The 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb won’t be running July 8, as originally planned.
Thanks to unpredictable wildfires in the region, the U.S. Forest Service says they can’t permit the event to go ahead as planned. They’re hoping to announce the race’s new date within two weeks.
The International Hill Climb is the second-oldest race in the U.S., second only to the Indy 500. There were 211 competitors signed up this year, including racers from 15 countries outside the U.S., so this announcement seriously cramps their plans.
This is especially bad news because there were likely going to be plenty of records broken this year. This is the first year the Pikes Peak course has been paved all the way to the top – previously, competitors had to plan for gravel stretches along the way. Add in the surprise performance from Chip Yates’s electric motorcycle last year, and we likely would have seen some all-time best times set on July 8.
