“Pike’s Peak, at once nature’s wonder and terror, submitted to a Stutz Special assault on the recent occasion of its famous Labor Lay hill climb,” begins a month-late story from The Oregon Sunday Journal, complete with the holiday typo.
On Labor Day weekend of 1926, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb celebrated its tenth birthday. Technically, it was only the eighth running because the Great War forced the race into dormancy from 1917 to 1919; as the Associated Press put it, “the automobile manufacturers and drivers are engaged in war work. The races have been discontinued for the period of the war.”
On Father’s Day 100 years later, the PPIHC celebrated its 110th birthday. Of course, this was actually the 103rd edition because the AAA refused to sanction motorsports from 1942 to 1945 due to the Survival War (we will respect FDR’s preferences on this house; can you believe over a quarter of American poll-takers in 1942 thought the mouthful that was “War of World Freedom” was a good name?). After coming up just short of a repeat in 2025, Romain Dumas struck back hard to score his sixth overall victory while Loren Healy was the fastest Ultra4 USA driver in that category’s first run up the mountain since 2011.
If only we could’ve been there to witness it. Total Motorsport, the quasi-pavement partner of 131 Off-Road by way of our reporter being their NASCAR beat, was offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Colorado Springs to cover Pikes Peak. Unfortunately, Capstone Semi-Hiatus History Month meant he couldn’t make it out. Yes, he is still mad about it, and doubly so after getting grilled like a chicken breast in the peer reviews for his paper. He’s almost glad 2026 is a milestone year since this article can include the above introduction rather than leading off with him writing this rant.
But if we’re going to rant, can we also talk about how PPIHC barely has proper video game representation? Gran Turismo is a presenting sponsor of the race yet GT2, released the same year our journalist was born, is the only time it’s appeared in the franchise. To our knowledge, the only other officially licensed games with Pikes Peak—meaning mods don’t count—are DiRT Rally and Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO. Fun games for sure, but we’re still talking about titles that came out over a decade ago.
We’re so starved for gaming content that the Pikes Peak game we’re currently fixated on is Pike’s Peak, a coin-operated trade stimulator from the 1930s. Developed by Groetchen Tool & Mfg. Co., the game requires the player to turn a knob that moves a ball up a series of ramps. While the objective is to go up a hill, it probably isn’t about the race itself and rather climbing the famed mountain in general. If you want a sign of how far things have changed since, getting 48,000 points means you’re a “world champion” whereas 25K makes you—as the game description proclaims—a “sissy”.
Alright, that diatribe over with…
As mentioned, Ultra4 USA returned to Pikes Peak for the first time in 15 years. That technically wasn’t Ultra4’s only rodeo, however, since Levi Shirley did the 2022 edition in a Campbell IFS rock crawler (and rolled in the process). Still, 2011 and 2026 are officially the two instances where it happened with the series’ backing.
The mountain climb is a different environment from the rocks of Johnson Valley, but a welcome challenge for Healy and his fellow rock racers Casey Currie, Phillip McGilton, and Paul Wolff. All four were entered in the Exhibition class.
Currie was fastest early on in his Trophy Jeep before Healy’s “El Bandito” Ford Bronco got by him, and the former would finish third in Exhibition.
“It was unreal. Learned a lot, had a lot of fun. Lot of changes if we come back but it’s unreal. Dude, it’s crazy. 12 miles, I think Loren got me by 40 seconds still running the 40s, some 37s,” said Currie. “40s” refers to 40-inch tires, which Healy and Wolff were on, as opposed to 37-inchers. “He’s got a supercharger so not taking anything other than learning for next year if we’re coming back. It was fun and freaking what an experience.
“I’m stoked all the Ultra4 cars made it up to the top. We all had fun and just a great time. Stoked that the King of the Hammers and Ultra4 guys got us up here. Pikes Peak did a great job with hosting us.”
