Rounds 5 & 6 were held at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC.  Rain played a factor on Saturday’s race but Sunday was a great day for racing.

The ironman award goes to Pete Curpier.  Curpier had to be taken to the hospital on Friday evening after cutting his finger and tendon while helping another driver repair his vehicle.  Curpier was back in his H1 Civic on Saturday and Sunday thanks to the help from many of the Honda Challenge and NASA family.

The East Coast Honda Challenge returned to Virginia International Raceway for Rounds 3 & 4 and brought warmer weather.  Once again lap records fell for H1, H4, and H5.  This event also brought out many returning Honda Challenge racers and some new ones, fielding 20 cars for the event.

The Long-Distance Award goes to David Rhodes who drove in for the race from Santa Fe, NM.  Unfortunately he did not get to run after his H4 car was damaged during Friday’s Test and Tune session.

James Colburn came to VIR for the first time to run his H5 Civic.  Colburn was not running for points, just track time.  Jammin Jimmy’s lap times improved throughout the weekend.  We look forward to racing with him in the future.

The close-knit East Coast Honda Challenge community showed again this weekend that they are all brothers in speed.  Examples of community spirit could be found throughout the paddock.  Whether it was Peter Curpier getting assistance from numerous other Honda Challenge drivers after a brake locked up on the way to grid or Kevin Helms helping fellow H1 competitor, Chris Drabouski, repair an axle, there is no denying the camaraderie that exists amongst these racers.

February 24th marked the return of the East Coast Honda Challenge for its 6th season.  There were many changes to be excited about at the start of the season.  Keith Edwards, local H5 legend, stepped in as the new director.  H1 and H2 debuted under the new rules. This was the first points race in history for Honda Challenge on VIR’s beautiful full course.  As a result of this, new East Coast Honda Challenge course records were set for H1, H2, H4, and H5.

For this event, NASA Mid Atlantic made two run groups for the sprint races, Fighter and Bomber, in order to allow enough time for the Enduro race on Sunday.  H1 and H2 were in the Bomber group, while H4 and H5 were in the Fighter group.