So Cal NASA Buttonwillow, CA 4/26/08 - JW Racing

Good day, Yes already a month gone by from the last event !! You know it is time for the Monthly Race Report from JW Racing.

This past weekend the 26 and 27 of April 2008, NASA held their Third event of the season at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in central California. An extremely technical and high speed track . The weather was beautiful, a little warm for this early in the year but not too bad.

I arrived Friday to check into my RV site and get camp set up, relaxing in the evening with some of the H4 gurus Tom Landry, Benny P. and Renan. After the little troubles at the last event,things could only get better we had high hopes that I fixed the issues and will get the car a full day of sessions in. I decided to run HPDE3 as I am still working the bugs out and and getting acquainted with the car, I didnt want to get in the way of the vultures in the race group.

Saturday morning the first session always is the nervous one, I was happy to get through the first warm up lap realizing the issues were fixed and the car was running good! So I picked up the pace and started getting into a zone of feeling and control with my machine. The engine accelerated very well with the K power we make, the suspension handled smoothly and the Brakes were exceptional !

After the 25 grinding minutes, I went back to the paddock to look over my car and work on my air pressure in my tires for the next sessions. By the last and 4th session of the day Saturday, I managed to get quite comfortable overtaking many cars and maybe a bit aggressive for the HPDE drivers.

There were 2 close call spins in front of me but managed to stay out of trouble. However it was obvious the car was running well since I never thought about the mechanical issues in the car, only running my line! The group I was in was not a race group and the traffic was hideous, so lap times were at a premium. I was pleased to be more on pace than I thought.

Saturday night I unwound and watched some of the 3 hour enduro into the night, that is a sight to see! Talking to to a few fellow HC racers, I picked up a couple of set-up and driving tips and hope to drastically improve.

Sunday went just as well as Saturday and I received crucial information out of my car and myself that will only help steepen my learning curve. My time and money that went into preparation is beginning to show benefits as well and that is satisfying.

All in all the event went very well for my car and one of our good sponsors and Teammate Kiwi from Special Projects / Gear-X. He was fast in his Gear-X K20 powered Type-R he was running for the first time in a year or so and did extremely well in his Super Touring Class lapping about 2:02. Our other Teammate Renan B. joined the H2 class this season with the old Andy Hope Media car he took over; and was flying , lapping in the 2:01 range.

After a little more fine tuning in the suspension area, I should be on race pace and very soon the car will be able compete in the Honda Challenge H1 class. During the wait for the next event , we will be adjusting the alignment on the car and may even hit the dyno again with Shawn Church again for a little fine tuning. Next month we will be running Willow Springs Ca. and it should be a great event!

Enjoy the photos I attached. We had many compliments on the car and performance to match. I thank all my sponsors and I thank Password:JDM for the cool accesories that make it stand out !

Till Next time, Be Safe !

Justin Wesseling
http://www.customgrills.com/