Kansas Speedway Tour - 5/13/2014

The May event for our KCPL Power Partners Club was a tour of the Kansas Speedway.  The Speedway is located about 15 miles west of Kansas City on I-70 in a rapidly developing area called The Legends.  In addition to the Speedway, The Legends is home to the Kansas City T-Bone minor league baseball, Sporting KC Soccer Club, the Schlitterbahn Water Park, the Hollywood Casino, and many retail stores, hotels, and restaurants.

The day was cold and windy but at least we escaped the rain.  We had about 30+ members of our retirement club join us for the tour and lunch afterwards in The Legends.  Our tour followed an entire weekend of NASCAR racing at the track.  It was amazing how clean the track grounds were after the huge crowds.  The only reminder of the racing was the black tire tracks on the asphalt that were left after the burnout by Jeff Gordon as a part of his victory celebration.

We took the elevator to the 4th level to get a better view of the grounds outside the track.  On race day, the grass fields in the photo would be covered with parked cars as far as the eye can see.  Trams help shuttle people from the parking lot to the track.  If my memory is accurate, there is room for about 35,000 vehicles.

This is the view from inside one of the luxury suites at the track.  There are three levels of suites above the grandstands.

Our tour guide took advantage of the comfort and quiet of the suite to give all the details about the track before going outside.  The track is a 1.5 mile tri-oval with a 2.6 mile road course utilizing the track and the infield.  The area inside the oval is large enough to hold the Chief's Arrowhead football stadium and the KC Royal's Kauffman Stadium plus the parking lot between them without touching the track.  The entire complex covers 1,200 acres.  The seating capacity is 72,000+ with many more watching from RV's parked in the infield and around the outside of the track.  Space is available for about 300 RV's.

In the infield, there is a gas station for the race cars.  They pump 119 octane fuel that is 15% ethanol.

The race leader tower.

There are four huge garages in the infield.  The track can accommodate multiple types of racing vehicles simultaneously on a big racing weekend.  This last weekend the were the NASCAR racers and trucks competing.

The cars in the photo belong to the Richard Petty racing school/experience and reside at the track all year long.  You can rent a car or take a driving course with an instructor at the track.

The Petty cars only have about 600 hp while the professional racers have about 850 hp.  The car below is a Toyota but I didn't see anything under the hold that looked like it might actually be found in a Camry.

The cars are really nothing but a tubular frame with wheels and a fiberglass shell that sort of looks like a car.  The interior is functional but not pretty.  I would love to drive one but I don't think I could ever get inside.  I would be very comfortable driving the car, if I fit, since I am a former Corvette driver (400 hp) and I confess to having seen 140 mph more than once.  As a matter of fact, I was clocked on police radar at 140 mph in a 35 mph speed zone.....but that is another story from my youth.

The tire have an inner and outer inflation chambers.  If you look close, you can see two valve stems.  These act as a sort of run flat tire only so the driver can slow down enough to avoid crashing when he has a flat. 

This truck is used to dry the track after a rain.

This is a vacuum truck and, as you imagined, is used to clean the track before races and after crashes.

We are on our way to Victory Lane.

The tour guide was great.

A group photo.

The banking on the track was about 9 degrees on the straightaway. 

The tram was much needed because of the size of the facility.

The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction System (SAFER barrier) at Kansas Speedway is made of steel tubes and pads of energy-absorbing foam attached to the track's existing concrete retainer walls between Turns 1 and 2, between Turns 3 and 4 and along most of the frontstretch. The total 1.28 miles of SAFER walls around Kansas Speedway is the longest length at any of the tracks with SAFER walls on the NASCAR circuit. The SAFER wall at Kansas Speedway is about 40 inches high, and extends about 30 inches from the wall. Each SAFER wall section consists of five steel tubes stacked vertically. Closed cell foam is stacked between the steel tubes and the old retaining wall to create energy-absorbing pylons.

The banking on the turns were much steeper.  I think I heard 40 degrees but that sounds like an awful lot.  I know it was hard to climb and even harder to come back down from.

