The 2022 Best of the Best USA Blog – Part 2

Part 1 of the Blog can be found by clicking here

Part 2 is now totally complete up to tour end on Day 48, Monday August 1st, 2022.

Day 27 – Monday July 11th, 2022 

One of the consequences of going to Huset’s is that at some point you gotta drive back to the next race. For us that’s tomorrow night at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio for the Brad Doty Classic, our first chance to see the World of Outlaws in action. Sioux Falls to Attica is 909 miles by road. In kilometres that’s 1,454. Way too much for one day. So a convenient stopping off point is Joliet in Illinois. If the name is familiar it’s because the Joliet prison was where Jake Blues first emerged into the sunlight after being released after three years for robbing a gas station. He was picked up by his brother Elwood in the Bluesmobile, a 1974 Dodge Monaco and the chase began. 

We left Sioux Falls under the threat of major thunderstorms south of the city. Exactly the direction we were headed on I-29 to connect with I-880. Whilst it did rain, we missed the worst parts of the t-storms which appeared to circle around us and do no harm to our progress. Through Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff we went in a most uneventful drive, eventually getting to Loveland where we pulled onto 880 at the same time as Brady Bacon’s t-shirt trailer. You probably don’t need to know that, but it was the only notable thing I remember from that part of the trip. 

Later we encountered and kept pace with Gio Scelzi’s transporter as it made its way to Attica.  

I-880, at 26 kms, is only a short run until it connects with the almighty 1-80 that runs roughshod over most things in its path for a further 2,032 kms to New York. This was the highway we wanted through to Joliet. No stops required, but of course we did. For lunch, leg stretches and wee breaks. Plus two sightseeing ones. Firstly the enormous World’s Largest truckstop at exit 284 followed a short time later at American Pickers, right on the Mississippi at LeClaire. 

From Leclaire it was full steam ahead to Joliet and by the time we pulled into the Hollywood Casino Hotel we had done 947 kms, eight more than Sydney to Geelong. Dinner here was in the Casino, where those who order steaks at every knife and fork meal, unanimously declared them to be the best so far on the tour.     

Day 28 – Tuesday July 12th, 2022 

Another big day on the road and more importantly an increase of one to our numbers would occur later today when Ben Physick flies into Cleveland. But before that we endured the most disappointing breakfast of the tour so far at the Hotel, part of the worldwide Choice chain. Most unusual I should say because we stay in their hotels a lot and all are very good. I’m sure they’ll fix it!

We were on a time schedule today endeavouring to arrive in Fort Wayne, Indiana to pick a second tour vehicle. We could always fit everyone and everything into the bus, but one more person and suitcase would have exceeded our standards for comfort. You’ll see from the following video that packing up the bus each day is a triumph of engineering from Shayne, supervised by Bob. 

Enterprise Car Rental supplied the innovative and comfort plus Chrysler Voyager which, with just two of the six seats stowed into the floor, could easily carry all the luggage leaving significant extra space in the Ford for the esky and its reserve contents, fold up chairs and gazebos. 

Lima, Ohio was next, where the inside out Howard Johnson hotel welcomed us back once again. I say “inside out” because all the balconies for this hotel are on the inside overlooking the foyer, bar, pool and breakfast room. Very inventive. This hotel is known for providing sponsorship support to local dirt track racers and discount rates for the fans who follow the sport around the country. We always try to stay in this Howard Johnson at least once every tour. 

Sitting waiting for us in the foyer was one of the back seats of the Ford which we had removed to fit all the luggage in pre Ben arriving. We needed it back in the Ford to seat everyone on the trips to the speedways. Dave Argabright had dropped it off earlier the day enroute to Attica. 

I dropped all tour members off at Attica in the “safe hands” of Ian (Speedy) Speed and then took off again for the 230 km round trip to pick up oldest son Ben. The plane arrived early for a change and the return journey commenced to hopefully get us back to Attica in time to catch the feature.  As usual, when you want a race night to drag out with stoppages and cautions, it didn’t and the A Main got underway around 9.30pm. Mind you there were some members of the group who tailgated early (as expected), but then didn’t get around to going inside at all preferring to be entertained by Speedy all night at the bus. One female member did happen to take a quick lie down in the back of Speedy’s Voyager and didn’t wake up until it was all over.  Must have been something she ate. 

Kyle Larson won yet another trophy to give to Steve Folkens, Donny Schatz was second in the Ford and reigning champ Brad Sweet scrambled home in third.  Sadly, like most Ohio tracks we go to, the dust was extreme and made vision pretty well useless. Not a good race for Ben to experience first up.  

Day 29 – Wednesday July 13th, 2022 

I mentioned yesterday that the Howard Johnson in Lima is a haven for sprintcar teams and fans. Well last night after getting back from the races it was important to show Ben that late night drinks do occur in hotel parking lots. Our little gathering around the Ford, both rear doors open displaying the Australian flags and the esky on hand, grew somewhat as others joined in to talk about not just tonight’s racing, but to ask questions about where have you been and where are you going next. Always happy to help out the Americans with answers about their own country! 

In the morning however it became even more apparent. We found this in the hotel parking lot getting washed down and worked on. 

Lunch was a big occasion today. For some time I had worked with Dave Argabright to get a certain fellow from Troy, Ohio to meet the group and provide a look at his (long) life in racing. Seeing as how Dave had written his book, Jack Hewitt couldn’t say no really!  So lunch it was in the St Henry Nightclub, a mere 10 kms or so from Eldora Speedway. Jack was there, wife Jody, Dave and good friend Scott Phillips, aka Stubb! Along with all our GST group in a private room. Jack’s health is as good as can be, considering the danger he put himself in night after night after night. 

Two broken necks in that time make it hard for him to walk easily, but he manages to get by. The accidents certainly haven’t dimmed his memory though as time after time he had us in stitches when recounting on and off track”incidents” with other drivers. Well known for his pugilistic tendencies, Jack never understood why he shouldn’t sort out those differences with his fists. Although he was very good with the lip, words were never enough to solve a problem if Jack wanted it fixed there and then. 

Dave A (as interviewer) led him along many paths in his racing life by asking questions which he knew would elicit a humorous answer. In fact Dave said later that he had never before heard some of stories that came out today. They were good enough to have made the autobiography called “Hewitt’s Law”.   A sequel is due by the sound of it. Needless to say about eight copies of the book were purchased by grateful tour members at the end of the day.

15 minutes later we were at Eldora and parked adjacent to Stubb’s caravan. Updated in recent times, we hadn’t seen it for three years thanks to Covid. But to me it was still the same old one with the same old sign on the door. Across the course of the next four days and half of each of those nights, we were to spend some great times with Stubb and Gail and their many, many friends who just happen to drop in to see the popular couple from Van Buren in Ohio.  

Tonight was the first of four racing nights at Eldora with the quaintly named Joker’s Wild event leading them off. Our seats are in a different position every night just so we can say that we checked the place out from all angles. Tonight we were on the front straight in the grandstand. But from a rating point of view, it ran last by a long way. David Gravel won the $10,000, Carson Macedo $6,000 and Brian Brown $3,500. My poster boy from PA Sprintweek Brent Marks was way back in 16th. 

We finally made it to our hotel in Winchester around 1.00am – the rooms and pillows were waiting and everyone took advantage of them.

Day 30 – Thursday July 14th, 2022    

A “nothing was planned” day today. Quite deliberatey to enable folks to create their own agendas. Everything we did was spontaneous and ranged from sleeping, washing, walking, reading, sending e-mails to friends back home saying “wish you were here” …. or simply nothing at all! However it was agreed to meet in the lobby at midday to travel in the Ford to a restaurant that Brady Bacon had a share in. ‘A&B Cafe’ was in the main street directly across the road from a three story building that would burn down 48 hours later.  The hotel staff recommended that if we decide to go to A&B, then the marinated pork shops were the “go to” selection. And that was a highly appreciated suggestion indeed. Didn’t see Brady, but the girls who ran the show were of course delighted to see nearly a dozen Aussies invade the joint. And at $2.50 for 24oz draft Budweiser to wash down the pork, why wouldn’t we?   

On the way back from A&B we dropped into Mrs Wick’s Bakery. Now I always thought the best thing to come out of Winchester was the speedway. But maybe I was wrong having now seen, smelt and tasted the pies available in store. I thought there wasn’t much room left in anyone after the marinated pork chops, but Terry and Deryk proved me wrong. Terry had the sugar cream and you can pretty much guarantee Deryk had cherry!    

Next stop was the hotel to get prepared for Thursday night at Eldora Speedway. Tonight our seats were in turn 4 Section ND looking directly up the front straight. But before going in to purchase merchandise, it was compulsory to spend time with Stubb, Gail and friends. And there are always so many who just drop in. Either they are on foot walking the dog, in a regular golf cart, an ATV 4 wheeler, a stretched long wheel base golf cart with eight bar stools, electric scooters or bicycles, a sprintcar hauler that just happened to stop at Stubb compound while waiting to get in the pits, or a home built hot rod. Whatever it is, there’s always room at Stubb and Gail’s to stop and have a drink with them. 

