Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center – Reno, Nevada. Lifetime track #2,943.
This trip begins with three consecutive weekends of indoor trackchasing. Today, I was headed up to Reno, Nevada. They had a huge indoor outlaw kart racing program scheduled.
To begin the trip, on Friday night, I went up to UCLA to watch the Bruins play the Oregon State Beavers in legendary Pauley Pavilion. UCLA is on a winning streak right now. They were able to prevail over Oregon State.
I headed back to our son J.J.’s house and slept for just four hours. I had a 6 a.m. flight from Los Angeles to Reno, Nevada. When I landed in Reno, I did something I very rarely ever do.
Normally I rent a car on these trips. With cars now costing about $100 a day, I had another plan. I would land at the Reno airport and take the hotel shuttle from the airport for no charge. This evening I could take an Uber rideshare from the hotel to the race facility. After the races, I would take Uber back to the hotel. The next morning. I would ride the hotel’s free shuttle back to the airport. This would save me about $60. Sixty bucks ain’t much but lots of 60-buck totals do add up.
This weekend’s racing was going to happen inside the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center in Reno. I would not be the first trackchaser to see a racing event in this facility. That honor goes to the legendary Gary Jacob, who saw racing here all the way back in 1979.
Gary died prematurely with a lifetime total of 301 different track visits. Gary was never really a trackchaser. He was a racechaser. There’s a big difference. I consider him to be the most prolific racechaser I have ever seen. His location in central California was not the most ideal for racechasing or trackchasing.
He would drive an insane amount of miles to go racechasing every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In my opinion, he went to some of the most uninteresting racing shows I could imagine. There just wasn’t all that much good racing near Gary. I asked him one time why he was willing to do that. He told me he just wanted to give all of the racers in his region the publicity they deserved. Yes, Gary was quite the racechaser.
Tonight, when I arrived at the arena I had a choice of buying a $14 general admission ticket or a $35 pit pass. Using the Die with Zero financial planning and life enjoyment concepts I chose the pit pass. I probably would not have done that before becoming a disciple of Die with Zero. I’m simply trying to optimize for personal enjoyment and create a few memories.
I guess the most unusual thing about the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center is that it wasn’t heated. Folks, Reno sits at an elevation of 4,500 feet and this was the first weekend in February. That made the indoor temperature about 40°. My stocking cap and gloves were pretty much mandatory.
Inside the arena, they had constructed a small, maybe 1/10 of a mile or a little bit bigger, banked dirt oval. I’ve seen several shows like this. I’ve got to give the track constructors a lot of credit. They almost always make a nice smooth track.
The most unusual aspect of tonight’s racing was the car count. The event focused on 500cc outlaw karts. They had more than 100 of those and more than 300 entries in total. I wandered through the pit area marveling at this large car count.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a show with more than 15-20 outlaw 500s. Normally the count is less than 10. The fact that they had more than 100 of them was beyond what even I could imagine.
The racing was good. Unfortunately, it was impossible to hear the track announcers. That is common in indoor arenas. I had no real idea what was happening or which classes were racing when they came onto the track. I think the track announcer is the most important employee at the track for the race fan. I got in a solid nearly three hours of race-watching. Under those weather conditions that seemed like plenty to me.
In addition to being a trackchaser, I am a sports fan. Just to see if there might be an opportunity I checked my Yahoo Sports app to find out if the Nevada Wolfpack might be playing a home basketball game tonight. Not only were they playing but the game time was starting a little bit later than normal at 8 p.m. They were playing in the Lawlor Event Center. This arena was less than a mile from where the indoor racing was located.
And just before 8 p.m. I went on my phone and ordered a ticket to the game via SeatGeek. I bought the cheapest ticket they had available without even looking at the location. I didn’t plan to sit in whatever location was printed on my ticket anyway.
I paid just $15 for my basketball ticket. Tonight, the Wolfpack would be playing a conference rival, San Jose State. Nevada was an 11-point favorite.
