Hill Climb drivers must factor in the cost of racing

With every corner, Lynn Cowan holds his breath.

He has competed in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for 25 years. He knows America's mountain as well as his 2001 Pontiac Sunfire. He knows when to step on the gas and when to hit the brakes, how hard to turn and how long to the 14,115-foot summit.

Like most Hill Climb drivers, he also knows a crash, a blown motor or too many flat tires could bust his pocketbook and put his racing career in jeopardy.

Spending just enough money to have a chance to win the nation's second-oldest motorsports race was the name of the game Wednesday for 188 competitors who began practice and qualifying on Pikes Peak.

The 86th running of the Hill Climb, a 12.42-mile race featuring cars, trucks, motorcycles, quads and sidecars, is 9 a.m. Sunday.
Race officials are offering a $25,000 prize to the driver with the fastest time less than 10 minutes.

Registration fees - $350 to $950 for motorcycles and quads and $1,100 to $1,700 for cars and trucks - are the cheapest part of the Hill Climb.

Cowan, 55, of Peyton, estimates it would cost $10,000 for two days of practice, one day of qualifying and race day.
That's "way too much" for his budget, so he's limiting practice runs.

After all, Cowan couldn't have afforded the Hill Climb without support from last-minute sponsors - Colorado Springs retirement community MacKenzie Place and a Taco Bell in South Dakota.

"We're on the edge for being at this race," said Cowan, a construction worker. "I keep coming back because it's an addiction. It's hard to stop."

Colorado Springs environmental manager David Schmidt, 47, has budgeted $5,000 for race week after scrapping his 2003 Chevrolet S10 Extended Cab and pouring $20,000 into a 2007 Ford GT.

Schmidt expects to save money since his family is his pit crew. Still, tires run $250 apiece and fuel is $8 a gallon.

"You have to bear it," Schmidt said. "This mountain has been in my backyard my whole life. I call this my Daytona. It's priceless."

A big price tag isn't a problem for Chad Dykes, a 43-year-old owner of a San Diego dry cleaning company.

Dykes will spend more than $40,000 to drive his 2002 Chevy S10 in the Hill Climb. He made a scouting trip to Pikes Peak last month, and he covered airfare, hotel rooms and meals this week for a five-person crew.

"How many pairs of pants do I have to clean and how many shirts do I have to clean to afford to come here?" Dykes said. "It's the fruits of your labor. You got to enjoy it."

Wasson High School graduate Donner Billingsley, 38, funds his racing habit by working in construction.

He's not a free spender, although he laid down $1,800 last year for a new motor in his 1980 Newman Dreggar. And he's willing to spend "whatever amount" is reasonable on the race he grew up watching.

"I get to do what I love," Billingsley said. "I don't want to go to the moon. I want to race Pikes Peak."