Bergenholtz Racing CRX Inducted into NHRA Museum!

[EJ25RUN]

I'm sure some of you are confused on why I am the one posting this but its very simple. This CRX was one of the reasons i got into imports.
If anyone has the Super Street decade article where Bergenholtz's wheelie bars were chosen as one of the revolutions in sport compact history, please post the pics from it as i really want that photo.



NHRA Museum Website:
Fast forward 50 years and two more brothers, Rod and Ed Bergenholtz. Working out of a very humble garage in Orange County, California 20 years ago, their ride was a buddy's 1988 Honda CRX. The vehicle was driven on the street and then, as it got faster, was converted into a professional race car in the late 90's and raced at NHRA racetracks nationwide. Driver Ed set numerous records but gained historic notoriety in 1999 when wheely bars were mounted to the rear of the car. The wheely bars forever revolutionized front-wheel-drive drag racing and the CRX set numerous records. It also became the catalyst for other front wheel drive drag racers to run even faster. From this first racecar, the Bergenholtz Racing Brothers were the only race team to win back to back PROFWD NHRA Championships as well as claim the World's Quickest FWD record for an Import vehicle. Today, Ron and Ed Bergenholtz still operate the same as they did 20 years ago from a very humble Orange County garage doing amazing things in the professional motorsports community.

The exhibit will open to the public on Friday, Nov. 13th, in conjunction with the annual fan-favorite Night of Champions during the NHRA Finals.

Video with little history on the car and 1999 BOTI.
http://www.vimeo.com/7617404

Around 1999-2000 were my favorite look of the car.

[-S Double C-]

i guess miller car will go next...LOL! caus that rex dont have shit on his

[sikfricks]

he was getting 9s on a stock chassis crx with 500hp in 99 thats crazy

[EJ25RUN]

i guess miller car will go next...LOL! caus that rex dont have shit on his

Have your reading comprehension abilities allowed you to see what years this was done?

[dazn]

DOOD!!!!
Ed Bergenholtz was the fucking man when I first got into imports.
That CRX should definitely be in the museum. I always loved that car. I remember drooling all over that Turbo issue.

Awesome post!!!

id love to see adam saruwatari and abel ibarra in there too.

[WalkS]

I remember seeing his car on tv back in 90 something racing in a Domestic vs. Imports. But I am happy to see that his car is going into the NHRA Museum, he is defiantly a innovator when it comes to sport compact drag racing!

[JITB]

id love to see adam saruwatari and abel ibarra in there too.

adam was my idol back in 99-01...lol and I was just learning about adel.. i remember downloading racing videos off napster with those 2 guys in it..

[EJ25RUN]

DOOD!!!!
Ed Bergenholtz was the fucking man when I first got into imports.
That CRX should definitely be in the museum. I always loved that car. I remember drooling all over that Turbo issue.

Awesome post!!!

id love to see adam saruwatari and abel ibarra in there too.

Abel Ibarra is def deserving as is Kenny Tran.


Has anyone any photos of Bergenholtz CRX? My favorite is the Road and Track Cover with the RT/10 Viper. That was probably one of the first things that got me interested in that car.

Here's some more I've found so far. i liked it best as a Pro FWD class car.

[EJ25RUN]

[SPOOLIN]

its crazy how we now go a whole second faster with street class chassis then what he did with a full blown pro fwd chassis back in the late 90's!!

I doubt there will be many others after this due to the folding of the series....bergenholtz was the most successful team in the NHRA SC history.

[Member31410]

Nice!

I still have this R&T issue stored away somewhere. I bought it for RMM's Pikes Peak Tacoma though. :boobies:

[-S Double C-]

Have your reading comprehension abilities allowed you to see what years this was done?

my bad didnt see that

[EJ25RUN]

What's been going through my mind for most of the morning is it would be incredible if someone could make a CRX look like that in Forza 3.

Shame you can't tub cars so you can fit those drag tires. That would be epic.

Nice!

I still have this R&T issue stored away somewhere. I bought it for RMM's Pikes Peak Tacoma though. :boobies:

pm'd

my bad didnt see that

No problem.

Just remember those that did it first are the ones you should remember.

[Elbow]

This was one of the cars that got me interested in Japanese cars wayy back when I was too young to even have a car but loved Euro stuff. Awesome memories, also lead to my love with CRX's.

[Vteckidd]

The best part of the story they left out. The car belonged to a friend of theirs that was going to college. One night on the way home he got caught in between a gang shootout and was killed , in the crx. The car was sold to someone and ed tracked it down an bought it back. They decided to build a drag car to honor their slain friend

hence "sap lives" on the front of the car

[Echonova]

The best part of the story they left out. The car belonged to a friend of theirs that was going to college. One night on the way home he got caught in between a gang shootout and was killed , in the crx. The car was sold to someone and ed tracked it down an bought it back. They decided to build a drag car to honor their slain friend

hence "sap lives" on the front of the car

QFT

[2turbo4u]

I had at least three of these magazine. I met them at NOPI 98 here in Atl when they were rocking the blue turbocharged da that also made the cover of magazines back in the day. Very nice guys and helpful, i'm very happy for them and long lives S.A.P.

[HypnoToad]

alright i know this is a stupid question,but ive never watched FWD drag cars,why do they have a wheelie bar?

