I pride myself on having a flexible mindset. When change comes into my life, I immediately assess the options, choose what I think is the best option, and act. I’ve had some success with this approach in the past.
The question this newsletter will attempt to answer is a simple one. On 24 hours’ notice would you travel down into northern Mexico for the express purpose of seeing racing at a dirt track in the third most dangerous Mexican state in the country? Think you know your answer to that question? Please, I ask just one favor from you. Don’t make up your mind until you finish reading about my experience.
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THURSDAY
Carol and I were enjoying a nice evening of UCLA basketball at the legendary Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night. We are season ticket holders. She and I had planned to go trackchasing north of Los Angeles at the famous Willow Springs speedway complex on Sunday afternoon. The trip was going to be a full-day effort. I figured we would scout out some hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants before and after the races. We would enjoy our day together in the high desert of Southern California at the Speedway at Willow Springs.
You may know where I’m going with this. During the game, I checked Facebook to confirm some details for Sunday’s race. Shocker! The track promoters had canceled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. Short-track auto racing is a very fragile business. Many of the race promotions are poorly organized and uncertain at best. There would be no trackchasing for me in Southern California.
But, never fear, I had a backup plan! My backup plan was to fly down to Chihuahua, Mexico. Chihuahua is a five-hour drive south of El Paso, Texas. Should I fly to ELP and then drive for several hours through Juarez, Mexico (at one point the most dangerous city in Mexico), or try to find another way to get there? Chihuahua is about 1,000 miles from our home in San Clemente, California. The Aquiles Speedway Park in Chihuahua was hosting an event on Sunday afternoon.
This Mexican track races about ten times a year. I would have much rather checked off the southern California track than go to Mexico this weekend. Why? The event in SoCal happens just once a year. I had planned to visit the Aquiles Speedway in Chihuahua sometime in early 2024. The California cancellation screwed up my trackchasing strategy. Now in 2024, I might have ONE trackchasing opportunity at Willow Springs but I will have lost about TEN potential date options for the Mexican track in 2024. That wasn’t particularly good.
Mexico has 31 states. You knew that right? Mexico City is part of the “Federal District”. The FD is not a state. Think of it as being the “Washington, D.C. of Mexico”. The Aquiles Motor Speedway is located on the outskirts of the city of Chihuahua. The city of Chihuahua is located in the state of Chihuahua. Is Chihuahua a dangerous state? Let’s look at some data. The first table below, from 2011, shows the state of Chihuahua as having nearly twice as many homicides as any other state and being the most dangerous Mexican state. That’s mainly because Juarez is in the state of Chihuahua. Juarez is located across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Rank |
State | Homicides (2011) | Homicides (2010) | Change |
| – | Mexico | 27,199 | 25,757 | 5.6% |
| 1 | Chihuahua | 4,502 | 6,407 | 29.7% |
| 2 | State of Mexico | 2,613 | 2,111 | 23.8% |
| 3 | Guerrero | 2,425 | 1,555 | 55.9% |
| 4 | Nuevo León | 2,177 | 951 | 128.9% |
| 5 | Sinaloa | 1,988 | 2,423 | 18.0% |
| 6 | Jalisco | 1,524 | 1,072 | 42.2% |
| 7 | Mexico City | 1,101 | 1,077 | 2.2% |
| 8 | Tamaulipas | 1,075 | 935 | 15.0% |
| 9 | Durango | 1,066 | 1,109 | 3.9% |
| 10 | Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave | 1,005 | 461 | 118.0% |
| 11 | Michoacán de Ocampo | 852 | 723 | 17.8% |
| 12 | Baja California | 810 | 1,528 | 47.0% |
| 13 | Coahuila de Zaragoza | 729 | 449 | 62.4% |
| 14 | Oaxaca | 682 | 733 | 7.0% |
| 15 | Guanajuato | 619 | 445 | 39.1% |
| 16 | Nayarit | 587 | 539 | 8.9% |
| 17 | Sonora | 542 | 738 | 26.6% |
| 18 | Morelos | 454 | 493 | 7.9% |
| 19 | Puebla | 436 | 376 | 16.0% |
| 20 | San Luis Potosí | 362 | 366 | 1.1% |
| 21 | Zacatecas | 290 | 143 | 102.8% |
| 22 | Tabasco | 225 | 193 | 16.6% |
| 23 | Hidalgo | 209 | 112 | 86.6% |
| 24 | Chiapas | 185 | 199 | 7.0% |
| 25 | Quintana Roo | 163 | 145 | 12.4% |
| 26 | Colima | 162 | 131 | 23.7% |
| 27 | Querétaro de Arteaga | 107 | 74 | 44.6% |
| 28 | Tlaxcala | 88 | 57 | 54.4% |
| 29 | Aguascalientes | 80 | 75 | 6.7% |
| 30 | Yucatán | 53 | 34 | 55.9% |
| 31 | Campeche | 46 | 48 | 4.2% |
| 32 | Baja California Sur | 42 | 55 | 23.6% |
However, this data was from all the way back in 2011. The state of Chihuahua had improved! Now, in 2020, they were only the third most murderous state! Chihuahua’s murder rate had decreased by nearly half compared to 2010. Check it out.
| Mexico | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Colima | 5.12 | 4.86 | 5.23 | 8.06 | 14.11 | 24.54 | 41.87 | 25.49 | 13.92 | 23.08 | 71.22 | 96.61 | 80.90 | 86.68 | 71.08 |
| Baja California | 16.22 | 16.80 | 27.47 | 23.67 | 27.41 | 20.55 | 17.73 | 22.92 | 20.80 | 23.82 | 33.38 | 58.36 | 76.18 | 70.61 | 70.15 |
| Chihuahua | 17.85 | 18.27 | 59.16 | 90.56 | 110.71 | 86.68 | 55.49 | 39.69 | 29.56 | 25.47 | 32.89 | 41.72 | 47.22 | 56.85 | 60.26 |
| Guanajuato | 4.54 | 4.26 | 4.73 | 7.52 | 7.86 | 10.76 | 13.60 | 11.21 | 12.29 | 15.11 | 16.39 | 18.55 | 44.60 | 47.44 | 57.40 |
| Zacatecas | 3.45 | 4.52 | 5.01 | 5.09 | 7.29 | 7.81 | 12.69 | 10.77 | 7.29 | 14.91 | 28.96 | 35.12 | 35.94 | 32.79 | 50.82 |
| Michoacán | 15.52 | 12.28 | 13.04 | 16.61 | 14.95 | 17.34 | 16.80 | 19.91 | 19.81 | 16.90 | 27.81 | 27.41 | 29.44 | 36.37 | 43.65 |
| Sonora | 9.36 | 11.91 | 14.93 | 18.59 | 23.98 | 17.06 | 17.83 | 20.17 | 19.64 | 17.46 | 19.81 | 23.01 | 23.96 | 34.16 | 42.70 |
| Morelos | 9.33 | 6.54 | 7.70 | 17.81 | 31.00 | 30.43 | 46.57 | 31.85 | 21.92 | 25.78 | 31.70 | 30.63 | 35.37 | 46.49 | 40.91 |
| Guerrero | 25.17 | 23.88 | 28.13 | 41.90 | 43.55 | 62.13 | 66.01 | 59.22 | 42.69 | 56.50 | 61.67 | 64.26 | 62.45 | 44.45 | 34.23 |
| Quintana Roo | 10.13 | 14.45 | 15.21 | 13.55 | 17.32 | 19.28 | 17.36 | 14.41 | 11.24 | 14.48 | 10.19 | 21.57 | 42.58 | 38.22 | 32.49 |
| Sinaloa | 22.12 | 26.91 | 41.48 | 44.35 | 60.11 | 50.72 | 40.99 | 33.45 | 28.59 | 28.65 | 31.93 | 43.89 | 31.53 | 26.91 | 22.87 |
| San Luis Potosí | 5.24 | 6.06 | 8.53 | 6.10 | 15.94 | 15.18 | 14.80 | 9.66 | 8.39 | 8.75 | 11.02 | 16.74 | 16.46 | 16.28 | 22.30 |
| Jalisco | 6.07 | 5.48 | 6.40 | 7.77 | 11.93 | 16.20 | 15.49 | 14.19 | 11.57 | 12.85 | 14.37 | 16.88 | 24.24 | 25.03 | 21.78 |
| Tabasco | 7.73 | 8.88 | 6.72 | 5.25 | 6.35 | 7.10 | 5.37 | 6.00 | 7.12 | 9.77 | 11.46 | 15.96 | 18.99 | 22.60 | 20.34 |
| Oaxaca | 28.69 | 25.12 | 19.27 | 19.59 | 17.22 | 16.43 | 12.01 | 13.54 | 16.06 | 18.74 | 21.55 | 22.63 | 24.01 | 24.67 | 19.49 |
| Nuevo León | 4.08 | 6.31 | 5.76 | 5.75 | 17.53 | 41.75 | 29.97 | 14.55 | 9.77 | 8.87 | 12.49 | 12.54 | 13.85 | 16.50 | 15.68 |
| Tamaulipas | 11.06 | 8.32 | 9.51 | 8.75 | 21.62 | 25.32 | 29.72 | 16.06 | 17.93 | 15.04 | 16.60 | 22.22 | 23.26 | 18.09 | 15.56 |
| Veracruz | 5.82 | 6.37 | 6.30 | 4.54 | 7.56 | 11.42 | 12.32 | 10.89 | 6.10 | 7.02 | 15.52 | 20.10 | 16.71 | 16.48 | 14.83 |
| Puebla | 7.42 | 7.10 | 7.50 | 7.14 | 7.08 | 10.43 | 9.63 | 6.74 | 5.51 | 8.06 | 9.43 | 14.56 | 17.24 | 17.29 | 13.66 |
| State of Mexico | 19.08 | 7.63 | 8.38 | 8.78 | 7.40 | 9.54 | 13.22 | 11.81 | 12.00 | 12.27 | 11.99 | 11.75 | 13.18 | 14.22 | 13.65 |
| Mexico City | 7.23 | 7.96 | 7.95 | 8.34 | 9.07 | 8.72 | 8.74 | 8.42 | 8.44 | 9.64 | 10.78 | 12.31 | 14.12 | 16.13 | 13.07 |
| Nayarit | 9.45 | 10.43 | 13.89 | 13.66 | 33.10 | 40.28 | 21.12 | 12.81 | 9.16 | 6.78 | 3.13 | 20.10 | 25.44 | 12.99 | 12.34 |
| Hidalgo | 3.99 | 5.73 | 5.34 | 5.17 | 4.98 | 4.07 | 3.00 | 4.38 | 4.96 | 4.97 | 5.18 | 6.79 | 6.84 | 9.67 | 9.96 |
| Querétaro | 3.03 | 3.26 | 3.26 | 4.96 | 3.19 | 5.21 | 5.75 | 5.71 | 5.22 | 6.93 | 5.85 | 8.53 | 8.31 | 8.41 | 8.66 |
| Tlaxcala | 16.80 | N/A | 3.65 | 4.11 | 4.05 | 5.89 | 4.82 | 5.63 | 4.84 | 4.62 | 5.94 | 9.29 | 9.14 | 11.13 | 8.24 |
