Bakersfield, California

Buttonwillow Raceway Park can be seen just off to the right as you drive south on California I-5 past the Buttonwillow exit.  It is 28 miles northwest of Bakersfield and in the southeastern part of California.   Opened in 1996, it is owned, operated by and is the home to the California Sports Car Club,(CALCLUB) region of SCCA – truly some of the nicest people in racing.  It’s a racer’s racetrack.  Racing, testing and commerce go on at the track virtually year round.  It is an interesting place – to say the least.  With almost a 3500 ft, straight, blind turns, elevation changes and off camber turns it is extremely fast and fun to drive.  Out in the desert, there is no need for guardrails and sand catch ponds as the desert is it’s own slow down median should everything turn shaky. With the high desert winds and loose sand – racing at Buttonwillow takes on a whole new dimension.  Sandstorms and “white outs” are frequent occurrences and racing there is sort of like racing on sand blasted fantastic hish traction surfaces with an occasional puddle of ball bearings.

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