strike three call giving the Rockies a 6-4 win. Nice but not the best. I’ve seen about 15 of the newer ballparks in the last couple of years. Coors Field is nice but doesn’t have the centerfield views that several others have. To me it looks rather industrial. The lines were long getting into the stadium because of overly chatty ticket takers and slow concession stand operators. I would not rate Coors Field in my top five or maybe even top 10 stadia that I have visited. Yep, today was busy. Today had been a busy day. I had flown from one time zone to another. I had picked up a rental car and a hotel. Now I had seen a major-league baseball game for the first time in Colorado. I wasn’t done yet though. Denver movers and shakers. I would be meeting up with my buddies from back in the “working” world. I’m talking about Frank Eich and Steve Tomasek. We would be having dinner and drinks at an upscale restaurant in Denver. We enjoyed each other’s camaraderie for nearly 3 hours. Most of my friends are little wealthier than the average individual. Most of my friends are of one political persuasion. I’m more of a moderate. I don’t really share many of my friend’s political visions. Nevertheless I am most certainly willing to talk about it as long as they want to do the same. Much of our conversation tonight was centered on how the country should be managed with regards taxes, health care and the like. I won’t go much more into detail on these subjects. This is not a political forum. I’ll just say I enjoy bantering back and forth with the political talk as long as the people on the other end are willing to not take things too seriously. Some people can handle that requirement. Some can’t. I don’t talk politics with the people who takes this stuff too seriously. What a husband! After dinner it was time to make a quick stop at a florist to pick up some flowers for Carol. I would soon be getting her up at the airport in Denver. She’ll be with me with me for the next few days of this 42-day mega trip. Just running around Denver today for the things that I’ve already described put 150 miles on the rental car. Yes I do a lot of driving. Carol’s flight was a few minutes late. By the time we got back to the hotel we would have just seven hours or so before it was time to head out to state of Wyoming. By the way the question might be asked, “How often do I get flowers for Carol?” Often. It’s a wise and well-deserved show of appreciation and affection. Thursday – Day 17 of 42 This morning Carol and I woke up in Westminster, Colorado. We went to bed in Greybull, Wyoming. This is how the day went. Carol and I were up early to begin our trackchasing day. It would culminate with a visit Powell, Wyoming. We had a great breakfast at the Residence Inn by Marriott property. I could live in one of those places. You all know I stay in much better places when Carol is with me. Johnson’s Corners. We had an eight-hour drive from Colorado up to Wyoming. Along the way we would stop at a longtime landmark, Johnson’s Corners. We’ve been coming to JC for more than 40 years. They’re a truck stop of sorts. Johnson’s Corners is famous for cinnamon rolls. Over the past two nights I’ve had three hours of sleep and six hours of sleep. I was dragging. Shortly after we crossed over the Wyoming state line Carol took over the driving chores. She’s a good driver although she rarely takes the wheel on a trackchasing adventure. She’ll help out when I can’t go any longer. Carol and I have been a couple for some time now. As long time readers know I first met Carol back in the late 60s. She and her family were living in Wyoming. This was a family reunion sorts. Later in the trip we would visit her adopted hometown of Dayton, Wyoming. During this trip I would be seeing tracks #12 and #13 in Wyoming. The state has such a low population seeing more than a dozen tracks here is good. By the way, Wyoming is the least populous state in America with just 543,000 people. It pays to know people. I had established a good relationship with Nate organizer of tonight’s Enduro cross racing. I’ll tell you more about Nate later. I will say this. It always pays to “know people”. The weather in Wyoming can be extreme. We have visited relatives on Mother’s Day and it snowed. Today was it 95°. We saw a digital roadside warning of 45+ mile-per-hour winds. However there was no rain forecasted for the next two days. We’ll be in good shape on that front. Today we would have to see Wyoming at 80 MPH. That’s the speed limit on interstate 25. That’s right there was not much time for sightseeing today. Tomorrow would be much better in that regard. The drive up to Powell offered some fantastic scenery. High-priced….but cool. Hotels in this part of the world especially near Yellowstone Park can be outrageously expensive in the summertime. However I found a bargain at the Antler Motel in Greybull, Wyoming. We had our own individual modern log cabin. It was beautiful. The only downside was it didn’t have a bathroom. Well it did have a bathroom but that bathroom was about a 40 second walk from the log cabin itself. At least that bathroom was dedicated to our own individual cabin. Carol and I showed up to check in at a couple of minutes past 4 p.m. Carol’s sister Patty was coming to meet us from the opposite direction. She and her husband live in southern Wyoming. She got there within five minutes of our arrival. Our logistical plan was working perfectly. As you can see Carol lucked out….she got the top bunk. After the races…. Fair food…that’s county fair food not marginal food. Following the races we had some fair food. We all chose the pulled pork sandwich. Each had a full pound of meat. Normally