| Durango | 12.93 | 15.57 | 26.41 | 56.36 | 61.32 | 45.20 | 36.15 | 27.54 | 18.03 | 13.49 | 13.35 | 12.50 | 10.07 | 8.39 | 7.97 |
| Campeche | 3.58 | 4.53 | 5.56 | 4.98 | 7.05 | 6.92 | 7.96 | 7.61 | 7.27 | 5.84 | 9.12 | 7.17 | 7.11 | 7.52 | 7.90 |
| Chiapas | 7.76 | 7.64 | 6.85 | 10.32 | 10.46 | 12.31 | 11.35 | 9.83 | 7.89 | 9.56 | 8.80 | 8.83 | 10.09 | 9.42 | 7.54 |
| Baja California Sur | 3.54 | 4.79 | 4.63 | 4.94 | 7.39 | 5.65 | 5.03 | 7.80 | 9.45 | 19.77 | 24.40 | 69.15 | 18.52 | 9.26 | 7.13 |
| Coahuila | 4.15 | 4.54 | 6.62 | 8.75 | 14.63 | 23.42 | 27.01 | 22.32 | 13.33 | 9.93 | 7.54 | 7.62 | 7.34 | 7.16 | 6.23 |
| Aguascalientes | 2.33 | 4.32 | 5.46 | 5.61 | 6.19 | 6.09 | 3.57 | 3.19 | 3.31 | 2.95 | 2.84 | 6.13 | 5.63 | 6.82 | 5.46 |
| Yucatán | 1.17 | 1.58 | 2.44 | 1.69 | 1.82 | 2.29 | 1.87 | 1.94 | 2.01 | 2.50 | 2.33 | 2.12 | 2.14 | 1.47 | 2.25 |
I checked with the U.S. State Department. They told me there were seven Mexican states with “level 4” security rankings. The state department says these are “Do not travel” locations.
Currently, the state of Chihuahua gets a “level 3” rating. That comes with a “reconsider travel” advisory. My race had been canceled at Willow Springs. That being the case I had “reconsidered” and would now be catching a flight to Chihuahua. Of course, as you will come to find out, I would fly from Tijuana, which is in the state of Baja California (BC). BC is now the SECOND most dangerous state out of 31 states and Mexico City in the year 2020.
When our kids were small we commonly towed our Starcraft popup camper down to Ensenada, Mexico, and camped at the ocean. Our route to Ensenada took us through Tijuana. We’ve been to Tijuana for the bullfights. Today, according to www.statista.com Tijuana has the second-highest murder rate in the WORLD and Ensenada comes in sixth. The only American city on the list is St. Louis, Missouri at #7. Think about that the next time you want to go to a Cardinals game.
I am an adventuresome traveler. If everything on this trip worked out I would be seeing racing at my 14th track in Mexico in ten Mexican states. I have never really felt unsafe visiting Mexico. I think most of the crime being reported is when one gang kills the members of a competing gang. Yes, civilians sometimes get caught in the crossfire. I figured if I kept my eyes open and didn’t visit the bad areas of town at two o’clock in the morning I would likely be O.K. Upon learning of the SoCal race cancellation my trackchasing attention turned 100% toward getting down to Chihuahua, Mexico. Now do you believe me when I say I have a flexible mindset?
I thought about taking a connecting flight from Los Angeles to Dallas and from Dallas to Chihuahua. In the end, I elected to fly from Tijuana, Mexico nonstop to Chihuahua.
I am more than fortunate to live within an hour or so of seven commercial airports. Those airports are Los Angeles, Burbank, Ontario, Long Beach, Orange County, San Diego…and Tijuana, Mexico!
Back in 2015 the United States and Mexico got together on something called the “CBX – Cross Border Xpress”. This allows travelers from the United States to check into an airport terminal on the United States side of the border for flights that will leave from Tijuana. The terminal is in Otay Mesa just south of San Diego. The CBX terminal is nearly brand new and has lots of technology.
