Bader Field

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

 

Today’s undertaking was just one of more than 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the long and dusty trackchasing trail. If you would like to see where I’ve been and experience those adventures here’s the link:

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

 

 

SUNDAY

Last night I checked into my Sheraton Hotel at about 2 a.m. I had just experienced toll road shock.

 

 

When I left the Cove View Speedway bound for the greater Philadelphia area I had two options regarding which route I should take. The no toll ways option would take 20 minutes longer than if I went on Interstate 76 which is a toll road.

 

 

I wasn’t sure I wanted to chance driving through Pennsylvania on winding two lane roads if I chose the non-toll way option. I figured how much could the toll over to Philly be anyway? The answer was a lot! The toll fee was $22.50 further depleting my U.S. cash stash.

 

 

When I checked into my hotel at 2 a.m. there was a fellow guest buying a bag of potato chips. When I rode the elevator down this morning at 9:30 a.m. I ran into the same guy. He said to me, “You had a pretty short night didn’t you?” All I could say was, “Welcome to the long and dusty trackchasing trail.”

 

 

I was headed down to Atlantic City, New Jersey for an afternoon race today. It all went well, and there were no guarantees, I would be sleeping in my own bed tonight. That right. I would spend the afternoon in New Jersey and be back at our modest seaside cottage in the sleepy little village of San Clemente, California this evening. I love jet airplanes.

 

 

For 19 days I’ve tried to dictate a few notes after each trackchasing and touring adventure. When I get home I’ll take a look at all of those notes, condense them and then add my famous YouTube videos and photo albums to the entire operation. That way you can get a complete picture of what I saw even if you couldn’t be there.

 

 

Carol and I have been to Atlantic City a time or two. We went to the indoor races at the Atlantic City Convention Hall back in 1981.  At the time the building was home to the Miss American contest.  That was a while ago. On that night I was seeing my 92nd lifetime track.

 

 

Atlantic City, as a casino/tourist area, was just getting going back then. At the time I told Carol I didn’t think they had much chance of success. It looks as if history is bearing that comment out. Several Atlantic City casinos have declared bankruptcy.

 

 

When we were there they only had two or three casinos built. Each one was about a block from the other. The space in between those casinos was a rundown blighted inner-city area. Additionally we were there during cold weather season. The wind blew in off the water creating a very uncomfortable outdoor walking situation.

 

 

I wondered how in the world these folks were going to keep up with Las Vegas. Las Vegas had history and a strong clientele of travelers who wanted to go to a warmer weather climate. Granted Las Vegas can be a heat furnace for four months of the year but that’s probably better than having your face frozen stiff.

 

 

Today I was returning to Atlantic City to see Red Bull Global Rallycross racing. This group has been in business in the United States for three or four years now. I’ve seen racing with the GRC group at nearly 10 locations.

 

 

Today there just happened to be a McDonald’s sitting right across the street from the parking area of the race venue. I figured if I stopped in there I could get some refreshment at a price lower than what was being offered at the races. I’m a big fan of a few select Mickey D offerings.

 

 

I purchased two double cheeseburgers and a large Diet Coke for the princely sum of $4.58 U.S. Just a Coke at the track probably would have cost that much. I doubted I could have gotten a sandwich that tasted as good as the McDonalds double cheeseburger.

 

 

I toyed with the idea of leaving my car parked at McDonald’s. Yes, there were signs saying that if anyone parked there for longer than 60 minutes they would be towed away. They even had a special sign explaining what the cost would be based upon the gross vehicle weight of your car or truck!

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Bader Field – Atlantic City, New Jersey

 

 

However, based upon the general inefficiency and cleanliness of this particular McDonald’s I didn’t suspect they would have a very robust monitoring system within their parking lot this afternoon. I left my car at McDonald’s. Then I walked across the street and purchased my race ticket.

 

 

I got to thinking. Today’s parking charge at the event was $10. I thought it was going to be more. It would cost me a lot if my car got towed. More importantly the time it could take me to retrieve a towed rental car would likely decrease my ability to make a flight home tonight. I didn’t like the sound of that. I would pay the $10 “insurance premium” and park in the venue’s large parking lot.

