Many racers applied, but only 70 were chosen to tackle one of the most daunting challenges in motorsports: defeating 14,115-foot-high Pikes Peak.
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The 70 teams are coming from 11 countries and 18 states for Sunday's 101st running of the “Race to the Clouds,” America’s second-oldest race, which began five years after the venerable Indianapolis 500.
“The number of applications was impressive, and narrowing the field was not an easy job for our selection committee,” admitted Melissa Eickhoff, Executive Director of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, as it is officially known.
This year, four Kings of the Mountain will be back looking for another overall winner’s crown. They include three-time winner Paul Dallenbach and two-time winner Rhys Millen. They also include Clint Vahsholtz, the 2020 King of the Mountain who is legendary for his mastery of Pikes Peak in a wide range of class wins, and Robin Shute, a three-time winner and defending champion. The field has 19 rookies, with drivers ranging in age from 18 to 68.
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Technically, the drivers and teams will all be racing against each other in six categories in a wide range of vehicles, from experimental designs to race-prepped production models from several manufacturers, and a single class for Porsche.
But each driver is actually facing the same opponent: The Mountain. Racers don’t talk about beating each other. Conversations are always about The Mountain, as though it has its own personality or that it can exert its will on drivers along the 12.42-mile course.
“The main thing is to respect The Mountain,” contended Jeff Zwart, an eight-time champion in the Porsche class, during a recent motorsports trade show.
After 20 years of chasing up The Mountain, Zwart has turned to coaching other drivers, including fourth-generation racer Lori Unser, whose legendary family has claimed 26 class wins and an overall championship at Pikes Peak.
“You have to learn the characteristics of every one of the 156 corners as best you can,” said Unser.
And how do you do that?
“You have to break it down into small sections,” she said. “It’s an ever-changing process because you only run the entire mountain on race day.”
The learning experience is both a physical and a mental challenge, contended defending champion Shute.
“Just learning 156 corners in your mind takes time,” he said. “But you also have to get familiar with the altitude and how the thin air affects your body and your reaction times.”
In a race that has 4,700 feet of elevation change from start to finish, 156 turns of varying shapes, and weather conditions that change day by day and hour by hour, Shute said it’s realistic to expect to have a car that may run one segment better than some of the others and that accepting that compromise is the key to winning the overall title.
‘Ultimately, we’re not racing each other,” said Unser. ‘It’s you against The Mountain.”
Preparing for that epic fight is similar to preparing for the Olympics,” contended Shute. “We prepare all year for this one race.”
The Pikes Peak Hillclimb is, at its core, a contest between man and nature. But this year’s race includes some elements designed to improve the natural environment rather than defeat it.
Shute and some other racers will compete on specially produced tires from Yokohama that are manufactured with naturally sustainable compounds — palm nut oil and orange peels, as well as recycled iron and rubber recycled from waste tires — that make up about one-third of each tire’s content.
Several electric vehicles will also challenge The Mountain, including a 2022 Rivian R1T driven by Gardner Nichols, a 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid with Randy Pobst behind the wheel, and a 2021 Nissan Leaf piloted by Japan’s Takashi Oi.
Vasser-Sullivan leads IMSA GTD Pro to Watkins Glen
As the IMSA sports car season hits the halfway mark with this weekend’s six-hour endurance race at Watkins Glen, Vasser-Sullivan Racing, co-owned by Napa auto dealer Jimmy Vasser, is looking to continue a hot streak that has put the team in the top spot in the GTD Pro Daytona class.
With a second-place finish at WeatherTech Laguna Seca in May, drivers Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat stretched their streak of podium finishes to eight, dating back to the middle of the 2022 season. With one win, two seconds and a third to kick off 2023, they are leading the standings by 41 points heading to Watkins Glen.
IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, featuring hybrid-electrified powertrains paired with internal combustion engines, will make its first appearance in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen after racing last week in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nine GTP entries are on the entry list for The Glen representing the four participating manufacturers: Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche. Three of the four manufacturers – Acura, Cadillac and Porsche – have already won races, and a different team has won each of the season’s four GTP races so far.
Josh Berry to replace Kevin Harvick in NASCAR Cup
Stewart-Haas Racing announced this week that Josh Berry will take over next year for Kevin Harvick, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who is retiring at the end of the season.
The 32-year-old Berry, who currently races in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, will be paired with crew chief Rodney Childers, who has won 37 races with Harvick since the 2014 season. Berry has won five times in the Xfinity Series racing for Dale Earnhardt, Jr, since 2021, after winning the 2020 NASCAR Weekly Series National Championship, also with JR Motorsports.
In addition to driving in the Xfinity series, Berry has been a substitute driver for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup series this season, filling in for Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman who missed races due to injuries they received in accidents away from the track. In eight races, Berry scored three top-10s finishes, including a runner-up finish at Richmond in April.
Corvette Tagged As Featured Marque of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
The Chevrolet Corvette, arguably the first domestic sports car in the U.S., will celebrate its 70th anniversary as the featured marque during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion this August at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The first Corvette prototype was revealed at the Waldorf Astoria General Motors Motorama on Jan. 14, 1953, and became one of the few concept cars to translate into a production model. Corvette racing history began in 1956, directed by a Chevrolet engineer, later coined the “Father of the Corvette,” Zora Arkus-Duntov. Corvette captured the 1956 Sports Car Club of America’s C-Production national championship with Dr. Dick Thompson “the racing dentist” behind the wheel. That early success attracted hundreds of drivers who went on to compete and win, such as Bob Bondurant, Dick Guldstrand, John Fitch, John Greenwood, Alan Barker, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Oliver Gavin among the many who took victories with the iconic brand at racetracks around the world, including the most recent 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We are excited to be sharing the legacy, history and heritage of Corvette at this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,” said John Narigi, president and general manager of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. “Kids across many generations have dreamt of owning or riding in a Corvette in their lifetime. We welcome Corvette’s return with their enthusiasm to Monterey and sharing their history, along with Corvette’s future.”
Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance Adds Classic Sports Cars
The Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance, set for this Sunday at the Crystal Springs Golf Course in Burlingame, has added sports cars to its event with the inaugural “Concours de Sport” best of show trophy honoring overall excellence for sports cars, along with the traditional Concours d’Elegance best of show.
“Given the profound impact that sports cars have had on the automotive landscape and within the collector car world, now is an ideal time to expand upon their recognition at our event,” said Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance Chairman Glen Egan. “We will celebrate our passion for sports cars with special displays from the most iconic domestic and import brands.”
Among the cars competing for sports car honors will be a rare 1966 Ford GT MK1 that served as the pace car for the 1967 Can-Am race at Laguna Seca that has been driven by former world driving champion Stirling Moss and actor James Garner. Following a three-year restoration by Bruce Canepa, it was unveiled at Pebble Beach in 2021.
Special displays for the 2023 Concours will include Vintage Hot Rods, MG Sports Cars through 1973, Modified European Sports Cars through 1987 and Jaguar Sports Cars through the Years.
The Concours will also feature more than 20 judged classes of “Automobiles of Distinction,” including American Pre- and Post-War, CCCA Approved Classics, American Muscle Cars, American Sporting Cars Through 1987, Vintage Motorcycles, two Ferrari classes, two imported sports car classes, Japanese cars, a preservation class, two Rolls-Royce and Bentley classes, imported passenger and touring cars, vintage race cars and arcane and rare cars.