I bought a round-trip ticket on Volaris Airlines for an elevated price because of my last-minute booking. Had I bought my airline ticket two or three weeks ago I probably would have paid 50% less. As it was, with the last-minute race cancellation in SoCal I could only buy my airline ticket a day ahead of my departure. You snooze, whether it’s your fault or not, and you lose. I like that idea!
I have a great parking deal at the Los Angeles International Airport. For just $75 a month, I can park there as much as I want. With my travel schedule my car is at the airport on average about 15-18 days every month. I have a fantastic parking sponsorship at LAX.
The CBX location is about 75 miles south of our home in San Clemente. I arrived early and found the cost of parking to range from $20-$35 a day depending upon the lot. I would be gone for three days. I ended up paying $75 to park for this three-day trip. Heck, I can park for a full month at LAX for that price. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.
With the Cross Border Xpress, I actually WALKED across the U.S./Mexican border. There were several security checks on the U.S. side before I reached the above-ground narrow corridor. The entire walk took 5-7 minutes. I have used CBX several times. The advantage of flying from Tijuana (TIJ) is that I can get non-stops to destinations all over Mexico.
The Tijuana airport might be surprising to some. It’s shiny and modern. They have a Priority Pass club called the VIP Club – Tijuana. Today I hung out there for a while with my Spanish-speaking friends and enjoyed lunch on Priority Pass.
It took a little extra time for me to clear security on the Mexican side of the border. I was approached by a Mexican border control officer who had a dog. For some reason, the dog picked me for “secondary”. What is secondary? Secondary is extra PERSONALIZED screening! Here they went through my bags and asked me several questions all in the comfort of my own price screening area. Everyone likes a little personal attention, right? All they could find in my bag was a plastic sandwich bag (given to me by Carol) full of Mexican currency. The law says you can bring up to $10,000 U.S. of foreign currency across the border. Had Carol set me up? Nope. My “baggie” just made it LOOK like I was bringing a lot of money across the border. In point of fact, I only had about $500 U.S. of Mexican money albeit in smaller bills. At that point, I cleared further scrutiny and was on my way to Chihuahua, Mexico.
The two-hour flight on Volaris Airlines was uneventful. When I landed, I used my AT&T cell phone to make calls. My AT&T plan lets me make calls from and to Canada, Mexico, and the United States whenever I am in one of those countries. I can use my phone just as if I was in my home office back in our modest seaside cottage.
The first thing I did was make an Uber ride-share reservation. I would not be renting a car in Mexico. In the past, I have rented cars on my south-of-the-border adventures. I’ve driven my own car into Mexico and Carol and I once walked across the border in Tijuana and took a taxi to the track!
There are many advantages to using Uber in foreign countries. First, you don’t have to worry about being understood in a foreign language country. The system tells the driver where to pick you up and where to drop you off. You just get in the car, say hello, and buckle your seat belt.
There is no worry about paying in foreign currency. Again, the system tells you in advance how much your trip with cost and charges your credit card when the trip is completed. Finally, your personal security is much better accounted for compared to taking a taxi. Uber knows who the driver is that is transporting you. Uber knows when and where you were picked up. You would never have that type of information shared with anyone if you rode in a private taxi or with a limo driver.
Tonight, when my driver was close to the airport he gave me a call. It seemed like he couldn’t drive directly to the airport terminal because of some airport restrictions. He asked if I could walk a couple of blocks to the edge of the airport property. This seemed a bit odd but I have had other trips where Uber could not drop off or pick up passengers at the terminal. Off I went on my walk. It was dark. The thought did cross my mind that Chihuahua did rank 15th in the country in murders per 100,000 people!
The first Uber driver I meet on my trips can often dictate how easy my transportation will be for the rest of the trip. How is that? If my driver speaks English and seems responsible I will try to hire him as my private driver for the rest of the trip. I got lucky today. My driver, Andres, was a 24-year-old budding entrepreneur. When Andres wasn’t driving for Uber he was running his own jewelry company. On top of that, he was born in El Paso, Texas, and carried dual citizenship. Andres spoke English well. Perfect. I had my driver for the rest of the trip.
Uber normally collects about 25% of the fare paid by the rider. I could pay Andres the full Uber fare and he would get to keep the extra 25%. I would pay the same Uber price I would pay if I was picked up by a random Uber driver. However, I could have Andres “available” to pick me up and drop me off just about any time I needed his services. This was a win/win for both of us. As I will explain later Andres and I probably spent 4-5 hours together over the three days of my trip. It was educational and entertaining to interact with a Mexican national and someone young enough to be my grandson.
Andres was sort of an “old soul”. Of course, that’s a compliment. At 24 years of age, he owned his own house. He told me the mortgage payment was about $75 a week. He made $500 a month with Uber. The jewelry company, his main love, brought in more money. Andres told me that someday he wanted to buy a better house. I asked him what he would do with his current house. He told me he would rent it out! Folks, that’s a businessman talking!
It was good that Andres spoke English. I made some arrangements for him to set up a tour in downtown Chihuahua tomorrow with a professional touring company. On Sunday, he would take me out to the racetrack and back. It’s important to have a good driver who you can trust. I interviewed a lot of job candidates back in my work life days. I think I’m pretty good at making judgments about people.