The Historical Big One had been resurrected for 2022 having been last held in 2003 when Daryn Pittman picked up the cash. Pittman won $100,000 then, just as Jac Haudenschild did in 1993 when it was first run. The $100,000 that Brent Marks won tonight certainly won’t buy as much as Jac could have 29 years ago.  Tyler Courtney and Rico Abreu pocketed $25k and $15k for 2nd and 3rd.   

The spectacle before the A Main starts is always worth waiting for at Eldora. Not only do you get John Gibson’s aural rendition of “You wanted the best”,  you also get total visual and sensory flashes blasting your eyes.  Watch this video carefully at the 36 second mark.  All you’re missing is the heat generated by the blast which can be felt from anywhere inside the track.  

Day 31 – Friday July 15th, 2022 

Every year on this day we pay a visit to the fine folk at Winchester Speedway. This has been a tradition now for 11 years and it never ceases to amaze me every time. Owner Charlie Shaw and his loyal support crew of  Kirk Daugherty, Gary McFarlane, Bob Lemons and the 1978 USAC sprintcar champ Tom Bigelow are always there to greet us, show us around and deliver a history lesson on Winchester Speedway …. followed by (you guessed it) Mrs Wick’s pies.  Today was no different except this year as well as entertaining us, they had some all important duties to get the track in tip top shape for next Thursday night when the USAC Silver Crown cars pay a visit for the Rich Vogler Classic. And yes for the first ever time in those 11 years we will be in attendance for a race at this iconic track. 

A further point of difference this year was that we had a drone with us. Or at least Shayne did. And its owner was super keen to do a lap or two of the high banks of Winchester. But it needed something to chase. I could hear the Ford saying “pick me, pick me” so we did, but only after receiving permission to do some hot laps in the bus ….. chased by a drone.  The next three videos demonstrate it all. As usual with all the illustrative videos and pictures in these Blogs, if you click on the button in the videos and on the pictures themselves, you will get a glorious full screen view.    Please note also that the drone vision does not have audio.    

If you can play them both at the same time they should be in synch if you start the first one and then a second or two later start the other one.

Also at the track just for us was Bob Lemons’ with his Thunder Roadster. Naturally he took it for a run and the drone followed it soaring high into the air for spectacular pictures.  

 

Late lunch was a delicious experience at the Merchant House in Greenville, Ohio before arriving at Eldora around 4.30pm. A bit later than usual but Winchester was magnetic in the manner it kept us there.  Tonight we were in exactly the same seats as we were in 2015 on the infamous Kings Royal that got us back to the Greenville hotel we were in at 5.45am Sunday morning.  It was Section NJ on turn 3 with a great view across the back straight this time. The folks at Eldora come up with some bizarre names for the Kings Royal races with tonight’s being called “The Knight before the Kings Royal”. As good as any I suppose. 

The opening session with the singing of the National Anthem was as different as I’ve ever seen. Take a look. 

We got all but the A Main in tonight with rain curtailing any further chance of racing continuing beyond the B Main. Eldora announced that the Knight before the Kings Royal would be run tomorrow at midday. The stadium would then be cleared of spectators, the track re-worked and the full program of Saturday night racing to take place from 6.00pm.  Or earlier if the forecast rain was moving into the area quicker than expected. 

Day 32 – Saturday July 16th, 2022 

Saturday dawned not too bright and as I peeked out the curtains of the darkened room, all I could see were thunder and rain clouds. Out there it looked like I felt.  Something was affecting me, but I didn’t have a clue what it was.  Winchester was wet and miserable, but hopefully 32 kms away at Eldora things weren’t as bad.  After all we were due there to see a race at midday. 

Cheryl, the manager of the Randolph Inn, wanted a group photo for the Winchester Chamber of Commerce. They had been kind enough to put together a “showbag” of goodies for each tour member consisting of chocolate and candy made in Winchester, along with items of interest about the town. A group photo was arranged for this morning for the Chamber to use in later publicity material.  The difficulty was the rain if we wanted to take it outside. Shayne thought he’d venture out to evaluate the situation, but his little umbrella wouldn’t have achieved much. 

The weather did eventually clear but not before we heard from Stubb that the Petey Memorial cornboard championship had been cancelled owing to the state of the saturated ground outside his and Brian’s caravans. And not to forget that there was a race at midday.  Rain had fallen there too and rendered any chance of the regular Saturday frivolities getting underway.  We eventually got the photo in the next day and here it is.  

The Knight before the Kings Royal race became The Day of the Kings Royal race in 2022 with a fantastic crowd filing in for one race. David Gravel won with Rico and Brad Sweet in the minor placings.    

It was a little subdued at Eldora without the usual fun and games of the cornboard competition.  Petey was a regular member of this group who always meet up on Kings Royal weekend, but unfortunately he was a troubled soul at times, taking his own life some 8-10 years ago. In lieu of throwing bags we had to find different things to do. One of which was to wander up to the campsite of the rest of Stubb’s gang where they regularly gather around the portable curved bar and discuss the issues of the world! Some of us joined them late in the afternoon. T’was good fun as always. 

Something that we didn’t miss out on this year because of rain was our 5.00pm “drunch”.  That’s short for “missed lunch, but snuck in dinner”. On the Saturday it is traditional that Global Speedway Tours provides a complimentary esky to drink from and a meal. Stubb and Gail prepare various parts of it with the cooking duties always allocated to the bloke who can make a chicken leg look like a turkey. He prides himself on his presentation and always uses a pristine cooker that resembles half a 44 gallon drum. But it’s always delicious …..         

Racetime was upon us earlier than usual.  More rain was expected, so they dispensed with most of the pre-race ceremonies in the hope they could get it done before the wet stuff intervened. Tonight we were at the complete opposite end of the half mile track up in Turns 1&2, Section SI.  The view from here is again spectacular. You can easily say “there are no bad seats at Eldora”.  Once again click on the photo for a closer look.   

The successful ticket holder’s share of the 50/50 on a Kings Royal Saturday night often exceeded the amount paid to the winner of the race. That became embarrassing, so three years ago first place was altered to a whopping $175,000 to win. Mid July to mid August certainly is the Month of Money.  It started raining again the moment the chequered flag was waving to signify Brent Marks as the winner. He could put this cheque in his pocket to go with the $100,000 he got Thursday night.  Donny Schatz was second with Carson Macedo third. 

For us, there was no cheque. We bought $110 worth of 50/50 tix.  The winner took home $63,065, but it wasn’t us as Pat, Shayne and Terry sadly reported.  

Arriving back in Winchester at 10.30pm seemed weird.  Usually the B Main hasn’t started at this time on a dry night. Hence I decided to call into McDonalds which is usually shut by the time we get back from Eldora. Instead of the drive thru I went inside where I ordered and then waited, and waited, and waited. I wasn’t sure if it was incompetence, lack of food or did they get a mammoth order?  Turns out it was the latter after talking to a lady and her kid waiting for their order. She apologised to me for causing the delay but she was waiting on 150 cheeseburgers!! Explaining that it was for the firefighters down in Main Street who were fighting the fire opposite A&B Cafe.  She said it as though I would have known about the fire, apparently like everyone else in Winchester who heard the sirens of a dozen fire trucks from neighbouring stations called in to help around 8.00pm. 

Day 33 – Sunday July 17th, 2022    

Many years ago, perhaps 25, I had gone to a track in Pennsylvania that I had previously never heard of. We had an RV and I remember driving in on a long, straight lane from the main road …. in the rain.  Never a good sign that. Of course it had been called off hours earlier, but in the early days of weak mobile internet coverage I wasn’t to know. I did when I got there and the promoter said “sorry bud, We’re off. But if you like you can camp here overnight”.  So we did.

Ever since then I have wanted to return to Tri-City Raceway Park in Franklin, Pennsylvania. And this tour gave us the opportunity as it lies between Eldora and Niagara Falls. Tomorrow’s destination. And Tri-City’s race night is Sunday. How convenient. 

The route to Franklin could be any one of a dozen different ways. Such is the conglomeration of roads in the heavily populated corridor from the midwest to PA. Our choice was I-70 to Pittsburgh and north from there to Butler for a nostalgic look at where Trevor Mackereth fell down the hill behind the Fairfield Inn hotel in 2015.  One of the must sees when driving in Pennsylvania is to arrive into Pittsburgh on I-376 and emerge from the darkness of the Fort Pitt tunnel straight onto the bridge (of the same name) which spans the Monongahela River. On the other side of this tunnel and bridge is the Pittsburgh skyline, very impressive in its own right.

But if you’re a sports nut then continuing on over the Allegheny river gives you a remarkable view of Heinz Field, the home turf of the Steelers. (From 2022 it is now known as Acrisure Stadium). And then look right because there in all its glory is PNC Park with the home diamond of the Pirates baseball team. It’s a phenomenal five minutes of driving. One of those times when you just long for a traffic jam so you can sit still and grab some photos. 

Butler doesn’t have a lot going for it except it’s where the Willys Jeep was born and manufactured during WW2. Plus the fact it’s the nearest town to Lernerville Speedway. But Lernerville is not on the tour anymore as the date and sanctioning body for the Don Martin Silver Cup was changed. However we believe that “Mackereth Hill” is gaining notoriety as a tourist attraction in its own right. We called in there to pay our respects. The stick man marks the spot. Somewhat overgrown during the last seven years, but it was a very steep 20 metre tumble down the hill at 1.00am. 

