Senior racers defy age at first day of Duryea Hillclimb

Aug. 21—The Duryea Hillclimb began Saturday as drivers from throughout the East Coast came together to take part in the timed event that features a 2.3-mile trek with 13 turns up Duryea Drive on Mount Penn in Reading.

Mark Aubele, the 2018 Duryea Hillclimb winner who won the Pagoda Hillclimb in June, ended the day with the fastest time after finishing in 106.948. Aubele said that he believes the Duryea Hillclimb, the longest hill in the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association Series, is one of the premier events for hillclimb racers.

"This is like the mecca," said Aubele, who drives a 2003 Ford Mustang. "This is the premier East Coast hillclimb."

Following closely behind Aubele in second is 74-year-old Dave Cutchins, who finished in 114.861 while racing in his 2011 Stohr F-1000.

For Cutchins, who traveled to Reading from his home near Kitty Hawk, N.C., the Duryea Hillclimb is an opportunity for the racer to reconnect and compete with his friends who call themselves "The Senior Division of Group 2."

"(For) the adrenaline rush and just being around my friends," Cutchins said when asked why he still races hillclimbs at his age. "We got a group of us that have open-wheeled cars and sports racers. And we're all in the same age range so we call ourselves the 'Senior Division of Group 2.'

"I've always said if you don't have something you're interested in you'll grow real old, real fast."

Racers are divided into groups based on the make and style of their cars at most hillclimbs. At the Duryea Hillclimb, Group 2 consists of cars that align into one of the following categories: sports racer, P-1, P-2 spec racer, specials, solo v, all formula cars, GT, production, super production, super touring, ME-1 and ME-2.

The adrenaline surely was high for Cutchins as he reached speeds nearing 120 miles per hour during his run on Saturday. Though he was proud of his time, Cutchins said that the muscle packed under the hood of Aubele's Mustang will be tough for his car to beat as Aubele reached speeds close to 160 mph.

"Having a purposely built formula car versus the brunt of a big V-8 (engine), I make my time up on the slow stuff," Cutchins said. "And of course, he (Aubele) does OK on the slow stuff, but he's extremely quick when he's got wide-open road. So he's just crazy hard to beat and he has a good lead this year."

After starting out with autocross in the 1960s, Cutchins raced his first hillclimb in 2006 at the Blue Ridge Hill farm in North Carolina and started doing PHA hillclimbs in 2007. While he surely enjoys the excitement that a hillclimb with sharp turns and fast speeds provides, Cutchins admitted he has become somewhat grounded in his performances as he grows older.

"My car is way faster than the driver is," Cutchins said. "I think my advanced age tells me when to lift and slow down a little bit. I always tell people when they ask, 'How fast you go?' I say 'Well, my brain tells my foot to go faster. But my posterior says, no you ain't.' There's plenty of caution and someone with a little bit of talent could go faster. I guess I'm into that survival stage."

Also racing as part of the self-proclaimed "Senior Division" is 61-year-old Bryan Fritzler, who competed in his custom-built 2018 Fritzler Raven. Frtizler, who said he has loved all things car related since he was a kid, was inspired to build a car similar to the ones he grew up admiring as a kid.

"I wanted to build a car that was like the sport racers in the middle '60s that I kind of remember when I was little," Fritzler said. "It took about four-and-a-half years to put it all together. I drew out what I wanted the body to look like and sort of carved that shape out of foam and made a mold, and made the body and then I got some steel tube and welded together a frame.

"It's a VW-type four-engine, 2.2 liter. The brand was a Bosch Gold Cup series from back in the '70s and that's where the engine came from."

Fritzler, a Lincoln University resident, recorded a time of 130.234 on Saturday. The former chemical engineer said that racing has always been a hobby and that he started racing autocross before growing fond of the treacherous courses at hillclimbs.

"I've loved cars since I was a little kid," Fritzler said. "I autocrossed for a long time and then a bunch of my friends were doing hillclimbs and so I tried that and it's just fun. I enjoyed driving and the feeling of going around the corner fast; it sort of pushes you over to one side and you turn the other way and pushes you over to the other side. Yeah, I think that's fun."

Rounding out the attending members of the "Senior Division" is 80-year-old George Bowland, the recordholder at Duryea with a time of 105.500. Bowland raced a 2003 Purpose Build V BBR Special on Saturday and recorded a time of 118.732. His time was the ninth best of the day.

Regardless of their times, the camaraderie and love of cars that brought the group together is palpable as the Duryea Hillclimb continues to be a trip down — or more appropriately up — memory lane for the "Senior Division of Group 2."

"We really love coming to Reading," Fritzler said. "It's a lot of fun and we appreciate that the community sort of seems to support this. It's fun to see people walk through and little kids looking at cars, having a good time. We're having a good time and are enjoying it. As much as we enjoy being here, it takes you back to those younger days."