Gateway International Raceway

 

 

 

THE EVENT

 

 

 

ON THE WAY TO THE RACES

 

From here to there and back.

I woke up this morning in the Doubletree Suites Hotel by Hilton in Seattle, Washington. I went to sleep in a Holiday Inn in St. Louis, Missouri. Then on Monday I played a round of golf with my long-time friend and business associate Ron Otto. Following golf I hightailed it home to our cozy little cottage in San Clemente, California. This is how my trackchasing day turned out.

 

 

SATURDAY

 

 

Early to rise and late to bed keeps the doctor away.

Yesterday Carol and I left our home at 3:19 a.m. bound for the Northwest. We landed at the Seattle International Airport at 8:38 a.m. By midnight we had logged 480 miles on our rental car’s odometer.

 

 

We were ready for some slumber when the front desk clerk handed out two warm chocolate chip cookies as clerks at Doubletree are wont to do. Of course they are directed by Doubletree corporate policy.

 

 

No, this is not most people’s story.

By the time we hit the sack it was past 1 a.m. today. My wake-up call came at 4:45 a.m. What you are about to read is a true story it just isn’t most people’s story. That is O.K.

 

 

SUNDAY

 

Carol and I are not joined at the hip.

Carol and I had different plans for today. A little bit later this morning she would hop on a plane and fly back to the Los International Airport. Her trackchasing trip was done.

 

 

I always keep my promises.

That’s right. I had promised her “one night out – two tracks”. She could buy into that phrase. However, flying to the Midwest in search of more trackchasing infamy did not appeal to her.

 

 

I, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions toward trackchasing infamy. Carol is not competing against anyone. I am competing, albeit with limited financial resources, against those Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers. It is a never-ending consequence. Madison, Illinois would be the day’s stage.

 

Why? I’m retired!

My wake-up call came at 4:45 a.m. Yesterday my wake-up call came at 2:55 a.m. What’s wrong with this picture? I’m retired. I don’t HAVE to get up that early.

 

 

Soon I had returned my rental car and cleared security at “SEATAC”. Then I grabbed a fairly wide-open flight from Seattle to St. Louis.

 

 

Golf bag. Rental car. Go!

Before I knew it I was claiming my golf bag and jumping on the National Car Rental shuttle bus. Who would I find driving the shuttle? It was none other than “Denise” who had recommended “Tucker’s Place” as a great St. Louis steakhouse just two weeks ago to Carol and I on our way to the Belle Clair Speedway. I mentioned this to her.

 

Are you traveling too much when the rental car bus driver remembers your story?

Denise’s reply to me was “Did you make it to Belleville?” You might recall that Carol and I wanted a nice steak dinner. Following our meal we headed over to the Belle Clair Speedway in Belleville, Illinois.

 

 

It had been two weeks since we went to Belleville. How many people had Denise served since we saw here last? She remembered she had given me some advice on how best to get to Belleville….two weeks ago. I found that pretty amazing.

 

 

Rained out…but not a problem for me.

Earlier in the day I had received an email from the TORC Off-Road racing group. They were telling me that yesterday’s racing at the Gateway Motorsports Park had been canceled by rain. They would race Saturday’s event on Sunday morning. Then the race I was planning to see would go on as scheduled at 3 p.m.

 

 

Was this worth the risk?

I had taken a chance and purchased my ticket on line. I did it to save five bucks. However, getting my ticket for $15 rather than twenty dollars carried some risk. What if I didn’t make my flight to St. Louis? What if it rained on Sunday? The precip forecast called for a 50% chance of rain at race time today.

 

 

Nevertheless, when I landed in St. Louis it was sunny. It was also warm. St. Louis can be a very warm city in the summertime. However, this was only mid-May. Today’s temperature approached 85 with sun and humidity to match.

 

Rain record SMASHED in Los Angeles!

This area has been getting a lot of rain. Lots of places have. As a matter of fact, the greater Los Angeles area got some mid-May rain earlier in the week. The rain in SoCal broke the all-time record for the date.

 

 

The rain we received was more than FIVE TIMES greater than the most ever rain received on this day in May. Can you imagine how much rain it would take to beat the record in YOUR city for a day in May by FIVE TIMES?

 

 

However, before you think the drought is over in SoCal hold on for just a minute. The “record-breaking” rainfall for the day was just 0.16 inches. That broke the day’s old record of 0.03 inches of rain. Can you imagine a “rainfall” of 0.16 inches making headline news for the day? That’s how we think about things in SoCal.