You can see the ground is wet in this last photo so it wasn’t looking good for tonight. We left Butler for the short drive to Franklin only to hear on the way that the racing had been cancelled.  I’m always disappointed at a rain out, as we all are, but this one hurt a bit harder than some others. Besides my right leg was beginning to hurt more than anyone else’s and I still wasn’t sure what was wrong. 

On the way to Titusville where the hotel was, (the lady sitting inside the GPS unit pronounced it as Tittysville) it became apparent we were in Trump territory with numerous large signs advising President Biden he should get fu#@ed in very large letters. 

 Instead of paying the speedway for admission tickets, GST paid Mr Lin’s China Wok Buffet the same amount for an all you could eat Chinese dinner instead. I can’t say that if you are ever in Titusville, then you should rush to Mr Lin’s to eat because that would be wrong. Besides he didn’t know a lot. For example, for someone who lives just 150 kms from Niagara Falls, he’s never heard of the place. And if you do go one day, please don’t eat the raspberry jelly.  

Day 34 – Monday July 18th, 2022     

Just like in The Hangover, we too could have had our own “Mr Chow” by kidnapping Mr Lin to allow him to finally see Niagara Falls. But we decided that wasn’t a good idea as he might have brought his own food to eat. So we left without him and our chance to create a mega movie went the same way as all of his raspberry jelly did in the toilet at 3.30am this morning. 

If it hasn’t been mentioned in Part 1 yet, we’ll bring it to your attention now. Terry has a major problem with heights and tall bridges. Unfortunately for him, Niagara and the surrounding roads have plenty of both and not being conscious of this phobia we forgot about it as the lead vehicle.  Terry was following in the Chrysler and obediently went where we did.  Which was over the massive elevated Buffalo Skyway steel bridge. At 1.8 kms long, 36 metres high and slippery when wet, local residents are demanding that this bridge be demolished. They claim it’s not safe. Probably just as well Terry hadn’t seen any of those internet stories. 

It was still raining as we pulled into the “Quality Hotel & Suites at the Falls” parking lot. It was so close to the American Falls you could almost convince yourself you could hear the water tumbling over the top. Until someone pointed out that was the airconditioning unit on the roof. We checked in but couldn’t access all the rooms until they had been vacated and cleaned by the last night’s occupants. So the luggage was locked in the two rooms we had access to and then debated where lunch would be. The hotel proudly displayed signage that their Legends Bar and Grill was open 24 / 7  so we figured that would do just fine. Unfortunately no one had the key because the litchen was all locked up. Only the bar was open with a very clever sales rep from the pizza shop around the corner who phoned in orders to his boss who had his staff deliver them piping hot.  ver the road so most went there with umbrellas or jackets pulled up over their heads  and raincoats. The only smart one was Ben who (as he claimed) had brought along a yellow poncho in readiness for his ride on the Maid of the Mist. That was next. 

By the way, a comment on why we were on the American side is warranted. As folks who have been to Niagara Falls would know, the Canadian side is by far the best place to view everything from. But one must remember that this tour was devised and booked during the Pandemic and to enter Canada was not guaranteed.  If you could it required Covid testing, possible quarantine and copious questionaires as to why you wanted to enter the country. And the same to get back into the USA.  Even though 99.9% of people who travel into Canada over the Rainbow Bridge are going for 24 hours or less and only for one reason. So it was decided to not even try. The fact that entry conditions had eased by the time we travelled, hotel bookings already made needed to be honoured.    

Shayne, the Australian representative of the North American meteorology dept, had forecast (via consultation of all three of his weather apps) that the rain would move to the north around 1.00pm. And indeed it did which prompted us to leave the hotel and head to the Maid of the Mist ride. Tickets were pre-paid, but with no time allocation. The walk down to the Niagara River through the State Park was very pleasant and because time was on our side we decided to give Terry another work-out by visiting the Niagara Falls observation tower first. 86 metres above the river did his knuckles no good at all as he inched his way around the very middle of the outdoor deck. 

To get down to where the blue people were queuing required an elevator ride with a driver, so Terry felt OK with this. But his trepidation remained in place for the ride on the river up to the teeth of the Horseshoe Falls. Much to Ben’s annoyance everyone received a blue poncho (to keep). Wearing one wasn’t really required until the Maid ventured close to the Horseshoe Falls which was when the spray became a torrent of water cascading down upon everyone silly enough to be up the front! But it was great fun.  Not too many photos out there because in doing so the camera / phone got saturated so it sat securely inside the poncho. 

After disembarking, things started going a little wonky for me. I began to get dizzy and nauseous and knew it wasn’t from the ride on the Maid, but from whatever was happening to my lower right leg. I politely absented myself from the group and returned to the hotel. The rest went exploring further around to the Cave of the Winds and Goat Island.     

From that point on I didn’t see anyone until tomorrow morning. I did however drive the porcelain bus many times during the night. The infection in the leg was becoming an issue given it glowing like a radiator. 

I’m reliably informed that for dinner the group headed to the Hard Rock Cafe and this time the steak aficionados ordered full racks of ribs which far exceeded the size of the dinner plate they were served on. Apparently a “doggy bag” collection of the left over ribs went around for me, such was the quantity served. I remember hearing Ben come into the room but sadly from my then position of driving the porcelain bus, I was sadly unable to accept his offer of food.  

Day 35 – Tuesday July 19th, 2022   

The rain had returned this morning and it was an interesting task trying to load the luggage into two vehicles without shelter. I was of no help (not that the baggage crew needed it) and chose to sit in the passenger seat of the Ford, thus signifying my intention of not driving. The first time for years that that has happened. For Terry’s benefit, Shayne had devised a route out of Niagara that avoided any high bridges, so he took the wheel while I slumbered in and out of sleep.

The rain was a worry for tonight’s race at Selinsgrove Speedway and as expected the news came through via Twitter that their 76th Anniversary race for Sprintcars had been cancelled with no make up date. From a purely selfish viewpoint, not having a rain date is welcome news for us because if there was, we wouldn’t see it, but at the same time no one else will either.  Somehow you feel better about that ….. 

Between Niagara and Selinsgrove is the internationally famous Watkins Glen circuit. It was a planned visit but there was no info about whether we could even get in. But as usual on these tours, there is often someone around, who after hearing the accent is delighted to open the gates. Watkins Glen definitely had good security and after making enquiries at the main office we were directed to Gate 2 where a gentleman had been instructed to let us in. He did that and were asked to take the road off to the right that you can see in the photo. 

From there we had to drive until we saw the Argetsinger grandstand on the esses.  It did have another easier nickname, but alas I forget what it is. But this map will show you where it is situated. To our surprise there were plenty of sports cars out on the track practicing for the forthcoming GT World Challenge the following weekend. A pleasant 30 minutes or so were spent watching these cars do their thing.   

The Holiday Inn Express was to be our home for the next two nights. It was meant to be for Selinsgrove Speedway tonight and the Outlaws at Port Royal tomorrow night. Once again the tour host succumbed to whatever the infection was causing his leg to turn a very dark shade of red and retired early to bed ….. and the bathroom for vomiting practice which was scheduled to begin around 1.00am. 

The healthy ones (including those with the flu) went to Applebees for dinner where a side of fresh prawns was only a dollar. Information that I didn’t really need to know from my room mate when he got back.  

Day 36 – Wednesday July 20th, 2022     

“My God you need urgent care” said the desk clerk at the Hotel to Ben and I. This was in response to my early morning question of “can you let me know where the nearest doctor is who can give me a prescription for antibiotics?”  

“Why what’s wrong” is how she automatically responded. The My God bit came after I lifted my leg onto the counter and showed her the colour of my shin and the massive wound that was beginning to open up.  I said “I probably do, that’s why I asked you about the doctor.”  It turns out however that “Urgent Care” was the name of the medical practice she was trying to tell Ben and I to go to. “I’ll call an ambulance” she cried to which we said “no, we have a car we can use to get there.”   

Once we had the address Ben said “I know where that is”.  How could he, he’s never been in Selinsgrove in his life? Turns out he saw it on his early morning two hour walk. “I’ll get Dad there.”  So away we went in 94 degree heat to walk the “short distance” to the medical practice. In the end it was a 25 minute marathon. For me at least. I remember we met the Whittles on the way there who later told me I looked like death warmed up. Apparently I did to the doctor too who saw me after what was a pleasingly short time in the waiting room. And a reasonable co-patient fee of US$90.00.  

She asked a million questions trying to establish my medical history. Once we got to the one stent I have in my heart, alarm bells rang for her and she appeared to become insistent that I could have blood clots in my leg which are causing the problem. In my own heart (excuse the pun) I knew that wasn’t the case, but you can’t argue I suppose. Instead I took part in every known medical test to man. Eventually she said there is one more we need, but we cannot do it. You need to go to hospital for that. The one we recommend is 25 miles away in Lewisburg. “I’ll arrange an ambulance for you”.  Now I’ve heard that before. “No, my son can drive me …. we have a car”.   “OK, I’ll let them know you’re coming.” 

