For drivers in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the second-oldest motorsports race in America, there are more primal goals than driving fast. Surviving might be the most important.
It takes a certain breed to avoid thousand-foot cliff drops and to race around hairpin turns to the summit of a 14,000-foot mountain. Maybe that’s why so many familiar names return each year to the famed race. Al, Bobby and Robby Unser. Leonard and Clint Vahsholtz. Rod and Rhys Millen. Maybe their DNA is wired for the “Race to the Clouds.”
And there will be plenty of feats to surpass Sunday when the 87th running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb starts near Colorado Springs.
Among them, beyond merely living long enough to see the summit, drivers in the time-trial format will be seeking division championships and records and a chance to break the 10-minute barrier that has eluded racers for nearly nine decades.
For veteran driver Rhys Millen, that 10-minute mark is a birthright.
Millen’s father, Rod Millen, held the overall fastest time at Pikes Peak for 13 years before Nobuhiro Tajima broke the record in 2008. Tajima navigated the 12.42-mile course in 10 minutes, 1.408 seconds.
“It’s something I’d love to do, for myself and for the Millen name,” Rhys Millen said after a practice run Thursday. “In many respects, I’ve put my father on that pedestal as someone to aim to be as fast as. I think we all do that in whatever we choose to do, set a goal like that.”
Millen owns the course record in the time attack division, a time of 12:31.610 that netted him a title last year. The time attack division, unlike Tajima’s unlimited division, features street-legal cars.
“Our goal is to try to better the time we set last year,” Millen said. “So far we’re feeling good.”
In practice runs this week driving a Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Millen shaved five seconds off his time-attack record time in an abbreviated run in the lower half of the course. He knocked off nearly eight seconds in a second run Thursday on the upper half.
It’s possible Millen could clock a quicker time than some of the Pikes Peak open division, which has less restrictions and usually races faster.
But ultimately, Millen said his goal is the 10-minute mark his father owned and lost.
“Mark my word, if the record isn’t broken this year, we’ll put a huge effort in next year,” he said. “I’ve built on paper, and in my mind, my dream car. Something I started four years ago.”
Other names to look for Sunday include Tajima, nicknamed “The Monster,” who is looking for a third consecutive title and a course record, this time in a Suzuki SX4. He went unopposed in the anything-goes class in 2008, but will have three rookies taking aim this year.
In open wheel, the second-fastest class and the oldest division, the field will be trying to top Robby Unser’s record of 10:05.85 set in 1994. The division includes two-time defending champ Paul Dallenbach of Basalt, who won last year in 11:00.94 and will look to hold off 10 other Colorado drivers.
Race to the Clouds
87th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
At Cascade, near Colorado Springs
When: Sunday, 9 a.m
Course: Asphalt and gravel, 12.42 miles through 156 turns
Elevation: From 9,390 feet to the summit at 14,110 feet
STAY ON THE COUCH
A golf-filled Sunday.
For golf fans — and we mean diehards — the great thing about the British Open is that you can watch an entire day’s coverage and still have time to play 18 holes.
That will be the case Sunday, when the final round of the venerable tournament plays out at the par-70 Turnberry in Scotland. TV coverage starts at 4 a.m. on TNT, then moves to KMGH-7 at 6 a.m. If the weather cooperates, a champion should be crowned by 11:30 a.m., leaving plenty of time to hit the local muni for 18.
For handicap purposes, Tiger Woods entered the Brit a 2-1 favorite to win his first since back-to-back Opens in 2005-06. Sergio Garcia had 15-1 odds. And two-time defending champ Padraig Harrington was 22-1.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Moonlight mission.
It’s certainly something to see, the sight of hundreds of cyclists slinking through the city late at night, headlights blinking and bells ringing.
That’s the scene each year for the Moonlight Classic, a 10-mile, noncompetitive late-night charity bike ride through Denver that runs Saturday.
The race starts and ends in front of the State Capitol building downtown, then follows a course through several neighborhoods, including LoDo and Cherry Creek. A family wave starts at 10:30 p.m., followed by a gonzo wave at 11:30 p.m. Riders are welcome to complete as many loops as possible within the time limits.
Also this year, the course will be closed to traffic, with drivers reduced to one or two lanes and cyclists given their own route.
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WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Time for tennis.
A busy weekend ahead in Colorado for tennis fans. The Safeway Foundation Men’s Open Tennis Tournament will play out through Sunday at the Colorado Athletic Club Inverness in Englewood — with a $25,000 purse up for grabs.
In Greenwood Village, the Colorado Youth Tennis Foundation will welcome two-time U.S. Open women’s champ Tracy Austin for a public appearance on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Austin, once the No. 1-ranked player in the world and the youngest to win the U.S. Open when she was 16 in 1979, will present awards and talk to fans. Tickets to the event at HW Home are $10, and benefit the CYTF to help teach tennis to kids.
Check for more information.
