Greetings from Avondale, Louisiana
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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NOLA Motorsports Park
Asphalt road course – 2.75-mile
Lifetime Track #1,803
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NOLA Motorsports Park
Asphalt road course – 1.8-mile
Lifetime Track #2,306
THE EVENT My trackchasing hobby takes me all over the world. Each year I will visit 25-30 American states and several foreign countries. Long ago I moved into the #1 trackchasing position in both the number of different racetracks seen as well as the number of countries where I’ve seen racing. During my media interviews and discussions with friends and fans they often ask, “When did you start trackchasing?” Yes, that’s a question I get frequently. I never know how to answer it. I started out as a “racechaser”. I went to the very best tracks where my favorite drivers were racing. Somewhere along the line I decided I liked seeing a race at a track for the FIRST time rather than the TENTH time. As I went along I learned I liked the CHASE as much or more than the RACE. By the time I started trackchasing more than racechasing I was hundreds of tracks behind the leading trackchasers most of whom started in their 20s. Here’s a list of the number of tracks I had seen by a certain age: Age 5 – 1 track Age 30 – 71 tracks Age 40 – 180 tracks Age 50 – 404 tracks Age 60 – 1,517 tracks Age 68 (today – still a kid) – 2,306 tracks Today’s adventure was one more of the 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: 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! Greetings from Avondale, Louisiana . . From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser” . . NOLA Motorsports Park Asphalt road course – 2.75-mile Lifetime Track #1,803 I was coming ‘back home’ today. THE KEYS TO THE TRIP When is the “F word” inappropriate?…………….more in “The Trip”. I couldn’t wait to get back here for the first time in a long time……………..more in “One cannot live well or sleep well if one has not dined well”. When I missed getting a seat on the first flight and had my second flight canceled by fog it called for drastic measures………..details in “The Trip”. GREETINGS FROM AVONDALE, LOUISIANA NOLA Motorsports Park – The trip from Texas through Charlie’s Steakhouse! WHO, WHAT, WHY AND WHERE The Plan This is a balancing act. I can’t kid you. There is some challenge getting to tracks spread all over the Midwest and East from California. The challenge is not just the geography that needs to be covered. There is also the cost of the trip and the need to minimize the time away from home. The objective is to see as many tracks as possible with a sharp eye on the “limiters” of travel and cost. It certainly is a balancing act. It was Louisiana or bust. I needed to be in the Louisiana area today so I could pull off the rest of the trip. Today, being Friday was the start of a multi-part plan that was linked tightly together. If one link in the chain failed the entire trip could be jeopardized. Then, in the midst of today’s trip, an unrelated item became a requirement. All of my trips are predicated on a willingness to change if something better comes up. The original plan called for trying to get a flight out of New Orleans tonight toward the Southeast. However, when the word “Charlie’s” came up my departure plan changed abruptly. I guess I could fly out tomorrow morning. What was “Charlie’s”? As you read along you’ll see. The Trip A shower, a quick kiss and an airplane ride. I woke up this morning in San Clemente, California. I went to bed in the chapel of the Houston Intercontinental Airport the first night and then the New Orleans Marriott Hotel in the French Quarter on the second night of this trip. This is what things looked like. Today’s racing would be held on Friday afternoon. That’s an unusual time for a race at a permanent road course. They normally race only on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Seeing an event like this on a Friday would be a bonus. However, that meant leaving on Thursday afternoon to get there in time for the afternoon race the next day. Following golf at the club (where I won $46 U.S.) it was a shower at home, a quick kiss for Carol and a flight to Houston. No! Not the chapel! I would not be landing until past midnight. My fight the next morning was scheduled takeoff at 7 a.m. There just wasn’t enough time to sleep in a hotel. What did that mean? It meant sleeping in the airport overnight! Ever done that? I have advisors for EVERY aspect of my trackchasing. I listen to experts and then I make the decisions on my own that will impact the trip. My advisor for sleeping in airports is, what else, www.sleepinginairports.net. Here’s just one excerpt that directed me to where I ended up tonight. This comes from an individual, just like me, who needed a place to sleep in Houston. “During the Winter of 1998, my older brother and I were heading south to Mexico like any good Canadian trying to get away from the cold. We love to travel, but we are also the typical poor students. We had an overnight wait in Houston, and had no cash (well, none that we wanted to spend at least) for a hotel. We decided we would just crash at the airport (no pun intended). After a brief search, we found an EXCELLENT place to sleep. The Religious Chapel! The pews were padded and everything! It was quiet (no TV’s blaring) and comfortable. We just used our carry on luggage as pillows and slept on the pews. For the conditions, it was an amazingly wonderful sleep. (oh yeah, don’t tell anyone, but we also used those prayer rugs for blankets) It was great and I would definitely do it again! It added a touch of excitement to a rather mundane trip. I also got a tip of where NOT to sleep. The elevators may seem ideal, quietness etc., but they keep on moving ALL night EVEN when there are no people using them! Unless if you want to be wakened up every ten minutes, stick to the Chapel or lounge chairs.” I use “OP” ideas. Other people’s ideas. Folks, I rarely come up with any good ideas on my own. However, I’m a pretty good listener. When I hear someone ELSE’S good idea I adapt it to my situation and run with it. Yes, this was the first night I can ever recall sleeping in a chapel. When Carol heard about it she thought it was a little sacrilegious. However, when I mentioned it to a woman seated next to me on an airplane she said, “God’s house is to help people”. That’s why I never argue religion. Everybody’s got a different point of view. Nevertheless, the chapel at the airport was a wonderful place to get a little overnight shuteye. Don’t miss the pictures. I’m in airports a lot. You already know that. Depending upon the time of day you will see “cycles” of people coming and going. Of course from about midnight to 5 a.m., at most airports, it’s pretty quiet. Then the place starts to get very busy with passengers taking those early morning flights. At that point it’s impossible to know who slept in their own beds last night, in the Ritz-Carlton or…..in the airport chapel. It sounds easy but it ain’t. My flight to New Orleans was leaving at 7 a.m. Of course, I would be flying standby on that flight. What did that mean? If there was an unsold seat and I had a better priority than any other standby passenger I would get that seat. However, today that was not going to work. The flights were too full. I needed an alternative. I considered Amarillo, Texas. There was a race there tonight. However, if I went to Amarillo I couldn’t get to where I wanted to go for Saturday’s race. That wouldn’t work. My next best idea was to fly to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From there it would be a two-hour drive to New Orleans. That would work. The flight was wide open. I was in business. Not so fast. That flight ended up being canceled by fog! Ouch. I was down to my last strike. This afternoon’s racing was to begin at 3:30 p.m. I had only one choice now. I would have to drive the 358 miles from the Houston airport to Avondale, Louisiana a suburb of New Orleans. I don’t mind driving that far. I do it all the time. However, after sleeping on a church pew bench the night before driving was not my first preference. This is where my sponsor chipped in. There would be no time for delays now. This morning’s plane had been cancelled at about 8:30 a.m. I needed to get a rental car reservation quickly. It would have to be a one-way rental. There would be no time to drive it back to Houston. If I drove non-stop I could make it for the afternoon race start near New Orleans. I can’t stress enough the importance of maintaining a “flexibility of mindset”. Here’s the way I do it. I have a plan A. However, if plan A goes south, then plan B must be implemented immediately. I can’t worry about why plan A didn’t work. If I want to get accomplished what I want to accomplish then I need to move on in a hurry. But Randy? “But Randy, I can understand your theory on this. It sounds like a good one. But what about the cost of one plan versus another?” the agreeable but fiscally conservative reader might comment and query. That’s where sponsorships come in. I have an associate sponsorship with the National Rental Car Company. Could they give me a car on ten minutes notice today? Yes. Would it be one of the worst cars on the lot? No. I would get to pick any car I wanted. Would they charge me a fortune for a last minute rental? Would they charge me a fortune since it would be a one-way rental? Nope, they wouldn’t. How much did they charge me? If you really must know it was $13.31 for my full-sized rental car for the day. Do you have any friends who will let you pick up their brand new car from their driveway? Then will they let you drive it more than 400 miles away from their place and LEAVE IT? Those friends are hard to come by even if you’re willing to pay thirteen dollars for the privilege. Aw S#&T….not the “F word”. I was driving toward New Orleans at a high rate of speed now. When I got there I would need a hotel. I quickly grabbed my phone, and at 80 M.P.H. gave my buddies at Motel 6 a call. The agent was giving me a rundown of the available properties near New Orleans. Just when she asked me what I thought about one of her recommendations an aggressive driver pulled in front of me sharply. That prompted an instinctive use of the “F word” in that driver’s direction. It was at this point I remembered I was still on the line with the Motel 6 rep. She responded to my brief lapse in judgment with “I guess that property won’t work for you?” Then I realized what had happened. I laughed so hard I nearly had to pull off the road. I apologized profusely. She took it in good stride. Maybe, she’s heard worse! Alas, the closest Motel 6 available was some 50 miles outside of New Orleans. That wouldn’t work. After the races……. I didn’t have much time to enjoy the Big Easy but I had some time. I’ll tell you all about my special dinner in New Orleans below. When I had finished eating what I really needed was a place to stay in town. I forgot to check out the cities local chapels! You’ve seen that I tried to stay in a Motel 6. Of course, there are much better places to stay than a Motel 6 in the “Big Easy”. However my flight was leaving at 7:15 a.m. tomorrow morning. It wouldn’t make much sense to spend a lot on a hotel if I would be leaving at 5 a.m. would it? It was time to go fishing. After rejecting some fleabag hotels listed at Booking.com I went fishing in the Priceline pond. Soon I was confirming the 5-star Marriott New Orleans hotel (The Hotel). I had landed the $339 per night prize for just $77!! However, it didn’t seem like such a wonderful catch. Why? I wouldn’t get there until after dark and would be leaving so early in the morning. I thought about going down to Pat O’Brien’s for a Hurricane (Pat O’s). No trip to New Orleans is complete without a stop there. But then I was coming off a night of sleeping on a church pew…..and driving 400 miles….and being out in the hot sun for several hours. No, I was not 23 years old anymore. I simply bedded down in my ultra luxurious Marriott digs (upgraded with my Platinum status) and slept in….until 4:30 a.m. that is. Observations You have to always be improving. Having the proper systems in place is critical to successful trackchasing. You’ve long heard me extoll the virtues of “Garth, my friendly GPS buddy” aka my Garmin GPS unit. I honestly cannot remember how I used to trackchase pre-GPS. It’s taken my fellow competitors years to get on the GPS bandwagon. Some still have not made the jump. You’ll never get better if you don’t keep improving. That’s why I have moved on from traditional GPS machines. I’m now using my iPhone for all of my directional needs. The new Apple Maps are fantastic. The maps load much faster. The “recalculation” feature is seamless and quiet. Apple Maps picks up the smaller locations like fairgrounds and the like that Garmin didn’t. You can just imagine how good the iPhone GPS system must be to get me to move off the Garmin system. It’s the F#$&%*&^ passing lane, you idiot! O.K., I need to calm down. The drivers along the I-10 freeway going to Louisiana were terrible for driving slowly in the fast lane. They need to take some lessons from those pesky Europeans. In Europe folks go into the passing lane for one reason. To pass! That’s why they call it the passing lane. If a driver is not passing somebody they should be in the slowest lane available. Is that clear? This would be a good choice. Today I rented a Chevy Equinox SUV rental vehicle. Good buddy Mike Skonicki owns one of these. If you’re in the market for a smaller SUV at this price point it seems like an excellent value. The gas mileage is good too. ONE CANNOT LIVE WELL OR SLEEP WELL IF ONE HAS NOT DINED WELL I’ve been blessed. During my thirty-year business career I was blessed. I spent the first thirteen years at Richardson-Vicks. Then Procter & Gamble acquired RVI where I spent my last seventeen years. Most of the time I was in sales. What did I like best about the jobs I held over thirty years? The work was flexible and it paid really well. You’d be surprised at the compensation package I walked away from at age 53 just so I could retire. I don’t regret the decision a bit. This city is special. New Orleans will always hold a special place in my heart. My professional business career started on July 3, 1972. That was a Monday. If my boss had been thinking he would have started me on Friday, June 30. That way I would have gotten an extra week’s vacation sooner at every interval where vacation weeks increased. However, I’m just glad he hired me in the first place! What kind of work would I be doing on my first day on the job – Monday, July 3, 1972? My job was to fly from home (Peoria, Illinois) to New Orleans, Louisiana. We would be having our National Sales Meeting for the entire week in the French Quarter. This meant I would sit in a big ballroom all day listening to product presentations. Then at night we would roam the French Quarter wearing navy blue sports jacks, burgundy colored pants and white shoes and white belts! We would eat at the very best gourmet restaurants, night after night, without any regard to the cost of the meal. Folks, this was definitely, “back in the day”. At the time I couldn’t think of anything better to do for “work”. Let me introduce you to Charlie’s. One of those restaurants at the time was “Charlie’s Steakhouse”. They had been operating since 1932. This was an old dark place with male waiters in long white aprons. The restaurant didn’t have a menu. They still don’t! The waiter would likely tell you they had the sirloin, and the filet that came in small and large sizes. They were just as likely to say “We’re out of the sirloin and we just sold the last small filet, you’re having the large filet!” It was the best. I’ve been to New Orleans some fifty times since that first week of work in 1972. I would later become regional sales manager for the company with responsibility for our business from New Orleans to Los Angeles to Seattle to Minneapolis. In that job I could hold me OWN meetings in New Orleans. I would eat at Charlie’s every chance I got. Then came Katrina. Then in August 2005 along came a hurricane known as Katrina. Katrina wiped out a lot of New Orleans. Carol and I have been to the “Big Easy” several times since Katrina. We’ve toured the Ninth District, which suffered the heaviest devastation. You’ll find some fantastic pictures of this on my website. During one of those trips we attempted to go back to Charlie’s. Sadly, we found a sign that told us the Katrina flooding had closed this famous restaurant…..for good. That was more than sad. On that day we walked less than a block down the street to my favorite New Orleans seafood restaurant, Pascal’s Manale, for their famous BBQ shrimp. I liked Pascal’s and Charlie’s about the same for different cuisines. A stroke of good fortune. While I was at the race today I got to talking with a stranger about New Orleans eateries. I mentioned that Charlie’s was my long-time favorite. I told him how badly I felt that Katrina had forced them to close. That’s when I received some shocking news. The man told me that Charlie’s had re-opened! Wow! Double wow! Soon I was doing the necessary research to get a reservation for tonight. This was going to be heaven. Following the races I made a beeline down to Charlie’s. The neighborhood isn’t the best although it is coming back. I looked a little weird bringing my briefcase, with my laptop, into the restaurant. It’s better to be safe than sorry though. I met the new owner of Charlie’s. Once inside the restaurant I tracked down the new owner Matt Dwyer. He was a former bartender at Charlie’s before it closed due to the floods. The restaurant was shuttered for three years before Matt was able to convince the owner to sell him what was left of the restaurant. He told me it took some doing to get the owner to sell. He even had to cut her grass several times!! Finally, he prevailed and Charlie’s has now been open for four years. I don’t know who was more excited. I wanted to tell Matt about my history with the place dating all the way back to 1972. He was more than willing to tell me all of the work that he had put into making Charlie’s “just the way it was” before they got a foot and a half of flood waters. I had a choice. I could eat upstairs or downstairs. Matt told me that the upstairs portion of the restaurant maintained more of its pre-flood originality. That’s what I wanted. I was the first patron to eat on the upstairs level but before I was finished the place was filling up fast. I get teary-eyed just describing this. I had to start my dining experience with a Seagram’s 7 and 7-Up aka a “7 and 7”. That brought back old memories from my first ever trip here. Folks, you need to look at the photos from this meal. It was outstanding. I started with the “lettuce wedge” smothered in blue cheese dressing that was almost gravy-like in its consistency. One of the specialties at Charlie’s is their onion rings. My waiter recommended a half-order. I’m glad he did. Even the smaller order must have been ten inches high. Of course, I couldn’t avoid the scalloped potatoes either. That serving could have fed four people! Of course, Charlie’s is a steakhouse for gosh sake. My filet mignon was served on a sizzling platter. I’ll bet it sizzled for more than five minutes. The steak, and the entire meal for that matter, was delicious. When the calorie meter began to streak past 2,000 I figured I had best pass on dessert. I love New Orleans and I love Charlie’s. I can’t wait to get back there and will at my earliest opportunity. RACE REVIEW NOLA MOTORSPORTS PARK – AVONDALE, LOUISIANA I got off to a good start at NOLA. Today’s racing would take place in warm weather. The temperature was in the mid-80s with a bright hot sun. I would be watching some thirty Ferrari racecars today. How often can you do that on a Friday afternoon? The ticket price for the two-day weekend was $35. That seemed a little steep. I told the ticket seller I was only going to be here for one day. I was arriving at 3 p.m. after much of the race day activity was finished. I didn’t tell him where I had come from. I didn’t tell him about my trackchasing standing. I didn’t ask for a discount at all. I never ask racetracks for free tickets but sometimes they give them to me anyway. The youngish ticket seller looked at me. Then he handed me a wristband and said, “No charge, have a fun time”. Folks, sometimes you just get a break in life. I’ll try to pay his kindness forward at my earliest opportunity. I was entering a brand new “country club” type auto racing facility. This place is brand new. The NOLA Motorsports Park offers racing on two different configurations of the North Track. The “long” course is 2.75 miles long. The “short” course at the North track comes in two versions. The first is 2.32 miles long and the other offering is 1.91 miles. Truth be told I had no idea which of these tracks I was watching. It didn’t really matter to me. Since this was my first ever visit to the NOLA Motorsports Park whatever variation I was watching would count. A later phone call to Wes Ratcliff, the track’s Business Development Manager told me I had seen racing on the long course. I had timed the Ferraris at about 1 minute 45 seconds per lap. I figured if nothing else I could determine which track I was watching with that information. Ferrari sports car racing…new seen that before in the U.S. Up to this point there has not been a lot of wheel to wheel (trackchasing countable racing) at NOLA. Therefore, when I found out they were having an event that featured Ferrari only racing I was more than pleased. Today I would be seeing the Challenge Club Racing group (CCR). This group was having its last race of the season (race #6) this weekend. There were three race classes (430, 360, 355). I’m going to assume that is 100% related to engine sizes. The group brought about thirty cars in total. Each of the three classes would compete in the same race. The CCR website offered this information about the group: “Challenge Club Racing (CCR) championship is a factory independent spec Ferrari racing series and the largest group of Ferrari racing privateers in the country. The 2012 CCR race at Sebring will feature 40 Ferrari racing cars, one of the largest grids of Ferraris in history. The CCR Championship drivers compete in identical Ferrari 355, 360, and 430 factory built racing cars. Drivers are not professionals, they are successful doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs in their day jobs that moonlight by living the fantasy as amateur Ferrari race car drivers. Due to the extreme value and rarity of these historic racing Ferraris, the series outlaws car to car contact, so the drivers must demonstrate not only a skill for speed but also a discipline in door to door racing.” Up close and personal. One of the very best things for a fan seeing road racing is access. Typically, the race fan can roam the paddock area at no extra charge. That’s what I did. You’ll see tons of great photos of these rare and expensive racecars. The Events Center was top of the line. Before the event I took some time to explore the NOLA Motorsports Park. They’ve only been open for a year or two. They’re off to a great start. The first part of my unofficial tour was at the track’s “Events Center”. Boy, was this impressive. It was also a welcome respite from a very warm afternoon. This was a huge well-appointed room. It must have been 200 feet long and 75 feet wide. Here fans could relax, have some food and drink and most importantly watch the racing action. Much of today’s video clips will come from this viewing point. Although I didn’t see the entire events center, it was home to the track’s office space and other activities as well. The main event was a 16-lapper for the Ferraris. As is my practice I won’t spend a lot of time telling you about the racing itself. You can see that in the videos. They race karts here too. After today’s road course racing was finished I headed on over to the kart track. This is a state of the art facility. The kart track at NOLA probably has more activity than anything else right now. They offer rental karts and a rental kart racing league. From a trackchasing view, it doesn’t look like any of the kart racing is countable. I believe they only race flat karts here. The NOLA gift shop and racer supply store were excellent. Someone has spent a good deal of money and effort making this facility a showplace. I wish them all the luck in the world. I’ll be back one of these days to see racing on their shorter circuit. Of course, when I do I’ll be sure to hit Charlie’s Steakhouse too! STATE COMPARISONS LOUISIANA The Pelican State This evening I saw my 10th lifetime track in the Pelican state, yes the Pelican state. I still have 3-4 tracks, including some weekly oval venues to see. I’ll be back. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser Peoria Old Timers Racing Club (P.O.R.C.) Hall of Fame Member Louisiana sayings: We’re not all drunken Cajun wackos, but that’s out tourism campaign TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Houston, TX (IAH) – 1,382 miles RENTAL CAR #1 George Bush (Houston) Intercontinental Airport – trip begins Avondale, LA – 201 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: NOLA Motorsports Park – Free (sponsored) LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS The three most important trackchasing comparisons to me are: Total lifetime tracks seen Total “trackchasing countries” seen Lifetime National Geographic Diversity results Total Lifetime Tracks There are no trackchasers currently within 300 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report [Enter Photo] Greetings from Avondale, Louisiana . . From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser” . . NOLA Motorsports Park Asphalt road course – 1.8-mile Lifetime Track #2,306 ON THE WAY TO THE RACES SATURDAY If everything goes really well on this trip, during a 41-hour time frame, I will see five new tracks in five separate states. I will also drive about 1,600 miles and take an airplane ride. You can do the math to see how all of that could possibly be fit into 41 hours. What about sleep you say? I don’t worry about that. Last night I needed to make an eight-hour drive from the 441 Speedway in Dublin, Georgia over to the NOLA Motorsports Park. NOLA is located just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. My goal was to drive five hours, find a place to sleep for up to four hours along the interstate, and finish up the last three hours after my rest area stop. That would get me to the Louisiana road course by twelve noon or so. I ended up driving 6 1/2 hours before stopping in a Mississippi interstate rest area. I pulled into that spot at about 3:30 a.m. I planned to sleep for four hours and then get going again. However, when I woke up after just one and a half hours I decided to begin driving again. This put me into Louisiana earlier than expected. I stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast. I try to do that on each one of my southern-based trips. I dined on waffles and grits and left the place stuffed. THE RACING NOLA Motorsports Park – Avondale, Louisiana Today’s trackchasing destination would be the NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana. This would not be my first visit to the facility. Back in 2012 I made my first trip here. On that occasion I saw racing on the “long” (2.75-mile) road course. It was my lifetime track #1,803. A few years ago Belgium trackchaser Roland Vanden Eynde proposed a rule that was accepted by the trackchasing voters. Essentially the new rule said that trackchasers could count a maximum of two road course variations if the two tracks differed just a bit. If the two tracks had at least one straightaway and three turns NOT in common then each of those tracks could be counted separately. At first blush I thought this rule was a strange way to attack the situation. Overall, I am not a huge supporter of this rule. I use it to my advantage because trackchasing is a dog eat dog ultracompetitive hobby. If one doesn’t take advantage of all of the existing rules they can quickly fall behind. Today I was going to be seeing some NASA racing on the 1.8-mile Indy style course. This course had enough differences between it and the course I saw in 2012 that I could count each one of them as a separate road course variation. Nevertheless, here’s what I don’t really like about this particular rule. The difference in the two road course variations occurred at a part of the track that was virtually out of sight from the spectator. There was really no way that I could tell from watching that the cars were racing on the 2.75-mile track or the 1.8-mile track. For the most part figure 8 tracks don’t have any variations. Often times oval tracks do have variations. They’re very easy to see with the naked eye. However, with road courses the case is often similar to the NOLA Motorsports Park today. A spectator can’t really tell if they’re racing on one road course variation or another. The NASA group organizes and promotes high performance driving schools as well as a limited amount of actual wheel-to-wheel racing. On this particular weekend they would have two 20-minute races on Saturday and two 20-minute races on Sunday. Today they had 10 drivers sign up for the 20-minute race, which apparently did not count toward NASA points. This race would begin at 1:20 p.m. Another 20-minute race would occur about two hours later. The spectator viewing opportunities at the NOLA Motorsports Park are somewhat limited. I felt there was no need to stay another two hours to watch an event that I couldn’t see very well in the first place. I did move around the best I could to get additional video and photo opportunities of the action. Nevertheless, I could really only see about half of the track very closely. The venue was busy today. They were hosting a drifting event. Those guys were first loud and secondly generated a lot of burning tire smoke and tires. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were not charging any admission today. I signed a liability release, got a wristband and headed to explore touring options of the paddock area. I like that approach. I would reinvest my ticket savings into a high quality lunch choice. I hadn’t slept all that much in the Mississippi rest area last night. I arrived at the track today by about 10:30 a.m. That gave me a couple of hours to try to get some rest but with the squealing tires of the drifters that was difficult. I wouldn’t say the NOLA Motorsports Park is a great place for spectators. Most permanent road course are not either. The worst road course racing of all is when the UTVs take off into the woods. The spectator sees less than 5% of the track in those cases. I did my very best to capture as much of the racing as I could. Today they were running on the 1.8-mile course using the Indy backstretch. That didn’t mean all that much to me other than it confirmed this would count for me in my trackchasing hobby. I hope you enjoy the video and the soundtrack that goes with it. I have Louis B. Armstrong to thank for that. I have now knocked off several variations of our nation’s road courses. Today was a pretty cheesy way to pad one’s track total. However, I don’t make the rules. I simply try to follow them. AFTER THE RACES I was still absolutely stuffed from my morning breakfast at the Waffle House. However I didn’t fancy the idea of leaving a city like New Orleans without trying some of their special Cajun creole seafood. I did a quick Yelp search and found the four-star rated Charles Seafood restaurant. It was somewhat near the track. I gassed up the Avis Rental Car Racing Toyota Camry and headed for my late Cajun lunch. The ambience of the Charles Seafood location is fantastic. It’s an older place that’s been there for quite a long time. You have to understand that I was very full from my earlier meal. I really didn’t need to eat anything until dinner. However being full has never stopped me from eating good food. One of the specialties at Charles Seafood is the Jambalaya grits. I had to try it. The appetizer was delicious. I also enjoyed a cup of their seafood gumbo. Also excellent. The half-sized shrimp Po’boy sandwich looked like a full sized portion. I would classify it as only marginal. I had enough food with the shrimp Po’boy, jambalaya grits and a serving of their freshly made bread pudding that I wouldn’t have to buy dinner any place else. I’m glad I stopped. I’ll be back to Charles Seafood one of these days. From the greater New Orleans area I had a 3 ½-hour drive over to the Southern Raceway in Milton, Florida. Yesterday, I saw a racing in Georgia. This afternoon I saw racing in Louisiana. Tonight I hope to see racing first in Florida and later in Alabama. I don’t know that any trackchasers has ever seen racing in four separate states in just a little bit more than 24 hours. To top it off, if all things work well…… and I don’t fall asleep driving overnight for the second straight night and I make an airplane, I will add a fifth state to my trackchasing weekend tomorrow afternoon. Good day from Avondale, Louisiana Louisiana The Bayou state This afternoon I saw my 12th lifetime track in the Bayou state, yes the Bayou state. I’ve seen 12 or more tracks in 40 separate states. No other chaser can match that total. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser Peoria Old Timers Racing Club (P.O.R.C.) Hall of Fame Member Louisiana sayings: “Ya Mama and dem” “Dem” is the brood and “ya mama” is, well, ya mama. In other words, this phrase means the family. 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 575 tracks of my lifetime total. Don’t blame me. Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 20 countries of my lifetime total. Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report 2012 – NOLA Motorsports Park…the trip from start to finish
. . 2012 – NOLA Motorsports Park racing action
. . 2017 – NOLA Motorsports Park – racing on the 1.8M Indy style course
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. 2017 – Road course racing…..Louisiana style . . The complete trip from my first ever NOLA Motorsports Park visit in 2012
Charlie’s Steak House – New Orleans, Louisiana
Click on the links below to see the video productions from my NOLA Motorsports Park visits.
