Upper Peninsula International Raceway

Three nights in one place.

I woke up this morning in Escanaba, Michigan and went to bed there for the next two nights in Escanaba.  That gave me three straight nights of lodging in the town of Escanaba.  That doesn’t happen very often.  This is what the next two days looked like from the Upper Peninsula.

SATURDAY

Sometimes people are lucky I don’t own a gun.

Today was one of those mornings I could sleep in. I didn’t get to bed until 3 a.m. after a 3-hour drive from the Adventure Mountain Raceway last night.  At 6:30 a.m. two couples decided to stand outside my window carrying on a conversation about basically nothing while they waited for the hotel coffee to become available at 7 a.m.

Not much really bothers me in life.  However, when people in public spaces disturb me with loud talking, cellphones calls, bad language (truth be told I use lots of bad language but not in public places where I can be heard) or other obnoxious behavior I look for a way to sabotage them.  When in public I am a strong believer it is better to be seen than heard.

I’m a volunteer.  I wouldn’t do this unless I loved it. 

Today is day 11 of my 27-day trip. In case you didn’t already know this I absolutely love living this lifestyle. It is a true passion and in retirement if you can find a true passion you’re a very lucky person.

Once my day got going I took a drive around the area.  Today’s racetrack was within walking distance of tonight’s hotel so I wouldn’t be doing much driving.  I found out the nickname for the Escanaba High School is the Eskimos.

Bark River International Raceway.

Then I took a ride out to the Bark River International Raceway. I don’t normally do this with tracks I have never seen but it was only 14 miles away. I wasn’t sure when I would get back this way. For some reason the gate to the property was wide-open but there wasn’t a single soul on the property. I took that to mean that I could explore to my hearts content and took several photos.

The weather is again gorgeous with breezes 80° temps and blue skies. I made a special trip to Arby’s for a salted caramel shake.  I had seen them advertised earlier in the trip. Like any milkshake it was tasty but probably not worth the calories.

Escanaba.  That’s just a fun word to say.

Escanaba seems like a pretty little town especially all of the old houses that are built close to the water. I suspect I’m catching it at its very best day. I don’t believe the weather is all that good most of the year.

Today I would have to change my hotel.  Last night’s location at the Sunset Lodge was booked for tonight.  I didn’t want to change because the Sunset offered a great value and a super location.

No matter how satisfied you are….

However, like many things in life, change can be good.  I discovered the Lincoln Host Motor Inn, almost across the street from the fairgrounds.  The Lincoln Host was newer, better and less expensive.  What did that prove?  No matter how satisfied you might be with something it’s a good idea to always be considering alternatives.  What you think is good may not be as good as you can get.  Remember pearls of wisdom are being cast about.  What do you need to do?  Simply bend over and pick them up!

SUNDAY

A dozen days on the road.

Day 12 of my 27-day trip.  I began my day with a morning power walk along the lakefront of Escanaba for 60 minutes.  What a beautiful way to view the scenery.  One sees so much more walking that driving.

My walk took me in and around the Sand Point Lighthouse.  According to Trip Advisor this was the number one attraction in Escanaba.  When I finished my walk I bought a ticket for three dollars to view the museum and lighthouse.  Check out what’s behind the “Attraction” tab to learn about the Sand Point Lighthouse.

It was about this time that I received the message that I was pretty much expecting.  Fraternity brother Mike Skonicki was experiencing back problems. This would nix our golf outing for tomorrow Monday.  What did that mean for me?  There was no rush to leave Escanaba now. Tomorrow, Monday, is open day from trackchasing. I might as well stay in Escanaba for my third straight night.

Yoopers and trolls.

During this trip I learned that people who live in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan below the Mackinac Bridge are called trolls by people from the Upper Peninsula.  Why is that?  Because trolls live under the bridge!

I would be staying for a second night in the Lincoln Host Motor Inn is a modern yet basic facility at a very reasonable price. The weather remains absolutely perfect with temperatures in the 75-80° range.  There is not a cloud in the sky.  I’ve truly been blessed with good weather on this trip.

Don’t let your TV control your life.

Following this afternoon’s race is I went back to the hotel and watch the last little bit of the NASCAR race. Of course when I get home I watch the races in their entirety on a recorded basis.  I never worry about missing a TV program.  I record everything I watch.  Then I can watch it anytime I want.  Make sense?  If I forget to record a program before I leave on a trip no problem.  I simply use my iPhone “Direct TV app” and record it remotely.  Ain’t technology wonderful.

I catch my share of movies on the road.

With an afternoon free I hopped over less than a mile or so to the Willowcreek Cinema 8 Theater to see the movie “Jobs”.  Of course, this was the autobiography of Apple computer’s Steve Jobs.  Since I am an Apple convert I enjoyed this production very much.

Trackchasing is not only about racing…but you knew that already.

For every day when I’m not driving the entire time to get to or from a new track I try to add a trackchasing tourist attraction. I feel it’s important to both educate and entertain myself on these trips. The racing can only provide so much of the entertainment.  I think I would be doing an injustice to my guests and myself if all I saw when I went to a new location was a racetrack.  I hope you enjoy my summary of TTAs.

A bad ending to a great three-trip to Escanaba.

I have always had great vision.  I can see a golf ball land from 190 yards (my lackluster driving distance).  However, since I was in my late 40s I have needed reading glasses for close-up vision.  Today I must have absentmindedly left my glasses and the case they were in on top of the car.  As I was driving out of town and back to the Lower Peninsula I noticed I didn’t have my glasses.

That was funny.  Just a few seconds before I thought I had run over something.  What did I have too lose.  I had some time.  I doubled back a few blocks to see if I might find my glasses case and glasses.  Maybe there had just fallen off the roof of the car and were unharmed.  Folks, there is now Cinderella.  We live in a dog eat dog world.  I found my glasses but they were now in pieces.  Fortunately I carry a few pair of replacements stashed strategically in my various forms of luggage and camera cases.

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

I very much enjoy the racing when I go on trackchasing trips.  However, I am not the type of person who would feel the trip was complete if I simply left home, went to the race and came back home.

I do a good deal of traveling.  I want to do my best to see the local area when I come for a visit.  There are usually unusual attractions that one area is noted for more than any other locale.  I want to see those places.  I want to touch them and feel them.  When I leave an area, I want to have memories of these special places that I call Trackchasing Tourist Attractions.  I will remember those experiences long after the checkered flag has fallen on whatever race I have seen that day.

San Point Lighthouse & Museum – Escanaba, Michigan

I do it for fun.

I had a fun time exploring the museum and lighthouse.  Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about this attraction.

“Soon after it became a town in 1863, Escanaba was quickly growing as an important shipping port. The Peninsula Railroad was completed in 1864, which linked Escanaba to the iron mines of the Upper Peninsula to the north. Iron ore docks were built in the Escanaba harbor and the shipping of iron ore to steel mills along the Great Lakes became Escanaba’s leading industry.

As shipping traffic increased dramatically, so did the need for some sort of light structure to guide the ships in and out of the harbor and to warn them of the treacherous sand shoals that reached out into Little Bay de Noc from Sand Point, a sandspit located just south of and adjacent to the harbor area. The United States Lighthouse Service approved construction of the Sand Point Lighthouse at a cost of $11,000. Construction began in the fall of 1867 and was completed in early spring 1868. The light first shone on the night of May 13, 1868.

The Sand Point Lighthouse is a story-and-a-half rectangular building with an attached brick tower. The tower is topped with a cast iron lantern room which houses a fourth order Fresnel lens, emitting a fixed red light with a radiating power of 11.5 miles.  A unique distinction concerning the Sand Point Lighthouse is that it was constructed with its tower facing the land instead of facing the water. Whether this orientation was intentional or an engineering blunder is unknown.

John Terry was appointed the first lighthouse keeper of the new lighthouse in December 1867, but he became very ill and died in April 1868 a month before the lighthouse was ready to be manned. With the lighthouse nearly completed but with no light keeper ready to report to duty, John Terry’s wife, Mary, was appointed light keeper and subsequently became one of the first female light keepers on the Great Lakes. Mary Terry was a well-respected citizen in the community and fulfilled her duties as light keeper with efficiency and dedication. She was light keeper from 1868 to 1886, when a mysterious fire severely damaged the lighthouse and took her life. To date, no one knows exactly what happened or why it happened. Some speculate that it was an attempted burglary and that the suspect set the lighthouse afire to cover any evidence of wrongdoing. The south entrance door showed signs of forced entry, yet none of Mary Terry’s valuables were taken. With the lighthouse badly damaged, restoration took nearly two full months and a new light keeper, Lewis Rose, was appointed to take over.

Over the years a number of changes took place at the Sand Point Lighthouse. Perhaps the most significant was when the lighthouse was hooked up to the city’s electric supply in 1913. This meant that the kerosene lamp was removed from within the lens and replaced with an incandescent light bulb.

