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.

H1 had a good turnout, fielding 7 cars this weekend.   Kevin Helms had his Hondaworks Civic dialed in as he took the H1 win with a fastest lap time and track record of 2:11.703.  Chris Drabouski had an impressive run in his Password JDM Civic finishing 2nd.  Iness Eisele took 3rd place in his Honda R&D Acura TL.

In H4, Chris Perrera showed his dominance in his 2nd generation Integra, winning the class with a fastest lap of 2:19.765, another track record.  Karl Kondor and AJ Nealey had a battle for 2nd the entire race.  Nealey took the position on lap 5, but Kondor fought back and regained the position on lap 7.  When the dust settled, Kondor took 2nd place by just under a second over Nealey.

Zephyr Belski, Northeast Honda Challenge director, unveiled the new Lo Buk Racing CRX.  The debut however was short lived as the engine expired just 4 laps into the practice session.  Belski vowed he would be back, but only after he randomly placed shamrock stickers on Beno Rubin’s H5 Civic.

As for the H5 race, Beno Rubin took the class win in his Tidewater Community College/PACT Civic recording a track record of 2:30.252.  Keith Edwards turned in a consistent performance finishing 2nd in his CRX.

The H1 race saw Kevin Helms grab the early lead.  Chris Drabouski had another strong showing, staying within 2 seconds of Helms for the first half of the race.  However, Helms pulled away in the second half, taking the H1 win.  Drabouski finished 2nd with Iness Eisele finishing 3rd.

J. Allen Haggai returned in H2 for Sunday’s race after taking Saturday off for his wife’s birthday.  Haggai sealed the win and turned a fastest lap time of 2:16.447.

The H4 class provided the closest racing so far this season.  Chris Perera jumped out to an early lead while Trevor Melville and AJ Nealey fought for 2nd place.  Nealey worked past Melville and set his sights on Perera.  By lap 7 Nealey was less than 3/10ths behind Perera.  Nealey kept the pressure on but Perera ultimately took the win by just under 3 seconds.  Melville took 3rd place holding off Karl Kondor who closed the gap late in the race.

Beno Rubin once again took the H5 win despite going off course due to contact with another racer.  The bruised Civic made it to the finish in one piece (thanks to the shamrocks?).  Keith Edwards placed 2nd to stay in the points hunt.

The next stop for the East Coast Honda Challenge will be Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC on May 5th & 6th.

The East Coast Honda Challenge would like to extend its sincere appreciation to King RAT Motorsports , NASA Mid-Atlantic , the entire VIR staff, the fans, the competitors and their families for providing yet another memorable weekend.