Circuit of the Americas

SCCA racing – 3.4-mile asphalt road course

Carol always has options

 

Am I really an empathetic fellow?

 

If you don’t ask you don’t get

 

Rallycross racing – mixed surface road course

It took me three days to get one day of trackchasing in the record books.

 

The Energizer bunny?

 

Minute Maid Park – Houston, Texas

 

Wow! This really WAS my lucky night.

 

Globe Life Park – Arlington, Texas

 

Coupons at a ballpark?

 

Each park and fan base has its own personality.

 

#22 and counting.

 

Not my first rodeo in Austin.

 

Part musical concert; part auto race.

 

Foiled by the system again.

 

Small fields competing in short races.

 

People vote with their feet.

 

That’s fair enough if the opposition sets up a defense even I cannot penetrate.

 

Why would our ‘Founding Fathers’ despise children?

 

I am always embarrassed when I get in this conversation.

 

I feel badly for trackchasers when their invisible geographical circle hems them in.

 

Enter the villain.

 

The political underbelly of trackchasing.

 

Dirt ovals are going the way of the eight-track tape in my world.

 

 

It was decision time for Carol.

This weekend’s two-night trackchasing plan fell in the middle of a typical 10-day busy period for Carol and me.  I can say without hesitation that I am busier in retirement than I ever was while I was working.

 

Carol is still unpacking from her first trackchasing trip of the year….to Moscow, Russia.  I, on the other hand, take ten minutes to pack for one of these trips and another five minutes to unpack when I get home.

 

Carol had a decision to make about this trackchasing trip.  With four significant outings spread over ten days, she would pick three of them to attend.  You’ll have to judge which three you would have picked.  Did Carol make the right choices?

 

Option #1.

First, she decided to attend the one-man theatrical show, “Mike Tyson – Undisputed Truth”.  Yes, we’re talking about THAT Mike Tyson.  I thought this was a fantastic show.  Mr. Tyson, for nearly two hours, took us through his life story without note cards or a teleprompter.  Since I am a golfer I was not disturbed in the least with Mike’s need to use the “F” word or the “MF” word a minimum of 50 times each minute.  I attributed it to his upbringing.  He did say he was arrested more than 30 times by the age of 12.  He was involved in some of the biggest stories of any sports icon.  These included being the youngest ever heavyweight champion at age 20, his famous rape conviction in Indianapolis and biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear to name just a few!  As a big sports fan, I gave the show an “A++”.  Carol, not a big fan of rough language was less appreciative of Mike Tyson’s demeanor.  I would see it again if given the chance.

 

Would trackchasing make the cut with Carol?

So with the Mike Tyson show in the books would a trackchasing trip to Texas and beyond make sense for Carol?  Sorry the trip didn’t make the cut.  She decided on a day at Disneyland (option #2) with the grandkids and me.  Then a day later we would head over to Las Vegas for a couple of nights of Pac-12 basketball (option #3) and their season-ending conference tournament.  I really couldn’t blame Carol for making her choices.  Luckily, I got to go on all FOUR of these outings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would need to come in a day early.

I woke up this morning in San Clemente, California.  I went to bed in Houston, Texas and then headed out for Austin, Texas the state’s capital on Saturday morning.  This is what today looked like.

 

With the first race of the trip occurring on Saturday at noon, it was required that I come in on Friday night.  Most tracks that race on Friday don’t begin their seasons until May or so.  That meant I would be coming in a night ahead of time.  However, that’s really a good logistical idea.  Getting on flights on Friday evenings isn’t difficult at all.

 

The chapel or the Marriott?

With this trip I had two distinctly different choices for overnight accommodation.  I could have very easily slept overnight both nights of the Texas portion of this trip in the chapel of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.  I’ve done that before and it was most quiet and comfortable.

 

Carol, being a staunch Catholic, was less supportive of my using an airport chapel as a Motel 6.  However, when I discussed this situation with a random woman while riding on an airplane, she said, “God put that chapel there to help people.  He was helping you”.  I couldn’t agree more with that philosophy.

 

In lieu of sleeping in the chapel, I chose to use my buddies over at Priceline.com to find a place to sleep.  I’m not sure what was going on over in Austin.  An Extended Stay America hotel there was selling rooms for more than $200 a night.  I doubt even the powerful and well financed “Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers” could afford that.

 

Don’t worry.  I am a professional.

I used the skills I have honed over time with Biddingfortravel.com and Priceline.com to garner the Houston Marriott Hotel.  That would be a most comfortable place to stay.

 

Although Carol was not coming along on this trip she did give me a proper send off.  She provided me with a box lunch.  No not THAT kind of box lunch.  My lunch was served in the bottom of a Costco box with all of my favorites that I could eat on the way to the airport without spilling anything.

 

Not only did Carol prepare my traveling lunch, after providing my favorite hot breakfast (poached eggs on wheat toast) she hoisted my bags from my office (up about 25 steps) to the back of my car.  You see I have a bad back.  I hated to see this skinny, but really quite buff, young girl struggling with my carry-on luggage.  However, she is a type “A” personality and I am a type “B” personality.  I feel that she needs this activity to feed her desire to always be doing SOMETHING.

 

While I am gone she will attack her “chore list” with gusto.  She never gets to the end of the list even though it disappoints her when she doesn’t.  I, on the other hand, have no chore list.  Carol used to have a “job jar” for me with little slips of paper identifying different jobs to be done.  However, when I could never get up enough energy to put my hand in that jar it eventually faded away.  I’m glad I don’t do any chores at home.  I feel that if I did it would only be depriving Carol of the enjoyment she gets working from sunup until sundown.  I know what you are likely saying to yourself.  “Randy, you are a most empathetic fellow.  Carol is lucky to have someone looking out for her best interests”.  All I can say in thank you for the thought.  It’s pretty much the line of thinking that I remind Carol of on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This omission was a biggie.

When I go on these trips I have a checklist of some 75 items that need to be brought along.  Recently I’ve been leaving the checklist at home.  When I do that I invariably forget to bring something along on the trip.

 

When I landed in Houston I noticed I had forgotten something that was very important to the success of this trip.  I forgot my iPhone power cord.  That was a “biggie”.  I couldn’t imagine completing one of these trips efficiently and effectively without my phone.

 

I still had enough juice to do a Google search for the nearest Apple store.  Then my iPhone Google Maps GPS took me to the mall.  For just $19 U.S.  I bought a new power cord.  When I opened the box after leaving the store I noticed the cord was only about 18” long.  That wasn’t great but having power to my phone was.

 

If you don’t ask you don’t get.

I guess you could call me a “double-dipper” when it comes to some of my hotel stays.  This weekend I used Priceline.com to get a full-sized Marriott Hotel for just $40 per night plus taxes.  When I checked in I used my lifetime “platinum” status to “nibble” for a few extras.  First, they threw in free Wi-Fi (regular guests paid for Wi-Fi).  This waved the $12.95 daily fee.  Then I got to choose which “platinum amenity” I wanted.  I chose a bottle of white wine and the cheese and cracker platter.  This was easily a $20 value or more.  Finally, they included the hotel’s buffet breakfast.  Not only did the breakfast coupon give me breakfast but it also covered the 15% tip and tax.  This was another $20 value.  Check it out!  They gave me more than $50 of free “stuff” and only charged me $40 U.S. for the room.  Ain’t capitalism great?

 

Pay me now or pay me later.

On the way from Austin to Elm Mott, Texas (I-35 Kartway) I did encounter something I had never seen in all of my travels.  First, I was on a toll road.  I was passing under electronic sensors that I assumed were recording my license plate number.  To top it all off huge signs read essentially, “Don’t worry if you don’t have a transponder, we’ll mail you the bill”.  So far, I haven’t received a bill yet!  However, if I do I’m sure the rental car company will add a surcharge for being the middle man.

 

Normally, in trackchasing, I don’t have a lot of time to waste.  That was the case today.  Luckily, the owners of the toll road understood my problem.  The posted speed limit was 80 M.P.H.!

 

  

ONE CANNOT LIVE WELL OR SLEEP WELL IF ONE HAS NOT DINED WELL

  

 

Schoepf’s BBQ – Belton, Texas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas means BBQ.

I used to eat BBQ everywhere I went.  Then I figured I should be eating more low-cal foods.  Nevertheless, I still gained weight.  What did I learn from this experience?  I should eat more BBQ!

 

If you’re going to eat some BBQ then Texas is just about the best place to do it.  Even though I was pressed for time when I saw the sign from the freeway touting Schoepf’s BBQ in Belton, Texas I had to stop.

