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AFM Round 8 at Wolliwnottub

The final round of the AFM season was held in the reverse direction at Buttonwillow Raceway, affectionately referred to by racers and fans as "Wolliwnottub". With the chosen configuration making use of the Star Mazda turn and bypassing Lost Hills, the back straight measured over half a mile long, keeping the speeds high and the action intense throughout the weekend.

After making the most of one of his trademark starts, Chris Siglin managed to hold off a hard charging James Randolph to take the win in the MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific race. At the start of the race, Siglin quickly worked his way to the front on his Dunlop-shod Arclight Racing GSX-R1000, taking the lead from Randolph with a strong move into the Bus Stop. Half a lap later, Pacific Track Time’s Michael Earnest almost ended his day with a near-highside coming out of Sunrise onto the front straight, as his Dunlop-shod Kyle Racing prepared GSX-R1000 bucked wildly beneath him.

Despite holding the early lead, Randolph slipped back to fourth, losing positions in the Bus Stop at the end of Riverside. From his fourth place position, Randolph bounced back on his Pirelli-shod Tigershark Racing GSX-R1000, charging past the Pacific Track Time duo of Cory Call and Michael Earnest to regain the second spot.

Coming out of the final turn on the final lap, Randolph managed to outdrive Siglin but didn't have the track to make the pass happen, as Siglin went on to win his first Formula Pacific race in three years. Randolph crossed the line in second, with Earnest third.

“I’m just speechless, I really am,” said Siglin. “When I started racing, I idolized these guys – I can’t even explain what it’s like to be up here. That last lap was a really slow lap – I started hearing things behind me and losing focus. I mean, it’s the last lap and I’m leading Formula Pacific, ya know? That’s where everyone wants to be out here.”

With just a single point separating him from Earnest at the start of the race, Randolph's second place earned him the number two plate for the 2008 season.

“It was just good racing, we’ve been having good racing all year, and it’s been fun” said Randolph, who clinched the number two plate. “I know where those guys are gonna go, and I know where I’m going to go – fortunately we haven’t had too many mishaps.”
Despite coming up just one position short of the number two plate, Earnest proved to be in good spirits in the winner's circle, joking about his near highside on his Dunlop-shod Kyle Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the end of the first lap as they came onto the front straight.

“I had that little moment on the first or second lap coming onto the straight, but it was all good since I landed on my wheels," said Earnest. “Chris was riding really well at the front, James was riding great, it’s just a privilege to be standing up here with guys who are riding this good.”

Ken Hill finished in 5th on his Roseville Cycle Honda with Honda R&D test rider Jeff Tigert in 6th. After the race, Tigert spoke in the pits of his intentions to take a step back from racing after the season, having pursued racing success both locally and nationally since 1999 when he made his debut on a Honda Hawk.

Despite finishing in 14th place on his Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha – over 30 seconds behind the leaders – David Stanton had plenty to celebrate at Buttonwillow, reclaiming the number one plate for 2008.

“This has been a learning year for me, a lot of hard work went into it,” said Stanton. “With a new bike, a new sponsor, the only thing that was the same was the Dunlop tires. It’s been really rewarding to come out here and win this number one plate, because the level of competition here is just so deep – the last four races have been just crazy! To come out here and do this on a bike that no one else rides is a great feeling, it’s really special for Jeff Leggitt and Mach 1 Motorsports. This is really for them, for believing in me, and it feels good!”

In the Take It 2 The Track Open Production race, Ken Hill was awarded the win on his Roseville Cycle Honda CBR10000 after Cory Call was disqualified for running aftermarket brake rotors. Martin Szwarc was awarded 2nd, with Kim Nakashima 3rd.

“I tried to get a bit of a gap on Cory, but I’ve been having a bit of a problem with some arm pump – I just couldn’t maintain it” said Hill, an instructor at the Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School. “Still, it was a good race. We rode well and Roseville Cycle put together a nice bike with a new motor – the thing ran awesome and the Pirellis worked good. It would have been nice to make a better race of it, but I really just wanted to get nice and loose for the Formula Pacific race so I could go have some fun!”

Keigwins@theTrack instructor Scott Wilson had an excellent weekend, taking home a pair of wins on his Foremost Insurance Suzuki GSX-R750, with first place finishes in the R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike and Scuderia West Formula 1 races. Lenny Hale challenged for the lead early on his Yamaha 600 in both races, but withdrew each time with mechanical problems.

“Man, Lenny charges hard!” said Wilson after his races. “I remember we went through the esses once side by side – fortunately, with some motor on him I was able to pull him down the long back straight, so I knew it would work out good.”

Ricky Corey also had a good showing, taking victories in both the Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike race and the Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production race. After the races, Corey spoke about how well his K&L Supply Yamaha worked over the course of the weekend.

“That was the least amount of changes I’ve had to make to a bike in a weekend,” said Corey. “When it’s that easy to ride, that’s when you usually win! K&L Supply has really stepped up their support for me, and Factory Pro Tuning has made the bike so smooth on corner exits – it has a lot more power now!”

In the Desmoto Sport Open Twins race, last season’s Top Novice Matt Green took his first AFM win on his Desmoto Sport Ducati 999. Zoom Zoom Trackdays instructor Scott Schwanbeck finished second on his Ducati 749.

“It was fun to see that checkered and get the win for the first time,” said Green. “That last lap was a little nervous, but it was good! I think Craig McLean was having some bike issues, so I just pulled him in and tried to bring it home.”

Mark Elrod took the win in the Alpine RV 450 Superbike race on his G-Force Performance Honda VFR400, coming out on top of a race-long, five-rider battle for the lead. Coming in at the tail end of that battle was 14-year-old Ryan Fulton, making his AFM racing debut on a 450cc KTM Supermotard after working with Michael Earnest at Pacific Track Time events for most of 2007.

“I looked back a few times and saw the pack breathing down my neck,” said Elrod. “It was some good dicing, probably some of the best racing there’s been in Superbike for a while. Forman was riding really well, and Val really surprised me when he came past on the front straight. I took him back into Riverside, but he kept me honest!”

A number of talented young riders had some excellent results at Buttonwillow, with teenagers like Ryan Fulton, Gregory Grouleff, Scott Gilbert, and Bryce Prince all having some respectable finishes. The top finish of any young rider on the weekend went to 16-year-old Garrett Willis, who took his first AFM win in the Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production race on a Roseville Cycle Honda CBR600RR.

“I didn't really expect to finish that high up after the race started going, with a 4th row spot on the grid,” said Willis, a student of Doug Chandlers CHAMP racing school. “Towards the end I saw Cory (Call) ahead of me getting closer and closer, and I made a ton of ground up one lap in traffic. I don’t know if he knew I was there, so I just got him on that last turn, last lap.”