Greetings from Versailles, Missouri
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Versailles Fairgrounds
Dirt figure 8
Lifetime Track #2,281
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 I am retired. Every day is Saturday for me. Every “night” is Friday night for me. I looked forward to retirement for a long time. I retired early. I have never looked back. Retirement has been everything and more than I expected. A major part of my trackchasing hobby is all about seeing things that I’ve never seen before from the local areas that I visit. I would hate to say that when I someday hang up my trackchasing shoes that all I saw was a bunch of dirt tracks. Don’t get me wrong. I love the dirt tracks and all the other types of racing that I see. However there is so much more to trackchasing than just racing. In that vein I checked TripAdvisor.com to see what the leading tourist attractions were in the greater Kansas City area. I had already done a lot of touring in KC. In the past I’ve been to a couple of Kansas City Royals games, visited the Negro Baseball League Museum, toured the Harley-Davidson factory and took the tour of the Federal Reserve Bank. Every one of those outings was memorable. I saw a Royals game back in the 90s during a trip to the Belleville Nationals. Last year I went back again to see the Angels play in Kansas City. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was excellent. I might go back there one of these days. Of course getting a plant tour from Harley-Davidson was fantastic. The Federal Reserve Bank tour wasn’t all that inclusive but at the end they gave everyone a small bag of shredded money. I got two for the twin grandbabies! For some reason I hadn’t yet seen the #1 ranked touring location in all of Kansas City. What was that? It’s the only museum in the country specifically devoted to World War I. I didn’t check out of my hotel room until noon. It was nice being able to sleep in and relax to that hour. Tonight’s racing was located over in Versailles, Missouri. Versailles was only a two-hour drive away. I had all afternoon for the World War I Museum. Of course all “tourist rankings” are in the eye of the beholder. I must constantly check and remind myself that not everyone sees things the way I do. How do I know that? It’s pretty easy to understand that point really. When I walk into a drugstore or a grocery store I look at the thousands of items that are on the shelves. Out of all of those items I’ll probably only buy 100 or so every year. What does that tell me? Those other products that I won’t buy are there for the folks that do like them. Get my point? There’s an ass for every seat! The World War I museum is located in a mall-like area adjacent to the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Museum. Parking is free. I paid the senior price of just $12 for today’s tour. The World War I Museum is modern and looks to be pretty close to being brand-new. I like to see films when I visit museums. I enjoy sitting in one place and getting an overview of whatever the museum’s emphasis is. Today’s museum had two films that fit that bill. It was a great refresher on World War I history. It was interesting to see that this started out as a war within Europe. However, as has been the case in many wars since then we got involved. I noted today that more people were killed in World War I that all of the other wars prior to World War I COMBINED. Imagine that. I will tell you this. I found today’s overall experience a little bit confusing. At times it was difficult to tell where I was at in the museum. It almost seemed like a maze. I would recommend a visit here if the topic is of interest to you. However this museum probably didn’t strike me as positively as some of the others that I have visited in the past couple of years. Nevertheless, it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours. I would be less than honest with you if I didn’t say that I sometimes get special privileges when I go trackchasing. I guess there’s a certain cachet with being the “World’s #1 Anything” and I am the World’s #1 Trackchaser. I don’t say that to brag. I simply explain it to give you a better understanding of the situations I sometime encounter. Today I was heading down to Versailles, Missouri. I was going to see a J and B Promotions figure 8 racing event at their fall Apple Festival. If all turned out well I would be seeing my 59th lifetime track in Missouri and my 2,281st lifetime track worldwide. I guess you could say that I am a favored son with J and B Promotions. About three years ago I met up with Gary Jones who is the “J” in J and B Promotions. Gary was most appreciative of the idea that a fellow from the state of California, not California, Missouri would take the time and effort to come watch their figure 8 racing. Tonight I would be seeing my third J and B Promotions race event. Each year they run at about eight different tracks. They are usually