Greetings from Bedford, Kentucky
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Trimble County Recreational Facility
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #2,117
THE EVENT Note! 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 WEDNESDAY Not exactly the start I was looking for. I must admit that the “Long and Arduous Mega-Trackchasing Summer Tour of 2015” has gotten off to a muted start. First I had to change planes and fly overnight to Chicago simply because I wanted to check my golf bag conveniently. Then when I finally got on the ground and drove several hours I learned my primary track have been rained out. My secondary track decided not to hold a countable race. Doesn’t sound good does it? Then on the next day the track that was rained out on Tuesday decided to race the next night, Wednesday. I didn’t have any racing planned for Wednesday. That rain date would be perfect. However, I had already allocated Wednesday for golf with my brother to be followed later with a dinner with my two sisters and their husbands and my brother. The four seasons of the Midwest. I am from Illinois. I know there are four seasons of the year in the Prairie State. Those seasons would be nearly winter, winter, still winter and the Fourth of July. Since this wasn’t the Fourth of July I figured I was in the “nearly winter” phase. They weren’t quite ready for snow here but that didn’t mean it couldn’t rain cats and dogs for 48 hours. Golf – rained out. The weather rained out our golf outing. That didn’t stop my brother and me. We used our backup plan. What was that? We went to an afternoon movie, which I love doing a great deal. Following the movie Mark and I went for drinks at Schooners one of his favorite places in Bloomington, Illinois. That was followed by dinner with brother Mark and sisters Lynn and Becky and their husbands Ed and Bob. They chose a lovely Italian/seafood restaurant that was upscale in every way. I overnighted at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the Indianapolis airport. It rained hard all the way following dinner back to my hotel. If you don’t ask you don’t get. I am a strong subscriber to the adage, “If you don’t ask you don’t get”. When I checked into my hotel I reminded the Crowne Plaza desk clerk that I was a member of their frequent stay program. How frequently do I stay at Crowne Plaza Hotels? Not very often. Nevertheless I was smart enough to sign up for their frequent stay program. When I flashed my membership card to the desk clerk he looked at me as if I had a halo hanging over my head. That’s how I wanted him to think of me. I had paid the “Priceline” rate. That was about 40% off the best rate being offered on the hotel’s website. Nevertheless, because of my “status” I was upgraded to a king bedded room, which was large modern and just right. I was also given access to the executive lounge. In the lounge I could help myself to sodas, juices, waters and lots of snacks. THURSDAY I slept til noon! That’s right. I slept until noon! Although that was a leisurely indulgence it wasn’t as extreme as you might first think. I didn’t go to bed until 2 a.m. Eastern time. Additionally 12 noon was only 9 a.m. Pacific time. I had only been away from California for a couple of days. I think I was still used to the West Coast time zone. Nevertheless it was refreshing to sleep as late as I wanted too. It was comforting to know that I would be staying in the same hotel for another night. That doesn’t happen often. Apple gives me free computers. Did you know I get a free state of the art Apple computer* every three years? I guess that statement deserves some further explanation. I pay about $1,500 every three years for a state-of-the-art super deluxe and modern Apple laptop computer. With the computer I also get three years of Apple tech support and customer service. Our son J.J. has always helped me with all kinds of tech information. Now, it’s the Apple people who are major contributors to my technology success. I probably call them a couple of times a month with questions. That way I can get the most out of the machines I have. Some calls will last as long as two hours. The Apple people are extremely knowledgeable. I will buy a new computer every three years just so I have access to their customer support. I guess I’m really paying $1,500 every three years for Apple’s customer assistance. They throw in a top-of-the-line computer to boot! Life is all in how you look at things. Say, could you correct your error? I did step out of the hotel long enough to grab lunch at Wendy’s and later went on a 45-minute power walk. While at Wendy’s I did have to get the store manager’s attention over a pricing issue. I ordered two bottles of water that were priced at a $1.39 each on the store’s menu board. However I was charged a $1.49 per bottle. I brought this discrepancy to the manager’s attention. He was most apologetic and of course wanted to immediately refund the difference. I told him that wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t. “Just change it for the next customer,” I told him. I bade him farewell and wished him a good day. It was time to try Top Dog Promotions again. At 5 p.m. I was out the hotel door bound for Bedford, Kentucky. Tonight’s race would be in the Trumbull County Park. The start time was advertised as 7:30 p.m. I was returning to another Top Dog Promotions event. The Top Dog people had advertised a circle track race two nights ago in London, Kentucky. They didn’t have it. I was taking a risk tonight but I didn’t have any other choices. Trackchasing is risky