<– Day 47 – Thu. May 28th: Back to the Springs | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 49-50 – May 30th-31st: Last Dollar & Madonna –>

I’m checking out a McLaren and an Indy race car.

On Friday Guy Kathe invited us to visit Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) and meet president of the raceway Bob Boileau.

PPIR began life as a horse racing track. In 1996, the facilities were transformed from hosting horses to hosting automobiles. The track subsequently closed in 2005, but reopened in 2008 when Guy and some partners purchased it. Eventually they brought aboard Bob as president.

Bob’s to the left. His collection of cars in is the background. He owned a Willys wagon until recently.

We arrived at the track at 1pm. We found Bob busily racing around on his golf cart. Almost the instance we jumped aboard his cart for a ride around the facilities it started to rain. The average rainfall in Colorado Springs in May is 2″. This year it has rain 10″!

Despite some intermittent drops, we got a quick tour. Bob pointed out some racing semi-trucks and explained that a new semi-truck racing circuit had formed in the US as a result of the success similar truck racing was enjoying in Europe. For some reason, more Europeans are showing up for truck races than for Formula One or other races. So, Bob and other track owners in the US hope to attract a similar following.

I asked Bob how he got started in racing. Bob’s told me his father was a racer who was involved in bringing Honda dealerships to the United States. Along the way he became the first to build and race a Honda car. That 1974 Honda is now in this Honda Museum. Bob began racing in 1982 and has enjoyed a successful career. You can see his eyes light up when he talks about cars. He loves them. Bob’s sons have followed in his path, becoming good racers themselves.

Overview of PPIR track that I found on the internet. the stands are on the left. I believe the photos is a few years old.

About this time during our visit the rain became pouring rain, so Bob wisked us to his office to show us an overview of the property. They have areas north and south of the track that they may use for off road racing or other group events. Then he showed us the race car that will likely win the Pikes Peak Climb this year. In 2014, it won all the practice runs. However, on the day of the race they discovered the frame was cracked, so they couldn’t race.

One of the mechanics working on the car was Bud. It turned out Bud is an eWillys reader and owns a CJ-2A. He’s been involved in jeeps since the 1960s when he put a set of FC axles onto a CJ-5, along with some wider fenders. He said it looked kind of like a newer Wrangler. He’s now looking for a good priced Jeepster.

When the rain finally subsided, we hopped aboard the golf car to go check out a McLaren and an Indy car. Pretty cool!

We ended our tour with a drive along the racing trucks.

Just then the rain started falling again, so we bid a quick goodbye and hopped in the jeep. Today, it was too wet for us to get on the track, but if you want to drive on it, you can check out these track options.

We’ll be spending Saturday in Colorado Springs with Ann’s sister-from-another-mother. On Sunday, we leave for Cripple Creek, Colorado, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

<– Day 47 – Thu. May 28th: Back to the Springs | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 49-50 – May 30th-31st: Last Dollar & Madonna –>