[BABY J]

alright i know this is a stupid question,but ive never watched FWD drag cars,why do they have a wheelie bar?

Physics says that when a FWD car launches the front end lifts... and xfers weight to the back tires. When the front lifts, it reduces traction on the front tires. The bar reduces/eliminates that from happening.

Unlike a RWD bar though, which lots of time does not rest on the ground when the car is at rest - lots of FWD bars not only rest on the ground, but PUSH down (pre-loaded) to force even more weight on the drive wheels.

[BABY J]

Another thing us old school guys used to do: strapping the front end down so it didn't life during launches and shifts. And strapping is EXACTLY like is sounds - lol. We did this before there were "hardcore" rear-spring rates for imports.

[HypnoToad]

Physics says that when a FWD car launches the front end lifts... and xfers weight to the back tires. When the front lifts, it reduces traction on the front tires. The bar reduces/eliminates that from happening.

Unlike a RWD bar though, which lots of time does not rest on the ground when the car is at rest - lots of FWD bars not only rest on the ground, but PUSH down (pre-loaded) to force even more weight on the drive wheels.

o,ok that makes sense,ive never really looked into anything bout FWD.

thanks

awesome honda though

[Boosted FC]

DOOD!!!!
Ed Bergenholtz was the fucking man when I first got into imports.
That CRX should definitely be in the museum. I always loved that car. I remember drooling all over that Turbo issue.

Awesome post!!!

id love to see adam saruwatari and abel ibarra in there too.

Abel's R100 was the 1st import to be inducted at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in 2003.

[SPOOLIN]

back tires act as a fulcrum for the wheelie bar to act as a lever putting force down on the front tires.

In most sanctioned events IT IS NOT ALLOWED for the wheelie bars to be in contact with the ground prior to starting the run. FWD or RWD.

[BABY J]

^^ I'd like to see yours w/ a bar LOL. What are your rear spring rates?? (pm me if u don't wanna publish it)

[d16_turbo]

^^ I'd like to see yours w/ a bar LOL. What are your rear spring rates?? (pm me if u don't wanna publish it)

1000lb if i had to guess

[BABY J]

1000lb if i had to guess

Nope! LOL ha ha. Good guess tho.

[EJ25RUN]

In most sanctioned events IT IS NOT ALLOWED for the wheelie bars to be in contact with the ground prior to starting the run. FWD or RWD.

Rightfully so.

[d16_turbo]

Nope! LOL ha ha. Good guess tho.

haha i just figured he had omni drag coilovers

[TheChosenOne]

What motor was he running?

[SPOOLIN]

What motor was he running?

Bee motor

[JJSPEC Racing]

If you preload the wheelie bars, the rear tires could be off the ground as the fronts grow and create a really unsafe issue. We used to run about 1/4-1/2 inch depending on track conditions.

[KevinT707]

Such a touching story .. If I died would someone build my CRX to run 10s for me (serious question) ?


CRX FO LYFE !!

[JJSPEC Racing]

Such a touching story .. If I died would someone build my CRX to run 10s for me (serious question) ?


CRX FO LYFE !!

If you die, will it to me and I will make it happen! I will even have a sticker of your face put on the hood. Just make sure that you leave behind a good pic of yourself. If you are cremated, you can even ride along in the ashtray if you wish.

[SPOOLIN]

Kevin, if you die, sorry im just going to make sure that CRX is your coffin.

[BTEC]

The best part of the story they left out. The car belonged to a friend of theirs that was going to college. One night on the way home he got caught in between a gang shootout and was killed , in the crx. The car was sold to someone and ed tracked it down an bought it back. They decided to build a drag car to honor their slain friend

hence "sap lives" on the front of the car

exactly. i was wondering if anybody knew that story. i still have the turbo mag with cloud 9 on it.

kenny tran, jojo callos, lisa kubo and ed were my favorite racers when i got into this shit. i used to like papadakas when he drag races but not when i read about his "stole the spotlight" story.

[KevinT707]

If you die, will it to me and I will make it happen! I will even have a sticker of your face put on the hood. Just make sure that you leave behind a good pic of yourself. If you are cremated, you can even ride along in the ashtray if you wish.

HAHA, sounds good though .. Guess I'll be in the ashtray then

Kevin, if you die, sorry im just going to make sure that CRX is your coffin.

No way dude, it's still a good rolling chassis. Must put it to good use!

[Professor X]

I remember this car! I wanted a set of Racing Harts so bad back then just like the ones this car had. What's amazing to me is how fast this car went with what it had. There were no progressive boost controllers, anti-lag, full-throttle shift computers, dogbox transmissions, super axles, etc. This car was in the pro class because everything else was that much slower, lol!

The pics show what looks like a South Florida Performance turbo manifold and the display claims 505 hp at 24 psi. Great job by guys clearly thinkig outside the box and greatly deserving of the honor!

[tnomud]

DOOD!!!!
Ed Bergenholtz was the fucking man when I first got into imports.
That CRX should definitely be in the museum. I always loved that car. I remember drooling all over that Turbo issue.

Awesome post!!!

id love to see adam saruwatari and abel ibarra in there too.

+1

Remember, this was back when running 9's and 10's took more than a 7% APY loan for an EVO, 10 minutes on the forums becoming "a DSM expert", and driving to NOPI for a boost controller.