Shift Up Now Athlete Loni Unser brought home a third-place finish in the “Pikes Peak Open” class - and tenth overall - at The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) presented by Gran Turismo on June 22, 2025, in Colorado Springs, CO.
This year’s event marked Unser’s fourth consecutive attempt at “The Race to the Clouds,” with her first run taking place in 2022. Her “Pikes Peak Open” class of 26 drivers was the largest of the competition, and included some notable names across various motorsport series.
Driving a 992 Turbo Cup car named “Dixie” that was sponsored by Mobil1 and built by BBI, Unser chose the No. 92 as a tribute to the other members of her family who have climbed to Pike Peak’s summit with the same number. Unser explained that the car was specifically built for the famous mountain and to her knowledge, the only 992 twin turbo ever made. Other sponsors on the car included Speedway Motors, Collision Careers, Optima, Yokohama Tire, Shift Up Now, and OMP racing.
Race week began with tech inspection on Monday, followed by testing on Tuesday through Thursday, and an optional test session on Friday. Test sessions took place early each day before the Pike’s Peak Americas Highway opens to the public. A drivers’ meeting with roll call also happens daily at 5:00am, where competitors are briefed on road conditions.
Qualification times were determined by each competitor’s best time in the lower section in testing. Unser was assigned a qualifying time on Thursday. She noted, “The unique thing about Pikes Peak is that you will never do the full road until race day. Because of turnaround zones for each section, there are short parts of the road that you will never run until race day.”
For each competitor, a better qualifying time provided a more ideal race-start time. On race day, the Exhibition Division ran first, followed by the Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama Division. Then, the remaining four divisions each ran the top-three qualifiers in sequence. Division order was based on the top qualifier’s time in each division. Lastly, the remaining cars ran fastest-to-slowest based on qualifying times.
Unser’s third-place qualification put her 15th to roll of for her race run in what had unfortunately been declared a shortened race due to extremely windy conditions. Officials delayed the race as long as possible, but ultimately determined that the hurricane-force wind, which was blowing boulders and debris onto the track - made the full course unsafe for drivers. As a result, the race began approximately 90 minutes late and was shortened to 1/3 of the mountain.
"Competing at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb is always an honor,” said Unser. “This year was bittersweet because we didn't have the opportunity to run the whole road. We were cut short with just a third of the 12.42-mile road.
“They say that the mountain decides, and this year it decided that no one would be running to the top, and we as competitors have to respect that. All month long, I knew the middle and the top was where our 992 Turbo Cup Car was the strongest, so I am bummed that we didn't get to see what we could do against our competitors up there.
However at the end of the day, I am extremely pleased with a P3 finish and the opportunity to show off a beautiful car, built and run by BBI and Porsche Colorado Springs. All of the men and women at BBI worked extremely hard to build the car, and I owe a huge kudos to them because they did an amazing job with it.
“I am thankful to such a wonderful organization that is the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. I am also grateful for some amazing partners who allow me to take on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb; Mobil1, Speedway Motors, Collision Careers, Optima, Shift Up Now and OMP Racing. Hopefully we will be back again next year!”
According to the official website, the 2026 Pikes Peak Hill Climb is scheduled for June 21, 2026.
