Boehm, Smithson Score Touring Car Americas Wins in HPD Civic Si, Type R TCR
Kevin Boehm takes his HPD Civic Si to a pair of victories and TCA points lead
Scott Smithson earns his third TCR win of 2020 in Civic Type R TCR
Victor Gonzalez scores two TCR podiums, as Honda drivers earn six on weekend

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2020) – Continuing to gather late-season momentum, Honda team and drivers racing the three Civic race cars available from Honda Performance Development – the Type R TCR, Type R TC and Si – scored three wins, three poles and six podiums at the SRO Motorsports Touring Car Americas penultimate event of 2020 this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.

Kevin Boehm opened a strong weekend at COTA by piloting his Civic SI to wins on Friday and Saturday, while the DXDT Racing Honda Civic Type R of Scott Smithson dominated Saturday’s TCR race, winning by more than 11 seconds for his third victory of the season.

Boehm, who previously earned a sweep of the Road America weekend, won his fourth race in a row on Friday with a flag-to-flag win; and then backed it up by besting the field by more than 22 seconds in a Saturday romp. He finished fourth in Sunday’s finale of a triple-header weekend, but did enough to take the series points lead heading into the October 1-3 season finale in Indianapolis.

“With these front-wheel drive cars, the trick is to find a way to make it turn, we finally found a way to make it turn really well,” Boehm said. “We have the car in a real ‘sweet spot’ right now. Everything seems to be coming together at once, and it doesn’t get any better than this.” 

Jonathan Newcombe backed up his Honda stablemate in his VGMC Racing Civic Si, claiming his second podium finish of the season with a third-place result on Saturday.

In the TCR races, Smithson led the Honda contingent early in his Civic Type R TCR, using a last-lap pass to place second in Friday’s lid lifter. He spun while leading on Saturday, but shook it off and stormed to his third win of the year in Sunday’s closer, coming home more than 11 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

“We had a rough start to the weekend, but the team was able to get my car back together and give me a great machine today,” Smithson said. “It’s taken me a little time to get used to a front wheel drive car, but thanks to DXDT and Honda for getting me here!”

Victor Gonzalez earned a pair of podium finishes in his VGMC Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, placing third on Saturday and Sunday.

HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car. Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring.