THE BIG HILL

by Kim John Crumb

The three event schedule sounded so good, in the dead of winter. Mere off-season enthusiasm? Later the big crunch of time vs. distance inherent in this schedule became more obvious. I still wanted to do the Virginia City Hill Climb. It would be my first hill climb; weren’t these a staple of motorsport once upon a time? Why did these go away? I was determined to try one of these, preferably one on asphalt. Now that Chimney Rock is gone, Virginia City is probably the premier tarmac hill climb in the whole USA. It’s also the 25th anniversary for the consecutive running of this event..the decision’s made, despite seemingly near impossible timing, I’m going.

What’s the time problem? I was also going to do One Lap of America. That meant I would be racking up 7500 miles, and a dozen+ track events, on the two weeks immediately prior to this hill climb. Besides what all that might do to the driver and the equipment, there’s also that clear across the USA problem. One Lap ends at Watkins Glen and the Virginia City Hill Climb is in Nevada, on the very next weekend. I get home to Minnesota, from the east coast on Tuesday nite. Saying I was pretty tired doesn’t really cover it. On Wednesday, I put on a new set of tires and did a bare minimum of basic car maintenance. Its up early on Thursday morning, I’m headed west. I’m doing this solo, I run nearly 1300 miles that day, stopping a bit short of Salt Lake City. Friday it’s early and west again; 600 miles later it’s 1:30 pm, and I’m stopping at the bottom of the Hill Climb route. I’ve done the hustle so I could have Friday afternoon to spend just on learning the course. It’s a Nevada state road, high way #341, that gets blocked off for the event. I’m already impressed with the very high degree of difficulty the course represents, 5.2 miles with a 1200 foot elevation increase. I don’t think there’s that much elevation change across my entire home state! Plus, there are far more corners than any American roadrace circuit, between 30 and 40 depending on how you count, with many of them being essentially blind. Meaning? You’ll be committed to "the line" and full throttle before you can see the corner exit ..better get it right! Since it’s a public road, it’s not highly maintained like most racetracks, it’s narrow and bumpy. This car is used on the street all the time, so this no problem. My first familiarity runs merely reinforce the decision to get here for this half-day memory drill. The low speed observation and practice was well worth my best road warrior routine! Not only are there a large number of corners, but they often appear similar, going in. Danger, what follows will be different! A very close inspection reveals some physical details that will differentiate. I’m finding those necessary visual reference points...this one has guard rail, this one a stone fence, this one nothing ..my comfort zone is inching up.

The drivers' meeting is Friday evening. Friendly Ferrari and Audi club folks are the sponsors in ’96. I was a late entry, but they’ve handled that well. Now with a first hand view of the course complexity, I know that prior experience will be an even bigger advantage than usual. I check around, there are some competitors who’ve done this event 3, 5, even 7 times. I’ve got my work cut out for me. The rules would appear to prohibit purpose-built race cars, but there are plenty of "trailer cars" around. All manner of west coast speed merchants: Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette ZR-l, Dodge Viper, Lotus Esprit Turbo, Acura NSX, Audi S4, Saleen Mustang, etc. Me? I’m driving the lone Mercedes, a ’91 M-B 300E that RENNTech has worked their magic on, now it’s a V8 600E. Not just a pretty face, don’t let the four doors, automatic transmission and air-conditioning fool you. This is a serious car, ask all the One Lap LS competitors from last week! They’re letting those with 18" wheels run slicks, since there aren’t any DOT "R" compound tires in that diameter ..the huge brakes on the 600E require 18" wheels for clearance, we’re using magnesium Speedlines. I drove out on, and had intended to use, some wonderful Yokohama Nexus street tires. But those certainly aren’t racing tires; maybe it’s time for an adjusted strategy, with this new data?