 

The first thing I saw after I parked my car was the huge pits where they were cooking tons of chicken, pork and beef BBQ.  Don’t miss the pictures.  I stood in line to place my order and was soon just kicking back in good ol’ Texas having a fantastic BBQ lunch.  All too soon it was time to get back on the trackchasing road.  However, my brief stop at Schoepf’s continued to remind me that trackchasing is about the journey and not the destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was visiting America’s only active Formula 1 track but not for F1.

The Circuit of the Americas racetrack saw its first racing action with the World Formula 1 event in 2012.  That’s a pretty big event for a track’s first-ever race!  The COTA venue is the only U.S. located F1 track in operation.  Others tracks that have hosted F1 events still race but they are not on the current Formula 1 schedule.

 

For the most part, I wouldn’t walk across the street to see an F1 race unless it was allowing me to add a new country.  I do enjoy the pomp and circumstance of a big worldwide event like F1.  However, they are just too darned expensive ($300-600 U.S. per ticket) and they don’t pass and you can’t see much of most F1 tracks to meet my needs.

 

Today the Texas Region of the Sports Car Club of American(SCCA) was competing.  The announcer told the crowd that more than 500 SCCA racers were on hand.  I didn’t see that many but they did have a lot of cars.

 

When the Rotary Club comes to Yankee Stadium?

Visiting the COA when an amateur race program is on the bill is about like coming to Yankee Stadium when the Rotary Club has rented the place for the day while the Yankees are out of town.  It allows all the fans to explore every nook and cranny (grandstands, garage area, etc.) without the limitations of V.I.P. areas being unavailable.  A big plus was that admission was free.  The track was, however, selling $15-20 “Tower Tours” of the notable tower that peers high over the race facility.  Maybe I’ll do that tour on my next visit.

 

Seventy-Four cars in a feature event!

The SCCA’s mainly Miata (EP) group started 74 cars in their feature event!  I doubt I will see a race with that many cars again in 2013.  I took tons of pictures and got some great videos from elevated positions all over the track.  I was very impressed with the facility.

 

I saw racing on the 3.4-mile configuration.  They also have a 4.1 version of COA.  New trackchasing rules now allow a facility to be counted twice in a situation like this.  It is very likely I will return to see racing on the 4.1-mile road course.

 

This would be weird.

It is also very likely that I will count both tracks even though I will have seen racing at only one small part of the track.  How it that?  A fan can’t see racing at every point on the COTA circuit.  I could simply stand at the start/finish line when they are racing on the 3.4-mile track and the 4.1-mile track and still be able to count racing on both tracks.  With the new trackchasing rules, it’s good enough to KNOW they are racing on both tracks but you don’t have to SEE the difference.  That’s weird, isn’t it?  I think we could have done without the “new” counting rule for road courses.  However, some folks like to “feather their own nest” and all it takes is about six votes out of 29 people to make it happen!

 

Self-serving when it comes to rules making?  That a bad idea!

This is another rule (just like the figure 8 rule) where the rule’s originator, Roland Vanden Eynde stood to benefit more than anyone else.  Roland has probably added more tracks under “his” rule than everyone else in the trackchasing hobby combined.  Note, it was all done on the up and up.  I just don’t care for people suggesting rules where they are the #1 beneficiaries.

 

After walking around as much of the vast COTA facility as I could, and peeking in every doorway that was opened, I headed up the road for a BBQ late lunch, then some kart racing and finally some stock car racing.  Today would be a glorious day of Texas trackchasing.

 

STATE COMPARISONS

Texas

 

The Lone Star State

This morning, afternoon and evening I saw my 55^th, 56^th and 57th-lifetime track in the Lone Star state, yes the Lone Star state.  After having some 70 tracks to see here a few years ago, I am now down to just a dozen.  I wouldn’t be surprised to return to Texas again sometime in 2013.

 

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

Texas sayings:  How’s mama and them? (Thanks Russ)

 

 

TRAVEL DETAILS

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Houston, TX (IAH) – 1,382 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

George Bush Intercontinental Airport – trip begins

Austin, TX

Elm Mott, TX

Paige, TX

George Bush Intercontinental Airport – 543 miles

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Circuit of the Americas – No charge

I-35 Kartway – No charge

Cotton Bowl Speedway – $10 ($2 senior discount

 

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 300 tracks of my lifetime total.  Don’t blame me.

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,828

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 64

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 5.08

 

 

That’s all folks!  Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings from Austin and then Rhome, Texas

 

From the travels and adventures of the 

“World’s #1 Trackchaser”

 

Circuit of the Americas – Mixed Surface Road Course – Lifetime Track #1,963

 

Kam Kartway – Dirt Oval – Lifetime Track #1,964

 

Editor’s note: Today’s trip included visits to two tracks in different locations. This Trackchaser Report will cover both of those facilities.

 

It took me three days to get one day of trackchasing in the record books.

On day one of this trip, I woke up at home in San Clemente, California. I went to bed in Houston, Texas. Then on day 2 I woke up in Houston and went to bed in Dallas, Texas. Finally, on day 3 the trackchasing part of this trip began with me starting the day in Dallas and finding evening refuge in Dallas for the second night in a row. This is how the beginning of this trip turned out.

 

 

The Energizer bunny?

Just 36 hours after returning from a 20-day European trip I was boarding a flight to Houston from Los Angeles. Carol doesn’t know how I do it. Many of my friends don’t either. My fellow competitors are stunned. I will say this. If I saw someone else doing what I do it would seem quite odd. However, to me, it seems like a perfectly normal lifestyle!

 

‘Combo’ trips are the best.

This trip would end up being a “combo” trip. One of my goals for the year is to wrap up seeing a Major League Baseball game in every active MLB park. I started the year with ten parks remaining to be seen.

 

The original plan for this trip called for knocking off one of those. Then the plan changed like it almost always does, and I ended up seeing games in two parks leaving just eight to go. Don’t miss the Trackchasing Tourist Attractions section below for the details.

 

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

I very much enjoy the racing when I go on trackchasing trips. However, I am not the type of person who would feel the trip was complete if I simply left home, went to the race and came back home.

 

I do a good deal of traveling. I want to do my best to see the local area when I come for a visit. There are usually unusual attractions that one area is noted for more than any other locale. I want to see those places. I want to touch them and feel them. When I leave an area, I want to have memories of these special places that I call Trackchasing Tourist Attractions. I will remember those experiences long after the checkered flag has fallen on whatever race I have seen that day.

 

 

Minute Maid Park – Houston, Texas

 

Toured in the past but gamed today.

A few years ago I took a stadium tour of Minute Maid Park on a day when there were no official game activities happening. I didn’t remember much about that tour other than the private clubs available to fans with the right amount of “juice”. I didn’t even remember the stadium was domed! However in Houston in the summer it is VERY hot and humid. A domed stadium is a must.

 

If you’ve been reading these reports for very long you know that I don’t pay “retail” for much. Some folks think what I do is expensive. Some think attending a major league baseball game can be pricy. Normally, it is not for me.

 

 

I was in luck.

It just turned about that my favorite team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim aka LAA aka Angels would be playing the home team Houston Astros. That was a stroke of good fortune. The Astros have been one of the worst teams in MLB for the past few seasons. However, the Angels seem to have trouble with the Astros.

 

 

I needed a ticket.

I would need a ticket. I would need a ticket that would allow me to sit virtually anywhere. StubHub came through for me. I paid just $6 U.S. for my ducat. Once I was inside the stadium with an announced crowd of 24,000 plus I could literally sit anywhere I wanted.

 

I don’t understand these crowd counts. Minute Maid Park seats 42,060 fans. As I look around I can see the stadium is obviously far less than half full. Then they announce a crowd of 24,000! Some people tell me the announced crowd equals the number of tickets sold not the number of butts in the stands. Maybe. I just can’t believe that many people don’t come to the game once the tickets are sold.

 

Parking for Minute Maid Park is in private lots situated all around the stadium in the heart of downtown Houston. I shopped around and found a place to park for $5 U.S. less than three blocks from the park.

 

 

Wow! This really WAS my lucky night.

I was getting hungry. Advance research told me that concessions at Minute Maid were expensive. I sauntered up to the food stand and saw something I could not believe. Most sandwiches were in the $7-9 range. However, in the middle of the menu was the “regular” hog dog. The price? One dollar!!

 

This was not a smallish hot dog but a full-sized dog that sells for five dollars on any other night. However, tonight was “Thursday” night and on Thursday hot dogs sell for a buck. I bought two and smothered them in mustard, relish and onions just the way I like it.

 

Stay with me on this.

Let’s think about this. I had paid just $6 for my ticket. With parking next to the stadium selling for $20 I parked for $5 three blocks away. Then when regular hot dogs sell some six days of the week for $5 each I bought them for just one dollar a piece.