tied in with a county fair or special town celebration. I remember being at the Russellville, Missouri figure 8 race promoted by these guys last year. I had renewed my acquaintances with Gary Jones. He and I were standing in a very protected area open to track officials only. When Gary was called away to attend to some other race business at the track he leaned over and told the policeman guarding the area, “ABSOLUTELY no one comes in or out of this area except this guy and he pointed to me. This guy can go anywhere he wants.” It’s worth noting that in Russellville Carol and I had paid the full admission price. I never ask any track promoter for free tickets. However there are times when track promoters offer me full guest privileges. When they do that I always accept. I feel as if I am really in their “home”. It wouldn’t be very guest-like of me to turn down anything offered when I am a guest. Whatever is offered when you are a guest is offered in the full definition of sharing and caring. I always want to be a good guest. Tonight racing was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. I pulled into town about 45 minutes ahead of race time. I didn’t know where the track was located. First my GPS took me to the center of Versailles, Missouri. What I found there was a very small town that looked like it had just had a major celebration. All kinds of vendors were packing up their wares after what looked to be a busy day for them. I wish I had known the apple festival celebration was such a big deal. I would have come down a few hours earlier and taken part in the festivities. THE RACING Versailles Fairgrounds – Versailles, Missouri Tonight’s fairgrounds was only a mile or so from downtown. Once at the fairgrounds I was able to grab a parking spot within 50 yards of the entrance to the racetrack. I paid my seven-dollar admission to the track. Then I went in to explore as I normally do. I believe that the best big car stock car figure 8 racing happens in Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan. I believe that the best four-cylinder figure 8 racing happens in Ontario, Canada and Pennsylvania. However I think that the VERY best small car figure 8 racing happens right here in rural Missouri. J and B promotions has it going on. Tonight they attracted 49 figure 8 cars in the one and only F8 class they offer…..four cylinders. I’ve been to approximately 300 different figure 8 racetracks. I could probably count on one hand the number of events that have attracted 49 figure 8 racers. Right off the bat I can’t think of any! There was grandstand seating on three sides of the track. I sat in what might be considered the front straight at an oval track in the top row. That was a great place to get some video of tonight’s figure 8 racing. For more than a year I’ve been making my racing videos by using my iPhone 6 video capability. I found that it does just as good a job as using my main Panasonic still photo/video camera. The iPhone is much more convenient to travel with. However, improvements are on the way. Not every track I attend has great lighting. I should be able to overcome much of that deficit in the next week or so when I get my new iPhone 7. Our son J.J. got his iPhone 7 during the first week it was offered. We compared the lowlight capabilities from his iPhone 7 to my iPhone 6. The new phone is a dramatic improvement. I elected to wait about a month so that I can get the iPhone 7 in the “shiny black” color combo. That color is in the highest demand and that popularity has created a backorder situation. Every show I have ever attended has some things that I think could have gone better and some things that were very good. Tonight’s racing program was no different. What could have been improved? They had two very colorful down-home announcers. However the public address system wasn’t as strong as I would have liked. It’s always a shame when you have a good announcer that can’t be heard very well. However, the entire sound system was a temporary one set up in a place where they don’t hold that many events of this type. The show also started a few minutes after what I thought was the scheduled time of 7 p.m. During the first few races they had some delays to work on the track. They watered the track with a huge fire hose after several events. The watering took some time to do but it eliminated all of the dust, which made it worthwhile. There was a lot of figure 8 racing tonight. With 49 cars they had eight heat races followed by four B main events and then the final A main. Virtually no one starts 16 cars in their main feature figure 8 race. Again I can’t recall seeing that anywhere else. Tonight the winner of each heat race advanced to the final. Then the top two finishers in each of the B mains made it to the final. This insured that the very best and most successful drivers were all competing in that last race. Each of the heat races started eight or nine cars. You won’t see