Buttonwillow Raceway 1A CW
Buttonwillow Raceway Park is a multipurpose Motorsport facility, home to the California Region of the Sports Car Club of America. It's been in operation since 1996 at the town of Buttonwillow, a 30-min drive away from Bakersfield, CA. The club members use the complex to develop their high-performance racing skills on track days open for aspiring racecar drivers. Buttonwillow Raceway Park also hosts regular go-kart competitions and serves as a road testing ground for car manufacturers. The raceway's location in the arid San Joaquin Valley offers good climate conditions year-round, although it may get quite hot in summer. You can bet on the track surface to remain dry, as it rains very little in Buttonwillow, usually in wintertime.
There are three track layouts in Buttonwillow Raceway Park: the 1.86-mile West Loop, the 1.06-mile East loop, and the 3.1-mile combined configuration. These are customizable in 40+ different ways for hosting varied competitions simultaneously. There is also a separate kart track of 0.69 miles and a 250′ x 255′ skidpad. The main straightaway has 3,800 feet and serves as a test drag strip when it's not a part of a race layout. Some turns have negative banking, and others have up to 10% positive banking, and many of them are blind corners because of the frequent elevation changes through the whole race track.
The 1A clockwise configuration at Buttonwillow Raceway represents a baseline layout utilizing turn combination 1A in clockwise direction at California's technical Kern County road course. The 1A designation creates particular corner sequences through Buttonwillow's modular turn numbering system, with clockwise flow establishing intended design sequence. This variant demonstrates Buttonwillow's reputation as California's most configurable circuit where systematic designation allows precise layout selection serving varied event requirements and skill levels.
Operating the 1A CW showcases Buttonwillow's exceptional flexibility where dozens of numbered combinations create nearly unlimited layout possibilities across the facility's comprehensive infrastructure. Central Valley's extreme seasonal temperatures create year-round racing potential though summer heat frequently exceeds 60C. The 1A clockwise configuration provides fundamental Buttonwillow experience serving the facility's extensive track day calendar, allowing multiple simultaneous events on different configurations without scheduling conflicts.
