Sierra-Sierra Time Attack Team - Team America

Like all great stories, this one starts with a scandal. Well, not exactly a scandal but a controversy nonetheless.

Buttonwillow, California. This tiny podunk town off Interstate 5 dribbled into existence solely for weary travelers driving the vast stretch of farmland separating Los Angeles from San Francisco in search of petroleum. The highlight of Buttonwillow is its handful of gas stations, restaurants, motels, a liquor store or two, and that's about it. Besides the perpetual smell of manure and the presence of flies, the only real upside is that it's so far out in the sticks, land is affordable. In fact, it's so cheap that a real-estate-heavy venture such as a race track can make economical sense, hence the development of Buttonwillow Raceway Park.

And that's where our story begins, at a time-attack event more than six years ago at Buttonwillow Raceway, where a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII, known as the Cyber EVO, came from Japan and laid down a wickedly fast 1-minute, 48.906-second lap time in the now standard Clockwise 13 configuration with Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada at the wheel. For years, that record stood, daunting U.S. tuners just getting into the art of time-attack. Many would try, staking bold claims, but no one would come close. It wasn't until the 2007 Super Lap Battle Finals that another Japanese team by the name of HKS shipped out their CT230R EVO VIII and driver, the famed Nobiteru Taniguchi, to the U.S. circuit and decimated the standing Cyber EVO record by more than five seconds, with a 1:43.523. If no American team could challenge the Cyber EVO time, who would take on HKS?

Enter Sierra-Sierra, the time-attack team who blitzkrieged the scene in early 2009. For some background, Dennis Kottke, the owner of team Sierra-Sierra, competed in the challenging open-wheel Formula Atlantic series . . . and won. An automotive enthusiast to the very core, Dennis is driven and has zero tolerance for bullshit. The word "can't" doesn't exist in his vocabulary. Beyond his passion for winning, Dennis is respectful and incredibly affable. Within five minutes of first meeting him, it was like conversing with an old friend. According to Sierra-Sierra engine guru, time-attack vet, and resident "Question It" columnist Eric Hsu, "For a person who has accomplished so much in his life both on and off track, Dennis isn't one of those team owners who acts like he's better than anyone."

After Sierra-Sierra's 2007 Formula Atlantic Championship, with dwindling fields and lack of competition, the series started to unravel (leading to their eventual fold in 2010). Dennis, looking for a new outlet, made a fortuitous visit to the 2007 Super Lap Battle Finals in Buttonwillow, where he witnessed time-attack and the aforementioned HKS CT230R's brilliant performance. Impressed by the grassroots spirit of the event, he left Central California with a burning question: With a field full of American teams, how did a sole Japanese effort dominate the competition? The kindling was lit. Sierra-Sierra would take on the time-attack world.

But around which platform would he build his new team? Having owned and driven EVOs, and seen what Cyber and HKS could do with one on the track, building a Mitsu was a no-brainer. To aid in his new venture, Dennis tapped Richard Raeder, his Champion Formula Atlantic team manager with 25 years of motorsports experience (ranging from F3000, LeMans, and Formula 3), along with Jethro Austin, Maciek Kruszewski, and Don Hartzell, and started work in May 2008, fabricating the roll cage and finessing the chassis and aero, in-house. Having gone through two engine builders with little luck, they turned to Cosworth with whom they had worked during their open-wheel race program. As fate would have it, Eric Hsu was also the Product Development Manager at Cosworth, and with some well-placed negotiations would be placed as the engine management lead for Sierra-Sierra and acting Cosworth ambassador.

By Carter Jung

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