With the Source Interlink Super Lap Battle being the last time attack of the year Team Design Craft was sure the C West/BC/Hankook Honda S2000 was going to go out with a bang.

Unfortunately the bang came two days prior to the event when an engine mishap on the XS Engineering dyno cause damage to the Honda S2000 engine. With boost pressure set much higher, the engine's valvetrain endured some very high stress and damaged two of the four cylinders. Not giving up the team decided to scramble through the night to get the car up and running before the Hankook Tire Transport arrived on Tuesday night. A new set of CP pistons were picked up at BC and brand new cylinder head were installed even though the engine's cylinders were very badly damaged. Needless to say it was what the car was left with and the team was going to give a valiant effort to run the car. At the track, the car was prepped for the first practice yet during the first lap it was apparent that the same two cylinders would yet again cause engine problems damaging the exhaust valves. Prior to race day the engine was cleared of loose debris but apparently there was still a few bits of steel left floating around in the cylinders.

Once that was cleared out the car was definitely down on power but Tyler Mcquarrie decided to go out and give it a try. To everyone's surprise the car blasted a 1.49.04 which was a mere 2 tenth's off the cars record run at the beginning of this year. With a fresh set of Hankook tires on and the GReddy boost controller turned up much higher the team was positive that the old record would be shattered. On the cars first pass, Tyler beat his old record by 1.1 seconds stopping the clock at 1.47:79. This was also good enough to take 1st place in Unlimited RWD and 3rd overall with one more run session to go for broke. For the final session the car received an aerodynamic wing and shock setting change and it was sent back out on the track on the same set of tires. On the car's second pass it blazed a time of 1.46.89 and as results have shown in the past, the Hankook Z214 C91 tires always come alive after the second lap. As Tyler neared the last turns of the track  the Honda's differential experienced a mechanical failure making the S2000 unable to make a final 3rd lap. According to Tyler, the second pass felt good but I made a correction when the car was understeering on a high-speed left hander. On the third lap, I ran that same turn flawlessly and I was sure the car would run much quicker but the rear end broke as I approached the final turns. I'm confident we could have knocked off another 8-tenths off our best time. Even without the 3rd lap posted, Tyler and the Design Craft team captured a 1st place win in Unlimited RWD with a RWD record run of 1.46:89 breaking the previous record set by the Twins Turbo Mazda RX-7 with a time of 148.5. The S2000 is hands down the fastest US-based RWD record holder at Buttonwillow.

Needless to say, the C West/BC/Hankook Honda S2000 had a very successful season competing in both the Redline Time Attack series and Source Interlink Super Lap Battle. The team captured the 2008 points championship in Overall, Unlimited and Unlimited RWD at Virginia International Raceway and while Super Lap Battle does not have a points series, the car was still able to dominate the series. Design Craft Fabrication would like to thank all the sponsors and people listed below. Thank you for a successful 2008 season and Design Craft looks to better their times again next year.

Thanks goes out to: Brian, Dustin and Art at BC, Mike and Kenji at GReddy, Bill, Paul, Jason and Kevin at Hankook Tire, Tyler Mcquarrie, Jeff Lee, Jerry Reyes at Design Craft, Adam Depner, Jeremy Sakioka, Design Craft Fabricators Len and Ben, Darton Sleeves, Cometic Gaskets, Michimoto Radiator, Daryl, Dean and Dirk at ACT, Randy and Lisa at Enkei Wheels, Dominic at Endless, John at RC Engineering, Philip at Tein, Greg Nakano, Henry Shelly, Greg Neuwirth, Kirk and John at AEM, Sato at Okada Project, Mag and Glen at Performance Friction Brakes, Scott at Turbo Magazine, Carter at Import Tuner, Jonathan at Super Street, Joey at Sport Compact Car, Elliot at Source Interlink, Nick and Chris at Redline Time Attack, Andrew at Ignition, Rob, Wen, Jeren and Mike at D Sport. Eric at Cosworth, Troy at XS Engineering, Warren and Chris at Sparco, Steve at Millennium Motorsports, Race Engine Development, City Tires, Tarzan Yamada, Randy at GT Live, Eugene at Gruppe S, Greg Park, Â Alan and Lisa at CEI Studios and last but not least a big thanks to Daji and Mr. Omoto from C-West for believing we can make their car a competitive wining car again.