Emelia Hartford Just Became the Fastest Woman to Ever Race Up Pikes Peak

Emelia Hartford is the fastest woman to ever race a car up Pikes Peak. At the 104th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 21, she drove her orange-and-white-wrapped 2026 Corvette ZR1 up the 12.42-mile course in 10 minutes, 11.018 seconds — good for 17th overall, 4th in the Time Attack 1 division, and a new all-time women's record that beat the previous mark by more than six seconds.

The mountain has tested me, humbled me, and pushed me beyond anything I thought possible.

The record she broke didn't sit still all day, either. Laura Hayes, the reigning "Queen of the Mountain," lowered her own 2024 record earlier on the same 2026 race day before Hartford's run pushed the bar to 10:11.018, more than six seconds clear of Hayes' updated time. It capped a comeback of sorts: Hartford's first attempt at Pikes Peak in 2025 was cut short when extreme weather forced officials to shorten the course before the field could reach the summit, leaving her the second-fastest woman that year despite never getting to run the full mountain.

What makes the time notable beyond the record itself is what she did it in. Hartford's ZR1 is the naturally-aspirated, rear-wheel-drive version of Chevrolet's flagship Corvette — no hybrid electric motor, no all-wheel drive, none of the traction advantages that a lot of the fastest cars on the mountain lean on at altitude, where thinner air already costs a gas engine real horsepower. She and the Hartford Racing crew relocated to Colorado for a month ahead of the event specifically to acclimate to that altitude and dial in the car before race day.

"The mountain has tested me, humbled me, and pushed me beyond anything I thought possible," Hartford said afterward. "To leave with this record is something I'll never forget." Five women competed in the 2026 field, and Hartford's run was one of several records to fall that day — Pikes Peak's production-car and rear-wheel-drive-class records also went down, part of what organizers called one of the most competitive runnings in the event's history.