Travis Pastrana Shatters Mt. Washington Record - 5:44.72!

July 09, 2017

Travis Pastrana crushed the Mt. Washington Hillclimb record today reaching the 6288’ summit in a stunning 5:44.72. The #199 WRX STI with a specially fitted 600hp engine actually beat the record two times, running a 5:46.28 on the first attempt up the twisty 7.4 mile race course. This is just shy of a twenty-five second gain on the old record of 6:09.09 held by David Higgins from 2014.

David Higgins piloting an identically prepared #75 WRX STI, was equally determined for a new record. However, as he approached the classic dirt Cragway Turn 2.5 miles from the summit, he carried too much speed. Drifting wide he hit rocks on the outside and spun off the road in a dramatic moment. As the helicopter circled in for a closer look, an extremely disappointed David Higgins emerged unhurt from his 2017 Subaru WRX STI. Despite the dramatic looking incident, the car was relatively undamaged with the exception of the left rear wheel assembly. Going off the side of Mt. Washington when gunning for gold is legendary in its own right. As a consolation, David Higgins did set the fastest speed on the Quarter Mile section ever recorded at 116 miles per hour.

At the base after the second record-breaking run, an ecstatic Travis Pastrana greeted fans and the rest of his SRTUSA crew. When asked about how he bested his first run, Travis described driving the bottom half cleaner and actually a little slower, however, this conserved his tires significantly allowing for a much faster top section. It was a dazzling performance by motocross legend and Subaru Rally Team USA Driver Travis Pastrana. Congratulations Travis!