DE at Buttonwillow

Drivers Education Event at Buttonwillow

by Bob Bruington Photos by Chuck Jennings and Alfred Abken

Finally on May 21, 2021, California Central Coast Region drivers were able to take their prized cars out on the track at Buttonwillow Raceway May 21st, for our first Drivers Education event since last year! It has been a struggle to plan and hold DEs during these trying times. Our club usually has three DEs and six autocross events every year, making our club one of Zone 8’s busiest Regions for driving events. Want to feel how special your Porsche is? California Central Coast Region gives you nine opportunities to take that coveted Porsche out on a track. We had 67 drivers sign up for Buttownwillow, the most we have had since Covid-19 reared its ugly head. This was a fantastic showing considering we had to cancel three other DEs in the last eighteen months. Part of the increase in attendance was due to the in car instruction we were able to take advantage of again for new drivers. We had eight student drivers eager to drive their cars on the track, six were first timers! I would say, after the great experience they had, all will be back for our next DE at Laguna Seca on Oct. 18th. We had fantastic support from our sister club to the north, Golden Gate Region in Zone 7. After ours, GGR ran a two day event after ours through the weekend. Many of their members made it a three day event by running in ours too. Several other clubs joined in the fun, including Santa Barbara, Sequoia, Los Angeles, Grand Prix, Diablo, Orange Coast, and San Diego regions. We greatly appreciate all the other clubs who support our events! I stayed to instruct for GGR on Saturday and to have a little more track time. My student brought an Audi Q3 to the track. A small SUV is not what you would call a track car by any means. We worked to get the car going but it was a struggle, so we just had fun learning the driving lines and feel of the track. I took her out in my car to show her how it feels to be in a car that belongs on the racetrack. She laughed, hooped and hollered the whole way, just having a blast. By the time we parted, she was looking for a 2010 Cayman S with PDK. Another convert!!

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CCCR had twenty one members on the track at Buttowillow, plus volunteers to help run the event. Bill Deviny was a real trouper. He volunteered to man the front gate where registrants have to sign the PCA releases as they enter. He shows up Thursday evening on a motorcycle, with a pup tent and an air mattress. Several of us camped at the track on Thursday night. Barbeque, fire pit great conversation. We both got up at 5:00 AM. Bill was at the front gate, and helped me to set up registration and the grid. All without coffee!! On top of that, Bill didn’t even have a car to run on the track. That is dedication to a sport we all love. Alfred Abken ran our Black Flag station as he has for many of our events. He drove all the way from Paso Robles in the morning, arriving at the track at 7:00 AM the day of the event, running the station until 4:30 PM then driving back home. Without people like these, we could never have the DEs. I also want to thank Andy Winterbottom, Warren White, Barry Lockton, Bill Chadwick and Chuck Jennings for all of their help and support. If you want to come out to watch any of our track events or volunteer to help out please contact me for further information. Hanging out at the track to see how it all works may help you decide to try it yourself. Our CCCR club has been asked to run the Drivers Education event at this year’s California Festival of Speed. We are looking for a few volunteers to help out at the event. If you are interested, please give me a call or email for further information. The dates are October 30th and 31st. I hope to see you all at Laguna Seca, October 18th for our last DE of the year. We are fortunate to have been allowed a 92db sound day for the louder cars. We should be able to have in-car instruction for those who have not qualified to drive solo or want to try Laguna Seca as a first track experience. Laguna Seca is a fantastic track. Come on out, drive that Porsche like it was meant to be driven!