After 29 years and hundreds of runs up Pikes Peak, Woodland Park native Clint Vahsholtz is finally King of the Mountain and becomes the first American in 15 years to win the title.

Vahsholtz has won 23 division titles at The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, but could never capture the overall fastest time.

That is, until the 98th running. Vahsholtz crossed the finish line with a winning time of 9 minutes, 35.490 seconds (unofficially) in a 2013 Ford Open, beating his 2017 Open Wheel record by 0.257 seconds.

It was a battle among the top three finishers — all Colorado residents and Pikes Peak veterans, who all finished with unofficial times with less than a second separating them. Paul Dallenbach of Basalt finished in 9:36.181, followed by Colorado Springs’ David Donner in 9:36.559.

Drivers said the road was slick after a two-hour ice delay, further solidifying the Pikes Peak mantra: It’s not the driver. It’s not the car. It’s the mountain that decides.

“We got to the top, and that’s the No. 1 job,” Donner said on a KRDO broadcast. “We were caught on the slickness of the road, but that’s Pikes Peak on race day.”

Donner, who was clocked at 125 mph in a 2019 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport at the halfway point, said he lost some time correcting his car through slick spots.

Dallenbach, who ran directly after Vahsholtz and clocked in just over a half second slower, struggled with the wing on his 2006 PVA-03 Dallenbach Special, and also had to adjust to the road slickness.

“It was a totally different road from when we practiced,” Dallenbach told KROD’s broadcast team. “You have to be on your game, and (Vahsholtz) was a half second better on his game today.”

Division Winners

Tesla sweeps Exhibition Division

A pair of Tesla Model 3s took the top two positions in the exhibition division, led by Blake Fuller in a 2018 Model 3. Fuller, from Sarasota, Fla., crossed the finish line in 11:02.802. Randy Pobst, who scrambled to rebuild his 2020 Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 after a crash in practice Wednesday, took second in the division in 11:04.131.

“We got a new car and switched everything we needed, which was almost everything. They worked for 48 hours straight,” Pobst told the KRDO broadcast after he reached the summit. “We were committed to making this race, and we were running really well last night, but around a quarter mile in it just wasn’t happy on power.”

Donner aims for King of the Mountain, settles for Time Attack 1 champion

Colorado Springs’ David Donner was one of the top two qualifiers for the 98th running of the Hill Climb, aiming for his fourth King of the Mountain crown.

Though he was bested by two other Colorado drivers, Donner will not go home empty-handed. In his 2019 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport Donner crossed the finish line in 9:36.559 to claim the Time Attack 1 title.

Yoshihara last to race, sneaks into top-10, wins division

Daijiro Yoshihara didn’t have a successful qualifying run the week before the 98th running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

But clearly, he didn’t need much practice.

In his 2013 Toyota 86 the Japanese driver raced through the first two checkpoints and clocked in with a speed of 135 mph at the halfway point, threatening to take away the King of the Mountain title from Vahsholtz as the final racer.

He fell just short, though, crossing the finish line in 10:05.006 to place ninth unofficially, and snatched the Unlimited division title from Derek Boyd (10:11.446).

Vahsholtz wins 24th division title

In addition to his first King of the Mountain crown Vahsholtz claimed his 24th division title, winning the Open Wheel division and breaking his 2017 record with a time of 9:35.490 in a 2013 Ford Open.

Dallenbach placed second in the division and overall in 9:36.181 in a 2006 PVA-03 Dallenbach Special.

Schranz wins Pikes Peak Open by nearly a minute

There’s no question about it — Layne Schranz is the Pikes Peak Open champion. The driver from Birmingham, Ala., crossed the finish line in a 2018 Chevrolet SS in 9:45.360 — the only Pikes Peak Open driver to break the 10-minute mark.

Schranz’s time was 59 seconds faster than second-place winner David Meyer in a 2017 Palatov D2tt.

Blake Williams wins Porsche Trophy

As the fastest qualifier in the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama division, Williams was the first driver on the course to break 11 minutes at the 98th running.

Williams and his 2018 Porsche GT4 Clubsport crossed the finish line in 10:52.622. The second-place finisher, Colorado Springs’ George Hess, clicked in at 11:06.789 in a 2016 Porsche GT4 Clubsport.

Top qualifier does not finish

David Donohue, the top returner from the 97th running, and the top qualifier, began his run in a 2019 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport at an incredible pace. Donohue made it through the first section in 1:40, and the second in 2:16 — well on his way to the top time of the day, but he sustained a flat tire near Glen Cove and was unable to finish.

Last year Donohue placed fourth overall in a 2016 Porsche 911 in 9:33.404, a time that would have crowned him King of the Mountain in 2020.

Rookie run up Pikes Peak for lone female

Kathryn Mead of Austin, Texas, was the sole female in the field of the 98th running, driving a 2019 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, crossing the finish line in 11:36.345, unofficially, to place third in the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama division.

Paraplegic rookie off the course before first checkpoint

Rob Parsons, or “Chairslayer” lost the use of his legs in 2011 after a dirt bike incident, but that doesn’t keep him from the track.

Parsons traveled to Colorado Springs with a 2014 Chevrolet SS modified to allow him to control the vehicle with his hands.

Parsons began his rookie run Sunday afternoon, but never made it to the first checkpoint. According to the broadcast, Parsons went through some fencing, forcing an immediate response from firefighters as the vehicle may have started a fire, according to the broadcast. The location of the incident was not reported.

Parsons was uninjured, according to the broadcast.