Colorado Native Returning To Take On The Mountain

Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it was easy to fall in love with racing with the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in our backyard.

Charlotte, NC -“Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it was easy to fall in love with racing with the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in our backyard. I started racing in high school – competing in the local SCCA autocross events. At the time, my car was a silver 1996 Chevy Camaro Z28. When I left it stock, I enjoyed consistent class victories. This increased my drive to push my limits and the limits of my car. Tinkering with the suspension, gear ratios, and getting a little extra horsepower gave me a new love of driving during open lapping days.

I spent college turning a wrench, running a salvage and repair operation until I graduated from Colorado State University in 2011. My passion for automotive kept me in the industry while allowing me to live out a dream of racing up Pikes Peak starting in 2014. My weapon of choice, and the same car I still race at PPIHC, is a 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X.

Thinking of my first race brings back memories of how hard we pushed to get the car ready while pulling an all-night effort to get her in racing shape. In our frenzy, we did not leave enough time to load up the car into the trailer and make it to the mountain before the gates to the highway would close, so I jumped in (it was still street legal at the time) and drove straight up the mountain in the racecar to stage in the pits at 3:00 am. While this car started mainly stock, it has now become a one-of-a-kind, purpose-built hill climb machine. In 2017, I moved to North Carolina, and I still look forward to returning to my home race at Pikes Peak every summer.”

Derek Boyd looks to continue his love for this race as he has raced it for more than a decade.