A total of nine light keepers and their families lived in the Sand Point Lighthouse from its inception in 1868 to its deactivation in 1939. It was in this year that the United States Coast Guard took over all navigational lights in the country from the National Lighthouse Service. The Coast Guard constructed an automated crib light several hundred feet offshore, which replaced the function and duties of the Sand Point Lighthouse and its light keeper. The automated crib light is still in use today and can be seen from the tower of the Sand Point Lighthouse.

The Sand Point Lighthouse was no longer operational, but it continued to serve as housing for Coast Guard seaman who were assigned to duty in Escanaba. Upon using the lighthouse as their residence, the Coast Guard made many changes to the structure. The lantern room was removed and the tower was lowered by ten feet. In addition, the roof was raised to create a full second floor, several windows were added and the entire building was covered in aluminum siding.  With these changes, the Sand Point Lighthouse was barely recognizable.

The U.S. Coast Guard occupied the building until 1985 when they moved to a new location. The abandoned lighthouse was then obtained by the Delta County Historical Society in 1986 with plans to restore it back to its original appearance. With the help of the original 1867 plan of the building, the Delta County Historical Society began extensive research and fundraising for this immense restoration project. The historical society first removed the aluminum siding to expose the original brickwork. The roof was lowered to its original level, the new windows were bricked-in and the ten-foot lopped-off tower was rebuilt. Since the original lantern room and lens were not salvaged, the historical society had to look elsewhere for replacements. They found a lantern room on nearby Poverty Island, which had been removed from the Poverty Island Light Station there and was sitting on the ground next to the tower for nearly a decade.  In 1989, along with the lantern room, a fourth order Fresnel lens was obtained from the Menominee Pier Light, both of which were nearly exact duplicates of the originals that once sat atop Sand Point Lighthouse and the lens was replaced.  To finish the restoration, the lighthouse was painted white and the interior space was restored and furnished as a turn of the 20th century replica.

After a dedication ceremony in July 1990, the newly restored Sand Point lighthouse was opened to the public. Each year the lighthouse is open from Memorial Day to October 1, giving visitors a chance to climb the tower and witness what it would have been like to be a light keeper around the turn of the 20th century.  An admission fee is charged.

The light is listed on the National Register of Historical Places, Reference #97001474. Name of Listing: Sand Point Lighthouse. It is also on the state inventory list, beginning in 1989.

Kent Family Magic Circus – Escanaba, Michigan

Following the races I was lucky to stumble upon the last few acts of the Kent Family Magic Circus.  You won’t want to miss some of their death-defying, crazy and corny acts in today’s racing action video.  They appear at the end!

Mr. and Mrs. Victor Kent and their seven children all perform in the Kent Family Magic Circus.  Don’t miss them coming to a venue near you.

ONE CANNOT LIVE WELL OR SLEEP WELL IF ONE HAS NOT DINED WELL

The Family Inn Restaurant – Escanaba, Michigan

If you’re in the market for a great family breakfast restaurant this is the place.  I ate there twice during this trip.  The place is located right next to the Sunset Lodge, which I recommend for inexpensive basic lodging.  If you’re in Escanaba you won’t do better than the Family Inn Restaurant.

Upper Peninsula International Raceway – Escanaba, Michigan

This reports covers both the racing on the permanent quarter-mile dirt track at UPIR and the racing on the temporary dirt oval at UPIR.  These tracks were seen on two consecutive days.

Upper Peninsula International Raceway – Permanent ¼-mile oval

SATURDAY

Michigan’s only state fair.

Did you know that the Upper Peninsula State Fair is Michigan’s only state fair?  I didn’t.  This fair is large.  I feasted on a sno cone, hotdog and Mike’s hard lemonade.

Tonight’s racing show started 20 minutes late with a wet and muddy track.  It was eight bucks to watch the races.  I walked to the track from my nearby hotel.  There was  a permanent sign reading, “No video cameras”.  Did they mean cameras with video capability?  I didn’t stop to ask.  Special “tickets” were also required to purchase alcohol.  Beer and ticket sales were stopped at 9 p.m. according to a posted sign.  Did that mean they would stop selling beer BEFORE intermission?  I doubted that.

The Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds offers up a large covered state fair type grandstand.  The place was packed with 3,000-4,000 fans.  This was state fair week.  I wondered how big of a crowd they get for a regular racing program when the state fair is not in town.

What an enthusiastic crowd.

