The season is off to a great start with the IPGParts.com Honda Civic Si SCCA STL Class Road Race Car. Daytona Intl Speedway May 2013 was the first real race event for the team's 2004 Honda Civic Si EP3 Race Car and it proved to have a bit of a learning curve. Saturday morning qualifying sessions were in the rain and an inexperienced rain driver James Innes had some learning to do. Thankfully the rain let up and the Saturday afternoon 1.5 hour enduro was a great chance to see what the car could do at speed and it did not disappoint. Although an axle failure / change about 25 minutes into the race kept the team from a podium finish the car ran quick and was on the move throughout the entire race as Innes continued to gain confidence.
Sunday at Daytona included 2 sprint races in which the teams speed continued to show as Innes took the STL 1st Place win in both races and set a new Daytona Intl Speedway STL Class record to boot. After testing 2 weeks later at the Sebring Long course the team headed to race the SCCA Regionals on the Sebring Short Course on June 1st-2nd, 2013. The momentum continued as Innes put the car on pole for the class and overall during the qualifying session and a great battle all weekend with a SPU car entailed. Innes grabbed the win during the Saturday sprint race in the STL class and overall. Sunday's festivities started out quick as Innes set another track record for the STL class grabbing the class wins in both Sprint Races on Sunday and a 2nd overall finish during both races. The proof of concept with the 2004 Honda Civic Si STL car is there and there is still a lot more to do as the team continues to work on being the quickest and fastest they can be. The team next travels back to Sebring Intl Raceway in mid July for some more racing action.