Start Your Engines - Burnt Mountain Hill Climb may return

County researching legality of racing on public roads after expert drivers give track a thumbs up

9/3/2009 - Angela Reinhardt

The test run was over before you knew it began, but expert drivers from the Sports Car Club of America got enough of a feel for the one-mile track on Bent Tree Drive to give the green light for a hill climb racing event they want to bring to Pickens County every spring. SCCA’s Central Carolinas Region South West Chapter Chairman Ted Theodore zeroed in on Pickens while conducting research for his book on hill climbing in the southeastern United States. He discovered an old newspaper article with a photo of the 1952 Burnt Mountain Hill Climb winner, pictured with his Porche at the site of the old Archer Motorcourt that was demolished to make room for the Walgreens drugstore in Jasper. “I have been researching hill climbs in the southeastern U.S.,” Theodore said. “I guess we saw what they were doing overseas, and we wanted to get in on the fun. But I came across that article and thought it would be neat to bring this event back to Pickens.” County officials, however, are still investigating the legalities of racing on public roads, and it is uncertain at this time if the event, which would be the only of its kind in Georgia, will get the go-ahead. “The county attorney is looking into it to be sure the county is covered on every front,” said Pickens County Economic Development Director Gerry Nechvatal. “Phil [Landrum] is looking for a precedence in recent times in the state of Georgia that would allow us to do this. There are several other states that participate in these kinds of events, so it seems that there would be a mechanism that would allow it to happen,” he added. The monkey wrench thrown at the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce, who is working with the SCCA to organize the event, is a state statute that forbids racing of any kind on public roads in Georgia. A hill climb is a time-trial competition event in which drivers are pitted against the clock and only one car drives the track per run, but it is still considered a race according to the statute. Pickens County Attorney Phil Landrum, III is searching for a racing-style event in Georgia that would provide some insight as to how the county could legally work around the regulation. It was suggested that Landrum look into the Hutchinson Island antique car races in Chatham County, Ga. “I don’t think these hurdles are insurmountable,” Nechvatal said. “We are going to keep moving forward, and if we can bring this event to the county, it will be a huge benefit from its uniqueness to the direct economic impact it will have for our local businesses.” Sheriff Donnie Craig, Commissioner Rob Jones, members of the SCCA’s Central Carolinas Region and chamber officials met Thursday afternoon and discussed the inconvenient snag. It was suggested by Nechvatal that it might be possible to pass a “local act” through the state legislature that would free up the county to host the SCCA hill climb if a specific date and time is outlined in the legislation. Commissioner Jones pointed out the Georgia legislature won’t reconvene until early January, but the SCCA and the chamber aren’t planning the hill climb until the last of April 2010, which would give the county ample time to work with the legislative body if need be. Again, however, county officials were not certain at the Thursday meeting that passing the temporary act would be a viable method of sidestepping the pothole, but hopes for bringing the hill climb back to Pickens remained high among all involved parties. Competition Director of the Atlanta Region SCCA Butch Cumming said, “I feel certain we can do a safe event, and I think this will be a boom for Pickens County.” Not only will racers stay in local hotels and motels for three days, (which could total nearly 150, not including family or friends they bring along), but spectators will eat at local restaurants and shop at local stores. One SCCA member estimated their organization can bring anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000 to a community in one three-day weekend.

PHOTO BY KNOWPICKENS.COM Drivers from the Sports Car Club of America testing a one-mile run on Bent Tree Drive, possibly the future site of a hill climb race.