 

 

The Astros are a perennial last-place team. Maybe if they had more revenue they would have a better team. Maybe I could help them out. I bought a regular Bud Lite beer (I think it might have been 24 oz.) for $8.75. That was my contribution to the Astros!

 

Hot and humid even indoors.

The public address announcer told us the inside temperature of the stadium was 73 degrees. It still seemed hot and humid to me.

 

Globe Life Park – Arlington, Texas

On night #2 of this “trackchasing” trip, I was at the ballpark again. I had a choice tonight. I could have flown up to the Midwest to see racing on a “kart” track. Alternatively, I could simply stay in Texas and see another Major League Baseball game. I have goals to see lots of tracks and a goal to have seen a game at every active MLB ballpark by the end of 2014. Either way, I could win. It would be a lot more expensive to travel up to the Midwest for just one race. It would also likely be expensive to make a separate trip to see a game in Texas before the end of the baseball season in September.

 

 

Sometimes it pays to wait.

So off to Globe Like Park it was. Of course, I would need a ticket. Last night I paid just $6 U.S. to see the game in Houston. Prices were a little higher for the Texas Rangers-Cleveland Indians game in Arlington, Texas a suburb of Dallas. However, the longer you wait (usually) the lower the ticket prices are on StubHub. I waited and was rewarded with a ticket for just $9 U.S.

 

Heck, you can’t go to minor league games for these prices! When I arrived at the ballpark area it was a real zoo. Nobody has better parking than the three Southern California parks. There you simply drive in, pay a fairly low price and you’re within a hundred yards of the stadium gate.

 

There was little chance to beat the system here.

I hate it when the powers to be develop systems to thwart people like me. At the Globe Life Park I would end up paying $15 and that came with a very long, although perfectly safe (not like Boston!) walk to the park. This was AFTER I entered a $20 to park lot (they don’t post the price to park until after you are in line and need to pay) and refused to pay such a sum. Last night in Houston I paid just $5 to park. I don’t think you should ever pay more to park than you do for your baseball ticket…but tonight I did. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes she eats you.

 

 

I was most impressed with this baseball stadium. The park was built in 1994. It sits within walking distance of the AT&T football stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, AND Six Flags amusement park. Maybe that’s why parking is such a zoo.

 

Coupons at a ballpark?

When I entered the gates I was given some coupons. I didn’t check them out until later. However, when I did I found two offers for a FREE Whataburger if I purchased an order of medium fries and a medium soft drink.

 

The next day I took them up on their offer. I saved $3.14 on my Whataburger hamburger. I am a huge fan of Texas’ hometown burger chain. Whataburger is the “In N Out Burgers” of Texas. It’s not In N Out…nothing is. But I love Whataburger.

 

Additionally, I received a coupon for a free “Grand Slam” breakfast at Denny’s upon entering. However, I wouldn’t be able to use that tonight. I was on the lookout for “supper” now.

 

 

What to eat at the old ballpark?

The first sign I saw advertised the “One-pound burger”. That sounded good. However, the TWENTY-SIX DOLLAR (he said $26 U.S.) price tag sent me into temporary caloric and fiscal shock. Last night I had paid just ONE DOLLAR for a regular full-sized hot dog.

 

 

I scouted around. They had a lot of choices. However, I didn’t want to eat 1,500 calories or spend too much. I settled on a regular-sized hot dog ($5.00) and a large Diet Coke ($6.25). Later I would buy a bag of peanuts ($5.50) in the stands.

 

If only fans could get the much lower prices found at a NASCAR race than what was offered at Globe Life Park tonight. Of course, NASCAR has free parking too. Nevertheless, the dog was good. I was relieved to learn that later in the week the Rangers would also be offering “Nolan Ryan beef hot dogs” for just one dollar as the Astros had done.

 

 

My ticket offered a seat in a very bad location. That wasn’t a problem. The stadium seats 49,115. They had a great crowd, about 39,000 on hand, but there was still plenty of space for me to sit in my favorite area of the ballpark. That’s right behind home plate and fairly high up. Tonight that put me in the shade on an evening when the temperature was in the 90s. There’s a great view of the action from this spot. I had thought to bring my pocket radio and enjoyed the announcing of the Rangers’ broadcast staff. They weren’t “homers” like the broadcasters I grew up hating (O.K. ‘hate’ is a little strong). I “strongly disliked” Harry Carey. Harry Carey was the Cardinals broadcaster when I was growing up in Central Illinois. Carey would go on and on that, if the ball hadn’t taken a bad bounce the big inning wouldn’t have happened and they wouldn’t have lost the game which kept them from winning the pennant and going onto the World Series. Harry was a “moaner” of the first order.

 

A nice place, a real nice place.

The Globe Life Park is modern and huge. From the looks of the parking lot, I would have thought the crowd was going to be 200,000 people. Even with 39,000, there were lots of open seats in the top deck.

 

I used the ramps to walk to the top of the stadium. On such a hot evening very few people were doing that. When I got to the top I looked down. I had climbed about ten separate ramps to get where I was. Everything in Texas is just a little bigger.

 

Each park and fan base has its own personality.

Last year I went to games in Tampa and Miami on consecutive days. The crowd at Miami was much more boisterous and supportive than the oldsters in Tampa. Tonight the Rangers were a lot more into it than the fans from Houston.

 

 

I was very impressed with both the park and the fans at Globe Life Park. Angels stadium in Anaheim (home to my favorite team) plays host to a generally upscale fan that is always well-behaved. That’s a lot different than places like Boston and New York. I’m happy to report the fan base in Texas, that I was exposed too, was also upscale, well-behaved and into the game. It was a wonderful family atmosphere.

 

I was able to combat the very warm weather by sitting in the shade. Also where I was located a nice breeze blew all evening. I could not have been more comfortable. I suspect the Globe Like Park is a lot like the Rose Bowl. It’s a 100% different experience if you’re sitting in the sun compared to sitting in the shade. No….make that 1,000% (Martha, “he said one thousand percent”).

 

 

A bonus.

Following the game, which the Rangers won 6-4, I was treated to a special Friday night fireworks show. Baseball parks do a nice job with fireworks. At Angels Stadium fireworks are done after every Friday night home game. Tonight’s show was excellent.

 

A second unexpected bonus.

However, there was one more special bonus following the game and before the fireworks. I’ve seen a lot of MLB games but I’ve never seen this before. The Rangers promotion staff had lined up a “softball home run derby”.

 

The players were from a national group that runs around the country doing these exhibitions. Each batter would get 15 pitches (slow-pitch). Each home run from the first 14 pitches would count for one point. The final pitch called the “money pitch” counted for two points if it cleared the fences.

 

The announcer told the crowd, from a written script, that these guys could hit the ball 500 feet. That might be true. Tonight the wind was blowing in. The winner hit eight balls into the stands including the money pitch. Five batters took cuts. The crowd loved it and so did I.

 

#22 and counting.

Overall, my experience at what is now my twenty-second active major league ballpark was excellent. They’ve got a beautiful place here with a nice group of people going to their games.

 

Eight to go.

I have eight parks remaining to be seen. I’m planning to see them all before the end of the 2014 season. You can look for me in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago*, Colorado, Philadelphia, San Diego*, Seattle* and St. Louis*. In all of the cities marked with an *asterisk, I’ve already seen a game played by the home team. However, in those locations, I saw play in a stadium that has now been replaced. I’ll have to go back and see a game in their NEW stadium, which I am happy to do.

 

Circuit of the Americas – Austin, Texas

 

 

Not my first rodeo in Austin.

Back on March 28, 2013, I made a visit to the Circuit of the Americas road course. There I saw a good program of SCCA sports car racing at a beautiful facility.

 

The Circuit of the Americas is the only location in the United States currently hosting a World Formula 1 event. I felt it was much better to see the facility when the crowds were nearly non-existent (SCCA racing) compared to an F1 weekend. On that day back in 2013, I toured the place from top to bottom.

 

 

Rallycross.

Today I was in Austin for a “Rallycross” event. I’m somewhat new to rallycross but have now seen it in Poland, England and Las Vegas among other places.

 

Rallycross is the most popular in Europe. I guess it’s an acquired taste. Europeans love soccer and I’ve never been able to watch a complete match in my life. Heck, I don’t think I’ve been able to watch more than about five minutes at one time in my life. However, that’s just me. What does this mean? It probably means I don’t understand the game well enough to be entertained. I suspect the same holds true, for me with both F1 racing and Rallycross.

 

 

Part musical concert; part auto race.

Today’s ESPN “X” games event was really more of a musical concert than a racing event. It also came with a $59 U.S. price tag. That was a real bummer. I was just trying to “count a track”. I didn’t have any interest in the racing really and I didn’t have any time to listen to the different musical performers.