 

A first for Gateway but a third for me at Gateway.

However, this is a report about trackchasing. Let’s get to it. This was going to be the first ever “stadium off-road race” at Gateway. They had constructed a dirt road course on the other side of Interstate 55 from where their oval, asphalt road course and drag strip are located.

 

A nice advantage to seeing stadium off-road racing is that your ticket price includes admission to the paddock (pit area). You can walk amongst the racers and racing teams to your heart’s content. It continues to amaze me that somehow these guys can let you in the paddock area for no additional charge but our friends who run oval tracks cannot. It is certainly mind-boggling.

 

 

I’m not sure about the financials.

I think some of the stadium off-road racing organizations appear to be operating on thin ice. TORC may or may not be amongst that group.

 

I know these sanctioning bodies almost never advertise the purses for these races. Often times they have some sort of TV contract to broadcast the races on a delayed basis. However, the only racing organization that gets any kind of viewership in racing is NASCAR.

 

 

A video worth watching.

Today’s stadium off-road racing was contested over a 1-mile or so dirt road course. There were jumps and bumps and the trucks were all over the course. I won’t try to describe it to you. Check out the video.

 

I use a special “profiling” technique for this.

Whenever I sit down in the grandstand I look over the crowd. Is there anyone who might look like an interesting person to talk too? Today I did very well with that endeavor. I sat next to a retired Air Force man who enjoyed motorcycles and racing. He was in the stands to see the truck race that was crew chiefed by his nephew. We enjoyed each other’s company.

 

Temporary or permanent?

The racetrack was in all likelihood a temporary one. However, I guess they could just leave it there on a permanent basis.

 

 

Not your father’s oval friends.

The fan demographic is very unusual at stadium off-road events. If you were to go to a stand-alone USAC sprint car race older white males would dominate the grandstands. NASCAR gets a surprising amount of middle-aged woman attending with their male friends/husbands.

 

 

Stadium off-road racing gets what I call the “skater” crowd. These are mainly younger males who like to wear black. They have black rubber soled shoes, black socks and often black shorts, shirts and hats. The fan demographic is noticeably different.

 

 

Three’s the charm.

I took a lot of picture sand enough video for an entertaining movie. This was my third visit to Gateway. I can’t imagine coming back here again. However, I probably said that after visit #1 and visit #2.

 

Shower, suds and substance.

Following the racing I hustled over to my Holiday Inn in St. Louis. After a quick shower I was off to see my long-time friend Ron Otto and his wife Sandy. I treated them to dinner and we had lots of smiles and laughs. I had not seen Sandy in a very long time. Later, while having drinks in their lovely home, I met their son David. It was a very pleasant evening for everyone.

 

 

 

MONDAY

 

You can live your life by this saying.

It takes some commitment to be a golfer. It takes some commitment to see friends who live 2,000 miles away on a regular basis. However, I believe in the saying, “To have a friend you have to be a friend”.

 

 

Golf is a very difficult, time-consuming and expensive game. However, many years ago I dedicated myself to getting to be a pretty good golfer. By the time I retired I wanted to be able to play the game well. It took a lot of lessons and practice.

 

 

However, for the better part of 15 years I maintained a single digit handicap. That might mean something to you if you know anything about golf.

 

This is a BIG hassle.

However, traveling with golf clubs is a REAL hassle. On this trip I had to check the clubs in at LAX, then pick them up in Seattle, then check then in Seattle, then pick them up in St. Louis, then pick them up again when I didn’t make the flight from St. Louis to Seattle, then check them in again in St. Louis, then pick them up in Los Angeles. Whew!

 

 

My golf bag is nearly five feet long. It weighs about 40 pounds. No, it is not the most convenient piece of luggage to lug around.

 

The RVI days are nostalgic.

Today I would be playing golf with long time friend and business associate Ron Otto. Ron lives in St. Louis. I probably see him about twice a year. One or both of those encounters involves golf.

 

 

Ron and I have known each other from our Richardson-Vicks days. He joined the company in 1975 and I did in 1972. Today Ron gave me a photo of us, as well as some of the wives (including Carol) from 1981. We were on the ski slopes of Vail, Colorado. You will see I was wearing my Bell Helmets jacket at the time. If you ever went to Ascot Park you know that jacket was worn by more people than any other jacket for years. I still have it. I can’t give it up for sentimental reasons.

 

A nice golf course on a decent day.

Today we played at the Pevely Farms Golf Club in Pevely, Missouri. Of course, Pevely is also home to the I-55 Raceways (Lifetime track #168).

