Buttonwillow SCCA Hoosier Super Tour Weekend
WOW. That about how we sum up our first race of the year. Lets start with the weather. Friday and Saturday it rained. It rained and rained and rained. Something like 20 inches. The team got the car prepped for Friday Practice. As we head out for our session, instant fog on the window and heavy rain. Darren couldn’t see anything, like literally. This lead to a slow but unfortunate off in turn 3, kicking up mud and making a mess. Darren was able to get the car safe and wait for the session to end so he could slowly bring it in.
As for qualifying on Friday, we decide to not bother as the rain is just getting worse and worse. Just not worth ant possible damage.
Saturday comes and even more rain has fallen. The delay the start of the event on Saturday as several corners on the east end of the track we under water and flooded out. They decided to make a track change and only run the West end of the track. Thinking we might be ready to get out there and lay down some qualifying laps finally, we discover, because of the lake in tech, we had shorted out our alternator (We drive the alternator off the drive shaft and it was under water.) Jeff made an amazing effort in tracking down an alternator for us from Car Quest in Bakersfield. WE quickly get out it out and swap before our afternoon race. As we get ready to head to grid, we find the left rear tire won’t hold air. We quickly get it to the Tire shop t find a bad valve stem. Quick fix and Darren gets down to grid. Starting in the rear, and excited to finally make some laps, Darren radios the team saying it feels like the Left Front Tire is falling off. He makes almost a full lap at pace speed then decided to pull safe to see what was going on. Left Front Flat!!! Man we could not catch a break. Saturday ends and we still have not made a lap at Full Speed.
Welcome to Sunday. This could be our day. We got tires changed out, and everything seems to be ready. Darren finally makes it out on track for the quick warm up session. Finally, the car runs great and no issues. Finally he gets some laps in. Unfortunately we still don’t get a qualifying time, so we will start last in the feature race. The weather is nice and sunny. Could not be more different from the beginning of the week. Darren is waiting on grid, ready to take the Cheap Fast Racing RX7 through the pack. At the One Minute Warning, Darren radio’s in and say “No Power. I Have Nothing”. Thinking quickly, he begins to mess with the fuss box and master switch. Boom, we have power and off he goes. Starting last on the field, no warm up lap, and straight to green flag racing. He bobs and weaves his was quickly through the slower cars, going from 17th to 8th in just a few corners. He’s running 6th in class and chasing down 5th rather quickly. Makes a great pass, and sets his sights on 4th. He puts down some amazing laps though out the race, finally catching 4th. Right has be begins to make his move, the 4th place car breaks. As Darren always says “ To make a short story long”, he finishes 4th in class and 4th overall after starting last.
The Team did an amazing job and Darren drove a great race. To see the replay of the race, see the News Story Link - Buttonwillow Super Tour Race Replay.