 

Foiled by the system again.

I tried alternate electronic sources for tickets. There were none available. Then when I arrived at the ticket booth I “hung around” looking for an opportunity to buy a ticket for less than the advertised price. No luck! These guys were on top of their game when it came time to blocking guys like me.

 

 

I was getting topped off.

To top it all off I had to pay $20 U.S. cash to park. To top THAT off I then had to walk some 15-20 minutes in the scorching hot sun to get to the racetrack itself. However, I am a trackchaser. I don’t have the big budgets of those Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers (D.E.C.T.S) but I try to get by.

 

The place was packed with “twenty-somethings). They, or their parents, apparently had no problem paying $59 for an event they would attend all day. In the hot sun, the Texas girls never looked better easing the pain of the admission charge.

 

 

I found a grandstand where the noontime sun looked as if it would soon be at my back. It was 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit with a little breeze. I found a great spot to watch from and sat down to record track #1,963.

 

Small fields competing in short races.

Today there were 19 Rallycross cars in competition. The program called for four heat races of six laps with 4-5 cars in each event. The top three in each of the heats would transfer to the two semi-final races. Then the top three from those races would make it into the final.

 

Folks, I grew up as a short-track racing fan. I like seeing racing where all of the action can be viewed from one spot. Rallycross meets that preference.

 

 

Rallycross tracks always feature a track surface with some dirt and some tarmac (asphalt). Today’s track was somewhat narrow (that’s what the drivers said) with just one jump over a distance of about 0,75 miles (I’m guessing).

 

I never would have imagined this.

When I retired I never thought I would be paying $59 to see a 19-car program with a MAXIMUM of six cars racing for six laps in most races. There was almost no passing. The race winner was determined by who led the first 100 yards in the standing start format.

 

This part did not surprise me.

However, this was EXACTLY what I had expected. No one held a gun to my head to pay a large amount of money for limited racing action. However, I do have a responsibility to all intelligent and rational people to keep the D.E.C.T.S. (Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers) in their place. Dominating the trackchasing totals is probably the best way to do that.

 

 

People vote with their feet.

When I arrived, before the actual races began, the huge grandstand was packed with young people awaiting the racing event. Most of the heavyweight musical talent would not perform until later in the evening. However, people “vote with their feet”. When the heat (no pun intended) racing was finished about half the people in the stands headed for other activities on the Circuit of the Americas grounds. I guess they had not come for “Rallycross”.

 

I have never seen a Kanye West concert. I suspect I never will. However, I did take a walk around the grounds to see what there was to see. I suggest you take a look at my photo album from the day.

 

That’s fair enough if the opposition sets up a defense even I cannot penetrate.

I usually get a “deal” wherever I go. Today I did not. That’s fair enough. If the organizers can set up a system that stops me from taking advantage then they’ve gotten up pretty early in the morning. Good on them is all I can say.

 

Kam Kartway – Rhome, Texas

 

 

Why would our ‘Founding Fathers’ despise children?

I’ve known about the Kam Kartway for much of its 10-year existence. However, I have always been concerned about the “countability” of the racing at KAM. The trackchasing forefathers appeared to despise children. Is that why no “children’s” racing can be counted under existing rules? Personally, I like kids. I like my own kids and their kids better than I like other people’s kids but I like kids.

 

I noticed that a special group of micro stocks would be coming to the Kam Speedway on this day. Micro stocks usually allow adult drivers to race. However, I would come to learn that this micro stock racing group was running “restricted” micro stocks with drivers limited in age up to sixteen.

 

Having a long talk with a track promoter is always a good idea.

I learned all of this from Kam Kartway owner and promoter Mike Engstrom. He and I had a long talk. During the course of the conversation, I told him why I was asking so many questions.

 

 

I am always embarrassed when I get into this conversation.

I told him that trackchasing does not allow the counting of tracks when flat karts are raced. I told him that trackchasing rules do not allow the counting of tracks where only children are allowed to race (under 18).

 

Can you imagine visiting someone’s home, looking at all of the stuff they have in their home and them telling them that all of it sucks! That’s how I feel when I talk to a kart track owner/promoter. The Kam Kartway races flat karts and most if not almost all of the drivers are children. I was telling promoter Mike that trackchasing’s founding fathers had turned thumbs down on BOTH flat karts and children. Yes, I felt bad telling him that. However, I was quick to point out that I was not part of the group that made those decisions. I didn’t vote on those ideas and do not support them.

 

 

I feel bad for trackchasers when their invisible geographical circle hems them in.

I feel somewhat bad for trackchaser Mike Knappenberger. Mike is an avid trackchaser. Most do not know this but Mike is in the hobby of trackchasing because of me as several folks are. I strongly encouraged Mike to “submit his list” to the powers to be. At first, Mike was reluctant. They “haven’t given me the time of day” in the past was his initial comment. Finally, Mike took my advice and sent his trackchasing list in for approval.

 

Then Mike got into the hobby full-time. However, it wasn’t long before trackchasing’s “Geographical Driving Circle” hemmed him in. This is a concept I first described ten years ago in the trackchasing forum. In a few words the “Geographical Driving Circle” is a mythical circle with a radius of about 500 miles around a trackchaser’s home. It is this circle that a chaser will be reluctant to leave because of the costs and time associated with getting beyond this boundary. When all of the tracks (or most of the tracks) in this circle have been seen the trackchaser’s productivity falls off a cliff.

 

For most driving trackchasers (and that’s pretty much everybody but me) the circle suffocates their enjoyment of the hobby. I’ve seen this happen with just about everybody.

 

 

This was an idea worth considering.

However, Mike K., a self-admitted very competitive person, had a solution to the “Geographical Driving Circle” dilemma that he now faced. If he couldn’t afford the time and money to go outside of the circle why not create MORE tracks WITHIN the circle. How could he do that? He proposed that flat karts be counted not only within his circle but everywhere. There are well over 1,000 kart tracks in the U.S. that are currently not countable by trackchasing rules.

 

A second proposal.

It should be noted that trackchaser Paul Weisel also proposed a rule to allow kart racing to “count”. However, Paul’s proposal recommended that kart racing count as part of a “separate” list away from the main trackchasing totals. That proposal never had a chance in hell if you will excuse my French.

 

Trackchasers do the crazy things they do (like pay $59 to see five cars race for six laps) so they can COUNT the tracks they see. Seeing tracks that don’t really count in a chaser’s main list is like NOT seeing the tracks. Nobody is interested in that.

 

Some background.

Before I go any further let me give you some more background. About the time I described the “Geographical Driving Circle” concept I also told the trackchasing group this. When trackchasers run out of tracks to see they will propose adding flat kart racing to the mix. That is exactly what happened with Mike and Paul’s proposals.

 

 

Enter the villain.

However, enter one Guy Smith current trackchasing commissioner. Guy, as this is written, has seen the SECOND most number of tracks in the world. Guy would give his eye teeth to someday gain the title of “World’s #1 Trackchaser”. I was put on this earth to see that does not happen. I’m doing my job the best I can to make sure the rankings stay the way they are now.

 

Guy would prefer that flat kart racing not count at all….at least for the next few years in hopes that as time passes my trackchasing efforts will slow down. If and when I do begin to slow then I predict you will see Guy taking a behind-the-scenes approach to get flat kart track on the countable lists.

 

In the meantime, Guy analyzed the voting totals, while the polls were still open, and “helped” his wife “decide” that she didn’t like flat kart racing after all. When his wife voted against flat kart racing the vote was tied at 6-6. With a tie vote then nothing would change. Flat kart racing would still not count.

 

The political underbelly of trackchasing.

Guy went a couple of steps further. First, he changed the previous trackchasing commissioner’s stance on how trackchaser’s tracks were counted. Will White had always used my website to count my wife Carol’s tracks. When Guy Smith took over he wiped out Will’s way of handling things and forbade the counting of Carol’s track via my website.

 

That was convenient. If Carol’s tracks didn’t count like they always had under Mr. White’s tutelage then Carol couldn’t vote. If Carol couldn’t vote then that eliminated the possibility of flat karts counting if that were Carol’s preference.

 

Just to make sure things were perfectly clear to the “assembled masses” Guy then sent out a strong recommendation that the idea of counting flat karts be put aside for a good long time. He made it pretty clear that the group should not consider flat kart racing. The case was closed within the trackchasing group on the subject.

 

 

I felt bad for these guys.

