 WILLIAM BLAUVELT MEMORIAL EVENT AT BUTTONWILLOW BRINGS THE BEST FROM ALL HIS FELLOW COMPETITORS.
Buttonwillow, CA, October 9-10, 2004: After the most successful ASC event to date at Infineon Raceway in September, the ASC tour moved South to their next stop at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. This event also marked the first anniversary of the death of our friend and fellow ASC racer Bill Blauvelt who lost his life during this race last year, and therefore, NASA officially announced the event as the William Blauvelt Memorial.
The majority of ASC teams were already at the track on Friday morning to take advantage of the practice session available through the track. With only two race weekends left on the schedule, every minute of practice becomes crucial. Buttonwillow is a very technical track with a good combination of fast sections, slow sections, elevation changes, and very few passing areas. As the weekend results proved, a good qualifying position would almost surely guarantee a good result at the end of the race.
With temperatures in the 70s and a partly cloudy sky, Saturday morning’s Qualifying Session gave all drivers ideal conditions to get the most out of their cars. With close to forty cars in ASC, Pro Truck, Super Seven and American Iron attempting to qualify in a twenty-minute session, the window of opportunity is around three total laps before traffic becomes an issue. By the end of the session, Ken Stinnett driving EMF’s Ford #10 car testing one of the new engines allowed for next season, gained the overall pole position, followed by Scott Ivie’s California Financial Group’s Chevrolet # 47, and David Arnheiter’s Ideco Ford # 33. Saturday’s race starting positions for ASC were as follows:
1. Ken Stinnett, #10 EMF Ford Taurus
2. Scott Ivie, #47, California Financial Group Chevrolet Montecarlo
3. David Arnheiter, # 33, Ideco Ford Thunderbird
4. Manuel Gil del Real, #27 Symbolic, Ford Taurus
5. Michael Arnheiter, #80 Agoura Painting, Pontiac Grand Prix
6. Ed Ochylski, #55 Leo Motorsports Pontiac Grand Prix
7. Al Balding, # 71, Chevrolet Montecarlo
8. Alan Huston # 5, Vandermeer, Chevrolet Montecarlo
9. Ray Hampton, #64, Ray Hampton Racing, Pontiac Grand Prix
10. Chris Evans, # 96, EMF, Chevrolet Montecarlo
11. Steve Carvajal, #90, Carvajal Motorsports Chevrolet Montecarlo
At the drop of the green flag, the mixed field combining ASC and ProTrucks went through a massive twenty-vehicle drag race to the first corner. Ken Stinnett stayed clearly in the lead, followed by Scott Ivie. Manuel Gil del Real was able to get by David Arnheiter into third place before the first corner, while David Arnheiter, Don Cross PT # 41, Michael Arnheiter and the rest of the field tried to squeeze in with not much room to spare. After the first corner dust finally cleared and as the race went on, the track conditions deteriorated and several turns and braking zones were covered with layers of dust and dirt from cars going off track. A full course yellow to remove a disabled Pro Truck brought the pace car in for two laps. The entire field was back together with six laps to go. At the single file restart, the leading positions did not change and Ken Stinnett crossed the checkered flag first nearly sixteen seconds ahead of the rest. Scott Ivie and Manuel Gil del Real took second and third place respectively. Don Cross took the win for the Pro Trucks, followed by Nathan and Jim Swartzbaugh.