Up early, I call the RENNTech folks back in Florida. Please get those Yokohama 18" racing radials mounted and on a plane for Reno, NV. Same Day Service, thank you. Then I head out to the hill, for run number one. We’ve got two whole days to make runs, they’re all timed. That means plenty of time to patiently learn the course. No need for the instant on approach, like in One Lap. A big mistake here is going to be serious, you aren’t just going to run off on the grass. More likely a cliff or an embankment. . not what I had in mind. I’m going to concentrate on learning the course, the speed will come naturally...later...if I can do that. By the end of my fourth run, I still feel only really comfortable with the first half of the course. But, I keep steadily improving. Every so often the flatbed truck goes up to remove some vehicle that apparently hasn’t been using my step-it-up-slow approach. At the end of Saturday, my plan appears to be working. I’ve cut off nearly 15 seconds from my first rum. I’ve done a 3:44.203, the only front-running car on a real street tire. How does that time stack up? I’m in third place overall, out of the whole field of 51 cars. The tire escalation I’ve got planned for tomorrow will come as a surprise to some competitors, no doubt...

It’s l0 pm, I’m headed up to Reno. At ll pm, Delta Dash spits out the four race slicks, the next step is working! I’m back at the motel in Carson City by midnight, getting six hours of valuable shuteye.

Up early on Sunday. I head for the small parking area at the bottom of the hill, and put on the race slicks. I’ve never actually driven the 600E on these tires before. It will be interesting to see how much time I can find, now I’m really playing the step it up game. I know that the first place car, a Ferrari 512 on huge racing slicks, is nearly 6 seconds ahead. I must find that, and more.

I go out on my first Sunday run. Come on Yokohama’s! When warmed up, by about the fourth corner, their grip is astounding. I’ve got to be gaining a few tenths in each turn. By late morning, I’m running full tilt, all the way to the top of the course, I’ve cut off nearly l0 seconds! Now I’ve moved to first place, with nearly a 4 second margin. Course radar has the 600E at 117+ mph!

What next? We’re using my equipment to bleed the hydraulic clutch on Amir’s TR between runs. A sporting move on my part, since he’s the second place competitor? Now he has an even bigger request...a ride up the hill. I wonder how much will he learn? Sand baggin’ ain’t my style. But I haven’t forgotten when I was the student and played beat the teacher. I agree, the two of us take off, I’m runnin’ the 600E: all out. With excitement in his voice, Amir says "we’re cornering on two wheels." I reply "only almost". All the better to cheat on apexes for a better radius, I think. It’s my 11th official run, a solid 3:34.422 time; we both got an excellent adrenaline fix. Then it’s the slow drive, with the a/c on, down the return road. The two of us, and the 600E, have cooled down as we arrive back at the start. As we get out, Amir asks "will my car do that?" What a question, he has a glorious 12 cylinder Ferrari, on huge 18" slicks. I wistfully gaze at his car, and say "it will". If you were me, and you’re not feeling a tiny smidgen of pressure just about now, you’re just not paying full attention. I’m contemplating on whether I might have just done maybe too good a job as a teacher? Amir roars off, his Ferrari making that glorious 8000 rpm 12 cylinder shriek.

Bill Pond, the event master, sees me pondering. He comes over to me and says "I don’t think you realize how special that was." I give him a puzzled look in return. "In the seven years I’ve watched Amir do this event, I’ve never seen him ask for a ride before." As that is sinking in Amir is cutting off three and a half seconds. But, close only counts in horseshoes. I’m still leading but the margin is now down to only one-tenth of one second. The racing gods smile upon me that day, for that margin holds for the rest of the ’96 hill climb. My time stands, right to the end.

The thrill of Victory! Since this was my first try, I probably was only a dark horse candidate to be the King of the Hill? Amir was a good sport, and I enjoyed his humor at the Victory Banquet. It’s back to Minnesota, I’ll reach the 12,000 mile mark...in just three weeks. An incredibly intense schedule, is it OK for me to admit that’s exactly what I crave? Was my first hill climb everything I wished for? Almost. The all-time hill climb record is still there, 13 seconds ahead. That challenge still awaits, I’ll be going back.

Copyright 1997, Land O'Lakes Region.
Last revised: May 5, 1997