The Rush Motorsport team scored 1st in class (E3) and 2nd overall at SCCA 6-Hour Endurance race at Buttonwillow, running track configuration #25, clockwise on the 2.92 miles road racing circuit. 

If the double regional in June at Willow Springs was a Summer Sizzler, then Buttonwillow had to be a scorcher. Simply hot, that was how I'd describe Buttonwillow in July. I thought running the Enduro in late afternoon might give us a bit of relieve, but then again, the sun didn't set until 7:30pm, leaving us only a few hours of cooler night time temperature.

For the 6-Hr Enduro, our Rush Motorsport Spec Miata team cars (#68 & #33) added 2 additional drivers (Bob Boilbeau and Jeff Jensen) in additional to Don (Thibaut), Louis (Thibaut) and myself (Clement Lee) in the driver rotation with Adam Jackson providing team support. With Bob and Jeff being first time out to Buttonwillow, we decided to practice on Friday for Bob and Jeff to get accustomed to our track here.

If there were tell tale signs of things to come during our practice on Friday... that would spell bad news for car #33. With minor inconveniences like in-car timer not registering to brake pedal attachment coming loose, we thought little about them.

But then a front hub came loose, even though we had checked it before bringing the car to the track. And now we had to scramble to find a replacement. Luckily, Tom and Betty over at 7's Only had a Miata not entered in the Euduro and so we were able to use their hub to make the repair. Thanks for your help 7's only. Boy, the drama was already unfolding and it was not even race day.
 

See below or click here for video footage.

Saturday rolled around and like Willow Springs, it was HOT at Buttonwillow. Car #33 was running hot so I decided to put in only a couple of qualifying laps. Once again the Rush Motorsport cars qualified 1-2 amongst the SM field and 11-12th overall with Andrew (Fernandez) and Terry (Chen) right behind us. And oh, we all qualified a bit behind the Porsche.

See below or click here for video footage.

Did I mention hot earlier? Well it got worse once the race got started. Car #33 immediately started running hot and the driver, yes, I was driving, was heating up too. This was bad news as I adjusted my driving to keep the temperature down. Andrew on the other hand probably forgot this was an ENDURO and quickly shot into the lead amongst the SM cars and the E3 class. By lap 10, Andrew's bright yellow miata said it had enough and called it quits.

Meanwhile, the Rush Motorsport cars (#68 and #33) ran steadily in 1-2 formation in class E3. The temperature had stabilized on car #33, albeit on the high side, giving me hope that this 100,000 mile engine would make it through the event. Sadly, it lost power about an hour into the race. Dutifully, my brave little miata carried me back into the pits before sputtering to a stop. My poor miata no longer had a grin on its face.

The team now turned all our attention to car #68 and our initial pit stop. Bob came in right on schedule together with the cloud cover. The pit stop went smoothly and uneventfully as Don took over. Then the sky opened up as Don left the pits. It was fun to watch from the control tower as car after car left a rooster spray coming down pit straight in the rain. Hey, the miata was starting to chase down the Porsche or so it seemed. But soon the rain stopped and the mirage disappeared. Don thought it would cool down after the rain, but guess what, it turned into a sauna.

The slower pace in the rain gave us a bit better mileage than planned and Don had to stay in the sauna longer. To his relieve, the tank finally emptied and he got to come in. Our 2nd stop was just as uneventful. Now it was Louis turn to get in and lights on time.

Louis had not race in a Spec Miata for many months and did not get to try running with lights only in the Friday night test sesssion, so to no surprise, he complained "I couldn't see..." soon after he got onto the track. It did not help when he had not turn on the auxilary lights. We tried radioing him but no response. His ear buds must not be plugged in properly!! Lap after lap we tried to get his attention as he went by the pit straight but no luck. That was really the team main problem for the evening as everything else had gone on quite smoothly.

Finally, Louis figured out the radio connection problem. His radio came back to life and got the instructions to turn on the auxiliary driving lights. With dust hanging in the air, that didn't help much although every bit counted. Louis got into a rythem and maintained his steady pace. As he brought the car in for another refueling and driver change, #68 were running 1st in class E3 and 2nd overall. With less than an hour and thirty minutes left, this should be our final pit stop.

It was another uneventful pit stop, fuel went in, driver changed and off we went again. I had the opportunity to drive this last stint in the dark. This last stint was more interesting than my earlier drive primarily because it was dark. Going over magic mountain, you felt like saying "Whoopiee..." But Shawn (Sampson) might not agree with me cause for quite a few laps, we ran in tandem with my lights shinning into his rear view mirror. I did turn off the driving lights but it probably did not make much difference. Finally he let me by and now he returned the favor running behind me.

Eventually both Shawn and I went into a fuel conservation mode... but Shawn dropped off the pace significantly. In the closing laps, you started hearing a noise here and there and wondered if that was just my imagination. After 6 hours, we were happy to see the checkered flag and I was relieved to have brought the #68 car back, running at the end.

Thanks to great team work and steady drives, the Rush Motorsport Spec Miata #68 finished 1st in class E3 and 2nd overall. Other Spec Miatas had a good showing too filling 2nd and 3rd positions in class E3. It was a fun Enduro although it was too hot at the beginning of the race. If we had started at say 7pm (instead of 5pm), we probably would not have to deal with as much heat.

Again thanks to all the corner worker having to deal with the heat, rain, dust and blinding headlights, you are a wonderful group. ANd lots of thanks to everyone else who made this event possible and for bringing together the dinner and early breakfast. Look forward to being back on our "normal" double regional races in August.
 

The Start - 0:30 - 1MB

Initial Lap - 0:23 - 1MB

In Formation - 0:18 - 1MB

Rain - 0:18 - 1MB

Esses - 0:17 - 1MB

Don - 0:20 - 1MB

Turn 1&2 - 0:18 - 1MB

Night - 0:13 - 1MB

Award - 0:18 - 1MB