The O’Maleys garage symbolizes the phrase “organized chaos.”

Numerous engine parts neatly assorted on shelves, fresh oil stains on various areas of the floor from recent repairs, a plethora of tools including wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, and bolts wait to be rehomed in a nearby toolbox.

Also among the objects and half dozen people in the O’Maleys garage are multiple Domino’s pizza boxes.

There’s little time for home-cooked meals during race week for the 102nd annual Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

“Right now, we’re running on Monster drinks and pizza,” said Katie O’Maley, Earl O’Maley’s wife.

Brothers Earl and Rodney O’Maley, who will compete in the open wheel division, they’re being fueled by adrenaline.

Between preparations, repairs and practice runs, both men said they’ve rarely slept this week.

“First thing I’m doing when this is all over is taking a nap,” Rodney said.

For Rodney, Sunday’s Hill Climb marks his 14th event while Earl will compete in his third race.

“This can be stressful, but it’s always a fun event,” Rodney said. “One of my earliest memories of this was when my dad raced stock cars. I was about four or five years old and I’d ride around in the stock car when he would put it on the trailer. I’d ride in his lap while he was pulling it out of the trailer.

“I don’t remember much about him racing the stock car on Pikes Peak. But I always remember him being out there working on it.”

Earl and Rodney’s father, David, developed an infatuation with racing in the early 1990s and entered the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1994.

Pikes Peak Hill Climb: 61 competitors gear up for Sunday’s race up ‘America’s Mountain’

David raced in the stock car division in a Chevy Monte Carlo but did not finish the ’94 race.

However, David competed again in 1997 in the motorcycle pro-quad division, placed 12th and clocked in at 14 minutes, 40.23 seconds on his 1996 Yamaha.

“It was always cool that he had a racecar,” Earl said. “Then it was a stock car and then he went into quads. After quads, he went up there and helped out with safety and we’d tag along and always be up there on the mountain meeting people and hanging out with everyone.”

The O’Maleys family remained a fixture at the event, but no one in the family competed in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb again until the 2000s.

David didn’t race in the event after his 1997 run and died from pancreatic cancer in 2004.

The following year, the Coronado graduates tag teamed their way into the race.

Earl bought a vehicle from Steve Clark, who competed in multiple events through the 1980s-2000s.

With Clark’s help, Rodney managed to compete in his first race in 2005 where Rodney finished fifth out of six competitors in the mini sprint division.

Rodney clocked in at 14:49.89 and, sure, he said he’s grateful he finished.

But the experience left him flustered.

“During my first run, halfway up on Pikes Peak … I blew up the motor,” Rodney said. “The entire week was us scrambling to get the motor put back in the car so I could finish Pikes Peak that year. I basically had one practice run in every single section that entire week because of what happened with the motor in the first run. I didn’t really know the road, so I was just white knuckling it.”

Rodney took a 5-year hiatus and returned in 2011 with wisdom and a firm grasp of the process.

This buoyed Rodney to sixth place in the open wheel category and he cut his time to 12:38.46.

Since his return, Rodney has competed in 12 of 13 Hill Climbs and had his best finish in 2013 when he placed third in the open wheel division.

In 2021, Earl joined the fray and the brothers both raced in the Hill Climb and Rodney placed fourth while Earl finished sixth.

“I bit the bullet and said I was going to do it,” Earl said. “It got to that point where it’s like, I’m not getting any younger, so I’d like to race Pikes Peak.”

Earl, who is the older brother, had the opportunity to learn from Rodney’s previous runs in the Hill Climb and said it prepared him for race week.

“I knew a lot because Rodney helped me out a ton with pre-driving the road and watching videos,” Earl said. “I was 100 times more prepared than we were for Rodney’s first year. Everything was comfortable and I learned how asphalt racing differs from dirt racing – we usually do more dirt racing than asphalt – once I got through that, I got to enjoy being up there and just finishing.”

Watching competitors safely complete the race is Katie’s favorite part.

While Katie recognizes that the race is nerve-wracking for competitors, she said staring at a screen displaying racers times provides no relief regarding their well-being.

“Every moment feels like an eternity,” Katie said. “You don’t know where they are and you’re there hoping for the best.”

In the O’Maleys garage is a “wall of shame,” which displays a smorgasbord of items from varying wrecks throughout the years.

It features rims, bent wheel wells, and even a red rag.

“Somebody left that rag in a turbo,” Katie said. “We couldn’t figure out what was going on, so we pulled the turbo part and there was the red rag. Not a pleasant experience, but that’s par for the course.”

While the wall represents memories – sad and pleasant – from past experiences, it also serves as a reminder of close calls.

Although racers vie for the top spot, Katie doesn’t necessarily care where her loved ones place.

She’s grateful they finish.

“I’m stressed throughout the whole year, but I love to see the guys finish,” Katie said. “I helped build this chassis, I helped build Rodney’s (vehicle) and I helped do a lot of stuff with Earl’s. It’s nice to see our stuff get to the top. That’s the true meaning of this: Knowing that they got to the top safely. And when they don’t finish, it’s good to know that they’re safe.”