Old Smokey F1, een Ford Pickup Truck uit 1949, is tijdens de Pikes Peak International Hillclimb het ravijn ingedoken. De 1.200 pk sterke diesel truck, die we hier in betere tijden zagen, crashte bij Lightning Corner en kwam ruim 200 meter lager in het ravijn tot stilstand. Bestuurder en eigenaar Scott Birdsall kon gelukkig ongedeerd uitstappen, maar Old Smokey F1 is total loss.
“Coming into lightning corner, I lifted to neutral throttle, went to set into the corner with the brakes, and the pedal instantly went to the floor with zero effort. I frantically pumped the brakes (you can hear the throttle change slightly as I do this because the brake pedal was so far down on the floor, my boot cut suit leg was catching the throttle. I knew there was way too much momentum to make the corner, so I tried to hook the ditch, and that was too aggressive as it just shot the truck in the air and went off. Probably a good thing, as the farther you get around the corner, the steeper and rockier it gets. Really an no-win situation all the way around, and my worst nightmare as a Pikes Peak racer has always been this exact scenario. ”