From the racetrack, I grabbed an Uber and was soon entering the Lawlor Event Center. Much to my surprise, the ticket I bought for just $15 was located in the lower bowl. Nevada has an excellent basketball facility. They have a good team this year coached by former UCLA basketball coach Steve Alford. We were not too happy with Mr. Alford‘s performance at UCLA but the people who support the Nevada Wolfpack seemed to like him.
The Wolfpack jumped out to a big lead early. By halftime, they were ahead by nearly 30 points. They pushed that advantage to nearly 40 points in the second half before winning by a score of 90-60. At least the food was good!
From there it was an Uber ride back to the Hyatt hotel. The next morning, I caught an early morning flight so I could be back in time to drive home to San Clemente, pick up Carol, and drive back to Pauley Pavilion for a Sunday evening game. That marked three D1 college basketball games in three consecutive nights. To top it off UCLA beat Oregon one of their toughest challengers in the lame-duck Pac-12 conference.
Next week I plan to trackchase down in South Texas. I am very much looking forward to that trip. I’ll get to see my daughter and her husband James and our grandchildren, Astrid and Mitch. Then I get to have grandson Mitch join me for a day of trackchasing which is always a good time.
Richard Borchard Regional Fairgrounds – Robson, Texas. Lifetime track #2,944.
Normally during January and February, you will find me trackchasing on ice tracks in the northern United States and Quebec, Canada. However, this winter temperatures have been so warm up to now, which is mid-February, that all of the racing in Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, and Canada has been canceled on the ice.
With no ice racing, I have switched over to indoor racing. Last weekend I was up to Reno, Nevada for an outstanding outlaw 500 cart event. The indoor temperature at that race was about 40°. That environment turned out to be pretty chilly, even though I wasn’t standing on a frozen lake.
A few days ago, I got a notification on Facebook from a friend named John Rork. John was sharing information about today’s racing in Robson, Texas. That sounded interesting. I got on the phone with the promoter of the day’s racing. He confirmed they would have adults racing caged karts. I would never travel a long distance to see this type of race without getting a personal confirmation that everything would meet and exceed trackchasing’s sometimes draconian and sometimes thoughtless rules. His confirmation was all I needed to plan a trip to Texas.
Our daughter, Kristy, and her husband, James, and their children and my grandchildren Mitch and Astrid, all live in Austin, Texas. Going down to Robson would be perfect. It was time to make a stop down Austin way.
One of the best things about going to Austin and visiting family is what they call the “back house”. That nomenclature is ironic. Growing up at 411 Doering in East Peoria, Illinois I lived on what was called the “back street”. The back house is a small one-bedroom house, if you will, situated behind the main house. It’s perfect for a single trackchaser like I was this weekend. Kristy always stocks the place with food and drink. I feel like I’m staying in an upscale B&B.
I just took delivery of my 2024 Tesla Model X. This was going to be the first trip where I would be driving it to the Los Angeles International Airport parking garage. That was kind of fun. Then I hopped on a jet airplane and flew from Los Angeles to Austin.
Once in Austin, I picked up a Chevy Malibu rental car. As always, I tried to get a Toyota Camry but they didn’t have any. The Chevy Malibu actually turned out to be a good rental car. I might go with it again as the Chevies seem to be a little bit more plentiful right now than the Camry.
When I arrived on Friday night, Kristy and James took me to a local karaoke bar. I’m not much of a singer. I have never actually done karaoke myself. That would change a couple of months later in Tokyo! This particular bar was both active and animated. Some of the singers were very good.
On Saturday morning grandson Mitch and I were out the door early. Mitch is a race fan. After today Mitch will have seen racing at 10 different tracks in three states. I think he would like to see more.
Maybe someday in the future, he will. Here’s his list along with his twin sister, Astrid (everyone above at the Battleground Speedway near Houston), and where she has been.