 

 

I don’t play all that much golf any more. I don’t have the time and my motivation wanes. Today was just my eighth round of the year. No one should feel too sorry for me. I’ve played about 2,000 rounds in the past 20-25 years.

 

 

How will I ever shoot my age at this rate?

I used to shoot in the low 80s.   Now I shoot in the high 80s. Nevertheless, my 87 was still good for low score today. I guess I should be happy. However, most golfers have misaligned expectations of their ability, me included.

 

Keep those rug rats in school!

It was fun to stay over and play golf and see my friend. However, school has just let out for the summer in St. Louis. How does that affect me? Families were beginning their summer vacations early. That meant the flights were packed. That meant the St. Louis airport was packed as if it were Christmas.

 

 

There are very few people who really understand what it takes to travel the way I do. Why is that? Because virtually no one I know approaches the amount and type of travel my lifestyle requires.

 

Choices.

Today was an interesting example. Because I chose to play golf with friends the available flights AFTER we finished golf were few. I really had just two choices.

 

Choice #1

First I could take a flight, assuming there were open seats, from St. Louis to Seattle leaving at 6:30 p.m. There were a few problems with that idea. First, once I got to Seattle I would have to sleep overnight in the Seattle airport. By the time I would land in Washington there would be no more flights back to Los Angeles in the evening.

 

 

If that were not enough of a problem I had my golf bag to consider. They would only check my golf bag to Seattle. That meant when I landed (again assuming I even got on the plane) I would have to leave security to get the bag. That screwed up the idea of staying INSIDE security where the best sleeping spots were.

 

 

Then there was the problem of where my checked golf bag would go if I didn’t make the flight. Normally checked luggage goes whether I make the flight as a standby passenger or not. If I didn’t make it to Seattle I probably would not be flying there at all on any later flights. That meant if my golf bag went to Seattle and I didn’t I would have an issue to deal with.

 

 

In the end I did not make the flight. I missed it by ONE seat. I’ve made a lot of flights by one seat but not this time. Luckily, I guess, my golf bag was returned to me.

 

 

Choice #2

I had one last flight to try for. I would try to leave at 9:20 p.m. on a Southwest Airlines flight. However, St. Louis is one of those airports where a passenger has to leave security (and terminals) when changing from one airline to another. There are not many airports like that and I’m glad.

 

 

I retrieved my golf bag and lugged it outside. Once outside I grabbed an “airlines terminal” shuttle to terminal 2, which is exclusively, home to Southwest Airlines.

 

 

Earlier in the day I had been told this flight was “over sold” That’s not what you want to hear when you are a standby passenger waiting for an unsold seat. The best thing about checking in with Southwest would be that my bag would go even if I did not make the flight.

 

 

That was good news for two reasons. First, it meant I would not have to deal with my clunky bag until I got back to Los Angeles. Secondly, since the Southwest flight was going TO Los Angeles my bag would be waiting for me if I ever got back to LAX.

 

 

Choice #3

However, if I did not make the Southwest flight it would be 10 p.m. There were no more flights leaving St. Louis at that point. That would throw me into a few more options.

 

 

First I would need a place to sleep. The St. Louis airport might be a choice. However, St. Louis doesn’t have the best flight options for getting back to California. I might consider renting a car and driving to Chicago. Chicago would have lots of flights TOMORROW to Los Angeles. It would be a six-hour drive. I would need to make most of that drive after about 11 p.m. tonight. The earlier I arrived in Chicago on Tuesday morning the most flights I might have a chance of getting on.

 

 

Any questions so far?

So are you tracking with me so far? As I look back on this weekend I could have easily gone back to Los Angeles from Seattle with Carol on Sunday morning. I would have spent just one night out and seen two different racetracks.

 

 

But no I elected to add one more track in Illinois and play golf with a friend. Not only was that a time-consuming process but it added several expenses as well. However, as you may have noticed, I’m the kind of guy who likes to put ten pounds of taters in a five-pound sack.

 

 

So what happened?

So what happened with the flights? I missed the 6:30 p.m. flight by one seat. In hindsight that was good. That meant I did not have to sleep in the Seattle airport.

 

 

I DID make the 9:30 p.m. non-stop flight to Los Angeles. That was good. However, the flight was delayed by two hours. That was bad. I landed at LAX by about 1:30 a.m. I landed in my San Clemente driveway at about 3:15 a.m. (that was 5:15 a.m. St. Louis time). I was still wearing my golf clothes from our 10 a.m. round of golf.

 

Funny huh? No?

