Ask anyone in the industry what they think about Wicked Racing, and you'll probably get that shrug common in responses to the obvious. That followed by the obvious: that they are the most elite Honda team in California, if not the entire country. So, why did Ed Bergenholtz hesitate before joining them back in 1996?
"When I first built the car, I had friends in Wicked, but I didn't enter myself just for the fact that there's a lot of politics behind it," Ed tells me. "Like you're from this crew or you're from that crew. I heard these guys were talking trash. I guess you could say that I wanted my own persona."
But after all the work his Wicked friends put into his car, he got to see another side of the crew. A more encouraging side, the side that few on the outside ever see: the loyalty and the friendship among the members. "The thing that's very, very unique about Wicked is that you'll have a lot of people that will sweat and work day and night to help their friends out," he says. "And when they helped me out on the car, I kind of saw what it was really about. So, that's how the Wicked sticker got on my car."
Ed's early fear of being lost in the shuffle of famous names is understandable. Just imagine the difficulty of standing out from a crowd consisting of Charles Madrid, Viet Lam, Jo Jo Callos, and even Ed's own brother, Ron Bergenholtz. But within the past year or so, Ed has excelled in what Wicked crew members do the best: rising from the crowd. With a quarter-mile best of 10.621 at 140.09 at Pomona, he has established his name as an equal among those he once was fearful being outshined by.
What distinguishes his '89 CRX from the other 10-second demons is its sleek and refined looks. Peel off the stickers and it would nearly blend in with most other CRXs out on the street (granted you turn a blind eye to the A'pex Skyline GT-R intercooler core). Open the hood, and you'll find an engine bay worthy of First at any import competition. "Ed's car is definitely for gazing," says Koz of the Performance Factory NYC. "With a lot of these [racers] now-they leave the doors at home, take the hatch off, and have a nose made out of duct tape. But Ed keeps it real. His car's got glass. It's got a dash. And it still kicks a ton of ass."
Though the race car's wholly stock chassis (that's right, nothing other than InTrax 21-way adjustable shocks and Dual Stage springs) and full interior raises eyebrows, it is the turbocharged B18C motor that makes eyes pop right out of their sockets. It did mine, at least. (OK, no, not really, but my contact fell out.) Not only is it breathtaking in design and beauty and maintenance, it is virtually an unparalleled example of immaculate assembly in its every detail. Bluntly put, the motor just doesn't break. And that has a lot to do with the architecture of the block. Crower rods, JE pistons, and machine work by Benson's bolster the bottom while the head is ported, polished, and matched. Stainless steel valves and Competition Springs titanium valve springs were swapped in for weight and rigidity, and a wide array of bolt-ons add further strength and power: an STR Air Maxx Pro Draag turbo intake manifold, a Hot Shot turbo manifold, an MSD 7AL ignition, NGK plugs, and Moroso wires.
Then there's the custom Fastrax turbo kit. The heart of the turbo is a giant TO4E blower. To keep up with the turbo, Ed installed the A'pex Skyline GT-R intercooler core, an HKS wastegate, dual A'pex twin chamber blow-off valves, and an ACCEL DFI. Additional power comes from an 80-shot direct port NOS nitrous kit, but without it, the CRX (at 22 psi of boost) pulls an estimated 600 hp at 7,500 rpm.