 

 

Rallycross racing has different definitions depending upon what group is running a rallycross activity. With today’s rallycross the cars would be driving on a mixed surface track.

 

 

The Red Bull Global Rallycross group has about 10 races a year spread all across the country. Right off the top I can recall having seen their events in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Austin, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas (twice) and a couple of other locations that don’t come to mind right now. I’ve even seen rallycross racing in Poland, Denmark and England.

 

 

There are some things I like about what these folks are doing. It’s great being able to get into an arena with full access to the paddock area. In the paddock I can stand within a few feet of where the mechanics and drivers are working with their racing machines.

 

 

I like the idea that they race in the afternoon as well as on Sundays. Sometimes it’s difficult to find a new track opportunity on a Sunday. If I see a group racing in the afternoon I might be able to tie it in with an evening event. The mixed surface track idea is always going to give me a new track opportunity.

 

 

However there are some things that I don’t really care for about their promotions. First of all, I think $35 for a single day ticket is way overpriced for the entertainment they offer. NASCAR Sprint Cup racing is the premier series in the United States. I never need to pay more than $20 to get an excellent seat location at a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. 

 

 

The tracks these folks use are located on temporary race grounds. The length of the tracks is normally around a mile. Usually about 80% of the track is paved with the balance (I was too lazy to figure out the exact number) of the track being dirt. They also have a jump or two built into the track.

 

 

Rallycross racing employs the “joker lap”. The joker lap is an option that MUST be used during one lap of the race but for no more than one lap. The joker lap provides an alternative piece of track to use. Driving the joker lap normally takes a couple more seconds to complete. I’ve never really understood the strategy on when in the race the joker lap should be used. The races are short. I guess that’s O.K. because they rarely have very many cars in the race. Having just six cars or less race on a one-mile or so road course doesn’t offer a lot of excitement.

 

 

They race two classes, the supercars and the lites. From what I can tell the cars look to be nearly identical on the outside. I don’t follow rallycross racing that much. Therefore, other than one or two drivers, I’ve never heard of any of the people that race in this series.

 

 

I read a promotional article about the group this weekend. They were bragging that two cars had just joined the group bringing the grand total of supercars to thirteen. What would the fan reaction be if the Daytona 500 or the World 100 or the Knoxville Nationals brought a total of 13 cars? I know the answer to that question. The fans would riot! They would overthrow the government. There would be no joy in Mudville. Heck, even IndyCar has more than thirteen cars. However, the Red Bull Global Rallycross group thought it worthwhile to let the fans know that they had grown to thirteen cars.

 

 

The races are short just five or six laps for the heats. They start from a standing start which I find very exciting. From what I could see the starting area for today’s racing could be seen by only a very small portion of the crowd. What was up with that?

 

 

 

Once the car’s get out of the course there is virtually no passing. That’s not all that unusual nowadays. That puts them on a par with the World of Outlaws sprint cars!

 

 

The Red Bull Global Rallycross sanctioning body has about a 50-50 chance of returning to a track the next year after an inaugural event. What do you think that means?

 

 

For a group that’s got a TV contract with NBC the crowds they attract are very small. I’m going to guess there were 1,000 spectators in the stands today. It’s difficult to estimate the crowd size. At just about any time half the crowd is milling around back by the concessions are over in the paddock area. There is a distinct possibility there were not 1,000 people here today. I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

Again what would NASCAR, Eldora or Knoxville say if 1,000 people showed up for one of their premier once a year races? Several county fairs that I’ve attended this summer season have had as many people as what this nationally televised group gets. Remember fans vote with their feet.

 

 

So there you have it. There are number of things that I like about this racing. There are probably more things that I’m not that wild about. Nevertheless, I will continue to visit their race events whenever it’s at a venue that I haven’t visited. Why? I’m at trackchaser. That’s what I do. I would not consider returning to one of their shows if it was at a track I had already seen.

