I'm heading out to buttonwillow next Friday for the first time and have search but couldn't find a 'turn by turn' break down of the track...I know they run several different configurations, but was hoping to get a good feel for the track before getting there.

I'll be running 'track 1' in the clock-wise direction w/ CFRA.net .

*This looks to be my last car event of the year b/c I'll be moving to Seattle in a few weeks and will be too busy with the new job and getting moved in...I had been hoping to do more track events this year, but I got a good offer from Boeing!

 

Hmm...can't help you there. I ran config 1 last november but it was CCW. There might be some threads on G35driver.com, I think Eagle1 gave a turn by turn breakdown.

 

Config 1 .. one of my Favorites!! (cuz it has star mazda turn)

starting from the pit,

you enter and immediately you're going to go onto the the Off-Ramp. I find myself starting on the inside of Off ramp because you're going to tranisition to the I-5. 2nd gear turn. after the turn. stay to the left over the hump in the hill, and sweep to the right at the apex, and let the car come out shift to third & 4th (if you have the speed) to the outide to prepare for Cotton Corners..

i usually hit the brakes before the white curb markers and downshift, take it easy on the right turn, stay in the middle and prepare for the left turn. stay constant on the throttle for the elevation change, else you will spin there. stay left after the hill and turn in for grapevine. usually you can keep accelerating there.

the next turn is a slight right turn into club corner. you can hit this fast and keep going, allow the car to come out and go right, preparing for the immediate left turn but stay outside right before busstop- slight braking but its not necessary. try not to hit the burm too hard, else you'll unsettle the car there.. 3rd or 4th gear prior to truckstop and riverside... riverside is tricky. alot of people are scared of the outside.. but if you're confident, this is where you can pick up alot of speed. stay middle or outside and accelerate
stay wide until you see the apex cone and come in, Stay on the right and prepare for lost hills. i usually brake prior to that apex and then its head toward the hill. brake a little prior to the mound and stay ON THE GAS over the hill. hit the apex and remember constant gas here. else you will spin.
then hit the insde next to the drag strip and let her rip. shift up. and take her all the way up to star mazda. hard brake. down shift twice, and stay a little wide on the ouside of the turn and come in straight toward the sweeper.. this is a decreasing radius turn and it will fukk you up. then its onto the esses.. Try NOT to get the car onto the burms. it will unsettle the car. keep the car in a straight line as possible and acclerate. shift up and head for sunset.

stay on the right hand side (watch for cars leaving the track) and prepare for a hard brake, probably down shift to 3rd. there is a dip there. so take it easy and try to come close to the apex turn. and then its off to the straight away. accelerate full speed. and start braking by the first cone and downshift(or 2nd if you have BBK) and then hit the apex at sunrise..

Save Target As
http://www.z33driver.com/video/butto...ow_cockpit.wmv

learn from my mistakes on this video.. (it was like my second time @ buttonwillow with the turbo on the Z.. and you can hear my annoying overheat warning....) and enjoy yourself!!!


^_^

 

Chebosto, thanks so much! I just watched the movie and plan on doing it several more times before next Friday...when I get home from work, I'll have to print out the map to follow along.

thanks again!

-Peter

 

I am a member of CFRA and on the race team. I have the only other Z there. It is a cheating T2 setup. I am already assigned to mentor a corvet driver but we could change that if you would like. This is a great club and the racing is not a hard core as you get with SCCA.

Look me up.

Ray

 

Ray, I'll have an instructor for the 1st session to get the hang of the track more quickly...if you can switch to be my mentor, that'd be great! I finish my current job tomorrow (YEAH!), so I'm hoping between getting stuff ready to move that I'll get plenty of time to prep for the track day.

see you there!

-Peter

 

If you're done with work, you should check out thunderhill on Tuesday with Hooked on Driving. I'll be there

check the www.speedventures.net website for some buttonwillow video.

