Lakewood's Geocacher 500 Mystery Cache
Hidden : 6/13/2010
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


***The above coordinates are fake. Rather than taking you to the cache, they take you to the middle of a lake. In order to find the cache, you must solve the following puzzle.***

A friend of mine told me that there use to be a racetrack at what is now Lakewood Amphitheatre. I went to the location for a concert and discovered that some the track and grandstands are still there. Being a huge race fan, I thought this would be a great location to put a cache. So when I got home, I had to find out more about the track that was once there.

History:
Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, Georgia, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway (formerly Lakewood Freeway). The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctioned by AAA/USAC, IMCA, and NASCAR. It was a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt track which was located adjacent to Lakewood Fairgrounds. Lakewood Speedway was considered the "Indianapolis of the South" as it was located in the largest city in the Southern United States and it held an annual race of the Indy cars

In 1916, Atlanta officials chose the Lakewood Fairgrounds as the site for agricultural fairs. They built a one-mile (1.6 km) horse racing track around a lake at the fairgrounds. The first events were held at the track on July 4, 1917. The feature events were a horse race and motorcycle race, before 23,000 spectators. A first automobile race was held at the track later that year; it featured Barney Oldfield in a match race against Ralph DePalma which attracted 15,000 spectators. In the 1920s and 1930s, the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) held car racing events during fairs and the American Automobile Association (AAA)/USAC held an annual event on July 4. By 1938, the track was hosting races with champ cars, horses, midgets, modifieds, motorcycles, and boats (in the infield lake). The Atlantic States Racing Association, Central States Auto Racing Association, Gulf States Automobile Association, International Stock Car Racing Association, and Motor Internationale Association all sanctioned events at the track. The track closed in 1941, like all United States racetracks, because the U.S. government banned all automobile racing to conserve materials during World War II. Racing resumed after the war. NASCAR held its first race at the track in 1951. It held eleven Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) and two Convertible division races in the 1950s.

Atlanta Motor Speedway opened 20 miles south of Atlanta in 1960. The new 1.5-mile (2.4 km) which took away the NASCAR dates and began draining on the track's appeal. Lakewood was resurfaced in 1967.

The track fell into disuse in the late 1970s. After it officially closed on September 3, 1979, it was allowed to be overgrown with grass and bushes. Monthly Flea markets and a few concerts were held at the exhibition halls on the fairgrounds. As of 2008, the grandstand is still standing, but the third and fourth turns of the racetrack are covered by the back parking lot for Lakewood Amphitheatre. A road crosses the turn two, and the frontstretch was paved to become an access road to Lakewood Avenue. Most of the lake has been filled.

Some notable winners at this track included: Junior Johnson in 1958, Richard Petty and Lee Petty in 1959. The track was also in scenes of the 1977 Burt Reynold’s film, Smokey and the Bandit.

The puzzle:
Larry and four friends went to the racetrack to witness the big car race held this past weekend. Five different contenders sped their way around the track to victory, or defeat. The race ended with no major crashes and an exciting dead heat to the finish line. The five friends had such a good time, they made arrangements right on the spot to return the following month for the next big race. Determine the full name of each driver in the race, the sponsor for each race car, and in what position each driver ended the race.

1. The driver sponsored by Flash Automotive finished the race in third place. Howard, who wasn’t sponsored by Crank Motor Oil, didn’t finish the race in fifth place.

2. Ryan, whose last name wasn’t Right, wasn’t sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts. Barry Straight wasn’t sponsored by Fleet Bodyworks.

3. The driver sponsored by Crank Motor Oil placed one position higher than Sydney, whose last name wasn’t Element.

4. Mr. Chariot, whose first name wasn’t Adam, finished in first place. Howard placed one position lower than Mr. Right.

5. NAPA Auto Parts sponsored the driver who finished in fourth place, which wasn’t Barry.

6. The five drivers, in no particular order, are Adam, the second place driver, the driver sponsored by Tredco Tires, Mr. Right, and Mr. Rafe.

Use the grids below to help you solve the puzzle. Once you have the puzzle solved, do the following calculations to find the cache.

A= Fleet Body Works’ Finishing Position
B= Ryan’s Finishing Position
C= Flash Automotive’s Finishing Position
D= Rafe’s Finishing Position
E= Crank Motor Oil’s Finishing Position

Cache location: N 33° 4B.98D W 084° EC.A73

The cache is not located inside the Lakewood Amphitheatre property. You can check your answer by using GeoChecker: (visit link)

*****Congrats to ignatiusreilly for being the FTF*****

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ng gur onfr bs n ynetr gerr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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