Sometimes a motorsports event just needs the right allies to come together. The SCCA Pine Mountain HillClimb by Grassroots Motorsports quickly went from idea to green flag thanks to the help of Backroads of Appalachia. This nonprofit group’s mission: Replace some of the loss of coal jobs by bringing in tourism and motorsports events.
“Backroads of Appalachia is a …
As someone who lives in the Mid Atlantic, I love what and HOW Erik and Heyward are striving to create in the smokies. It can be a difficult balance getting a community to agree to having motorsports have a desire and willingness to commit to it, some communities get the feeling that it makes them feel like a guest in their own home, but Erik and Heyward have done an amazing job and the people within the community by all accounts have been amazing and enjoyed the weekend and are looking forward to future events. Between that and PHA it truly provides an opportunity to have a hillclimb focused platform with ample opportunity to enjoy it. It will also hopefully create additional exposure and interest amongst younger drivers as hillclimb organizers aren't getting any younger, so it's time that we collectively give them a hand as well as give thanks for their decades of efforts.
I also want to thank our host here for sponsoring the event and creating exposure for it. Throughout the weekend on a multitude of social media platforms I was getting notifications related to the event that were organically produced and were due to content created by individuals at the event. That would not have occurred without GRM having promoted the event, which is a strange balance to strike when there are no spectators. You started the promotion and others ran with it. That's how events and sports grow. Use numbers and data from this event in the media kit to promote yourselves to get others to utilize you for event promotion. Getting a Tik Tok notification regarding a hillclimb and finding out that it's not a clip for a European event was different and interesting, but I certainly won't complain about it.
I'm finishing up PA school at LMU 15 minutes from Pineville, but I'm out on rotations now. Bummed I missed this, but I'd love to bring the Z out next year. I got to drive that road for a banquet last year, and it was wonderful. I can't imagine how good it is as a closed course!
I will ABSOLUTELY be there next year (with cars for rent). I miss Chimney Rock so much.
As I am a potential future competitor, Erik was able to grant me access to spectate the event. I was there Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. What a beautiful area! I spoke to several drivers and the common theme to their responses was "the course is sketchy af!" Their sentiments were intended in a positive tone and I assume anyone entering a hillclimb should be aware that its pretty sketchy! lol. My wife and I had a great time!
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