Today’s driver’s meeting.
Greetings from Lindstrom, Minnesota
From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”
Track #1,815
Do you enjoy the uncertainty of life? How well do you deal with uncertainty? Do you enjoy it? Trackchasing, the way I do it is fraught with uncertainty. I think that is one of the reasons I enjoy they hobby so much. If I stayed home most things would be pretty predictable. As frequent readers of my Trackchaser Reports already know, my hobby is simple…..sort of. To be successful I need a firm race date, good weather and a way to get to the track. Listing these three requirements is the simple part. Actually do them is where the difficulty comes in….and the uncertainty. Don’t miss today’s “Trip” section. Take a look at what I have to say in the “Trip” section of this report. Does the trip sound simple to you? Does the trip sound as if there was a degree of uncertainty? Would you like to travel this way? If not, don’t worry. You can sit in the comfort of your home or office and simply “read away”. Yep! I do this so you don’t have too! This was a long walk for a short slide. I woke up this morning in Boise, Idaho. I went to bed in San Clemente, California. In between my wakeup call and my bedtime I squeezed in a quick trip to Minnesota. This is what today looked like. Like every trackchasing trip I embark upon I need three things to be available. First, I need a firm race date. Did you know the Daytona 500 is scheduled more than a year in advance? Today’s racing on South Lake Lindstrom wasn’t confirmed until four days ago. That’s when the local authorities issued a permit for the racing. Ice racing requires sponsorship. Until I acquired my airline sponsorship I couldn’t afford to chance buying an airline ticket for an ice race. In order to get a good rate I would have to buy my ticket several days or weeks in advance. Ice racing venues can never guarantee they will be racing more than a few days in advance. Why is that? The weather! That brings me to my second requirement for successful trackchasing. I need good weather. “Good” weather is in the eye of the beholder. I prefer temperatures in the 65-75 degree range. That’s why I live in San Clemente, California. However, true ice racing only takes place on frozen lakes. According to trackchasing doctrine if cars race on snow and/or ice that covers the ground then it’s NOT ice racing. It’s dirt or asphalt racing depending upon which surface was covered by the ice and/or snow. Only FROZEN LAKE ice racing is really ice racing. Yes, all of these “precedents” were established years ago. So the “good” weather I was hoping for today meant freezing temperatures. Ice racing normally requires some 15-18” of “good” ice. That way there’s no risk of the cars falling through the ice! I met a fellow at yesterday’s Idaho track who told me his family came from Wisconsin. They were ice racers. His cousin’s ice racing car broke through the ice and he died! I believe that the upper Midwest, read that Minnesota and Wisconsin, are the coldest states in the continental U.S. It’s been well below freezing for several days in Minnesota. That made for good ice. However, weather problems were on the horizon. I need a way to get to the track too. Just before we took off this morning the airline pilot told us the weather in Minneapolis would be “deteriorating” by the time we landed. What did that mean? He said, “When we land there will be freezing rain….then later the snow will come in”. Yikes. I’ve been snowed in in Minneapolis before. I can work with it but I don’t like it. The main thing is to get the race in. I’ll deal with getting home later. Of course, my third trackchasing requirement is having a way to get to the track. My trackchasing isn’t quite as easy as it is for those mega “Dreaded East Coast Trackchasers” and their well funded teams. They just go out to the carport, hop in their well-worn (from too much trackchasing driving) automobiles and drive to the track. What a “cushy” life that must be. Today I was attempting to trackchase on Saturday in Idaho and on Sunday in Minnesota. At no time in the history of trackchasing has anyone attempted those logistics week in and week out. Not much sleep time. After driving more than 300 miles from Rexburg, Idaho to Boise, Idaho I arrived at my Holiday Inn Express at 11 p.m. I was happy to be there for two reasons. Priceline had given me a good deal on the property ($69/50). As a refresher ($69/50) means the very best rate on the hotel’s website was $69. I paid $50 for my night’s stay. Additionally, the HEI was just one-half mile from the Boise Airport. You will soon see why that was important. In order to get from Boise (BOI) to Minneapolis (MSP) on Sunday, I would have to take a non-stop flight. None of the connecting options would get me there in time for the late morning/early afternoon racing activity. First I had some good luck and then I had some MORE good luck. Wouldn’t you know it! There was one early morning non-stop flight from BOI to MSP. That was the good news. However, the flight’s departure time of 5:25 a.m. (4:25 a.m. San Clemente time) was a bit on the early side given my late night arrival and need to be at the airport at least an hour before departure. However, the early departure time was really the least of my worries. As you know I fly everywhere on a standby basis. That means that if the plane is not “sold out” with paying passengers I can get a seat. Of course if there are “open” seats I still must deal with the “standby list” which is based upon airline employee seniority dates. All week the flight from BOI-MSP had looked “tight”. The night before the flight