2016 NASA Western States Championships Presented by Toyo Tires Crowns Champions

October 16, 2016 Speed News Editor

The third annual NASA Western States Championships presented by Toyo Tires is in the books, with Championship races having been run at Buttonwillow Raceway today.
Under picture perfect California weather, 75-degrees and sunny, the 250+ NASA Championship racers started the day with the national anthem. The first group took to the track at 9:40 a.m. with Spec E30 and 944 Spec starting the Championship races.
Spec E30
Justin Ross, pole sitter, brought the Spec E30 field to the standing start line in his No. 80 BMW. Ross had a great launch at the drop of the green, getting nearly a car length lead going into Turn 1. Ross was followed closely in the early going by No. 55 Michael Mihld. By lap three, Friday qualifying race winner Michael Shawhan moved into the runner spot in the No. 152 BMW. As Mihld and Shawhan took up the battle for second, Ross was able to

2016 NASA Western States Championships Presented by Toyo Tires – Friday Qualifying Races

October 14, 2016 Speed News Editor

The third annual 2016 NASA Western States Championships presented by Toyo Tires is underway with qualifying races being run at Buttonwillow Raceway just north of Bakersfield, California.
The first group of NASA Championship cars took to the track this morning under perfect 75-degree temperatures. The 250+ competitors will run qualifying races Friday and Saturday to set the grids for Sunday’s Championship events.
ST1
In the first qualifying race of the weekend, Ed Charnock, drove his No. 6 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, to the overall ST1 Class win in convincing.

“The car handled absolutely fantastic,” Charnock said. “I have a saying, looser is faster, and it was today. This is my first year in this car. I know it is a qualifying race, but every time I come out here I get in a rhythm and the zone and just run. It was tough with the NP01 cars out there today. We are 3,300 lbs. and

2016 NASA Western States Championships Presented by Toyo Tires Ready for Green

October 11, 2016 Speed News Editor

The third annual NASA Western States Championships presented by Toyo Tires is ready to go green this weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway October 14-16.
The Buttonwillow track is proving to be a great draw for competitors from across the country, with the added intrigue of running two different layouts on the weekend.
Charles Buzzetti is competing in one of the largest fields of the three-day weekend, the 30 car Spec E30 Class in his No. 7 BMW.

“I’ve been racing at Buttonwillow for almost 20 years and have thousands of laps there,” Buzzetti said. “I think the two configuration format helps some and hurts others, but I like it. There are a lot of potential winners for this event in the Spec E30 Class. I certainly consider myself in that group. In no certain order I am looking for Steve Stepanian, Andrew Clark, Larry Fraser, Michael Shahawn and Ray Zanotto to all be tough.