Rooks County Speedway

 

 

 

THE EVEN

 

 

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:

 

 

Randy’s Complete Track List

 

 

If you’ve got a question, comment or whatever please leave it at the bottom of this report.  It’s very easy to do.  I’ll try my best to respond.  Thanks!

 

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

Timing is everything.

It was going to take a special effort to make it to the Rooks County Speedway tonight. They only race on this track two nights each year. Those are consecutive nights of racing at their county fair each July.

 

 

#1 in Kansas? Not now…but someday?

I have a long-term goal of becoming the number one trackchaser in Kansas. After tonight’s racing I will trail Wisconsin’s Ed Esser by six tracks, 40–34. I certainly won’t catch up this year and probably not next. However trackchasing rewards those who stay the course, pun intended, so I’ll keep coming to Kansas whenever I can.

 

 

I left last night’s track in Croton, Ohio at about 9 p.m. Eastern time. Tonight racing in Stockton, Kansas would begin at 7:30 p.m. central time. This meant I had 23 1/2 hours to get from Ohio out to Kansas. 

 

 

Last night…tonight…how far?

The Hartford County Fairgrounds in Ohio is not exactly next door to the Rooks County Fairgrounds in Kansas. As a matter fact Google Maps would tell you the two locations are 982 miles apart. As a matter of fact Google Maps told me it would take a little bit more than 14 hours of driving to make the trip.

 

 

Boggling the mind?

I’m thinking it might boggle the minds of some to fully understand the logistical strategies I employ in my hobby. I’ve been doing this a long time. I try to make my travel plans as efficient time-wise and cost-wise as I possibly can.

 

 

Yesterday morning I had flown from Washington, D.C. to Columbus, Ohio where I rented a car. However I had no intention of returning the car to Columbus in preparation for my next flight.

 

 

That would make my Columbus rental car contract a “one way” rental. I normally pay $30-$40 per day for every day I have a rental car. That’s my average price when I pick the car up in one location and return it to the very same location.

 

 

One-way car rentals are expensive.

One-way rentals are normally at least twice as expensive as a normal rental. Let’s think about it this way.

 

 

What if you had a friend….

Let’s say that you and your friend, who was willing to lend you his new car, both lived in Chicago. You might expect that he would be more agreeable to letting you have his car in Chicago if when you were finished with it you agreed to give it back to him in Chicago. However if you told him you wanted to pick up his new car in Chicago and then leave it in Dallas or Denver or Denmark that might create an issue wouldn’t it?

 

 

One-way rentals for repositioning.

I use one-way rentals for “repositioning”. On this particular adventure I wanted to reposition myself from Columbus, Ohio to St. Louis, Missouri. Why St. Louis?

 

 

I knew that once I got to St. Louis I could rent another car. That would give me the capability of both picking up and returning that car to St. Louis. This would create a “same location” for pick up and drop off of the rental car. Having a one-way rental from Columbus to St. Louis and then a “normal” rental in St. Louis would save money.

 

 

The good thing about this particular strategy is that St. Louis was directly on the route from Columbus, Ohio to Stockton, Kansas. I would drive about 500 miles from Columbus over to St. Louis and drop off my car this morning.

 

 

I guess I could’ve flown from Columbus to St. Louis. Southwest had a nonstop flight this morning. However if I tried for that flight and missed it on a standby basis there would not be enough time left to drive from Columbus to Stockton, Kansas. If I were going to try to take over the number one trackchasing position in Kansas I couldn’t take a risk like that.

 

 

Some more rental car housekeeping.

I had some more things to consider concerning rental cars. I could return my Columbus car to St. Louis as late as about 2 p.m. because that’s when I picked it up in Ohio. However if I returned it that late I couldn’t make it to Kansas in time for tonight’s race.

 

 

Alternatively if I drove straight through the night from Columbus to St. Louis I could probably return the car as early as 4-5 a.m. this morning. That would give me plenty of time to get to get to Kansas. However when it came time to return my car back to St. Louis in three days I would have to return it by 4-5 a.m. rather than by 8 a.m. the time I preferred.

 

 

Confusing?

If this seems confusing you may want to reread the above paragraphs. At this point in my trackchasing career all of these things go through my mind in a split second. I have a very analytical mind (that’s not really a surprise to you is it?) to begin with. After having done this hundreds of times the process is easy for me.

 

 

Adding zeros.

By sleeping in interstate rest area along the way I would incur ZERO expense for lodging. Adding a zero into my average hotel expense calculations every once in a while keeps my overall average at a reasonable amount.

 

 

My rental car was an all black with black interior Dodge charger. Yes, it looked like a cop car. The car was decked out with XM satellite radio, power seats and several other amenities. I like this car.

