Buttonwillow Raceway 13CW

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Upcoming Track Days
Track days at this circuit

Buttonwillow Raceway 13CW is 4.4 km, 21 turns, clockwise. Fastest recorded lap: 1:37.308 (Honda Civic Si Coupe FG2 2011 (PZ Tuning / Vibrant Performance #113)).

Buttonwillow Raceway Notes

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.  

13CW Notes

Buttonwillow Raceway's 13CW configuration establishes itself as California's premier technical circuit, combining the facility's East and West loops into a 4.310-kilometer clockwise layout featuring 21 turns that test every aspect of vehicle dynamics. Located in Kern County's agricultural heartland, 45 kilometers northwest of Bakersfield, this configuration earned its reputation through time attack series like Super Lap Battle that demand absolute precision across varied corner types. The track's 40-foot width accommodates multiple racing lines through corners ranging from tight hairpins to sweeping banked turns, while frequent elevation changes create blind entries and off-camber sections punishing mid-corner mistakes.

The 13CW layout's defining characteristic lies in its diversity—on-camber and off-camber corners, positive banking up to 10 percent and negative banking sections, hairpins, chicanes, and the infamous Bus Stop chicane connecting the East-West sections. Lost Hill (also called Phil Hill) crowns a 4.5-meter elevation rise where drivers commit blind over the crest before dropping into technical combinations below. The configuration's average speed of 82 mph reflects constant direction changes rather than sustained straights, rewarding chassis balance and driver feel over raw power. California's Central Valley climate creates extreme track temperature variations—summer sessions can see asphalt exceeding 60°C while winter track days operate in near-freezing conditions. This technical character attracts serious track day enthusiasts, club racers, and professional time attack competitors seeking the ultimate setup challenge across Buttonwillow's unforgiving 21-turn puzzle.

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Direction
Clockwise
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Uploaded Laps
664
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Length
4.43 km
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Vertical Gain
18 m
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Turns
21
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Average Speed
134 kph
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Average Lap Time
1:59.2
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Power to Weight Average
0.2
Average Weather Driving season: April–May
41° 17 J 19 F 22 M 27 A 31 M 37 J 40 J 39 A 35 S 29 O 21 N 16 D

Buttonwillow bakes in summer heat (40°C peaks July–August) with mild winters (5–6°C lows); spring season (April–May) offers the sweet spot of 27–31°C highs and minimal rain for optimal track days.

10-yr monthly averages Rain days Driving season

Elevation Profile
S
TrackMustangsOnline Ford Mustang GT S197
9,590
S
n00dler Toyota GR86
S
TShirt Driving Volvo V60 T8 Polestar
SM
Kevin Burke Chevrolet Corvette C7 Grand Sport
6,695
SM
harmonster Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06
P
berns BMW E92 M3
7,635
P
Modular Motorsports Racing - MMR Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 S550
P
Kevin Burke Honda S2000 AP1
6,695
C
PZ Tuning Honda Civic Si Coupe FG2
C
Billy Johnson Honda Acura NSX NA1
C
Professional Awesome Racing Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII
SC
OneLapBilly McLaren Senna P15
SC
- Porsche 992.1 GT3
SC
Herrick H Porsche 992.1 GT3 RS
7,201
L
emilio700 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9
L
Lawrence Yuen BMW E46 M3
5,836
M
Dkracing Mazda RX7 S4 FC
M
Gary W Honda S2000 AP2
6,370
M
Dave Weckl Honda Civic DX EJ6
G
PZ Tuning Honda Civic Si Coupe FG2
G
Caliber Customs Chevrolet Corvette C5
G
emilio700 Mazda MX-5 Miata NB
O
PZ Tuning Honda Civic Si Coupe FG2
O
Billy Johnson Honda Acura NSX NA1
O
Professional Awesome Racing Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII

Other Variations

Track Turns Length km Laps Avg Time Avg kph P/W Avg
Buttonwillow Raceway (1CW) 21 3.1 46 2:05 89 0.2
Buttonwillow Raceway (1CCW) 21 3.1 38 2:08 87 0.2
Buttonwillow Raceway (13CCW) 21 3 40 2:02.7 88 0.18
Buttonwillow Raceway (18CCW) 14 2.89 6 2:13 78 0.15
Buttonwillow Raceway (26CCW) 18 2.91 8 2:07.3 82 0.2
Buttonwillow Raceway (14CW) 19 2.64 19 1:59.8 79 0.29
Buttonwillow Raceway (26A CW) 18 2.91 3 2:03.4 85 0.15
Buttonwillow Raceway (25A CW) - 3.02 10 2:06.2 86 0.2
Buttonwillow Raceway (1A CW) 12 3.1 8 2:09.5 86 0.13
Buttonwillow Raceway (25CW) 21 3.1 22 2:04.7 90 0.18
Buttonwillow Raceway (25A CCW) 14 3.02 15 2:03.9 88 0.22
Buttonwillow Raceway (Circuit) 10 2.56 125 1:57 79 0.2
Buttonwillow Raceway (14CCW) - 2.64 5 1:58.6 80 0.07
Buttonwillow Raceway (25CCW) - 3.1 8 2:09.2 86 0.09
Buttonwillow Raceway (15CW) 21 3.1 0 - - -
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