Road Racing - Buttonwillow, Ca

[Midget]

The Vintage Auto Racing Association posted their 2014 race schedule and their "British Extravaganza" weekend race is scheduled for the first weekend in May. All vintage cars will be racing and the weekend will feature British only races as well as their Pre-War classes. We take our Midget and set up camp right along the fence line for a great view. If anyone is interested in joining us, this will be an informal gathering. Dry camping with flush toilets and showers available. $20 gets you through the gate for the whole weekend with access to every area of the complex including the paddock where you can check out the cars and talk to the drivers. If anyone is interested in joining us, let us know!

Bob & Lynn

[SmokeyBear12]

Well Hello there Bob & Lynn. This is Ron. We met last October at Buttonwiilow. So glad I found you here. You guys got away before I was able to get contact info.

I won't be at Buttonwillow for the Vintage races. That weekend I'm working the USCR Pro races at Laguna Seca.

How's the wine business going? I'm hoping to next year lead the Miata club on a "Squaw Valley Wine Tour."

[Ron Dickey]

http://buttonwillowraceway.com/calendar ... ents-2014/

http://www.vararacing.com/events.html

Don't know if I will ever make it, but here is more info for those who wonder??

[Midget]

Thanks for the links!

It seems the economy hasn't been good to us lately and we have to cut back on big ticket items so we have been doing a lot of camping at the track lately. When the SCCA runs at Buttonwillow, it's free to camp. This year we'll be going to the American Federation of Motorcycles event in March. Never been to a motorcycle race so that will be a first. I hear the SCCA event at the end of April will be a good one so we're going to do that one too. After the May vintage race it starts to get too hot so we'll put it on hold until the fall. We know of a couple of secluded spots in the Sierra's by Shaver Lake. Free camping there too!

Bob

[SmokeyBear12]

He Bob, there's always Laguna Seca which is cool (sometimes cold) in the summer. Bur, as you know, camping isn't free. Unless, of course, you are a volunteer then it is. Like others have said, you're already a super-spectator so you might as well volunteer and get credit for it.

[annsailor]

We are coming...

[SmokeyBear12]

We are coming...

To? Buttonwillow or Laguna Seca?

[Midget]

Here are some pictures of prior years.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65028812@N06/11847033713/
This is the camping area next to the track.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65028812@N06/11847559996/in/photostream/lightbox/
How about a 1918 National that raced in the 1918 Indianapolis 500! He's in the pre war class

[SmokeyBear12]

midget.... Did you get my reply to your PM?

[Midget]

Got your PM. Sorry we'll be missing each other this weekend. Looks like we'll be in between rain storms so it should be a good weekend. They are running 28CW on Friday and Saturday. This will be a first for us as we've never been there when running only half the track. Lucky for us it's the half we camp on.

Next time for us will be March 22-23 for the motorcycle races.

[Midget]

Had a great time at the track last weekend. Lots of clouds but the rain never made it that far south. After looking around the place, we found we were the only spectators camping. Everyone else was either a driver, worker or spectator staying at the nearby hotels. This means there is a lot of room for more trailers!

Plus it's free!

Our next trip is March 22-23 for the American Federation of Motorcycles event. We've never been to a motorcycle race and have heard it's fun to watch them go around the track at over 100 miles per hour and leaning through the curves. I'll be bringing my vintage mini bike to cruise around the pits.

As always, anyone is invited to join us. We get in about 2pm on Friday. Let us know if your interested.

Bob

[Midget]

Spent the past weekend at the track for an American Federation of Motorcycle event. This was our first motorcycle race and was fun to watch. We camped in the same spot and have plenty of room for more trailers if anyone is interested in joining us. Next trip is April 26-27 for more SCCA club racing. Here's a spot of our campsite.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65028812@N06/13407310363/

[SmokeyBear12]

I'll be there for the April 26-27 SCCA Majors races. Should be some good racing as the best SCCA racers on the West Coast should be there racing for National points to go to the Runoffs at Laguna Seca.

[Midget]

We had another great weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. This past weekend was the SCCA Majors race to earn points for the championship runoffs in October at Laguna Seca. This is the first time in about 30 years the runoffs will be held on the west coast so a lot of people are competing to get on the grid. We had about 300 cars for the weekend which led to some great racing.

We camped in our usual spot on turn 9 with friends in a fifth wheel. Had great food the entire weekend. Lots of beer and a few glasses of wine. BTW did I mention that it is free to camp! Here's our campsite.


Here are some of the SRF cars from Saturday's race.


This coming weekend is the vintage car races. Entry is $10 per person at the gate. As always we invite everyone to join us for a fun weekend. It will be a little warm but we bring shade. Let us know if you want to join us.

Bob

[Midget]

This past weekend was another great weekend of racing at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. It was the Vintage Auto Racing Association's "British Extravaganza" race. We rolled in on Friday afternoon and set up camp with some friends in their motor home. Temps were a bit high at 93 degrees but it cooled down for the weekend. The motor home made a great windbreak too! We got to see a lot of vintage cars racing and got to walk the paddock area and talk with the drivers.

Here's a shot of our campsite right on the fence at turn nine. It's a great spot to watch the racing action and in the evenings we get fantastic sunsets.


One of the cars worth showing is a 1912 Packard race car. This car was built by the factory as a race car and the owner just finished a restoration on it. Why not take it out on the track for a few hot laps instead letting sit in a museum somewhere.


As always we invite our friends at TNTTT to join us for a group camp. It's $10 per person at the gate for VARA race weekends and the SCCA races are free!. This gets you into the entire race complex where you can walk right up to see the cars and talk with the drivers. Since it's getting hot now, our next race weekend will be VARA's Octoberfest the weekend of September 6-7. Let us know if your interested in joining us.

Bob