Race day! NASA HPDE Buttonwillow 10/10/10

It's been awhile since I was at the track. I figured I needed to get back out there. With NASA's Buttonwillow event right around the corner I took up the opportunity to hit one of socal's most fun and technical courses. The last time I was at Buttonwillow was in the spring of 2008 with my 01 Audi TT 225. That car preformed pretty lackluster to say the least. This time around was a much different story.

After anxiously taking three different exits before the acutal exit, I rolled up around 7:15 for tech inspection. The last two track days I've been out with the M3, I generally just pick the first open spot in the paddock that I see. Those spots have generally been around Honda dudes. Nice guys, but not much in common when it comes to swapping tips and tricks. This time though I looked for the BMWs.

I saw about 5 or 6 e36 M3's and figured that would be a good place to park. I met the owner of the company sponsoring the cars Ian from Midnight Oil Motors. Stationed in San Diego, they apparently had just started up at the beginning of the race season this year. Ian said he had 7 cars competing that day including the class winning spec e30.

Throughout the day I was able to ask them about tire pressures, specifics on the S50 and whatever BMW related race questions I seemed to come up with. Obviously I was a noob running in HPDE2, but everyone was super friendly and seemed to have no problem with me hanging around.

So the day started off well. From here on I'm going to give my personal experience of the race day. The day went extremely well and I found that the control and restraint I exercised allowed me to do much better than I had ever done in the past.

The day was broken up into 4 sessions for the "classroom" setting run groups. Between those 4 sessions were actual races of the series that NASA has setup. These series include a spec miata, 944 and e30 race. Other class races went on as well. The way the system works is you race from HPDE 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 until you're deemed ready to race with the big boys. You then apply for a license in a certain class. Generally people race for about a whole year (8 sessions/weekends) before they apply for a license.

HPDE1 requires an instructor. In HPDE2 an instructor is optional. I was able to move up to HPDE2 after California Speedway. I was happy because I prefer about 75% my own instruction and 25% teacher information. I've found I work best if I'm told the major parts of the equation, filling the rest in myself. The past two instructors didn't exactly work for me. Just like any teacher or instructor is can be hard to find the right person who works with one's style.

So with that all being said I pulled up to the wall outside pit lane with the rest of the HPDE1/2 cars. A guy comes up to my window and asks if I need an instructor. Recently I've been more positive and under the impression that I shouldn't turn anything down that is offered to me (within reason). So I said, sure, hop in.

His name was Tim. He said he also drove an e36 with a cammed m50 variant of some sorts. This was a good sign for me. The last two instructors drove FWD Fords.....kind of a different beast entirely. I told Tim I hadn't been out since April. He told me he hadn't raced until yesterday for 4 years. It's like riding a bike he said.

I took off and instantly the line I remembered from 2008 comes back to me. Tim doesn't say much, I keep pushing it. I feel good. All four tires are the same now and talk to me on all the corners. There is some sliding, but I know exactly where the car is. Tim gives me some tips about what gears to be in around each corner.

The first time out on the last couple tracks I tend to down shift too much and keep the car in the red a little too much. With most of the M3 torque kicking in around 3250RPM, I'm able to use higher gears and not downshift. I finish up the session and pull back to my spot. Tim gets out and we talk about smooth inputs and slow-in fast-out. He shakes my hand says well, you're fast. Felt good to hear that, like I passed some requirement or something.

The last couple times the instructors had been pretty critical. I was always trying to overdrive the car. I really really wanted to "feel" fast. I knew I wasn't doing the best I could and I realized it had alot to do with my use of energy and my "all-in" attitude. I took a different approach this time out and fortunately, on my own after the first session, I got faster and faster throughout the day. I felt good about my position in the group being one of the faster cars.

One thing I can attribute the better driving to is the overall attention to what I was doing. The night before I planned out my whole day making sure not to use up all my energy at once. I set aside 2.5 hours in the morning for just the drive there. After that I knew I had two sessions then lunch. I didn't eat a whole lot like I had last time, just kept it moderate. After lunch 2 more sessions but don't forget the drive back. The last couple times I spent all my energy for the 4 sessions. 5:00 rolls around and I can barely drive back home. It's like I forgot I had to get home. Not only did that make the drive home slightly dangerous by being so tired, it caused me to not allot my energy sparingly enough throughout the day which I believe, this time around, was the difference.

Being able to reserve myself allowed me to really calm down and drive. Other times I just go full bore and nutty on the track. I really took in the mantra of "you have to slow down to go fast." I noticed that while I was racing at speeds past 100mph, shifting, engaging the clutch, heel toe and turning the steering wheel, I still had to watch for everyone behind and in front of me. It's amazing to me that while all of this sounds so hectic on paper, you're body is producing so much adrenaline just to "slow" your brain down to handle it all and make instantaneous decisions. That thought somehow crept into my mind while I was racing.

I remember getting out of the car after the 3rd session heart racing, hands shaking. You stop all the inputs, but the body continues it's course. It really just amazed me.

I was able to really think about my body, brain, attitude and control all those things so I could have a really successful race day. I now understand that you can pretty much use the idea of restraint and control and be successful in almost anything, but nothing holds more true than in racing. You have to be totally reserved. There is no room to be any other way.

Overall I was very happy with how the day turned out. The whole day left me soaring. I can only think about the next time I'll be out there, and what I can do to my car next. Yet while I don't have the budget or time right now to race every other weekend and work on my car, I still hope and know one day (soon) I will.

So that's my personal experience with the day. There were some sick cars in the paddock including an SL AMG Black. I didn't get a picture, sorry. Here are some of the other cars including some sick Porsche's, a couple e30 M3s and a cool paint scheme on a Honda. If the timing works out I'm heading back to buttonwillow on November 6!