Tintin

One of my good friends and I are planning another event at Buttonwillow before Memorial Day. The typical scene is a bunch of fairly pricey cars and two run groups with either experienced or less so in seperate run sessions. We have been in the $200- range for the day including sandwiches from the Haute Cuisine Subway in the little town. You can get about 5 hours of track time if you desire (it will be too much, believe me) and we run the full track configuration. We have paid marshals , fire, ambulance and insurance.

The run groups are -->
Inexperienced or Experience Lite...
who are people who are not comfortable with the idea of being passed in the corners and are just out to get some of the available coaching and try their cars at speed without the CHP intervening.

Experienced ..

This is for those that are comfortable in an environment where there are some reasonably fast cars and the pilots are pretty observant. We have passing in the corners and anywhere else. These people require a minimum of coaching.

That is the nutshell look, we have more restrictions for the first group so that there will not be and there never has been any car to car contact. You can jump from one group to the other at will as long as you respect the rules and play nicely with the other kids. Be a jerk and you will be done, I do not wish to hazzard my equipment with someone who is not fun to be with...

We have a hotel deal as well, although even the 5 star Super 8 is only about $40-

The group is made up of a lot of Silicon Valley guys, some LA people and have from zero to pro racing experience. There is a lot of time to learn and we DO NOT RACE, we use the track to play with the cars.

If this sounds interesting, I would appreciate your feedback. A standard Vette will be as fast as anything that shows although the odd F40, GT2 and Vintage car has been known to show up...

CHJ In Virginia

That sounds like a FUN event -- Too Bad that I am on the wrong coast to participate !

Tintin

Maybe no one read this far down yesterday... Bumpski

ls1_alex

What track configuration will you be running? I'd be interested if my car survives the March 3rd sessions.

Tintin

All of it... the bus stop, the Mazda turn, everything...

ls1_alex

Why not run the Dog Leg

mathia

I'm interested. I'd probably run in the experience lite group as passing the corners doesn't really interest me. I've done the Spring Mountain level 1 three day course and have about a dozen HPDE days over the last four years.

How many cars would you think will be in the groups?

Tintin

We limit it to the cost of the track divided by $200- which is about 20-22 cars per group. It is not exactly crowded and since the groups run continuously for 8 hours with a lunch break , by 1pm there are only about 5 cars in a group because everyone is beat. It is kind of like an enduro, like a 4 hour enduro if you really want to.. I usually go out for 15-20 minutes a session and then wait a half hour or so and repeat. When there are only 5 cars or so we have been known to pick up the pace a bit in the second group. We do not allow this when there are a lot of cars, but by 2:30 only the guys who are really in physical condition are left, translation: Pro Series drivers like Speed Cup and ALM guys who like to test and play with us. It is a fun event that will cause you to be somewhat tired by the end.
I would like to say again that we have never had car to car contact and we have people who have literally never been on a track before all the way up to guys with 40 plus years of wheel to wheel racing. We coach the new guys , do lead follows and ride with some of them. It is not a school, it is assumed that everyone is comfortable approaching 100 mph in an automobile and will have a car that is in tip-top condition. There is gas at the track too.

Do not be intimidated by the pro guys, they are the least likely to have contact..

tjZ06

I am very, very interested.

I've run track days with open passing, and as long as everybody is observant it is fine. However, I still have a little trouble putting that much faith in a bunch of other drivers I don’t know from Adam. All it takes is one guy in an ub3r fast car to dive-bomb somebody in a braking zone and it gets ugly.

So I assume when you say passing in the turns is allowed, you mean w/ wave-bye? Not just open passing like real wheel-to-wheel racing (you know they call it wheel-TO-wheel for a reason )?

-TJ

Tintin

Send me a PM and I will connect you with my partner in this thing, his office is on Technology Drive right near SJC and you can discuss it with him. We do not race, we just go to play... If you are a pro racing fan, you will know some of the drivers...

steve J06

I'd be interested but can't commit just yet. Is there a web site or could you pm me with contact info so i can sign up when i get my act together? thanks

tjZ06

You have PM.


-TJ

craig-o

I'm interrested, and depending on the dates, I have a group of about 5 friends that usually heads Thunderhill 2-3 times a year that would likely be interested. I have no interest in the inherent risk associated with passing in corners - I'm just out there to have FUN!

Tintin

Here is a link to our sign up details:

http://lpayaso.googlepages.com/home

Come and have fun..

Tintin

topski

This is the Monday before the Memorial Day weekend..

Tintin

ttt last time for the weekend guys who may have missed this..

Tintin

We have an email address for the sign up now. Send us an email and we will send the form

ButtonwillowTrackDay@yahoo.com

Tintin

Top-a-roo. Anyone care to join in the fun? It is two months away...

Tintin

Here is the lin-a-roo for the signup and schedule.

http://www.delysenash.com/buttonwillowsignup.htm

Come to the event, it is really fun!

Tintin

We have only 8 slots left ,which usually fill at the end. It would be nice to get some Vettes to run with all of these Porsches and Subarus... Oh and one vintage Mustang