OT: NASA event at Buttonwillow, Some P-car content, but no 914s Options

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Well, I went to Buttonwillow yesterday because one of the cars I used to work on was to be running there that weekend (couldn't really care less), and my good friend was going to be there as track support (I care quite a bit!). I only really caught a couple races, but I did some pit strolling and got some pics that I thought I'd share. I'll start with the OT stuff first.
Cobra


Mark D.

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'Nuther cobra.


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Traffic

Panoz

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This was this guy's brand new Radical SR-8! He has another that I've seen raced before, but this is the new model with the 2.8 liter engine and the Quaife gearbox. I had never met him before but we talked for about an hour and he's a super nice guy. I told him that I had a 914 and he said that he was amazed that those cars were still out rippin' it up at the track after all these years. Of course, there wasn't any there this time. He also wondered how I was planning to get 500 hp out of mine to run in Unlimited class! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Anyways, he said that the Radical was 390 HP at the wheels and weighed in at about 1400 pounds. A little heavier than I expected, but still very cool. He didn't get the paddle shift option because he "likes shifting gears too much"! Haha... I totally understand that. I also told him that if he ever wanted to donate the older SR8 to charity, he could just give it to me! He smirked and the conversation moved on. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) He obviously had some serious money, but he was just there with his wife, and did all the work to his car himself! Again, super nice guy, and I hope to meet him again at the track. He's the dude with the grease rag in behind the car, far right of the picture.


Mark D.

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I really like Radicals, so I got a lot of pictures of this one!


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First one on pregrid, too. Very well organized racer!

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This Ferrari was a bit of an interesting story. I saw this before the race and he was running with the Super Unlimiteds. He had a whole crew with him, and a car hauler that said 'F430' on the side, even though it was a 360 (there was also a 996 GT3 inside). Well, after talking to the Radical SR8 driver, I found out that the Ferrari was running similar lap times with the Radical (to my surprise). During the race, however, the Radical seriously jumped him on the start. The Ferrari driver struggled to keep up for a couple laps until he spun mid-track somewhere. After that I moved down to one side of the track, down at the exit of the 'esses'. He looked like he was driving VERY aggressively. He also got up rather close to the Radical again. However I found out later that he had spun on the other side of the track, and was in fact a lap down. I also saw him dive under a slow GT3 on the last corner, jump the rumble strip and punt the GT3 off the track.
Not two laps after the Porsche incident, I looked over towards the exit of the esses just in time to see him lose the back end. I knew that if he didn't recover before he hit the dirt that he wasn't going to get it stopped in time to miss the wall. He spun once in the dirt and was headed strait for the wall where myself and a track official were standing. We both ran towards the infield, all the while watching the car to see which direction it was heading. Luckily the wall did it's job, but he busted the concrete in the process. It was a pretty hard hit. I'd say in the 50 MPH range once he impacted. He was shaken but okay. The dude gets out and he looked REALLY young. Turns out, daddy is a 430 Cup racer, and he pieced together a seriously built 360 for his 18 year old son! Needless to say, I was jealous!
That car impacted no more that 20 feet from where we were standing.... and it's only like a 2 or 3 foot retaining wall with a 4 foot chain link fence on top. It's a strange feeling watching an out of control race car heading right for you. It's funny, though, I specifically remember thinking at the time, "You know, I've seen videos on youtube where this happened to others and the idiots didn't run! I don't want to be one of those idiots!" haha
Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the carnage. I had my video camera at the time too, but it wasn't on at that particular moment! But I should've gotten some stills of the wreckage. Basically everything in front of the front shock towers was gone!


Mark D.

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Nuther Ferrari... This one went home in one piece!


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Well let's get to some Porsches, already. This car and driver were VERY fast. He pulled a very smooth second place in the SU race after the white 360's first spin.


Mark D.

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This car was trailered and never ran while I was there. It looked pretty serious, though. Very cool, vintage style!


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#65. I like the extension on the whale tail!


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#900


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This is probably my favorite picture from the event. I don't know any specs on the car, but it seriously screamed coming down the front strait! Really high pitched exhaust note! Fast too!

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Almost finished!


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I like the exhaust! I overheard him saying that his buddy was a Porsche enthusiast and a sport bike guy, and he built it for him. Sounded wicked!


That's it. Hope you enjoyed it. Glad I'm still alive! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)
Mark D.