Raceworks

On the business side, Raceworks branched out into selling performance and safety products for racers, and was one of the first companies in the industry to have an online sales presence. Starting in 1997, the team began looking for more professional venues to participate in, eventually building a Honda Civic Del Sol for the Speedvision Cup enduranc... e series in 1998. The program was fairly successful, and the car showed some promise (qualifying 2nd in its first pro event), but the series was canceled at the end of the season. For the 1999 season, Raceworks acquired a car for the World Challenge Series, a Honda Prelude for the Touring Car class. The series would present a variety of challenges for the grassroots racing team: the cars were at a higher prep level than they were used to, at the time it enjoyed massive popularity (40 car fields were the norm), the rules changed significantly every year, and they were running on about 1/10 the budget of the factory-backed front-running teams. All that being said, in the three years Raceworks ran the Prelude program, they managed to get a top-10 finish every year. In 2002, Raceworks built a brand new car, a Civic hatchback. The car was in every way better than the old Prelude, but between rules creep and the Touring Car races turning into crash-fests this car wasn't nearly as successful as its predecessor. In 2003, the team transitioned to the East Cost Honda Challenge. The tool of choice was the Del Sol built in 1998 for endurance racing, and the team began developing the car for the H1 class, as well as select enduros in both NASA and the SCCA. Over the next four years this car would go on to get several wins, establish multiple track records, and place well in long-distance races with a best finish of 3rd in the Charge of the Headlight Bridage 13-hour race at Virginia International Raceway in 2006. During the "Sedan Years" Raceworks also became one of the premiere tuner shops in North Georgia, specializing in Honda and Volkswagen performance modifications.Read More