2016 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Hot Rod to contest 2016 Pikes Peak Hill Climb in a Viper ACR

This is the primary event I will be contesting in 2016. Lot's of planning and prep to still be completed, but it's nice to finally get the official announcement released.

Good luck, have fun. Watch out for goats.

someday I'll own one...someday

Will you be in the Viper or the Dart?

Congrats Kevin and good luck. What an opportunity.

Viper, the Dart is hold until this event is completed.

I will have some test days in MI with the Viper, so I might get the Dart out, but time is not on my side at the moment.

Very cool that they are putting a cage in the Viper! That thing is so awesome!
Good luck and be safe up there!

Time attack, huh. Tough class. Lots of factory money spent in that class by your competitors.

Good Luck!

Can you be my mentor so that one day I can drive just like you?

If nothing happens with the engine program it will run TA2, where it is currently entered. If the engine program pans out, we'll switch to TA1 and throw some more modifications at it. Primarily weight, wheels and trans changes. Suspension and aero will remain the same regardless of the class we end up running.

Power is obviously the enemy of any NA motor at altitude, but there is no plan for a blower or turbos at this time.

Thrilled for you man! Go get em!

Great stuff! I'll be watching!

Congrats! Be safe and show em how its done!

Kevin - best of luck to you... you'll want to hook up with Jess Neal as he's run it many times before with his '71 Cuda.... Jess lives near there.

The time is rapidly approaching for the 100th running of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. At the century mark, Pikes Peak is second only to the Indy 500 as the oldest running race in the United States.

The weeks activities kicked off this weekend with time attack, half mile drag racing at the old COS airport. Tech inspections begin Monday with practice through the week. Fanfest is Friday night and races start at the butt crack of dawn on June 26th.

Looking though this years competitor list, it has a few familiar faces and some somewhat odd entries.

In unlimited electric, Rhys Millen and Monster Tajima are back. Local favorites Clint Vasholtz and the Wood family are running in the open wheel division.

Of interest to readers on here, Aaron Kaufman is back with his '63 Falcon, and David Meyer running a'96 S10, both in the open division. Also in open,Mike Ryan and his 2008 Freightliner.

The vintage division is thin again this year with only three entries - Chris Lennon and his '73 911, Ralph Murdock and his '70 Camaro, and 2012 Champion Jess Neal is back with his '71 Cuda.

Surprisingly, in the time attack classes, normally dominated by the factories, are some more older types of cars. In Time Attack 1, David Haski is bringing out a '83 Quattro, Tim Hardy is in an '87 BMW, Miko Katja of Finland is bringing his '79 Toyota Starlet, and William Kitchens is running an '84 Honda CRX.

Time Attack 2 is a bit thinner this year. Of course Kevin Wesley is running the 2016 Viper ACR Hot Rod Special. Stephanie Reeves also in a '16 Viper ACR, Kash Singh is in a '16 Mustang, Nick Robinson is in a '17 NSX, Furnio Nutahara is in a '15 Toyota GT86, and rounding out the class in the oldest vehicle is Jeff Denmeade in an '06 Evo.

The unlimited class brings a variety of vehicles from this century as well as drivers from all over the world including Paul Dallenbach, Romain Dumas, Richard Boake, Tony Quinn, and Rodney Tu.

Should be interesting to see the cars, drivers, times, and festivities around this years event.

Any feedback on how the race has changed now that the road is paved all the way up? For those who may not be aware, the top half of the road used to be gravel so guys would drift around the turns like WRC drivers. with no guard rails and extreme drop offs.

Changes are similar to the differences you see between a dirt or asphalt oval. High profile, long travel suspension with soft springs are transitioning to lower ride heights with a great emphasis on aero properties. I'd suspect we will see some future modifications to the rules in the aero aspects.

Speeds are also up and records will fall. Speeds are up significantly in some areas and the race promoters have chosen to create designated viewing areas for spectators. No longer is the mountain a free for all on race day and all spectators must be in these designated viewing areas.

Practice June 21, bottom section:

Kevin was running 4:24:7s pretty consistently. Best time of 4:24:48. This is about mid pack of all classes combined. Electrics are in the 3:45:xx range.
Jess Neal did not participate.