the plane was overbooked by one passenger. Because this was my most preferred airline I was #1 on the standby list. I needed TWO people to sleep in, get lost or get mugged (probably wasn’t going to happen in Boise) and miss the flight. I have the capability to see who has checked in and how many seats are still remaining on a “real time” basis. I can’t tell you exactly how I have that capability. It’s part of my secret security clearance. How tight was it you ask? Today’s plane was a regional jet. It had a capacity of 76 seats. It was tight…really tight. How tight was it you might ask? A commercial airline pilot was trying to get on the plane on a standby basis. There were no seats for him unless he wanted to “jump seat”. That meant taking a seat in the cockpit with the plane’s two regular pilots. That’s not a very comfortable seat but at least the standby airline employee would get on the plane. I could see that nearly everyone was showing up. The plane was so full the airline agent asked for two volunteers. Those positions were quickly gobbled up with passengers looking to take a later flight for “compensation”. With two minutes to go before the flight was “closed” three passengers still had not shown up. That was good news. However, I soon heard and saw the patter of little feet. Those last three people showed up in the final two minutes! Now, just as had been predicted, the flight was overbooked by one seat. There were still the two passengers waiting to be compensated for taking a later flight. It didn’t look good for me. Are you going to split up? The agent asked the two fellows waiting it they would like to “split up”. No, they didn’t want to do that. That was GREAT news for me. When they wouldn’t split that left the 76th and LAST seat for me! How close was it? I sat next to the door of the jet way. I counted each passenger as they boarded the plane. Seventy-five people had boarded. I was already using my iPhone to check on flights back to Los Angeles. This was as close as it gets. Luckily, the two passengers traveling together didn’t want to split up for the very last seat. Luckily, I was the #1 standby passenger. Once on board all I had to do was see if the “deteriorating” weather was going to foil me once I reached Minneapolis. Yes, it IS a most crazy hobby isn’t it. Editor’s note: I won’t be disappointed. I’m too far ahead of the game. I’ve had a very good run with my airline sponsors. Carol and I have flown on more than 1,100 flights during our 6 ½ year sponsorship program. We’ve only missed our same day destination four times. Today was not the first day I got the LAST seat on the plane. I fully understand that I will miss flights and therefore races in the future. It’s the nature of the beast. However, I really wouldn’t want to travel any other way. When the time comes and I don’t make the flight and I don’t make the race I won’t be disappointed. I’m so far ahead of the game I could never fall behind. Carrying. I was still recovering from the sight of seeing folks in Rexburg, Idaho carrying loaded weapons. I checked with an Idaho state policeman. Yep! He told me it’s legal to carry guns if they are NOT concealed. The day after I left, some 600 people held a rally and march supporting their second amendment rights. The policeman told me he EXPECTED anyone he stops to have a gun. In reality he told me “about 90%” of folks he DOES stop DO have guns! For every ass there is a seat. Minnesota has some pretty brutal weather over a long period of time. Despite that I can never recall meeting anyone from Minnesota that didn’t absolutely LOVE living there. I prefer wonderful weather like we have in San Clemente, California, home of the “World’s Best Climate”. It just goes to show you there are “different strokes for different folks”. That’s a good motto to remember as you travel through life. Racing action on 20″ of frozen ice! Minnesota has plenty of ice. Some areas of the country have been canceling their ice racing shows in 2013. Why? Lack of suitable ice. Most of the northeastern tracks have cancelled their ice racing up to now. Even Alaska has cancelled but not because of a scarcity of ice. Why has Alaska cancelled their first two shows? They don’t have any snow! They need snow to provide “safety barriers” between the cars and the fans. If it ain’t one thing it’s another. Minnesota, being just about the coldest spot in the continental U.S. has no shortage of ice. Today I was told they had an ice thickness of 20”. Most groups need about 15” of “good” ice (no air bubbles, etc.) to consider racing. As you will see from the photos of today’s event complete race car hauling setups (truck/trailer/race car) are parked right on the ice of the frozen lake itself. I nearly always park my rental car on the ice. It ain’t my car right. However today they didn’t have very many racers. Although Minnesota has a good deal of ice, they had a shortage of cars today. When I arrived there were just seven cars in the “pit” area for the second day of racing this weekend on South Lindstrom Lake. I had been in contact with Renee Anderson, President of the International Ice Racing Association (www.iira.com). I’ve met Renee a couple of times at past IIRA events. She’s always friendly and welcoming. A few years ago she and the crew offered me a “ride along” in an actual race. That’s always fun to do. On that occasion trackchaser Ed Esser was with me. I let him take my ride and he had the time of his life. A ‘wintery” mix was headed our way. There was one more issue to deal with beyond the lack of racecars. Bad weather was coming our way. The temperature was a balmy 30 degrees Fahrenheit. For Minnesota during this time of year that’s almost shirtsleeves weather. However, the forecast, and my iPhone weather map were calling for freezing sleet and then snow to arrive just about at race time. This was a major concern for the racers at the driver’s meeting. Time to adjust the schedule. The original schedule called for a couple of two-hour enduro races. However, that plan was scratched for first two 80-minute races. Then someone recommended three 30-minute races and that plan was quickly approved. Ice racing is done on a flat surface. Why? Water seeks it’s own level and then freezes in this climate! This was a road course about 1.22 miles in length. When the cars got out on the back of the course they were a long way from my vantage point in the pit area. I had the luxury of sitting in my car whenever I wanted to get out of the coolish weather. That’s a real plus for having my vehicle out on the ice. Another “feature” of spectator ice racing is the EXTREME slickness of the ice surface. It’s best to go with small baby steps or risk landing on your butt! There were seven cars in the pit area. Just when I arrived car #23 left the lake. That was the car Ed Esser had his “ride along” in. That left just six cars for the first race. During the first couple of laps two of those cars dropped out. That left just four competitors for the balance of the event. Nevertheless, I figured you would want to see what happened today so I took lots of photos and video. The bad weather had arrived as predicted. By the end of the race, the freezing sleet (they call it ‘wintery mix’ back here) was beginning to fall. The racers were concerned they might not be able to get their racing rigs on the ice if the weather got too bad. At most lake racing events there’s an uphill path from the lake to get back on land. That’s why people always say we went “down” to the lake for the day. I had a similar concern about getting off the lake for my rental vehicle. I looked at my iPhone weather radar map. You can see what I saw in the photos of this event. The bad weather was right on top of us. Did I want to stay for the next event that would be featuring four cars spread over two classes? The answer was no. I couldn’t chance it. By looking at the IIRA race results I found the four remaining cars did run the second planned race. However, the third race was cancelled. I hope everyone got off the ice in good shape. Seeing today’s IIRA event gave me my first ice racing venue of the year. I have some more planned before the ice racing season pretty much wraps up by the end of February. It’s a short season especially if the first few weekends in January are cancelled for lack of ice. Here’s an invitation to ice starved ice racers. Renee Anderson did tell me she would love to have some of the New York racers tow out to Minneapolis to race since they don’t have enough ice in their area. That would be fun to see. However, most ice racers are “backyard” operators. I’m pretty sure the cost of fuel would prevent anyone from driving that far and back to race for the weekend. However, it never hurts to ask. STATE COMPARISONS Minnesota The North Star State This afternoon I saw my 64th lifetime track in the North Star state, yes the North Star state. That seems like a lot. I still have 16 tracks left to see. These include county fair figure 8 and enduro shows and a few more ice racing locations. I still have never made it to the famous Jackson Speedway in Minnesota. Maybe this year? 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 Minnesota sayings: Not Sweden but we act like it. MOVIE TIME!! Click on the link below to see the short movie I made from today’s track visit. You’ll probably enjoy it best when you can see it on the FULL SCREEN of your computer with the sound volume turned up.
STILL PHOTOS ON YOUTUBE. To see my still pictures via YouTube right now, click on this link:
STILL PHOTOS ON PICASA To see my pictures at your own pace using Picasa (slide by slide) click on this link: South Lindstrom Lake ice racing – The trip from start to finish. TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Phoenix, AZ (PHX) – 334 miles BROTHER’S CAR Sky Harbor (Phoenix) International Airport – trip begins Tucson, AZ – 101 miles Sky Harbor (Phoenix) International Airport – 218 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Phoenix, AZ (PHX) – Boise, ID (BOI) – 725 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Boise Airport – trip begins Rexburg, ID – 312 miles Boise Airport – 625 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Boise, ID (BOI) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 1,241 miles RENTAL CAR #2 Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – trip begins Lindstrom, MN – 53 miles Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 106 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – 1,608 miles Total air miles – 3,908 (4 flights) Total rental car miles – 731 (2 cars) Total friend’s car miles – 218 (1 car) Total miles traveled on this trip – 4,857 miles TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Rexburg Figure 8 Track – $5 South Lake Lindstrom Ice Track – no charge Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $5 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. 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,815 Total Trackchasing Countries There are no trackchasers currently within 10 countries of my lifetime total. 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 63 Current lifetime National Geographic Diversity results 1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 5.08 That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report
