MORE RACING: Our columns a week ago about auto ice trials on Red House Lake moved several of our readers to reminisce about the Red Rock Hill Climb, which was held for a few years in the 1970s.

Jim Connelly Jr. called to tell us about the hill climbs, which ran from Derrick City to the top of Red Rock Hill in 1974, ’75 and ’76. His father-in-law, the late Dick Gardner, was one of the organizers of the races, which like the ice trials, were sponsored by the Allegheny Valley Sports Car Club.

Jim, who grew up near the hill, said he was a teenager in the years the climbs were held and recalled either riding his bicycle or hitch-hiking to the races.

Hal Harmon, who lives in Ken-Mar Acres, was another spectator for several of the races.

Bruce Perry and Ken Hogue, who were both members of the sports car club, helped organize and raced in the timed events. They were an outgrowth of autocross races — timed short-course races laid out on places like the old go-cart track along Route 59 in Marshburg and the parking lot of the Valu Home Center along East Main Street.

That Valu Home Center autocross was run only once, Bruce said, because of the racket and tire smoke the cars raised.

Bruce told us he and several other club members participated in hill climbs sponsored by the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association elsewhere before deciding to put one on here. The local Shriners helped promote the race, and the Derrick City Firehall was the social center for the two-day events.

The organizers got permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to block off the two-lane highway for the weekend, and the racers took over. 

The smaller, slower cars would run on Saturday, and the more-powerful racers would scream up the hill on Sunday. There were classes for all kinds of cars, from Bugeye Sprites to Corvettes, and some purpose-built race cars as well, Bruce said.

The event was sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Hill Climb Association, which helped draw racers from several states. Upwards of 75 entries came from several states, Bruce recalled.

In those days, there were many more people in the area who participated in car racing than there are today, and it wasn’t inexpensive to be competitive.

Bruce recalled his favorite quote from Dick Gardner on that subject: “Racing always kept the excess money from backing up and choking you.”