business. I incur a significant trackchasing risk by attending so many novelty events, side-by-side racing shows and go-kart events. What’s the risk? The risk is this. Whatever promotion I am attempting to see might not have a race that is “countable“ by trackchasing standards. At some events it’s the starting procedure that might not meet the rules. As you probably know by now all competitors in a single race have to start the race at the same time. Sometimes there are not enough competitors to make a race. Our rules, loosely translated, say that at least two competitors must compete for a race to count but the race cannot be limited to two competitors. Among other things that’s a fancy lawyer’s way to say that we don’t count drag racing. I’m new to the Top Dog Promotions racing events. Two nights ago I was shut out when none of the competitors wanted to forsake their demolition derby activity for the sake of a “circle track” race. THE RACING Trimble County Recreational Facility – Bedford, Kentucky I always anticipate trackchasing success. Nevertheless two nights later I was back for more. This time I pulled into the Trimble County Recreational Facility in Bedford, Kentucky anticipating trackchasing success. Don’t be fooled by that. I always anticipate trackchasing success. I paid my $10 admission to the fair. This also included admission to the racing activity. That is not always the case. I parked my car in a very soggy parking lot. They’ve been getting a lot of rain in this area over the past month. What did the head man have to say? I wandered into the pits and soon found Top Dog head honcho John Peck. I asked him if he would be having “circle track” racing tonight. He assured me they would. John told me the circle track part of the program would be first on the evening’s agenda. That was great news. However the devil can sometimes be in the details of great news. Tonight they were dealing with a very wet racing surface. The pit area was nearly a swamp. Any traditional oval track would have canceled under the circumstances. As a matter of fact a dirt oval track that I could have attended tonight DID cancel their race event. What did the competitors have to say? I spent some time talking to the competitors. One relatively new driver had just purchased a four-door Toyota Camry for tonight’s racing action. Please don’t mistake this for a person walking into a Toyota car dealership, buying a brand-new Toyota and entering it into the “circle track” races for tonight. In point of fact my new buddy had purchased his Toyota Camry for just $400. He seemed proud to mention, “it was running” when he bought it. He had cleaned out the interior, removed the glass and put a monstrous front bumper on the thing. He was ready to go to circle track racing. How do driver’s pick their car numbers? One guy’s number was 310 15/16. I didn’t have the courage to ask him how he came up with THAT number. However, the guy in the Toyota Camry looked approachable. To make sure I knew who to root for I asked him what his car number was. He told me, “220”. That seemed like an unusual number. I had to ask how that number came about it. He told me his wife’s birthday was February 20 hence “220”. As a veteran of 43 years of wedded matrimony, I know that if mama’s happy everybody’s happy. No demo derby tonight. I sat in on tonight’s drivers meeting. Only one demolition car had shown up. That meant there would be no demolition derby. Who would that one car hit right? Additionally only one “power wheels” competitor had shown up. Of course power wheels competitions are for kids. The one and only power wheels entrant received a trophy for his attendance! The devil is normally in the details. I told you previously that good news is sometimes tempered with the devil being in the details. That would be the case tonight. Tonight’s track was short and narrow. There were nine circle track cars in attendance. That was so much better than if eight or ten cars had come to race tonight. Why would that be? Here’s why. Because of the track’s muddy condition it was decided that there would be one on one eliminations until a champion was crowned. They called each of these elimination races “heats”. Of course you know that the trackchasing rules do not allow races that are limited to two racers to count as an actual race. No, I don’t want to be the one to tell Kenny Bernstein that trackchasing’s forefathers thought this was a hell of an idea. I know the rules; I play by the rules. However as a long time follower of trackchasing rules I know the rules. I play by the rules. I exploit the rules if I can. I didn’t write the rules. If they couldn’t be more specific and anticipate the idiosyncrasies of trackchasing it’s on them and not me. I knew that “races” where the number of competitors was LIMITED to two would not be accountable. Tonight’s format could have been devastating news to me as a trackchaser. Nine was the magic number. However even though the devil is in the details sometimes the devil can be a good guy. There were nine competitors. Tonight’s racing program would call for two competitors in the first three “heats”. However the final preliminary would have three cars simply because there was an odd number of competitors. Had eight racers shown up I think they would have had four “heats” with two cars in each. As it was they had nine cars tonight. That meant there were three 2-car heat races and, wait for it, a final THREE CAR heat. Whew. I just made it. Had there been no three-car race my first three days on this mega trackchasing trip would’ve yielded