I felt bad for Mike. I felt bad for Paul. Mike couldn’t go trackchasing as often as he would have liked without flat kart racing. Paul couldn’t enjoy seeing others adding to their “flat kart only” lists. Pam Smith had been put under the cloud of suspicion that Guy had worked some “dinnertime” backroom politics to convince her to vote against flat kart racing. For all I know Mrs. Smith was voting in her own self-interests so that she would not have to endure long drives to see a bunch of flat karts race. Much of this was done “behind the scenes”. No one knows for sure what type of chicanery was used.

 

We know one thing for sure.

However, I know one thing and that is that flat kart racing does NOT count. Guy Smith had covered his own backside. As the votes drifted in Guy could see how the “winds were blowing” without making his vote, or his wife’s known. When he saw how everyone had voted he could conveniently vote FOR the addition of flat karts knowing his wife’s vote would cancel his out and make the vote a tie. With a tie, there would be no change. With no change, there would be no flat kart counting…at least for the time being.

 

I’m going on record with this.

However, and you can put me on the record for this. In time flat kart racing WILL count. Trackchasers, including Guy Smith, will rise up and demand it. It just can’t be demanded for a little bit more time. I’m not sure how much longer Mike K. can wait for Guy’s strategy to pan out. Mike is not getting any younger. He has pretty much run out of places to go.

 

Back to the situation at hand.

Back to the Kam Kartway situation. In talking to promoter Mike he told me that adults sometimes raced in his “250” caged kart division. They didn’t always come and they probably wouldn’t be here tonight but “adults” were welcome to race in this class when and if they wanted. That was all I needed to hear. In order to be “countable,” a class must allow adults to race. That’s what the Kam Kartway was doing with the “250” class. With the current rules, racing is countable at the Kam Kartway.

 

 

Dirt ovals are going the way of the eight-track tape in my world.

I don’t get the chance to see racing on American oval dirt tracks all that much anymore. As this is written I had seen 42 tracks in 2014. Only TWO of those have been full-sized American dirt ovals. However, that is the nature of my trackchasing. For the most part, I went to the tracks I liked best earlier in my trackchasing career. Now I’ve seen nearly all of those special places.

 

However, that doesn’t mean I don’t like the tracks I see now. I was most impressed with the Kam Kartway setup. I was on the phone talking to my Chicago area college buddy Mike Skonicki with my GPS blurted out, “You have arrived at your destination!”

 

Don’t break the law.

I looked over to my left. It was true. There sat the Kam Kartway. I looked in my rearview mirror. There was a county sheriff’s car. I wasn’t sure what the laws were in Texas regarding cell phone usage while driving. I certainly didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself than necessary. However, I needed to make an IMMEDIATE left-hand turn. I flipped on my turn signal and turned 90 degrees at about 35 M.P.H. If that wouldn’t draw the cop’s attention then nothing would. She drove on and I entered the very small parking area of the track.

 

I guessed this was the main entrance to the track. There were just 8-10 cars and trucks in the lot. I soon found a couple of small wooden grandstands overlooking the middle of turns three and four.

 

From what I could tell there would be no admission charge for spectators. Later I would learn pit passes went for $12 U.S. I rationalized my cost per track for the day was just $29.50. Yes, the mind can play special tricks.

 

 

Perfect timing.

When I arrived some karts were just entering the track for hot laps. This was perfect timing after a three-hour drive up from the state’s capital in Austin. I sat back for the next couple of hours and enjoyed caged kart racing.

 

The dirt oval was slightly banked and maybe 1/7-mile in length. I always guess at these distances. Just think of it as being bigger than a bread box.

 

Missing the boat?

Like at many kart tracks there was no announcer for the masses. A woman could be heard directing racers for their next race from the pit area but that was it. I think tracks really miss the boat when they don’t have a good announcer.

 

There were 5-6 divisions of caged karts and one flat kart group with three adult racers. The largest division had seven racers and the smallest two. Everywhere I go car counts seem to top out at about ten or less. That’s not going to help racing in the long run.

 

Uncharacteristically, there were two flips in the first three kart heats. It’s rare to see these types of racers get upside down on such a small track with relatively slow speeds. Nevertheless, the delays for crash repair were done quickly.

 

It looked as if each class was going to run two heats and their main event. Again, without an announcer or program, it was difficult to tell. I stayed for two rounds of heat racing. With such small car counts and an early morning wake-up call that seemed about right.

 

I had not seen much dirt oval racing this year. I was pleased to be sitting in that atmosphere even though I was seeing small car races. The racing was hard and close. Don’t miss the video. I even caught one of the flips on camera.

 

Sustenance.

I did sample the concession stand. A hot dog and Diet Coke went for three dollars. I doused the dog in mustard and relish and was good to go.

 

 

The track sits alongside a fairly busy two-lane highway. Some fans stopped to watch the racing from there. I’m sure their elevated view of about 20-30 feet above track level gave them a good vantage point. A police officer did stop with flashing lights at their position. However, after a short chat drove away and the fans continued to watch from just off the highway.

 

Good Texas advice.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that I had been reminded to reconsider a visit to the Kam Kartway by one of my Texas-based readers. I got some good info from that fellow about Kam and another Texas area track.

 

I wish the Kam Kartway good luck as they celebrate their 10^th anniversary. They have a nice little facility here that is just as nice, on a smaller scale, as most dirt ovals I visit.

 

Texas

 

The Lone Star state

Today I saw my 59^th and 60^th tracks in the state of Texas. It’s the Lone Star state, yes the Lone Star state. No one has seen more Texas 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

Texas sayings: How’s mama and them?

 

QUICK FACTS

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Houston, TX (HOU) – 1,390 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Houston Hobby – trip begins

Houston, TX

George Bush (Houston) Intercontinental Airport – trip ends – 71 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #2

George Bush (Houston) Intercontinental Airport – trip begins

Arlington, TX

Dallas-Ft. Worth Intercontinental Airport – trip ends – 258 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #3

George Bush (Houston) Intercontinental Airport – trip begins

Austin, TX

Rhome, TX

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Circuit of the Americas – $59

Kam Kartway – No charge

 

 

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 400 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,964

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total.

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 68

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.96

 

That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report

 

 

 

Greetings from Castor, Louisiana

 

 

and then Austin, Texas

.

.

From the travels and adventures of the 

“World’s #1 Trackchaser”

Piney Woods

Dirt road course

 Lifetime Track #2,700

 

Circuit of the Americas

Asphalt road course

 Original Lifetime Track #1,828 – revisit today

 

THE EVENT

Editor’s note: 2,700 tracks in 85 countries. I never would have imagined that when I started doing this. This was a rainy weekend. We were lucky to see what we saw, eat what we ate and spend time with family as we did. We’re just lucky ducks.

 

I AM A TRACKCHASER.

My name is Randy Lewis (above at a St. Paul Saints game on one of my trackchasing adventures). I live in San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so. 

 

Trackchasing for me is all about three things. First, I enjoy auto racing. Secondly, my hobby requires a good deal of overnight travel. When I venture out to see a race at a track I’ve never seen before I do not want my trip limited to racing only. The very last thing I want when I’m done trackchasing is to have memories of only racing. I want to take some time to see the local attractions of wherever I might be visiting. Those visits in many cases will provide more long-lasting memories than whatever I saw on the track. Finally, I want to create a logistical plan that allows me to accomplish the two points mentioned above without depleting my retirement account. That’s trackchasing for me.

 

Hundreds of trackchasers have stopped for a moment to create their own personal trackchasing list. I think that is great. However, I will tell you that no one has ever taken trackchasing more seriously than I have. Do I have any data to back up that assertion? I do. To date, I have seen auto racing in 85 countries at more than 2,690 different tracks. Does that sound serious to you?

 

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.

 

 

Bourbon Street!

Trackchasing Tourist Attractions

 

After each and every event that I attend I post a YouTube video, a SmugMug photo album and a very detailed Trackchaser Report about the experience on my website at www.randylewis.org. My trackchasing contributions generate a good deal of interest in what I am doing. My YouTube channel (ranlay) has more than 1.3 million views. My website gets more than 20,000 views every month.

 

Because I have seen racing in 85 countries at this point I am considered the World’s #1 Trackchaser. That’s good enough for me. Now I encourage you to drop down a few spaces and read about today’s trackchasing adventure. As you discover what went on at this track just think about the idea that I’ve done this nearly 2,700 times. I don’t mind admitting I am addicted to the hobby of trackchasing. It’s just fun!

  

If you’re interested in looking back and seeing where I’ve been the following link is for you.

Randy’s Complete Track List

  

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!

  

Randy on Facebook

 

 

FOREWORD

 

Saturday/Sunday, May 22/23, 2021.

 

Unusual but not THAT unusual.

This weekend’s trackchasing trip was a little bit unusual on the one hand. But at the same time, I had done this type of trip virtually hundreds of times. This is what I’m talking about.

