Tesla on Track: Buttonwillow Gets New Circuit and (Possibly) Supercharger
By Steve Thompson – Feb. 9, 2021
While racetracks are nothing new, the forthcoming 2.5-mile circuit just yards to the west of Buttonwillow Raceway Park in southern California is extremely new. In fact, it’s not even open yet. But when cars take to this asphalt, Teslas will be more than welcome.
“Electric cars are not going away,” says Mike Miserendino, Business Development Manager for Buttonwillow Raceway Park. “There are actually some organizations that have Tesla-only run groups that come to the track. They utilize the 50 amp plugs in the RV park [on Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s premises], but it doesn’t have the speed of the Supercharger.”
“Often, people would run their [track] session and then drive 10 miles down south to get a Tesla Supercharge in, and then come back here.”
Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s “Track 2” will feature roughly 10 turns in 2.5 miles – and hopefully eventually a 16-unit Tesla Supercharger.
Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s forthcoming “Track 2” incorporates elevation changes and multiple straights on a circuit built to FIA level 4 grade. To the new track’s east is the original Buttonwillow road course, which boasts more than eight popular configurations and, since its opening in late 1995, has become an integral part of Southern California’s time attack, track day, and racecar culture.
Buttonwillow’s role in California road racing will become even more important with last year’s announcement of Auto Club Speedways forthcoming construction that will eliminate its interior road course. Although that revamp to a half-mile short track has been delayed.
The next generation of track culture is electrified, and Buttonwillow Raceway Park recognizes that shift. “We are...in final discussions with Tesla for 16 Supercharger stations as the EV enthusiast market is expanding so rapidly,” confirms Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s President Les Phillips.
The current closest Tesla Supercharger station to Buttonwillow Raceway Park is located 12 miles south on I-5, with another Supercharger five miles further down the road. It’s a 43-mile drive to the north of Buttonwillow Raceway Park on I-5 to the Supercharger in Kettleman City, Calif.
Should Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s new racetrack become home to a Tesla Supercharger, that will be the fourth Supercharger within 60 miles in that particular stretch of the I-5 in central California. (Image Courtesy Google Earth)
“There’s been days where there have been groups of 50-plus Teslas [driving on Buttonwillow’s track],” Miserendino says of why it’s key for Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s future to have a Supercharger station on the premises.
California will be one of the first states in the U.S. to go electric, with a 2035 mandate for all new consumer vehicles to be non-ICE. This makes the embrace of EVs that much more important for Buttonwillow’s longterm survival.
There’s more than electrification news about the new track, like the fact that the circuit is being produced out of largely recycled materials.
Take a ride around Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s Track 2 with Buttonwillow’s Mike Miserendino, with The Watt Car’s Philip Royle riding shotgun for Racer.com:
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