Each year, dozens of hardened teams of racers attempt the seemingly impossible task of assaulting this 14,115-foot mountain and being crowned the fastest man to the top. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
Funk Flex

Pikes Peak is one of the most treacherous venues in all of racing — maybe in all of sports — hell, maybe in all of anything. Each year, dozens of hardened teams of racers attempt the seemingly impossible task of assaulting this 14,115-foot mountain and being crowned the fastest man to the top.

Last week, two days before his 61st birthday, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima did just that, breaking a record that stood like the four minute running mile of motorsports: ten minutes or less to the top of Pikes Peak. After crashing out of the race I had to know how he did it.
You would think with all the motorsport teams in the world and all the crazy machinery people build, that the record would have been broken by now. Even more interesting is Tajima previously set the record in 2007 with a time of 10:01.4.

Most guesses say the 10 minute barrier was broken because of the additional pavement above Devil’s Playground. But I think they’re wrong, I think it was Tajima’s special race week diet. Salad, salad, and more salad. Each night was an adventure in finding the best salad bar in Colorado Springs. But here’s the secret twist. Every trip to the summit during reconnaissance was an orgy of chili dogs and doughnuts.

To the normal person this sounds insane, but I get it. There is something special about stuffing your face with doughnuts at 14,000 feet when you can hardly breath. To Tajima it was ritual. He was having the time of his life. He knew this was his year.

The only time I didn’t see him smiling was when he was stretching, about to get in the car to achieve greatness. He was dead serious, focused, in a trance. I asked him what he was thinking that morning when he climbed into the car.

CASWELL: Was this the year?

MONSTER: “Yes, It was my feeling, which was very good based on qualifying.”

CASWELL: When did you know you had beaten the record?

MONSTER: Halfway around Glen Cove (approx. 6 miles up)! The tires! The suspension! The engine! They kept getting better and better! The car was fantastic!

CASWELL: Bottomless pit, there was oil everywhere and many cars slowed down. They were warning all the cars at the start. Where you concerned?

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