North Carolina Racer Johan Schwartz To Compete In Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — A driver from Huntersville, North Carolina is among 60 from around the world who will take part in the Race To The Clouds on June 27th. Bahakel Sports, a division of our parent company, will stream the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb live.
Johan Schwartz says racing has always been in his blood, even as a child growing up in Denmark.
“I would get old cars that I would drive on the harvested field and I would set up a little course out there with tires, and a friend of mine, we would be timing ourselves,” says Schwartz.
He’s come a long way from his makeshift course on the family farm…from rallycross to open wheel to endurance racing, the 2-time SRO champion even teamed up with BMW to set three Guinness World Records for drifting.
“Back when I was a child, I got the Guinness Book of World Records at Christmas, right. And I was like, how can I ever get in this thing?”
Now, the Huntersville resident is ready to check something else off of his bucket list.
“How would you like to drive for us at Pikes Peak? And I’m like, sure, absolutely, I would love to! It is the most famous hill climb in the world,” says Schwartz.
Johan has teamed up with American X Kart to compete in the 99th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs. The historic race, which runs 12.42 miles up the mountain and includes 156 dangerous turns.
“The air is going to be fairly thin up there so I’m going to have oxygen, we have decided that we’re not going to chance it. Obviously the concentration needs to be there,” says Schwartz.
“My goal in this race is to go up at a good speed and finish. Make it from the bottom all the way up and make it a successful event and put American X Kart on the map. It’s very much a dream come true. When you get an opportunity like that, it’s really really cool.”
Watch the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 27th at 9am Eastern on WCCB Charlotte’s website and our mobile app.