Practice June 22, top section:

Kevin's first run was a 3:01:xx. Subsequent runs dropped to 2:55:xx. First run jitters, no doubt as this is all above timberline. Fastest cars are 2:30:xx and less.
Jess Neal was turning 3:30:xx to 3:17:xx. fastest times in vintage.


Practice June 23, combined qualifying, bottom section:

Kevin qualified 15th overall and 1st in Time Attack 2 with a best time of 4:17:537. Not bad considering the range of drivers, vehicles, and experience.
Jess Neal qualified 52nd overall and 2nd in vintage with a 5:04:052. Missing the first days practice on the lower section hurt here.


Practice June 24, combined qualifying, mid section:

Kevin was 4th in TA2 qualifying today at 3:07:86. Top spot was 2:45:72. This is a technical section of the course where experience on the mountain really is a big advantage.
Jess was first in vintage with 3:01:50.

Race is in the books.

Overall win goes to Romain Dumas in the unlimited class at 8:51:445.

Kevin finished 23rd overall, and 2nd in class at 10:39.964. Class win was Nick Robertson in the 2017 Acura NXS at 10:28.820.

Jess Neal wins vintage class for his second championship, one on dirt before paving was complete and one on asphalt. 47th place overall . Winning time was 10:39.964.

Aaron Kaufman running the Gas Monkey Garage Falcon in Pikes Peak Open class finished 67th overall, 5th in class at 12:15.484.

18 cars failed to post times on race day. Among them was Ralph Murdock in his '70 Camaro.

More results can be found here if you want to browse them: http://ppihc.livetiming.net/ppihc/

Thanks for the report! Hopefully Kevin checks in and gives us his view on driving this event.

"Kevin finished...... 2nd in class at 10:39.964. Class win was Nick Robertson in the 2017 Acura NXS at 10:28.820."

That's close, over that circuit, right?

T/Anks for the race results info... CONGRATS TO KEVIN!

Pretty sure the NSX is twin turboed. Congrats Kevin, I'm betting you're didn't leave much if anything on the table.

Yea, that's pretty dang close and much closer a margin than should be reflected between a twin turbo car and a naturally aspirated car. No doubt Kevin's driving ability, the ACR's torque curve and aero package is what made it that close.

As a point of reference, the race starts at 9390' in elevation, rises 4720' in elevation to the 14,115 ft summit. Along the way is 12.56 miles of road and 156 turns. Naturally aspirated engines loose 30% of their power towards the top whereas a turbo engine will only loose 10-15% depending on tune parameters. The thin air also impacts drivers, so it isn't simply a mechanical function that altitude can impact. Hyperventilation, loss of strength, and errors in judgement can impact a driver unaccustomed to the altitude.

Yes, I hope Kevin can jump on here and provide his point of view of the events.

Sounds like they ran into over heating issues on raceday.

"The thin air also impacts drivers"

Never thought about, Last time I drove up the peak as a tourist, it was a chore to just walk from the car to the gift shop, and then I got a headache, guess all that Fla sea level living has its price. All the more remarkable for all those drivers.

Video is out now of the full run from outside the car. It's the full unedited pass and you can see the issues we were having on race day.

The course was very greasy and hot on the lower section before Glen Cove (halfway, you'll see me pass the Ranger Station). This was not something we experienced in testing and cost a significant amount of time and confidence.

The car began to overheat shortly after Glen Cove and cut power in an effort to save itself. I did my best to destroy it and soldiered on to the top running the last 4 minutes with water temps from 240-244. You can here the car finally drop a cylinder in Boulder Canyon (all the bumps) and we finished on 5 cylinders in limp mode.

Hot Rod Viper - Pikes Peak Full Race Day Run

I'll post up some more details over the next few days and answer questions.

You used her up! Man all I can say is the NSX lucked out.

Great job up there Kevin. Super impressive.

OTW question, do they run with outside mirrors on the Peak?

Bruce didn't use them on his Class 8 Kenworth! As I recall his run was on dirt (back when) and just a bit under 14 minutes. 2000hp. I know people who were on the development team for that rig.

Canepa has major cajones!!!

Couple items...

Time Attack 2 is the Production Class. Only modifications are safety, open exhaust and engine calibration. Everything else must be OEM as delivered. Mirrors have to stay on, just like the stock dash, body panels, etc... No, I couldn't run any aftermarket cooling items.

Hypoxia was not an issue since I ran O2 in the car and maitained at least a 95% saturation while sitting in the pits. I carried a monitor and a bottle pretty much everywhere.