Final Results for Saturday’s Race:
1. Ken Stinnett, #10 EMF Ford Taurus
2. Scott Ivie, #47, California Financial Group Chevrolet Montecarlo
3. Manuel Gil del Real, #27 Symbolic, Ford Taurus
4. David Arnheiter, # 33, Ideco Ford Thunderbird
5. Steve Carvajal, #90, Carvajal Motorsports Chevrolet Montecarlo
6. Michael Arnheiter, #80 Agoura Painting, Pontiac Grand Prix
7. Al Balding, # 71, Chevrolet Montecarlo
8. Chris Evans, # 96, EMF, Chevrolet Montecarlo
9. Alan Huston # 5, Vandermeer, Chevrolet Montecarlo
10. Ed Ochylski, #55 Leo Motorsports Pontiac Grand Prix
11. Ray Hampton, #64, Ray Hampton Racing, Pontiac Grand Prix
After evaluating the causes for the first corner melee during Saturday’s race, on Sunday’s Drivers’ Meeting, it was decided that having two separate green flags for ASC and Pro Trucks would help alleviate the congestion at the first corner. During the qualifying session, once again, Ken Stinnett proved that he’s still the man to beat, no matter what car he drives. This time, on board his own Sundance Racing #43 Chevrolet Montecarlo, he was able to take the pole six tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field. Behind him, Steve Carvajal’s #90 Carvajal Motorsports Montecarlo and Chris Evans’ # 96 EMF Montecarlo completed the top three positions. At post qualifying tech inspection, two cars were found under the weight limit, therefore, sending them to the back of the field. The final starting grid had Stinnett in first place, followed by Carvajal, Ivie, Gil del Real, D. Arnheiter, M. Arnheiter, Huston, Hampton, Ochylski, Evans, and Balding.
With separate green flags for ASC and ProTrucks, the start of the race was much less eventful than the day before. Stinnett quickly took the lead, however, Ivie pulled a last second pass inside Carvajal into turn one to take second place. Gil del Real was able to keep his car under control after a friendly rear bumper tap by D. Arnheiter while M. Arnheiter and the rest of the field followed through. Despite the split start, it only took half a lap for the leading ProTrucks to catch the back of the ASC field… While Stinnett started to build a three or four car length lead, the real race was happening behind him. Ivie, Carvajal and Gil del Real fought literally bumper to bumper during the entire race. With similar handling and grip challenges, it was apparent that no car had a significant advantage over the other, yet they were able to run nose to tail and several times side by side putting up a great show for the fans. Everyone seemed to be waiting to see what happened when these cars started to run into traffic catching some of the Super Seven and American Iron contingency. Incredibly though, they weaved their way through them with nobody missing a step on each other.
When the race went into a full course yellow, D. Arnheiter and Ed Ochylski temporarily joined this battle, making it one of the closest fights for position that we’ve seen this year so far. With approximately two laps to go, the race was black flagged when Al Balding’s car with a damaged oil pan spilled a good amount of oil through the Riverside turn and into the Bus Stop. With no time to clean up before the time limit, the race was declared over and all cars proceeded from the hot pit to post race inspection.
Final results for Sunday:
1) Ken Stinnett, # 43 Sundance Racing Chevrolet Montecarlo
2) Scott Ivie, #47 California Financial Group, Chevrolet Montecarlo
3) Steve Carvajal, #90 Carvajal Motorsports, Chevrolet Montecarlo
4) Manuel Gil del Real, #27 Symbolic Ford Taurus
5) David Arnheiter, #33 Ideco Ford Thunderbird
6) Ed Ochylski, #55 Leo Motorsports, Pontiac Grand Prix
7) Alan Huston, # 5, Vandermeer Chevrolet Montecarlo
8) Ray Hampton, #64, Ray Hampton Racing, Pontiac Grand Prix
9) Al Balding (DNF), #71 Chevrolet Montecarlo
10) Michael Arnheiter (DNF), #80, Agoura Painting, Pontiac Grand Prix
11) Chris Evans (DNS), #96 EMF Chevrolet Montecarlo
Don Cross, Jim Swartzbaugh and Nathan Swartzbaugh, once again took the top three positions in the Pro Truck series.
In the end, this last event at Buttonwillow for the ASC teams, ended up being as exciting as emotional for all ASC drivers and NASA members in general. An ASC car carrying a flag with Bill Blauvelt’s retired number 44 went on a parade lap one final time around the track that took him away from us. It was a great way to show NASA members’ appreciation in Bill’s memory.
Be sure to attend the last ASC event of the year at Las Vegas Motorspeedway outside 2.4 mile road course. For the first time in two years, with only two races to go, the ASC Championship is still undecided, as are very much any final positions among the top ten drivers in the Championship.
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