The black car had better luck. It vied for the E1 class lead from the beginning. For most of Saturday's daylight they traded the lead with a fast, professionally backed Mazda Mx-5 but when darkness fell, ThR's pace slowed. The cold track and freezing temperatures prevented the CR from maintaining enough tire heat o keep up. They remained in second place throughout the night. Predictably, with the sun and warmer track temperatures on Sunday morning they began swapping the lead with the Mazda again.
A controversial stop-and-go penalty near the end was honda's kiss of death during the tight battle. A corner worker called race control saying the CR had passed under yellow and the of- ficials immediately brought the CR in for penance. Second place was hardly where the team wanted to finish but it was still a great accomplishment.
After 25 hours and 628 laps, ThR had more than proven the metal of the CR. It ran hard and handled like a race car-it stayed together and it was fast-ThR's best time for the race was a full second faster then the professionally driven, class winning Mazda Mx-5. At the end of the race, despite the penalty, the black S2000 CR took the checkered flag only 1.5 seconds behind.
The CR edition looks to be just what honda club racers had asked for and for tuners looking for more power, it's just a great car to start with.
THR team leaders Chad Gilsinger (in Nomex) and Lee Niffenegger were in tactical mind meld. when asked about their race strategy they responded in unison: "Don't hit anything." Although all ThR team members are honda employees, they are not paid to race or work on the cars. All work is done off the clock. They also miss the huge company Christmas party held every year on the same weekend, a point they are very aware is unpopular with their wives.