text: Erie County Fairgrounds – Randy Lewis
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  by Randy Lewis December 9, 2019
  written by Randy Lewis December 9, 2019
  Greetings from Hamburg, New York
  Lifetime Track #2,005
  Editor's note: New York's five-year statute of limitations has now expired on this incident. I can now share the exact circumstances of our visit to the Erie County Fairgrounds.
  My name is Randy Lewis (above with IndyCar driver Lyn St. James). I live in San Clemente, California. I am a "trackchaser". I trackchase. Before you discovered my site had you ever heard of trackchasing? Maybe not? So….what the heck is trackchasing? Sit back, take a read and you'll be an expert on my hobby of trackchasing when you're finished.
  This morning we woke up in Toronto, Canada and went to bed in Rochester, New York. This is how the day went.
  I took my 45-minute power walk around an industrial area that surrounded the hotel. We didn't check out until 12 noon. This followed a good night's sleep and a relaxing morning before it was time to change countries.
  We were bound for the greater Buffalo, New York area. This would require a two-hour drive down from Toronto. We crossed the border at the Peace Bridge leading us into Buffalo.
  Crossing the border took the better part of an hour. It was slow going. I probably need to get a Nexus membership although getting appointments at convenient locations is nearly impossible with my travel schedule.
  There must be a more convenient and effective system of monitoring the borders of individual countries like the United States and Canada. It's such a slow process. When you finally do get to talk to the agent the questions are fairly benign. They have been doing it this way for years so I don't know if they have any interest in changing.
  We had an afternoon available for a Trackchasing Tourist attraction. I consulted TripAdvisor. The #1 tourist attraction in Buffalo was the Frank Lloyd Wright "Martin House Complex". Our tour lasted just an hour. This most unusual home was built in about 1905. The tour wasn't as good as what I had at FLW's Alden B. Dow creation in Midland, Michigan but still interesting nonetheless. Photographs were not allowed in the interior of the home today. I did get several shots of the outside of this home. I hasten to think that this is the #1 tourist attraction in all of Buffalo!
  It was now time for an early dinner. This would allow me to take Carol to a place I discovered during the last winter's ice racing season. I'm talking about the Nine-Eleven Tavern in South Buffalo New York.
  You probably know that buffalo wings were invented in, where else, Buffalo, New York. Buffalo wings first appeared on any restaurant menu at the Anchor Bar and Grill. I've been to that place a few times. However, since discovering the Nine-Eleven Tavern I enjoy eating there as well. It's a little dive that accepts only cash. The place has an old-fashioned bar on one side and a few tables on the other. I actually think the fresh-cut French fries are better than the wings. For $3.75 they serve a heaping plate of hot fries. I doused my French fries with salt and ketchup, even though I don't like ketchup. They were delicious.
  The wings are sold in increments of ten. Today ten wouldn't be enough and twenty would be too much. Carol had to choose between one or the other and ordered twenty wings. As predicted we finished just fifteen. Nevertheless, it was fun showing Carol such an unusual eatery. Its ambiance was Davis Bros. Pizza (above) all over again.
  It was now time to head out towards the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York. I didn't know much about this fair but as soon as I spotted the parking lot I knew it was a huge place. In many ways, this reminded me of a state fairgrounds. As with most county fairs we visit, the place was absolutely packed.
  We had some time to stroll through the carnival area and see some of the fair's attractions. Then we had a difficult time finding the grandstand. The grandstand actually hosts harness racing track at times.
  Once we found the grandstands we were having a hard time finding the front door to the grandstands. We wandered into an indoor home show featuring a variety of mattresses for sale at the fair. Over in the corner of the building was a door which looked like it might lead to the grandstand area. We headed for that door.
  A man, whom we would later learn was selling mattresses, jumped in front of us. He told us we couldn't use this door as an exit. We would have to go around to the front of the grandstand for admission. About that time a security officer nearby overheard our conversation. He informed us that tonight's figure 8 racing show was sold out! Say what?
  At that point, given the fact that there were no tickets available, we decided to take in a movie and forget all about figure 8 racing. Okay, I'm kidding! The lack of tickets simply fueled my competitive juices. Now there was a challenge. I love challenges. Never for a moment did I think we wouldn't be seeing figure 8 racing tonight.
  I explained to the mattress salesman that we had come all the way from California to see tonight's figure 8 racing. I have learned through my travels that the majority of folks on the East Coast initially present a very gruff and somewhat abrasive appearance and approach. However, I also discovered that these very same people, if they like you, will do anything for you. That was the case tonight.