Whether that happened or not we don’t know, but no one was expecting us when we rolled up to the Emergency Dept desk. We were ushered into the waiting room which had many other folk in varying states of disrepair. It’s hard to tell what’s wrong with most people of course, but they were in no doubt what I was there for. I should have worn jeans, instead of shorts. The wound was such that it was frightening little kids. I was tested twice for Covid 19 and both tested negative. I was tested for all the same things I could have sworn I was tested for at Urgent Care. I had my blood tested four times, an MRI, full CT scan, ECG plus Ultra sounds on both legs. 

In between all these I returned to the waiting room in anticipation of the last test being the final one. But no they kept on coming. On one occasion I was sitting cross legged right next to the multi unit phone charging machine, blissfully looking at stuff on my phone. When suddenly I heard my name called. I stood up immediately and took a step towards the orderly only to most ungraciously go sprawling on to the floor taking down the phone charging unit with me. A hell of a noise and a surprise result for everyone, especially me. My right foot had gone to sleep and when I put it on the floor I had no feeling and couldn’t move it. They didn’t trust me after that, hence I went everywhere in a wheelchair. 

I had been encouraging Ben to leave me in the hospital and go to Port Royal tonight to join the others who had driven the 60 kms in the bus. We had the Chrysler so he could take that. I would get back to Selinsgrove somehow.  Eventually around 5.00pm he reluctantly decided to leave his father and go racing. I was pleased he did because that’s what he came for. Off he went and an hour and bit later he texted to say he had found the others in the grandstand. 

Just as I was reading that text, I received the news that I needed to go to the day ward and be admitted. It appears the paperwork had just arrived from Urgent Care in Selinsgrove and the hospital staff hadn’t yet performed the only test I had travelled up here for in the first place. So that was done and for the next three hours I lay in the bed and heard from no one. Until a nurse (unfortunately for her) stuck here head in and said the usual of “if you need me just push that red button on the cord to your left.”   That was the final straw you might say.  My response of “thank you, but which is the fu#@ing button which calls the doctor because no one has come near me since 6.00pm. All I came in here was a prescription for some antibiotics”. 

That must have struck a nerve because within 15 mins the doctor who first saw me wandered in and immediately apologised for the extended time I had been there and then said, “Mr Physick, we can’t find anything wrong with you except that you have cellulitis in your lower right leg. Take these two tablets and then have this prescription filled for more of the antibiotics we have prescribed. You are free to go home.”  And all that took 12 hours. 

I ordered an Uber for the ride home. Of course, once the driver found out where I was from and why was I in the US, said he too would have been at Port Royal Speedway except his brother, who would have been driving the Uber tonight, had called in sick. See, who said sprintcars weren’t popular in Pennsylvania? 

For the record, the winner at Port Royal tonight, by a convincing margin, was Kyle Larson three seconds ahead of Danny Dietrich and Anthony Macri.          

Day 37 – Thursday July 21st, 2022      

Again I felt that driving today would not be a good idea. I had picked up the antibiotics from the Walmart pharmacy in Selinsgrove early this morning, but they were going to take some time to weave their hoped for magic. Long time 50 year pharmacist Ian went with me to buy bandages and adhesive patches that were definitely going to be needed across the final 12 days. We then headed off on the 850 km drive to Winchester, Indiana. Once again Shayne was at the wheel, with me in the front passenger seat, but it was my intention to invite others for a stint during the day. Terry was driving the Chrysler as usual.

Some years ago I devised a strategy to divide a long day of driving into an AFL game. So we applied this thinking to today.

The match preparation and game plan started well before we left the hotel.  The bus was loaded up with suitcases and then everyone huddled together in the carpark to listen to the playing coach (tour host) deliver the team instructions and appoint a captain for the day.  When it was time to run out onto the field, the players (tour members) boarded the bus and we drove out of the hotel. 

On the road the captain had the final say to the players before tossing the coin to see who will choose what we have for lunch. Not where, just what. This person then shared the decision with the coach whose job it was to now calculate when lunch will be and where. He consulted with Mr C Google (one of several virtual assistant coaches) in order to arrive at this conclusion. It wasn’t communicated to the players as it was thought it would take their mind off the job at hand during the first and second quarters. When the coach considered things were in readiness, he pressed the bus horn for a six second period to signify play was about to start. It was also the coach’s job at this point to accept the abuse of the spectators (surrounding car drivers) who have had the shit scared out of them by a six second blast from a Claxon horn when least expected. 

The length of each quarter was determined by the total distance to be travelled. For today the players need to be especially fit because each quarter will be two hours. It may be longer if time on is added for unforeseen stoppages such as urgent urination breaks, or worse, vomiting. For today’s journey however the thought is that it’s only the coach in the front passenger seat who could cause a stoppage for the latter reason. 

Today’s strategy, as devised by the Tour Host’s friend, Collingwood supporter and virtual assistant coach Mr R Lee, has us driving due west on I-80 in the first quarter. Only 180 kms were expected. Much less than the average required for the day, but his game plan took into account that the 30km journey between Selinsgrove and I-80 was not of freeway standard. Furthermore, the westerly winds throughout the early morning meant we would be driving into the wind in the first quarter. An odd, but deliberate strategy however, because crucially Mr Lee had noticed the forecast said the westerly winds would pick up mid-afternoon meaning we would then be driving with a decided wind advantage in the last quarter. In his mind, he felt this was an added benefit. Weird, but true …..

The quarter time siren blew just west of Plymptonville on I-80 at a rest stop.

We were on time and on budget and the coach was not unhappy. 30 minutes would be allocated to the break. The players hopped down from the bus heading for the bathrooms when suddenly there was a fall back in the pack.  An already incapacitated coach (the Tour Host) had misjudged the step up from the road to the sidewalk when his right leg could not get above the height of the gutter. He fell flat on his face and ribs. He was to take no further part in the game, but sat on the sidelines to exercise his influence when required. The incident was unfortunate, especially when he coughed from the flu. Damaged ribs do not take too kindly to the violence of an involuntary reflex explosion of air up through the breathing passage.

The second quarter was tough with a man down, even though he had been useless from the start of the game. Couldn’t even help with the luggage packing, or ice collection. But he was good at navigation, so we maintained our time through out the quarter and managed to kick some great goals with the wind.

With Steve “Hurricane” Perry at the wheel an excellent time to distance ratio was achieved. 260 kms in two hours pretty much beat all previous league records. The wind was still there but had moved to the north which was causing some issues with cross winds. But Steve showed his crafty experience by hiding next to trucks and shielding the bus from the winds whenever they sprang up. Every afternoon at the speedways Steve has demonstrated he’s always been very good at tailgating so he knew how to get a tow from a fast moving truck on the interstate. In fact he saved considerable petrol tickets for the rest of the team and put us in a great position for the third quarter. Otherwise known as the Premiership quarter.

The half time break (lunch) was for an hour in Akron, Ohio. A good place to stop because the players were becoming ‘tyred’.

Typically you eat power-foods before the game, but breakfast in a hotel doesn’t usually consist of pasta and other complex carbohydrates that slowly release energy throughout the match. Hence the Spaghetti Warehouse (makes your tummy grouse) on South Main Street was the answer. It had a unique item on the menu which had lasagne stuffed into a hollowed out crusty Vietnamese roll, with added parmesan cheese. Although there was seating available in the restaurant, the Assistant coach in charge of nutrition, Ms E Atwell, insisted that to aid digestion all the midfielders were to eat standing up against the wall in the adjacent laneway.

Others were permitted to absorb their carbs inside.

The third quarter started with a bang. Now kicking into the wind again, three time Premiership player Ben Physick took the wheel. The coach (tour host) was still alive, but slumbering on the bench keeping track of player stats with his GPS. In particular he was becoming concerned with the speed of the vehicle. We did not need a stoppage to explain to a friendly policeman why we were doing 80 mph in a 65 zone. Such as the time back in Iowa a few weeks ago when the tour host was pulled over by the Oskaloosa Deputy Sheriff.   

As nice as he was to us through the window that day didn’t mean we were going to get let off. But we were when he came back from the squad car with the news that he couldn’t get through to the NSW Dept of Transport in Austria to check that the provided licence was authentic, so he would issue a citation to the driver instead. He didn’t even pick up on the fact that the tour host accidently gave the Deputy the paperwork for the first Ford we had. What we gave him bore no resemblance whatsoever to the vehicle we were now in. It was all too hard apparently ….

But back to today. The miles were rolling out beneath the wheels of the Ford with the wind causing no issues at all. All players were working hard to keep the driver alert, accurate and getting plenty of the ball.  And indeed he took advantage of every opportunity, kicking five excellent goals into the wind. A goal being driving past a stationery police car positioned in the middle of the freeway and having it remain there after leaving the scene.  Well done Ben!  In fact the third quarter was so draining that exhaustion was beginning to set in. An urgent call was made by the virtual nutritionist at three quarter time that hydration was desperately needed. A stop for orange drinks was therefore made at Burger King in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Such had been the work from the team in the first seven hours that 730 kms had been wiped off the total by three quarter time. Only 120 kays were required from Neil Armstrong’s hometown to Winchester in the last quarter. And we had two hours to do it in, plus a howling gale at our backs. Shayne had returned to the wheel and he took the foot off the accelerator as they say, throttling back to allow cars to pass, thus giving the impression the opposition had won the last quarter. But they had been well beaten and we rolled into Winchester with plenty of time to check in at the Randolph Inn, leave for the track, call into Mrs Wick’s for a Sugar Crème, German Chocolate and a Coconut Crème pie to eat at the tailgating party and then arrive at the World’s Fastest half mile before 5.30pm.

