Greetings from Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Autodromo de Queretaro Asphalt oval Original Lifetime Track #2,780 THE EVENT Editor’s note: I like NASCAR. I like Mexico. I LOVE trackchasing in foreign countries. Of course, this weekend’s adventure covered all of the above. Remember…I travel this way so you don’t have to…even though secretly you probably want to. How does that work? I tell you how I travel and then you get to decide if that’s a good idea for you. Welcome to my 2022 trackchasing season! I AM A TRACKCHASER. What’s a trackchaser? What is trackchasing? Trackchasing is a hobby of mine. With trackchasing, I do just three things. Each one is of equal importance to me. I travel the world watching auto racing on ovals, road courses, and figure 8 tracks. I seek out “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions” during my travels to keep myself entertained when I’m not at the racetrack. I’ve been able to see the world doing this. If you’re interested in exactly what I’ve been able to experience all around the U.S. and the world I recommend you click on this link. Trackchasing Tourist Attractions I plan airline, rental car, and hotel accommodations to get me from my home in Southern California to racetracks located in the United States and all over the world. Just the planning part of my hobby is as much fun as anything. I am known as the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”. How did I get that title? I have traveled to 85 different countries and seen racing at nearly 2,800 tracks…that’s how I got that title. If you’re interested in looking back and seeing where I’ve been the following link is for you. If you’ve got a question, comment, or whatever please leave it at the bottom of this report. It’s very easy to do. Or you can visit me on Facebook. Thanks! FOREWORD Friday/Monday, May 6/9, 2022. There is nothing more fun for me than trackchasing in a foreign country. The best foreign country experience is to see my first ever race in that country. When I can go back to see racing outside of the United States in a country I have already visited I always have a good time. My trackchasing adventures in foreign countries are really not about racing. I’m here to experience the ambiance and the culture and the people and the sights and the food. This weekend I am trackchasing in Queretaro, Mexico in the Mexican state of Queretaro. I have trackchased many times in Mexico over a period of 15 years, beginning in 2007. This weekend I expect to see racing at my 12th different racetrack in Mexico and my seventh different Mexican state and the Federal District. If you have time stay tuned. I will tell you all about it. Do 12 Mexican tracks seem like a lot? Let me put that in some context. Of the hundreds of other trackchasers who report their tracks, beginning from the 1920s, only five trackchasers have ever come to Mexico. Two of those five came as part of their racing journalism jobs. None of these trackchasers ever came back a single time after their first visit. This is not my first visit to Queretaro. I came here about three years ago expecting to see the NASCAR Mexico series race in Queretaro. Wouldn’t you know it? The NASCAR Mexico series Facebook page printed the race dates and locations incorrectly. When I arrived in Queretaro on Friday night, I learned the race was in Guadalajara, 381 kilometers away. I could have driven over to Guadalajara but I had already seen racing there so what was the point? I turned that trip around and flew back to the United States on Saturday morning. I ended up seeing a race that evening in Casa Grande, Arizona where I was joined by my buddy, race promoter, Chris Kearns For this weekend trip I double and triple-checked to confirm NASCAR was racing in Queretaro. Once I had all the confirmations that an English-speaking gringo could possibly get, I began to make plans. I would fly from Los Angeles to Mexico City. Once in Mexico City I would grab a public bus and ride it for three hours up to Queretaro, the capital of the Mexican state of Queretaro. Using the Mexican Primera Plus bus website that was only providing information in Spanish I reserved my round-trip bus ride from Mexico City to Queretaro. The one-way driving distance was about 135 miles. The travel time was about three hours. The round-trip bus fare was only $40 U.S. I considered it to be very reasonable. In the past when I visited a Mexican race track, I’ve always bought my ticket at the track. Sometimes this has been a wild adventure. There was the time our son J.J. joined Carol and me. He speaks Spanish well. J.J. had to go behind a building to conduct some “business” to get our tickets from a Mexican-type scalper. Yes, that was wild. I figured this time I would simply go to the website for the Mexico NASCAR series, again exclusively in Spanish, and try to buy a