 Kevin Boehm of Boehm Racing was invited to debut the Honda Performance Development (HPD) Civic Type R TC at the January 17-19 SRO Motorsports America Winter Invitational event.
At the event, the race car was driven competitively all weekend to gather data, test durability, and showcase the tunability of the Type R TC. Kevin Boehm of Boehm Racing won the 2019 Road Race Driver of the Year award from the Ohio Valley Region SCCA. This is his second year in a row winning the award and his third time overall.
"I really appreciate the award and the opportunities SCCA gives me and other drivers to do what we love," Boehm says. "Motorsports organizations like the SCCA give us the chance to pursue our dreams on track." Boehm has been an SCCA member since 2013 and is a four-time SCCA National Championship winner. His most recent victory was in the 2019 SCCA STU class with his 2017 Honda Civic Type R Swapped Si Coupe.  My award-winning, Civic Type R Engine Swap race car was featured in the January 2020 edition of Super Street Magazine. Super Street is a Motor Trend publication focused on tuner / import vehicles. The article tells the origin story of the Type R Swap. Read all about it on the Super Street website.
 For the fourth year in a row, I joined Team Honda Research West at the grueling 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race. We claimed a third-place finish in the E0 class with the no. 18 Honda Civic Type R. It was a difficult event, with incremental weather and fluctuating track conditions.
 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) posted their recap of the 2019 STU National Championship Runoffs event.
Kevin Boehm, of Marysville, Ohio, was the defending Super Touring® Under (STU) National Champion coming into this year’s Runoffs® at VIRginia International Raceway. And earlier this week, despite a small setback, he earned the Tire Rack Pole Award and led a 25-car field to the start. While Boehm, driving the No. 90 HPD/Carbotech/Red Line Oil Honda Civic, bobbled a bit at the start of Saturday’s 15-lap race around VIR’s 18-turn, 3.27-mile circuit, he quickly recovered and marched away to a 25-second victory. This is Boehm’s second consecutive National Championship in the STU class, and fourth Championship overall. “I think this is the first year everything went to plan,” said Boehm, who also set a new STU lap record during the race. “I expected Elivan to get a better start since his car is so light and so good. But then I went to work from there. This was an absolute perfect car for this track.” Read the full article on the SCCA website.  Speed Sport magazine covered the 2019 SCCA National Championship Runoffs race and featured all of the event's winners. Read the article to learn about the champion of each class and see their feature on my win of the STU class.
 Noted motorsports magazine Speed Sport covered the pole results of the 2019 SCCA National Championship Runoffs, mentioning my Tire Rack Pole award win. To achieve this, I broke two minute barrier with the Type R Engine Swap, taking pole with 1:59:948. Read about it and other Runoffs pole winners in the article.
There are so many emotions that happen when winning a big race. It may not look like much here, but I was overwhelmed with joy, relief, thankfulness, and excitement all at the same time. Video shows two views of me crossing the finish line at the 2019 SCCA National Championship Runoffs, winning the STU national championship.
Lap one of the 2019 SCCA National Championship race was not easy. The rear tires weren't warmed up, yet. Those who watched the race said it didn't look like much from the outside, but the in-car video shows how close I was to the edge.
To make a car fast on track, it needs to be easy to drive. That's because a car that's easy to drive at the limit allows you to spend more time getting the maximum out of the car. Video taken during the 2019 SCCA STU National Championship Race at Virginia International Raceway.
Check out this rooftop view of Virginia International Raceway (VIR) from my Civic Type R race car during the 2019 SCCA National Championship Runoffs. VIR is one of the most unique tracks in the US. With its combination of high speed turns and elevation changes, it is a real challenge to go fast.
 The Engine Swap Depot wrote a feature on my Type R engine swapped coupe—the first K20C1 swap in the world. Read the article and let me know what you think!
 Racer Magazine is predicting who will win the 2019 SCCA National Championship. In the article, it covers all classes, including mine (STU or Super Touring Under) and cites Chris Haldeman's Honda Civic, (pictured above), Elivan Goulart's Lotus, Mike Flynn's BMW, and my Civic Type R Engine Swap as the cars to watch. Make sure to tune into the October 12th event at scca.com/live to see which prediction comes true.
When I started building the Civic Type R engine swap in January 2017, all I had was a K20C1 engine, a Civic Si white body, a lot of spare parts, and hope that I would finish it before that year's race season ended. By summer the car was driving--and the rest is history. It's now coming to the close of 2019--looking forward to another year (and perhaps another look) with the race car.
The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is coming up, so I decided to install fresh Carbotech brake pads. This time, I also added thermocouples to all the outside pads so I can better understand the temperature range while on the race track. This will help make sure the load compounds I've chosen are correct.
In the gallery above, see the new brake pads before and after installation on the Civic Type R Swap race car. The additional images give more background on the thermocouples themselves:
Two-piece brake rotors are great for racing for several reasons. Watch the slide show to learn about the benefits of using them.
A few weeks ago, I headed out to California to help Team Honda Research West test out the team's Honda Civic Type R at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. We are preparing for this year's 25 Hours of Thunderhill, one of my favorite endurance races. The Honda Civic Type R loves the fast, winding corners at Buttonwillow and so do I. During this lap, I am testing out some new improvements to the race car. Watch the lap thru a 360° camera, mounted to the passenger side of the vehicle.
I like to tune the engine on track versus using a dyno. It allows me to better control temperatures so I can recreate the conditions I see when racing the car. This improves the robustness of the tune and still allows me to maximize power. Plus, it allows me to collect more accurate data and look for any potential issues before I head to a race.
Your speed on a straight isn't only determined by your horsepower. It's also influenced by the speed you went through the turn leading onto the straight and how soon you go to full throttle. Here is a perfect example, (illustrated by passing a Porsche), aided with just a little bit of a draft as well. This video was filmed in my Honda Civic Type R Engine Swap at Road America.
Watch a documentary of Honda Research and Development's associate race team at the grueling 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race in Northern California. At the event, we raced two Civic Type Rs. The team comes together from around the world--the United States, (Ohio and California), Canada, and Japan. I'm in the video too, talking about this exciting endurance race, my great teammates, and the engineering behind the Type R.
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KEVIN BOEHMTips, tricks, wins, and learnings. Go behind-the-scenes at the race shop and the track with Boehm Racing. Archives
March 2020
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