Kalaeloa Raceway Park

 

Details behind these headlines and more…..all in “The Event”.

 

Carol and I were going to Alaska

 

 

Let’s stop right here. Who DOES this stuff?

 

 

500!

 

 

Carol’s a ‘part-timer’

 

 

Your system delivers the results it is designed to deliver.

 

 

Does this describe your next-door neighbor or brother in law?

 

This was a big sports week.

 

 

This didn’t feel right…..and/or I’m a dummy.

 

 

Testing the emergency preparedness system.

 

 

The bags…..the bags are going to San Diego and we’re not!

 

 

A special trackchasing day for Carol.

 

 

Hula Cross racing!

 

 

Team Bautista…nice guys.

 

 

Not the news I wanted to hear.

 

 

 

 

 

Carol and I were going to Alaska.

Carol and I woke up this morning at home in San Clemente, California. We would go to bed this evening in Anchorage, Alaska no less! Then we would head from Anchorage to Maui, Hawaii for seven days. It would take that amount of time to get accustomed to the Hawaiian islands before continuing our journey. From Maui it was on to the island of Oahu home to the Kalealoa Raceway Park. This is how the trip went.

 

 

Let’s stop right here. Who DOES this stuff?

Before I go on much further…..who DOES this stuff? Who leaves Los Angeles, stops in Alaska for a day and then continues on to Hawaii just to see a Hulacross race at a small dirt track in Hawaii? You can’t see me but I’m raising my hand. Teacher, I do I do!

 

 

Tomorrow the world.

Currently my airline sponsorship program is limited to one airline. In exactly three weeks that sponsorship program will expand to most airlines in the world. You can’t beat that.

 

 

 

500!

So off Carol and I went. It was an important trackchasing trip for me but much more important for Carol. After she saw the green flag drop on the first race of the day she would have her 500^th track in the bag. How many people have seen racing at 500 tracks? Not many. However, I would be less than forthright if I didn’t mention to you that’s it’s not a big deal with Carol. It really isn’t.

 

 

Knocking on the electronic door.

The flight from Los Angeles to Anchorage would be just over five hours. Priceline.com was sponsoring us at the Millennium Alaskan Hotel. Initially I made a reservation at the Sheraton in Anchorage. That hotel stay would require a rental car. However, once I knew we would make our flight (of course we were flying standby) I knocked on Priceline.com’s electronic door. They answered with a fine room at the Millennium Alaskan Hotel. The Millennium had an airport shuttle. That would eliminate the need for a rental car. We would only be in Alaska for 19 hours, if we made our standby flight to Maui. This Priceline move saved us about $75 U.S. in overall travel expenses. Seventy-five U.S. might not seem like much to you. However, to a couple of elderly senior citizens like us it could be the difference in eating a filet or cat food a bit later in life. Of course I might be prone to exaggeration but there is no need to waste money when you aren’t getting a better product right?

 

 

Carol’s a ‘part-timer’.

Of course, I consider Carol a “part-time” traveler. Last year she traveled overnight away from home for just 103 nights. I know. What a “piker” right?

 

 

Last year I traveled overnight away from home for 186 nights. For each of the past ten years, all in retirement, I have averaged a bit more than 160 nights on the road every year. Think of the money I have spent doing that. Was it worth it? You bet your sweet bippy it was. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

 

 

Your system delivers the results it is designed to deliver.

At Procter & Gamble, we were into “processes”. The thought was get a good system and keep improving it at every turn. If you do that again and again over time you will have a pretty good system right?

 

 

Carol and I have an outstandingly efficient traveling system. It’s so much better than your neighbors or your brother-in-laws. How do I know that? Well you obviously don’t think your neighbors or your brother-in-law are as smart as you right? I’m sure you’ve thought that many more times than once!

 

 

This is the process.

Here’s our traveling process until we reach the door of the airplane.

 

As soon as we get within 24 hours of departure I check us in online using my iPhone. Of course we are normally “standby” passengers but doing it this way provides an electronic boarding pass to get us through security.

 

 

We’ve packed our bags the night before the trip. On the 65-mile drive up to the airport we’ll use the carpool lane. Like this morning, even during morning rush hour, there is usually very little traffic in the carpool lane.

 

 

When we arrive at the airport I take Carol and our bags to the terminal. There I will drop her off. She’ll have all of our carryon rolling luggage if we are not checking a bag. If we are checking a bag for a longer trip (as we were today) she’ll be dropped off with only her carryon bag and the bag to be checked.

 

 

Once she is safely at the terminal I will make the return trip to our sponsored airport parking garage. The LAX World Parking Group has sponsored my trackchasing hobby for years. Over the course of 12 months they will pay for about 75% of my airport parking fees. I’ll “re-invest” these savings into more upscale amenities during the course of the trip.

 

 

Once I am parked I have two options. If I have the time (I normally do) and it’s not raining (It never rains in Southern California) I prefer to walk the 20 minutes to the airport terminal. My other option is to ride the Sheraton Gateway hotel shuttle (located across the street from my parking garage) to the terminal.

 

 

I prefer to walk for two reasons. First, it’s good exercise. Secondly, I know the walk will take me 20 minutes. If I have to take the shuttle it might take less than 20 minutes to get to the terminal, but if the shuttle isn’t nearby it might take more. I prefer the certainty of 20 minutes by walking.

 

 

Another reason for dropping Carol at the terminal is so she won’t have to walk 20 minutes or hassle with bags on and off the shuttle bus.

 

 

Today, after dropping Carol at the terminal, I made a brief stop at Subway to pick up some food for the long plane ride. Why do that? We weren’t sure what the airline would be serving. It might be better or worse than Subway. With Subway we were guaranteeing we would have food we enjoyed during the 5 hour plus flight.

 

 

Once at the terminal I rejoined Carol. She had already checked our one bag. While I had been Subway shopping and walking from the parking garage to the terminal she had been relaxing. She deserves it.

 

Then it was time to clear airport security. That was a simple process. We’ve been members of the once exclusive “TSA PreCheck” program. We simply show our iPhone electronic boarding pass along with our government approved photo I.D. and we’re directed to a special security line.

 

 

In the “PreCheck” line we simply put our bags on the conveyor belt and walk through the metal detector. There’s none of that taking off your shoes and belt business. We don’t have to take our jackets off. We don’t have to remove our computers or “liquids and gels” from our bags. It’s very hassle-free. Sadly, the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) wants to expand the program to the “unwashed”. These are people who are now being given admission to this special line often times without the foggiest notion of what’s happening to them. OMGoodness. It’s no fun hanging out with the unconsciously incompetent in any of life’s endeavor.

 

 

From security we go right to our private airline club room to enjoy the peace and quiet of the Alaska Airlines Board Room. I can’t say enough about the Board Room. They just came on board a few months ago as my official airline food sponsor.

 

Today we had breakfast (from the pancake machine amongst several options), watched the TV news and sank back in the high-backed luxurious leather chairs.

 

 

Does this describe your next-door neighbor or brother in law?

All too soon it was time to join the “other people” milling about in the busy LAX terminal. Now let’s stop for just a minute. Take a look out the front window. See those neighbors? Then think for a moment about that brother-in-law of yours. How many of the above steps are THEY missing? Lots I’ll bet. How many will YOU miss in the future? Not many. Why? Because you, and not your neighbors or brother-in-law, have been screened for superior intelligence (and passed) by the staff at Randy Lewis Racing.

 

 

Two or four?

You will take this information and incorporate it into your daily traveling lifestyle. You’ll be riding in the carpool lane of life. You’ll have someone paying for your airport parking. You’ll walk through airport security without a care in the world. Then with all of what has made your trip totally stress free in your back pocket you’ll be standing in front of a pancake machine. You’ll ask yourself just one question. Do I want two or four?

 

 

It’s movie time.

I provided the entertainment for Carol during the flight. No I was not doing stand-up. I had brought along my Apple MacBook Pro laptop as I do on every trip I take. Except when I’m sleeping I never like to have my laptop more than about five feet away from me. That includes during most breakfasts and lunches at home as well.

 

 

I had downloaded four full-length movies from iTunes in preparation for our trip. Three of those four films cost just 99 cents via the special “Movie of the week” option offered weekly. The fourth movie, Twelve Years a Slave, (Oscar winning “Picture of the Year”) was just $4.99. Before the trip began I stopped by Radio Shack located just a few blocks from our home. There I purchased a “splitter” so both Carol and I could plug into the same movie. I’ll use my award-winning Bose headset noise-cancelling headphones (A gift from Carol). This is my second set during this lifetime. I can’t recommend Bose highly enough.

 

 

In almost no time (that’s about five hours in my world) we were touching down in Alaska. We’ve been here several times. I’ve seen ten tracks in Alaska; Carol has seen eight. I came to Alaska once with daughter Kristy to see a race and go salmon fishing. On another occasion I was up here by myself to pick up one race, the ‘Fur Rondy’ Grand Prix. I came to Alaska during my working career as well but never scored a track.

 

 

Although it’s been summerlike in San Clemente it’s nearly winter in Alaska. However, Anchorage is never as cold as the upper Midwest even during the middle of winter. Anchorage is protected by its near water location from the really harsh winter weather. It can still get cold here but not the deathly cold that might grip the upper Midwest a time or three each winter.

 

 

 

Saturday-Friday (7 days)

 

It’s Maui time.

Our Saturday morning started with a six-hour flight from Anchorage to Maui, Hawaii. Our first stop in Maui would be a drive into the “upcountry”. The upcountry is home to our favorite Maui restaurant, the Kula Lodge. Unfortunately, today our restaurant experience was terrible. The service, the food and the pricing all contributed well below what we were looking for. We won’t be back for a good while.

 

 

The next stop would be to Costco. At home I wear shorts 99% of the time. Maybe more! However, in the packing process I forgot to bring ANY shorts to Hawaii. I guess I was focused on wearing long pants to Alaska. Any way after buying three pair of walking shorts we stumbled across “Trader Vic’s Mai Tai ready to drink cocktails in a bottle”, a 19.9 proof “elixir”. Alaska Airlines had served everyone on today’s flight a free Mai Tai from the bottles of Trader Vic’s. It was fantastic but at 19.9 proof pretty strong and a little sour. In Maui we drank an Uncle Vic’s Mai Tai or two at every sunset all week. That’s a nice way to spend an early evening.

 

 

Paradise.

From Costco it was off to the Paradise Speedway. It would be our first visit there since 2001. I’ll tell you about that experience (it wasn’t so good) as you continue reading below.

 

 

Taking a vacation from being on vacation.

We’re on vacation in Maui. Although we are also on “vacation” when we’re at home in San Clemente it just feels differently in Hawaii.

 

 

Maui is three hours behind “San Clemente” time during this part of the year. That made getting up at 6 a.m. each day (9 a.m. at home) a lot easier. During the week I had four powerwalks that covered just a bit more than 15 miles. I was able to keep my walks at just above a 4 M.P.H. pace. Each of these walks was within a few feet of the blue Pacific Ocean.

 

 

On our first night in Maui we didn’t reach our timeshare condo until nearly 10 p.m. That was after the Paradise Speedway races finished. That meant no grocery shopping for the day. That also meant it would be a good idea to have breakfast at an Hawaiian McDonalds tomorrow morning. Why? They serve local food at McDonalds in Hawaii. For breakfast Carol had the Portuguese sausage, egg and rice entrée. I had the Spam, egg and rice choice. Did you know Hawaii has the biggest market for Spam in the world?

 

 

This was a big sports week.

This was going to be a HUGE weekend for watching sports. For the most part I only watch NASCAR racing and UCLA sports on TV. However, this was going to be a special TV sports week.

 

The first event was the Texas NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Fox TV. The race was delayed by rain. Rain has affected all but one Sprint Cup race this year. That’s pretty amazing. I watched all the coverage during the rain delay on Sunday. Then I watched the actual race on Monday.

 

 

I love rain delays on TV. They give me a chance to listen in on all of the extended driver conversations and interviews. The longer the delay the more drivers I get to hear from.

 

 

However, I NEVER watch a NASCAR race live on TV. I couldn’t. Why? I don’t like listening to commercials. Virtually every TV program I watch is on a delayed basis. Heck, it’s been a long time since the winter Olympics and I’m still watching the opening ceremony. Some programs I watch on a 5-minute delay and others on a 5-month delay. I still haven’t had time to watch the Super Bowl commercials! I can’t imagine watching TV live time with a 3-minute commercial every ten minutes or more often. I don’t even want to think about the idea of having to be at my home TV when the program originally airs.

 

 

The Texas race was delayed for a LONG time. So long that Fox returned to their regular programming with a promise to get back to the fans when they had more word on whether the race would begin or be cancelled. When that happened I switched over to my new technical capability the NASCAR Sirius satellite radio broadcast available over Wi-Fi on my laptop. While they chatted away I could work on my 2014 trackchasing schedule.

 

 

On Monday night we had the men’s NCAA basketball championship game. UConn was playing Kentucky. At 3 p.m., Hawaiian time (the game would start at 9 p.m. on the East Coast), Carol and I took time out to watch the NCAA basketball championship game featuring Connecticut and Kentucky. I didn’t care all that much for either team. However, I do have kinfolk from Kentucky and we lived for a short time in Connecticut. Give me a UCLA-Bradley final anytime. By the way I can’t believe they broadcast the SAME commercials over and over again during a three-hour basketball broadcast of this magnitude. I hate TV commercials.

 

The next night the women’s NCAA basketball championship game was being played. For the first time ever both teams, again UConn and Notre Dame were undefeated. UConn killed them winning their 8^th NCAA championship title. That’s impressive.

 

 

Later in the week the Master’s golf tournament would begin. I watched most of the morning golf on both Thursday and Friday. I’ll miss most of Saturday’s play while we travel to Honolulu. We’ll also be traveling on Sunday but I will record the final day and watch it as soon as I get home.

 

 

I spent much of the day, as I always do during our spring Maui visits, researching 2014 race dates at regularly scheduled tracks. In June I will look for the July/August, 2014 county fair dates. It’s all well orchestrated and is my routine for finding race dates each year.

 

 

Most folks come to Hawaii for a vacation. In reality Hawaii for us in more like a second home. We’ve done every activity (about 20 different things) once or three times or more. At this stage we’ll sit back and relax much of the day.

 

 

On most nights before we went to bed we watched a recorded movie from the Apple iTunes movie collection. That was a lot more convenient than using Red Box and less expensive than going to a movie theatre each night. We still love “going to the show” and did on one afternoon this week. We saw a most unusual movie titled “God’s not dead”. I couldn’t believe this movie was in a commercial movie theatre. It was more like I would have seen during one of my Methodist Youth Fellowship get togethers as a teen-ager. We both liked this film. If you get the chance watch this one. You might like it too.

 

 

A trip highlight was our sunset cocktail cruise on the Trilogy, a rigged sailing catamaran. If you’re going to be retired and are going to come to Hawaii you won’t do much better than this. Highly recommended!

 

We still love “Ono’s Tacos” a roadside Mexican eatery within a block of our condo. We ate Mexican food several times this week but Ono’s is the best.

 

 

It was another successful trip to Maui. I’m guessing we’ve done the “Hawaii trip” about 60-80 times but I have obviously lost track by now. However, this trip would be a little different than most.

 

 

This had only been attempted five times.

I would be attempting to see my sixth lifetime racetrack in Hawaii. So far I’ve seen one racetrack on the island of Maui, one on Kauai and three on Oahu. With any luck I’ll see another on Oahu.

 

 

 

Saturday.

 

 

Our first trip on Island Air.

Early Saturday we caught an inter-island flight on Island Air from Maui to Honolulu. This was a 25-minute flight that cost each of us about $100 U.S. one-way. That didn’t seem like a good value but there was no alternative. I didn’t have to like it but I had to take it.

 

 

Island Air charged $15 for each checked bag. We would soon learn that our carryon baggage was limited to just 16 pounds each. Heck, the bags EMPTY weight about 16 pounds!

 

 

Now it was “mix and max” time as the line backed up behind us. Luckily we had brought along our “Snoopy” bag. This is a collapsible bag that expands when it needs to expand. We then dumped everything from our carry-on bags that was more than the allowed 16 pounds into the Snoopy bag. Now Snoopy weighed about 40 pounds. It would cost us another $15 U.S. to check THAT bag. OMGoodness.

 

 

Sticking with our Midwestern values.