It was here that Shayne kicked the last goal of a big day.

None of the above is true of course. We simply left Selinsgrove at 7.00am and arrived in Winchester at 6.00pm. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, except the Tour Host did fall arse over head at the rest stop on I-80. He did not drive at all today and wishes to thank Shayne, Steve P and Ben for filling in.              

PS        For the record, Kody Swanson whipped the field in the Rich Vogler Classic winning by a lap from Logan Seavey and Taylor Ferns, the first ever lady to get a podium finish in a USAC Silver Crown race.  

PPS     It should also be recorded that Terry Barry went above and beyond the call of duty this evening by working in the Winchester Speedway concession stand serving hamburgers and drinks.  Just how he managed this is not known, but the result was an invitation from the Tourism Director for Randolph County for all GST tour members to join her for breakfast at Mrs Wick’s tomorrow morning!   

Day 38 – Friday July 22nd, 2022 

Breakfast with Scottie Harvey, Randolph County’s Tourism Director, went well seeing as how she very kindly paid for it.  Thank you Scottie …. you have a great town.  While ever the Kings Royal is on at Eldora, we’ll always bring the group to Winchester to stay the four nights.  

The ride today wasn’t long, but it was wet. Rain had fallen nearly all morning and grave doubts were held for R1 of Indiana Sprint Week (ISW) at Gas City tonight. To lengthen the trip somewhat and move our arrival time at the hotel out to something that better resembled two o’clock, we detoured to the town of Anderson for a squizz at their paved 1/4 mile high banked track. The famed Little 500 is held here every May on the night before the Big 500 in Indy.

A capacity, gates closed, crowd is always on hand to see 33 non wing 410 sprintcars start three abreast for 500 laps. A minimum of two pit stops must be made – one before 250 laps and one after. Often they are taken on lap 249 and 251  

As usual, knowing the office staff permitted us access and a golf cart to ride around the track. The lads had a bit of fun …..

The following video is “file footage” from the 2016 Little 500. Sitting in the suicide seats of the front row on Turn 1 at Anderson Speedway allows you to “see the “whites” of the driver’s eyes!” Credit for that claim is attributed to USAC love child Brent Goodnight, aka Brent T Funk. Hope your back to good health Brent if you’re reading this.

From Anderson we drove north up I-69 for 47 kms to Gas City and the excellent Best Western Plus Hotel, a mere 800 metres from the track. The weather had taken a turn for the better and a clear cloudless sky had transformed the faces of the group who originally had been expecting the worst.  Lunch for the first time this trip was at the always reliable Cracker Barrel across the Hotel parking lot.

ISW’s wildest show of the scheduled eight nights was right here in Gas City. The first occurred right in front of a packed grandstand when a (now forgotten) B Main car lost its front right wheel at full noise down the front straight. It should have flipped wildly but didn’t. However the wheel left the scene at a million miles an hour hurtling it way towards the turn 1 car park. At Gas City there is no real fence of any kind protecting the patrons’ cars. Just a line of cement barriers to stop free loaders watching from the car park.

The wheel hit one of those barriers and was propelled high in to the night sky. It was not a case of would it hit a car? But which one? Eventually it came down to earth right on top of somebody’s black pride and joy. I should say that the GST 12 seater Ford was adjacent to that vehicle and you can see it in the following video. The vision missed the actual incident but it does follow the antics of trying to find the wheel.

Edge of the seat racing, on track fights and flying beer cans took up all available space in the A Main. Robert Ballou was especially active, managing to get into most incidents with both of them right in front of an anti-Ballou grandstand. The first stoush was with Brady Bacon after a sizzling wheel banging encounter down the back straight sent Bacon end for ending four times landing on the turn 3 guard rail.

The Macho Man climbed out and went looking for who he reckoned fed him a wheel. He power-walked across the infield to turn 1 where Ballou had stopped on the red.  You might say an animated discussion was conducted which ended up with a full can of Coors Light being hurled from the stands in front of us aimed purely and squarely at Ballou. Fortunately he hadn’t removed his helmet.

Racing resumed with nine to go. Justin Grant led Shane Cottle, Ballou and CJ Leary deciding he too needed to get on the podium. While racing to the white flag, Ballou and Leary collided at the exit of turn four, reminiscent of Ballou’s earlier incident with Bacon. Leary received the worst end of the deal as he belted the outside guardrail along the front straightaway nose-first before flipping on his lid and spinning like a helicopter in full view of the stands.

Like Bacon before him, Leary jumped out of his badly damaged car and ran for Ballou, who this time had stopped on the back straight. He didn’t wait to talk, instead positioning his body for a karate style aerial kick at Ballou’s helmet protected head. Bang, he let go but appeared to miss and fell back on to the track. But he wasn’t done yet and went again but it’s hard to tell if he missed with that one too. USAC officials and others then restrained him and he left the building peacefully.  

Here’s the video evidence.

Shane Cottle stole the show at sunset on the green, white, checker laps when he slipped under Grant to take the win with a fast finishing Mitchel Moles in third.

Day 39 – Saturday July 23rd, 2022   

It’s always a test for the nerves when it’s a Kokomo race night and we decide to go sightseeing during the day. If something goes awry during the day, the (probable) best night of Indiana Sprint Week can be jeopardised with a late track arrival. However mother nature was likely to be on our side today because although the weather in Indianapolis was fair, Kokomo was in all sorts of trouble with its forecast.

We headed off from the Best Western around 9.00am on the road to the mighty Indianapolis Speedway at that famous address of cnr Georgetown Road and 16th Street in the suburb of Speedway. Yes it has its own zip code. It was perfect timing for us because although the visit to the Museum was always going to be today, about a month ago it was announced that on the weekend of the 23rd and 24th July, the track would be open for all tours. Quite rare these days given the need for them to allow hosted corporate days where businesses rent the entire facility to help Mr Penske balance the books. But this weekend, being the one before the NASCARs hit the city, was designated as visitors’ weekend. 

However I couldn’t find where bookings could be made for the very popular (and the most expensive) VIP tour. Amongst other things it includes the Museum, a lap around the track, the Media Room, Gasoline Alley, access to the Pagoda and the Victory podium where the milk is guzzled. My worst fears were realised when we turned up and all the VIPs were full. Heartbroken and with a pocket full of pre-paid cash, I needed to find a solution. Went and spoke to the lovely ladies on the museum desk trying to use the accent to my advantage. The GST tour shirt and cap can also provide an edge to prove our purpose for being there. But not today. They did suggest I go and talk to Mike Smith, the Ground Tours Co-Ordinator who was the overall boss for the day. But as nicely as Mike could do it, he too explained we have a bus and trailer, but no one to drive it and no one to be the guide. 

I only had two cards left in the pack to play before telling the group. I went back to the bus and returned straight to the ladies on the desk.  One of whom was Martie Gray, the Guest Services Manager.  And said “OK which one of you would like the kangaroo and who wants the koala? They are the two largest I brought with me.” I left them there knowing that Mike was watching before walking away. A minute or two later I was summonsed to return to the front desk.  Martie had left for a reason I was about to find out. Mike said “You’ve got us! We’ve had a chat and if you go into the Museum at look around for 30 minutes it will give us time to organise things . I will leave my post here and drive the bus and so will Martie …. she’ll be your tour guide. She is the daughter of our best ever (now retired) tour guide and knows the drill backwards.” 

To top it all off, it was Martie’s birthday and we were secretly asked to serenade her with an Australian Happy birthday rendition while standing on the famous bricks.  Easy done ….

Before we left on the tour word came through that Kokomo had been postponed until Tuesday night so the pressure has eased for us there. The following four minute video gives you an idea where we went and what we saw. 

After Indy it was a late lunch at Shapiro’s a Jewish delicatessen in Meridian Street. Then after that it was Lucas Oil Raceway for a quick look and an ADS. (Andrews Drone Shot). 

Given that Kokomo had been postponed it was decided to remain in Indy and attend the Figure 8 races at the Speedrome. But even that choice now looked shaky.  Americans know when there is a storm approaching. In fact it’s easy to tell. Just look for the line across the sky and check out what’s behind it.  

But the Speedrome went ahead and we were at it to catch the Figure 8 racing as well as a host of other regular classes on the oval. Here’s a short video we filmed on the night. The cars are actually extremely high quality and immaculately presented every night.

The track’s biggest weekend of the year without question is the World Figure 8 Championship. If you want to see the highlights of 28 cars battling for three hours on a 1/5th mile track in 2022, then click here.

Day 40 – Sunday July 24th, 2022   

Lawrenceburg is a 1/3rd mile track that needs to be seen to be believed. It’s ultra high banking in all four turns is immense. It wasn’t always like this. Back in 2003 when the local Argosy Riverboat (now Hollywood) Casino applied to the city for a licence to improve things, they were asked to make a substantial donation to a local sporting body equal to the amount they were going to spend on the Casino. They happened to choose the Lawrenceburg Speedway at the Fairgrounds so a magnificent complex rose from the demolished ruins of the little flat track 1/4 miler that had existed there for 70 years.

