Underdogs Topple Porsche at a Magical Pikes Peak
An interview with the person who knows the iconic Pikes Peak hillclimb inside and out. Plus, the best way to find car books — and help us — at the same time.
A weekly newsletter by Ryan K. ZumMallen | @zoomy575m
Happy Race Day, especially to our friend Derek Powell, who wouldn’t ask for money to repair the transmission in his epic Audi wagon so his friends did it for him.
This week, I’ve been putting in a lot of work to keep book sales alive and well. And the first fruit of that labor is something I’m really excited to share:
A new and improved website! Carrara Media now has a full redesign, including updated information, press coverage and a full archive of past newsletters. Plus, it looks way snazzier. Ooh. Ahh.
The website, of course, is the best place to order your copy of our 2019 book Slow Car Fast, which has sold hundreds of copies and been featured in Autoweek, Automobile, Forbes and many other publications since its release.
There are plenty of new paperbacks in stock, so grab one for yourself (and another for your homies) today!
The second exciting development is our new store on Bookshop.org, where we’ve curated a list of the best automotive nonfiction out there today:
These aren’t our titles, but many are from our friends like Ed Niedermeyer, Basem Wasef and Neal Bascomb. There’s history, business reporting, coffee table books and even memoirs available.
Purchasing from our shelf helps us and the authors. A portion of each sale goes to independent bookstores that are hurting, too. Looking for a good read? Browse around and grab yourself something nice.
This newsletter is a passion project — the bulk of our work is producing and selling books. So if you’re able, purchasing a copy of Slow Car Fast or the titles in our new shop is much appreciated. We truly hope you enjoy the ride.
Culture
One of the main themes in Slow Car Fast is how huge horsepower has become more affordable, for better or worse. At the same time, cheap cars have almost disappeared. Journalist Jared Rosenholtz pointed that out in a creative way.
Take a moment to appreciate this brilliant Honda Civic Type R advertisement.
I absolutely love that the most hated car in history has such a cult following that a 2020 poll essentially comes to a perfect 50-50.
Did you ever notice that the lightweight Caterham 7 sports car shares a color scheme with John Deere tractors? Someone did:
Now that the Cannonball Run across the country has essentially played itself out, it’s time to re-imagine the road rally. Enter… the Kei car Keinnonball Run?
Let’s remember the time that Chrysler hired Celine Dion to write a song and it turned out great for her and terrible for them.
Love to see this. Our good friends and fellow journalists Alice Chase and Nicole Wakelin will field an Infiniti QX80 in the notoriously grueling all-women’s Rebelle Rally. Go get em ladies!
Video Reel
As if 2020 wasn’t strange enough, a tire came loose and slammed into the porch of a home at about 40 mph — ringing the doorbell in the process. Seriously.
Nissan is teasing the newest version of its famous Z. This is a big deal, not because they’re that great off the lot, but they always age into affordable machines with a passionate aftermarket following. This should be more of the same.
Speaking of Z cars, Donut is building two identical 350Zs — one with dirt cheap parts and the other with top-line parts. Cool look into the aftermarket and the hosts are hilarious.
Race Results
This weekend marked the 98th running of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, which runs 14,000 feet up the side of a Colorado mountain. More on the race below, but here’s an interview with Jeff Zwart (featured in Slow Car Fast) that includes his run as well.
Another F1 win for Lewis Hamilton, but there’s always plenty of action at the legendary Belgian Grand Prix and its Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. High-octane highlights here.
Ferrari had a dismal weekend and its fans were ruthless after the fact.
We’ve touched on this before, but a reminder that F1 veteran Kimi Raikkonen shares a clothing line with very worrying undertones with disgraced customizer Jesse James.
Virgin Australia Supercars is one of the only pro series that still uses a standard clutch pedal (because Australia) and videos like these that show the insane footwork involved are just magnificent.
Ask A Millennial! Mitch Snow, 29
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Mitch lives and breathes the Pikes Peak hill climb. He grew up nearby, has an impressive attendance streak and is the former Director of Promotion & Legacy for the event. He knows everybody, plus all the good spots, plus all the tips to avoid altitude sickness. Important stuff! Here’s an edited version of our conversation:
This year the most visual difference was the inability to welcome spectators for the first time in the race's history. This race is nothing without its fans and it felt eerie seeing competitors race up an empty mountain. In all honesty, it should rank pretty low on the list of the world's best spectator sports: they have to wake up before 4:00 am just to make it up the mountain; experience all four seasons in the span of one day with rain, snow, ice and sunburns; and the majority end up at Devil's Playground, at 12,780 feet, where the air's so thin a leisurely walk will leave you out of breath. Despite this, thousands make the trek each year. I hope things are able to return to something that resembles the world before mid-March, but whenever the race is able to welcome spectators again, I plan on standing alongside the highway giving out high-fives and sharing appreciation for the greatest fans in the world — until there's none left to thank.
Like most motorsports, Pikes Peak has a somewhat-older fanbase but that's quickly changing. The race is more accessible now thanks to small, high-quality cameras and social platforms that thrive on short, easy to digest media. With Pikes Peak's setting it’s nearly impossible to take a race photo that isn't breathtaking. Combine that with the majority of full race runs completed in under 12 minutes, the PPIHC has all the right ingredients to attract young, content-obsessed audiences.
I absolutely LOVE that smaller teams beat the factory teams this year. Nuances like this are why I believe it’s the greatest race in the world. Hometown hero Clint Vahsholtz claims the first overall victory from a car competing in the Open Wheel Class since 2006 in a former stock car fit for the set of Mad Max. And he did so in the first carbureted vehicle to win the overall in over 40 years (likely even 50+)! And then you learn his father Leonard is willing to sell the car to anyone for $60,000 — a car that beat the finest in German engineering (two $500,000 Porsche GT2 RS and a million-dollar-plus Porsche 935). That's classic Pikes Peak. Nowhere else will you find manufacturer prototypes racing against local legends in homebuilt contenders. Pikes Peak is the pinnacle of grassroots motorsports and one of the few remaining "run what you brung" races in the world.
The race is such a special place to me. I've attended every year since I was three and my family has been involved for over 55 years. It's where I fell in love with motorsports, the automobile, technology and nature. It's where I grew up, discovered and met my childhood heroes and ended up being able to work alongside them. It’s where I’ve met some of my best friends that are like a second family. It's where I've experienced two of the darkest days of my life, and while I never want to feel the pain from them again I'm thankful they happened because happiness is a comparative emotion — without a benchmark for sadness there's no happiness and I've been fortunate to have experienced far more days at the peak of my happiness on that mountain. As a kid, Pikes Peak was all I ever knew. I didn't even really realize the majority of people weren't into cars and motorsports until I went off to college. And I didn’t really realize how much I love and care about the race until I took a step back from it and moved away to California. To put it simply, it's home.
Auction Block
Where to begin with this mid-engined, rear-wheel drive, 6-speed 1984 Honda Civic with a wide body kit? It’s up to $32,000 with three days left in the bidding.
This Weekend
WRC is back! The most exciting motorsport in the world, for my money, finally returns from hiatus with Rally Estonia. I suggest following their YouTube page which is truly a gem.
A raw and emotional message from the founders of Formula Drift about the future of the series, which returns this Friday!
And Finally…
I’m not crying you’re crying:
Drive hard and be safe. Black Lives Matter.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.
Don’t forget to follow Carrara Media on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and visit our store to order your copy of Slow Car Fast in paperback or eBook.