A few days later was the last track day of the year for TF. After all the racing, it seemed much more low-key than I had remembered it. Another 2.5 hours on the track, and nothing eventful.
Home? Or, Buttonwillow?
Home was a relatively easy 3.5 hour drive, and the group was stopping for dinner at the Buckhorn Steakhouse in Winters – a legendary steakhouse not to be missed.
Or, Buttonwillow was a 5½+ hour drive after a long day on the track.
Choices. Buckhorn or Buttonwillow. Which?
Both. I decided to go to the Buckhorn – and then go to Buttonwillow. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. It's amazing how many things seem like a good idea at the time.
However, after a nice dinner and a glass of wine, I was pretty mellow, and Buttonwillow seemed oh so far away. But, life doesn’t give any awards to quitters, so off I went. No less than 117 times along the way I was questioning the wisdom of my decision, but at each point, I kept pressing on. Finally, at 2AM, I pulled into the Motel 6 at Buttonwillow. Exhausted, I collapsed into bed after setting my alarm for 7AM.
Registration was simple, and the paddock was almost empty, so I picked a spot close to the track entry point. I was still a little bit in disbelief, as the entire day (9AM-4PM, w/ 1 hour break for lunch) was only $200. Use the track as much or as little as you want.
Before we went out, I started talking to some guys next to me, and when the driver heard I had never been on the track before, he offered to do a lead-follow, to show me the best way around the track. I quickly took him up on it.
Buttonwillow is one of the flattest and most open tracks I had run. This translates to a very low penalty for screwing up. if you do, you just spin off into the dirt (well, sand actually) and create a lot of dust. No walls. No ditches. Nothing. Even the two hills are only 10-15 ft high (and man-made). Although I haven’t personally tested this theory, I do think that even if you went off of one of the hills, you would simply slide down the other side.
I did a couple of long sessions in the morning, and then it was time for lunch. That was followed by a couple of long sessions in the afternoon – probably about 4-4.5 hours in total. And, I was exhausted.
I had been debating whether I would stay for the NASA weekend, but I was tired and, since I didn’t need it anymore, I decided to return home.
Even though I got a much earlier start after open test day, it was still a very long drive home (oddly, it’s 20 miles closer to my house than Thunderhill, but it felt longer that night). I arrived home about 9PM, and collapsed, tired but totally happy.
A few weeks later, I went to the last regular NASA weekend of the year. It was labeled “Porsches At The Point” (in honor of it originally being called Sears Point). It was only a race weekend for Porsches, but any chance to drive fast on a track is always welcome, and I had a great time driving around in my former HPDE4 group.
While the driving part was lower key than racing (to which I had become accustomed) there was one thing about the weekend that I will never forget. The two guys parked next to me were in their mid-twenties, and had driven down from Seattle just for this event. At one point, we were talking and one of them said, “I can’t believe I’m really here!” I asked why. He said, “Well, you’re older, so this probably doesn’t apply to you, but I grew up playing video games as a kid. And, this was one of the iconic tracks that we would race on and dream of one day going to for real. This, and Laguna Seca. You have these in your backyard, and probably take them for granted, but they’re some of the greatest tracks in the US, and I feel lucky just to finally be here.”
Wow! What could I say…