NOTHING. Whew! However the trackchasing gods were smiling down upon me, as they should. I recorded in living color both the start and the first few laps of the three-car circle track race. Track #2,117 was in the books. I could breathe a sigh of relief. John Peck…nice guy…just trying to put on a good show. During the course of the evening’s racing I had a chance to spend some quality one-on-one time with Top Dog Promotions headman John Peck. John was a nice guy. He was just trying to put on an event for his racers and his fans. The extremely rainy and wet conditions had really put a cramp in his program up to this point in the season. Tonight I got some very good information about future Top Dog Promotion events. John did tell me that at some of the midweek tracks where there isn’t much room to race he does have the one on one racing situation. This is in lieu of having multiple cars in the heat race. That was very important news for me to find out as a trackchaser. John gave me the heads up on the events for the rest of this year’s schedule where they would be racing multiple cars in each heat race. He told me that some of the locations attracted as many as 20-25 overall circle track competitors. I need to keep a clear conscience. I could tell everyone and his brother right now which of those events falls into the “good” trackchasing category. However I can’t do that in good conscience. What if I told my fellow competitors where these locations were and when the races would happen? Then what if something bad happened and the event wasn’t entertaining or it was too expensive or the right kinds of cars did not race? How would my fellow competitors feel about my sharing information like that? I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. I certainly feel for my competitors and their general well being. That being the case I will share the information where quality Top Dog Promotions events occur AFTER I have attended the event. At that point I can vouch for the reliability and entertainment of any event that I have attended. Doesn’t this philosophy make all the sense in the world? It treats my fellow competitors fairly. This way of doing business tries to ensure that my fellow competitors have a quality trackchasing experience whenever they do get a chance to attend a location that I have already visited. I don’t know how I can be any more fair than that. As serious as Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson. Tonight there were nine low-priced stock cars in attendance a.k.a. junk cars. However in talking to the competitors they took this as seriously as anyone who works for Rick Hendrick racing in NASCAR. That’s what I love about the competitiveness of racing. I believe all of the cars racing tonight were front wheel drive cars. The fastest ones had huge snow tires on the front. With the extremely muddy conditions having these types of tires was a requirement. A small crowd of 100 people or so sat in some small grandstands. Others brought their own lawn chairs to watch tonight. This was one of the most rural racing atmospheres I have attended in a long time. The junk car drivers were well compensated. Nevertheless the payouts for the racers were extremely generous. There would be two overall competitions. First place in each of the competitions paid $250 to win. Second-place was 100 bucks. That meant that if one driver could win both “races” which is exactly what they called them he could take home $500 USD. Tonight’s fair was small. Nevertheless it did have its own carnival with several rides and carnival games. That’s a lot better than many small fairs I see that don’t even have a carnival. AFTER THE RACES Satisfied. My plan at this stage of the trip was to see two new tracks. If I had been willing to blow off my family I might’ve been able to see three tracks by now. Nevertheless, I was satisfied with the one track I had seen. From here I will move up into Minnesota. I expected my experience in Minnesota to have many positives. First of all when I go into Minnesota I am returning to the home of the NIMS people. The nicest folks in the country live in Minnesota and the surrounding states of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. If you don’t live in one of those states maybe you should consider moving. If I didn’t live in the world’s best climate locale I would! The most immediate benefit of trackchasing in Minnesota was the weather. Conditions were expected to be most favorable over the next couple of days. If all goes really well I will see two tracks in Minnesota this coming weekend. If that happens my Minnesota trackchasing total will be 77. I will be tied with Ed Esser for the #1 trackchasing position in the Gopher state. Kentucky The Bluegrass state This evening I saw my 35th lifetime track in the Bluegrass state, yes the Bluegrass state. I could see myself moving into the #1 position in Kentucky some day. We’ll see. 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 Kentucky sayings: On game day you wear red or blue….NEVER MIX. 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 TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Laurel County Fairgrounds – $10 (not a trackchasing expense) Trimble County Recreational Facility – $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 450 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 one-minute “Video Lite” production from the Trimble County Recreational Facility racing and the events both coming and going. 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. Trimble County Recreational Facility…coming and going 
