“TEXAS DAVE” CARAPETYAN REUNITES WITH PIKES PEAK
Colorado Springs, CO – In 2023, The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo, saw the return of veteran competitor, Dave Carapetyan, or “Texas Dave” as he is known in racing circles. Carapetyan was eager to share his thoughts about how it all came to pass. “I had taken a decade away from racing on Pikes Peak to build our Rally Ready Driving School in Texas but, in 2021, I came back to the mountain with my friend Bucky Lasek to spectate and see old friends. That was a reminder of how tight a group of friends I have and what a special community there is at Pikes Peak. When I heard Melissa Eickhoff, somebody I admire very much, was joining as Executive Director it felt like the right time to come back and be part of the next chapter in the evolution of this race. The fact that Cole (Powelson) happened to have a 500hp SIERRA Alpha he was willing to rent me helped make the decision much easier!”
Rally Enthusiast
A 17-year old Pikes Peak rookie in 2005, Carapetyan entered the Rally/Production GT division, his third rally ever, in the inaugural Rally America National Championship. Pikes Peak was the fourth race in the series. While Carapetyan finished the stage in his 1998 Acura Integra in the Production GT division, Tanner Foust, the only non-rookie in the group, along with co-driver Scott Crouch, took the win. Carapetyan was in good company on the mountain as another promising rookie driver, Ken Block, got his first taste of competition on Pikes Peak in the Rally Group N division the same year.
Get a Grip
During the multi-year highway paving project, drivers often had difficulty selecting tires that would meet the needs of a dual-surface course. Carapetyan gave this illustration, “In 2009, Marcus Gronholm and Michelin came to try and break the record in a modified rallycross Fiesta. One of the Michelin engineers came over to me after a practice run and said, ‘Which tires are these? They say Michelin but I do not know these tires,’ to which I explained that we were running a P2C Michelin GT3 rain tire and spraying the tires with windshield wiper sprayers to keep them from overheating. He looked astonished at our “budget” solution. On race day he ran to find me and show me that they had cut their tires to match because they couldn’t get our tires in time. Tires were always a sacrifice, but I preferred a car that had grip on gravel and moved around a bit on the pavement. That’s a much easier car to drive than something with grip on asphalt, that ends up being like driving on ice if you’re sitting on top of the marbles on the gravel.”
Carapetyan would strap in behind the wheel to challenge Pikes Peak ten times between 2005 and 2015. He saw the most success in 2008, 2009 and 2010 (pictured) when he took home three consecutive Pikes Peak Open division champion titles.
Lesson Learned
In 2011, Carapetyan moved to the Unlimited division, where he didn’t enjoy the same success, recording his first DNF. He recalled, “That was a year we decided to go for it and build our Evo for Unlimited division. Unfortunately, some of our sponsorship dried up a month before the race and we ended up with a half-finished car that kept blowing up head gaskets on the dyno. My goal was to make one big push on the last year of dirt, and the car lasted until the last dirt corner and then popped a motor. I learned more that year than in any other single race of my life. Most importantly, when to know you’re beat.”
Never Back Down
“The following year, 2012, we had some similar issues in a Subaru we entered, and I decided to learn my lesson and withdraw to focus on helping our other two cars make the summit. In 2013, we had a strong run but lost power two miles from the finish and just barely finished.” Carapetyan claimed 7th in the Unlimited division, with a time of 10:28.315.
The team experienced similar issues in 2014 and, unfortunately, couldn’t make it past Ski Area.
Rally Ready Dream to Reality
In 2004, Carapetyan traveled the country entering rallies and learning all he could about the sport. Mile after mile, he noted the best turns, jumps and tree-lined terrain and began designing and planning a facility that would encompass the best of it.
Carapetyan and his team began coaching drivers in rally techniques in 2012, and the Rally Ready Driving School became a reality when the team moved into their permanent home on the Rally Ranch in 2015. The ranch is a 140 acre playground for enthusiasts, just fifteen minutes from Circuit of the Americas in Austin and is notable as the home of rally racing in Texas offering everything from wide open pastures for consequence-free beginner lessons to narrow tree-lined rally stages with jumps, crests and blind corners.
Back on the Mountain in 2023
Carapetyan shared something he loves about Pikes Peak. “The fans, whether they know who you are or not, just want to see you finish, go for a personal best and have the best time ever.”
He claimed third in the Open Wheel division, and an impressive 15th overall, with his time of 10:04.665. His goal of a sub-10-minute finish is within reach. We’ll have to wait and see if a return to America’s Mountain is in the works.
GET TO KNOW “TEXAS DAVE”
Three Things For Fans To Know:
“I grew up singing in a skate punk band called The Snobs.”
“Through our dog rescue, Rally Rescue, we’ve rehabilitated and rehomed over 150 stray dogs from around Dale, TX, where our rally school is located.”
“I used to have a Dr Pepper addiction. I wouldn’t drink it for four months before race day, then I’d pack it in the trunk of the race car and drink one at the summit.”
Pikes Peak heroes? “The number of people I consider heroes is endless, but most of them for who they are off the mountain and out of the race car. Cole Powelson is an amazing friend who has taught me much about shutting the (bleep) up and listening. Savannah and Val Ivanitski are a hero-couple I adore. Phil Layton taught me a lot about what servant leadership looks like by putting the needs of the many over the wishes of the few. Andrew Hawkeswood and his family have become family that we travel as often as possible to visit in New Zealand.”
Significance of your race number: “I’ve run 959 on Pikes Peak as my goal to break 10 minutes.”
Favorite section: “I absolutely love Engineers up through Ski Area. The rhythm of getting the exit right and carrying commitment into Picnic Grounds followed by hugging the inside along the guardrail and chucking into the first hairpin at Brown Bush, it’s just such a fun series of corners, and it’s where it feels like the real challenge starts.”
Most challenging section: “The entire top section is brutal. Once you’ve made it through the W’s, you can taste the finish. Above the treeline the corners are all incredibly fast, and several of them look very similar. The commitment is unreal, and it’s hard to push as hard because you want to be conservative and just make it to the finish. It’s historically where I lose the most time, not because I’m afraid to commit to the speed, but because of my PTSD from breaking the car so many times within a mile or two of the finish.”
If you could race anything up the mountain, what would it be?
“It would probably be 4WD. It would be loud. It would be slow, in a conventional sense, but it would be just plain fun to drive. At this phase in life my identity isn’t tied to my results I really just love driving up the mountain with my friends, and seeing if I can beat my personal best. Although I think I would also love driving my 2006 Chevy Colorado
rally truck on a set of General Grabber ATX all terrains for the pure comedy of it!”
Favorite Track: “You know, I haven’t spent as much time on tracks as most of my friends, but I am fortunate enough to have seven miles of rally, off-road, and rallycross tracks in my front yard at The Rally Ranch, and given that I’ve built every inch of them with all the love of everyone on our team, they’re a bit more special to me than anywhere else.”
Texas Dave takes fans through his 2023 Race to the Clouds
Photos by: Larry Chen, Charles Zhao, Rob Miskowitch, Scott Paine, Nick Cress, Dave Carapetyan/Rally Ready, PPIHC Archives.
Contact:
Lisa Haight
Communications Manager / Historian
(719) 685-4400