2005 Season Races 6 and 7
Buttonwillow 4/24/2005

A new guard was ushered into the 4 Flight S2 Cup at Buttonwillow Raceway Park for the 6th and 7th races of the 2005 Season. A whole host of new faces were found gracing the podium and fighting for the lead on the race track. True, most were 4 Flight regulars but we did welcome new oldtimer Frank Arnold to the family. A previous ACRL Pro Series Champion, Frank squandered the last two years in a Formula SCCA car but he's no stranger to a fast Sports 2000. His new Swift DB-2 was decked out in black and green livery with images of his artwork adding color and flair.

Perennial front-runners Jeff Littrell and Joe Moran were both sidelined with medical maladies so they were unable to race. Recognizing this, the other perennial front-runner, David Ferguson, decided he'd prefer to keep the Championship close so he aligned a deal to rent his purple Van Diemen to Rob Conrad. Ferguson (or at least the man posing as David Ferguson since without the facial hair we can't really be sure that the two are the same) was quoted as saying:

"Competition against the best competitors is the real reward for me. I decided I could still support the series by having my car there, but keep the points race close."

Scuderia Correll's drivers did well in Saturday's qualifying with Scott Brink on pole, followed by Jason Choulochas. Rob Conrad put Ferguson's Van Diemen to good use by qualifying third, with Bob Lovenson and Mike Pettibone rounding out the fastest five. The three "A" drivers -- Allison, Anderson, and Arnold -- all had troubles in qualifying and would start from further back in the field than they deserved.

The cars sat on grid for almost an hour as workers cleaned up the mess from the previous race. The Sports 2000 class was granted a split start but the first lap was a wave-by to allow the workers to move Bruce Allison out of harm's way. His brakes failed on the warm-up lap so he was not having a very good day. On the next lap the formula cars got the green so everyone knew that it was game on. Brink set a slow and steady pace but his motor gave a little stumble when the green came out. Therefore, Choulochas was able to get an immediate jump into the lead. Pettibone wasted no time either. He stepped out to the left and quickly passed Conrad, creating a Brink sandwich into turn one.

Amazingly, the entire field made it through the first turn, three wide, without contact. The order was Choulochas. Brink, Pettibone. Pettibone was on fire and passed Brink for second spot, setting his sights on Choulochas. These three were walking away from the rest of field but Frank Arnold was being held up working through traffic so his pace was not yet obvious. It wasn't too long before Pettibone got past Choulochas for the lead. The two ran in very close formation for many laps, with Brink not far back.

Rob Conrad had an exciting moment coming out of the Riverside turn and ended up in the dirt with nothing more than a bruised ego and a broken diffuser bracket but he was unable to continue. Sterling Ellsworth had a plug wire come loose and had to exit prematurely himself.

Choulochas kept applying pressure to Pettibone until he was eventually able to get back into the lead. From there he opened up a good gap while Arnold was gaining on the rest of the field. Brink had a small mistake that put him back a number of spots. By now, Arnold was in a groove and it was apparent to everyone on the pit wall that he was going to be up front before long. He got past Brink, Tim Moore, and Anderson to slot into third position but time was running out. Inexplicably, Choulochas made an error while downshifting with only two laps to go. He ended up stalled on the track, frantically pushing the starter button as Pettibone, Arnold, and Anderson all got past. He was able to get going again and got past Anderson for the final podium position before time ran out.

After being passed by Choulochas, Anderson fell into the clutches of Bob Lovenson. The two were fighting hard for 4th spot and were side by side going into the checkered flag, almost too close to call but Lovenson took the position and the extra Championship point.

The final order was Pettibone, Arnold, and Choulochas. Pettibone was ecstatic to get his first victory in the series, Arnold was happy with his debut performance, and even Choulochas was all smiles on the podium, knowing that he had a hat and that tomorrow would bring another race.

Mike Pettibone, feeling heady from his win, hosted an amazing party for all the S2 drivers, crew, and friends. Not only did he and his crew provide and cook the food, he also provided personalized embroidered shirts for all the S2 drivers and their crew, as well as 4 Flight S2 Cup jackets for 2004's top 5 finishers. A generous gesture that everyone appreciated. Thanks Mike!