ticket. I think I was successful. It looked like the cost was $8.38 U.S. I guess I’ll find out for sure when I go to scan my ticket for the races tomorrow! FRIDAY This was going to be my first international trip, not counting Carol and I going to Canada since I returned from Sweden on March 11, 2020. When I landed late at night at LAX from Stockholm, I was informed that my flight was the LAST flight allowed into Los Angeles from Europe before Covid-19 restrictions took effect! By the way, why don’t I count visiting Canada as a “foreign” trip? I don’t think of Canada as being a foreign country. I think of my Canadian friends as sort of “Minnesota Lite”. That’s a compliment. This trip to Mexico is just the beginning of several upcoming international adventures covering nearly eight weeks of being out of the country. This morning began with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. That’s early for this retired California boy. I was pulling out of my hometown of San Clemente just 30 minutes later. I landed in Mexico City at about 3 p.m. central time. Clearing customs took about 20 minutes. Mexico City and Queretaro are two hours ahead of us in California. My bus wasn’t leaving until 5 p.m. That being the case I thought I would try to catch an earlier bus. They leave every 20 minutes for Queretaro. Not possible. Everything was sold out. Understandable, I guess. It was Friday night. I was somewhat surprised and a little disappointed to see that masks were required in the Mexico City airport. Masks were also worn on the bus and at my hotel when I checked in. COVID-19 masks are not required nowadays in most places in the U.S. including airports, hotels, and the like. It was fun seeing the Mexican countryside from my window seat on the bus. I listened to episodes of “Ozark” on the ride northward. I would come to find out that virtually no one speaks English in Queretaro. When I arrived at the bus station, I had a choice between getting an Uber driver or an “authorized” taxi. I chose the taxi. I didn’t realize I needed to get a receipt ahead of time so my driver was nice enough to go and get that for me. The ride from the bus station to my Fairfield Inn hotel took about 20 minutes, maybe a little bit longer. I thought the taxi fare of just $10 for the ride was more than reasonable. I even gave my driver a little bit extra. He thought I was overpaying him and tried to give me back the extra money. I told him to keep the change. I would be staying for the next three nights in a Fairfield Inn. Please don’t think of your past experiences of checking into a Fairfield Inn in America. This wasn’t like that. The hotel itself was as nice as any Fairfield Inn I’ve ever stayed at in the United States. However, the staff struggled with English. I was paying just $71 for each night of my stay which for a nearly brand new and modern Fairfield Inn was a steal. They didn’t have any hotel suites to upgrade me to. But the front desk clerk, Oscar, assured me that tomorrow he could move me into a suite for the next two nights of my stay. That sounded good. SATURDAY Today was reserved for sightseeing. I had come in a day early so I would have this time to see what I could see in the city of Queretaro. My first effort of the day was to check back at the front desk to see about my hotel suite upgrade. Although last night’s desk clerk Oscar told me he would be there this morning he wasn’t. His replacement told me that no suite would be available until tomorrow. Bummer. I have a nice room but it doesn’t have a refrigerator or a microwave. With my Nutrisystem eating plan that’s a bit inconvenient. Nevertheless, I did have my Angels “cooler bag”. Carol and I got these coolers for free by attending an Angels game a week or two ago. Without a refrigerator, I would have to go pretty much on a day-to-day basis for my meats, fruits, and vegetables. Luckily there was a Wal-Mart “Mercado” grocery store within walking distance. It was as modern as any grocery store you’ll find pretty much anywhere. I once again learned that nobody speaks English here. I ended up buying some blueberries, lunch meat, bananas, and Pepsi Black. I had a devil of a time confirming that Pepsi Black was a no-calorie soda! When I went to pay for my goods, about 12 items, I learned that no grocery bags are provided or even available. It was going to be difficult if not impossible to carry my purchases back to the hotel without a bag. The clerk spoke to me in Spanish. That didn’t work. People behind me in line waited while we tried to work out this international incident. Finally, they came up with a nice bag for ten Mexican pesos or about 50 cents U.S. Right now, one U.S. dollar will get you about 20 Mexican pesos and 12 centavos. When all of the confusion had died down, I was on my way. In the same shopping center, there was a Cinepolis. I thought I might catch an early movie there today. I cornered an employee who spoke about three words of English. He confirmed that one movie of the six showing was going to be played in English. But there were no start times that worked for me. Maybe I’ll catch a movie tomorrow night after the races. We’ll see. As I mentioned today is reserved for touring Queretaro. To do that well and also have a successful race day tomorrow I needed a good driver. I’ve seen racing in 85 countries. I’m going to guess I’ve hired a driver in about one-third of those countries, maybe less. In some places, and central Mexico is one of them, hiring a driver is a safer and less expensive option. I checked with the hotel. They came up with a young fellow named “Jonathan” who drove a late model upscale Volkswagen sedan. Jonathan spoke English just enough for me to have confidence that he would be there when I needed him and get us there safely. He was also a nice guy. Queretaro is the 21st largest city in Mexico with a population of about 800,000. Mexico City is the biggest city in Mexico with a population of nine million! Queretaro is also the capital of the Mexican state with the same name, Queretaro. Queretaro doesn’t have all that much for a tourist to see. Maybe that’s why I have not seen in SINGLE American tourist since I’ve been in town. Most good-sized Mexican cities have a large “old town” section. Queretaro does as well. I spent most of my time in the old town section seeing what I could see. I poked my head into a large old church just in time to see a couple being married today. I took off my Angels’ baseball hat, sat down in the last row, and just watched things. I am not a fan of weddings in general. But this was a wedding I was seeing on vacation. The entire service was in Spanish as you might expect. I didn’t understand a word but I probably sat there for a full hour until a couple walked down the aisle to the admiration of their friends and guests. I guess I was a wedding crasher. Following the wedding, I stepped outside and joined a Zoom meeting. Our granddaughter Astrid was having a concert today down in Texas. She sang and played the piano. It was great to see her perform and I’m proud of her for wanting to perform! Technology is something, isn’t it? Next, I hopped on a double-decker sightseeing bus for a 45-minute tour of the old town and the surrounding area. It was a nice day for it with the temperatures in the 80s. The entire commentary was in Spanish so I didn’t understand a single word. I didn’t care. I was just enjoying the fresh air and the ambiance of the city. From there I made my way over to the restaurant that had been recommended to me by the hotel. It was called the Meson De Chucho El Roto. I sat down and had some delicious carne asada tacos, a can of Coca-Cola Light, and a shot and a half of Don Julio tequila. The tequila was more expensive than my Coca-Cola light and entree combined! From there I did some more walking around the city just to see what I could see. What a peaceful place. Families were out enjoying the good weather on a spring Saturday night with music coming from all directions. I gave Jonathan a call. Before long he was there to take me back to the hotel. All of the touring of Queretaro met and exceeded my expectations. The Mexican dinner was 100% authentic and just what I was looking for. The touring was laid back and relaxing. I tell people I have zero stress in my life. Why do I say that when asked? Because it’s the truth! Tomorrow is race day. I expect Jonathan to pick me up at 10:30 a.m. This will get me there in plenty of time for the NASCAR truck race which will be followed by the NASCAR stock car race. Unlike NASCAR racing in America, the Mexican races are timed vents. Tomorrow’s truck race is set for an hour and 15 minutes. The stock car race is only a one-hour and 40-minute race. I think in the future NASCAR Cup races will be shortened. I hope they don’t shorten them that much. SUNDAY Today is race day. It is indeed the NASCAR race that drew me to Queretaro, Mexico. However, in the end, I’m sure it will be the sites and the people and the food that I encountered in Queretaro that will be most memorable. However, I did not begin my day with racing. I had a more practical and essential task to complete. Right now U.S. citizens who venture out of the country must have a negative Covid test in their possession in order to re-enter the United States. That test must be taken no earlier than the day the traveler will return to the U.S. That makes things a little tight. Of course, the world of technology has taken over to make all of this just a bit easier. I would need to have an “online observer” probably located on the other side of the world watch me take the test. I wasn’t sure how this would work out but in the end there were no problems. My results came back in 15 minutes. Negative. Now