Soon, on my first ride with Andres, we pulled up in front of the Sheraton Hotel. From everything I had read about Chihuahua, the Sheraton was the best hotel in the city. I bid farewell to Andres and told him I would see him tomorrow. I had a reservation for three nights at what looked to be a very upscale hotel.
I have been staying at Marriott (Sheraton is owned by Marriott) properties all my adult life. I’m going to estimate that I have stayed in Marriott hotels for 2,000 nights or more. For this loyalty, Marriott has rewarded me with titanium elite frequent stay status.
When I checked in, I tried to bond with the young woman at the front desk, as I always do. Remember, I am a gray-haired, elderly individual, trying to “bond”, in my words, with what is usually a 22-year-old part-time hotel worker. Yes, this is definitely an odd couple combination. This creates a challenge for me. But remember, I’m a “sales guy”.
I reminded the young lady in the nicest way possible that I was a titanium elite member. I asked if she might be able to upgrade me to a suite. I like to think of our conversation as similar to this young woman being around her grandfather. If her grandfather asked her for a cup of warm milk and a chocolate chip cookie wouldn’t any self-respecting granddaughter try to comply? Yes, she would…I hoped. Mind you I had only paid $84 a night plus tax for the very best hotel in all of Chihuahua. I had noticed the highest priced suite at the hotel was selling for $513 U.S. What were the chances that a guy who had paid just $84 was going to get a more than $500 suite for the next few nights? Before you answer that question just remind yourself of one thing. What is that? “This is what Randy does”!
Soon I was being upgraded to the hotel’s master suite. This was the top hotel room in the entire hotel and the Sheraton Hotel was the number one ranked hotel in all of Chihuahua. Just saying.
It was just fine that I was staying in a $500+ hotel suite. Was that enough? Should I have been satisfied at that point? I have taken more than my share of negotiating classes. I know the drill. In negotiating there is a concept called “nibbling”. What is nibbling? When the deal is virtually completed it’s time to “nibble”. By that I mean it’s time to ask for just a little bit more. What do you have to lose? If you don’t ask you don’t get.
After my suite was confirmed I asked if the hotel’s buffet breakfast would be included. Yes! Yes, my granddaughter, er….the hotel desk clerk said she would love to include breakfast for all three days of my stay. Thank you! On top of that, she gave me 24/7 admission to the concierge lounge. In the lounge, they served food and drink 24 hours a day. As soon as check-in was complete I stopped up in the lounge and had a late night dinner and drinks on the house. The reader gets to decide if just getting the upgrade to a suite was enough to ask for.
It’s kind of funny that my room was all and more than I could have expected. It had a long dining room table that sat eight. There were multiple TVs, multiple bathrooms, three matching sofa and chair combinations, and more. What’s funny about all of this? I get some of my best upgrades when Carol is not with me! Of course, she was invited on this trip when the Southern California racetrack canceled for Sunday. Carol is invited on every one of my trips! She elected to decline this three-day visit to Mexico. I can only say this. If I were married to me, I would go on every trip to which I was invited but then that’s just me, right?
My trip was off to a great start. My transportation plan, with Andres, was finalized. I had a great hotel situation. Now I just needed to get in a full day of touring of Chihuahua on Saturday and a nice afternoon of local stock car racing on Sunday afternoon. Finally, I wanted to eat as much good local Mexican food as my schedule would allow.
If all of this works out, I will be seeing racing at my 14th different track in Mexico. I will have done that in ten of Mexico’s 31 states. Is that good?
Let’s put it this way. There are hundreds of trackchasers who have trackchasing lists. Tracks have been reported since 1928. With all of these trackchasers reporting track visits for nearly a century how many individual visits have been made to see Mexican race tracks?
Five! Three of those five visits were done by racing journalists. That means that trackchasers who fall into the category of “race fans” like me have made just TWO visits to Mexico for trackchasing. What is the matter with these people? They don’t like tacos? Are they afraid to cross the border? This is not a good look for the hobby trackchasing. I am hoping some of the younger people can fix this Mexican trackchasing outage. We all will have to wait and see about that.
Saturday
Yesterday was a travel day. Sunday will be a trackchasing day and Monday will be a travel day to get me back home.
Today, Saturday would be my touring day. This was my 14th separate trip down to Mexico just for the purpose of trackchasing. We have cruised through Mexico several times. We’ve taken friends and relatives across the border many times to give them an international flair to their trips. I’m sure several people reading this were part of these forays into Mexico. Yet, I had never ever been to Chihuahua, Mexico.
My newly adopted Uber driver, Andres, would be my driver for the day. He picked me up at the Sheraton Hotel and drove me downtown to the center of the city.
Andres was just returning from one of the classes he was attending with his girlfriend, Jasmine. It was a pleasure to meet her.
Andres took me down to the tourist center and acted as my interpreter to find out which tour might be best. The tours were only going to be offered in Spanish. That didn’t surprise me in the least. So far, and this can be said about my entire trip, I didn’t hear or see any Americans during my three days in Mexico. I guess Chihuahua is off the beaten path for gringos.
Andres asked me if I wanted to take a tour being exclusively narrated in Spanish. I told him I didn’t mind. I would enjoy the scenery and sights. My tour would last for two hours. The tour operator ran the numbers. The tour price was 130 Mexican pesos or about seven U.S. dollars. I wasn’t doing anything else. I figured I might as well sit on the bus, not exactly a bus but more like a tram, for a couple of hours and enjoy the sunshine on a beautiful low 80s temperature day.
About an hour and 15 minutes into the tour, we stopped at the Francisco (Pancho) Villa Museum. I remember Pancho Villa being mentioned in some of the Western TV shows I watched as a youngster.
Our tour guide gave everyone instructions on how to behave in the museum and when the tour bus would be leaving. Of course, all of this was in Spanish. I tried to keep an eye out for other members of my tour group. I figured when I saw them heading for the tram I would as well. Nevertheless, when I finished my tour of the museum and stepped outside the tour bus/tram was gone! Oh my. Has this ever happened to you? I was lost in Chihuahua!
Not a problem. I ordered another Uber driver and saw that I was going to have to wait for 17 minutes. Just across the street from the museum was a nice tourist store with lots of different gift options that I might be able to bring home. I was able to pick up a really unique gift for Carol’s upcoming birthday. I thought Carol would love it.
Soon I was back in the central part of the city. There was a live band playing. People of all ages were dancing. Today was just a laid-back sunny, Saturday afternoon in Chihuahua, Mexico.
One of the things I noticed, that I don’t think I had ever noticed to this degree before, was the large amount of multigenerational families walking together. There were the young kids, the young parents, and the grandparents. I suspected, although I don’t know this for sure, that some of these folks all lived in the same house. It was just nice to see everyone spending an afternoon together. This was proof positive that you don’t really have to have a lot of material things to be happy in your family life.
I did a little online research searching for restaurants. I wanted an upscale place to relax and have an authentic Mexican meal. I found a place called Mezquites. I checked the restaurant’s location. It would be a 16-minute walk from the center of the city. That would be perfect. I needed to get my steps in.
Using Google Maps, I found the restaurant easily. Once inside, I was the only person who looked like me and talked like me. Luckily, my server spoke English well enough and was more than attentive.
I started with a can of Coke Zero and a double shot of tequila. The tequila would light your hair on fire!
Then another server prepared a salad at my table. This is common in more upscale Mexican restaurants. She asked me how spicy I wanted it. I suggested we go with medium, although I do love spicy food. The salad was very spicy and like the tequila would also set any remaining hair I had on fire.
The chips and creamy salsa were tasty. I ordered an appetizer of queso fundido chorizo, which is one of my “go-to” items in any high-quality Mexican restaurant. No matter where I go this dish seems to be prepared differently. I followed this up with a taco plate just to test another item on the menu. There was no way I could eat all of this food but I just felt like sampling things.
Then I saw dessert being served at the table next to me. Even though I wasn’t hungry I knew I had to try something. When was I going to be back at Mezquites?
I went with the flan amaretto. I was super surprised when my server brought the flan to my table and lit the entire dish on fire. It burned for nearly 30 seconds. How cool was that…and it was tasty.
When it came time to pay the bill, I gave my server a generous tip. His service had been wonderful, and prompt and his suggestions were perfect.
I guess it pays to tip well. I had already cleared my bill with my credit card. Then my server came by with a complimentary drink. He had me pour a double shot from a bottle of Tanner’s Crema Tipo Trlandesa de Nuez for myself. He told me this was a combination of tequila and Bailey’s. This stuff was smoooooth. The drink was 14.9% alcohol. I need to buy more of that when I can find it. Or…if any family members are reading this a bottle of Tanner’s would make a fine Christmas gift!
It was now time to head back to the hotel. I needed to get ready for a full day of trackchasing tomorrow afternoon.
I called up Andres and found out I would need to wait about 15 minutes for him to pick me up. What happened next was a highlight of the trip for me. I shared this experience on Facebook with my friends.
“Tonight, when I finished dinner, I had to wait for my Uber driver for about 15 minutes. As I waited, a fellow walked past, and we struck up a conversation. His name was Reese. I could tell that Reese was just a little bit down on his luck. During the course of our conversation, I asked him if he was hungry. He said he was. I had just eaten all the food I could possibly eat in the restaurant. I still had a large bag of leftovers. I gave the food to Reese. Soon he was eating some of the best tacos and queso fundido chorizo to be had anywhere in Chihuahua, Mexico. He was so grateful that he gave me the ring (above) off of his finger as a gift. I thanked him. We talked for several more minutes and then it was time for him to move on down the road. As we parted, he asked me if I might be able to spare 20 pesos, which is about a dollar. I told him I couldn’t do that. He smiled, thanked me for the food, and gave me a fist bump. Reese began to walk away. I pulled out a large Mexican peso bill I had been holding in my hand reserved just for this point in the conversation and gave it to him. He was beyond grateful. Tonight, Reese got a lot more than the 20 pesos he had asked me for. I don’t know if my meeting Reese was a special moment for him. I can tell you that having the opportunity for me to meet him was an outstanding way to finish off my day here in Mexico. Hey Reese, thanks for the ring.”