Just two weeks removed from scoring his first SCORE class win at the Baja 500, Healy began the weekend by being the fastest of the quartet in Thursday’s practice, setting a best time of 3:07.693 ahead of Wolff (3:14.210), Currie (3:24.213), and McGilton (3:48.355). On race day, he set a final time of 12:03.795, easily clearing the previous Ultra4 track record of 13:05.318 set by King of the Hammers organizer Dave Cole in 2011.
In fact, all on Sunday but McGilton were faster than Cole’s record and every other Ultra4 car in PPIHC history:
- Loren Healy (2026) – 12:03.795
- Paul Wolff (2026) – 12:35.300
- Casey Currie (2026) – 12:50.100
- Dave Cole (2011) – 13:05.318
- JT Taylor (2011) – 13:26.857
- Samuel Berri (2011) – 13:48.688
- Kevin Yoder (2011) – 14:10.063
- Phillip McGilton (2026) – 13:17.706
- Levi Shirley (2022) – 13:44.532
- Roger Lovell (2011) – DNF
- Matthew Peterson (2011) – DNF
McGilton’s Campbell buggy had a blown engine the week before Pikes Peak, but managed to find a replacement in Ohio. However, this left him behind schedule as he worked to get the unit installed. With barely any sleep and hardly any track time compared to the others, he was relieved to complete the race.
Even with the win and record-setting run, Healy admitted he had little confidence in himself going up the mountain. If anything, he felt he was a burden.
“I’m just so glad to be here,” Healy commented. “The culmination of all the emotions and the experience and add in the super-thin air, struggling a little bit in qualifying and not knowing if the truck was going to have the cooling capacity to get up here, the team worked their butts off to make the changes in this truck. I’m just super proud of everything. So grateful to be here and kind of hooked.
“Really proud of how hard everybody worked how good this Bronco worked up here. I still think I’m holding it back from being really, really fast. I just don’t have the confidence that it’ll hold in the blind rises over the corner. If we’re able to come back, I’ve got to spend some time learning the course a little bit better so I have some more confidence in the blind corners. Right now, I’ll lift out of the corner, get around, see the exit and get back into it, and that’s where I’m giving up all my time. But very, very proud of our team. Stoked to be the fastest out of the Ultra4s. Time to enjoy a little bit of break until Vegas to Reno.”
The Exhibition cars were the first on track, with Healy ultimately setting the 55th best time in the entire field. At the top of the overall leaderboard sat Dumas for the sixth time.
Dumas has dominated Pikes Peak in the past decade-plus. After winning for the first time in 2014, he added three straight from 2016 to 2018, and another in 2024. Simone Faggioli held him off to win the 2025 hillclimb, but he couldn’t repeat the feat in 2026 due to a mechanical issue that dropped him to third.
With Faggioli out of the picture, Dumas and his Ford Super Mustang Mach-E EV beat Robin Shute by 11 seconds for the overall while also claiming the new Unlimited Production Based class for showroom-based hillclimbers. The Super Mustang was developed in partnership with STARD, who supplied three UHP 6-Phase engines capable of 1,400 horsepower, a 50 kWh battery with 710 kW of regenerative braking, and updates to the center of gravity and suspension using lessons learned from 2025.
Considering how many anniversaries are being celebrated this year, of course Dumas’ victory was on the 125th year for Ford Racing. Fords have been at Pikes Peak since the inaugural race in 1916 (Guy Peterson’s Ford Special was their best finisher, scoring a fourth in the first of three races), while the motorsports division traces its lineage back to 1901 when Henry Ford won a sweepstakes race at Grosse Pointe Race Track.
“This is an incredible moment for Ford Racing and the team that delivered the Super Mustang Mach-E through a long and challenging development cycle,” Ford Racing Demonstrators’ program supervisor Nick Kuhajda stated. “Pikes Peak is unlike any circuit in the world. It requires complete focus from the technical team and tremendous bravery from the driver. Even with a perfect car, weather and track conditions can take the result out of your hands.