these serving sizes are exaggerated but not tonight. I couldn’t believe it when Carol ate a full pound of pulled pork. She’s not a big eater as evidenced by her most in shape frame. Nevertheless, both Carol and Patty finished off these sandwiches. Following dinner we took a leisurely ride back to our log cabin in Greybull and went to bed. We had just completed a most challenging but satisfying day. Friday – Day 18 of 42 Carol, her sister Patty and I had stayed overnight in a quaint little log cabin in Greybull, Wyoming. The first item on my morning agenda was a 45-minute power walk around this small town. Greybull has just 1,847 people but looks a lot bigger. Greybull, in Big Horn County, is located in North Central Wyoming. One of my favorite actors, Wilford Brimley is from Greybull. Dayton, Wyoming….a blast from the past. When I got back from my walk the ladies were ready for a good day of touring and then trackchasing. Our first event was to drive over the Big Horn Mountains to the small town of Dayton, Wyoming. Carol’s family was living in Dayton when I first met her. The mountainous terrain was a very scenic encounter. Back in the late 60s Dayton’s population, when I visited, was 333 people. It is now “grown” to 757 people. Of course that’s over a time period of about 45 years! Our first stop was at the Tongue River High School. They say that you can never go home. Things change so much over the years. That might be true in Dayton. A brand-new high school was built on the site of the old school in 2009. The old high school is now the site of Dayton’s community center and senior center. When we walked in we made some acquaintances. Soon we were given free reign to tour the facility. That’s how they do it in Wyoming. A pretty small graduating class. Carol’s sister had a graduating class of 32 people in 1970. Nevertheless, they have one of the most beautiful high school gyms I’ve ever seen. It has a domed interior roof. Don’t miss the pictures on this one. Remember the basketball gym is coming from such a small school. From there we went to visit the home of one of Patty’s lifelong friends from Dayton. When it was time for lunch we simply walked about a block and we were in the middle of downtown Dayton! The restaurant was offering a hamburger/hotdog buffet. I hadn’t seen one of those. The Foothills Motel and Campground. From there we drove past the Foothills Motel and Campground in Dayton. When I first met Carol her parents owned this establishment. At the end of each college summer, when my factory work was completed, I would come out and spend a week in Wyoming. They always gave me my own individual cabin. Our final stop in Dayton was a 7 mile drive up into the Tongue River Canyon. This is a most beautiful spot with the Tongue River running through a high rock wall canyon. We all reminisced about our experiences here. When our Dayton touring was complete we were now looking at a two-hour ride over the mountains to Powell, Wyoming. We took a different mountain route back from the one we took this morning beginning in Greybull. After the races…. I used to hypnotize my friends in college. We wrapped up our evening by catching the last part of a hypnosis show at the fair. Those are always fun and they were tonight as well. We grabbed some homemade ice cream and then headed back for the one hour drive to Greybull. Carol and I had a good deal of mixing and matching to do with our luggage. She was taking some things home while I was taking some of her things (not her clothes!) on for the rest of my trip. Then we would meet up again in Boston in a few days. Yes, we lead a crazy lifestyle but seem to enjoy ourselves at the end of the day. The Racing. Park County Fairgrounds – Powell, Wyoming UTV Racing We hopped in one car for the 50-minute drive from Greybull up to Powell, Wyoming site of tonight’s trackchasing activity. Tonight we would be seeing UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle) aka SXS (Side by Side) racing. I can’t believe how many side-by-side race events that I’ve seen in the past year or so. This is a fantastic new source for tracks. I’m happy to have discovered it for members of the trackchasing hobby. Admission to the fair was five dollars per person. A weeklong pass could be purchased for $10. Admission to the grandstand for the UTV races was free. Complimentary box seats. My contact Nate had arranged for us to have box seats at tonight’s event. I also had a chance to meet Nate’s wife Colby and the track announcer Russ who owns the local radio station. Russ gave me a nice trackchasing mention to begin the program. Tonight’s track was one of the most intricate and difficult ones I’ve seen by far for side-by-side racing. The track had some minor dirt hill jumps, some very difficult to maneuver logs obstacles and a huge mud hole. There were some big rocks to maneuver around as well. It was a tough track. Don’t miss the photos. Let’s go racing. The first competitive races tonight were for motorcycles. The bikers had three divisions based upon expertise. These guys had a tough time getting around the track just as the SXS racer would. One turn was especially troublesome. In this space about 20 automobile tires had been laid down in one of the turns. When the motorcycles came through this part of the course they often got stuck. The tires would shift unexpectedly. Then the motorcycle riders would lose forward momentum and fall over on their sides. Actually there were several points around the track where the motorcycle riders could not keep their mounts afloat. I’m sure that many of them were black and blue by nights end. Side by side racing. The side-by-side racing featured two