Paul Dallenbach, two-time world record holder at the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb, is returning to the event this year to go after a third world record in two years. He’ll be competing in the Open Wheel division with his Chevy V8 powered car making 750hp. This car has never been driven by Dallenbach at Pikes Peak, even though it was purpose-built for this event. His brother drove it to victory in 2006, and Paul drove it to a win at Goodwood in 2007.
“I am excited to be driving this car in the race this year. We have a lot of reasons to win,” Dallenbach says. “One is my crash in the Open Wheel in 2012, another is my crew who lost everything last year in the Black Forest fire. I want to win as much for them as myself.”
In preliminary testing, his car was well under the current world record time, but the competition is close. Tenths of a second could determine not only the winner of the event, but the next world record holder. Dallenbach is confident, though. The car has been tweaked and fine tuned throughout the process and changes were recently made to adapt to the road conditions.
For those who might be unfamiliar with the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, it’s the second oldest automotive racing event in the United States. The Indianapolis 500 is the only event older. Practice and qualifying will occur through the week, with the main event being Sunday morning. Check out our preview post and link to the live stream of the event here.
Also check out the results from the first day of practice at the hill climb.
Chad Kirchner is a freelance automotive journalist with a sincere passion for the industry and helping people. He’s a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association and the Texas Auto Writers Association. When not writing about the latest automotive news or vehicles, you can catch him at car shows around the country. Be sure to check him out on social media, including Google+ and Twitter.