Here’s a funny stat. Just three days ago Carol and I left on our trip to Seattle at about 3 a.m. Now I was returning at a little past 3 a.m. on the last day of the trip.

 

 

 

Illinois

 

 

The Illini state

This afternoon I saw my 93rd lifetime track in the Illini state, yes the Illini state. I still trail Ed Esser’s total of 99 tracks….although I’m gaining.

 

 

 

 

 

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

Illinois sayings: Meanwhile in Southern Illinois

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Seattle, WA (SEA) – 959 miles

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport – trip begins

McCleary, WA

Ephrata, WA

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport – trip ends – 480 miles

 

AIRPLANE

Seattle, WA (SEA) – St. Louis, MO (STL) – 1,707 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR #1

Lambert – St. Louis International Airport – trip begins

Madison, IL

Lambert – St. Louis International Airport – trip ends – 117 miles

 

AIRPLANE

St. Louis, MO (STL) – Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – 1,591 miles

 

 

 

Total air miles – 2,666 (3 flights)

Total rental car miles – 480 (2 cars)

 

Total miles traveled on this trip – 3,146 miles 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Straddleline OVR Park – $10

Ephrata Raceway Park – $7 – $1 senior discount

Gateway Motorsports Park – $15 – $5 advance purchase savings

 

Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $32

 

 

 

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 2,084

 

 

Total Trackchasing Countries

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 70

 

 

 

Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4.88

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE RACING

 

 

Gateway International Raceway – Madison, Illinois

 

 

My first visit to Gateway.

I first made the trek to GIR back in 1999. I was there to see racing on their 1.5-mile asphalt oval track. My overriding comment for the day was “Bad CART racing”. I didn’t see go-karts race. I saw CART or “Championship Auto Racing Team” racing. Folks, I’m talking “Indy” cars. I can honestly tell you that I have NEVER EVER seen a good Indy-car race.

 

Michael Andretti was the winner on a warm Memorial Day weekend, May 29, 1999. Later in the day I made my first ever visit to the Mt. Vernon Raceway in the Illinois town of the same name. The day before I had trackchased in Tipton, Iowa and the day after in Seymour, Wisconsin. My first visit to Gateway would count at lifetime track #370. As you know I did not begin writing my famous Trackchaser Reports until I had seen about 430 tracks.

 

My second visit to Gateway.

I waited a good five years to return to the Gateway International Raceway. Did I go back for some more CART racing on the oval. No, I didn’t have the stomach for that.

 

 

I came back on Saturday, July 31, 2004 for some Sports Car of America (SCCA) road racing. Carol joined me. Later that evening we found ourselves at the Sportsdrome Speedway in Jeffersonville, Indiana for racing on their two tracks, a figure 8 and oval.

 

 

That visit to Gateway for SCCA racing was my 749^th lifetime track to see. By that time I HAD begun writing my famous Trackchaser Reports. However, for the life of me, I can’t find that report. I don’t recall ever losing a Trackchaser Report before. If I ever find it I will post it.

 

 

Track re-visits.

You can see by now that many of my trackchasing visits are what I call “re-visits”. It’s the idea of going back to a track for a second time or a third time in Gateway’s case.

 

 

Before I ever joined the trackchasing group I didn’t count “re-visits” as extra tracks. There are a number of rules that trackchasing’s forefathers thought were a good idea….that I don’t.

 

 

Why re-visit?

“Re-visits” for trackchasers are for the purpose of seeing a “variation” of the original visited track. In Gateway’s case I first saw racing on their asphalt oval. Then I made a “re-visit” to see racing on their asphalt ROAD COURSE. Finally I made another “re-visit” to see racing on their DIRT road course.

 

 

Before I joined the trackchasing group (which I am no longer a member of) I can NEVER recall “re-visiting” a venue for the purpose of seeing some variation of the first track I counted. Never. I can never, prior to following the trackchasing rules, remember attending a freestanding figure 8 race for the purpose of seeing just a figure 8 race. Finally, the only road course I ever attended, before following trackchasing rules, was the circuit at Road America. Did I go there to wet my appetite for road racing. Nope. I went there because my college fraternity was sponsoring a weekend outing during the summer months.

 

 

Not a fan.

No, I never would have followed a large number of the trackchasing rules the forefathers found to be important on my own. I was just a one track at a venue “racechaser”. However, things have changed. Although I’m not enthused about many of the trackchasing “rules” I follow them so that my trackchasing totals can be compared on a common ground with everyone else’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day: 

 

Gateway Motorsports Park – Photo album – Track #2,084