classes. The first and less powerful group had three competitors. The “1000” group had eight racers. Tonight I was seeing my first ever four-seat UTV competitor. It would’ve been fun to see more racers. The more powerful group put on a good show. Take a look at the video so you could see what I mean. The next day….figure 8 Racing When we arrived in Powell, site of tonight’s figure 8 racing, we stopped for a quick snack. While there I received a phone call from Nate the organizer of last night’s UTV Racing. He was also my contact for today’s trackchasing visit to Powell. He wanted to meet us at the gates so he could give us our tickets to tonight’s figure 8 show. I’m very humbled by the interest local event operators give my hobby of trackchasing. In just a few minutes I was getting a chance to talk to Nate in person. We had emailed back and forth many times over the past few weeks. He had four tickets for us, we would only need three, in the VIP box seats section. Tickets sold for $20 each. We thanked Nate and his group for their generosity Last night’s UTV Racing came with a free admission price. Tonight’s grandstand tickets for the figure 8 show were $18 and as mentioned the VIP box seats were $20 each. I thought these were pretty strong admission prices for a county fair figure 8 show. Wyoming figure 8 racing. Only seven figure 8 cars were on hand tonight. They would end up running two heat races of four and three cars respectively. All seven cars ran in the feature event. The Park County Fairgrounds also offers a nice looking high-banked quarter-mile dirt oval track. Locals told me they raced weekly here for a few years until noise complaints by local residents shut them down. That’s pretty bad when local residents can use noise as an issue in a free-wheeling state like Wyoming. The oval track had a nearly new Armco steel retaining wall. It looks like, when properly prepared, the oval would be an excellent little quarter-mile bullring. The two heats of just four and three cars each left a lot to be desired. The figure 8 track used the turns of the quarter-mile dirt oval. The figure 8 “X” was in the center of the oval’s infield. The track had been plowed to be only about two car widths wide. This made for a narrow track. Guests don’t always get a great first impression. Between heats they did an extensive amount of track watering. I’m always disappointed when I have guests with me like I did with my sister-in-law Patty and the races aren’t very good. Frankly this happens more often than not. What does that tell me? I’m a lot more forgiving of a less than great show when I’m by myself. Nevertheless the seven-car figure 8 feature covering 20 laps was actually very good. There were a number of close calls at the figure eights intersection. Finally just a few laps a major crash occurred. I caught it on video. One of the cars became disabled and sat almost in the middle of the X for the remainder of the race with the driver inside. When the checkered flag flew for the winner I stopped recording. Just as I did one of the back markers had a hard crash at the X! Overall the feature event saved the trackchasing day at the Park County Fairgrounds in Powell, Wyoming. Wyoming The Cowboy state During this trip I saw my 12th and 13th lifetime tracks in the Cowboy state, yes the Cowboy state. I have a healthy, for Wyoming, five track lead here. 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 Wyoming sayings: Candy-Ass: Whiner; Baby “You’re just one more son-of-a-bitch I don’t haveta like.” Translation: “I don’t care for you, nor do I feel that it is necessary for me to do so.” “He’s too dumb to pour piss out of a boot.” Translation: “His IQ is not particularly high.” QUICK FACTS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 1,745 miles RENTAL CAR #1 O’Hare (Chicago) International Airport – trip begins Charlotte, MI Cortland, OH Davisburg, MI Davisburg, MI Mechanicsburg, IL Harlan, IA Primghar, IA Knoxville, IA Bucyrus, OH O’Hare (Chicago) International Airport – trip ends – 3,516 miles RENTAL CAR #2 O’Hare International Airport – trip begins Carlyle, IL St. Louis International Airport – trip ends – 412 miles RENTAL CAR #3 St. Louis International Airport – trip begins Hastings, MI Greenfield, IA Atchison, KS David City, NE Dighton, KS Malvern, IA Eldon, MO St. Louis International Airport – trip ends – 2,760 miles Editor’s note: The above did involve three different rental car contracts. However, I did it all with the SAME car. When I pulled in for the final time to the St. Louis airport the car was huffing and puffing. In 15 days I had driven it 6,688 miles. RENTAL CAR #4 Denver International Airport – trip begins Powell, WY TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Eaton County Fairgrounds – $10 Trumbull County Fairgrounds – $4 Oakland County Fairgrounds – oval – $10 ($10 to park!) Oakland County Fairgrounds – figure 8 – $10 ($10 to park….again!) Ealyville Speedway – Complimentary pit pass Shelby County Speedway – $5 Primghar Raceway – $5 Knoxville Raceway – Complimentary admission Crawford County Fairgrounds $10 ($5 fair; $5 grandstand) Clinton County Fairgrounds – $10 Barry County Expo – $13 ($3 fair; $10 grandstand) Adair County Fair – $6 Atchison County Raceway – $12 Butler County Fairgrounds – $10 Lane County Fairgrounds – $10 Mills County Fairgrounds – $10 Miller County Fairgrounds – $10 Park County Fairgrounds UTV – (Night #1) – Complimentary admission Park County Fairgrounds Figure 8 – (Night #2) – Complimentary admission 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 Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day: Fun at Coors Field and then off to a great trip to Wyoming