Speed smashes Mount Washington Hillclimb record

Scott Speed has broken the Mount Washington Hillclimb record driving Subaru Motorsports USA's 'Project Midnight'. 

It marks the fifth-consecutive record-breaking run for the team, following David Higgins' runs in 2011 and 2014, and Travis Pastrana's in 2017 and 2021. Speed's time of 5m11.982s destroyed Pastrana's record by 16.688s, although the 7.6 mile course is now fully paved as opposed to the mixed-surface challenge of five years ago.

Speed had looked strong in the build-up to Sunday's final run, but hopes of a new record were almost dashed thanks to thick fog. Friday and Saturday's practice sessions were completed on just the bottom half of the course, while it was the same for Sunday's first run. But for the final runs of the weekend, the full course was opened.

“After I saw the time, it feels awesome!” Speed said. “I’m glad to be able to throw down a time that was so much faster than any of us expected… This was a big mental challenge for me. It was so exciting. I pumped my fist at the finish line, and I don’t normally do that.

“With us going last, you can wait until it looks clear at the top and it still might not matter, because it takes five minutes to get there.This was the only time I ran the full mountain this weekend, and a lot of things had to go right.”

For Pastrana's 2017 run he drove a rallycross-engined Subaru WRX STI rally car, while in 2021 he drove the 'Airslayer', a WRX STI one-off that was built primarily for Hoonigan's Gymkhana series of online videos.

Project Midnight is something of a successor to the Airslayer. First unveiled two years ago and showcasing styling of the latest VB WRX, the car was developed for hillclimb and circuit records. Powered by a development of Subaru factory motorsport partner Vermont SportsCar’s championship-winning rallycross 2.0-litre boxer engine, it develops 670 horsepower and 680 lb-ft of torque, while the car weighs in at less than 2,500 lbs thanks to an all carbon fiber construction.

The car made its public debut at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed where it finished second overall in the timed shootout behind the Romain Dumas in the Ford SuperVan 4.2 Electric (making it the fastest combustion-powered car in the event's Timed Shootout). It repeated that result in 2025 again behind Dumas – this time driving the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck – and has also won Velocity Invitational's Time Attack series every time it has competed and holds the track record at VIRginia International Raceway.

The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also referred to as ‘Climb to the Clouds’ is the United States’ oldest motorsport competition with its first edition being held in 1904. After ending after 1998, the event returned in 2011 and has run every three years since – except for 2020’s competition being moved to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 contest being called off entirely due to unsafe weather. Since that 2011 return, Subaru Motorsports USA has competed every time, breaking the record upon each visit.