Inside Cunningham's amazing Pikes Peak victory

Peter Cunningham's first run to the clouds at Pikes Peak delivered three amazing results. The winningest driver in World Challenge history and owner of RealTime Racing won on his debut at the mountain – a major accomplishment, but his class victory actually pales in comparison to what he achieved in an ex-WC Acura TLX GT.

The 14-time racing champion did more than win against other high-powered sedans at Pikes Peak; Cunningham pushed the AWD twin-turbo V6-powered machine to the top of the Open class with a run of 9m33.797s up the 12.4-mile, 156-turn hill climb.

A debut winner, and in the tough Open category, would be enough to satisfy most people, but Cunningham's third Pikes Peak achievement is where the gravity of RTR's performance is felt: The No. 42 TLX-GT finished second overall.

Cunningham knocked off the entire open-wheel class – the one where lightweight, tubeframe, high-downforce cars built specifically to go up the mountain should easily displace anything like the RTR Acura that came off a production line. Cunningham also took down all but one of the carbon fiber sports prototypes – miniature LMP2-style cars – that were either made for Pikes Peak or customized to attack the Colorado course.

Le Mans winner Romain Dumas claimed overall honors in the Unlimited class with his Norma prototype (pictured, image courtesy of PPIHC) that completed a 9m05.672s blast through the trees, and against all odds, Cunningham wedged 3425 pounds of Acura TLX-GT firmly between the Dumas' featherweight racer and 75 other entries that rolled to the starting line.

"The TLX-GT World Challenge car was well-suited to the mountain," Cunningham told RACER. "It had some things holding it back, too, but overall, it adapted well to the mountain. All the competitors were very gracious and they knew our car had potential. It really is a special event."

Using the original 2014 TLX-GT WC chassis as its Pikes Peak challenger, the RTR crew invested an incredible amount of work over a short timespan to rebuild the bare Acura into its Open class competitor. In another twist that only adds to Cunningham's accomplishment, the TLX-GT went up the course with about 500hp on tap – far less than its rivals – due to WC-spec turbos.

To overcome his lack of experience, Cunningham relied on Pikes Peak legend Paul Dallenbach and every other educational tool at his disposal to remove any excuses on race day. Considering the TLX-GT's high curb weight and modest power for the class, it's fair to assume the studying helped as the Acura distinguished itself in the corners.

"They say you need to do the event a few times to learn the road, so we tried to overcome that by doing four test days earlier this month. I did reconnaissance in a rental car in April, and I even tried doing a video game to learn the course – but kept crashing in the first few corners so I threw in the towel there," he said.

"The first person who took me up the mountain was Paul Dallenbach in April, which was pretty good. Paul had the open-wheel record at 9m36s, and he thought it was going to be safe [for second overall], but then I did a 9m33s..."

The big effort from RTR and Acura clearly paid off at Pikes Peak, but how does Cunningham view the event going forward? Is it a one-and-done, or can he see the event becoming an annual tradition for his Wisconsin-based outfit?

"My wife said it best: Don't ask a mother who's just given birth if she wants to have another child," he said with a laugh. "That being said, we would definitely consider going back. It's just a matter of what we go back with. It's a little early to know how we're going to carry on from here, but the hook is firmly in my cheek."

As Cunningham found on the 156 turns and 12.4 miles, his decades of ice racing, autocrossing and road racing blended into the perfect skillset demanded by the mountain. Where the victory stands among his other successes in the sport will come in due time.

"I don't have enough time to really understand its full meaning, but this win ranks right up there," he said. "It's the most recent triumph, and it's happening in the winter stages of my career. It really was a challenge; it has road racing elements, it has autocross elements, it has rally elements, and it was right in my wheelhouse with my experience in all those formulas. It was right up my alley."