I could relax and go to the races. My driver Jonathan picked me up at the hotel and took me out to the Autodromo de Queretaro this morning. I had purchased my ticket in advance. All race tickets were the same price, just $8.39 U.S. The NASCAR Mexico series models itself after the NASCAR series in the United States as you might expect. They have about 12 races a year at six or seven different venues. Today’s race was the second race of the season. The weather was going to be warm. The temperature would top out at 95°F. That made for a warm day at an elevation of around 6,000 feet even though there was a nice breeze blowing most all day. I would end up drinking 4 liters of ice-cold bottled water. That was refreshing and needed. I would also have three of the best chorizo tacos I’ve ever had in my life over the course of the day. The Tacos were about $1.50 each and a liter of water was about a buck fifty as well. It was kind of funny that tacos as good as I’ve ever eaten were that inexpensive. The Autodromo de Queretaro is an 8/10 of a mile oval track. Its configuration is most unusual. Turns one and two are much higher in elevation by I’m going to guess 40-50 feet than turns three and four. This is not a good viewing track for the spectator. Once the cars go out of sight into turn one, they are barely visible until they return to turn four. There are ample grandstands but they aren’t very tall. Additionally, the announcer only spoke in Spanish as you might expect. If you can’t see much of the race and you can’t hear what’s going on from the announcer the drama is not going to be very good. I come for the drama. With such a warm and sunny day umbrellas were the choice of the day. Vendors constantly patrolled the stands selling umbrellas, I think for 200 pesos or $10 U.S. dollars. You won’t see more vendors walking through the stands at any sporting event than you will at the NASCAR Mexico Series races. They are about as thick as flies. Today there would be a NASCAR truck race and a NASCAR stock car race. The truck race was scheduled for a maximum time of an hour and 15 minutes. The stock cars would run for a maximum time of one hour and 40 minutes. I believe there were certain lap expectations but if the time limit came first, which it did for the stock cars, the race would end at the expected time limit. I was surprised to see so many families with youngsters at the track. Tickets seemed inexpensive to me but maybe not for the local Mexican citizen. In a way today’s NASCAR race at Queretaro kind of reminded me of going to North Wilkesboro in the 1980s. Everything was much more laid-back and accessible. Motel 6 made famous the idea of not having toilet seat covers to save money I guess. At the Autodromo de Queretaro permanent bathrooms were plentiful. But they seemed to go one step further than Motel 6. There were no toilet SEATS on the porcelain toilet bowls. This made the situation less than inviting. During the truck race, I ventured down toward one end of the oval track. That’s where I confirmed they do have a road course extension to the oval. I’m not sure if NASCAR races on the road course or not. I think they have in the past. As I was eyeing this area of the facility, I noticed there was a car show on display. I asked if I could get through the security gate to see the cars much closer. Initially, I was told no but then an older man who was supervising the entire situation saw my situation and let me have access. Nice folks. I would ask that you take a look at my photos and my YouTube video of the racing. I think you’re going to enjoy the photo album from this trip. What was the highlight of the day? The tacos! I first ordered two chorizo tacos and then followed up with a single taco a little bit later in the day. Absolutely delicious. They were as good as I have ever had anywhere…and I’ve had my share of great tacos. When the races were finished, I took the opportunity to go down to the pit area and examine the cars and equipment a little bit closer. That’s the way it was done in the 1980s at North Wilkesboro as well. Several fans were toting used race car tires with them to take home as a souvenir. I had asked Jonathan to pick me up about 40 minutes after I knew the race would end. I took that extra 40 minutes when the race was finished to explore the pits and get some photos of the track and that sort of thing. I was pretty disappointed when Jonathan showed up 30 minutes after our scheduled pick-up time. When I am accountable to other people, I am a stickler for being on time. As my old buddy, Gerry O’Reilly used to say “If you’re not early you’re late”. I thought about asking Jonathan to take me on a one-hour tour of local Queretaro neighborhoods. When he showed up late, I decided to bag that idea. After being out in the hot scorching sun for five hours I was ready to go back to the hotel