Once in Honolulu we hung out at the airport for four hours to save a day’s worth of rental car charges. Yes, we were being true to our Midwestern heritages.

 

From there we were off to downtown Honolulu. We would be staying at the Aqua Skyline at the Island Colony Hotel. What a name. The hotel building was 43 stories tall. We were on the 33^rd floor. What a beautiful view.

 

 

We spent the day walking along the beach, listening to Hawaiian music and dining at “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. I wanted to see some formal entertainment but the pickings were slim.

 

 

Hawaii has been the windiest I can ever remember. All during the night it seemed as if the wind, at the 33^rd floor level, was blowing 100 M.P.H. I thought it was going to blow the hotel tower over.

 

 

Sunday.

 

 

Planning ahead.

The first item on the agenda was to see this afternoon’s auto racing. On the way to the track we dropped off our bags at the airport. Then we filled the rental car’s gas tank. Now, when the races were finished, it would be a direct shot to the airport without any delays along the way for gas or bags.

 

 

After the races……….

 

Son Jim, who lives in Honolulu and attended today’s racing had a special surprise for me after the races. More than a year ago Carol and I shipped out the former “Carol Lewis owned and Life of Virginia sponsored Lexus LS 430” to Hawaii. With my being a new Lexus owner Jim would take over ownership of the Lexus LS 430. This would be my first time to see my “old friend” (the car not Jim) since we waved good-bye as it sailed off toward Hawaii.

 

 

Better than I remembered it.

Today the car looked especially sharp. I never remembered the metallic paint looking so “metallic”. Soon Jim was telling me with a big grin, “Remember when you sent it out here it had some dings and paint chips? Now all those were gone”. It turns out that Jim had the car repainted a few months ago. It’s a 2004 model with about 127,000 miles on it. Jim loves the car. Heck, it probably rides better than my 2013 model. Nice job Jim.

 

 

From there Jim and Erin (more on Erin soon) headed off toward downtown Honolulu toward his home. Then Carol and I drove toward the airport to return our rental car.   All of that was going well when…..

 

 

This didn’t feel right…..and/or I’m a dummy.

We grabbed our luggage from the trunk of the rental car. I immediately noticed my computer case was much lighter than normal. Why was that? There was no laptop in my computer case!

 

 

Instantly I remembered where I had put it in our hotel room when we were packing to leave this morning. I had left my laptop in our hotel room. That was bad very bad.

 

 

Testing the emergency preparedness system.

It was now 1:50 p.m. We were standing by for a flight that would leave at 3:20 p.m. I thought I might have time to drive back into the city to get up. However, that would be awfully tight.

 

Then I thought about Jim and Erin. They should have been arriving into downtown Honolulu, near our hotel, about now. I quickly gave them a call. Yes, they could help. Then I called the hotel. Yes, they had my computer. When all of the final details were discussed Jim got my computer and delivered it to me at the airport at 2:30 p.m. This was just 40 minutes after I discovered it was missing. There was plenty of time for us to clear security WITH my laptop.

 

 

San Diego bound.

We were standing by for a flight to San Diego. The plane had 157 seats. Some 155 of them were sold leaving two seats for standby passengers. For the longest time, several days, we were the first two standby passengers. Then with less than two hours to go two more passengers, with more standby seniority, jumped in ahead of us. That’s how it goes in the “standby” game. It turned out that all 155 passengers with paid tickets showed up. What did that mean? We didn’t make the flight!

 

 

We trudged off to the Delta “Sky Club” in Honolulu to lick our wounds. We would have to go to plan B and maybe plan C or D or further back into the alphabet.

 

 

My Alaska Airlines Board Room membership allows us to use several (about 40) airline clubs operated by Delta Airlines and American Airlines. If I have a layover then having the resources of a private airline club is a real advantage.

 

 

Just short of ‘break-even’.

Today’s visit to the airline club by both Carol and me were visits #31 and #32. We need just thirty-three to “break even”. After that everything will be “free” for the rest of the year. Today marks the 90^th day since my “Board Room” membership began.

 

 

We dined on Jack Daniels, red wine as well as crackers, olives, munchies and the like. We didn’t like hanging around the airport but if we had too this was a good way to do it.