Soon Andres showed up and drove me back to the hotel. Each time we meet up on one of his drives we get to know each other just a little bit better. We agreed that he would come to the hotel tomorrow at 11 a.m. to take me out to the race track. Racing was scheduled to begin at 12 noon.
It was still early in the evening. I had another major item on my entertainment agenda. Today UCLA was having its rivalry game against the usc Trojans. This is always a huge game. My UCLA Bruins were a six-point underdog.
I could watch the game in my suite on my laptop on a recorded basis using a VPN with YouTube TV. No, I couldn’t do any of that 20 years ago! Oftentimes people refer to the good old days. I always say THESE are the good old days!
I am more than happy to say that UCLA beat the condoms 38 to 20. UCLA pretty much dominated the game. UCLA has had its ups and downs in football this season and over the past couple of decades.
UCLA’s Chip Kelly had a lot of success at the University of Oregon before going to the NFL. When Chip was hired at UCLA, everybody thought that was the best thing since sliced bread. I can honestly say I wasn’t sure. During the first three years, Kelly’s coaching record at UCLA was terrible. In the past three years, he has achieved a record of 24-12. I say we can’t fire a guy who has done that well during the last three years. Others disagree. We’ll see what happens. I do know this about sports. The fans love you if you win and will come to hate you if you lose. It’s all about winning and losing.
The touring part of my day didn’t turn out very well. However, beyond that my day was fantastic. My authentic Mexican restaurant meal was outstanding. Getting the chance to meet a person like Reese might have been the highlight of my entire trip. Then getting to watch UCLA beat usc was whipped cream on the flan if you get my gist.
I’m very much looking forward to the racing tomorrow. I’ve seen racing in Mexico on permanent road courses, the big ovals that the NASCAR Mexico Series uses, and amateur-type street courses in several Baja California cities. I had never seen traditional dirt oval racing in Mexico which was what was planned for tomorrow.
SUNDAY
What brought me to Chihuahua, Mexico was the opportunity to see racing at a track I had never visited before. That’s my hobby. It’s called trackchasing.
However, in the long run, I’m sure I will remember the people that I met and the experiences that I had in Chihuahua for a very long time. That’s one of the best things about trackchasing. I have the opportunity to create memories. In the end, it’s really all about the memories, isn’t it?
I meet people that in most cases I will never ever meet again. At the same time, somewhat unbelievably I do get to rendezvous with these folks more often than you might think. On top of all that, is the most fun challenge of planning these trips and then working the plan when I visit these far away locations.
Andres picked me up at the hotel and drove me about 30 minutes out to the racetrack. The Aquiles Motor Speedway has a track sign that says they are in Chihuahua but they might be in Aquiles.
Andres told me that Aquiles might be just a little bit of a rougher location than Chihuahua. The small suburban town had its own penitentiary. The track, like most racetracks, was located away from major civilizations.
When the two of us pulled into the track, Andres made our introductions in Spanish. I already knew that a race ticket would cost 100 Mexican pesos or about five dollars U.S. A pit pass would be 200 pesos. That’s what I bought today. I wanted to make sure I had full access to everything at the track and being able to be in the pit area is always special.
Today was a warm sunny day with temperatures in the low 80s. I was lucky with the weather. Despite being located five hours directly south of El Paso, Texas cold weather was moving in. In just two days the projected high temperature would be only 54°. For an afternoon of racing, I’ll take 82° over 54° pretty much every time.
Racing was scheduled to begin at 12 noon. I’m happy to report that dirt track racing in Mexico isn’t any better than most dirt track racing in the United States when it comes to starting on time. These kinds of tracks rarely start on time. That was the case with the Aquiles Motor Speedway. Their first race hit the track about 50 minutes after the printed schedule said they would be racing.
Andres was scheduled to pick me up nearly five hours after he dropped me off. I figured I could easily absorb all of the ambiance the track had to offer in that time. Frankly, in the hot sun, five hours was a long time to be walking around with not many opportunities to sit down.
There were probably 60 or 70 racecars at the track today. They would be racing over four different classes. I’m going to guess that a lot of these stock cars were born/built in the United States and raced in the United States before they made their way down to Mexico. I do believe there were a couple of drivers who had come down to race in Mexico from the El Paso area.
I’m in the business of making observations. I’m always looking for those things that aren’t quite “normal”. I didn’t see or hear any other Americans at the track today. Not a single one.
There was one other thing that was most unusual that I hadn’t seen at other track locations. Quite a few of the race teams were setting up their barbecue operations in huge cauldrons. It looked to me like they were mainly cooking beef ribs. I guess this could have been pork ribs. The cauldrons were about three feet across. They used paddles much like boat oars to stir their concoctions for consumption after the races were finished.
The racing machines were for the most part basic. That probably reflects the economics of the general area.
The track’s surface was outstanding. I’m going to guess the track was about 4/10 of a mile in length and the dirt track was oval-shaped. After each couple of races, they watered the track a bit. There was actually very little dust and like I say, a smooth racing surface.
