IFO made its way through the nation’s South and Midwest this spring, stopping at North Carolina’s Rockingham Dragway and then Kansas International Dragway in Wichita, proving the age-old adage that the more things change, the more things stay the same. Sport FWD racing is absolutely changing, and growing, and getting better, as evidenced by the 9.4-second top-Qualifying e.t. posted by RLZ Tuning’s blue turbo Civic in NC, which many speculate is capable of much faster times. We’ll be waiting to see; its driver accidentally 1-2-1 mis-shifted it in competition, ending its time in the spotlight. For now.
The quickest Qualifier of the KS event—Max Ramos and his purple 9.7-second Civic Coupe—also had only himself to blame not advancing, redlighting in the first round of Eliminations. Hometown racer Touny “The Bounty Hunter” Phounthavon would eventually take the win with a 10.76-second pass in his white Civic against Kyle Moore’s 11.69-second attempt, whose yellow/green Civic coupe is hands down one of the cleanest we’ve seen in competition—right up there with All Motor winner Jason Lumpkin’s 11.3-second CRX of the same color.
Too bad the show crowd didn’t take a cue from the racers—let’s just say there were so many fiberglass interiors, two-tone vinyl seats, colored window tint and wire loom, Lambo doors, bright paint, and cross-manufactural conversions in attendance to make us verify twice that the date the photos were taken wasn’t off by 10 years. While it was actually very cool to see (a remake of?) the flawless MOMO Corse Integra of yesteryear . . . come on guys. This is 2011. Time’s a changin’!
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