Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Information
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the 5 a.m. echo of race engines from distant mountain cliffs. It is the sweet forest aroma at the starting line; it is the intense colors of bright racing machines dancing through a soft backcountry pallet.

The race is held on Pikes Peak, the 14,110-foot matron of the Rocky Mountains, a massive peak that rises abruptly from the Colorado plains. Visible from hundreds of miles away, it has attracted and inspired people for thousands of years. The peak is called America's Mountain and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is a part of its history and future.

The Hill Climb is a unique auto and motorcycle race that combines a tricky gravel course, the thin air two miles above sea level, cutting-edge technology, and gutsy drivers who reach for their dreams as they charge toward the sky. It is the second oldest motorsports event in the U.S. Only the Indianapolis 500 is older.

The race showcases the rumble of Ford and Chevrolet stock cars, the screaming engines of SAAB, Suzuki, Porsche and Mitsubishi sports cars. The competitors move around 90 mph with earth-shaking power in Class 8 diesel trucks. Other attractions include the mad start of the motorcycle race, when five riders at a time charge up the road like a mechanical posse in hot pursuit.

Race drivers have challenged the mountain since 1916, when a young man named Rea Lentz won the first race with a time of 20 minutes, 55.6 seconds. Since then the crafty driving of New Zealander Rod Millen has sliced that time in half and today owns the race's overall record of 10:04.06.

It is more than race founder Spencer Penrose could have imagined. He built the Pikes Peak Highway and created the first race as a way to promote its magical pathway to the clouds. He had no plans for the event to become one of the world's classic races.

The race is about people, some 160 drivers and riders, men and women, some who run to win, but most who seek personal challenge on a white-knuckle racecourse. It is some 500 volunteers, regular working people, whose time and energy fuel the event.

It is Japan's Nobuhiro Tajima, a superstar in his homeland, a giant but gentle person determined to permanently carve his name in granite as Pikes Peak's fastest driver. It is Sweden's Per Eklund, a 54-year-old rally driver who attacks the road as if he were 20. It is Monaco's Jean Pierre Richelmi, determined to win again.

It is the confidence of Bobby Unser who learned to race on Pikes and Peak, who with 13 victories is the Hill Climb's winningest driver, who knows he could run and win again.

It is the young guns, Clint Vahsholtz, undefeated in eight starts on Pikes Peak, Layne Schranz, Chandler Bruning, Jimmy Keeney and Tyler Casebier. It is motorcycle racers Davey Durelle and Brian Anderson, friendly rivals who pal around when they're not leaning into a hairpin corner.

It is the patience and persistence of the local drivers, Lynn Cowan, Gay Smith, Steve Goeglein and others, who look at the mountain in its January cloak of snow and dream of a summer day when they'll reach the summit in first place.

It is a dangerous sprint of 12.4 miles, a test of intelligence and awareness. It is straight-aways at 130 mph plus, 156 gravel turns where comet tails of granite dust rise and fall to earth. It is cliffs of 2,000 feet with no guardrails.

It is the dedication of the late Nick Sanborn and Bill Daniels. It is the race's oldtimers, who reunite each year on the mountain to relive their colorful past and laugh aloud. It is the courage of the late Ralph Bruning an eight-time winner in the stock car race, whose battle with terminal cancer taught so many how to live.

It is a family event, where race fans of all ages can enjoy a day on the mountain and marvel the competition. It is a defining event for Colorado Springs. It is enjoyed and supported the world over by an international audience. It is televised in 56 countries by ESPN2.