 

This trip was also special!

On this trip the Piney Woods track in Castor, Louisiana would be the 2,700^th lifetime track where I had seen racing. Yep. That was special. Here’s a list of all of my previous “century” tracks.

 

SUMMARY OF “CENTURY” TRACKCHASING ACHIEVEMENTS

 

# 1 – Peoria Speedway (Mt. Hawley – oval), Peoria, Illinois – circa 1955 

 

# 100 – Red River Valley Speedway (oval), West Fargo, North Dakota (Sammy Swindell winner) – July 13, 1981 

 

# 200 – Sumter Rebel Speedway (oval), Sumter, South Carolina – March 28, 1992  

 

# 300 – Brownstown Speedway (oval), Brownstown, Indiana (Billy Moyer Jr. winner) – April 19, 1997 –

 

# 400 – Barren County Speedway (oval), Glasgow, Kentucky – October 1, 1999 

 

# 500 – Freedom Raceway, Delevan (oval), New York – July 27, 2001 

 

# 600 – Trail-Way Speedway (figure 8 course), Hanover, Pennsylvania – July 20, 2002 

 

# 700 – Thunder Alley Park, Evans Mills (oval), New York – April 22, 2004 

 

# 800 – Five Flags Speedway (oval), Pensacola, Florida – December 3, 2004  

 

# 900 – I-96 Speedway (inner oval), Lake Odessa, Michigan – July 15, 2005 

 

# 1,000 – Auburndale Kartway (oval), Auburndale, Florida – February 10, 2006 (Ed Esser joined in the celebration)

 

# 1,100 – Cambridge Fair (figure 8), Cambridge, Ontario, Canada – September 9, 2006 

 

# 1,200 – Castrol Raceway (oval), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – June 3, 2007  

 

# 1,300 – Bira Circuit (road course), Pattaya, Thailand – January 19, 2008

 

# 1,400 – Kemper Raceway (indoor oval), Kansas City, Missouri – December 20, 2008 

 

# 1,500 – Glencoe Fairgrounds (figure 8), Glencoe, Ontario, Canada – September 27, 2009

 

# 1,600 – 85 Speedway (oval), Ennis, Texas – October 8, 2010

 

# 1,700 – Aylmer Fairgrounds (figure 8), Aylmer, Ontario, Canada – August 13, 2011

 

# 1,800 – Ancaster Fairgrounds (oval), Jerseyville, Ontario, Canada – September 20, 2012

 

# 1,900 – Jackson Speedway (inner oval), Jackson, Minnesota – August 30, 2013

 

# 2,000 – Reading Fairgrounds (oval), Leesport, Pennsylvania – August 4, 2014

 

# 2,100 – Le RPM Speedway (oval), Saint-Marcel-de-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada – June 6, 2015

 

# 2,200 – Tullyroan Oval (oval), Dungannon, Northern Ireland – March 26, 2016

 

# 2,300 – George County Motorsport Park (oval), Lucedale, Mississippi – February 25, 2017

 

# 2,400 – Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium (road course), Lake Elsinore, California – December 15, 2017

 

# 2,500 – Midvale Speedway (mixed surface figure 8), Midvale, Ohio – October 14, 2018

 

# 2,600 – Ice Pragelato (ice road course), Pragelato, Italy – January 6, 2020

 

# 2,700 – Piney Woods (road course), Castor, Louisiana – May 22, 2021

 

 

Welcome, Carol!

First of all, Carol would be joining me on this trackchasing adventure. She doesn’t go on every trip that I take. I sometimes sense when I get feedback from these kinds of people that they seem to think that I’m not treating Carol well because she doesn’t go on every trip. I think that feeling might come from the individual who takes one or maybe two trips a year always with their spouse.

 

I take 40-45 round-trip airline trips every year. I’ve done that since I retired nearly 20 years ago. Carol comes with me about a dozen times each year, maybe more. I think that’s what people don’t seem to get.

 

How many spouses, be that man or woman, go on 12-15 round-trip airline vacations every year? I would guess the number isn’t very many. Carol is quite happy going on a dozen trips or so every year. That’s actually a lot more travel that she would do if she were married to someone who didn’t travel much at all. I see my responsibility as dragging her along so she can get to experience many of the things that I get to experience during my 40 trips or more every year. It all works for us.

 

This was the master plan.

The overall plan this weekend was to see a Saturday afternoon UTV woods cross country race during the afternoon in Louisiana. Then our first option for Saturday evening was to see a race in Texas. Both of these potential track visits would be new tracks for both Carol and me. If the Texas race on Saturday night didn’t work out, I had a nighttime race in Louisiana planned for Carol which would be new for her only.

 

Then on Sunday Carol, Jim our youngest son and Krista our daughter-in-law would head out to the Circuit of the Americas road course for the first-ever NASCAR Cup visit to Austin, Texas. That was going to be fun.

 

The weather was not good.

Unfortunately, there was weather was in the area for everywhere we planned to go. I’ve got a really good weather app called, “Weather Underground”. I can’t believe how accurate it is and how good their long-term forecasts are. There was a good chance that all of our races up until we got over to Austin on Sunday would be canceled because of wet weather. It was a risk we needed to take.

 

Without further adieux, I’ll take you through a blow-by-blow description of exactly how each part of the plan worked…and didn’t. We definitely had a lot of uncertainty but we had backup plans. With uncertainty comes backup plans.

 

FRIDAY

 

DAL or DFW?

To begin with, we needed to get down to Dallas, Texas on Friday afternoon. We were flying standby and the standby seats were most limited. We might make our flight and we might not.

 

That being the case I made reservations on three different airlines. Two of the airlines would take us into Dallas’ Love Field (DAL). The other flight would have us landing at the DFW International Airport (DFW). This meant that I had to make two individual rental car reservations. We would be dropping our car in Austin, Texas. That privilege came with a premium price. Nevertheless, I had a car reserved from DAL AND DFW for us.

It turned out that we made a flight taking us from LAX to DAL. A lot of times, when we fly standby, the remaining seats that are unsold are first class seats. That was the case tonight.

 

Carol would be flying in first class.

Although Carol and I were a twosome there was only one first-class seat to be had. Of course, I gave it to Carol. When we used to travel with the family it was common that the airline might want to upgrade me because I was such a frequent flyer. The rest of our family of four would have assigned seats traveling in coach. Every time that happened, I had a contest of one sort or another which helped me select which of the other four people in the family would get that one first-class seat. I always did it that way. I never ever flew in first class with any of my family members in the back.

We did land at Dallas’ Love Field at nearly 9 p.m. We were just in time to stop and get a Whataburger at the airport. They closed about 10 minutes later.

 

From there I picked up my favorite rental car, the Toyota Camry, and we motored over to the Tyler, Texas area. There I had reserved with Priceline a brand-new Holiday Inn Express hotel. Quite a few of the Holiday Inn Express properties are relatively new. They’re always very nice.

 

What? We can see the hotel we just can’t get to it.

My go-to GPS system is Waze. Tonight, we had a very unusual circumstance with our GPS directions. I guess because the hotel was brand new, opening only a couple of months ago, the directions weren’t working well with Waze. Even though the hotel was located just off the freeway and in easy sight it took us about 25 minutes to get there. I have never had that experience with Waze before. The hotel clerk confirmed our GPS problem was not unique to us. The hotel was planning to build a separate entrance road but it wasn’t completed yet.

 

SATURDAY

 

Trick or treat!

Most of the hotels that we stay in, during pre-Covid times, offered up a hot breakfast of one form or another. Since Covid, hotels have switched to “grab and go” breakfast choices. This usually includes a pre-packaged bag of maybe fruit, a granola bar and maybe a bottle of water.

 

Today’s hotel offered to grab and go breakfast but the operation was just a little bit different. The desk clerk grabbed two bags, sort of like we were trick-or-treating, and asked us what we would like. She went through a series of muffins, fruits, bagels, granola bars, and various drink choices. We took what we could and were off to Louisiana.

 

Canceled!

Along the way, I checked to see what the weather status was for the track we had planned to see this evening in Texas. Canceled! Rained out! I have tried to get this track on numerous occasions. They have had a lot of rainouts!

 

Castor, Louisiana is a small town…I mean a SMALL town.

