With a world-wide audience, the Hill Climb has grown into the third-largest motorsports event in the Hoosier State, trailing only the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR at the Brickyard race. Now the event is one of the Top 20 largest festivals in Indiana, attracting more than 100,000 visitors each year to the Vermillion County Seat with a population of barely 550 on a busy day. The first event was held in 1968 and soon after, the First Sunday of October was designated as the “race day.” Early festivals began on Thursday or Wednesday with nightly activities before settling into the current three-day format. In 1967, with urging from a number of antique car enthusiasts and car clubs, the Newport Lions Club was formed and the Hill Climb reborn as its major fund-raiser. The Newport Volunteer Fire Department rekindled the event as an Antique Auto Hill Climb in 19, but again the financial returns and shortage of manpower ended the event after two years. The financial returns to the businessmen shrank, as did the interest in holding the event, and the 1916 event never materialized. Hill Climbing contests were becoming more common place, and by 1915 the “newness” has worn off, and board-track and other circular racing forms were becoming more popular. The first Hill Climb was held in 1909 and organized by the businessmen of Newport as a way to capitalize on the interest in climbing the hill. Then it wasn’t just enough to top the hill you had to be the fastest to climb it. While early autos had trouble making it up the crest of the hill, soon topping the 140-foot plus hilltop became common, but still a great struggle on the early gasoline engines. The Newport Hill Climb likely began as an “innocent” challenge between two owners of those new-fangled automobiles.

Hill climb race