Tyspeed M2 Attacks Buttonwillow Raceway for the First Time

After a strenuous couple of weeks attending SEMA and filming with Speed Hunters and The Hoonigans on the West Coast, Tyler Pappas (@tyspeed) and the Pikes Peak M2 had a date with Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California for a Global Time Attack event. Making this the first time Tyler has attacked this track.

Photography by @sethdedoes

Tyler found himself struggling over the weekend, battling the flu and doing most of the heavy lifting while majority of his racing team held down the fort back home in New Jersey. Tyler ran some test laps on Friday to learn the track as quickly as possible. He was able to set a decent time in the morning during the first session until he experienced a small off track excursion (due to the limited vision of driving through the dust cloud of another car that had gone off). This excursion unfortunately caused damage to the M2’s differential cooling system.

Back at the paddock, Tyler was able to drop the differential out, repair the damaged component and get back out on track. In the afternoon he switched over to the new APEX ARC-8R forged wheels and with a fresh set of tires took another second off his time, putting him at 1:51.7. The car finished off the day somewhere in the top 10 of the Unlimited Class and in the top 25 of the event.

Sunday morning brought hotter temps and a dirtier track…

Tyler mentioned that he started the morning off by pushing a little too hard. After clipping a curb a harder then he would have liked, the team found that the car unfortunately re-damaged that same differential cooling system component from the day before and was causing the differential to leak out completely. At this point with tire life fading and ambient temps climbing, Tyler decided to call it a day when he realized he would not be able to re-repair the damaged differential case. Tyler is thankful that despite having some off track outings at nearly 100MPH on several occasions throughout the weekend that he did not damage any of the new wheels, which held up great. We were proud to hear that fellow BMW competitors were enthusiastic to get a sneak peek at the new forged wheels.

Tom M.

Tom is a BMW Fitment Expert at APEX Wheels. Prior to joining the company in 2019, he worked for BMW of North America as Fleet Manager: Portland (OR) for the ReachNow car-sharing program, and as Warranty Administrator/Loaner Fleet Manager at BMW Portland. In addition, Tom has extensive training in BMW TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) as well as in-depth knowledge of all BMW chassis and their wheel fitment options, with and without aftermarket brake and suspension upgrades. His high-performance driving experience includes autocross events in southern Oregon and track days at PIR in his 2004 E46 330i with 17x9 ET42 APEX ARC-8 wheels. Vehicles he owned prior to indulging his passion for BMWs include a 1989 Jaguar XJ6 and a 2006 S197 Ford Mustang. Fun Fact: Tom is a huge Formula 1 fan. Have questions about wheels for your BMW? Use our contact form and ask for Tom.