“After last year’s shortened race, the team returned with countless hours of track and laboratory testing behind it. I am particularly proud of our work in Ford’s new rolling road wind tunnel. With up to 12,000 pounds of downforce available, understanding aerodynamic performance and balance was critical to giving Romain confidence on the mountain. The Super Mustang Mach-E also became the highest-downforce vehicle tested in the facility, helping prepare the team for Ford Racing’s Hypercar program later this year. I am incredibly proud of the engineers, technicians and logistics teams who made this victory possible.
“Ford Racing is built upon dedication and talent earned through years of showing up and racing to win. A historic victory like today captures one of our core beliefs, expressed by Henry Ford: ‘Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.’”
Billy Johnson, a former Ford factory driver who’s raced Le Mans and NASCAR for the Blue Oval, won the Open class in his Porsche 911 GT3. Johnson was also the top newcomer in sixth overall. Two spots behind him in the category, Valentin Simonet’s RS 01 became the first Renault to complete the race.
JR Hildebrand traded in his 1999 NASCAR Pontiac Grand Prix for a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X with the sole purpose of setting the production car track record. He both scored the Time Attack 1 victory and succeeded in his goal by a comfortable margin; the previous mark was 10:12.024 by Rhys Millen in 2023.
Fourth in Time Attack 1 was Emelia Hartford, whose time of 10:11.018 is the fastest by a woman in a car in PPIHC history. Laura Hayes last held the mark with a 10:20:487 in 2024, and returned this year to win the Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy.
Whereas Hildebrand is an IndyCar vet, Danny Aitken showed up in an actual Indy car. He piloted a Reynard 01I that was previously fielded by Forsythe Racing in the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series, albeit swapping out the motor for a twin-turbo Chevrolet LT2. Hildebrand had wanted to do a similar project in 2022 with a modern Dallawa DW12, but that plan fell through.
Upon completing his run, Aitken celebrated by pouring milk—an Indianapolis 500 nod—into his shoe and drinking it. Shoeys are not a new concept, much less to racing, though Aitken was glaringly uncomfortable taking a swig. Not entirely surprising since milk can curdle in such a warm climate.
Six drivers failed to finish. Among the mountain’s victims were Bruce Jouanny and Franco Caruso, both of whom went off the road and flipped. They walked away from their respective accidents. Patrick Culligan had a bigger wreck that necessitated a medevac to UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, where he was confirmed to be “awake, alert, and in stable condition.”
Exhibition
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | 67 | Loren Healy # | 12:03.795 |
| 2 | 62 | 101 | Paul Wolff # | 12:35.300 |
| 3 | 63 | 14 | Casey Currie # | 12:50.100 |
| 4 | 65 | 447 | Phillip McGilton # | 13:17.706 |
Open Wheel
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 28 | Dan Novembre | 9:01.689 |
| 2 | 7 | 18 | Codie Vahsholtz | 9:16.344 |
| 3 | 10 | 31 | Mirl Swan | 9:30.320 |
| 4 | 16 | 69 | Yuri Kouznetsov | 10:07.995 |