 

 

Our next alternative would be an 8:10 p.m. overnight flight to Seattle. There were two open seats and we were #4 and #5 on the standby list. We just needed three people with paid tickets to decide they wanted to enjoy Hawaii for a little bit longer.

 

 

The bags…..the bags are going to San Diego and we’re not!

While we were in the Delta Sky Lounge an important situation was identified to be a problem. Our bags were going to San Diego but we were not. Ultimately, we would most likely end up in Los Angeles. That’s where our car was parked.

 

 

Los Angeles is about 100 miles from San Diego. It wouldn’t be much fun to land in Los Angeles, then have to drive 100 miles to San Diego to get the bags and then another 60 miles back home to San Clemente. I made a special trip outside of airport security to get our bags re-routed. The Alaska Airlines personnel were pleasant and on the ball as always. They would re-route the bags to Los Angeles. Now it was a question of who would get to LAX first the bags or us.

 

 

I was happy for Carol.

After we missed the San Diego flight I examined our options. Frankly nothing looked spectacular for the flights heading back to the mainland. Our best shot was a plane heading to Seattle. There was one open seat and 14 standby passengers. That didn’t look great. We were #5 and #6 on the list.

 

 

However, as good fortune would have it our names were called to take the last two seats. We smiled, grabbed our boarding passes and headed on down the jet way. Not so fast. We were called back. Upon further review they didn’t have TWO seats they had just one. Carol and I had discussed this possibility. She would go; I would stay.

 

 

However, at the very last second an Alaska Airlines employee saw our plight. She was ahead of us on the standby list. She told the gate agent that she would take the “jump seat”. That would allow two seats to become available for us not just one. Carol and I would both be going to Seattle. The AS employee had done us a “solid”. Thank you!

 

 

Kalaeloa Raceway Park – Barbers Point Housing, Hawaii

 

 

A special trackchasing day for Carol.

Today I was seeing my 6^th track in Hawaii. No one has seen that many here. However, more importantly Carol was seeing her 500^th lifetime track. That was cool!

 

 

Carol and I had been to the Kalealoa Raceway Park back in December 2012 (track #1813) for racing on their oval track. Our son Jim joined us on that day and he would be here today along with his girlfriend, Erin.

 

 

Hula Cross racing!

When Carol and I showed up we were the first non-local racing family spectators. Then when Jim and Erin drove up they were the third and fourth non-family spectators. We were all set for a day of “Hula Cross” racing. This was going to be fun on a wind-swept sunny afternoon with intermittent rain showers.

 

 

The plan is always “Subject to change”.

However, as you have come to learn if you have been reading these reports for very long, the plan is always “subject to change”. I pride myself on my planning. I think that’s the #1 reason I’ve seen so many more tracks than my fellow competitors. However, even if you PLAN to push a string uphill that doesn’t mean it will be easy.

 

 

Strategic idea or scam?

Carol and I paid $10 each for our general admission/pit pass wristbands. Jim and Erin paid just $16 for their two wristbands. Why did they get a discount? According to Jim he had a one hundred dollar bill and 16 bucks in change. The ticket seller agreed to take the 16 dollars. Even I hadn’t thought of THAT tactic.

 

 

Support from the locals.

Just before the driver’s meeting I ran into Mike Kitchens. Mike is a director at the track. He helped me during our last visit to Kalaeloa Raceway Park. I was telling Mike why I was here again after my visit of just 18 months ago.

 

I explained how the three main track configurations allowed by trackchasing rules are ovals, road courses and figure 8 tracks. I told him how much we were looking forward to seeing the “Hulacross” event on their dirt road course.

 

 

New news!

He looked at me and smiled and said something to the effect, “Today the Hulacross race will be held on a figure 8 track”. That would be fine with me. I figured if I saw a Hulacross event on a figure 8 track that someday I could come back and watch a Hulacross event on a dirt road course. When the plan changes sometimes it is for the better.

 

 

Editor’s note: During 2014 the Kalaeloa Raceway Park was forced to close due to conflicts with a former partner and hassles from local government. That’s too bad. Those folks worked so hard to get this thing going. I hope they make it back in one form or another.

