Pre-season Kick-off Race - Buttonwillow, CA 10/13-14/2001

Buttonwillow Raceway was host to the "4 Flight Sports 2000 Cup" this past October 13 and 14. The double race weekend opened to clear skies and temperatures in the nineties. The field offered a fair spread making for an exciting first day race with several small contests breaking out across the twenty plus cars . Day two saw an interesting turn for several cars with two thirds of the field turning in slower qualifying times that the day before.

Saturday's race began with the capture of pole position by 55,Spencer Trennery, joined in the first row by #1, Jeff Littrell. Following in row 2 was #71, Joe Moran in the third spot with #64, Dave Ferguson in fourth. The pole for Club Sports 2000 was captured by #8,Chris Keating.

Trennery led the field through a slow pace lap, but lunged forward at the green flag with Littrell right on his tail. The two immediately pulled away from the pack and by the end of the first lap, Ferguson had passed Moran to take the third spot as the lead three bunched up nose to tail. While their gap on the pack grew, several contests began in the main group as drivers fought their way through traffic behind the leaders. As the "play by play" played out we saw #41, Greg Clark, and #20, Bruce Allison running side by side for an incredible half lap before Clark spun on turn one of lap two, allowing #24, Jeff Anderson to move up a notch. In the third, Ferguson made his move on Littrell, passing to go after Trennery who was pulling away from everyone! Meanwhile, Moran, now leaving the main body of cars, was flying solo in the growing gap between the leaders and the rest of the field. Back in the pack, several tight skirmishes were taking place. #42, Doug Ota and #77, Chris Tryon went at each other while #20, John Kestler and #41, Greg Clark got into a three way bout with Anderson. Back at the front, Trennery had pulled away to a five second lead by the fifth lap and though slowing a bit by the ninth, he pulled out to a full six seconds by lap 11. Ferguson and Littrell were hard at it all the way, swapping spots as the gap on Trennery began to close. There was some excitement as #7, John Page, "finished early" at the end of lap thirteen. He told me later, "I was really having a great race until I crashed." (I know the feeling). Coming through the second to the last lap, Littrell had it together and was moving on Trennery when, (I know this feeling too), his suspension broke a member on the last lap, putting him out of the race. The final stack was Trennery, Ferguson, Moran, Tryon and Ota.

The Club Sports 2000 win went to #56, Fred Michael, and appropriately so as he was celebrating his fortieth birthday.

Day two the shortage of adrenaline was evidenced by the aforementioned slower qualifying time of two thirds of the field. Trennery had mechanical trouble in qualifying and started at the back of the pack. Ferguson sat this one out as his wife Ellen took the seat in number #64 and qualified sixteenth. Littrell took the pole, accompanied in the front row by Moran, followed by Tryon. Incredibly, #8, Chris Keating took the pole for Club Sports 2000 and qualified second row in his Tiga! That was a feat in itself. It was a clean start with Littrell leading Moran. By the end of lap one, Trennery had already moved up to mid pack. By the middle of lap two, Littrell, Moran and Tryon were pulling away from the pack followed in order by Ota, Keating, Anderson and now Trennery. The third lap saw Moran spin and fall back to 9th position as Trennery snaked his way into the third spot past Moran, Ota, Keating and Anderson. Littrell had a three second lead on Tryon and six on Trennery, picking up one more second in lap five. Traffic became a factor by lap six, with Littrell losing lead time by a couple of seconds while further back, Ota and Keating were sparring for position as were Kestler and #74, Gary Holcomb (that is until Holcomb spun). By now the field was really spreading out with Moran, Kestler, #40, Rob Conrad, Clark, Page, and #87, Bruce Allison, all running alone. Several cars were losing their brakes. Trennery, though aggressively moving up lost his motor and parked it in lap eight. Littrell continued his lead. It was becoming evident something was wrong with Tryon's Lola. We later learned he had lost a gear and though he kept up and fought well, he ended up at a dead stop on the last lap. Amid the spread of cars and the few close battles including a great pass by Moran on the back straight, Littrell stretched out to a 22 second lead by lap twelve. In thirteen, Moran moved into second and kept it for the final lap. At the checker it was Littrell, Moran, Ota and Keating. The latter finishing fourth overall and first in Club Sports 2000.

It's always interesting to compare the race results with the pre race comments of drivers. Prior to Saturday's race I spoke with the top qualifiers to see what they were thinking. Trennery told me he was going to be working hard on winning it. Littrell was so focused I was unable to get a reply, while Moran told me he was going to try and get the job done from the second row. Ferguson laid it on the line with, "I came here to win."

As always there are expectations and disappointments, but I for one enjoyed watching two exciting races, some great driving and beautiful weather. All in all, a great weekend.

Frank Arnold