The only times to use for comparison are the final qualifying results and race day results. The other practice sections have standing starts and you can't use that as much of a base. At 13,000 ft we launch horrible compared to an AWD turbo hybrid. Just can't compete there and I wanted to save the clutch. The mid section practice I ran one pass to satisfy my Rookie requirements and basically idled through the session.

We ran both tire test weekends before race week. We knew where we were at time wise and didn't push during any race week practice sessions. Our qualifying time set the unofficial TA2 record. I say unofficial because the santioning body doesn't keep track, but everyone else does. You'll see press releases about qualifying records when they are set.

Based on our tire test weekend times we were planning for a 10:10 pass on race day. With the problems we had, that pass should have been very attainable and I still feel the car could dip into the 9 minute range if everything came together as planned.

There is still plenty more in the car and the driver. It's not a race where you can make big jumps to find the limit, it has to be methodical to avoid mistakes, which are very costly.

I'm happy we were able to finish and everyone on the team did a fantastic job. It was a ton of work and effort, it's unfortunate we ran into an issue that we just had no way to economically test for in advance. We could have rented the mountain for full passes, but there just wasn't any budget for that type of test.

Just as a side note... this was not a factory backed effort like Acura. It was a mixture of my friends, some dedicated SRT guys and some support from VP and Kumho. I think it's pretty amazing that a group of guys, really just doing this for fun, were able to put so much pressure on a factory backed effort.

Well done

Yeah I read you had Dave K. assisting, that must've been cool.

I apologize for the lack of communication.

The vintage car class at PP has been gutted starting in 2013. This year was the 100th anniversary event and in my opinion the only participants should have been previous competitors/vehicles with a heavy emphasis on vintage cars and bikes. Kevin, no offense intended toward you.

We were very fortunate this year, we were the only vintage car to finish. The Porch (Porsche) overheated and the engine quit within site of the summit at Devil's Playground. The Camaro crashed when the driver accidentally hit both the brake and gas at the end of the third leg of the W and crashed hard. Thankfully, he was uninjured but his race car is a total.

Our goal was to beat our 2012 time of 12:03. In an effort to make the Cuda handle better we increased the front spring rate and decreased the rear rate. Thank you Dan Weishaar for the spring rate help! We re-installed the factory rear anti-sway bar and used Hoosier autocross radials, 275-17 front/295-17 rear. The car was great. I had new found confidence in the car and drove it much harder through the corners.

On race day we actually left the starting line twice. The course was red flagged as we came out of Gilley's heading up the hill to the Ski Parking Area. On my way back to the starting line I realized I had warm tires and an opportunity to "fix" two corners I didn't do correctly. I arrived at the starting line and the starter asked if I wanted 20 minutes to refuel and I replied, "NO, I WANT TO GO NOW" which I think surprised him so he told me to get the car turned around. The starting line area is a very narrow two lane so in an effort to keep the front tires clean I did a three point turn around and backed the car off the road knowing I would be able to clean the rear tires on the start.

After getting the second green flag I drove harder and "fixed" the two corners and came through Halfway Picnic grounds two mph faster than the first time at 104 mph. The rear suspension improvements dictated a wider line through the switchbacks in the W because the inside rear tire would come off the pavement. I saw the Porch parked at Devil's Playground as I came by and the thought flashed through my head that we had a chance to win.

Thankfully, I arrived on the summit and felt we should have a sub 12 minute lap, maybe in the 11:45 range. The number on the door of the car is the amount of time we were better than 2012, 42 seconds @ 11:21.

Below is a link to our raw dash cam video. We had 6 cameras mounted on the car which is going to take a while for our videographer to compile and I will provide a link to that once it is completed.

Kevin Wesley, it was great to meet up with you once again and I hope we get to race at a future event. I know a guy with a Duster lemons car that is a lot of fun.

#42 Cuda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=521yP6Ajgqo&feature=youtu.be

Great vid. Congrats on an awesome run.

Glad to have the mopars and their drivers back in one piece! And I'm glad the suggestions helped out! I'll have to find the time next year to come up there. It looks like I'm missing out on way too much fun.

If I participate next year it may have to be in a different class. Word is they have dropped the vintage cars. There also may be other classes that get dropped. The org needs feedback from spectators about which classes are the most popular.

That was impressive video , need to be much younger man then me to try that.

Curious, how many cars on the course at one time?
Does track temp change much from start to finish, I don't remember seeing that much snow on the mountain when I drove up.
The white blocks on shoulder of the course, can't make out what they are, are they for braking points, or what?
Nice not having any distracting flag men , unless I guess its a red flag.

>Curious, how many cars on the course at one time?

We started at a 2 or 3 minute interval, can't remember which. There could be 3-4 cars on course at any one time in different sections, but you aren't passing anyone at speed.

> Does track temp change much from start to finish, I don't remember seeing that much snow on the mountain when I drove up.

Yes, it can vary by 30-40+ degrees from top to base within the same run. When we came down it was ice and sleet at the summit. The base was still at almost 80 degrees I would say.

>The white blocks on shoulder of the course, can't make out what they are, are they for braking points, or what?

Anything on the side is something that racers, or spectators, put on the course. Stacked stones usually. Some people went up to put markers out, but they do not last until race day usually. There are no "official" braking markers.

Great to see you again as well. I'm always open to running Lemons or Chump, give me a call.

The Vintage class definitely got the shaft (again) this year and I don't understand why. Just switch classes and come back to have some fun next year. We are already planning a return.

I think the "blocks" you're asking about are hay bales that have been wrapped in a white plastic bag. The org started wrapping them after 2008 when Leonard Vahsholtz broke one at 16 mile and covered the course making for a slippery road.

2017 edition of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb is complete. Fog, hail, and wet roads forced the finish line to be moved lower down the mountain some, but previous records still manage to stay intact.

The Pikes Peak Open class, which contains the classic cars along with others that don't fit into other catagories, was won by Peter Cunningham in a 2017 Acura TLX, placing 2nd overall. Second in class was Chris Lennon in a '73 Porsche 911 RSR, placing 25 overall. Third in class and 34th overall went to RJ Gottlieb in his '69 Camaro. Some of you may be more familiar with him and the moniker "Big Red" as this is probably one of, if not the first, pro touring build that has steadily been refined over the years.

Absent this year was Jess and the #42 Cuda and the Hot Rod Magazine Special Viper ACR in the Time Attack 2 class.

Whats interesting to see with the asphalt now is that the unlimited cars no longer are the dominate class with lowest times on the mountain. The top 5 spots were, Unlimited, PP Open, Open Wheel, Time Attack 1, and Motorcycle.

So no mopars this year? I see some of the bikes are hauling...I just tried a Super Duke and it's scary on flat ground never mind a mountain road.

Nope, no Mopars at all in any capacity.

Although there were six different motorcycle/ATV classes this year to match the six different automotive classes.

I had a Pikes entry for Fiat and the car ended up getting pulled by Marketing, which sucked.

We did end up at Mt Washington where I finished 1st in class, set the class record and ended up 6th overall.

Here's some in car action...

Fiat 124 Abarth Rally Record Run

Nice! What was that like to drive?

It's a great car. Only the body panels are stock Fiat, engine is out of an Alfa 4c, $20k sequential SADEV gearbox, SADEV rear diff, 5 way adjustable dampers and completely custom front and rear subframe.

The car makes about 340 hp unrestricted and weighs 2,300 lbs with fuel.

Wow!!!! Congrats Kevin!!! Minutes 4-5-6 exhilarating!!!

So Kevin was back again this year in a 2018 Challenger running in Time Attack 1. He finished 11th in class and 46th overall at 11:38.6

Hail and visibility stopped the race at 3pm this year.

New mountain record was set by Romain Dumas at 7:57.1 in the VW ID R electric racer, beating the old record by 16 seconds.
Other class winners:
Peter Cunningham, Pikes Peak Open, 3rd overall 9:27.4
Paul Dallenbach, Open Wheel, 5th overall 9:37.1
David Donohue, Time Attack, 6th overall 9:37.2
Ray Evernham, PPC-Exhibiton, 18th overall 10:11.3
Travis Pastrana, Porsche Caymen GT4, Clubsport 10:33.9

I'll let Kevin tell the story, but he had a transmission issue that required a restart in the middle of the run and coming out of corners in 6th gear...

Met some of the VW folks at the last SOLO II race at PPIR. They were checking out their car there. They came by and checked some of the cars that were running. I haven't gone to the hill climb since they paved it. No that is not the reason that I haven't gone.