That’s where we would be tonight, but before then we had things to do. After leaving the Best Western at Gas City we avoided the freeway and took the picturesque Route 37 all the way into Noblesville and Forest Park to pay our respects at the Bryan Clauson memorial marker erected in this park. Bryan was a Californian by birth but moved to the midwest when his career started to take off. He chose Noblesville, a suburb of Indianapolis and called that home until his untimely death on August 6th, 2016 in a midget at Belleville Speedway in Kansas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Noblesville we went cross country to briefly link up with I-70 near Spiceland, which by the way has a most impressive outdoor kart track. Note to self: One day we must have the Global Speedway Tours Kart Classic fixed into the tour itinerary. Then it was further south on Route 3 to Rushville (the home of big time TQ racing in Indiana) followed by Greensburg and then I-74 to Lawrenceburg. 

It wasn’t anywhere near 3.00pm for check-in, but Quality Inn & Suites wasn’t full last night so our rooms were available. Most flopped onto the beds and napped for a couple of hours before tackling the one mile drive to the Dearborn County Fairgrounds to find Mike and Laura parked in their regular spot. We snuck the Ford in with them and relaxed according to the tailgating rules. During such proceedings Doc (aka Jim Muth) came up and said hello. By way of identification, Doc owns the Running Boxer Farm 101 sprintcar team that has had Lachlan McHugh at the wheel for the last two seasons. 

Jim is a doctor specialising in cardiovascular disease and took the time to ask how my leg was. I showed him the wound and with a furtive twist of the mouth said “what antibiotics are you on?”  I showed him and his response was “well they are not the wrong ones, but I believe there are more effective ones”. With that he rang the local Walmart pharmacy in Lawrenceburg, relayed his credentials and then proceded to dictate a prescription over the phone. “There you go” he said. “Call in tomorrow morning and pick them up. They should be better for you.”  

Lawrenceburg has two very noticeable landmarks. The first is the power station on the other side of the Ohio River in the town of Moscow, believe it or not. Contrary to popular opinion, despite the on-site cooling tower, it is a coal fired generation plant. It was however originally intended to be a nuclear power plant, although when estimated to be 97% complete, sub-standard construction was discovered and the required safety and quality assurance standards could not be met. Leaving no alternative but to forego the 1.6 billion dollars already spent for nuclear and  convert the plant to coal-fired. It started to produce power in 1987 and after a turbulent career, was closed for good on May 31st, 2022.   

The second is the distillery high on the hill overlooking the speedway. Now officially called the Ross & Squibb Distillery, no one ever calls it that. Just ask the locals. They simply still call it Seagrams who first distilled their gin and Seven Crown blended whiskey there in 1857. You gotta love it when the smell of the tangy, pungent yeast and vinegar comes rolling down the hill to waft in to your tailgating experience. 

Rain clouds were building and the punters in the stands knew it was coming and surely you’d have to assume that USAC track officials did too. But the program was run slowly and yep, you guessed it, they got it all in except for the feature!! 

Day 41 – Monday July 25th, 2022

Sadly the day has come when three of our group return home. Mid afternoon flights out of Indianapolis will allow us to get them to the airport on time and for the connection out of San Francisco to Sydney later tonight. The three hour time gain helps significantly in that regard whereas the opposite hinders things upon arrival into the US.

It was an easy drive back to the big smoke, using I-74 and the ringroad I-465 to IND.  Didn’t bother to stop for lunch preferring to get them dropped off early to allow for any last minute requirements to get back into Australia. The ill fated Digital Passenger Declaration had been abolished but we still wondered whether something else might pop up at the last minute. Nothing did. It was smooth sailing (flying?) for Steve E, Ian and Ben.  Thanks for joining us on this tour guys. Hope you enjoyed it.

As for the rest, we checked into the Comfort Inn & Suites at Plainfield for the next two nights, removed all the luggage from the Chrysler and then dropped it off at Enterprise. But now we had another issue to overcome. We needed to once again take one of the back seats out of the Ford because even though we were three less in number, we still needed the space for luggage. A solution lay in the form of an Aussie I had met through Robyn Jenkins and Bruce Densley on the 2018 Month of Money.  Kevin Bailey, who owns Cheetah Imports out of Indy (and Lilydale in Victoria) has a large warehouse that might just have room for a Ford seat for a week.  Kev agreed so off we went and delivered the seat. 

The weather was to one’s liking for a change so tonight’s ISW R4 at the new Circle City Raceway was definitely on.  We had plenty of time, so rather than use the freeway we drove from the western side of Indianapolis way over to the east on all the local suburban roads to see Indy suburbia from a completely different perspective. 

No grass or trees yet at Circle City, so pre race drinks took place on the recently laid pebbles strewn across the parking lot. Next to us was the legendary Brent Goodnight who entertained the troops for an hour or so with USAC stories tall and true from over the years. By way of this Blog may I humbly apologise Brent for forgetting that we agreed we would also park next to you at Kokomo the following night. Totally overlooked it I’m sorry.  Dave Argabright also dropped in with oldest son Joe while on their way to the USAC office. 

Circle City is very conveniently located right next to I-465 which you can easily see in the background of the next video. The racing is very competitive, the concessions are excellent (same as at the Speedrome given it’s the same promoter) and the lighting is first class. The latter is often a forgotten commodity at many US tracks.

The A Main winner on the night was the Karate Kid, CJ Leary from Justin Grant and Brady Bacon. Two features completed and two different winners. Can they keep up the trend?                    

Day 42 – Tuesday July 26th, 2022

Last Saturday when R2 at Kokomo was scheduled, it rained there, but not in Indianapolis where we were.  Today it rained in Indianapolis most of the day where we were, but held off in Kokomo. We kept tabs on the weather from inside the Hotel most of the day. At 3.00pm, in the knowledge that it was still on, we departed for the town that’s 105 km up US31 where tonight its racetrack would host the postponed R2 of Sprintweek.  

Driving in showed we were amongst the first to lob and spots to park were abundant. So plentiful in fact that I forgot about Brent. We picked a possie around near the back straight, backed her in and waited for the mob to arrive. Eventually they did and our group grew larger and larger. 

Rain did not fall and everything was perfect. The best feature race that this crowd would have seen for many years developed up front between the mercurial Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant and Robert Ballou. A mesmerising 10 laps or so between these three captivated the fans with slide jobs and lead changes damn near every lap. USAC’s Richie Murray later reported that “the exchanging of the lead that many times within a 30-lap feature tied an all-time Indiana Sprint Week record for the most lead changes in a single feature event, equalling the mark of seven set during the rounds at Lincoln Park in 2001 and Bloomington in 2016.”   

In the end Grant took the win from Cummins in second and Ballou on the tail end of the podium. Thoughts go out to Jake Swanson who bicycled in heat 4 going into turn 4 and end for ended spectacularly, getting quite a view of the carpark from the top of the fence. Unfortunately however he got hung out to dry up there.  The crash crew very gingerly brought the car down with a cherry picker still with an injured Swanson in it. Jake was taken to hospital where a CT scan cleared him of significant injury, but he did need stitches in his face. 

The trend continues with a third different winner tonight …..

Day 43 – Wednesday July 27th, 2022

The rain returned overnight, waking more than just one of us with the discussion at breakfast this morning all about the storm. Venturing outside showed the extent of it with giant pools of water in the low lying areas of the parking lot.  The rain had stopped but all minds were on Terre Haute where tonight we’re meant to be enjoying R5 of sprintweek. Did it rain down there 90 kms to the south west as well? I’m 

We had tons of time to kill so avoided I-70 and instead drove US 40, one of the first highways ever created and fondly known as the “Main Street of America”.  It should be as famous as Route 66, but no one ever made a TV show about it to propel it to stardom. Old style motels, gas stations and still thriving towns are along the route making any place you choose to stop an interesting one.  It runs past Putnamville Speedway (aka Lincoln Park), but that’s tomorrow night for us. Today we continued on into Terre Haute.

News had already been received that despite the bright blue skies above, the rain that had already fallen over a track which simply drips history is now merely dripping raindrops. We drove in to take a look for ourselves just in case we could convince the new owners to run the show, but we all agreed that looked to be pretty much impossible. In particular the pits were impassable. Maybe that should be the next improvement after the new fencing, infield tunnel and concession stands. Put some gravel throughout the pits ….

Now what to do? In order to satisfy their speed needs, some went to the movies to watch Top Gun Maverick.  A pretty good deal at US$8.09. Lunch before hand at the adjacent Golden Corral made it a very special day indeed. 

Dinner was at iHop followed by a thickshake from Steak and Shake across the road. 

Or, for the couple from Geelong, the sanctuary of the tour bus was just what the doctor ordered.  Opened her up, removed two fold up chairs, put them on the lawn and sat in the shade of the Ford watching the world go by on Highway 41. The esky and a bottle of Old Crow kept them company for many hours.   (Kim we almost had to ring you to help get them to bed …..) 