 

I soon discovered there were just four Hulacross competitors in attendance today. I asked around and learned that last year they averaged about six Hulacross cars and six Hulacross trucks at each event.

 

 

Nevertheless, they would still be racing with only four competitors. There were also kids racing on motorcycles and ATVs. They race on an inner oval of sorts with a few jumps added to the track.

 

 

Team Bautista…nice guys.

I spent some time taking with Tatum Bautista. This young man races the #213 orange and white 1987 Jeep SUV. He’s part of a racing team with his dad. Tatum’s dad, Curtis Bautista Sr. also races a #213 red SUV. I asked these guys how they came up with their number? “It’s our house number” Curtis told me.

 

 

Racing started a little later than originally planned. That was no problem. This is Hawaii and “Hawaii time” is used. The first event of the day, following the water truck, was practice for the figure 8 race and then practice for the motorcycles and ATVs.

 

 

Water…bring on the water.

Practice turned up one important fact. The track needed more water. We moved from the main grandstand that was getting all the dust from a 25 M.P.H. wind to the pit area grandstand. Now the wind was at our back for the most part….much better.

 

 

The Hulacross folks would have a five-lap heat race and a five-lap feature event. The figure 8 track overlaid the turns of the oval track. The figure 8 straights and “X” were in the infield of the oval.

 

 

Never ever before.

Just about everywhere I go I see something I have never seen before. I don’t know how that is but it is. Today as the figure 8 racers roared into their first turn they encountered a small hill. I can’t recall ever seeing a figure 8 track with such an obstacle.

 

 

We had been in Hawaii for the past eight days. It was time to head for home following today’s racing. Even though there were only four competitors it was fun to “count one more”. The people were nice. I think they liked the idea that someone had come to see them race.

 

 

Not the news I wanted to hear.

However, we did learn of some sad news at the end of the event. Due to today’s low car (SUV) count they might not be having any more Hulacross events. From what I can tell by my research it was the Hulacross racing that first got this track going before the oval track was up and running. I’ll stay tuned, as “Hawaii’s #1 Trackchaser”. You never know when the next Aloha track will spring forward.

 

 

Editor’s note:  In late 2014 I learned the Kalaeloa Raceway Park track had shut down.  Almost from day 1 they’ve had trouble with a former partner and the government over land use.  The folks who run KRP are nice people who just want to have a place to race.  I hope they get KRP opened up again or find another place to race.  Randy Lewis Racing supports the Kalaeloa Raceway Park 100%.

 

Again, don’t miss the video and the pictures!

 

 

 

Paradise Speedway – Maui, Hawaii

 

This week’s racing preliminary event.

Lots of sporting events have an undercard or preliminary event. This week’s trackchasing trip was no different. Our visit to the Paradise Speedway was the preliminary event of this Hawaiian adventure.

 

 

Retroactive…..not my cup of tea.

Back on November 11, 2001 Carol and I made our first visit to the Paradise Speedway. It was my 534^th lifetime track to see. Interestingly, tracks #535-#544 were all figure 8 tracks. No, I have never gone to ten straight figure 8 venues. However, when the trackchasing group approved the “countability” of figure 8 tracks in late 2001, the ten figure 8 tracks I had seen previously had been added “retroactively”.

 

 

By the way, back in 2001, after seeing my 534^th lifetime track I was only ranked #12 in the world. A lot has changed in the past 13 years!

 

 

Don’t miss my Trackchaser Report from 13 years ago.

The 2001 visit to the Paradise Speedway was a day race. Luckily I can easily look back on the Trackchaser Report from that November day. You can too! Just click on this link to see how it all happened with the Paradise Speedway

 

 

My history with Paradise Speedway

 

 

For our 2014 visit I had communicated with the track promoter. The Paradise Speedway races just one time each month on Saturdays. We are in Maui for two Saturday nights each year. Luckily for us we would be on the island for their April, 2014 race.

 

 

When asked the track vice president, Doug Bell responded with some very specific information. Here’s what he said,

 

 

“Aloha Randy,

 

Racing in April is on Sat. night April 5. Gates open at 3:30pm if you want good parking, admission $12.00.

Time trials begin about 6:00 pm.

 

Hope to see you at the races, Doug Bell, Vice President”

 

 

We arrived at about 6 p.m. and they were on schedule. When we entered the gates we bought our tickets while still inside our car. It was kinda like entering an old drive-in movie. I wonder how many people sneak in inside the car’s trunk! We were giving a small program that detailed tonight’s racing plan.

 

 

From the program we learned there would be four classes of racing. Those were the 1) 4-cylinder bombers, 2) 4-cylinder modified and trucks, 3) street stock V-8, 4) super street V-8. Each class would have an 8-lap trophy dash (that’s a long trophy dash), 12-lap heats and a 16-lap feature.

 

 

What an unusual track intermission.

Somewhat unusually the program told of a 30-minute intermission between the heat races and feature events. During intermission the fans could, “Check out the drivers and their machines! Bring the whole family down on the track. Take pictures, shake hands with the drivers and check out their machines”. That was a nice touch.

 

 

Lots of Hawaii differences.

The Paradise Speedway “environment” is a good deal different than most short tracks I have visited. First of all the “dirt” in and around the track is not really dirt. It’s volcanic rock that has morphed into Hawaii’s version of dirt.

 

 

There was a very large crowd, for Hawaiian racing, on hand. The lion’s share of the crowd had their vehicles backed up toward the track. They were barbequing and having a grand time.

 

 

The P.A. system was good and the announcer informed the crowd about how the program was going to run. That’s always a good idea. Many announcers  don’t do that. I think it’s a great benefit for new fans. Bathrooms were porta-potties and the concession stand was a mobile food trailer.

 

 

Just one problem and it was a big problem.

There was just one problem with the evening. It was a major problem just as the lung choking dust was back in 2001. Tonight there was no dust. The track was moist and tacky. So what was the problem?

 

 

Bugs! Mosquitos! I’ve been to Maui a zillion times. Never in my life have I noticed any biting bugs while in Hawaii. It turns out that they’ve received the most rain ever this spring. This results in a beautiful green island the greenest I think I’ve ever seen.

 

 

However, I HATE bugs and mosquitos. In California we have none of this stuff. It was impossible to comfortably to watch the races. We weren’t planning to stay for the entire evening anyway. With a three-hour time zone change and a six-hour flight I just wanted to make a brief return visit to see how the track had progressed since 2001.

 

 

However, with the bugs infiltrating our car and biting us about the body we stayed for the four trophy dash races. Heck, even the locals were swinging their arms and hands because of the bugs. It was really bad.

 

 

Car counts have always been slim at each of the Hawaii tracks (5) that I have visited. Tonight two of the four trophy dashes had just three entries. I’m going to guess that were only about a dozen or so racers on hand. That’s not many for a program that charges $12 and attracts 500-600 fans. They need more cars.

 

 

Don’t miss the video. It will give you a sense of what they are doing at the Paradise Speedway in Maui.

 

 

 

STATE COMPARISONS

 

Hawaii

 

The Aloha State

This afternoon I saw my 6th lifetime track in the Aloha state, yes the Aloha state.

 

 

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

Hawaii sayings: Hawaii, where the grass is always greener, and the pineapple is always sweeter.

 

 

QUICK FACTS

 

 

AIRPLANE

Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Anchorage, AK (ANC) – 2,346 miles

Anchorage, AK (ANC) – Maui, HI (OGG) – 2,803 miles

Maui, HI (OGG) – Honolulu, HI (HNL) – 100 miles

 

 

RENTAL CAR

Honolulu International Airport – trip begins

Barber’s Point Housing, HI

Honolulu International Airport – trip ends – 74 miles

 

 

AIRPLANE

Honolulu, HI (HNL) – Seattle, WA (SEA) – 2,688 miles

Seattle, WA (SEA) – Los Angeles, CA – 958 miles

 

 

 

Total air miles – 8,877 (5 flights)

Total rental car miles – 261 (2 cars)

 

 

Total miles traveled on this trip – 9,138 miles 

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMISSION PRICES:

Kalealoa Raceway Park – $10

 

 

 

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

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,941

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Click on the link below:

 

Picasa photo album from our day at the Kalaeloa Raceway Park

 

 

Hula cross figure 8 racing from Kalealoa Raceway Park

 

 

 

Stock car racing from Paradise Speedway