May 13

Buttonwillow Raceway, CCW #13
April 8, 2003
"The Kings of the Middle Earth"

The Hope. The Glory. The Scandal. The Redemption. The Truth!

I reserved one of the garages at Buttonwillow a couple of weeks before the event. Which we definitely need, as Wayne and Rick need to perform a kidney transplant on the 944 Turbo.

Configure #1, Counter Clockwise, with Star Mazda Turn and the Bus Stop

BP let me choose the configuration for this track many months ago. Buttonwillow has about 14 different configurations, and all can be run clockwise or counter-clockwise. I wanted it to be the slowest possible config, meaning lots of turns, which would benefit the S2000 in its class, and the NSX in its class. I figured we couldn't catch the Radicals, but if I slowed the track down, I could maybe contain Mumford and whatever Viper he was bringing to the event, and maybe we could catch him in the Flamemobile. So much for that logic....Mumford went out for the first time in the second session, and runs off a couple of 1:55/1:56 laps. He then chose to park the car to see if the Radicals could beat it. Erik screams a 1:59, putting him right in Radical territory.

Rick fixes head gasket in four hours, including going to Bakersfield for parts!

The set of tires on the NSX are worn down quite a bit. I figure that I ain't gonna beat Erik's 1:59, so I might as well trash the tires that are already mounted on the car. Erik said that the slicks are pretty bad, but it would be good practice to learn what slicks feel like when they are dead and useless. Hey.....I am a professional, I can drive on crappy tires. I go out in the NSX, and I am all over the damn track, doing tank slappers back and forth, getting two wheels off into the dirt, and driving like a moron. Okay okay....I understand what shitty slicks feel like....this is torture. People watching from the control tower are probably pointing at me, saying, "Put that guy in the Special Olympics Category of Drivers".

Rick, Brent and Wayne start working on the 944 Turbo, and they discover that they also need a new distributor rotor, as the one they were using was ah.......old.

Wayne's distributor rotor. A little chewed up.

Right now, we are winning in T3, but we think the Audi guys are sandbagging and are going to come out in session 4 blazing away. Wayne's head gasket is fixed! They are back on the track.

3:45 p.m.
We are a bit behind trying to get 3rd place overall for today. For the last "Hail Mary Session", Erik goes out and gets flat tire on first lap. What the hell? We do a NASCAR tire swap, but he is a bit short of taking 3rd place today. Not sure what happened to the tire.

Mumford wins today, Radical 2nd, Radical 3rd, Flamemobile 4th. We start calculating our tire strategy......let's see.....we lost one of our rear tires today. I realize that slicks SUCK when they are worn down......hummm.......I get four more rears Fedexed to Willow Springs, so we can have good rubber for the last two days, just incase we need it......

Place

Car No.

Car

Drivers

Lap1

Lap2

Lap3

Total

Points

2003 Dodge Viper Competition

Mumford, Provost

1:55.960

1:56.002

1:56.124

5:48.086

2002 Radical SR3

Johnson, Dalen, Morris

1:56.137

1:56.451

1:56.477

5:49.065

2002 Radical SR3

Dalen, Johnson, Morris

1:58.395

1:58.461

1:58.889

5:55.745

1992 Acura NSX

Hayashi, Messley, Mello

1:59.104

1:59.678

1:59.897

5:58.679

2002 Radical SR3

Morris, Dalen, Johnson

2:00.137

2:00.518

2:00.623

6:01.278

500

2001 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Cardenas, Ames

2:05.893

2:07.505

2:07.584

6:20.982

206

2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Chavis, Blevins

2:08.863

2:08.940

6:26.743

1987 Pontiac Fiero

Ondrack, Salter

2:09.195

2:09.562

2:09.574

6:28.331

Mark Dalen narrowly beats us out for 3rd, and we narrowly beat Morris's revived Radical for 4th.

Place

Car No.