The crowd cheered loudly for every pass on the track.  This area reminded me of other rural tracks I have seen in places like Maine or Montana.  Often times folks in these areas don’t get to see entertainment like this at least very often.  To a veteran a minor pass on the racetrack might not seem like much.  However, to a newcomer it is all very exciting.

The crowd of 3,000-4000 went absolutely bizarre when two four-cylinder cars battled it out for heat race win.  With the racing scheduled to begin at 7 o’clock and actually beginning a little bit after 7:20 p.m. the program dragged a bit.  There were numerous races in about six classes.  When those races, which I presumed to be heat races, were finished at 9:15 the track went to intermission.

That means the crowd had been in their seats for the better part of three hours before they even got to intermission.  Folks, that’s way too long.  Just about any sporting event you can imagine, baseball, football, basketball is sending their fans home after three hours not having them sit through a 30-minute halftime break.

There were a lot of interesting vendors selling their wares underneath the main grandstand.  There was a  heavy focus on the animal trapping industry.  I don’t see that often.  I wandered out on the midway and before I knew I was chowing down on a Dorber’s Pastie.  I wouldn’t go back to that outlet but would definitely try another pastie when it comes my way.

Following intermission I watched some of the feature action from just outside turn two.

Upper Peninsula International Raceway – Temporary 1/10-mile dirt oval

SUNDAY

What a lucky break to see these two shows back to back.

Today’s racing action was a bump and run affair beginning at 1 PM at the upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds in Escanaba.  This was the same fairgrounds where I had watched stock-car racing and mini-sprint racing last night.  Last night they raced on the permanent quarter-mile dirt oval of the Upper Peninsula international Raceway.

However today’s bump and run action was taking place on a temporary dirt oval track.  A series of tractor tires had been placed on the front straightaway of the UPIR track. The cars wood race around these  huge tractor tires in a counterclockwise fashion.

Today’s racing was promoted by the Unique Motorsports group. I’ve seen several of their events over the past month. They do a nice job although this was their first ever visit to Escanaba.

Not many cars but still mildly entertaining.

Just a dozen or so cars showed up for today’s action. There was a class for four and six cylinder cars and a class for 8 cylinder cars.  The Unique Motorsports announcer does a good job of getting the fans involved. They throw trinkets into the crowd, which are a huge favorite with both adults and children.  With such a sunny and warm day the track had to be watered frequently.

The racing wasn’t as good as some of their events but still mildly entertaining for this type of a racing show.  The announcer told the crowd that in the future they would expect more cars.  I think that will probably be the case.  These types of crash ‘em, bang ‘em events are so popular in the Lower Peninsula.

I found this activity one of the most intriguing of my visit.

Following the races I stopped for a few minutes to watch the kids in a family circus perform as a sideshow to the fair. The circus featured a husband-and-wife duo and their seven children. It would be interesting to see how they got into this business and what their lifestyle is like.  Pretty unusual to me.  I’ll bet they have the stories to tell.

STATE COMPARISONS

Michigan

The Wolverine State

Yesterday evening and this afternoon I saw my 95^th and 96th lifetime tracks in the Wolverine state, yes the Wolverine state.  Don’t bet against my seeing my 100^th lifetime track in Michigan sometime in 2014.

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

Michigan sayings:  The state with the upper hand.

QUICK FACTS

AIRPLANE

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

Chicago, IL (ORD) – Detroit, MI (DTW) – 234 miles

RENTAL CAR #1

Detroit Metro Airport – trip begins

Belleville, MI

Butler, PA

Urbana, OH

Union, KY

East Moline, IL

Marshall, MI

Armada, MI

West Branch, MI

Midland, MI

Detroit Metro Airport – 2,378 miles

RENTAL CAR #2

Detroit Metro Airport – trip begins

Greenland, MI

Escanaba, MI

Escanaba, MI (again!)

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Wayne County Fairgrounds – $10

Butler Farm Show – $12 (not trackchasing expense)

Champaign County Fairgrounds – $12

Florence Speedway – Complimentary admission

Quad Cities Speedway – $8 ($2 senior discount – not trackchasing expense)

Calhoun County Fairgrounds – $10

Armada County Fairgrounds – $8

Ogemaw County Fairgrounds – $8

Midland County Fairgrounds – $10

Adventure Mountain Raceway – $8

Upper Peninsula International Raceway – $8

Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds – $5

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

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,889

Total Trackchasing Countries

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

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 65

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 5.10

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