With that in mind, we continued on to our afternoon destination of Castor, Louisiana. Castor is a small town. The latest census tells me they have a robust population of 258 people. The name “Castor” refers to the genus Castoridae or beaver, a Latin term, contrary to an oral tradition of the word being Native American in origin. During the Civil War, Castor supplied salt for the Confederacy. The area supplied hundreds of young men as soldiers during the Civil War, including the Castor Guards and the Bienville Rifles. In the late evening of April 23, 2000, Castor was struck by a tornado with a half-mile-wide path of destruction, which caused massive damage. There were no severe injuries, but the infrastructure damage caused the closure of most small businesses as well as the public school for a period of weeks. Most of the affected buildings were demolished or renovated because of the severe damage. Castor has one school located on Front Street. The complex contains a Pre-K and Kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school buildings.

 

 

Castor produced a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer.

I was surprised to see a large sign telling us that Lee Smith, Chicago Cubs pitcher (he played for eight different teams) and major-league baseball Hall of Famer grew up in Castor. I found that pretty amazing considering how small and off the beaten path Castor, Louisiana was.

 

LACC does a good job.

This afternoon we would be seeing a LACC UTV off-road woods race. I’ve seen racing at four or five of their locations. They always come through with a trackchasing countable racing format. They did today as well.

 

Are you the guy from California?

I had been in contact via Facebook Messenger with the LACC people. Today when we pulled in driving a rental car with an Illinois license plate, we paid our $10 admission fee and signed the liability release. As we were talking to the ticket seller he asked, “Are you the guy from California?” I have no idea based upon the information that we had exchanged up to that point how he would know that but he did.

 

Have you ever driven a Camry on a water bed?

This area of the country has gotten a lot of rain over the past week or two. We initially pulled into what I considered to be the paddock area. The paddock was quite a long way from where I knew the race would be starting. When I went to park the car, I could feel as if I was driving my Toyota Camry on a water bed. The ground was really mushy.

 

After I parked, we sat in on the driver’s meeting for a few minutes. When the meeting wrapped up, I decided that I really needed to move the car from the paddock area closer to the starting grid. That was going to be a problem.

 

Thank goodness for Cajuns.

Our National Car Rental Racing Toyota Camry is a front-wheel drive car. Typically, those cars are better at getting out of slippery situations than rear-wheel-drive cars. Not today. I had only moved about 5 feet from our parking space and then couldn’t go any further. Luckily about six big ol’ Louisiana Cajun natives saw our dilemma. They pushed us to safety. Thanks, guys!

 

A watermelon field!

From the paddock, we drove to the side of an entry road and walked through some muddy confines to what we would find out was a large watermelon field. I guess it’s not the season for watermelons. Today the space was pretty much just a grass pasture at this point. This is where today’s UTV racing would take place.

 

No kids!

The UTV teen division had just two competitors. They had an age limit on this class of 13-16 so this class would not be counting. You know the drill. No kids!

 

These races made this track “countable”.

However, in the adult division, one group had five starters and another adult group had two starters. You’ll be able to see what the start of these races looked like from my video. The start will show how the UTVs raced across the watermelon field into a clearing in the woods and then finally off into the woods again. Each race for these two groups lasted 30 minutes.

I will be the first to tell you that UTV racing in the woods is not tremendously entertaining for the spectator. Today with the wet and muddy grounds things were just a little bit more challenging than normal. Nevertheless, I was seeing my 17th-lifetime track in Louisiana. Carol was seeing racing at her third track in Louisiana. I have now seen racing at more tracks in Louisiana than any other fellow competitor.

Did you know that Carol and I have seen racing at 3,351 tracks? That’s 2,700 for me and another 651 for Carol. That makes us the World’s #1 Trackchasing couple in the worldwide standings by a margin of hundreds of tracks.

 

Seeing the local color.

Following the races, we stopped at the General Store. This place was something. They sold groceries and they sold hardware as in nails and bolts and those kinds of things. We ended up getting some Dr Pepper Zero Sugar with vanilla which I have never had before. We couldn’t pass up an entire box of Moon Pies for a buck 29. I love going in old stores like this.

 

Now for another new track for Carol!

Our next stop was going to be over in Leesville, Louisiana. Leesville was on the way to Austin which was our destination for tomorrow afternoon. Back in 2015, I had seen racing at the Leesville 171 Speedway. However, this would be a first-time visit for Carol which meant that stopping was worthwhile.

 

Rained out twice in one day!

All during our drive, we saw huge rain puddles but at the same time, we hadn’t had any rain while we were driving anywhere on either Friday or Saturday. When we pulled into Leesville, I checked Facebook. Six hours ago, the Leesville 171 Speedway had canceled because of rain. That was it. No more racing for us today.

 

Similar bathroom habits!

Carol and I are only about six weeks apart in age. Of course, one of us is a boy and one of us is a girl. Nevertheless, our bathroom needs for all of our travels have always been pretty similar.

 

Everyone gets to choose their reaction to the same set of events.

We stopped for gas. While I was filling up, I suggested that Carol go in and use the bathroom. She came out with a frown on her face. Apparently, the toilet was stopped up and nearly overflowing. She told me she tried to use a plunger to fix things.

 

I’ve got to be honest with you. Carol and I do not view many common circumstances with the same frame of mind. If I came upon a stopped-up toilet, which I did after I filled up with gas, I would never ever consider trying to fix it myself. I’m more of a manager than an actual worker. I would assess the situation. If I felt my contribution to the bowl wouldn’t make it overflow any more, I would simply use it. That’s what I did. Carol and I left the gas station with me smiling and her frowning.

 

Cajun food anyone?

It was now time for dinner and I had a hankering for Cajun food. I quickly went on Yelp and found Leblanc’s Cajun Kitchen. That would be great.

 

We stopped in there and had chicken and sausage gumbo and onion rings. The place had a real family atmosphere. Carol had fish tacos with fish that didn’t look like they came from California and I’m sure they didn’t. I had the chicken and pesto pasta. It was all delicious. Then we added a piece of chocolate cake. Personally, I have no idea how I gained 3.4 pounds in 72 hours.

 

SUNDAY

 

A first for NASCAR!

Today was going to be a big day. We were going to see NASCAR’s Cup division race at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Tennessee. NASCAR had never been to COTA until this weekend.

 

I did something for this race that I NEVER do!

Normally when I go to a NASCAR Cup race, I never ever buy a ticket in advance. I know there will always be someone who has an extra ticket. They will sell that “extra” to me or maybe they will even give it to me. Over the past decade, I have had paid only two different prices for tickets when I showed up at a NASCAR Cup race. Those two price points would be $20 and free. That would not be the situation today.

 

Only the best seats money could buy for us.

Because Carol and our son Jim and our daughter-in-law Krista were joining me, I needed to buy our tickets in advance. I pretty much knew that the viewing points at COTA, because it’s a road course, wouldn’t be very good no matter where we sat. With that in mind, I figured we might as well sit in the main grandstand right across from the pit area. At least that way we could see some pitstops.

 

Contrary to what I would do at any other time I bought four tickets from the COTA website. The tickets were expensive. I paid $165 for each seat. It pained me to do that but I was here to entertain others. I had saved a lot of money in the past using my “Need One” sign. I was spending some of those savings for this race.

 

Then about a week before the race, we got word that Krista wasn’t going to make it. Some out-of-town relatives were now coming into the general area. This messed up babysitting opportunities with grandma and that sort of thing.

 

I was now the “poor soul”.

Like so many of the poor souls from whom I had bought a ticket to a NASCAR race in the past, I now had an extra ticket. I could sense their pain. This was not a good feeling. For nearly a week I went on Stubhub.com and tried to sell the ticket.

 

I had paid $165 for that now extra seat. At first, I tried to see if there were any gullible idiots out there who might pay me $225 for the seat. There were not. Each day I would lower the price by $10 or $20 or $30 until I finally got down to a price of just $75. I still couldn’t sell the ticket.

 

Plan B.

My next best plan was to try to sell the ticket at the race itself. I had no idea how that was going to go. The forecast for Austin was for rain and cloudy and cool weather all day on Sunday. That wasn’t going to help my chances to sell the extra seat. I would need to figure out a plan quickly.

 

Buc-ee’s.

On the way to the track, we discovered a place called Buc-ee’s. Our daughter Kristy and her family had lived in Austin for a few years up until about a year ago. She was telling me that Buc-ee’s was simply outstanding. We passed one Buc-ee’s. It didn’t look much bigger than my living room. That was disappointing.

Then we came across another Buc-ee’s. The store was much different than the first one we had seen. Imagine just about the biggest Walmart you’ve ever seen. This is pretty much what Buc-ee’s look like. We stormed in there, being just a couple of miles from the racetrack, and grabbed a couple of pulled pork sandwiches, a cinnamon roll. Carol hit the popcorn aisle. We were a little rushed for time or I would have stayed to get the 100% tour of Buc-ee’s. Buc-ee’s was impressive!

 

NASCAR parking is free!