The seating left a little bit to be desired. It looked as if every small three or four-row high grandstand was dedicated to an individual race team and their fans. There really wasn’t any place to watch the races in the pit area other than at these locations. Quite a few of the general admission fans drove their cars and trucks to elevated positions around the track and watched from there. I thought a major drawback to the Aquiles Motor Speedway was the lack of convenient and good viewing areas.
The bathroom facilities were marginal at best. OK, let’s be honest. They were well below marginal and probably below sub-marginal! Does my photo support my sub-marginal evaluation?
There were a few mobile trucks selling food and drink at the track. Their menu consisted of hamburguesas, tortas, dogos, burritos, nachos, and the like. I went with a burrito. I am addicted to diet soda. However, I have noticed that in Mexico and most other foreign countries diet soda is not nearly as popular as it is in the United States. Maybe that’s why the United States has one of the most overweight populations in the world.
At most racetracks, the race winner gets to take a parade lap around the track. The starter will often give the winning driver the checkered flag so that he/she can celebrate with the fans with a slow lap around the track.
Today, for the first time ever, after seeing racing at nearly 3,000 locations today’s post-race celebration was different. Yes, the winning driver held the checkered flag out the driver’s side window. He took a slow lap around the track to the cheers of the crowd. What was different? The second-place finisher carried the white flag outside the driver’s side window opening. The third-place driver did all of this with a green flag. Nearly 3,000 tracks? How do I almost always see something for the first time?
There was a major accident at the track today. Several spectators were taken to the track ambulances. The racers exited the track at turn one to return to the pit area. I had crossed past this opening several times today. A couple of the cars got into an accident and slid off turn one at high speeds into the pit area. An SUV, one of the fan’s cars, was hit by the high-speed racer. This did quite a bit of damage to the SUV. I was watching from a different part of the track at the time of this accident. By the time I noticed what was going on a crowd of a couple hundred people were looking on. From what I could see no one was seriously injured.
At 4 o’clock Andres messaged me via WhatsApp to let me know he had arrived back at the track to pick me up. Andres had been telling me that a place called “Rico’s Tacos” was a great place to have an informal Mexican meal of tacos. I was up for that. Off we went to Rico’s.
Soon, Andres and I were enjoying a meal of tacos and later on Mexican flan with whipped cream and a cherry on top. I had a chance to be with Andres for several hours during my three days here in Mexico.
We had a nice talk about goal setting. Andres is a very responsible young person. He has lots of goals that he is looking forward to achieving in his life. We talked about making goals, having specific and actionable goals, and the need to have specific dates for his goal achievement. I would ask the reader this question. When was the last time you had a meal with your Uber driver and talked about goal setting?
I told Andres while we were driving that I thought that I couldn’t really be friends with someone unless I had shared a meal or played around of golf with them. I’m not sure that particular idea translated to Andres at first. We talked a little more about that and I think he understood what I was trying to say. The point is that one must spend time with someone else to get to know them to be able to count them as a friend.
When my racing day was finished and we had eaten our last bite of flan, we took a couple of pictures inside the restaurant. Then Andres dropped me back at the Sheraton Hotel. There are still a couple of tracks that I can see in the future by flying into and out of Chihuahua. When I do that maybe I’ll be able to match up with Andres again. I hope so.
Monday
This morning my flight was departing Chihuahua for Tijuana at 7:30 a.m. Andres told me that picking me up at 5:30 a.m. might not fit into his overall plan. I fully understood. I wished I had a later flight as well.
My Uber driver did pick me up at 5:30 a.m. driving a two-door Chevy Spark. Not all of the Mexican Uber drivers own a Rolls Royce. My hotel pickup was at 3:30 a.m. in California. Remember, I normally sleep in until 7:30 a.m. or so at home!
I was surprised to see that the Chihuahua Airport had a Priority Pass lounge. I stopped in there for a little bit of food and drink. I then boarded my two-hour flight back to Tijuana, Mexico, on Volaris Airlines.
Using the Cross Border Xpress terminal to fly into and out of Tijuana was convenient. They charge about $30 extra per round-trip to use CBX for trips entirely within Mexico. I think that’s a good value.
I don’t wanna say that I am an entertainment junkie. You might have figured that out already. When I got home from Mexico, I spent the afternoon in a movie theater. That evening Carol and I went to a college basketball tournament just 10 miles from our house. The “SoCal Classic” was being played in a high school gym. We were able to see the Bradley University Braves beat the Tulane Green Wave. I grew up near Peoria, Illinois home of Bradley University. Back in the day, Bradley was commonly a top-ten team. I remember them being ranked as high as #2 in the country second only to the University of Cincinnati their Missouri Valley conference rival.
My trip to Mexico was a good one. From my point of view, every one of the trips I take is a good one. I think if you approach travel and adventure with an attitude like that you’re going to have a good life.
Thanks for coming along with me to Mexico. I hope you enjoyed the adventure and might be able to reapply some of the things I talked about in your own travels.
Randy Lewis.
P.S. We’ll be talking about the best strategy to use when buying a new car in the next edition of my newsletter. See you then!