JEREMY LOWDER FINDS INSPIRATION AT 2024 PIKES PEAK HILL CLIMB
Colorado Springs, CO – The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, presented by Gran Turismo, serves as a proving ground for emerging technology and veteran drivers, and a great opportunity for newcomers to the mountain. In 2024, rookie competitor, Jeremy Lowder, of Middlesex, New Jersey, entered his 2019 Chevrolet Camaro in the Pikes Peak Open division and was both humbled and thrilled to compete alongside some motorsport standouts. As a grassroots driver, where else but Pikes Peak are you able to line up on the same course with Romain Dumas?
BEGINNINGS
“I was always interested in any motorized vehicle and wanted to be a racecar driver since I could remember,” shared Lowder. “My cousins had motorcycles and quads, and I would ride as often as I could. I loved it. When I was growing up as an Army brat, we never had money for those, but fast forward 35 years and I bought my favorite childhood car, a Camaro…and not just any Camaro, a 2019 Camaro ZL1 1LE. Wow, what a machine!”
From his dream car to stepping into the world of racing, Lowder explained his path, “I started reading about tracks and saw this type of car on the track, and then I heard about track days. I couldn’t even imagine that a person could actually drive their car on an actual racetrack. So, I brought my car to an SCCA Track Night in America event. I was blown away! I had been waiting my whole life to do this!”
Lowder took the car to as many events as he could in 2020, and his love of racing progressed.
“This car is strictly a time attack, time trial car,” he said. “I started out in SCCA autocross and time trials, then branched out to NASA TT, Global Time Attack, Super Lap Battle and SCCA hill climb events.”
FUELING THE JOURNEY TO PIKES PEAK
Lowder recalled the car prep leading up to Pikes Peak, focusing on one major hurdle he had to overcome. “I missed in the Rule Book that I needed a fuel cell. So, a week before practice my buddy, and nemesis, Eric Magnussen made a few calls to Radium Engineering. They were amazing! I explained my situation and they sent me everything needed to make the conversion right away! I was so grateful. But once the parts arrived, I needed a shop to install the fuel cell. My local shop only did OEM. At this point I was beyond stressed and had to call practically every fabricator from Long Island to Pennsylvania! Finally, a friend of a friend found a local drag shop, Farks Supercars. I told them my timeline was three days and they made it happen.”
The car was finished in record time and arrived at Pikes Peak for Tech Inspection. “We never did have a chance to put it on the dyno, and it had a few bugs, but all in all, the car ran well,” Lowder said. “I was nervous about the cooling, but the car ran perfectly in all temperature variations.”
ON THE MOUNTAIN
Sharing a practice week incident, Lowder recalled, “the toughest corner I faced was near Tin Barn. That turn continued to close and I thought it would open; it didn’t. I end up rolling the car onto its side in the concrete ditch during practice.”
“Be humble, or the mountain will make you humble.”
Jeremy Lowder
Sharing heartfelt gratitude for this 2024 Pikes Peak experience, Lowder commented, “It’s hard to explain how amazing it feels to drive among such a great group of wonderful and talented individuals. These epic people that you look up to would talk to you as a fellow driver, a real person. I thought to myself a few times, ‘What am I doing here? How did they allow me to run with such greatness?’ I had to pinch myself multiple times.”
A TEAM EFFORT
Lowder finished 9th in Pikes Peak Open in 11:31.622 and shared, “Racing on Pikes Peak is really the chance of a lifetime. Cherish it, and all the people who help you along the way.”
“Initially, I was so surprised to get in, I said I only wanted to challenge the mountain once. In 2024, I drove a little conservatively on race day due to a race week incident, plus I’d made promises I’d make it to the top. But, after doing it once, I’ve been bitten by the bug! Now I need to prove to myself, and to the people who believed in me, that I can make a good time up there.”
APPRECIATION
“I have to thank Jake Graham at TGA Performance, a great friend in Colorado Springs, who opened his shop, his home, his trailer, and everything he owned to help us,” exclaimed Lowder. “I am eternally grateful.”
“My sponsors, along with my family, supported my craziness along the way and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
GET TO KNOW JEREMY LOWDER
Instagram: @bad_zl1_1le
Fun Facts:
“I work as a contractor, but also help my community as a fireman.”
“My motto is ‘work hard so I can play hard.’ I like to hunt and fish, but working on the car seems to take all my time. Most people in our industry have a hobby that consumes them…it’s working on their cars.”
“My daily driver is a GMC Pickup.”
Best advice about racing on Pikes Peak: “Be prepared for everything…with your vehicle, your crew, the weather and yourself – physically and mentally.”
Favorite Turn: “The last one, at the summit. There is so much anticipation building throughout the day, the week, the month. You practice all week in three sections, but you don’t get to practice the entire course at once. At the bottom, it seems so far away, but when you round that last corner and see the checkered flag, it’s over in an instant.”
Mentors: “Two months before the race, David Donohue reached out to me. I was just floored. Why would he reach out to me? He told me, ‘You seem to live close, and you’re on the team now.’ I didn’t know what to say. Of course I had seen him at Super Lap Battle at COTA, but for him to talk to me like an equal was really something. I’m a nobody, yet here I was talking to a master. It really is something, the Pikes Peak family.”
Advice for a Rookie: “Listen to anyone who will share their past experience; there is no amount of time or money that can give you this. Everyone will talk to you, so don’t be afraid to ask. It’s just an amazing community.”
What is Racing for ALS: “When Ryan Cheek, another rookie on Pikes Peak this year, and I found out we were both accepted, it was like the heavens opened up. We are both Racing for ALS supporters. Most people who support the cause have an ALS reason, losing someone to ALS. I met Dave and Scott Lloyd of Racing for ALS at the track. We had all started racing later in life. When Dave passed away, a movement was created to find a cure. It’s hard to put into words what they’ve done to raise awareness.”
Favorite Track: “Circuit of the Americas (COTA)”, is the most epic, but on the East Coast there are two sister tracks to Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Lightning and Thunderbolt in New Jersey. They’re smaller, but very fun tracks.”
WATCH JEREMY LOWDER’S ROOKIE RUN ON PIKES PEAK – AMERICA’S MOUNTAIN
Photos by: Larry Chen Photo; Larry Chen, Luis Garcia; Charles Zhao, Jason Zindroski. Duncan Cowper
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