2004 Season Races 13 and 14
Buttonwillow 10/24/2004

The final race of the 2004 event had one of the largest fields of the season, as 18 of the faithful S2 pilots showed up ready to race. A few new faces were welcomed, including Sterling Ellsworth in a very nicely prepared Swift DB-5, and John Ostlund and John Page making their second appearances of the year. The circuit was the #14 counter-clockwise configuration, which has been used for this event the last few years. The weather co-operated, raining before the event to keep some of the dust down, and staying sunny and dry throughout the weekend.

The Friday test day saw quite a few S2 competitors becoming re-acclimated to their cars, including points leader Jeff Littrell, Bruce Allison, Mike Pettibone and George Dellinger. David Ferguson was also working on his car, hoping to cure the problems he experienced at the Runoffs.

Qualifying saw Jeff Littrell jump to the early lead as he turned a low 1:44 (one second below the current race record). He pulled in to see how that held up. Ferguson ran only one lap before having a latch break on the rear bodywork, and he limped into the pits for some of the handy-man's best friend, tape! When he returned to the track, he scorched his previous best, registering a 1:43.7 for the pole. Littrell would return to the track, but encountered traffic and ran out of time before getting a clean lap. His 1:44.3 would leave him second (and asleep) on the grid. John Ostlund amd Joe Moran made up the second row, with Mike Pettibone and Jeff Anderson in the third. Other close-fought qualifying battles gave a hint of the great racing to come from Wayne Smith, Rob Conrad, Jason Choulochas, and Bruce Allison.

The Sports 2000s were the second wave of a 3-way split start. Ferguson led into turn one as Littrell and Ostlund went side-by-side, however insufficient grip saw Jeff sliding off the track on the outside. Pettibone made a great start and got by Ostlund and Moran as they headed into the Esses. At the sweeper, Ferg out-braked himself and was in the dirt immediately - and Pettibone followed him as the two of them took the very wide line. Staying on the pavement, Ostlund, Moran, Anderson, and Smith got by. It looked like no one wanted to win this race!

Ferguson's Van Diemen set off to catch the leaders in the two Carbirs ahead. At the end of the first lap the order was: Moran, Ostlund, Ferguson, Anderson, Smith, Pettibone, Ferguson squeezed by Ostlund as they entered the esses. Moran was running really quickly, in fact his second lap was a new race record 1:44.81, at least until Ferguson crossed the line a few seconds later with a 1:44.76. Ferguson slowly closed up on Moran, and was right behind him when they came up on a slower Formula Ford (FF) at the Cotton Corners turn. The Carbir and the FF both headed for the apex of the right hander, but the FF didn't see the bright yellow Carbir, and they collided - Joe was able to continue, but Ferguson and Ostlund were able to slip by. Ferguson cruised to the victory.

But there was plenty of other action on the track -- Bob Lovenson was racing with Jason Choulochas, and eventually prevailed. After qualifying 7th, Jeff Anderson got a good start to 6th in turn one. Pettibone had followed Ferguson off into the dirt at the sweeper but quickly caught up to Anderson and was right up under his tail for about three laps in a train with Moran. Anderson had to take evasive action to avoid a dead formula vee and that allowed Pettibone to get past. Anderson made a dive into turn 1 at near lap 10 but he pushed out until all 4 wheels were in the dirt, allowing Pettibone and Moran to open a lead on him. A top end engine glitch brought Moran back into striking distance for Pettibone and Anderson. Again they were a train of three cars. Anderson made a last corner run to the stripe but Pettibone was driving "wide". With two wheels off pavement (again) to make room, Anderson finished about 3/4 car length behind Pettibone.

Rob Conrad was looking strong, but fell back in the last half of the race. Sterling Ellsworth had a good run, moving up a few spots from his qualifying position. Scott Brink, with his motor (which expired in spectacular fashion at Laguna Seca) now repaired, and a new diffuser/rear-end modification was struggling mightily.

A few competitors weren't able to make the race including George Dellinger, whose ignition wouldn't be fixed until Sunday. And Fred Michael suffered a broken front anti-roll bar that would put his car back on the trailer.

Sunday's qualifying for the final race of the season saw a couple of people improve mightily. Bob Lovenson & Wayne Smith qualified fifth and sixth with nearly identical 1:47.0's. Mike Pettibone and Scott Brink were just a few tenths back, followed by Rob Conrad and Bruce Allison.

At the start, everyone stayed on the track and began to string out. Ostlund was able to get by Jeff Littrell, but two laps later Jeff was on the charge and moving to the front. Lovenson and Smith were battling, with Pettibone chasing. But on lap 8 it went wrong for Lovenson, and he fell back a half-dozen spots.

Anderson settled in behind Bruce Allison who was right under Brink and Pettibone. After VERY close racing and a couple of door closings by Allison, Anderson was able to out brake him into the East hairpin and make the pass. Their dice gave Brink and Pettibone a chance to get about 100 yrds away. Some fast laps and slow traffic brought Anderson up under Brink as he battled Pettibone. Again a lot of looks but few real passing opportunities.

Near the end of the race, Jason Choulochas fell off the track at the exit of the sweeper and destroyed the right side of his nose fiberglass. Back up front, Ostlund was able to get back by Littrell. The race was stopped on lap 10 when a Formula Continental of Frank Hanrahan rolled and emergency equipment was needed to transport him. (Despite suffering three broken vertebrae, he is OK and recovering). A shame because Pettibone, Brink, and Anderson were in for a hell of a 7 lap fight and Littrell was on fire to get past Ostlund again. Finishing order was Ferguson, Ostlund, and Littrell.

Ferguson's wins clinched the 2004 4 Flight S2 Cup Title. His name will now be etched onto the Cup for eternity. Littrell held onto Second in the Championship, ahead of 2003 Champ Joe Moran. See the Standings page for all the details. More photos are available on the Gallery Page.