The East Coast Honda Challenge traveled to Summit Point Raceway for rounds 9 and 10 of the 2006 points season. Summit Point is arguably the most familiar to the Honda Challenge competitors, which would make the competition closer than ever. Hot temperatures and intense traffic would only add to the challenge.

Much like the previous race weekend at Beaverun, all at the track would be welcomed by sunshine for the entire day on Saturday. After getting just 1.5 laps under green at the start of Saturday’s race, the field would regrid and would do yet another standing start due to track blockage/contact.

H1 would see a large 10 car field in Saturday qualifying, with 9 of the 10 taking the top spots on the grid. H1 would also welcome a new racer to the grid, Justin Culbert; in his #01 K20A-powered Integra Type R. H1 would also see the return of an HC veteran, Adam Curpier, in his newly-powered H22 Type R #45. His brother, Pete, would also be running an H22 in his Civic coupe #42 for the first time. Pete would claim the pole on Saturday, with a time of 1:24.4. Adam, who would be making his first appearance since early 2005, would claim the 2nd spot with a time of 1:24.7. Jason Franza, in the #06 Integra Type R, would take the 3rd spot on the grid with a 1:25.0. Chad Slagg would claim the 4th spot in the #14 Civic with a time of 1:25.5, while Kevin Helms in the #05 Civic would complete the top 5 in qualifying with a time of 1:25.7. Chris Drabouski in the #62 Civic, Todd Reid in the #11 Civic, Justin Culbert in the #01 Integra Type R, John Oldt in the #75 S2000, and Matt Bookler in the #33 Civic would complete the H1 grid, respectively. After claiming the 7th spot on the grid, Reid would be unable to take the green flag due to mechanical trouble and would sit the race out. On the initial standing start, Pete would blaze into turn one leading the field, with Adam and Jason right behind. The field would get just 1.5 laps under green, before the race was halted with a red flag due to incidents on the track. On the 2nd standing start, much like the 1st, Pete would lead the field into long sweeping right-hander that is turn one. Franza would be able to get by Adam Curpier and take the 2nd position in turn one. Leading into turn 10 on the 1st lap after the restart, Pete Curpier would go wide at the exit of turn 10, enabling Franza to get by him for the race lead on the front straight. Unfortunately, Pete would be forced to drop out after suffering a blowout in turn one. This left Franza, Adam Curpier, and Slagg as the top 3 for the better part of the race. With just 3 laps to go, Curpier and Franza would come together, giving Slagg the race lead followed by Drabouski then Helms. Curpier would be forced to drop out due to electrical issues. This order would remain unchanged to the finish, with Slagg getting the win. Drabouski and Helms would take the 2nd and 3rd spots after a fierce battle. Franza would finish 4th, with Oldt taking the 5th spot. Culbert and Bookler would take the final two points positions. Slagg would set fast lap of the race, a 1:23.9.

In H2, just as we saw at Beaverun, would be a duel between the #88 Integra Type R of John Whitaker and the #577 Prelude of Walt McKinney. As they have been previously, the qualifying spots were separated by a matter of tenths. Whitaker would claim the class pole with a 1:28.4, while McKinney would start from 2nd with a 1:28.6 in just his 2nd weekend in wheel-to-wheel racing. The two would prove once again to be very evenly matched, but unfortunately due to McKinney being involved in contact, the two would get separated for the majority of the race. Whitaker would claim his 6th class win of the season, with McKinney taking the 2nd spot. Whitaker also set fast lap for H2, a 1:28.0.

H3 saw just one competitor, the Grassroots Motorsports Car of Scott Lear. Lear would qualify with a lap time of 1:33.6. He would improve his best lap by nearly half of a second in the race, and finish a very respectable 17th overall out of 50.

H4 would see a 6 car grid. The class would also see the return of an H4 champion, Jon Kofod in his #40 Integra. James Evans, a former H1 class champion, would also take the H4 grid in his #15 CRX. A Honda Challenge newcomer, Wendell Holmes, would also take the grid in his #124 Integra. Similar to what he’s done before, Ryan Jenkins in his #98 Integra would show little respect to the veterans, and would take the class pole with a time of 1:28.9. Holmes would claim the 2nd spot with a 1:29.5, with Lyonel Kent in the #95 Civic taking the 3rd spot with a 1:29.9. Kofod, Evans, and the #81 Integra driven by Andrew Zimmerman would round out the H4 starting grid. After building a considerable lead in the race, mechanical trouble would force Jenkins to drop back. Evans and Kofod would complete fantastic drives to claim the top two spots, with Jenkins holding on to 3rd. Kent and Zimmermann would take the final two spots, while Holmes would not finish due to car-to-car contact in the race. Evans would grab the fast lap of the race, a 1:28.4.

