LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Under the heat of the summer sun, race car drivers readied their engines for a race for time up East Northampton Street for the annual Giants Despair Hillclimb near Laurel Run.
"We've been doing it since 1906. A two-day event, we started around nine o'clock and about five. This year we have I believe, 110 cars racing this year," said Dan Jones, treasurer.
With even more spectators along the track, twists and turns.
"That's the best part of it. I love the spectators; the cheers you get at the elbow are what make this event possible. It's the best thing about it," said Mike Robinson, Bucks County.
And just one of the many reasons these drivers tell Newswatch 16 they come back here year after year.
"It's just the adrenaline here on the hill. All the people, they're all like family," said Stephen Sincavage, Larksville.
"We've been coming up to Giants Despair since 2010 and have been hill climbing for over 20 years but every year without fail since 2010," said Robinson.
"There's folks from different states here, and that's typical for Giants Despair. There's folks from Georgia here and far north, Massachusetts, all over the place in Jersey, so it brings a pretty big crowd. And then, there's a lot of new racers," said Jones.
Like Josh Campany of Shavertown, who came to honor his brother Michael, who signed up to race but was killed earlier this month in a motorcycle crash in Columbia County.
"I wasn't supposed to. I was just to take it up for a parade lap as a tribute to him, and then they offered, and I was like, yeah, I'll do it," said Josh Company, Shavertown.
Company says this was his first time hill climbing, but he'll be back next year, still with his brother's memory in mind, "Yeah, it means a lot and obviously there's a special meaning behind that and hopefully, maybe next year I can take his record."
The hill climb will continue on Sunday in Luzerne County.