Day 44 – Thursday July 28th, 2022       

Although the Action Track was rained out, no precipitation fell at all yesterday. Nor did it at Putnamville, a mere 45 kms away. So close is it that we stayed in the Terre Haute Hampton Inn for two nights rather than move beds. A 2.00pm departure was signalled and the troops readily gathered right on time at the front door of the hotel lobby to get on the road without delay. We’d had enough of rainouts and wanted to get some racing under our belt. After all, the previous 27 races on tour apparently hadn’t totally satisfied us yet …..   

Straight back up I-70 to exit 37 and then onto the little town of Putnamville, so small that if you blinked, you’d miss it. But the speedway keeps the townsfolk awake on Saturday nights …. and Wednesday during Sprintweek.  Parking for us is right up the back of the complex with the RV’s and caravans. Extremely picturesque with lush grass and leafty trees galore.  It’s here that we once again met up with Mike and Laura who move from track to track very early in the morning to ensure a perfect spot for their RV at race next.

We arrived so early that there was plenty of time to enjoy the refreshments on hand with many new friends who came up to say hi. We are getting close to the end of the tour so in some cases when they left it was a “goodbye”, rather than a “see ya tomorrow at Bloomington”. Farewells are always hard, but in doing so it’s ultra important to get the last drop out of the red cup when it’s your final tour drink with someone.

We entered the track with hopes that we would get the show in and Her Upstairs would stay away. The sky looked OK, but it was ominous to say the least. Qualifying started and with an impressive 52 cars in the pits it was going to take a while. Fans were enjoying the competitive nature of what can be a little tedious from time to time, but with just one second between the fastest and the slowest, it was tight. The 49th car was pushed away and then it started. No, not the car, but the rain.  Down it came.  Not super heavy, but certainly enough to cause the yellow flag to come out and then be quickly rolled up and pointed at the pits by the flagman. 

Mindful of the last Putnamville experience back on Day 14, Peter tossed a quarter and saw it come down heads which meant yes he could test the soft serve ice cream during the delay. Another toss of said coin saw chocolate as the choice, not the disastrous vanilla of last month. Whilst Peter licked, our resident meteorologist Shayne studied each of his three weather apps and boldly declared the rain would stop at 9.15pm and racing would get underway at 9.40pm.  Terry said “no way” and took the $5 bet.

On the way out of the joint after midnight Terry paid up, but technically he could have got out of it. You see right on 9.40pm the cars did come out onto the track, but not to race. It wasn’t the 49th car, but the first. All 52 had to qualify again because according to the USAC rule book, rain had caused a material change in track conditions. So we sat through it all again. This time with two cars out at once which mercifully halved the required time.  

Things moved quickly from here and in the absence of anyone getting upside down throughout the night, we saw Mitchel Moles take the chequered flag at five minutes before midnight from Jadon Rogers and Brady Bacon. 

Yet another new winner, making the 4th different one in four completed races.             

Day 45 – Friday July 29th, 2022 

The road trip from Terre Haute to Edinburgh in I-65 is not a long one, but it is certainly a pretty one. Southern Indiana is different to north of Indianapolis. There’s rolling hills and fields, the grass appears greener, the Ohio river is down there along with large tracts of forests and loads of speedways. Today and tomorrow we may check out quite a few. Edinburgh doesn’t have a speedway, but we stayed there anyway because it does have a Outlet Centre. And its central to what we need to do across the next three days.

We took State Road 46 out of Terre Haute, preferring it over the interstates. It took us through the town of Riley and I had instant flashbacks to May 2011 on Day 2 of Tour # 1. It was on that tour that we experienced something that can never happen again unfortunately. The late Don Smith, President (read owner) of the First National Bank of Terre Haute had accumulated the greatest automotive collection one could ever hope to put together. He was a huge dirt track fan and promoted races at Terre Haute out of his own pocket and sponsored dozens and dozens of race teams via the bank. We had the entire collection opened up to us for inspection on May 26th, 2011, thanks to Dave Argabright and Steve Moody. 

Sadly Don Smith passed away in 2017. And then, what often happens with the distribution of great wealth, he left no specific instructions for the collection. “I’ll leave that for somebody else to figure out” he told the local paper before he died.  Unfortunately the executors of his estate  couldn’t figure it out, so it was put up for an auction which went for two months, online for most of it and in person for the race vehicles. 

The address of the huge property which had the five barns that held the collection and his home and the lake where the fishing and the recreational shooting took place, was a closely guarded secret and probably should remain so to this day. If you want to know what was in there, check out this 20 minute video. 

We didn’t stop at Don’s property because it may not be the family’s anymore, but we did stop at Paragon Speedway for a look at a track that has never really been promoted to its fullest extent. A truck followed us in through the front gate. We went straight on to what appeared to be the ticket office and the truck turned left to the pit gate. We stopped, he stopped. We both looked at each other from a distance, wondering who would make the first move. We did, by driving down to say hi. Turns out he is the new owner’s friend who had assumed track prep duties and he had come down to see how the place had come through the storms of the last 48 hours. 

So we helped him assess it and had a great chat at the same time. Shayne put the drone up fortunately, otherwise we wouldn’t have had a photographic record of Paragon Speedway.   

Like a lot of race tracks that unusually face west and get the setting sun around heat race time, Haubstadt is no different for the patrons on the front straight. Sit on the back straight however and you’ll miss the sunset. Which is worse do you reckon?

Yet another first time winner took out tonight’s final race of the 2022 Indiana Sprintweek. Robert Ballou had been knocking on the door all week but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He did tonight however and won hands down from hometown boy Kyle Cummins and the very consistent Justin Grant. That consistency amounted to enough points to give Justin the title of Indiana Sprintweek champ for 2022.

Before saying our fond farewells to Laura and Mike we transferred two gazebos and a dozen or so fold up chairs to their RV so Laura can give them to a deserving race team who may find them useful. These two great people travel enormous distances in their RV each summer from their home in Washington State over on the west coast. They don’t mind the miles, just so long as they see every possible sprintcar and midget race in the mid west. Really nice people who it is an honour for us to catch up with them every year. Not sure who travels the most! Them or us! Might be the Henderson’s if you took the time to add all the miles up. As I write this on November 8th, they are still out on the road chasin’ racin’ …. currently in California.

The ride home was a long one. I-69 has just been extended (only took eight years) through to Evansville so that was a handy way to get back to Edinburgh, although we still had to get off at Bloomington and take that very picturesque drive again on 46 to Edinburgh. Except that it was 2.15am in the morning …..

Day 47 – Sunday July 31st, 2022

For the dirt track fans on the tour (that’s all of us), last night was the final race on the itinerary. However if you still had energy, money and desire, the NASCARs were racing at Indianapolis Speedway on the infield road course today. Yesterday the Xfinity cars and the Indy cars were both on the race card, but not at the same time of course. However no one saw that because everyone wanted to go to Tri-State. The offer had always been there for today that GST would get them to the 16th Steet front gate at any time they wanted to arrive. Equally we would pick them up at a time that suited. That could be at the end of the race, or halfway through it if they got sick of “now I see them, now I don’t.”    

Only two, being Shayne and Steve Perry opted to go. The bus got them up there before the morning practice session and picked them up five minutes before the end of the race at the Speedway gas station on 16th Street.  They were able to hang out for the whole day. A good effort indeed.  Mind you not many people attend the NASCARS at Indy. The difference in the crowd attendance between the Indy 500 in May and today for the Verizon 200 is 265,000 people!  325,000 for Indy and 60,000 for the NASCARS. An incredible difference and I guess that dilemma makes the organisers scratch their heads until this same time next year. 

Back at Hotel Central in Edinburgh, our guests prepared for our farewell dinner. Across the carpark from the Hampton Inn is Montana Mike’s. A steak joint much in the tradition of the Texas Roadhouse. They had a vacancy for a table our size, so in we went to see if they could supply a steak that exceeded the best so far …. at the Casino back in Joliet, Illinois. The answer was no. Mainly because the server mixed up all the sides and who ordered what.  A monstrous mess up that saw no tip for her. 

A short update on my leg.  I had been giving “Lawrenceburg Doc” an update and a photo of my shin every day and he was kind enough to answer each and every time. He was getting concerned that it wasn’t healing as he had expected and suggested that I really should be admitted to hospital for an intravenous antibiotic drip to be inserted straight into my leg to kill the infection. I said I completely understand that, but can it wait until I get back to Australia?. We leave tomorrow, Monday.  He saw no problem with that and wished me luck.

I have posted three photos of it (below) taken before we flew out of the US.  They are deliberately small, but can be enlarged by clicking on them if you are so inclined. 

On arrival back home, I saw my doctor the same day the plane landed. The nurses cleaned it up and took a swab to be sent off for analysis. My doctor gave me different antibiotics again which had to be taken for a month minimum. I returned to see him and the nurses every second day. After a week the swab results came back with both good news and bad news. The good news was that the culture would not grow because the infection had died. The bad news is that they now don’t know what it was. 

I was given clearance to travel to Darwin for the Chariots of Thunder tour as long as I continued the tablets and cleaned the wound every day. Which was now the size of a mobile phone. I was a good boy and did all that, including wading in the salt water of Darwin Harbour. Without a word of a lie, I was sitting down a few days after wallowing in the harbour, wondering how long it would be before it tidied itself up and as I looked at it the scab just dropped off!  It rapidly improved from that moment on!!

