RealTime Racing was founded in 1987 by Peter Cunningham and is headquartered in Saukville, just north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At its inception, the team campaigned a variety of Honda Civic automobiles in the International Ice Racing Association, leading to IIRA titles for Cunningham in 1987, 1989 and 1990.
RTR then refocused its energies on SCCA PRO Rally in 1992 and 1993. Fielding an Acura Integra GS-R, Cunningham won the Production Category National Championship and the prestigious Woodner Cup in 1993.
RTR first entered the SCCA-sanctioned World Challenge Championships in 1993 with a Honda Prelude Si in the Touring Car Category (at the time known as Class C, then renamed Super Production in 1994 and Touring 2 in 1996, finally becoming Touring Car in 1999). The team finished second in the Drivers’ Championship in 1993 and 1994 with Cunningham, before winning back-to-back championships in 1995 and 1996 with Cunningham and Michael Galati, respectively. The team’s success propelled Honda to four-straight Manufacturers’ Championships from 1993 – 1996.
In 1997, the team’s World Challenge Touring Car program transitioned to the Acura Integra Type R. RealTime drivers won championships with this model in 1997 (Pierre Kleinubing), 1998 (Galati), 2000 (Kleinubing), 2001 (Kleinubing) and 2002 (Cunningham). The strength of RealTime’s Integra program gave Acura its first four World Challenge Manufacturers’ Championships: 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002.
The Integra Type R would go down as the most successful car model in the history of the World Challenge Touring Car category, scoring more wins, poles and championships than any other model before or since. Kleinubing‘s winningest example of RealTime’s Integra Type R resides in the American Honda museum.
In the midst of the Acura Integra Type R’s success, RTR added a World Challenge GT (then called Touring 1) program to its stable, campaigning a normally-aspirated Acura NSX. The car won eight races between the 1996 – 1998 World Challenge seasons and Cunningham won the GT Drivers’ Championship in 1997 with the car.
In 2000, to compliment Cunningham’s efforts with the BMW factory team in the American Le Mans Series, RTR expanded its World Challenge lineup to include a BMW M3 in the GT Championship. The team scored five front-row starting positions and four podium finishes, including a race win at St. Croix, all with Cunningham at the wheel.
The team upgraded the Acura NSX to a supercharged model for the World Challenge GT category from 2001 – 2002. The team earned six wins with this car and finished second in the 2001 and 2002 Drivers’ Championships with Cunningham. The RealTime Acura NSX is also on display in the Honda Museum.
In 2003, RealTime began its campaign of the Acura RSX in Touring Car. The team won three races with the RSX in the model’s debut season and finished second in the Drivers’ Championship with Kleinubing. The race debut of the Acura TSX came in 2004, but as the team worked to develop the TSX, the RSX continued to play a significant role in the World Challenge Touring Car Championship through 2008.
The first generation TSX would go on to score championships for Cunningham in 2005 and 2008, and for Kleinubing in 2006. The second generation TSX made its debut in 2009 and netted another Drivers’ Championship for Kleinubing. The TSX maintained Acura and RealTime’s legacy of success in World Challenge, scoring Manufacturers’ Championships in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
RTR moved to the new GTS category in 2010 with Cunningham and Nick Esayian each taking home race victories that year. The team briefly and successfully added a Honda Civic Si to their stable at the Grand Prix of Toronto where driver Nick Wittmer won the Touring Car race. RealTime took home both the Drivers’ Championship and the Manufacturers’ Championship for Acura in 2010, but as the competition intensified and the category grew, the decision was made to upgrade the TSX to a V6 platform in 2012. The V6-powered TSX steered the team to another Drivers’ Championship for Cunningham and Acura’s record-extending 10th Manufacturers’ Championship.
In 2014, RealTime returned to the GT class with the Acura TLX-GT. The car made a mid-season debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Cunningham behind the wheel. A two-car TLX-GT program was launched in 2015 and newcomer Ryan Eversley paired with Cunningham. Eversley scored the first race victory for the TLX-GT at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The 2016 season was the last for the TLX-GT. Eversley scored a pair of wins at Road America, including a one-two finish with Cunningham, who then immediately made the decision to cease his professional road racing career.
For 2017, RealTime brought the all-new Acura NSX GT3 to the GT category with drivers Ryan Eversley and Peter Kox. In addition to the usual sprint races, RealTime took part in the GT SprintX Championship, which requires two drivers and a pit stop, for these events, Tom Dyer and Mark Wilkins were brought in as co-drivers. It was the Kox/Wilkins combination that scored the first PWC win for the NSX at Utah Motorsports Campus.
For the 2018 PWC season, RealTime returned to its Touring Car roots, campaigning a pair of Honda Civic Type R TCR entries in the new TCR category. Eversley secured five race victories on the way to his first professional title and RealTime’s 15th World Challenge Drivers’ Championship.
In 2019 RealTime fielded one Acura NSX GT3 Evo for drivers Dane Cameron and Bret Curtis, taking home a win at the first weekend. Curtis was then forced to step aside due to his inability to properly fit in the cockpit. Mike Hedlund was his capable replacement, and Cameron and he went on to secure six more victories, winning the Team Championship.
After retiring from full-time professional racing Cunningham took on a new challenge, taking a RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GT to the prestigious Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. In 2017 Cunningham finished second overall, won rookie of the year honors and set a new Open Class record. The team returned to America’s Mountain in 2018 and 2019 where Cunningham took home two more first place trophies and set another Open Class record each year. His nine-minute 24.433-second record for the Open Class has yet to be beaten through 2022.
In 2022 RTR fielded an Acura NSX GT3 Evo in the SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge America Championship. Drivers Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper secured one podium and five top-five finishes in the 13-race series.
Since 1993 RealTime Racing has earned a record 101 race victories on 28 different tracks in World Challenge competition. Those victories are shared over three categories (GT, GTS and Touring Car) in 12 various car models, with 17 different drivers.