Buttonwillow, Calif. (May 1, 2016) – Lap records fell like spilled pretzel sticks during Round Eight of the Western Conference SCCA U.S. Majors Tour at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
On Saturday, a total of 11 drivers lowered their Class lap records for the 2.92-mile configuration of the Buttonwillow course. On Sunday, another 14 lap records fell. In five cases, records set on Saturday were broken on Sunday.
Spec Miata led off the day, with Dakota Dickerson on pole in the No. 80 Rush Motorsports Mazda Miata. Outside polesitter Steven Powers took the lead at the start in the No. 145 Amerifirst Financial Mazda Miata.
“The plan was to get out front, and I did that. But Dickerson was just so quick. He got a good run on me and that was it,” Powers said. Dickerson never let go of the lead, and set a new SM lap record during the race, bettering his own record set on Saturday.
In the Group 2 race for big GT cars and American Sedan, a first corner incident brought out the full course yellow and safety car. After three laps under yellow, the race got underway with GT-1 driver Michael Lewis leading the field in the No. 12 Goodyear Jaguar XKR. Lewis set a new lap record for the Class with his win. Dylan Doherty also set a record, and brought home his second GT-2 Class win in the No. 24 CPR Classic Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car. Oscar Jackson Jr. again earned Super Touring Under honors driving the No. 16 Jackson Racing Scion FR-S. Veteran GT-3 Class leader Wolfgang Maike again claimed the top spot in his No. 15 Toyota/Red Line Oil Toyota Paseo, and Christopher Qualls swept American Sedan driving the No. 73 Haas Chemicals Ford Mustang to a new lap record.
Jim Devenport claimed his second Prototype 1 victory of the weekend and a lap record in his No. 23 Cranbrook Group Norma M20FC. Timothy de Silva also claimed top honors and a new record in Formula Continental driving the No. 3 DFR/TLP Racing Van Diemen. Prototype 2 had a new winner in Dave Tweedlie, driving the No. 65 Team Tweedlie Radical SR3. In Formula 1000, John LaBrie took another win and a record in his No. 33 Phoenix Race Works F1000.
Group 4 saw Chuck Horn again win top honors in Formula F driving the No. 54 Hotel California Swift DB6, while the Formula Vee victory went to Tim Harris in the No. 20 Apex Fire Systems Mysterian. The new Formula F lap record went to Bill Kephart in the No. 37 Vestal Crane.
In Group 5, local expert Mike Miserendino moved to SRF3 and set a record Sunday, after winning SRF and setting a record for that class on Saturday. Miserendino led the SRF3 field from flag to flag in the No. 11 MBI Racing SRF3. In the second-generation SRF class, Jake Pipal won Sunday’s race in the No. 28 Dennis Pipal SRF.
In Race Group 6, Aaron Downey set a record and took top position in E Production driving the No. 51 Roundpeg.com Mazda RX-3. F Production again went to Brian Linn in the No. 21 Hoosier Tire MG Midget. H Production honors went to Jason Isley in the No. 99 Racer.com Toyota Yaris. Isley set a new record for that class.
Andrie Hartanto made it two for two in Super Touring Light driving his No. 99 Supertech Acura Integra, setting a new record for the class on Saturday and lowering it on Sunday. Tom Wickersham won the T4 class for the second time this weekend in his No. 01 Maine Straight Mazda Miata. Joe Huffaker claimed the GT-Lite win and a new record driving the No. 77 Huffaker Horsepower MG Midget. Calvin Tam took the record-setting win in B-Spec driving the No. 45 American Honda Fit.
As clouds moved in threatening rain, the final race of the weekend got a reprieve from the afternoon heat. Marc Hoover took another win in Touring 1 driving his No. 98 Hooverspeed Mazda Miata. In Touring 2, Christopher Qualls set a new record and claimed the win in the No. 73 HASA Chemicals Chevrolet Corvette. Dale Shoemaker claimed the Touring 3 win Sunday, driving the No. 152 Hytorc Mazda Miata.
The SCCA Western Conference Majors Tour now moves on to the Pacific Northwest, with a May 27-29 event at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington hosted by the Northwest Region SCCA. More information on each of the SCCA Majors Tour events can be found at SCCA.com.
Provisional Results from Sunday’s Western Conference Majors Tour Round Eight from Buttonwillow Raceway Park, with Class: Name, Hometown and Car.
-American Sedan: Christopher Qualls, West Los Angeles, CA; Ford Mustang.
-B-Spec: Calvin Tam, Long Beach, CA; Honda Fit
-E Production: Aaron Downey, Rossmoor, CA; Mazda RX-3
-F Production: Brian Linn, Hermosa Beach, CA; MG Midget
-H Production: Jason Isley, Coto de Caza, CA; Toyota Yaris
-Formula B: John LaBrie, Draper, UT; Phoenix Race Works F1000
-Formula Continental: Timothy de Silva, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA; Van Diemen
-Formula F: Chuck Horn, Los Gatos, CA; Swift DB6
-Formula Vee: Tim Harris, Tustin, CA; Mysterian
-GT-1: Michael Lewis, Poway, CA; Jaguar XKR
-GT-2: Dylan Doherty, Fallbrook, CA; Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
-GT-3: Wolfgang Maike, Santa Barbara, CA; Toyota Paseo
-GT-Lite: Joe Huffaker, Petaluma, CA; MG Midget
-Prototype 1: Jim Devenport, Modesto, CA; Norma M20FC
-Prototype 2: Dave Tweedlie. Riverside, CA; Radical SR3
-Super Touring Lite: Andrie Hartanto, Concord, CA; Acura Integra
-Super Touring Under: Oscar Jackson, Jr., Chino, CA; Scion FR-S
-Spec Miata: Dakota Dickerson, San Diego, CA; Mazda Miata
-Spec Racer Ford Gen3: Mike Miserendino, Bakersfield, CA; Spec Racer Ford 3
-Spec Racer Ford: Jake Pipal, Oakdale, CA; Spec Racer Ford
-Touring 1: Marc Hoover, Shingle Springs, CA; Mazda Miata
-Touring 2: Christopher Qualls, West Los Angeles, CA; Chevrolet Corvette
-Touring 3: Dale Shoemaker, Henderson, NV; Mazda Miata
-Touring 4: Tom Wickersham, Piedmont, CA; Ford Mustang
Photo: GT-1 driver Michael Lewis takes a win Sunday at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
Credit: Jeff Zurschmeide
