I'll be going to the performance driving clinic at buttonwill on august 3rd; for anyone who is familiar with the track and instructors is there anyone in particular i should request for an instructor?? I'll be going in my ITR. -rob

 

It's going to be HOT HOT HOT!

Bring lots of Gatoraide, Shade and Food.. there is a covered area... but i'd bring shade for you and your car.

I always bring street pads and extra rotors and tires for the drive home.

which configuration are you running (there are a lot)
buttonwillow is big 3.0 miles in the large config and the front straight and the back side can be very fast >110 mph depending on the car & Driver
it's fun.

Gas up before you get there... (they have gas but it's race gas)

as far as driving there... I will leave that up to the instructors..
but as a general rule of thumb..
learn the lines first.. and speed will come..
your first lap will NOT be your fastest... so don't try to make fast times in your first session.

(the Essess.. you will drive on the rumple strips)

Watch the corner workers...
they will keep you out of trouble...
look ahead....know where cars are in front of you... sometimes you will go over the mountain.. and a car might be turned around and you may not see him until the last second... (it sucks to see the face of a freaked out porsche driver as you head towards him. Good thing I knew he was ahead of me and saw the corner worker waving a flag)

 

not sure who will be instructing but DO NOT LIFT in magic mt! Or else...
click here

 

I haven't heard much about them. Why not go with a group that's pretty well-known and you've heard good things about? i.e. TCRA or NASA's HPDE's.

 

never lift.....but i'm on the east coast

 

I should be there instructing this weekend for Buttonwillow. Feel free to look me up if you'd like. I'll be the one with the LA Auto Show car - probably the Lexus.

You'll have a great time, as long as you keep hydrated. Typically, there's so much track time that people give up before the day is done. You'll find that the instructors at Buttonwillow have a great deal of experience teaching, as well as racing. I've done some teaching for other groups, and let's just say that the level of instructor talent varies dramatically from group to group - well known or not.