 

 

The simple plan.

Once I got to St. Louis my plan was simple. I would drive into rental return lot and have them close out my contract. Then without ever getting out of this car or rearranging any of the gear that was strewn about its interior I would ask the rental car lot attendant to give me a brand-new contract for the very same car. I’ve done this many times and it works like a charm.

 

 

This morning I closed out my one-way rental contract that, for most people, would cost $80-100 a day or more. Today my one-way rental expense was just $13.

 

 

When I exited the rental car lot with the very same car that I had driven overnight I now had a “same location pick up and return” contract for my car. That netted me a reasonable three day rate and I was on my way.

 

 

On the prowl for new information.

During my drive last night I had selected 12 XM satellite radio channels for my listening enjoyment. That included the NASCAR channel, PGA golf, CNN, NPR, Fox, Wharton business radio, Howard Stern and a few others. Several of those stations were somewhat new to me (Stern, Fox). However when you’re going to be in the car for as much as I was it’s a good idea to try a few new sources of information.

 

 

A bit much?

I know some people might think a 982-mile drive in a single 24 hour is a bit much. It might be too much for them. However I don’t see it that way. It’s pretty obvious that if I did view this as a burden I wouldn’t do it!

 

 

I simply think of that kind of drive as sitting back in a big old Lazy Boy recliner. I can look out the window and see America passing by. I can get all kinds of information and entertainment from my satellite radio system. Folks are texting me and calling me multiple times during the hour. I’ve got my phone to provide information and entertainment about news, weather, sports and lots of other stuff. By the end of one of these trips I know a lot about a lot. I very much like to listen to others.

 

 

I don’t trackchase as others do.

I do all of my own driving. Some Trackchasers are limited to what they can do if they can’t find someone to share the driving and gasoline expense. I am fortunate in that I educated myself and then worked hard in a position that allowed me to travel on my own without the financial support of anyone else for as long as I live.

 

 

I can certainly sympathize and empathize with others who are not in that someone ideal position. However I can never feel good when I see one person exploiting another just so they can get someone to do all of the driving and paying for the gasoline. I would never want to have someone become my “friend” simply to ease the financial burden on me.

 

 

Culver’s!

I’m a big fan of the Culver’s semi fast food chain. There employees are just a cut above other fast food/casual dining operations. I would put the employees of In and Out burgers, Chick-fil-A and Culver’s in a separate class, dramatically above the workers of their competition.

 

 

Today I used the Culver’s app to find the nearest location to where I was driving. That turned out to be Blue Springs, Missouri.

 

 

Subsidizing seniors.

I ordered their triple cheeseburger with no bun and a small drink. Culver’s will bring the food to your table. That’s is always a nice service level. Of course I always get a 5% discount because most major businesses believe they need to subsidize senior citizen’s living expenses. If I can’t change that policy I have to learn to accept the benefits.

 

 

Another nice feature of being in a Culver’s restaurant is that they have complimentary Wi-Fi. Today I brought my Apple MacBook Pro laptop in to do some quick work while I dined.

 

 

Killing them in Kearney.

I needed to find a hotel location somewhat midway from tonight’s race and on the way to tomorrow night’s competition in Eagle, Nebraska. That location turned out to be Kearney, Nebraska. I would have Priceline.com set me up with a “good deal” on a hotel in Kearney.

 

 

Sometimes in smaller places like a Kearney Nebraska the Priceline offerings are not as good. Prices in these little off-the-wall locations can be quite expensive for what they are.

 

 

However while sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of a Culver’s restaurant nibbling on my triple cheeseburger and sucking down a Diet Pepsi I struck hotel gold. That’s always a good thing.

 

 

The Ramada Inn of Kearney, Nebraska was willing to host the World’s #1 Trackchaser. The very best rate a “normal” person could get at the Ramada for this evening was about $90 including all taxes and fees. I would pay much less. Priceline.com, a long time supporter of my trackchasing travel, would charge me just $50 including taxes and fees for a night’s stay.

 

 

The big seven.

I have seven trackchasing expense categories. Those are airline fares, airport parking, rental cars, hotels, gasoline, food and race tickets. Those have been the seven expense categories that I have tracked from the beginning of trackchasing time.

 

 

You already know that I have a robust airline trackchasing sponsorship. You’ve also heard me tell you about the support I get from World Parking garage at LAX. This handles my airport parking. You have just seen how I pay much less than the normal rate, often times half as much or less for hotels.

 

 

I have the “gas guru ” app that directs me to the least expensive gasoline stations. Often times my age will get me a reduced price race ticket. At other times my trackchasing notoriety will reduce my race ticket expense to zero.

 

 

62 or 63 days!