| 5 | 21 | 65 | Rodney O’Maley | 10:28.629 |
| 6 | 51 | 19 | Earl O’Maley | 11:41.540 |
Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Class | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 282 | Laura Hayes | Turbo | 10:17.538 |
| 2 | 20 | 112 | Catesby Jones # | Turbo | 10:24.719 |
| 3 | 28 | 121 | Carlos de Quesada # | Turbo | 10:37.279 |
| 4 | 32 | 81 | Clint Vahsholtz | Naturally Aspired | 10:42.790 |
| 5 | 34 | 413 | Zach Lumsden | Turbo | 10:45.131 |
| 6 | 35 | 115 | Tad Cusack | Naturally Aspired | 10:51.109 |
Pikes Peak Open
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 122 | Billy Johnson # | 9:12.723 |
| 2 | 8 | 17 | Jimmy Ford | 9:23.882 |
| 3 | 13 | 6 | Valentin Simonet # | 9:59.903 |
| 4 | 25 | 77 | Nuno Caetano | 10:33.339 |
| 5 | 33 | 96 | Andy Kingsley | 10:45.092 |
| 6 | 36 | 141 | Tracy Gaudu | 10:54.016 |
| 7 | 39 | 117 | Trevor Aweida | 11:01.096 |
| 8 | 40 | 24 | David Meyer | 11:01.887 |
| 9 | 41 | 66 | Dan Aweida | 11:07.050 |
| 10 | 45 | 73 | Christian Ghimbos | 11:30.167 |
| 11 | 46 | 13 | JT Taylor | 11:30.770 |
| 12 | 47 | 78 | Kash Singh | 11:35.287 |
| 13 | 50 | 146 | Robert Dahm | 11:40.456 |
| 14 | 52 | 212 | Matus Huska | 11:42.152 |
| 15 | 53 | 30 | Philippe Marion | 11:49.513 |
| 16 | 54 | 46 | Josh Tenge | 11:55.677 |
| 17 | 56 | 68 | Ben Ryan | 12:05.728 |
| 18 | 58 | 41 | Nick Plocienik # | 12:25.605 |
| 19 | 59 | 16 | Alex Kim | 12:26.968 |
| 20 | 64 | 64 | Chikara Kamiko | 13:04.835 |
| 21 | 68 | 2 | David Hackl | DNF |
| 22 | 69 | 23 | Akira Kameyama | DNF |
| 23 | 70 | 7 | Bruce Jouanny | DNF |
Super Unlimited
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 49 | Robin Shute | 8:29.497 |
| 2 | 3 | 55 | Simone Faggioli | 8:32.997 |
| 3 | 4 | 47 | Diego Degasperi | 8:57.388 |
| 4 | 14 | 33 | Henry Hill | 10:06.352 |
| 5 | 37 | 316 | Eli Olivas | 10:55.986 |
| 6 | 44 | 128 | Scott Birdsall | 11:24.508 |
| 7 | 48 | 42 | Danny Aitken | 11:36.231 |
| 8 | 49 | 43 | John Annunziata # | 11:38.132 |
| 9 | 66 | 720 | Patrick Culligan | DNF |
| 10 | 71 | 26 | Franco Caruso # | DNF |
| 11 | 72 | 20 | Grégoire Blachon | DNS |
Time Attack 1
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 3 | JR Hildebrand | 9:30.104 |
| 2 | 11 | 11 | Jeff Zwart | 9:44.189 |
| 3 | 12 | 000 | David Donner | 9:53.740 |
| 4 | 17 | 9 | Emelia Hartford | 10:11.018 |
| 5 | 22 | 281 | Zachary Sober | 10:28.728 |
| 6 | 24 | 40 | Daijiro Yoshihara | 10:33.174 |
| 7 | 27 | 88 | Maciej Serafin # | 10:36.507 |
| 8 | 29 | 888 | Raymund Guerrero | 10:37.480 |
| 9 | 30 | 50 | Kathryn Mead | 10:38.163 |
| 10 | 31 | 429 | Scott Crouch | 10:42.022 |
| 11 | 57 | 151 | Rob Wilmoth # | 12:19.508 |
| 12 | 60 | 757 | Ernie Ramirez | 12:27.165 |
| 13 | 61 | 223 | Ryan Cheek | 12:27.449 |
Unlimited Production
| Finish | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 125 | Romain Dumas | 8:18.202 |
| 2 | 15 | 178 | Tom Tang | 10:06.413 |
| 3 | 19 | 231 | Cole Powelson | 10:18.356 |
| 4 | 23 | 44 | Jim Morris | 10:33.104 |
| 5 | 26 | 269 | Shawn Bassett | 10:35.224 |
| 6 | 38 | 98 | Kurt Dieker # | 10:57.768 |
| 7 | 42 | 25 | Jeremy Lowder | 11:09.497 |
| 8 | 43 | 144 | Kyle Wilder | 11:22.410 |
| 9 | 67 | 22 | Dominick Tapia | DNF |
Featured image credit: Kimberly Thomas
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