Lunch after the tour was at the Yard House.  They have a huge selection of beers on tap.  I heard one person say that there were over 100 different beers available.  The food and fellowship was great.

Another fantastic day.

Walt Disney's Hometown Museum - Marceline MO - 4/25/2014

Visiting Marceline and the Walt Disney Hometown Museum has been on our short list of day trip adventures for several years.  The weather has been pretty dreary for weeks now and we saw a nice day coming up so we decided to enjoy it as much as possible.  This was also a chance to take the new Honda Odyssey on it's first road trip.

You never know what you are going to find when you visit a small town and especially a small town museum.  We had read articles in the newspaper that gave fairly promising reviews of the efforts to create the museum and  how nice the collection of Disney items was for a small museum.  It was worth a try.

Edel DeMaria joined Sigrid and me on the trip as she often does.  It was a gorgeous day.

The museum is located in the old Santa Fe Railroad station building in the heart of Marceline.  The main line tracks still run next to the building and they are busy.  The frequent rumbling of the ground from passing freight trains added to the atmosphere inside the building.

This little car is one of the originals from the first Disneyland Autopia ride.  Walt made sure that Marceline got lots of memorabilia for display

The big clock at the ticket window in the station was the "standard time" for all the railroad workers in the area.  At the beginning of their shifts, they had to synchronize their watches to this clock.  Staying on time in the old days was highly important unlike today's Amtrak operation.

Here is a photo of Walt and sister Ruth when they were children in Marceline.

This nice bronze was given to the city by the Disneyland Resort cast in 2002.

This photo shows Walt's parents, Elias and Flora.

The museum has a number of wall sized displays of Walt's life.  As so often happens in museums with glass cases, the reflections were unavoidable.  I took photos anyway just to illustrate what the museum has to offer.

Just about every time the city had a dedication ceremony, they invited Walt and he accepted most if not all of the invitations.  Walt loved getting back to Marceline because of his very fond childhood memories. 

Walt carved his initials into his elementary school desk.  Many years after the carving and at Walts request, the desk was found.  Walt's initials are the small "WD" near the center of the photo.

This flag once flew over Disneyland.

Walt had a great love of trains.  It most likely came from his days in Marceline.  More trains later in the posting.  This is a carved wooden set that is pretty rare.

Sigrid and Edel pose with Mickey.

More trains.

Do you think Walt is enjoying himself?  Remember, the entrance to all the Disney parks begins at the train station where you can catch a ride all around the park before you actual start walking.

Even trains in the movies.

One of Walt's early landmark cartoons.

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work we go.  An autographed picture of the Seven Dwarfs.

A conductor or switchman's lantern.

Walt's dad, Elias, was good friends with Walter Parr, a Chicago minister when they lived there before coming to Marceline.  They each named their sons after one another.  If you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it, you may be able to read the story in the black and white print area.

I got excited when I read this since I have a cousin named Arnold Parr.  Arnold has done extensive genealogical research so I immediately contacted him to see if he was related.  He was aware of the Chicago Walter Parr but has found no linkage to his family yet.

On the upper floor of the museum, they have a miniature replica of Disneyland that covers several tables and it is amazingly well done.  I understand that it took the artist who created it 40 years to complete.  He may not have called himself an artist but I am.

These nice ladies greeted us and gave us a brief tour of the lower level of the museum and the life story of Walt Disney.  Great job Brenda and Ellen!

The main street of Marceline was the inspiration for Disneyland's Main Street USA.

One the recommendation of the museum staff, we had lunch at Ma Vic's Corner Cafe and it was fantastic.  It was the best small town meal that I ever recall eating.

My tenderloin sandwich.  There is something very wrong or very right about this sandwich depending on your perspective on life.

Walt has funded several projects in Marceline.  This park has a nice lake and swimming pool complex.

This is the original farm house that Walt and his family moved in to when they arrived from Chicago.

After lunch, we had to have a treat before leaving town.

We were totally impressed with the museum and the town and would recommend a visit if you like history, cartoons, or neat little country towns.  Another great day!