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Sleep becomes a distant memory during race week. There is a day of open practice followed by three days of qualifying on different sections of the mountain. Each day cars are allowed to start their runs once there is enough light, which is normally sometime around 5AM. The Pikes Peak highway is a public toll road and a hotspot for tourists, so practices must be run early in the morning and are over by 9AM to allow tourists to have their go. This means that in order to make it up onto the mountain in time you must leave your hotel no later than 3 in the morning!
The mountain is broken up into three sections during qualifying. The lower section runs from the start line up to Glen Cove, the middle section from Glen Cove to Devil’s Playground, and the top section from Devil’s Playground to the summit. The classes are broken up into different run groups for qualifying, so you’ll need to choose which groups to watch, but the most exciting group is always the Unlimited Class. In Unlimited the only rules are ones that govern the safety of the vehicle and driver, everything else is fair game!
The lower section is the longest at nearly half of the track. Since this section is all below the tree line it can be kind of tough to find a spot with good views. If you’re looking for a premium spot to watch the action, my favorite is at 11 mile station. The trees fall off quickly which affords you some beautiful views to distract you during any lulls in the racing.
Walking down to Blue Sky corner from 11 mile station you can get some cool views of a distant lake. While the cars are running the only way around the mountain is on foot, there are very few restrictions on where spectators can and cannot go on Pikes Peak. Aside from a few restricted corners deemed too dangerous for spectators, you are fine to stand anywhere as long as your feet aren’t on pavement. This is a refreshing change from most races that have barriers and grandstands set far back from the action to separate viewers from danger. Even with these loose spectator safety regulations the PPIHC has a commendable safety record.
