Peter Cunningham

Peter "P.D." Cunningham (born July 1, 1962) is an American race car driver and owner of RealTime R&L, Inc., based in Saukville, Wisconsin and currently competing in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship.

His name and his team, RealTime Racing, have become synonymous with the Honda and Acura brands.

As a recent high school graduate in June 1980, Cunningham happened upon an autocross, a driving contest held in a parking lot around a pylon-defined course against the clock.

After winning his class on that first day, he became enamored and engulfed in the sport.

Over the next several years, he won numerous regional and national titles in SCCA Solo II competition.

Cunningham's driving talent then evolved into road racing where he raced a number of Showroom Stock cars from 1982-1984.

Attempting to balance college classes with his desired career path wasn't working for him, and despite the disappointment of his family, he quit school to chase his dream.

In 1984, he won the June Sprints and a handful of other races on his way to winning the SCCA CEN-DIV SSC Championship in a SAAB 99 GLi.

In 1985, Cunningham joined the professional ranks of the sport, competing in the inaugural SCCA/Escort Endurance Championship piloting an SSA Toyota Supra for MPS Motorsports.

The following year he and the team entered the championship with an SSGT Nissan 300ZX Turbo before stepping up to the top class in a SS-category Chevrolet Corvette in 1987.

In January 1987, Cunningham competed in a Honda for the first time, driving a first generation CRX Si in the PRO Ice Endurance Championship with an effort that would soon become RealTime Racing.

In 1988, MPS entered the SCCA Corvette Challenge, earning Cunningham eight top-10 finishes, including a podium at his home race at Road America.

He became a force to be reckoned with in 1988 after switching to a Honda CRX Si and partnering with co-driver Lance Stewart for John Torok's Team GRR.

Cunningham earned five race wins and finished outside the top-two only once that season.

He followed it up with six consecutive race wins in 1989 once again behind the wheel of a Honda CRX Si, this time driving with Scott Gaylord.

This successful venture continued in 1989 with a second generation CRX Si and a modified 4WD Civic Wagon in a pair of International Ice Racing Association series.

In 1990, he gave trucks a try, entering the SCCA Truck Guard/Shellzone Challenge.

RealTime returned in 1990 with a Civic Si for the GT Endurance category and a turbocharged 4WD Civic Wagon for the Modified 4x4 class.

Cunningham first entered SCCA Pro Racing's World Challenge Championships in 1990, driving a Honda CRX Si for American Honda in the Super Production category.

He finished runner-up in the championship with two race wins and six podium finishes.

Cunningham very briefly switched to a BMW M3 and Nissan Sentra SE-R in 1991 and 1992 before rejoining World Challenge with his own team, RealTime Racing, in 1993.

In the team's debut season, campaigning a Honda Prelude, Cunningham finished runner-up in the C Class Championship by a slim three points in a season where he captured three wins and only once finished off the podium.

His love of non-asphalt category motorsports continued in 1992–1993 with two seasons of SCCA ProRally competition.

There, Cunningham collected six race wins in an Acura Integra GSR.

He was three points shy again in 1994 when he finished runner-up in the Super Production Category, collecting two race wins in a Honda Prelude Si.

Cunningham finally claimed his first World Challenge Championship in 1995, when he only finished off the podium once in his Honda Prelude Si.

In 1996, Cunningham took on the challenge of the Acura NSX, built by RealTime for competition in the Touring 1 Category.

He ended the season by scoring back-to-back race wins, the first for the NSX in World Challenge, and finished fifth in the points.

The 1997 Touring 1 season bore more fruit, as Cunningham collected four race wins en route to his second World Challenge Championship.

The following year (1998) Cunningham finished third in the Touring 1 Championship with two race wins.

After taking the 1999 World Challenge season off to race in the American Le Mans Series, Cunningham returned to World Challenge in 2000 to race a BMW M3 in the GT Class.

He scored one race win and ended the year seventh in points.

Driving a Mazda B2000 for Team GRR, he finished on the podium six times, including a win at Laguna Seca.

Cunningham returned to the Acura NSX in 2001, driving a supercharged version in the GT category.

He scored five race wins on the way to a runner-up finish in the points.

The results were similar in 2002, as Cunningham finished runner-up in the GT Championship again with one race win.

In 2002, Cunningham transitioned back to the Touring Car category behind the wheel of an Acura Integra R. In his first season back in the Touring Car ranks since 1998, Cunningham took the Championship with one win, edging his RealTime teammate Pierre Kleinubing for the title.

From 2003 to 2004, Cunningham was tasked with operating Nissan's factory Touring Car program, putting him behind the wheel of a Nissan SE-R Spec V. Cunningham's Team RTR effort collected two race victories in the Nissan, finishing fourth in points in 2003 and fifth in 2004.

Through 2013, he has claimed 91 professional race wins across 12 different North American road racing series and holds numerous World Challenge records.

Cunningham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.