If you've ever been to the northeastern United States, you might have noticed cars driving around with a bumper stickers that read, “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington.” It comes with the toll to drive the road up to the highest peak in the region, so they've become rather ubiquitous. But one man has done it faster than any other.
That man is Travis Pastrana, and he smashed the record this past weekend driving his 600-horsepower Subaru WRX STI rally car up the hill in 5 minutes and 44.72 seconds. That's 24 seconds faster than his teammate David Higgins, who set the record at 6:9.09 in 2014, and slid off course trying to beat his own time this time around.
It's yet another feather in Pastrana's cap, having won eight X Games gold medals in motorcross and several silvers – including one in a rally car. He's won the Rally America championship four times and numerous motorcross titles, and has competed in everything from NASCAR to rallycross.
“I can’t say enough how fun these cars are to drive, and thank Subaru for providing one to me. I hope this record can stand for a little while,” said Pastrana. “This road is such a challenge, it’s probably the toughest road to drive flat-out in the world.”
Arguably the birthplace of American motorsport, the Mt. Washington Hillclimb (now sponsored by Subaru) has been run since 1904. It runs 7.6 miles up the mountain to its 6,288-foot peak, which may pale in comparison to Pikes Peak's 2.42-miles course and and 14,115-foot summit, but is still the longest and tallest you'll find in the Northeast – and a significant win for Subaru in the longstanding event.
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