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 damp conditions did not deter the H1 drivers from putting on a great race.  Kevin Helms in the Hondaworks Civic was on the pole, but gave the lead away after running wide in turn 5 on the first lap.  Pete Curpier took over the lead in his Civic and was looking strong until clutch issues caused him to fade.  Justin Culbert, in his first race of the season, took over the lead on lap 6 and was looking strong.  The race looked well in hand, but Helms had other ideas.  He had been charging up through the Thunder field on his way to the front and would not be denied.  With one lap to go Helms took the lead and then the win with a fast lap of 1:50.458.  Culbert finished second with his Integra and John Oldt finished 3rd with his S2000, just edging out Curpier on the final lap.

John Reamer was the lone H3 entry and took the class win in his Integra with a fast lap time of 2:00.717.  This was Reamer’s first East Coast Honda Challenge race of the season.

AJ Nealy and Trevor Melville battled for the class win in H4.  Melville in his Prelude kept Nealy’s CRX close, but Nealy was too strong down the stretch.  Nealy took the win with the fast lap of 2:01.703.

Beno Rubin and Keith Edwards raced for the H5 points lead.  Rubin came into the weekend only 40 points up on Edwards.  Rubin jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, taking the win in his Tidewater Community College/PACT Civic with a fast lap time of 2:09.953.

The H1 race was cancelled after a red-flag incident occurred in the Thunder group on the first lap.  While no one was hurt, the lengthy clean-up caused race officials to call the race off.

John Reamer repeated his performance from the previous day, taking the H3 win with a fastest lap time of 1:57.381.

The dry track conditions seemed to favor AJ Nealy as he led wire to wire in H4, recording a fastest lap time of 1:55.791.  Trevor Melville turned in a consistent performance finishing 2nd.

Beno Rubin took the H5 win with a fastest lap time of 2:03.278.  Keith Edwards placed 2nd staying within reach of the points lead.

Next up for the East Coast Honda Challenge is Hyperfest at Summit Point Raceway on June 23rd and 24th.

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