that at virtually any figure 8 show. All of the racing in every race of the night was well above average. I’m sure you’ve been to a favorite steakhouse in the area where you live. A really good steakhouse “does steak”. People don’t show up for the pasta. J and B Promotions does figure 8 racing. They do it better than anybody else with the four-cylinders. Honestly, I don’t know how they get so many cars. However, I know this. People vote with their feet. The figure 8 drivers “vote” with their attendance! Following the racing in Versailles I would have nearly a three-hour drive over to St. Louis, Missouri. I had reserved a nonrefundable hotel there. I sometime wonder how many race fans at the events I attend drove three hours or more, like I usually do, to come to the races. I don’t think very many make that commitment. The next morning, Sunday morning, I was going to have a four-hour drive over to Salem, Indiana. I wanted to get to my hotel at a reasonable hour. However, I knew with the quality of racing I was seeing tonight I couldn’t pass up the F8 feature event no matter what time it started. As luck would have it on the very last lap of the very last B main event one of the drivers was hit near the intersection of the figure 8 track. The crash didn’t look that bad. Nevertheless, it seemed like he might be hurt. Unfortunately he was hurt badly enough to be taken to a local hospital. I don’t see that often with this type of racing. The emergency track personnel acted prudently. They actually had to cut the top off of his figure 8 racer in order to extract him from the vehicle. I can’t ever recall seeing this done in a figure 8 race. This probably delayed the start of the A main event by 20 minutes or so. During this break I took an opportunity to go down to the concession stand. That’s when I ran into my buddy Gary Jones, one of the promoters of J and B Promotions, for the first time tonight. He was most happy to see me. He insisted that I come come over and talk to his track announcer, which I was more than happy to do. Gary gave the announcer the lowdown on my trackchasing activity. Then I did a quick interview for about a minute and a half telling the crowd how lucky they were to be able to see such good figure 8 racing. Following the interview I headed back to my seat at the top of the grandstand. From there I got some excellent video of the first few laps of the main event. While I was getting additional video footage my cell phone ran out of battery. Lots of firsts tonight. I can’t recall that happening at any other racing events where I’ve been using my iPhone to video events. Nevertheless I had already gotten quite a bit of footage. Don’t miss my YouTube video from tonight’s racing. It’s never as good as being there in person but it will give you some idea of the figure 8 action that J and B Promotions offers. AFTER THE RACES When the final checkered flag flew it was only 10:15 p.m. That wasn’t all that bad considering they had started a few minutes late, taken time to prepare the track several times and had a long delay for an injured driver. I ended up getting back to my Extended Stay America hotel in St. Louis at about 1 a.m. I estimate that I have stayed in more than 5,000 hotel rooms during my traveling life. I’ve had just about everything happen to me at a hotel that could happen multiple times. That includes middle of the night fire alarms, walking into rooms that were already occupied, encountering bed bugs and more. However, it’s always a major bummer to check in late like I did tonight, go all the way up to the top floor of the hotel, and walk down the long hallway only to find that the room keys they gave me do not work. Nevertheless, I always have a reasonable attitude toward such experiences. I patiently walked down to the front desk, got the attention of the desk clerk and explained the problem. She accompanied me back to my room with a new set of keys that now worked. I thanked her, smiled and thought to myself, “I’m living the life” what do I have to complain about. Good evening from Versailles, Missouri, Missouri The Show Me state This evening I saw my 59th lifetime track in the Show Me state, yes the Show Me state. I hold the #2 trackchasing spot in Missouri. Ed Esser is #1 here with 68 tracks. Ed, from Madison, Wisconsin was a Midwestern trackchasing terror. I’ve seen 59 or more tracks in 13 separate states. No one matches those stats. 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 Missouri definitions: Provel What it means everywhere else: A nonexistent word. Maybe you meant shovel? What it means in Missouri: Cheese that’s a blend of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone rarely found outside of Missouri (and the world has no idea what it’s missing). 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 550 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. Touring the National World War I Museum and seeing some excellent figure 8 racing 
