NASCAR

 

As I mentioned in my previous post I am a big NASCAR fan and have been for close to 20 years.  We are in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is the hub for the race shops involved in NASCAR.  In addition, the recently opened NASCAR Hall of Fame is in downtown Charlotte.  I had been to Charlotte back in 1999, for business, and was able to do some sightseeing.  At that time I visited 3 race shops (Gibbs, Hendricks and DEI).  Fran had not been on this previous visit so I thought we would visit  a few so she could see the operations.

When Toyota wanted to come into NASCAR they hooked up with retiring driver Michael Waltrip to create a team for their cars.  As a result of this partnership he was fairly well funded to enter a very expensive sport.  With this he created a fan experience race shop and, I believe, is the only that actually charges an admission.  We were not disappointed and did not mind paying the $8, per person, for the visit.  You get to see the entire shop via a second story walkway with viewing areas.  You are then taken on a guided tour of the hauler bay and pit crew training area.  This is by far the best race shop visit I have done.

Shop area where completed cars are worked on

This is where the pit crews train

Fran trying out a race seat.  VERY difficult to get out of.

Down the road a few minutes was the Penske Racing shop.  One of Penske’s drivers is the current NASCAR champion.  This shop also gave you an elevated view of the shop area with the hauler bay off to one side. 

Hauler bay

Shop area

Lastly, I decided to go back to Hendricks Motorsports as this company is the elite of NASCAR so I wanted to see what has happened since I was here in 1999.  I was blown away!  When I came in 1999 the shop was one large building.  Now it takes up hundreds and hundreds of acres with many buildings.  You do not get to really see much of the operations but they do have a nice little museum that is free.

This was the original building when I came in 1999

From where I was standing to take the first picture I took this picture of the race shops for the 4 Sprint Cup teams.  They are the buildings in the background.  They are massive.  There are additional buildings for the museum and his engine building operation.  You can tell where the money is in NASCAR.

Today we drove to downtown Charlotte to see the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  We spent about 2 hours at the hall and both agreed it was worth the admission.  The nice thing is that it will appeal to those that are not into the sport or do not know much about it.  It is very nicely presented.

An interesting exhibit involves displaying cars throughout NASCAR’s history on a simulated track which demonstrates the degrees of banking found at various tracks.  In addition there are descriptions of all the various tracks as well as samples of the track surface. 

A continuation of the “track”

Fran at the 33 degree banking walk.  It is very difficult to walk up that steep of a track

They had a new exhibit involving some horrific wrecks of race cars over the years with the actual cars and the video showing the wreck.  In each case the driver walked away from the crash with minor injuries.  The above car wrecked at Bristol Speedway.  The entire driver compartment is exposed.  The driver walked away and ended up in another car to complete the race.  The above picture is a view from the passenger side so the front of the car is to the right and drivers seat is towards the center of the picture.  Parts that had flown off the car (including engine) are what you see in the foreground of the picture.

Charlotte, North Carolina

 

The new year is upon us and we have moved from Nashville, Tennessee to a town just outside Charlotte, North Carolina.  We are in search of warmer weather.  For most of the 3 weeks we were in Nashville it barely go into the 40’s and was freezing or below freezing each night.  Our plan is to get to Charleston, South Carolina in the next couple of weeks and see how it is there.  If it works out we will spend the winter there before starting our trip up the east coast.

We are stopping in the Charlotte area for two reasons.  It is generally on the way to Charleston and we have some friends in the area that we want to visit.  Another reason is that this is NASCAR mecca.  I have been a NASCAR fan for about 20 years and have been to Charlotte before to see a race and to visit the race shops.  This time the NASCAR Hall of Fame is open and I want to add that Hall of Fame to my list.  Fran has not been to Charlotte so it gives her the chance to see the center of NASCAR plus all the other sights of the city.

We found an RV park that is just outside the Charlotte Speedway.  In fact one of the parking lots (grass field) is right next to the park.  It is not much of a park but it does offer full hookups for only $25 per night, so it is a decent place for a week or so.

Here is a picture of the speedway as seen from the entrance to the park

Here is the park we are staying at, basically a gravel parking lot

The weather is a little warmer here during the day, which is a change, but still below freezing during the night.

Time to catch up again

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post so I would think it is time to get you caught up as to where we are and what we have been doing. 

In the last episode we were in the Knoxville area staying at an RV park in the Smokies.  We had a great visit there celebrating Thanksgiving with my nephew and his family, who live in the area, plus seeing my neice and her family who came in, with their RV, for the holiday.  In addition, being there a month allowed us to spend a lot of time with our youngest daughter Kim.  On the 13th of December we moved back to the Nashville area to spend Christmas with our friends Richard and Cheryl, so that is where you find us now. 

Since arriving here we have done a couple of outings with them.  The first was a trip to Lynchburg, Tennessee to the Jack Daniel’s distillery.  I had been there something like 25 years ago and remembered a little from the tour but nothing about seeing the town.  It has changed significantly in that the distillery has added a huge visitor center and the tour seemed to be more involved and much longer.  What is so fascinating about this place is that it was built in a dry county, no liquor is sold.  So for the distillery to get its license a special law had to be passed, about 100 years ago, that allowed it to produce liquor but not to sell it on the premises.  This meant, when I last visited, you ended the tour with a cup of lemonade, not a sample of Jack Daniel’s.  That has changed due to some creative legal interpretation of the laws.  They now offer an “enhanced” tour that you pay $10 for and at the end get to sample the products.  Not sure how that gets around the law, but it has something to do with paying for the tour, go figure!  Next you can buy bottles of their product and then you get the whiskey for free!  That is how they get around the county law.  You are buying the bottle not the whiskey.  Still do not understand it, but I have got to believe the county is lenient to Jack Daniel’s as it has to be the largest employer in the area and it does bring in a lot of tourists.  Now sadly we went on Sunday and there are no liquor sales allowed in Tennessee so we did not get to do any tasting.  The tour was great and seeing the little of town of Lynchburg was fun.

Next up was a visit to the Opryland Hotel to see the Christmas decorations.  Now this was impressive.  Outside the hotel at the main entrance they have encased all the trees in lights.  It is just amazing to see how many lights are involved and how detailed the installation was. It was difficult to get a picture that would show the scene so I stole this one from their website

Here are the lights I thought were the most impressive in how detailed the installation is

Here is one from inside

If you have never been to this hotel it is impressive, if just to walk around and see everything that is inside.  Just a couple of years ago it was shut down for over a year because the whole first floor was under water when Nashville was hit by flooding.  They have done a wonderful job of restoring the place.  When we were here back in November we went to the Opry Mills mall, which is next door and noticed that a levee has been built on the river side of the hotel to protect it from future flooding.

We are here until after New Years and then will try to find someplace warmer as it is getting a little cold here in Tennessee.

Merry Christmas!

Ford vs. Ford

 

Here is my latest rant.  While we are here in the Knoxville area it was time to get an oil change on our truck.  I normally go to Ford dealers to get this done as they do a nice multipoint inspection and, hopefully, use factory recommended parts and supplies.  I know I probably pay a little more, but I think it is worth it.  For a diesel engine and oil change is a little pricey as it holds 15 quarts of oil.  At dealers I have paid $80 to $100 for this service.

Here in Knoxville there are two Ford dealers that are near our RV park.  One is Ted Russell Ford in Knoxville and the other is Lenoir City Ford.  I decided to go with Ted Russell as it was closer to some other places that we were going to that day.  We showed up for the appointment and I learned that they charge $138 for an oil change.  I asked if they did something additional on an oil change that would justify that cost and was told no, that is their normal charge.  Against by better judgment I went ahead with the oil change.  After the multipoint inspection was completed the service advisor comes to me and tells me I need new wipers (I knew that and told him I would replace on my own), the air cleaner was close to being replaced (I knew that and felt it could wait until next time) and lastly he tells me the rear brakes need replacing.  The service guy advised that the rotors could still be machined so the repair should be done.  He quoted me a price of $391 for just rear brakes.  I know the brakes and rotors on this truck are huge but that price seemed unreasonable.  I told him I would think about it.

Later that day I called the other Ford dealer, Lenoir City Ford, and asked them what they charge for a one axle brake job on a Super Duty pickup.  I was told it would be around $250.  I set up an appointment for Tuesday of this week.  I went to the dealership and spoke with the nicest service advisor.  I told him what had gone on and that I was told I needed rear brakes.  He said they would first have the service tech take a look at the brakes and determine what had to be done.  About 45 minutes later the advisor brings me out to the truck, with the tires off, and the service tech tells me that the brakes on the rear are about 50% used and the fronts are showing even less wear.  As the truck has 51,000 miles on it that would mean I do not need brakes for  probably 12 to 18 months.  I took a look and thanked them.  I got the truck back and there was NO CHARGE!!!

So, a huge shout out to Lenoir City Ford and big $%^$ to Ted Russell Ford!

Let’s Get Caught Up

 

As I mentioned previously my blogs during this holiday season would be sporadic as we are visiting with friends in family in the Nashville and Knoxville areas.  It has been about a month since my last posting so I think it is time to get caught up.

The week before Thanksgiving we moved from Nashville to Knoxville where we will be spending a month.  If you are an avid follower of this blog you will know that our youngest daughter recently moved to Knoxville and my nephew, and his family, have resided here for a number of years.  Because of this we thought having Thanksgiving here would be a great family reunion.  However up until a a few weeks before Thanksgiving did we realize just how fantastic it would be.  Originally it was to be Fran and I, our daughter Kim, our daughter Kelly (from Ohio), my nephews family and some relatives from his wife’s family.  As the holiday approached we were excited to learn that our oldest daughter Katie, now living in Portland, would be able to come for a week and my niece (from Houston) would be coming with her family in their RV.  So for Thanksgiving we had a total of 23 people!

It was so great seeing just about everybody on my side of the family and being able to spend a week with our three daughters.  As it will not be possible for all of our kids to get together with us for Christmas we celebrated a little early, the day before Thanksgiving.

Here is the best part of the week

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!

Extended Warranties

 

This posting is more a rant than anything.  Since there is a lull in our traveling adventures I thought it a good time to discuss this issue.

I have never been a big fan of extended warranties and rarely have ever purchased them.  For our fifth wheel I had a different thought process and went ahead with the purchase.  I have experience with RV’s and was concerned how an RV would hold up using it on a full time basis for a number of years.  Because of this we decided to purchase the extended warranty that Jayco was offering.  We purchased the “platinum” package which included the following:

Mechanical warranty - includes all the working items in the rig.

Paint and fabric protection – a coating was applied to the exterior of the rig and stain protection was applied to the carpet and furniture inside the rig.  With that application we get protection from stains and such for the warranty.

Tire and wheel protection – this gives us coverage on the trailer tires and wheels from road hazards and covers the truck as well.

Roadside assistance – provides for towing to a repair facility, fuel, lockout, etc.

The dealer did explain the package to us but we now learn was a little vague in that explanation and did not tell us some things.  We did receive a booklet that fully explains the coverage which brings up some of the issues that we are having.

First, let me start with the roadside assistance.  Prior to buying the fifth wheel we had AAA roadside assistance for 25 years.  I had not been aware that the AAA coverage we had did not cover the RV and that you had to add that coverage which was very costly as we had a family membership.  Instead I purchased coverage from Good Sam that covered both the RV and our vehicles.  When we purchased the fifth wheel I learned that Jayco gave us membership in Coach-Net (similar to Good Sam) and that our extended warranty had roadside assistance included.  I can remember telling the sales person that this feature would save me money as I would cancel my Good Sam roadside assistance and he agreed.  Well, not so fast!  About six months into our adventure, before our Coach-Net membership expired, I read in the extended warranty handbook that the roadside assistance applied to the RV at any time but only to the truck when it was towing the rig.  This meant that if I needed assistance while driving around town I would not be covered.  I called the carrier to clarify this and was told that the rig must be connected to the truck for the truck to be covered.  So I now had to make sure we had proper coverage when our Coach-Net membership expired and chose to go back to Good Sam at $100 per year.

Next issue is the tire and wheel protection.  You may remember my post regarding a tire on our rig shredding while we were driving in Florida.  I filed a claim with our extended warranty and told them I did not know what caused the tire to blow out.  I did not remember anything on the road.  WRONG ANSWER! CLAIM DENIED!   Per the policy I had to prove a road hazard (such as pot hole, debris, etc.).  I was furious as this is one of the reasons why I am against extended warranties, they make it so difficult to file a claim.  I contacted the dealership who sold us the policy to vent my frustration and was told the sales person would check on the matter.  He requested all my documentation so he could follow up with the carrier.  He told me that in the future I should contact him first before filing a claim so he could “help me” with my story to the carrier.  He was able to get us reimbursement but only as a “customer goodwill” gesture and not an actual approval of the claim.

Last issue, paint protection.  I noticed that the front fiberglass cap our rig was showing signs of oxidization.  I looked in our coverage booklet and it states that front and end caps are not covered.  I contacted the carrier to verify this and was told to file a claim, which I did.  Of course it was denied.  This one I did not repair it but rather have been working the issue with cleaners and wax and have improved the situation a little.  While I was talking to our Jayco dealer on the tire issue I mentioned the front cap issue and he was surprised to hear that it was not covered.  Sure, now you know!  He contacted the carrier who covers this issue and was told that they plan to include this in their coverage and to make it retroactive, however he could not provide me with anything, in writing, to confirm this.  We will see.  Also, while talking to him about this paint protection I mentioned that I like how the trailer stays clean and shiny because of the coating applied and that our graphics are covered under the policy as this is a big issue with RV’s as they get older.  He immediately says, “You do know the graphics are not covered, just the fiberglass walls?”.  I told him he had to be kidding me as I specifically remember telling him that the coverage for the graphics was a big reason why I decided to go forward with this option.  We had a “discussion” for a few minutes but I know, at this point, nothing was going to come of it and we still have coverage on many other things as part of the policy, but again I was misled.

I have not filed a mechanical claim yet as the original warranty just expired.  He assured me that those types of claims are easy, especially if you go to a Jayco dealer as they will the claim for us.  We will see!

Nashville, TN

 

My blog is going to be somewhat sporadic over the next couple of months as we are sticking around the Nashville/Knoxville area until early January.  Presently we are just outside Nashville visiting with friends.  Our friends moved here last year and my buddy has not had the time to set up his woodworking shop since the move.  All his stuff was still in boxes.  He finally had some time and asked me to help him out with building out his shop in an attached garage at their new house.  In return he helped me put suspension air bags on our truck, which is the next part of my story.

I have been going back on forth on the issue of putting air bags on the truck suspension.  With these on you inflate them to help the load when towing the trailer.  As we have a one ton truck the suspension is really sturdy to begin with so I was not sure if the need was there and did not want to incur the cost.  Recently I was talking with two other RV’ers and both of them told me how it smoothed out the ride when you get a “washboard” type road.  When you get these little bumps on a highway they get exaggerated when towing the trailer and you bounce up and down.  With that information and learning that their was a rebate on the air bags I was looking it, I went ahead with the purchase. 

Prior to the purchase I read the instruction manual online and it indicated that the installation was fairly easy with no drilling involved and probably would take about 2 hours.  They were correct in that there was no drilling but their instructions were not as clear, when we actually began the install, so a lot of time was spent in trying to figure out what they meant.  It took us about 10 hours over two days to get the air bags installed  and then another 4 hours to get the air compressor and air lines installed.  It all worked well and it passed all tests with the last one being an actual tow with the trailer.  I did attach the trailer to the truck and tried the bags with the weight of the trailer and they worked fine, I just have not driven with the trailer attached.

We are here for another week or so and then move to Knoxville for a month to celebrate Thanksgiving with our entire family, my nephew, my niece and many others, so it should be fun.  After that we come back to Nashville to celebrate Christmas with our friends.