Car

Drivers

Lap1

Lap2

Lap3

Total

Points

1997 BMW M3

Smith, Arnold

2:00.367

2:01.633

2:01.908

6:03.908

2000 Honda S2000

Kennedy, Rhoades

2:04.749

2:05.160

2:05.409

6:15.318

1989 Porsche 944 Turbo

Mello, White

2:05.002

2:06.009

2:06.201

6:17.212

401

1997 BMW M3

Ross, McGinn

2:07.755

2:08.069

2:08.672

6:24.496

1995 Acura NSX

Allan, Allan

2:09.142

2:09.387

2:09.585

6:28.114

1996 Acura NSX

Chiarella, Hartanto

2:07.820

2:09.513

2:11.856

6:29.189

In U2, Smith/Arnold continue their World Domination of Unlimited 2. Kennedy/Rhoades take second, with Mello/White right behind them.

Place

Car No.

Car

Drivers

Lap1

Lap2

Lap3

Total

Points

555

2001 Honda S2000

Hayashi, Messley, Rhoades

2:12.904

2:13.334

2:13.602

6:39.840

1990 BMW M3

Boicelli, Brooks

2:17.498

2:17.625

2:17.948

6:53.071

2000 Audi S4

Babcock, Babcock

2:17.318

2:17.819

2:18.664

6:53.801

944

1990 Porsche 944 S2

Lofgren, Lofgren

2:18.205

2:18.711

2:18.970

6:55.886

1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

Check, Mosier

2:19.499

2:20.073

2:21.599

7:01.171

2001 Honda S2000

Fletcher, Fletcher

2:23.743

2:24.386

2:24.548

7:12.677

2001 Audi S4 Avant

Lindsey, Provost, Sofronas

2:19.353

2:23.435

2:40.663

7:23.451

In Touring 3, we handily clean up in this configuration. The Penske shocks and the Active Aero Big Ass Ugly Wing prove unbeatable in this configuration at Buttonwillow. The shocks are allowing us to fly over the bumps, the wing is making the rear stick really good on the higher speed turns. There is still a dogfight for 2nd place at this track, with three cars within a second of each other again.

5:53 p.m.
Wayne got something in his eye and was moving slow most of the day. We have to get him his own personal nurse at this rate! Off to Thunderhill.......300 miles away...

The Pulp Racing truck, trailer, RV, and tire trailer

The Mosler appears to have broken TWO CV joints. They don't have spare parts. The rules state that Touring related cars must drive between tracks, or they are disqualified from the next track, thus knocking them out of the event. They are scrambling to find parts. Which means that Mr. Dearing is smiling, as he could become the Top Dog for Touring 1 if the Mosler can't make it to the next event.

Right now EMI prepared cars are running something like:

1. Flamemobile 4th overall

2. Pulp S2000 - 1st in class

3. Coffey/Lampe 240Z - took top time in class today, probably in 2nd for the event in their class.

4. John Dearing, 2nd in Touring 1, and with the Mosler broken....he could be in the top spot tomorrow.

5. Wayne is fighting for 2nd in class.

Live, from the Pulp Truck going 75 mph down the 5 freeway via the Sprint PCS connection card

OOOPS. We get to Lodi at 8:30 p.m. Truck runs out of diesel, so Erik shuts off the engine and we glide off the freeway. Luckily, we fill off the external diesel tank, and the truck starts again. At the very same moment we run out of diesel, Brent calls and says the RV just broke down off the 5 Freeway by the Tracy exit. Apparently the drive shaft blew up, put a hole in the go kart trailer, and then fell off unto the freeway, were apparently some pickup truck hit it and got a flat tire. We can't find the damn rental contract, so now we are calling around trying to figure out how to get a tow for a 38 foot RV towing a 18 foot tire trailer.

Erik and I circle 40 miles back, we grab as many tires as we can out of the go kart trailer, leave Brent with the RV and kart trailer and tow truck. There is a Freightliner repair place about 20 miles down the road, so hopefully their 24 hour repair can fix it.

Here are some pictures.

Oooooopos. Drive shaft blew up on RV. DAMN!

Tow truck, RV, and big trailer behind all of them.

Live, from the 5 freeway and Stockton, at 11:00 p.m., via Sprint PCS connection card. We should be at Thill in 2.5 hours. And then we are kicking ass for the next two days going forwards and backwards at Thunderhill Raceway.

Drive shaft put a hole in the go kart trailer. At least it didn't hit another car on the freeway...

Support the Pulp Racing/NSX-Files Website! Buy this DVD! Or a T-Shirt!
Order it at the Pulp Store