Gardner Nichols kept a secret from the field in fear of jinxing himself.

Nichols hoped to break 11 minutes during his run at The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on Sunday.

During last year’s race, Nichols set the record in the electric production truck division at 11:23.983 in his 2022 Rivian R1T.

This year, Nichols clocked in at 10:53.883 and shattered his previous mark.

“I had two goals coming in and that was to beat my time from last year and get a new production truck record, so I successfully did both of those,” Nichols said. “I didn’t tell anybody that I wanted to break 11, because that’s bad luck. But I’m stoked that I could do that. I’m happy with my time.”

Nichols managed his record pace despite being the second driver on the course.

While the weather at start time “was beautiful” for drivers and hit 57 degrees at 7:30 a.m., the start of the event, a rainstorm on Saturday, created a slick course for several racers.

Through the first 21 drivers of the competition, seven racers did not finish and three riders spun out on the course.

“You learn a lot on the first few corners of the race including road grip,” Nichols said. “I had a few moments on some corners where I needed some counter steering. If you’re in that flow state, you don’t dwell on it and you keep pushing forward. You correct and move on.”

Nichols raced in a 2024 Rivian R1T this year and said upgrading to the second-generation truck benefitted him.

“We were able to extract a bit more performance from the truck and push it further,” Nichols said. “I see Ron Zaras is in my class in a Hyundai and he got a 10:49, which is impressive.”

As Nichols completed the previous sentence, he laughed as he realized that Zaras finished four seconds faster. Nichols reiterated his satisfaction with his time.

But noted that minor tweaks could have put him ahead of his racing buddy.

“I know where those four seconds went on my run,” Nichols said. “That’s how it goes as a driver. I’m still very happy with my run. But there’s always a corner or tweak you wish you could’ve made after the race. But I’m happy with the results and happy to be up here.”