I knew that at NASCAR tracks they always have some free parking lots. For us today that was, “Lot T”. No charge to park there. Fortunately, the roadways inside the parking lot were paved or at least packed with dirt. Many of the parking spaces themselves were nearly underwater with the rain they had and the rain they were going to get today. I made sure I parked our car with our front wheels on solid ground which would get us out of just about anything.

Then we hopped on a shuttle and rode nearly a mile from Lot T over the main ticket entrance right behind the grandstands at the Circuit of the Americas. Jim was waiting for us. He had driven his 2004 Lexus LS 430 to the races. That was my car for the first nine years of its existence. Now it’s been Jim’s for the past eight years. It’s still going strong with about 165,000 miles on it. A few years ago, Jimmy had it painted in Hawaii. It looks brand new from the outside and it’s seventeen years old.

 

Time for Plan B now.

We had an hour before the race would begin. I figured I would run out over toward the ticket booth and see if I could sell my extra ticket to anyone who would be watching the race by themselves. I didn’t have a sign. I simply walked up to folks who looked like they might be getting ready to buy a ticket and ask them if they needed one. This was no time to be shy.

 

Bingo! Jackpot! We have a winner!

In a matter of about five minutes, I found a guy from Wisconsin who was visiting family in Austin. It turned out that this fella was a race fan. I told him that I would be willing to sell my ticket for $110. I reminded him this was a nice discount from what they were selling tickets for at the ticket booth today at $165. He thought that was a good idea and immediately gave me $110 in cash.

 

Going into this morning I pretty much figured that I had lost $165 on the extra seat that I had purchased. Now getting $110 back almost seemed like it was Christmas. I would take it. Could I have asked for more? I don’t know. I was very happy with the price that I did get for the ticket.

 

Rain…and a little more rain.

Rain was in the forecast. It was definitely going to rain. I knew that our seats were in row eight of the lower grandstand. I didn’t know if we were underneath the covered grandstand roof or not. It didn’t take long to find out that we were not under the roof!

 

I don’t recommend a race like this without a radio and strong noise-canceling headset.

Normally a race fan will come to a NASCAR race and rent a radio with a noise-canceling headset that allows the fan to hear communication from the local radio broadcast as well as what the drivers and spotters and crew chiefs are saying to each other. I find that to be an essential way to enjoy a NASCAR race.

 

However, during Covid Racing Electronics (the only vendor that rents/sells radios) no longer sells or rents their headsets at the track. You have to rent them ahead of time online. I went online a couple of days before the raced only to find out that all of the radios and headsets were sold out. Bummer.

Nevertheless, I had a Racing Electronics radio that I purchased about two years ago. I also have a Uniden radio that must be nearly 20 years old. I had a splitter. That meant these two radios could be used as three radios. We would all be able to listen to the broadcast and use our headsets to keep us from going deaf because NASCAR racing is so loud.

 

We were set!

Jim sat in the middle of Carol and me. This way I could give Jim some pointers and explain what was happening on the track since he’s not really into racing. We had a good time. We got wet. Fortunately, Carol brought us some cheap plastic ponchos which kept us from getting drowned.

 

A fan can’t see squat at a road course.

We couldn’t see much. That was expected because this was a road course and you can’t really see much at a road course. We did have a good view of pitstops. We could see the cars come out of turn 20, yes there are 20 turns on this version of the 3.4-mile track. We watched the racers drive down the front straightaway in a straight line and then make a left-hand turn up the hill at turn one. When we weren’t seeing that small amount of racing, we watched the rest of it on a big-screen TV.

 

Matthew McConaughey…a real cool and somewhat strange dude.

It was kind of cool to hear Matthew McConaughey, a native of Austin, give the “gentlemen start your engines” command. He’s a weird guy but at the same time a pretty cool guy. Today it seemed as if he needed a haircut.

 

Rain tires, please.

I don’t know if the NASCAR Cup racers had ever competed in the rain in a Cup race. Just a couple of years ago NASCAR came up with the idea of using rain tires. Today they would need them!

There were a couple of major crashes, one of which necessitated a red flag delay of probably a half-hour or more. NASCAR brought out the Jet Titans to try to knock down the puddles which were creating a hydroplaning situation.

Next time we go to COTA for a NASCAR Cup race, if there is a next time, I think I will choose a different seating location. We just couldn’t see very much and spent most of the time watching the video screen. Then when I got home, I watched the race on TV just to see what I missed.

 

Well done, Chase!

Chase Elliot ended up winning the race. The event was shortened by 14 laps because of rain and impending darkness. COTA does not have lights. I had the chance to meet Chase Elliott and his famous father Bill when Chase was probably about 12 or 13 years old.

 

Would we go back?

Would Carol or Jim ever want to go back to watch a race at COTA? Probably not. I said to my Wisconsin friend who had bought our fourth ticket, “You’ve got to be a pretty hard-core racing fan to want to pay what it cost to go to one of these races and then see so little of the race action on the track as well as sit through a steady rain”. He agreed.

 

From there with the race now complete. We all headed for our cars. Somehow Jim, a NASCAR spectating rookie, had just about the best parking spot in all of COTA. He was just 75 yards from the front gate!

 

Not so fast. You will have to wait.

Carol and I had a nearly one-mile uphill walk to reach our car. We are pretty much parked in the back of Lot T. We sat in our car and didn’t move for a full hour. We saw tow trucks towing pick-up trucks out of the mud. Fortunately, we were on solid ground.

 

Ribs from a gas station…delicious.

Jim beat us back to his place by about an hour and a half! Krista and the girls had prepared dinner for us. Because of our tardiness, the food had been sitting on the counter for a while. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ribs from a local gas station no less, beer bread and lemon squares prepared by Ella. We spent several minutes catching up with Krista, Ella and older daughter Jules. They work for a living and/or go to school. They needed to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

 

MONDAY

 

Ceci is a pretty and fun little gal.

We spent the morning with Jim and daughter Ceci who is nearly 3 years old. She’s a ball of fire and a lot of fun to be with.

 

Monday morning at the WH.

From there we headed over to Waffle House for our Texas departure breakfast. There was a 15-minute wait. We had to sit in our car until they called us to come on in. Covid is dying out…but it’s not dead no matter what you read about Texas being “wide open”. I didn’t suspect such a crowd at 10:30 in the morning on Monday at Waffle House. We ate a lot.

 

These plans are meant, I guess, to be changed.

From there we grabbed a flight from Austin back to LAX after an exciting trip. Despite all the planning, I put into these things the changes that come along as we actually implement the plan are constant.

 

More good food.

For us (me?), trackchasing is very much about eating tasty, highly recommended food. From LAX we stopped at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants called Frijoles in Inglewood. It’s only a mile from the airport itself. There we dined on exotic food that was as authentic as anything you’ll find in Mexico anywhere.

 

I think I see our modest seaside cottage.

It wasn’t long before we were pulling into the driveway of our modest seaside cottage. I had added a new track in Louisiana. Carol had added two new tracks in Louisiana and then Texas. Plus, to top it off we got a chance to spend time with family. Considering they live nearly 1,500 miles away that’s a good thing.

 

Randy Lewis

 

San Clemente, California

 

Randy Lewis – 85 countries – 2,700 tracks.

Louisiana

 

The Pelican State

This afternoon I saw racing at my 17th-lifetime track in the Pelican, yes, the Pelican State.  I hold the #1 trackchasing ranking in Louisiana. Louisiana ranks #34, amongst all the states, in tracks seen for me in the U.S.

 

Here’s a link to my all-time Louisiana state trackchasing list. I have made 14 separate trips to Louisiana to see these tracks.

Louisiana state track list

 

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

Louisiana sayings: “Dressed”

This has nothing to do with clothing and everything to do with how you order your po’boy, a sandwich served on French bread that’s crispy on the outside and soft in the center. Shrimp, oyster, catfish, sausage, roast beef — the variations are endless. When you order you’ll be asked if you want it dressed, which means with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayo.

You can find great po’boys all over Louisiana, but each November in New Orleans, the Oak Street Po’Boy Festival serves more varieties than you can possibly imagine.

 

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 800 tracks of my lifetime total.  That’s a fact, Jack.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,700

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.

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 85

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 3.96

 

That’s all folks!  Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the SCCA event contested on the 3.4-mile road course

 

 

 

 

Circuit of the Americas – Rallycross Racing

 

 

NASCAR Cup Racing from COTA plus a trip to Louisiana 

“]

 

 

 

SCCA racing from the Circuit of Americas

 

 

Global rallycross racing from Texas…and more much more!

 

 

Racing from the Kam Kartway

 

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.

 

A trip to Louisiana is always fun in so many ways!

 

A first for NASCAR a visit to COTA and then family time for us