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Project Midnight is the Subaru WRX built by Vermont SportsCar specifically for tarmac attacks rather than rally racing. It's based strongly on the Airslayer STI that Pastrana drove to his previous record of 5:28.67 at the 2021 Climb to the Clouds, but that car was originally built for Gymkhana 2020 and based on a rallycross car. That made it perfect for jumping over a river, but there are no big jumps on Mount Washington. The Airslayer STI was built for one job, then modified to do another one well; Project Midnight has always been a purpose-built pavement machine. While its 670 horsepower is nothing to sneeze at, it's actually significantly down on the Airslayer STI's 862 hp. But the tarmac car also weighs 300 pounds less, under 2,500 according to Vermont SportsCar. That's even less than a Subaru BRZ.

While Scott Speed is mainly known for his Global Rallycross domination, his roots are on pavement, including NASCAR and Formula 1. After setting a Virginia International Raceway track record in the Airslayer STI, he beat it again in Project Midnight, so maybe its lower horsepower isn't as much of a factor. Speed and the Subaru also took second place overall and won fastest internal combustion car at Goodwood in 2024 and 2025.

One factor that practically guaranteed a new record had nothing to do with the car or the driver, but the mountain itself. The final dirt section of the Mount Washington Auto Road was paved in 2022, one year after the last running of Climb to the Clouds. This guaranteed faster runs for everyone, and eliminated the need for competitors to have any dirt capability. The Airslayer STI was perfect for a mixed surface course, but Project Midnight is now the right tool for the job.

Nothing like the last minute

As one might expect, Speed was fast right out of the box in practice. On the first day, which took place on the top half of the mountain, his second run of 2:21.5 was the fastest of the day, and more than five seconds faster than Pastrana's. The second day of practice started out rainy, which slowed everyone down. Conditions dried up for the second run, where Speed set a time of 3:7.3, six seconds faster than Pastrana. It was looking good for a new record.

The weather on race day also conspired against competitors. There are good reasons why the Mount Washington Auto Road is on our list of the most dangerous roads you've ever driven. A Jalopnik editor once crashed off the mountain himself. After a weather delay, the first of two runs only went halfway up the mountain due to poor visibility at the top. They don't call it Climb to the Clouds for nothing — I've been at the summit in a cloud myself more than once. But as the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in New England, wait a minute." At the last minute, the summit cleared enough to give just one shot at the full course. Speed seized the opportunity, and set a new record of 5:11.89 seconds.

You can see how happy he was with that result, and he has every right to be. You don't set a new record of Mount Washington every day. I also think there's still some time on the table that he can drop. I'm not knocking Scott Speed at all. This was his first time competing at Mount Washington, and there's no substitute for experience. In practice, his second runs were his fastest, which is only natural at he learns. He only got one run up the entire mountain, and I believe he would've dropped even more time given a second chance. You don't get many runs in practice or competition, and he was still optimizing his performance, dropping several seconds each time. I'm also sure he didn't want to repeat David Higgins' experience in 2017 where he crashed and lost his chance to set a new record, which teammate Pastrana promptly claimed. I'd love to see Speed return to the next Climb to the Clouds, perhaps with some upgrades to Project Midnight, and break the five minute mark.