Day 48 – Monday August 1st, 2022     

Today was planned like a military exercise. We needed to leave Edinburgh with enough time up our sleeve to drive back up to Indianapolis and do the following, all in this order:

• Drop off Bob and Pat at the Baymont by Wyndham Hotel in Plainfield where they are staying one more night to enable them to fly direct to Melbourne from San Francisco tomorrow.  United are currently only flying directly into Melb three days a week at the moment.  
• Drive to the Comfort Inn & Suites in Plainfield where we left Shayne’s luggage (but not Shayne) ready for him to spend three extra nights in Indy so he can attend the BC39 race at Indianapolis Speedway on Wednesday and Thursday night. 
• (We were gradually reducing the amount of luggage in the Ford.)
• Dropped in at the nearest beer shop to buy a carton of Coors Light.
• Drove to Kevin Bailey’s Cheetah Imports to retrieve the seat for the back of the Ford. Put it in the current one even though it came out of the first one! 
• Left the beer and the esky with Kevin to say thanks  ….. 
• Drove from Cheetah Imports to Indianapolis Airport to drop off all the rest of the luggage and all tour members except Shayne and I.
• Drove to Budget Car Rental and ropped Shayne off to pick up his ride for the next three days.
• Drove to Enterprise Car Rental in Plainfield to drop off out very reliable and comfortable Ford. Across the whole tour, the first and second Fords travelled a combined distance of 9,694 miles. [15,510 kilometres.] That doesn’t include the miles put on the Chrysler which followed us everywhere for three weeks.
• Shayne then turned up at Enterprise in his new ride, a Camry with 82 miles on the clock. 
• Shayne dropped me off at the airport where I was re-united with my luggage and the other tour members. 
• Checked in and then sat back in a chair and sighed. It was all over …… except for the flights to Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Sydney. 

So many people to acknowledge, but to do so publicly here means I’m bound to leave someone out. But most certainly the other players on the road with me deserve every thanks that can go their way. It was energy sapping at times, but everyone got up everyday with a smile on their face ready for another adventure on the road.  To Shayne Andrews, Terry Barry, Russell Blackman, Steve Evans, Deryk Hartwick, Steve Perry, Ben Physick, Bob Whittle, Pat Whittle and Ian Wilkins, thank you so much for your support.

I know you enjoyed it, so I hope this blog allows you to relive a holiday of a lifetime. 

Now for the movie ……

End:   

If you wish to return to Part 1 of the Best of the Best USA blog, please click here.

Like a lot of race tracks that unusually face west and get the setting sun around heat race time, Haubstadt is no different for the patrons on the front straight. Sit on the back straight however and you’ll miss the sunset. Which is worse do you reckon?

Yet another first time winner took out tonight’s final race of the 2022 Indiana Sprintweek. Robert Ballou had been knocking on the door all week but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He did tonight however and won hands down from hometown boy Kyle Cummins and the very consistent Justin Grant. That consistency amounted to enough points to give Justin the title of Indiana Sprintweek champ for 2022.

Before saying our fond farewells to Laura and Mike we transferred two gazebos and a dozen or so fold up chairs to their RV so Laura can give them to a deserving race team who may find them useful. These two great people travel enormous distances in their RV each summer from their home in Washington State over on the west coast. They don’t mind the miles, just so long as they see every possible sprintcar and midget race in the mid west. Really nice people who it is an honour for us to catch up with them every year. Not sure who travels the most! Them or us! Might be the Henderson’s if you took the time to add all the miles up. As I write this on November 8th, they are still out on the road chasin’ racin’ …. currently in California.

The ride home was a long one. I-69 has just been extended (only took eight years) through to Evansville so that was a handy way to get back to Edinburgh, although we still had to get off at Bloomington and take that very picturesque drive again on 46 to Edinburgh. Except that it was 2.15am in the morning …..

Day 47 – Sunday July 31st, 2022

For the dirt track fans on the tour (that’s all of us), last night was the final race on the itinerary. However if you still had energy, money and desire, the NASCARs were racing at Indianapolis Speedway on the infield road course today. Yesterday the Xfinity cars and the Indy cars were both on the race card, but not at the same time of course. However no one saw that because everyone wanted to go to Tri-State. The offer had always been there for today that GST would get them to the 16th Steet front gate at any time they wanted to arrive. Equally we would pick them up at a time that suited. That could be at the end of the race, or halfway through it if they got sick of “now I see them, now I don’t.”    

Only two, being Shayne and Steve Perry opted to go. The bus got them up there before the morning practice session and picked them up five minutes before the end of the race at the Speedway gas station on 16th Street.  They were able to hang out for the whole day. A good effort indeed.  Mind you not many people attend the NASCARS at Indy. The difference in the crowd attendance between the Indy 500 in May and today for the Verizon 200 is 265,000 people!  325,000 for Indy and 60,000 for the NASCARS. An incredible difference and I guess that dilemma makes the organisers scratch their heads until this same time next year. 

Back at Hotel Central in Edinburgh, our guests prepared for our farewell dinner. Across the carpark from the Hampton Inn is Montana Mike’s. A steak joint much in the tradition of the Texas Roadhouse. They had a vacancy for a table our size, so in we went to see if they could supply a steak that exceeded the best so far …. at the Casino back in Joliet, Illinois. The answer was no. Mainly because the server mixed up all the sides and who ordered what.  A monstrous mess up that saw no tip for her. 

A short update on my leg.  I had been giving “Lawrenceburg Doc” an update and a photo of my shin every day and he was kind enough to answer each and every time. He was getting concerned that it wasn’t healing as he had expected and suggested that I really should be admitted to hospital for an intravenous antibiotic drip to be inserted straight into my leg to kill the infection. I said I completely understand that, but can it wait until I get back to Australia?. We leave tomorrow, Monday.  He saw no problem with that and wished me luck.

I have posted three photos of it (below) taken before we flew out of the US.  They are deliberately small, but can be enlarged by clicking on them if you are so inclined. 

On arrival back home, I saw my doctor the same day the plane landed. The nurses cleaned it up and took a swab to be sent off for analysis. My doctor gave me different antibiotics again which had to be taken for a month minimum. I returned to see him and the nurses every second day. After a week the swab results came back with both good news and bad news. The good news was that the culture would not grow because the infection had died. The bad news is that they now don’t know what it was. 

I was given clearance to travel to Darwin for the Chariots of Thunder tour as long as I continued the tablets and cleaned the wound every day. Which was now the size of a mobile phone. I was a good boy and did all that, including wading in the salt water of Darwin Harbour. Without a word of a lie, I was sitting down a few days after wallowing in the harbour, wondering how long it would be before it tidied itself up and as I looked at it the scab just dropped off!  It rapidly improved from that moment on!!

Day 48 – Monday August 1st, 2022     

Today was planned like a military exercise. We needed to leave Edinburgh with enough time up our sleeve to drive back up to Indianapolis and do the following, all in this order:

• Drop off Bob and Pat at the Baymont by Wyndham Hotel in Plainfield where they are staying one more night to enable them to fly direct to Melbourne from San Francisco tomorrow.  United are currently only flying directly into Melb three days a week at the moment.  
• Drive to the Comfort Inn & Suites in Plainfield where we left Shayne’s luggage (but not Shayne) ready for him to spend three extra nights in Indy so he can attend the BC39 race at Indianapolis Speedway on Wednesday and Thursday night. 
• (We were gradually reducing the amount of luggage in the Ford.)
• Dropped in at the nearest beer shop to buy a carton of Coors Light.
• Drove to Kevin Bailey’s Cheetah Imports to retrieve the seat for the back of the Ford. Put it in the current one even though it came out of the first one! 
• Left the beer and the esky with Kevin to say thanks  ….. 
• Drove from Cheetah Imports to Indianapolis Airport to drop off all the rest of the luggage and all tour members except Shayne and I.
• Drove to Budget Car Rental and ropped Shayne off to pick up his ride for the next three days.
• Drove to Enterprise Car Rental in Plainfield to drop off out very reliable and comfortable Ford. Across the whole tour, the first and second Fords travelled a combined distance of 9,694 miles. [15,510 kilometres.] That doesn’t include the miles put on the Chrysler which followed us everywhere for three weeks.
• Shayne then turned up at Enterprise in his new ride, a Camry with 82 miles on the clock. 
• Shayne dropped me off at the airport where I was re-united with my luggage and the other tour members. 
• Checked in and then sat back in a chair and sighed. It was all over …… except for the flights to Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Sydney. 

So many people to acknowledge, but to do so publicly here means I’m bound to leave someone out. But most certainly the other players on the road with me deserve every thanks that can go their way. It was energy sapping at times, but everyone got up everyday with a smile on their face ready for another adventure on the road.  To Shayne Andrews, Terry Barry, Russell Blackman, Steve Evans, Deryk Hartwick, Steve Perry, Ben Physick, Bob Whittle, Pat Whittle and Ian Wilkins, thank you so much for your support.

I know you enjoyed it, so I hope this blog allows you to relive a holiday of a lifetime. 

Now for the movie ……

End:   

If you wish to return to Part 1 of the Best of the Best USA blog, please click here.