S2K Challenge Series: 8th Race at the Buttonwillow

Article by Edward Lee (600rr_rocket)

The 8th S2K Challenge event was held on August 2, 2009 at Buttonwillow Raceway (#13CW). 28 S2000 drivers participated in the event, the best turnout yet for the 2009 S2K Challenge Series, and we are very pleased by the excitement the Series has generated among S2000 owners in SoCal. The weather was hot, 96F was the high for the day. Qualifying lap times for most were fastest in the morning when the temps were low/medium and would slowly rise session after session due to the heat.

Speedventures ran a dedicated S2K Challenge time trial session at the end of the day. Cars were gridded based on qualifying times during the day, and sent off one by one: one warmup lap, two timed laps, and one cooldown lap. The S2K participants gridded for the time trial. It was a close battle in both Street and Modified Classes, with only a 2 second spread among the podium finishers in each class.

In Unlimited Class, Evasive and DSport showcased their Time Attack cars and showed the rest of the competition what our S2000’s are capable of. We also tested out our new PAX System whereby modification points were added to the TT times for a net lap time; the system essentially aims isolates driver skill independent of a car’s setup. Congrats to Emilio Cervantes for claiming the PAX title and also to Eddie Hsu for his outstanding performance at his first S2K Challenge event!

At the end of the day, an awards ceremony was held. Podium finishers were given special plaques, thanks to Cobblestone Realty in Palmdale. Prizes from our awesome sponsors were also given out. Congratulations to all the winners!

Prize pool:

Free alignment (Evasive Motorsports)
Free alignment (West End Alignment)
Oreck XL21 Vacuum Cleaner (Cobblestone Realty in Palmdale)
x2 Free Dent Pulls (Mike’s Ultimate Dent Removal)
x2 $120 Gift Certificates (Muz Accessories)
x2 Gift Certificates (Speedventures)

Street Class:

1st – Emilio Cervantes (949racing) – 2:04.484 – 10pts
2nd – Eddie Hsu (susuki1220) – 2:05.741 – 8 pts
3rd – Nam Yoon (VitaRenovatio) – 2:06.538 – 6pts
4th – William Chen (bellwilliam) – 2:06.825 – 5pts
5th – Joel Perez – 2:07.326 – 4pts
6th – Dustin Dessero (ddess) – 2:08.157 – 3pts
7th – Justin Chou – 2:09.676 – 2pts
8th – Dino Antonov (antonov) – 2:10.025 – 1pt

Modified Class:

1st – Mark Tsai (colakitty) – 2:01.541 – 10pts
2nd – Si Tang (nsxtasi) – 2:02.471 – 8 pts
3rd – Michael Tsay (dipstick) – 2:03.757 – 6pts
4th – Daryl Chan (darylcha) – 2:04.865 – 5pts
5th – Mat Mueller (autoxgti983) – 2:05.354 – 4pts
6th – Kevin Lui (terahertz) – 2:06.850 – 3pts
7th – Ed Lee (600rr_rocket) – 2:07.556 – 2pts
8th – Greg Wheat (05TurboS2k) – 2:11.145 – 1pt

Unlimited Class:

1st – Rob Walker (maxrev) – 1:58.023 – 10pts
2nd – Robert Choo – 2:04.853 – 8 pts

PAX

Rank – Name: TT Laptime + Points = Net Laptime
1st – Emilio Cervantes (949racing) – 2:04.484 – 5 points – 2:09.5
2nd – Eddie Hsu (susuki1220) – 2:05.741 – 5 points – 2:10.7
3rd – Nam Yoon (VitaRenovatio) – 2:06.538 – 5 points – 2:11.5
4th – Joel Perez – 2:07.326 – 4.25 points – 2:11.6
5th – William Chen (bellwilliam) – 2:06.825 – 5 points – 2:11.8
6th – Mark Tsai (colakitty) – 2:01.541 – 11 points – 2:12.5
7th – Dustin Dessero (ddess) – 2:08.157 – 4.75 points – 2:12.9
8th – Si Tang (nsxtasi) – 2:02.471 – 11 points – 2:13.5
9th –Adrian Torres (dorima) – 2:13.500 – 0 points – 2:13.5
10th – Mat Mueller (autoxgti983) – 2:05.354 – 8.5 points – 2:13.9