The 2022 Polish Mountain Hillclimb was held August 6-7 in Flintstone, MD. The course was in excellent shape, having been completely repaved in 2020. But since it is August, we dealt with very hot weather and afternoon thunderstorms both days, so the course didn’t ever completely dry out. Despite a damp course, 5 class records were set. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First of all, Mark Aubele once again took FTD in his 2003 Ford Mustang (with LS Swap) that he runs in Super Production Over (SPO).
Mark’s time was a 53.270, and is a new class record, killing the old record of 57.519 set in 2007 by Leith Wain in a Porsche 996.
Hunter Huffman took the Street Mod FWD (SMF) record with a 56.848 in his 1990 Honda Civic, and placed third overall! The previous record was set in 2021 by Matt Phillips in his 2000 Honda Civic, and was a 57.245.
In Super Street Prepared (SSP), Mike Robinson took the class record in a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette, with a 58.712. The previous record of 59.219 was held by none other than Mark Aubele from 2012, back when Mark was running a 2001 Chevrolet Corvette. Mike placed eighth overall.
Michele Aubele took the Street Modified RWD (SMR) record with a 59.296. The previous record holder was Eric (Rick) Johnson in his 79 Ford Mustang, who ran a 61.376 in 2021. Michele also placed 12th overall, and was the fastest woman.
Thanks to Patti Murphy, I do have some decent pictures of the workers this time, although still none of the corner workers. First of all, the Flintstone Fire Department was instrumental in supporting this event, providing workers, the fire truck, etc.
And in the start line area, here are some of the people who made this event happen.
This event was the fifth of the series, so the event points are starting to become something to watch. Aside from class points, we have three overall awards – Lloyd Geib, Overall and Mileage.
For the Lloyd Geib Award, which is calculated based on position in class and on how many people one is faster than in class, Michele Aubele and Eric Johnson are currently tied for first place, with 240 points each. Dillon Axarlis, Hunter Huffman and Crystal Whisler are tied for second place, with 170 points each.
Michele and Hunter are pictured above, and Eric (Rick) Johnson was unable to make this event. But Dillon and Crystal were there, both in FSP:
FSP was actually a very interesting class at this event. There were 6 drivers, and all drivers were from 2 families. In the Neon, Crystal shared the car with her grandfather (Don DeHart). And in the 2 Sciroccos, Mike Axarlis shared one car with his daughter Jessica Fessler, and Dillon and Dustin Axarlis shared the other one. Dillon, Dustin and Jessica also somehow fit on a moped for a tour around the pits.
Anyway, back to the overall awards. The Overall Award itself, which is calculated based on overall position placed at each event (100 points for first overall, 99 for second, etc.), Mark Aubele is in first place with a 500. This is a perfect score, as Mark has taken FTD at every PHA event so far.
The Mileage award is calculated by multiplying the number of runs taken by length of course. I am personally in the lead, but only by less than a mile after this event. I have taken every run at every event as I normally do, but my car broke (more below) and I had to sit Sunday out, watching Jody Miller take run after run, erasing my lead 🙂
I’m at 74.1 miles for the season, and Jody is at 73.5 miles. I guess it’s game on Jody!
As I mentioned in the previous post on Giants, our times, while important, are not the main reason most of us are running the hills. It’s the people – workers, drivers, event organizers, etc. – that keep us coming back.
I drove down Thursday night after work, and despite my late arrival, there was a nice fire going and great conversations to be had. I’m not sure this is a picture of the actual fire, but it is the fire pit we used, so I’m going with it!
I took it easy Friday, as it was really hot and humid. I also invited myself to the Wankerville late lunch/early dinner at Puccini’s, and the Dill Pickle Pizza was as awesome as I remembered. Yes, I know, it sounds strange, but if you like pickles, it is really good!
The course was damp Saturday morning from all the rain, and never dried out all day. Despite the damp course, I managed to run 5 seconds faster than I have in years, even if I’m still off my fast time. And I had so much fun!
By the end of the day, however, it was quite clear that there was something very wrong with my car, and that the problem was likely was a blown head gasket. So I parked the car, and just hung out Sunday. I had already planned to stay Sunday night, and dropped the car off at my shop on the way home.
A small group of us stayed over Sunday night as well, and we went back to Puccini’s. And yes, I had the Dill Pickle Pizza again, it was that good!
If you’re still with me, check out these pit area photos:
I’ll put the rest in the gallery below.
But before I do, Bob Helton took some amazing action photos from the course — you will definitely want to check them out at the link below. If you want a copy of your photo, please contact him at bhelton@atlanticbb.net.
https://www.photozbybob.com/2022-Polish-Mountain-Hill-Climb/
The gallery:
