Buttonwillow

[rightrudder]

It was fun to hunt down this race track, site of many happy open-track days in various cars over the years. Never thought I'd be cinched up in a Crow 5-point harness 1500 feet above the track! Ah, reminiscing....

Went to Bakersfield Muni (L45) for breakfast at the Harmon Rocket Cafe. Super-friendly waitresses, but hash browns slightly undercooked. Bacon cravings satiated for at least a week!

With fire TFRs all over the place, it was no surprise that the air was somewhat smoky. I'm getting used to using flight following; I only had to have them repeat back one frequency. Fun to fly over the Grapevine for the first time.

[ethand]

Love that place. Multiple configurations, both directions (not all at the same time of course). Spent may a days racing there. Will be back again in November.

Just do not do off the track, especially when wet. Buttonwillow is known for its very fine dust that you will still find in your car months later.

Cool to see if from the air.

E

[Bob Kuykendall]

Ah, the joys of wearing a two-layer Nomex suit and driving with the heater on while it is 114 F in the shade...

[AX-O]

That's where the "lost hill" is.

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by AX-O

That's where the "lost hill" is.

No one could really agree on the name of that turn...some called it Phil Hill (or Fill Hill, because it was made with fill dirt) or Magic Mountain.

Love the Cotton Corners complex. Feels so good when you get the line right.

We did a 24-hour ChumpCar race there with an old Taurus SHO, roller-painted with a beige exterior latex, and as you said, ethand, that fine silt/dust hangs in the air forever...makes it really sketchy at night! We blew out the CV joint axle splines at about hour 6, got it repaired, only to have it happen again at about 2 a.m. Fun times!

[xblueh2o]

I have done Lemons racing there and we had about the same luck.
Blew our first junkyard motor up about noon the first day. Spent the rest of the day swapping in our spare junkyard motor. Blew the second one up about 10. Oddly, when we did the same race a couple years later at Chuckwalla we had the same result and then again a couple years later at Sears Point. They were fun weekends of camping, working on cars and shooting the bull with friends where an occasional race broke out.

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by xblueh2o

I have done Lemons racing there and we had about the same luck.
Blew our first junkyard motor up about noon the first day. Spent the rest of the day swapping in our spare junkyard motor. Blew the second one up about 10. Oddly, when we did the same race a couple years later at Chuckwalla we had the same result and then again a couple years later at Sears Point. They were fun weekends of camping, working on cars and shooting the bull with friends where an occasional race broke out.

That's a good way to describe it! Good times, but grueling.