 

Dave, I wish! I have about a week to wrap up all of my stuff in the bay area and get ready for the moving company, then it's off to Seattle.

thanks for the link to more videos!

 

Too bad they aren't running it CCW, CW is boring. CW you can go through the S's full throttle without even having to slow, you go through Riverside after the bus stop so that's boring because you enter it a lot slower, the only corner that's probably better is off ramp because you enter it pretty fast and the radius decreases very quick. I had a student go off there lap after lap one time. On a positive note it is a lot safer in that direction for noobz.

 

I'll see if I can find some time this evening to give you my take on this configuration. Despite rumblings to the contrary, it's an entertaining lap.

 

Here's my quick take of a lap of BW #1 CW:

Sunrise - Most will brake hard and downshift one gear for this corner. I've found that I turn in earlier than most for this corner, getting the car all of the way to the apex curb and hard on the throttle for the exit. Let the car track out to the right side curb on the following straight.

Off-Ramp - This one can be a bit tricky as a result of the left kink upon corner entry. I brake in a straight line at a slight angle to the left as a drive over the curbing on the left side of the kink, making a smooth downshift into second in most cars. Get the car slowed down enough here, and be patient with your turn it. The mistake I see here is people turning in too early and having to be too gentle with the throttle through the corner or having to make corrections at track out. Turn in later than you might think and you should be able to use a fair amount of throttle all the way through the corner. Again, let the car track out the to the edge, but not too soon or you'll have to make corrections that will slow you down.

Cotton Corners - This sequence of corners is all about the final right-hander over the hill leading into Grapevine. Brake hard on the left side of the track entering the first right-hander (likely downshifting into third) and be patient with turn-in. You want to keep your car to the right as you drive through the apex in preparation for the next left. For the left-hander you might brush the brakes or lift slightly to settle the car and transfer weight to the front tires. Again, turn in later than you might think and stay to the left through the apex. This will put you on the correct line for the right-hander over the hill. For this corner you'll turn in earlier than the previous two, using lots of throttle as you apex at/near the crest of the hill. Drive the car right on over the hill and to the left side of the track as you head down the other side. Don't fight the car here or make sudden throttle adjustments, as the car will get light.

Grapevine - This corner is almost a continuation of the final right-hander from Cotton Corners. Just a split second of unwinding the wheel and maybe another brush/lift before turning in to the apex (get the car down to the curb on the inside). You'll be full throttle over the crest of the next "hill". Be carefull not to let the car go over the exit curb here, as there is a drop-off that can cause damage to the underside of your car.

Club Corner - Usually a flat-out kink. Turn in relatively early, get the car to the apex and let it track out about 2/3 to 3/4 of the track width before getting to right side for the Bus Stop.

Bus Stop - The left hander entering the bus stop should be entered from the far right of the track and can be taken flat in many cars. Otherwise a quick lift/brush will do. Get the car to the apex curbing and let it track out to the right at exit. This next left-hander can be a bit tricky, as you'll be driving over a bit of curbing on the right side as you brake (and possibly downshift). You can carry more speed here than you'll think, but don't hit the inside apex curb too hard or you'll upset the car. Turn in relative soon and let the car track all the way out to the curb on the right. Move left shortly thereafter in preparation for Truck Stop and Riverside.

Truck Stop - Essentially a flat out kink, enter this from about 2/3 the way over from the left side of the track and drive on through. Let the car track to the left as you exit.

Riverside - This corner can be intimidating (especially when you don't use the Bus Stop), and there is a tendancy for drivers to stay too far to the left. I've found that the most grip is available 2/3 to 1/2 of the way to the left through most of the corner. In some cars, you won't even need to lift entering the corner, and you want to be on the throttle hard to keep your car stable. Since they've added pavement at the exit, you can really let the car fly here, but do look for the late apex curbing and get the car down there before letting it track out. Quickly get the car back to the right side of the track afterwards in preparation for the kink leading into Lost Hill.