 

 

Today’s weather was generally nice. It was a bit on the warm side with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s. I don’t know what the Red Bull Global Rallycross view is toward racing in the rain. At every one of their events that I’ve seen the weather has been hot and sunny.

 

 

I had toyed with the idea, not all that seriously, of coming to this track yesterday. They were planning on having of couple heat races with the majority of the program being today, Sunday. I’m glad I didn’t do that. In talking with some fans in the stands they told me that yesterday the asphalt part of the track had buckled a bit. That meant there were no races yesterday only practice. Today they would run all of the heats, last chance qualifiers and main events.

 

 

The paddock area was a long distance from the two or three grandstands that had been temporarily set up. Nevertheless one of the highlights for me at a Red Bull Global Rallycross event is going down into the paddock and getting some really close up photos of the racecars. These are very good-looking racecars. I’d love to see them on a quarter-mile high-banked dirt oval! I’d love to see NASCAR Sprint Cup race on a quarter-mile high-banked dirt oval!

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RACES

 

 

When it was time to leave I began to look back on this trip. For a fellow who has seen racing at more than 2,200 tracks this had been a very productive outing. I started out thinking this would be a 12-day trip. Mid trip it morphed into lasting a week longer.

 

 

During the adventure I drove three rental cars 5,997 miles. I flew on four airplanes for a total of 6,088 miles. In the 19 total days of the trip I had three days off from trackchasing. I returned to see racing at two really good little dirt ovals, had one rainout and saw racing at 16 new tracks.

 

 

I’ve now seen racing at 2,275 different tracks in 72 countries. Today marked my 89th new track of the 2016 season spread over just 77 trackchasing days. I’ve got a few bullets left in my revolver, but I don’t have a full clip.

 

 

I was happy to get back to the Philadelphia International airport for a flight back to Los Angeles. After spending a few minutes in the American Airlines Admirals Club just relaxing I headed toward gate B15.

 

 

I don’t often see celebrities in the airport. Probably my biggest celebrity sighting was one that happened many years ago in Los Angeles. On that day I saw Clint Eastwood come strolling by.

 

 

 

Today as I was walking in the hallways of the terminal I passed a guy who looked remarkably familiar. Could that be Henry Winkler, the Fonz? If it was he was probably getting ready to board a plane back to Los Angeles. That was my guess.

 

 

When I got to my gate who did I just see sitting in the waiting area? That’s right, Henry Winkler. Henry and his wife of 38 yours were flying in first class. Alas, I wasn’t. When I passed his seat, 4C in first class, I thought about saying, “If you need me I’ll be in the back”. However, I figured he gets bugged enough in public. We made eye contact and I passed by.

 

 

I watched movies and just kicked back in my exit row seat on the five-hour flight back home. When I landed I picked up my car that been sitting patiently for me for 19 days in the lot F LAX parking garage. I celebrated the completion of my trip with a stop at Yogurtland!

 

 

You might think that being gone for nearly three weeks on a trackchasing trip would signal a respite from travel. However that’s not the way it works in my situation. Carol and I have a couple of trips to Texas planned in the next few weeks as well as a long trip to Hawaii. Carol doesn’t go on all of the trackchasing trips but she goes on all of the best trips we take!

 

 

Of course I’m not finished trackchasing in 2016 either. The next three-four months are going to be very very busy. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Good afternoon from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

 

 

 

 

New Jersey

 

 

The Garden state

This afternoon I saw my 15th lifetime track in the Garden state, yes the Garden state. I’ve seen 15 or more tracks in 31 separate states. No one comes close to a stat like that.

 

 

 

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

New Jersey sayings: Toll road

 

 

What it usually means: A highly trafficked bridge, tunnel, or roadway that requires a meager fee for passage.

 

 

What it means in NJ: Every road. Any road. All the roads.

 

 

 

 

QUICK 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 550 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me.

 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,275

 

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 72

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.47

 

 

 

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

 

 

Click on the link below to see the video production from the racing action today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Racing from New Jersey and my recovery plan to get me back to San Clemente