H5, which has often been the best competition of 2006, did not disappoint. The points leader in the class, Adam Mouradian, would claim the pole in the #52 CRX with a time of 1:31.8. Zephyr Belski in the #517 Civic would take the 2nd spot with a 1:32.6, while Beno Rubin in the #8 Civic would claim the 3rd spot, just 2 tenths behind Belski with a 1:32.8. Keith Edwards in the #46 CRX would start from 4th. The grid would remain unchanged throughout the race, with Mouradian claiming another win. Although finishing just behind Mouradian, Belski was able to set the fast lap of the race, a very quick 1:31.1 and would claim 2nd. Rubin would come in 3rd, with Edwards finishing in the 4th spot.

Much like Saturday, sunshine and warmth was plentiful for the entire day on Sunday. The competitors would actually see a few raindrops between the qualifying and race sessions, but both would be run on a completely dry track.

H1 saw another tight qualifying grid, with Franza taking the class pole with a time of 1:24.8. Claiming the 2nd spot just 3 tenths off of Franza’s time would be Helms with a time of 1:25.1. Slagg would start from the 3rd spot with a qualifying time of 1:25.6. Rounding out the top 5 would be Reid and Pete Curpier, respectively. Following Curpier, Drabouski, Oldt, Culbert, and Adam Curpier would complete the H1 grid. Matt Bookler would be sidelined for Sunday due to suspension issues. No red flags would be seen in this one, and Franza would be able to build a considerable lead throughout the first 8 laps. Pete Curpier, after starting from the 5th spot, would find himself in 3rd position very quickly. Meanwhile, a colossal battle for the 4th-6th spots was underway between the cars of Adam Curpier, Helms, and Drabouski. With just 4 laps to go, due to losing his exhaust, Franza would lose considerable power. This enabled Slagg, with an aggressive drive himself, to take the lead with just two laps remaining. The two would be nose-to-tail at the white flag, and Franza would attempt to late brake Slagg into turn one, only to find himself in the gravel. With that, Slagg would then be able to cruise to the win. Pete Curpier, after a fantastic drive from 5th on grid, would obtain a well-deserved 2nd place. Franza would salvage a 3rd, with Adam Curpier completing a great drive himself for 4th. Helms would take 5th, while Drabouski, Culbert, Oldt, and Reid would finish in that order. Franza would claim the fast lap for today, with a time of 1:24.3.

It was 2 in H2 yet again, with Whitaker claiming the pole by near 2.5 seconds over McKinney. There was no stopping Whitaker in this one, as he continued his dominating march to a class championship driving his first season in H2. Whitaker took the win with a fast lap of 1:28.2.

H3 saw Mr. Lear yet again as the lone competitor. Knowing that he essentially had a win “in the bag”, Scott would set a goal to improve his lap times around the track. He would do just that, setting a well-improved mark of 1:32.6; nearly a second faster than his Saturday time. 

H4 would see the past revisited, as the former class champion Kofod would take the pole with a time of 1:29.1. Holmes would take the 2nd spot, just 2 tenths back at a 1:29.3. Kent would start from 3rd with a time of 1:29.8. Zimmerman would start from the 4th spot. Jenkins would be forced to sit this one out due to engine issues. Evans would be penalized for missing a drivers meeting and would be forced to start at the back of the grid for the race. After completing a phenomenal drive from the back, Evans would finish on top in H4. However, he would be disqualified by the race stewards for car-to-car contact. This would give the win to Zimmerman, after producing a great drive from 4th. Kent would take the 2nd spot, while Holmes would claim a 3rd.

H5 would see a reversal of its top spots on the grid, as Belski would take the class pole by seven tenths over Mouradian, with a fast lap of 1:30.2. Mouradian would start from 2nd with a 1:30.9, while Rubin would take the 3rd spot with a 1:32.7. Edwards would complete the H5 grid and would start from 4th. There would be no reversal in the race though, as Belski would post a fast lap time nearly a second better than Mouradian as he claimed the class win. Belski’s fast lap was within a second of the H5 lap record at a 1:30.3. Mouradian would claim 2nd, and would continue his route to a class championship. Rubin would finish 3rd, while improving his fast lap from qualifying by half a second. Edwards would finish 4th.

The East Coast Honda Challenge would like to extend its thanks to King RAT Motorsports , NASA Mid-Atlantic , the staff/workers/EV of Summit Point Raceway, the fans, and the drivers, along with their crew and families for making this yet another great event.

The East Coast Honda Challenge makes its way to Virginia International Raceway for rounds 11 and 12 of the 2006 season on July 29th and 30th. For more information about the Honda Challenge series, please visit our website, www.honda-challenge.com .