SPEEDSF CHALLENGE - JUNE 30, 2019 - ROUND 7 @ BUTTONWILLOW RACEWAY
INTRODUCTION
It was another very hot summer day at Buttonwillow (typical), and with scorching hot asphalt temps, it was hard to imagine anyone beating the current SpeedSF Challenge lap records. Still, our 16 Challenge drivers had a lot of fun as they usually do at BW!
Class S2
No S1 drivers came to play this time around but that’s okay. Two cool cars came to play - a Sunburst Yellow RX-7 and a 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Ken Xu took home 1st place and 3rd fastest time of the day with his 1:53.499 lap time thanks to his loud and beautiful RX-7, while “JKM CARS” took 2nd place with his 1:57.145 lap time while piloting his 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.” Great driving from these two!
Class S3
Party of 1 - Randy Chen in a 2002 Honda S2000 came to play in his aesthetically-pleasing S2000. He took home 1st and only place with his 1:55.093 lap time.
Class S4
The biggest class of the day with 9 drivers! The top two drivers were within tenths, making this a really good space to watch as we go forward into our next SpeedSF Challenge. Less than six tenths separated Sohan Kota’s 1st place win from 2nd place. With a great lap time of 1:59.204 in his 2000 Honda S2000, he was able to stave off the hard charging lumberjack in a white mislabeled Toyota.
Joe McGuigan, per usual, took home 2nd place in his (and Rebecca’s) Scion FR-S. With a lap time of 1:59.816, it was certainly faster than his previous best lap time, but still oh so close to beating Sohan. Perhaps November’s Black Friday event will produce a different result for him!
3rd place winner Tony Rodriguez firmly held his spot here thanks to a 2:00.793 lap time in his own 2004 Honda S2000!
Again, this class is the one to watch as we progress through the SpeedSF season, so stay tuned for more!
Class S5
Easy to be the King when no one else wants to challenge you for the throne. That loud Miata of his earned him that gold medal around his neck with a 2:03.293 lap time, which is still really fast for a Miata!
Class X
3 drivers, 3 podiums, 2 drivers in the photo :O.
Jon Van Caneghem in his Elan DPO2 took home 1st place thanks to his fastest lap time of the day: 1:40.313! 2nd place Kui Qin piloted a 2018 McLaren 720S around the track for a 1:51.810 - a blazingly fast lap time! Not-pictured 3rd place winner Jean-Sebastien Gagne drove his 2005 Porsche GT3 Cup around BW and put down a 1:59.643 lap time. Hm, must have been the heat.
CONCLUSION
A hot, hot, hot day for everyone at Buttonwillow. While records weren’t broken, personal bests were beaten - and that’s always a good thing!
Excellent job to our who won their places and THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the SpeedSF Challenge! For those who are still chasing podium finishes, more seat time, coaching, and watching videos of the track will certainly get you there!
As we look forward to Round 8 of the SpeedSF Challenge at Sonoma Raceway on August 16th, we want to say that we truly appreciate our sponsors and participants as it would not be possible without them!
We thank our sponsors Wine Country Motorsports, G-Loc brakes, Titan7 Wheels, Necksgen, and Charles Schwab for their continued and valued support. Please visit their respective websites to show your support and let them know SpeedSF sent you!
Again, our next SpeedSF Challenge will be held at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Again, please check out the event website by clicking here. We will see you at our next event!
