It was a great weekend for the IPGparts.com Race Team during the World Cup Finals at Maryland Intl Raceway. The team took 2 cars to compete with the CRX falling in the 10.0 Index Class and the Turbo Civic running the True Street Class. Ultimately there were 2 missions for the event. To capture a 9 second time slip with the CRX and an 8 second time slip with the Turbo Civic.
Arriving early for Thursday testing proved to be a more difficult day than expected. A dead battery and digital gauge cluster issues with the CRX didn't allow it to make any passes. Robert Mapps piloting the True Street Civic did manage a 9.4 @ 153mph hit on a shake down pass with a fresh setup on the car. Rain then invaded and cancelled the rest of the test day allowing the team to hit the hotel early to rest up for what is always a busy weekend.
Round 1 Qualifying for the CRX netted a 10.08 @ 133mph pass running into the rev limiter at the 1000ft mark. The goal was in sight. The True Street Civic blazed a 9.01 @ 163mph pass to fall solidly into the #6 qualifying position after the 1st round of qualifying. The True Street Civic then had problems before even getting to the burnout box for the 2nd round qualifying session which turned out to be an ECU issue after a lot of trouble shooting. Tom Creen piloting the All Motor CRX hit it out of the park during Friday nights 2nd round qualifier for the 10.0 Index Class accomplishing mission #1 by blasting a 9.95 @ 137mph. Ecstatic is an understatement as the payoff for all the hard work that goes into campaigning these cars is the best victory. Creen then bettered this ET and MPH with a 9.92 @ 138mph pass during the 3rd round qualifier on Saturday morning.
The CRX has proven to be the little car that could continuing to surpass expectations each time out, the result of hard work, dedication and willingness to drive towards a goal. After a slipping clutch issue was resolved with the True Street Civic Mapps was able to run a 9.18 @ 166mph pass during the 4th qualifier giving the team the confidence it needed going into eliminations. The race weekend ended early for Creen in the CRX as he was matched up against a Dodge Dart that nailed a 10.04 on a 10.00 Dial during the 1st round of eliminations. But all was not lost as the ultimate goal for the CRX at this event was to run that 9 second time slip it and it did it twice solidifying its place as a top contender. Mapps continued the cars consistency with a 9.03 @ 163mph pass during Round 1 of Eliminations moving onto the next round.
Round 2 brought a showdown with a VW and Mapps again put it on him with a 9.12 @ 157mph pass. After this round the team discovered a boost or fuel issue not allowing the engine to maintain power as it went down the track once in 4th gear. More troubleshooting was done and it was fixed as best as possible with the limited time between rounds. The 3rd round of eliminations brought IPG friend Jenna Fisher with her Toyota Supra in the next lane. Fisher was the #2 qualifier so Mapps had his work cut out for him. An edge on the tree gave him a bit of a lead as tuner Chris Harris set the car up to lay down as much power as possible up to the 1/8th mile where Mapps continued to stay in front of Fisher but the power loss issue reared its ugly head as Mapps had to work the throttle to get it down the track the rest of the way and Fisher eeked by at the top end of the track.
Overall it was a great weekend. Although the True Street Civic didn't get that 8 second time slip the team came together and worked diligently throughout the weekend doing whatever it took to get the cars down the track as quickly and efficiently as possible. With a solid base going forward the IPGparts.com Race Team will be a top contender race in and race out.
Huge thanks goes out to all involved in making the cars and event such a great end of the year spectacular:
Tom Creen
Robert Mapps
Chris Harris (Xenocron Tuning)
Richy Gonzalez
Chris Ray of DT Racing Division for the loaner Motec
Jason Miller
All the Maryland Intl Raceway Staff ...anyone and everyone that assisted us or assisted any racer in need during the event.