| Buttonwillow Race Report October 2009
Story by Scott Neville
Sunday's Standing Start.
Photo Courtesy of SoCal NASA
Eleven NorCal SpecE30 racers made the long tow to dusty Southern California to race at the famed Buttonwillow Raceway in a cross-over event hosted by NASA's SoCal Chapter. Friday the track hosted a open test day and several SpecE30 racers took advantage of the day to learn the track. After testing on Friday night a BBQ with delicious Tri-Tip and chicken was hosted by "Shoe" Nichols and Steve Ferrario for SpecE30 racers and friends. It was a good venue to meet some of the SoCal SpecE30 hopefuls. Saturday's flying start race saw pole sitter Steve Ferrario lead the race from flag to flag. Second place went to Carl Chiu and third spot to Brad McClure. Sunday would see a standing start for the E30s. Sunday's pole sitter was Steve Ferrario again who battled the entire race with Carl Chiu, Brad McClure and Scott Clough and "Shoe" Nichols. Steve prevailed and took the top podium spot. Carl Chiu and Brad McClure made contact when Carl's car got loose in the high speed turn "Riverside". Carl's car was disabled and Brad went on to second place followed closely by Scott Clough. The Evil Genius Racing $100 cash "Hard Charger" award went to Carl Chiu who quickly mastered the track having never set foot at the facility before this weekend. Carl set the CW14 track record for SpecE30 with a 2:03.65. The AIM Tire $100 random drawing award went to Mike Sekhon. Nichols Wealth Management gave away two nice bottles of Central Coast wine to Sunday's first place winner (Steve Ferrario) and for Saturday's 6th Place finisher Scott Clough. NorCal racers all chipped in to present a nice gift (a "killer" paddock louge chair) to Scott Neville in appreciation for his season efforts as NorCal Series Director. The final race of the season will be at Infineon in November. An exciting finish to the season is expected as a mere 75 points separates the top five cars vying for the regional championship. Race results can be found here: Mylaps.com
A layer of "Buttonwillow Moon Dust" was awaiting any racer who ventured off the asphalt!
Scott Neville Photo
SpecE30 Row at Buttonwillow
Scott Neville Photo
The #55 SE30 of "Shoe" Nichols Team Roadrunner Racing
Shoe Nichols Photo
NorCal Racers L to R: Steve Ferrario, Walter Ford, Greg Peterson, Scott Clough,
Bennett McMicking and Carl Chiu
Scott Neville Photo
Scott Clough (L) receives his bottle of fine Central Coast wine
from "Shoe" Nichols (Nichols Wealth Management)
Scott Neville Photo
NorCal Racers present the "killer paddock lounge chair" gift to Series Director Scott Neville
Scott Neville Photo
Carl Chiu accepts a crisp "Ben Franklin" from NorCal SpecE30 Series Director
Scott Neville for the Evil Genius Hard Charger Award
Scott Neville Photo
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