This is now going to be a 62-63 day trackchasing trip. Have you ever taken a 63-day vacation?

 

 

So how much?

What do you think a trip like that might cost if you were flying multiple times during your trip? What if you had 62 nights of hotels That would drive up the cost wouldn’t it? How about 63 days of rental car expense? And if you drove your car to the airport at the beginning of the trip you would have a pretty big airport parking bill especially in a major city like Los Angeles.

 

 

I will drive nearly 20,000 miles on this trip. A driving distance like that will burn up a good deal of fossil fuel. As a matter fact I will buy a full tank of gas about every day of the trip. I like to eat in Yelp! recommended restaurants as often as I can. Of course if I’m going to get better food it’s going to cost just a little bit more. Also I will be going to 40-50 entertainment events. Tickets to those activities add to the cost.

 

 

Yes the above expenses could and do add up to a fairly substantial vacation cost. But there’s one other important factor that I must consider at all times.

 

 

I’ve been unemployed for the last 13 years. Some people would call retirement but it’s really the same thing as being unemployed. I don’t get a company pension of any kind. Carol came from a poor family and so did I.

 

 

Why mention all of this in this fashion? I simply want to point out that if you do all the right things, work hard and have some good fortune along way then you will be rewarded. This is America and that’s why I like our country.

 

 

August. Kansas. Warm.

Temperatures in Kansas today were warm as you might expect with a mid-August visit. It was a fair skies day with temperatures in the low 90s.

 

 

I was surprised to see that rain chances were popping up at 50% for 10 p.m. tonight. It looked like I was just going to beat the rain at the racetrack. That certainly would have been a bummer to drive 982 miles and then get rained out with no alternatives.

 

 

About an hour south of the Rooks County Speedway I stopped for dinner in Hays, Kansas. Of course I used a Yelp! recommended restaurant serving Mexican food. Following my meal, which was good, I added a few photos and my review to Yelp! I figure if I’m going to take advantage of everyone’s recommendations and reviews that I should make some input into the system as well.

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

Rooks County Speedway – Stockton, Kansas

 

 

On my radar for a long time.

I have thought about coming to Stockton, Kansas for the stock car races at their county fair for many years. However they only race two nights each year. In the past questionable weather forecasts and the remoteness of their location had kept me away.

 

 

I would say that a place like Stockton, Kansas is about as far away from a major metropolitan airport as just about anyplace I go. That certainly makes it tough to get to.

 

 

Made it!

Tonight’s racing was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. I pulled onto the fairgrounds property at 6:30. Cars were on the track practicing at that point.

 

This was truly a “free” fair as they advertised at the entrance to the fair tonight. There was no charge for people to simply come onto the fairgrounds and see what the fair had to offer. Of course there was an admission charge, $10, to see the stock-car racing. Carnival rides were ticketed at an additional fee as well.

 

 

This was an old grandstand.

The old county fair covered grandstand had a number of support posts. They blocked the view of spectators sitting higher up in the seats. This is quite normal with these types of stands.

 

 

Stock cars.

There were four classes of stock cars racing tonight all under the IM CA sanctioning banner. The classes were hobby stocks, stock cars, sport mods and modifieds. If you’re into racing you know what those class names generally mean.

 

 

The action was described over a very robust PA system. One of the better announcers that I’ve heard this year handled the microphone. He even gave me a nice trackchaser mentioned.

 

 

The IMCA stock car class runs cars that look like what “late models” did back in the 70s. I could almost imagine myself watching a 1970s late model race today, in 2015, with these cars at the track.

 

 

Each class had 10-15 entries. Each of the four classes would run two heat races. All cars would transfer to their feature event.

 

 

An early end to the racing?

The announcer did allude to a track curfew but never mentioned what it was. The track was a long and narrow one-half mile slightly banked dirt oval. As mentioned they race here only two days a year and that’s during the county fair.

 

 

The heat races with 5-7 cars in each of them went off smoothly. One race ran quickly after another. There were very few yellow flag delays.

 

 

Intermission and a viewing change.

Then the track went to intermission for about 20 minutes. Several fans left the packed grandstand to grab a bite to eat or get something to drink. I changed viewing positions at this point so I could get a few more recording angles for the movie you’ll see on YouTube from Rooks County.

 

 

I’ve seen this movie before.

As is often the case at programs like this the heat races went off without any delays. The features were another story. In the feature event there were twice as many cars racing. The drivers were racing for the lion share of the evening’s purse. Maybe, probably, that led to the aggressive devil may care racing.

 

 

There were a large number of yellow flag delays in those feature races. The officials had a hard time getting some of the back markers to line up properly. The bottom line was that a 12-lap hobby stock feature ran an additional 15-20 laps and maybe more of caution laps. That’s never a good idea. Yellow flags are a real “entertainment zapper” for short track racing.

