C172 PLT ENTERED A TFR.

Narrative

SUM: VFR; ARB TO DPA; JUN/SAT/03; DEPARTED XG25Z FOR A 111 MIN FLT; I CONTACTED KALAMAZOO APCH AND WAS INFORMED THAT A JXN NOTAM WAS VIOLATED EARLIER IN THE DAY. I WAS GIVEN A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL WHEN I LANDED. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION; IT WAS DETERMINED THAT I ENTERED AN ACTIVE TFR AREA AROUND THE MICHIGAN SPDWAY NEAR BROOKLYN; MI WHILE ENRTE AT CRUISE. CHAIN OF EVENTS: I UTILIZED ON-LINE SYS TO BEGIN FLT PLANNING THE FOLLOWING XCOUNTRY RTE ARB LFD GIJ GYY DPA (WITH DIVERSION AROUND CHICAGO CLASS B IF CLRNC COULD NOT BE OBTAINED) INCLUDING ADDS AND AWC STANDARD BRIEF; REVIEWED NOTAMS ON-LINE FOR DEP AND ARR ARPTS. APPROX XC00 EST JUN/SAT/03; I CALLED LANSING FSS FOR AN OUTLOOK BRIEFING. I PROVIDED THE BRIEFER WITH A FLT PLAN ARB TO DPA VIA GYY DEPARTING APPROX XG00Z JUN/SAT/03; FOR A 2 HR DURATION. I ASKED TO GO OVER ALL DPA NOTAMS. I WAS NOT PROVIDED ANY INFO ON TFR'S ALONG MY RTE. JUN/SAT/03; I REVIEWED ALL ON-LINE WX INFO AND DEP/ARR NOTAMS USING THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED ON-LINE SOURCES. AT APPROX XA30 EST I CALLED LANSING FSS TO FILE A FLT PLAN AND OBTAIN A STANDARD WX BRIEF AS FOLLOWS: KARB-LFD-GIJ-KGYY-KDPA; C172/G; 115 KTS; XF30 PROPOSED DEP; 4500 FT CRUISING ALT; 2 HRS 15 MINS ENRTE; 5 HRS 13 MINS FUEL; 2 ON BOARD. WX WAS FORECASTED TO BE SCATTERED 4000 FT AGL AND ABOVE ENRTE; WINDS 3000 FT 360 DEGS/8 KTS; 6000 FT 300 DEGS/13 KTS TO SOUTH BEND; IN; THEN CLR AND 3000 FT 030 DEGS/18 KTS; 6000 FT 020 DEGS/18 KTS THEREAFTER. THE BRIEFER CONFIRMED THE WX I HAD PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED ON-LINE. I HAD RECEIVED ATIS INFO; WHICH IS A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EXISTENCE OF TFR'S; BUT NOT THEIR LOCATION OR ACTIVATION. AT THE END I ASKED THE BRIEFER FOR ANY NOTAMS. THE BRIEFER TOLD ME NO NOTAMS. I RECORDED THE SAME ON MY FLT PLAN. ACTUAL DEP OCCURRED AT XG20Z; INITIAL METHOD OF NAV WAS TRACKING THE LFD VOR ON THE 082 DEG RADIAL; AND GPS. UPON CLB AND REACHING 3500 FT MSL I DETERMINED I COULD NOT REACH MY PLANNED 4500 FT ALT AND MAINTAIN VFR SEPARATION FROM CLOUDS. BECAUSE OF MY COURSE I DSNDED TO A MORE APPROPRIATE VFR ALT OF 2500 FT. AT APPROX XC35 EST I ENTERED THE TFR AROUND THE MICHIGAN SPDWAY. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION AND TALKING TO THE KANKAKEE FSS; I WAS TOLD THAT A TFR EXISTS AND WAS ACTIVE FOR JUN/SAT/03 AND JUN/SUN/03 WITH A 5 NM RADIUS FROM THE SPDWAY; AVOIDANCE WAS RECOMMENDED BELOW 1500 FT AND RESTR AIRSPACE WAS ESTABLISHED AT 3000 FT AND BELOW. DURING THIS PERIOD; I COMPLETED MY CLB AND CRUISE CHKLISTS AND OPENED MY FLT PLAN WITH LANSING FSS. AS SOON AS MY RADIO ENABLED ME; I CONTACTED KALAMAZOO APCH TO REQUEST FLT FOLLOWING. I WAS INFORMED OF A NOTAM VIOLATION AT THAT POINT; BUT I DID NOT KNOW WHAT NOTAM WAS VIOLATED UNTIL LATER THAT DAY. CONCLUSION: MY FILED FLT PLAN TOOK ME WITHIN 4.5 NM OF THE MICHIGAN SPDWAY. ALTHOUGH MY FILED PLAN ALT WOULD NOT HAVE PUT ME INSIDE THE RESTR AREA OF THE TFR; I WAS DEPENDING ON THE BRIEFER TO ALERT ME TO ANY ACTIVE TFR'S ALONG MY PLANNED RTE AS WELL AS ANY PERTINENT ENRTE NOTAMS THAT MAY AFFECT MY FLT. ON MY RETURN LEG JUN/SUN/03; THE KANKAKEE BRIEFER DID NOT INFORM ME OF THE TFR EITHER. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THAT BRIEFING; I SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED INFO ON ANY ACTIVE TFR'S ALONG MY RTE. AFTER I MADE THE SPECIFIC REQUEST I WAS TOLD ABOUT THE MICHIGAN SPDWAY TFR. I HOPE FSS'S WILL BEGIN TO MORE ACTIVELY PROVIDE TFR INFO TO PLTS; ESPECIALLY TFR'S THAT BECOME ACTIVATED; AND DO SO WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A SPECIFIC REQUEST FROM THE PLT. I CAN THINK OF OCCASIONS WHEN I WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ON-LINE INFO; AND THE BRIEFER WILL BE MY ONLY SOURCE OF INFO.