Codie Vahsholtz Returns to America’s Mountain with New Sponsors
Trevor Phipps
Photos By Paul Magnuson
This week racers from all over the world have started to infiltrate the Ute Pass Region to take their chances at the 102nd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb that takes place on Sunday. Locally, fans are excited to see third generation Woodland Park champion racer Codie Vahsholtz make his attempt at shattering yet another record in his open wheel division.
Last year, Vahsholtz raced his family open wheel racer up the mountain in record time to break the record his own father Clint Vahsholtz set in the exact same car. For 2024, the youngest Vahsholtz out of the three to race America’s Mountain will be taking another chance at Pikes Peak and he is hoping to set yet another course record.
This year, Vahsholtz will be racing his same record breaking car that was built by his family’s Vahsholtz racing team. However, this year the car has new sponsors and Vahsholtz expects to be faster than ever before.
The big news this year is that Vahsholtz gained a new tire sponsor, and his open wheel racer will now be equipped with Toyo Tires. “The slick tires are a different compound, and the overall construction is just different,” Vahsholtz said. “So, that is a rather large change.”
To incorporate his new sponsors including Arapahoe Fire and Hammers Construction, Vahsholtz gave his car a new stylish wrap to give it a different look than previous years. He also did some work to the car to improve its aerodynamics while racing up the mountain.
Before the official practice times, Vahsholtz got the chance to test the car in a few practice sessions taking place on the weekend early mornings. During the first weekend of June, Vahsholtz took the car out to make runs on the top half and bottom half of the course.
“We matched our times from last year and the road was quite a bit more dirty and it was obviously a lot colder,” Vahsholtz said. “So that is a good sign for race week, as long as we get some good weather and don’t get snow or something.”
Vahsholtz said that after taking some practice runs, the course is a little on the rough side towards the top just like many competitors said it was last year. He said the top part between Devil’s Playground and the Boulder Park isn’t too rough, but the section of the track between Boulder Park and the summit is a little rougher than it was last year.
This year, the Ute Pass Region received large snow totals and a good amount of snow can still be seen covering the mountain. At one point during the winter season, Pikes Peak had 243 percent of its average snowfall.
According to Vahsholtz, when the region receives large amounts of snow like it did this last year, the course does seem to get a little rougher. But the racer is still optimistic about his chances this year as his car has raced the track just as fast as it did last year.
He said that the course’s asphalt has a different consistency than most asphalt roads. Since the Pikes Peak Highway constantly has graters and plows running across it the asphalt is smoother and more like the consistency of concrete.
But even though Vahsholtz’s car seems like it’s ready to break another record, he will be facing some new competition this year that will be looking forward to upsetting him. “There is a new driver in the open wheel class this year and her name is Ryan Cheeks,” Vahsholtz said. “She is an unknown and I’m not sure what she is going to do. And Spencer Steele is going to be back in the class this year. He was out last year and the year prior he had some car problems.”
Another big change for the race this year is that Vahsholtz’s car will be changing ownership as he is purchasing the racer himself. “The process of how we do things is going to be a little different for my own style,” Vahsholtz said. “I’m just trying to make it a little more efficient and run a little bit smoother.”
Codie Vahsholtz is the third generation Pikes Peak International Hill Climb racer as his grandfather Leonard Vahsholtz and father Clint Vahsholtz have raced and won several times in the past. Clint Vahsholtz will not be racing up the mountain this year, but he will be driving the Parade of Champions car up the course so he will still be joining his son at the Pikes Peak summit after the race.
Technical inspections started Monday of this week with practices taking place on the mountain from 4 to 9 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. The event’s Fan Fest kicks off this Friday in downtown Colorado Springs at 5 p.m. and it will feature performances from the FMX Freestyle Motocross riders.
The gates open for the main event at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday with the green flag flying at 7:30 a.m. The event is sold out so those who haven’t yet got tickets can enjoy live radio coverage on KRDO (1240 AM, 105.5 or 92.5 FM) or watch live video coverage on the Mobil 1 You Tube Page at Youtube.com/Mobil1.