Right Coast Time Attack

By: Jake

Whoever said East Coast car culture doesn’t compare to West Coast was flat out wrong! Although the Super Lap Battle and Redline Time Attack have all but banished east-coasters from competition, Real Time Attack is on board to provide nail-biting stopwatch glory for Atlantic born hot shoes. With promises of extensive media coverage, real prizes, and timing transponders for the 2011 season, Real Time Attack is filling the time attack void here on the east coast. Their demo event held at Raceway Park’s road course Nov. 7^th, 2010 was packed full of die-hard racing enthusiasts sporting everything from track-capable street cars to caged wheel-to-wheel, race-ready machines.

Honda Challenge drivers from the Northeast came out in full force including the Lo Buk racing fleet of featherweight Hondas. Both weighing in around 2000lbs with driver, the ’85 CRX was packing a D16A6 motor sourced from the desirable ‘91 Civic Si, while the ’84 Civic hatchback utilized an Integra LS B18B. Honda Challenge drivers Zephyr and Stephanie Belski, having recently tied the marital knot at NJMP Thunderbolt circuit days before, chased down one another throughout the day.

This sport doesn't just bring the grassroots competitors to the table. There were several Porsche 911 Turbos in the mix running in the exotic-class. Equally exotic, but not nearly as costly, the field was packed with custom built, forced-induced Honda chassis from Civics to S2000s. A supercharged S2000 - some of you may recall this car won the 2010 NOPI/HIN Gymkhana competition at Raceway Park - driven by instructor R. Santos, ran blistering fast lap after lap on Hankook RS-3 tires.

The dual clutch transmission experts at South Side Performance showcased Jeremy Rohcos’ 540 whp Mitsubishi Evolution X MR. Having recently competed at the 2010 Ultimate Track Car Challenge held at V.I.R. by Grassroots Motorsports, South Side Performance was back on track looking to tackle the apexes at Raceway Park’s road circuit. The car’s GT35R turbo was breathing well, sucking sub-50 degree air in the early sessions. While blowing exhaust flames, Jeremy literally blasted past fans through the showcase banked left-hander, all the while his BC Racing coilovers and Toyo R888 tires made clipping the apexes seem effortless.

Concerns of the track itself were stifled when drivers realized the circuit's technical nature is both safe and exciting. The course is not much shorter than the famed Lime Rock Park and faster cars were clocking a puckering 140 mph on Raceway Park's main straight. Track safety is always a big concern and despite the rumors the circuit has sufficient run off in many places. Raceway Park reports a stellar safety record for it's in-house HPDE program, stating that since the track's opening in 2008 there have only been two minor incidents, in neither of which anyone got hurt.

As promised the media presence was in place. Fueled Magazine, Local Scene Media (LSM) and Import2Race.com were also on site to showcase the event. All in all, many drivers were pleased with the demonstration and are planning their return for the 2011 competition season - but not before making the requisite off-season tweaks to their track monsters. Keep posted at RealTimeAttack.com for details on the 2011 season schedule.

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