Lost Hill - After the kink between Riverside and Lost Hill, you'll want to get the car all of the way to the left side of the track before braking. You'll brake hard here, and likely drop a gear, before turn-in. Be patient here, and turn in later than you might think at first. It's important to get most of your turning done on the uphill side going this direction because the track jogs right on the other side of the hill. Be on the throttle as soon as you turn in and stay on the throttle through the apex on the right and over the hill and the car will be most stable. While it's fun to hit the apex curb and get the car up on two wheels, it's probably not best for your driveline or suspension. Once you crest the hill, keep accelerating and drive right through the next apex on the left as you enter the Drag Strip.

Star Mazda - You'll be carrying quite a bit of speed entering Star Mazda, so don't underestimate the amount of braking necessary. You might downshift two gears here, too. Star Mazda is a late-apex corner, so be patient, get the car all of the way to the apex curb on the right, and you should be able to feed a reasonable amount of throttle through the exit. Don't be afraid to use the curbing at track out here.

Esses - You can drive right over the curbing at the first "left-hander" of the Esses, but you'll probably want to avoid the curbs elsewhere through this complex. The goal here is to carry as much speed onto the following straight, and to do so, you'll likely apex a bit late for each of the subsequent Esses. The final left leading onto the straight is pretty quick, so be mindful of your line. You should be full throttle all of the way through this complex in most street cars.

Sunset - This is a pretty standard 90-degree corner, but there is a sweet spot near the apex that almost seems to suck the car onto the track. Again, be patient with your turn-in (most turn in too early). You'll be on the throttle hard here just after turn-in. Get the car to the apex curb, and then let the car track all of the way out to the right (don't fight it) and you'll be rewarded with good exit speed. If you do go off of the track at the exit, don't try to get the car back onto the track quickly. Drive straight and reduce speed gradually, or you might find yourself in a snap spin back across the track and into the wall. I know this because I was a passenger in a student's car when he did this. It wasn't pretty.

Now all of this is just from memory (I don't have a video in front of me), so use common sense and make adjustments to suit your car and driving style. I might even amend some of these instructions depending upon track conditions, car/tire type, etc.

Watch your hand position on the wheel (9 and 3 or 10 and 2), look far ahead and concentrate on being precise with your line. If you get the fundamentals right, adding speed will be easy. Work on maximizing your corner exit speed - not your corner entry speed. Be smooth! Have fun and stay safe.

 

Here is a vid of me (in the Yellow Z) running Buttonwillow. I am being chased by my buddy Rob in a 500+ hp 300ZX Twin Turbo (w/ race tires). The Z is not my race car (I have a Sentra SE-R for that) and was on street tires, so I am taking it pretty easy and just trying to drive clean. You can see where I keep missing the apex of star mazda -- but you get the idea.

Click Me

 

He was a no show. Must of had too much on his plate.

 

I went to the Hospital on Monday after thowing up 9-10 times from 3 to 10 am; It was the worst pain I've ever felt! I was on a 'clear fluids' diet until Thursday, and was in no condition to even drive a car on the street, let alone the track.

It had to be the worst timing! I had already spent 6-7 hours going over ppls turn-by-turn description alongside the video and finnaly had the track memorized... and since I'm moving to Seattle in a few weeks, I might never get to run there.

honestly guys, thanks so much for all of your input...sucks that I was instead of .

-Peter

 

You missed a great day. About 92 degrees for the high with a breese. I had a great day and learned that the V710's want to run at about 30-32 lbs hot. I had been running at 35 to 36 psi hot. I ran a first lap 2 seconds faster than I could get back to as the tires heated up to the nominal 35 lbs.

I was running 2:17 to 2:19 in traffic. That is good for me. I would emagine Daveh would be about 2:12 there.

Burned up a set of pads in three sessions and had to pass on the last exibition race we have with the club.

Good luck with your move and hope you feel better. That flu is a bad thing to get.