  For reasons you will soon discover I cannot reveal the identity of the mattress salesman we encountered. Once he learned how far we had come to see the figure 8 racing he was our new buddy/security officer/public relations representative. As Carol would say he was our new "BMF".
  He told us where the ticket office was and suggested we go down there and plead our case. That was helpful of him and off we headed following his directions. However, we missed a turn that was needed to get us to the ticket office at the crowded fair. We were confused. Just at that moment, we turned around to find our new BMF right there ready to lead us to the right place. In the meantime, he told us he would call the head of the entire Erie County Fair to see if he might be able to help get us tickets.
  For the first time that I can ever remember the entire grandstand ticket office was besieged by "sold out" signs. I can never recall going to another county fair racing event and finding the place sold out. In subsequent years I would encounter a similar situation in the state of Washington.
  I flashed my faraway out-of-state driver's license which was NOT a California license. O.K., the statute of limitations in Hawaii on folks having Hawaiian driver's licenses who live in California has also expired! The ticket seller appeared minorly impressed with the rainbow on my driver's license. She looked at her computer. Then she looked up and shook her head no. There were no tickets to be had. I suggested she allow us to go in on a standing room only basis. That wouldn't work either she told us.
  Just as the idea of going to the grandstand ticket office was about to be totally rejected we turned around. Who did we see? There was our new BMF the mattress salesman telling us that his fair contact was not going to be able to help us. This set of circumstances did not detour our mattress salesman. He had a plan. We were told to "follow him". We did.
  He told us to follow him back to his mattress sales location. In the corner of the store was the exit we had tried to use earlier. It was guarded by security personnel. The plan was explained to us. We would wait until the security guard got busy and then our BMF would give us the high sign. We would then hightail it toward the grandstands. In point of fact, that's pretty much how it turned out.
  Soon we were "in"! This was a little bit like a prison break. It made for a good story.
  This experience did strongly reinforce my belief that if these east coasters like you they will do anything for you. Just about anything! If they don't like you they can make things difficult. There is no doubt about. A bigger than what would be expected statistical sample of east coast people are exactly as described above. These experiences are like being embedded with the real-life Sopranos!
  Erie County Fairgrounds – Hamburg, New York
  Once inside we would soon find monster trucks, figure 8 racers and demo derby cars of all shapes and sizes. We found a seat in the lower level general admission grandstands. However, from this position, we could only see about half of the double-figure 8 track. The program started with some pretty wild gyrations from the monster trucks. Don't miss the video on this one.
  Our lower-level seating position was not going to be a good place to watch the figure 8 racing. We headed up into the harness racing grandstand where every seat was a reserved seat. It was 99% full. We ended up going into the very top row of the stands. There we sat on a concrete ledge where the view was actually very good.
  There we watched the JM Productions figure 8 racing show with about 20-25 competitors. They ran three heats with the top two finishers transferring into the feature race. After the three heats were run they had a truck and van demolition derby with six competitors.
  The monster trucks got a very strong reaction from the fans. However, it was the demolition derby that brought the fans to their feet screaming and yelling as the competitors put on some very strong hits against each other. The figure 8 racing got the least amount of support from the fans. Remember the fans "vote" with their feet and their hands and their voices.
  Following the figure 8 feature, which paid $600 to win, we headed out into the fair to see what we could see. Our plan was to go back into the mattress area and thank our BMF for his help. However, as luck would have it, we ran into him inside the carnival midway. We thanked him profusely. I told him, that when the statute of limitations (5 years) ran out, I would put a link from our experience on my website. I am doing that today.
  Despite this being mid-August it was a cool evening with temperatures in the low 60s and a strong wind. The skies were cloudy with threatening weather but no rain while we were at the fairgrounds. We toured a chicken barn and a cow milking facility. Then we finished off the evening watching an Elvis Pressley impersonator. If they don't have it at the fair you don't need to see it.
  After the fair, we were off to Rochester, a two-hour drive. We would be staying at the Radisson Hotel at the Rochester airport. Our fee was $78 with taxes. The best rate from the front desk was a bit more than $150 with taxes. We got a good deal and I maintained my reputation with Carol of always providing upscale accommodations.
  I'm always telling you about the things that happen for the very first time at the venues I visit. Yes, new things happen at virtually every stop despite my having seen more than 2,000 tracks.
  Tonight seeing all of the "sold out" signs was a first. I wasn't concerned about getting into the grandstands. I'm trained for just such circumstances. However, we did establish a friendship with a person who was more than willing to help us. He went out of his way to make sure that we achieved our objective of seeing a race tonight.