Car No	Driver		Make	Qual Time	Qual Pos	Finish
4	Mike	Pettibone	Swift	1:56.711	5	1
19	Frank	Arnold	Swift	2:02.886	10	2
91	Jason	Choulochas	Swift	1:55.394	2	3
11	Bob	Lovenson	Swift	1:56.276	4	4
25	Jeff	Anderson	Swift	2:12.314	11	5
9	Tim	Moore	Swift	1:58.381	6	6
3	Scott	Brink	Swift	1:55.241	1	7
84	Gary	Holcomb	Swift	2:00.362	8	8
78	Jeff	Read	Lola	1:58.713	7	9
22	Sterling	Ellsworth	Swift	2:00.572	9	10
75	Rob	Conrad	Van Diemen	1:56.127	3	DNF
23	Bruce	Allison	Lola		12	DNS

To shake things up even further, Saturday's pole sitter, Scott Brink, was unable to run in Sunday's qualifying due to family commitments and Saturday's race winner, Mike Pettibone, also missed qualifying. This left the door open for another new face atop the leaderboard. Local boy Jeff Anderson pipped Choulochas by six 1000ths of a second to take pole for Sunday's race. Bob Lovenson was consistent and only about one 10th of a second behind Choulochas so it was a tight top three. Bruce "Farmer" Allison dazzled the crowd by qualifying 4th now that he had working brakes.

At the start of the race Bruce Allison silenced the critics (including his wife Kat) by driving his Lola straight up to the front of the pack from 4th on the grid and leading the first half of the race over Choulochas. Meanwhile, Brink was fighting his way forward in a hurry (his 1:52.7 fast lap in the race was a full two seconds faster than anyone else), up to 5th on the first lap and 3rd by the third lap.

Unfortunately, Allison was on old tires and when he saw Kat give the sign at pit wall signaling halfway he realized that there was a long way still to go. Choulochas pounced, taking the lead and, redeeming his Saturday performance, never relinquishing it. Meanwhile, Brink encountered some troubles with non-S2 cars, causing him to loose a few spots. He fought back, passing Arnold for a second time, to take the final podium spot behind Bruce Allison.

The heartbreak of the day was when Mike Pettibone was speared by a Formula car with only a lap to go. He was an innocent victim of a terrible accident. Tim Moore had a front row seat for the entire debacle and caught it on video. Pettibone is fine physically but his car and pocketbook took a big hit.

Car No	Driver		Make	Qual Time	Qual Pos	Finish
91	Jason	Choulochas	Swift	1:55.081	2	1
23	Bruce	Allison	Lola	1:56.486	4	2
3	Scott	Brink	Swift		11	3
19	Frank	Arnold	Swift	1:57.625	7	4
25	Jeff	Anderson	Swift	1:55.075	1	5
9	Tim	Moore	Swift	1:57.485	6	6
75	Rob	Conrad	Van Diemen	1:57.125	5	7
22	Sterling	Ellsworth	Swift	1:59.919	10	8
84	Gary	Holcomb	Swift	1:59.904	9	9
78	Jeff	Read	Lola	1:57.865	8	10
4	Mike	Pettibone	Swift		12	11
11	Bob	Lovenson	Swift	1:55.105	3	12

In summary, Pettibone and Choulochas took their first wins, moving Pettibone up into a very strong 3rd place in the Championship. Brink and his Swift were the fastest driver/car pair all weekend, with pole and fast laps but it was only converted into a single 3rd place podium spot. Frank Arnold made an impressive debut, picking up a 4 Flight cap in his first race. Bruce Allison got his first taste of leading a race and will no doubt be hungry for more of the same. He's got a hat now to remind him everyday of what it felt like. See the Standings Page for the current points situation. The next race is at Portland in June. Expect the consistent fast guys to be back, ready to duke it out with the strong contingent of Oregon locals. For more photos from this event, check out the Photo Gallery