Civic Becomes First Small-Tire Honda in the 7s

Shawn Ramey runs first small-tire Honda quicker than 8.00 with his turbocharged, B-powered coupe.

Among the names in modern Honda drag racing, few loom larger than Shawn Ramey. And at the 2017 Haltech Imports vs. Domestic World Cup Finals, Ramey and his Civic put on a record-smashing show. That Racing Channel was on hand to capture the Honda history.

Running in the Honda-heavy Super Street class — which crossover to the SFWD class —the Ramey Built Civic obliterated the small-tire (slicks smaller than 25” by 9.5”) record twice at Maryland International Raceway. He qualified at a blistering 8.030 at 189 miles per hour, which was 0.15 quicker than the previous record, which he also set.

But Ramey wasn’t done. In the first elimination round, he put the Civic into the 7s, the first front-wheel drive Honda to do so.

Despite running quicker than everyone all weekend, Ramey did not win the whole shebang in Super Street. Travis Kortekaas played spoiler from the #11 qualifying spot by knocking out, in succession, the #6, #3, #2, and #1 (Ramey) qualifiers in the final four rounds.

Kortekaas’ ‘93 Civic Hatch drove to the win in the finals when something went amiss on Ramey’s 1-2 shift. Even with best elapsed times around 8.30, Kortekaas took home the prize money. As the old adage goes, “That’s why they run the races.” Anything can happen and there’s a new World Cup Finals champion as a result.

In the Super Street category, Hondas made up 30 of the 32-car field. Only a lone Mustang and a 2JZ-powered Toyota Tacoma — both eliminated in Round 1 — broke up the Honda domination.

More Hondas from World Cup Finals

Juan Illanas’ 95 Civic took home quickest Honda honors. His Radial vs. Modified ‘95 Civic qualified #5 with a best run of 6.685 seconds at 209 mph, but the car broke on its first-round run.

Larry Ramnath’s 2JZ-powered S2000 made the Outlaws vs. Extreme quarterfinals after a qualifying crash.

In Wild Street (big tires), Steve Oliveira’s K20-powered ‘95 Civic qualified #1 with a 7.637-second time slip. However, he fell short in the semifinals.

In True Street, Jason Marsh’s ‘95 Civic made the finals from the #7 qualifier spot, but he fell short against top-qualifier Reed Chapman’s ‘93 Supra.

Loan Prayoonto took the top qualifying spot in the All-Motor class with a 9.508-second run. Unfortunately, Prayoonto lost in Round 2 on a holeshot.