and veg. I did exactly that. MONDAY Jonathan picked me up this morning at the hotel at 7 a.m. I had an 8:40 a.m. bus ride from Queretaro down (south) to the Mexico City airport leaving at 8:40 a.m. The bus ride would take three hours and give me about a three-hour layover at the airport. Then it would be a nearly four-hour flight back to Los Angeles. Two hours after landing I expected to be home. These trips are not for the fainthearted. If you don’t have the passion, you won’t make these trips. I have the passion. I make these trips. Jonathan my driver was 23 years old. He seemed a little bit older. He spoke enough English well enough for us to communicate. When that didn’t work, we used Google Translate. I asked Jonathan how old he thought I was. He said “40”. That made my day and pretty much erased my ill will toward his late arrival yesterday! If someone asks you to guess their age, I recommend taking your time, thinking to yourself, and then lowering whatever age you think might be the best answer by 10 or 15 years. That makes everybody’s day. The bus station in Queretaro is modern, efficient and economical. I’ve ridden these buses five or six times now and sort of know the drill. It seems like a good idea to fly into Mexico City and then grab a bus to anywhere else in Mexico that is a 2-6 drive from Mexico City. This seems to be a 100% safe idea. I will tell you I’m not that wild about the idea that they charge six Mexican pesos to use the bathrooms in the bus station. Then they have security gates to the bathrooms, aka “Banos” that make it nearly impossible to get INSIDE the bathrooms! This had been a good trip. The sites, the people, and the food were the highlights. Racing brought me here. Trackchasing allowed me to count this track as lifetime track #2,780 and lifetime track #12 in Mexico. Will I ever come back to Queretaro if they race on the road course? I would doubt it. I’ve already experienced the ambiance and seeing this racing environment on a road course probably doesn’t ring my bell. But… I never say never. For the folks who began reading about my trackchasing adventures after the Covid pandemic began you might think it is unusual for me to trackchase outside of the United States. That is not the case. I’ve seen racing at 424 foreign tracks in 84 countries. My United States total is 2,356. This means just a bit more than 15% of all the racetracks I have visited are located outside of the U.S. Before the pandemic I normally visited 8-10 countries every year all over the world. Now that the pandemic is winding down, I have already scheduled six international trips with more likely to come online. International trackchasing for me is about the “trip” more so that the race. Carol is much more prone to coming along for a two-week trip to Europe than a three-day visit to Pocono. See you somewhere soon in this great big world of ours. Randy Lewis – 85 countries – 2,780 tracks. Queretaro The “White Roosters” (Queretaro football team nickname) State This afternoon I saw racing at my very first track in the White Rooster, yes, the White Rooster Mexican State. I hold the #1 trackchasing ranking in Queretaro in the entire country of Mexico as well. Here’s a link to my all-time Mexican trackchasing list. This includes trackchasing adventures to seven Mexican states and the Federal District. I have made 12 separate trips to Mexico to see these tracks. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser Peoria Old Timers Racing Club (P.O.R.C.) Hall of Fame Member Mexican sayings: Barriga llena, corazón contento. JUST THE FACTS LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS The three most important trackchasing comparisons to me are: Total lifetime tracks seen Total “trackchasing countries” seen Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results Total Lifetime Tracks There are no trackchasers currently within 875 tracks of my lifetime total. Why is this noteworthy? Because it’s true. Total Trackchasing Countries My nearest trackchasing competitor, a native of Belgium, has seen racing in more than 30 fewer countries compared to my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! The official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today. Touring…then racing from Queretaro, Mexico…a great three-day weekend. See it in pictures! Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. You can view the album slide by slide or click on the “slide show” icon for a self-guided tour of today’s trackchasing adventure. Each trip includes a lot of photos of the “trip” and not just the racing. From one U.S. senator, “I think if I wanted to see what this adventure was like and didn’t have all that much time, I would just look at the photo album.” All photo albums are fully captioned. My 12th trackchasing trip to Mexico…see Queretaro in its full glory! 
Full stomach, happy heart.
