Keigwin's @ the Track - Buttonwillow, April 29th, 2002

Write up by Jimil Borillo

Several 'Strafers attended this trackday put on by Lance Keigwin. For a few of us, it was to be our first time at Buttonwillow Raceway. The track is down in SoCal about 30 minutes away from Bakersfield. Its not that much farther, mileage wise, than Thunderhill but I guess the drone on the I-5 makes it seem so. The Strafers that attended were Andy Carman, Dale Palmer, Mike Solis, Dito Milian, Ricky Garcia, Jimil Borillo, Mike Coustier, Jesse Grajeda, Steve Grajeda, Aimee Austin, and Kevin Ho.

Most of us left Sunday so that we could stay overnight and be fully rested for the trackday. Myself, Ricky, Dito, and Mike Coustier arrive at the Motel 6 in Buttonwillow about 9pm and we get settled. We look for Jesse, Steve, and Aimee, cause they were supposed to stay there too. Turns out they were at the other Motel 6 a few miles up the I-5. Mike Solis and Kevin Ho were still in the Bay Area trying to get Kevin's bike fixed and then head down. They ended up arriving at about 2 or 3 am.

The next morning we leave the hotel at about 7:15am to get to the track by 7:30am. We thought we were early but there were already more than 40 riders ahead of us and they were setup already.

We park and setup our pit area. Dito brought a rug so we had a nice little outdoor living room to chill in between sessions.

There were over 70 riders signed up for Lance's 2 for 1 special so he ran A/B sessions, 30 minutes each. We attended the rider orientation then got suited up for the sighting laps. Andy and Dale were both track "Big Dogs" and their job was to do sighting laps in the morning then assist downed riders, etc. Dito, Mike, myself, and Ricky get in Dale's line. We head out and the first thing that comes to mind is, this track is pretty narrow.....this track is pretty flat.....this track is pretty torn up and bumpy.....this track has a lot of turns and is way more technical than TH....we pull in after 3 laps.

The B session is first and we get out there. The track is spooky at first but as you get the hang of it, things get way better. It took me awhile and it wasn't till the last 30 minute session at the end of the day when I got comfortable with the track.

There were about 8 crashes that day. No one got really hurt but the crashes made it hard to get good laps in cause you were always getting pulled in on the black flag. The afternoon was better as the crashers were out of commission and everyone was getting used to the track.

As usual Dale, Andy, and Solis were tearing the track up! The rest were looking real good out there. All in all it was a fun day and for $100 you couldn't afford NOT to go.