SoCal regular Benoit Pecqueur was third on the podium in H4. After the Honda Challenge race he looked good for another strong finish in the Performance Touring D race. However, the cam timing got inadvertently changed between the HC post-race inspection teardown and the start of the PTD event. It was a disappointing finish to an otherwise brilliant week. Also a good argument for running engine seals on pre-inspected engines.
H4 competitor Sam Myers' family hosted a delicious potluck dinner Friday night for all the Honda Challenge teams. Tab and Ruth Hunter of Road Hunter's Caf donated enough smoked brisket to feed the entire HC grid along with their crews. (At least one investigative journalist managed to sniff out their secret brisket recipe for use back home in California).
Another highlight of the Honda Challenge potluck dinner was Amie Myers' strawberry-pretzel salad. It sounds awful, but wasn't. Leftovers were in short supply by evening's end.
Brian Shanfeld's enduro racing experience really showed during his drive to the H2 class win. His '06 Civic Si was the H2 Energizer Bunny and showed what speed and consistency can do in a championship race. Lap after lap he hit his marks for an entire race of incident free, sub-1:42-second laps. It was boring as hell to watch but a championship is a championship and Shanfeld earned it.
Zephyr Belski and Thomas Lamb had a great race in H5 and traded the lead several times. Belski was ahead when it counted though and took the checker to become Honda Challenge's only two-time National Champion.
A last lap pass on his own father and teammate gave Joseph Moser the win and the H4 National Championship. The pair repeated the 1-2 father/son finish in ITA at the American Road Race of Champions days before this issue went to press.
Kevin Helms [left] and Chris Drabouski [right] ran nose to tail in second and third place for the entire race on Sunday. Both were fast and had cars that were incredibly well-prepared. Expect them both to be up front in H1 again next year