Duryea Hillclimb attracts first-time competitors from as far away as Illinois, Arizona

Aug. 19—The first time Tom Plaza saw a video of defending champion Mark Aubele competing in the Duryea Hillclimb in 2019, Plaza was immediately intrigued.

"He was just ripping at the top," Plaza said about Aubele. "I was like, 'That would be a lot of fun.' "

A year later, Plaza, a drag racer, decided to sell his drag cars and buy a former NASCAR stock car and take his talents to hillclimbs. A resident of Arlington Heights, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, Plaza was one of several competitors who traveled hundreds of miles to Reading to make Duryea Hillclimb debuts on Saturday.

"I just jump into things head first and just figure it out afterwards," Plaza said. "I've always loved racing since I was little. I always wanted to get into it."

Plaza, 28, began drag racing at age 16 but transitioned to hillclimbs in 2020 after he bought his 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass stock car that was raced in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, now known as the Xfinity Series, in the early 1990s. Plaza said he is unaware of which NASCAR driver raced the car, which features a 355-cubic inch General Motors V8 engine and a four-speed manual transmission.

After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 hillclimb season, Plaza made his debut in 2021 at the Pine Mountain Hillclimb in Pineville, Ky. He returned to Pineville the following year and also competed in North Carolina and Virginia.

"It's very adrenaline-inducing because you don't have a lot of room for error," Plaza said. "You're battling everything — the car, the road, the conditions."

After competing at hillclimbs in Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina earlier this season, Plaza decided to make the 12-hour drive to Reading and compete in the Duryea Hillclimb.

"I wanted to do this one," Plaza said. "Last event of the year, and I wanted to make it this one."

With a time of 120.166 seconds, Plaza ranked 11th after the first day of the Duryea Hillclimb and was the leader in the GT1 class. Competitors race up the 2.25-mile course, composed of Duryea Drive and Skyline Drive, to the finish line at the William Penn Fire Tower atop Mount Penn.

"The course has got everything," Plaza said. "It's got slow, tight corners; it's got open ones. It keeps you on your toes the whole way."

While his goal is to finish first in his class, Plaza said he values the time spent with his parents at the hillclimbs and the many friends he's met at the events along the way.

"Racing has been our thing to do together," Plaza said. "It's all about coming here, having fun. The people are the reason we keep coming back."

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The camaraderie among family and friends is the same reason husband and wife Bob and Marie Sherman made the cross-country trek from Chino Valley, Ariz., to Reading to compete in the Duryea Hillclimb on Saturday.

"It doesn't matter how old you are or how young you are or what kind of car you have, it's all about having a good time," Bob Sherman said about hillclimbs. "Everyone is helpful. It gets to be kind of like a family."

Veterans of the sport, the Shermans were encouraged by former Duryea Hillclimb competitor and friend George Boland to make the trip to Reading and compete. The Shermans regularly compete in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia, Canada, as part of the Northwest Hillclimb Association circuit.

"The people are great," Marie Sherman said about the Duryea Hillclimb. "The hill is good."

After competing in autocross for several years, the Shermans made their hillclimb debut in at Bible Creek Hillclimb in Oregon in 2005. That was all it took for the pair to be hooked on the form of motor sports.

"We really loved it," Marie Sherman said. "There's so much to learn."

The pair share a 1972 MG MGB GT coupe and compete against one another at each event. Bob, 76, recorded a time of 161.372 seconds on Saturday, while Marie's best time was 189.431 seconds.

"It's a challenge," Bob Sherman said. "You have to master the course and the car."

While they will compete again in the final day of the event on Sunday, Bob said he enjoyed his first time on the Duryea course.

"It's very technical," he said. "The pavement changes."

While they have been competing for nearly two decades, the Shermans have no intentions of stepping away from the sport.

"As long as my reactions are good (and) my health is good, take advantage of it," Bob Sherman said. "You get to a point where you can't do some things, so do it now."

Whether they are in California or Pennsylvania or anywhere in between, the Shermans have made hillclimbs about spending time with one another.

"We enjoy it," Marie Sherman said. "It's really special."