The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is the second-oldest major motor racing event in North America. The inaugural race was held in 1916, and the annual happening now attracts tens-of-thousands of spectators. The winding 12.4-mile course features 156 serpentine turns and starts at an altitude of 9,390 feet. The “race to the clouds,” as it is known, ends at the summit of Colorado’s Pikes Peak at 14,110 feet.
The only cars to race up the mountain in 1916 where open-wheel jobs, as no other classes existed at the time. Ray Lentz won the Saturday main event posting a time of 20 minutes 55.6 seconds in the “Ramano Demon,” which was powered by a 402-cubic-inch airplane engine. Stock cars took to the mountain in 1927, but it would be another 26 years until sports cars hit the big hill.
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