2024
| SAT* | 10-Feb | Outlaw caged karts | Richard Borchard Regional Fairgrounds | Robson, TX | Mitch |
2022
| SUN* | 20-Nov | UTVs | Diamond Willow Ranch | Bastrop, TX | Astrid, Mitch |
2021
| SAT* | 15-May | UTVs | Cal City MX Park | California City, CA | Carol, Mitch, Astrid |
2020
| SAT | 4-Jul | Limited late models | Whittemore Speedway | Whittemore, MI | Carol, Becky, Bob, Kristy, Mitch, Astrid, Laura, Dakota, Eleanor |
2017
| SUN | 3-Dec | UTVs | Rally Ranch | Dale, TX | Mitch |
| FRI | 3-Nov | Pure stocks | I-37 Speedway | Pleasonston, TX | James, Astrid, Mitch |
2016
| SAT | 8-Oct | Stock cars | Battleground Speedway | Highlands, TX | Carol, Astrid, Mitch |
2014
| SAT | 13-Sep | Miatas | Harris Hill Raceway | San Marcos, TX | Carol, Astrid |
| SAT | 22-Mar | Kyle Larson #42 | Auto Club Speedway | Fontana, CA | Mitch |
2013
| SAT | 27-Apr | Stadium SUPER Trucks | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – Mixed RC | Los Angeles, CA | Carol, James, Astrid & Mitch |
It was a three-hour drive from Austin down to Robson, Texas site of today’s racing. Mitch and I listened to SiriusXM 1980s country radio all the way. We both loved it.
About midway through the trip we noticed a huge billboard advertisement for Black’s Barbecue. Black’s is located in Lockhart, Texas. Two things got our attention with their advertisements. One is that they are open eight days a week. Really? Secondly, they say they are the longest-running barbecue restaurant in the state of Texas that is family-owned. That’s very impressive. I think they have four locations in the Lonestar state. Our food was great but a little pricey.
It was easy to find the Richard Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robson. They had a great turnout of karts. I’m going to guess they probably had about 100 racers in total. Just two of the classes were countable by trackchasing rules, but that’s one more class than a lot of places I visit.
When we arrived at 2 o’clock they were just beginning to hold the drivers meeting in the track infield. Shortly after 2 p.m., the drivers meeting wrapped up and they started racing.
Today’s racing was indoors in the sense that the building had a roof. The building also had open side walls, which is common in areas like this. These places are primarily used for horse shows. I’m sure it is a lot cheaper to construct the building without physical walls.
I’m going to guess they had 12-15 different racing classes. The predator division had about 20 cars entered. There were five karts in the adult cage class and two in the open 500 class.
We sat in the grandstand most of the time. It was nice to see the track run one race after another with very few cautions. As soon as one race finished, the winner took a one-lap victory celebration with the checkered flag. Then the next trace was on the track. Don’t miss my video. You’ll see exactly what the racing looked like.
When we had seen just about all of the go-kart racing that we thought we needed to see it was time to head back to the barn. The drive from the track back to the back house in Austin was estimated to take three hours and twenty-three minutes by Google Maps. By the time we were getting hungry. Luckily for us. there was a Whataburger located within walking distance of the fairgrounds. We stopped there. Like In N Out rocks in SoCal Whataburger is the place in Texas.
We dined on Whataburger cheeseburgers, French fries, milkshakes, and Coke Zero. A Whataburger double cheeseburger is quite a bit larger than a traditional double cheeseburger and most other fast food outlets as well.
Do you know which four hamburger chains were the “original” hamburger chains in the United States? Those four would be In-N-Out Burgers, White Castle, Whataburger, and Krystals in the southeast. There are very few people who can answer that question completely.
Today I was seeing lifetime track #2,944 and my 92nd track in the state of Texas. Mitch was seeing his 10th-lifetime track and his sixth-lifetime track in his current home state of Texas.
Mitch was born in California. I think he considers himself a Californian but is enjoying the life and the barbecue in the second biggest state in the country by size Texas.
Next week, for the third consecutive weekend, I hope to be trackchasing “indoors” once again. One of the huge advantages of any type of indoor racing is that pretty much by definition they cannot be rained out. Next week I’ll be heading up to the state of Washington to complete my 2024 indoor racing season.
Grant County Fairgrounds – Moses Lake, Washington. Lifetime track #2,945.
I saw my very first ice race back in 2001 in Quebec. That day of trackchasing still ranks as the coldest ice race I ever attended. Over the past many years, I have done quite a bit of ice trackchasing. I have seen race racing at 136 locations in 26 American states, Canadian provinces, and other countries.
The year 2024 is going to go down as the very worst year for ice trackchasing that I have ever had in the United States. Ice racing obviously only happens in the coldest states. Those would be Wisconsin and Minnesota followed by New York, Alaska, and the Canadian province of Quebec.
I’m going to guess that well over 90% of the scheduled ice races in those locations have been canceled this year. The temperatures have been too warm. There is no ice. If there is ice there isn’t enough ice for safe ice racing. As a trackchaser, I have had to adapt.
Earlier this season in search of cold weather, Carol and I jetted off to Europe. We picked up ice trackchasing locations in France, Austria (above), and two in Finland. The ice racing in France and Austria nearly went down to warm and rainy weather but we were able to sneak them in.
Luckily I have been able to supplement my lack of ice trackchasing in the United States with indoor events. Today I am headed to Moses Lake, Washington, for an indoor go-kart race. During the past few weeks, I’ve been able to see indoor racing in Robson, Texas, Reno, Nevada, and Portland, Maine.
Interestingly, the indoor race in Portland, Maine was on ice!
This was a busy weekend. Yesterday, Thursday, Carol and I went to a UCLA basketball game up in Los Angeles to see the Bruins beat the Colorado Buffalo. That was a 150-mile round-trip drive with three hours in traffic. Yes, I plan my trackchasing schedule around UCLA basketball games!
Today, Friday, I flew nearly three hours up to Seattle. Then on Saturday, I made a six-hour round-trip drive from Seattle to Moses Lake, Washington. Moses Lake is in the central part of the state. After the races, I will drive another three hours back to Seattle. I’ll do another five hours of round-trip flying, then another three hours of round-trip driving to the Los Angeles International Airport back to our home. Tomorrow, Sunday, it’s another 150-mile round-trip drive to see UCLA play basketball. That’s a pretty active Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday effort. Then I start all over again next Wednesday with a trip to Florida.
For 2024 I’m changing over from Marriott Hotels being my primary trackchasing hotel sponsor to Hyatt Hotels. I want to achieve Hyatt’s highest level of status. With Hyatt, that top tier is called “Globalist”.
Hyatt properties are a little bit more expensive in general, but also nicer. Once I become a globalist, I will be eligible for free upgrades to hotel suites, free breakfast, complimentary admission to their Regency Clubs that offer more free food and drink, as well as a 4 p.m. amongst other perks. Like pretty much everything in life it’s nice to have “status”.
Today’s racing at the Grant County Fairgrounds in Moses Lake is going to be done indoors. This would not be my first visit to Moses Lake. Back in 2017, I saw a stock car Bump n Run type show (above) outdoors at the fairgrounds.
Today I picked up my National Car Rental Racing Toyota Camry at SeaTac. I noticed the gas gauge was just a little bit off. I rent Toyota Camrys all the time. I knew that even though that gas gauge was just a tick below full I could probably add six gallons to the tank. I convinced the rental car agent to mark me down as “3/4”. That will give me about 75 miles of free gasoline. I just need to return it at 3/4 full.
Today’s racing at the Grant County Fairgrounds worked out really well. They had more than 200 entries. The pits were outside with snow on the ground! Today races had 4-7 cars in most races. Every car on the grounds would race in two races.
The track was a small slightly banked dirt oval. There were very few yellow flags. When a driver did spin out, he or she commonly kept their car going and avoided a yellow flag for the entire field. That’s always good for the fan.
Out of the 200+ karts, there were only two classes that counted by trackchasing rules. Those were the caged predators and the outlaw 500s. I spent three hours in 39° temperatures watching more than 200 karts racing 8-10 lap races. That was enough for me.
This trip added one track to my lifetime trackchasing list. I would fly more than five hours and drive more than eight hours to do that. In some people’s world that is a long walk for a short slide. That might even be true in my world.
This wraps up my indoor racing schedule for this season. However, one thing I have learned with trackchasing over all of these years is never to say never.
See you in Florida next week.
Randy Lewis
World’s #1 Trackchaser