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

Seeing the fair.

Following the feature races I took the opportunity to look inside some of the commercial and 4H display buildings. Those were fun. Some kids had gone to great links to produce their display presentations.

 

 

All in the rearview mirror now.

It has been a long 24-hour period from last night’s race until tonight’s racing. I had driven just over 1,000 miles during that time. I slept in batches. I’m guessing I had about four hours of sleep all in interstate rest areas. I don’t like to do that anymore than I have to. Nevertheless, a day or two from now I will nearly have forgotten all about whatever inconvenience that may have caused.

 

 

It was good to get this traditional dirt oval track added to my list. Since they race so infrequently and are in such a remote location it would be difficult to come back at some future time. Heck, it was difficult to come to this track THIS time!

 

 

I could deal with this bad weather.

Tonight I would be staying in Kearney, Nebraska. Kearney is located about two hours northeast of tonight’s fair in Stockton Kansas. It just turned out that a major rain system with lots of red and yellow colored radar was in the area. That storm would be meeting me at almost the moment I would be getting into Kearney and my Ramada Inn for the night.

 

 

I’ve had a few near misses with the weather during this trip. Fortunately I’ve only been rained out on one night. However that was an important one for me. It knocked me out of an Illinois located track.

 

 

Past halfway!!

Nevertheless I am now past the halfway point on my trip. Today is day number 38. The trip was originally planned for 56 days but now looks like it will cover 63 days. I’m hanging in there and taking it one day at a time.

 

 

Good night from Kearney, Nebraska.

 

 

 

Kansas

 

 

The Jayhawk state

This evening I saw my 34th lifetime track in the Jayhawk state, yes the Jayhawk state. I have now seen 34 or more tracks in 18 separate states. Has any other trackchaser done that? No.

 

 

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 sayings: Ski Kansas

 

 

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Chicago, IL (ORD) – 1,745 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #1

O’Hare International Airport – trip begins

London, KY

Indianapolis International Airport – trip ends – 766 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #2

Indianapolis International Airport – trip begins

Bedford, KY

Indianapolis International Airport – trip ends – 603 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #3

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – trip begins

Aitken, MN

Morten, Manitoba, Canada

LaGrange, IN

Manchester, IA

Oskaloosa, IA

Bowling Green, IN

Buncombe, IL

Ionia, MI

Osgood, IN

Hemlock, NY

Taylorville, IL

Cambridge, MN

Mora, MN

Urbana, IL

Bedford, KY

Owenton, KY

LeMars, IA

Belleville, KS

Grayslake, IL

Brazil, IN

La Grange, KY

Grayslake, IL

Sturgis, SD

Martinsburg, WV

Tazewell, VA

Henry, VA

Belmar, NJ

Berryville, VA

Croton, OH

Stockton, KS

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Laurel County Fairgrounds – $10 (not a trackchasing expense)

Trimble County Recreational Facility – $10

Aitken County Fairgrounds (oval) – complimentary admission

Aitken County Fairgrounds (RC) – $8

ALH Motor Speedway – complimentary admission

LaGrange County Fairgrounds – $10

Delaware County Fairgrounds – $10

Mahaska County Fairgrounds – $5

Sandstone – $15 (include pits)

HBR Raceway – $10 (included pits)

Ionia Free Fair – $13

Ripley County Fairgrounds – complimentary admission

Hemlock County Fairgrounds – complimentary admission

Christian County Fairgrounds – $8

Isanti County Fairgrounds – $12

Kanabec County Fairgrounds – $10

Champaign County Fairgrounds – $6

Dirty Turtle Off-Road Park – complimentary admission

Owenton County Fairgrounds – $10

Plymouth County Fairgrounds – complimentary admission

Belleville High Banks – $20

Lake County Fairgrounds – $8

Staunton MX – $15

Oldham County Fairgrounds – $10

Lake County Fairgrounds – $10

Buffalo Chip – $20

Berkeley County Youth Fairgrounds – $10

Tazewell County Fair Speedway – $10

Providence Raceway – $10

Wall Stadium Speedway – no charge

Clarke County Fairgrounds – $7

Hartford County Fairgrounds – $7

Rooks County Speedway – $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 500 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,149

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Click on the link below to see the “Video Plus” production from the Rooks County Speedway.

 

 

 

 

Click on the link below to see the one-minute “Video Lite” production from the Rooks County Speedway.

 

 

 

 

Important.

Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day.  Double click on a photo to begin the slide show or watch the photos at your own pace.  Hover over a photo to read the caption.

 

My day at this remote Kansas county fair