Pikes Peak (originally Pike's Peak) is a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, 10 miles (16 km) west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County in the United States of America.

Originally called "El Capitán" by Spanish settlers, the mountain was renamed Pike's Peak after Zebulon Pike, Jr., an explorer who led an expedition to the southern Colorado area in 1806. At 14,115 feet (4,302 m), it is one of Colorado's 54 fourteeners, mountains that rise more than 14,000 feet (4,300 m) above mean sea level, and rises over 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above the city of Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Pikes Peak is the easternmost fourteen thousand foot peak in the United States, located 10 miles (16 km) west of the city of Colorado Springs.

Pikes Peak is composed of a characteristic pink granite called Pikes Peak granite. The color is due to a large amount of potassium feldspar. The granite was once magma that crystallized at least 20 miles (32 km) beneath the Earth's surface, formed by an igneous intrusion during the Precambrian, approximately 1.05 billion years ago, during the Grenville orogeny. Through the process of uplifting, the hardened rock pushed through the Earth's crust and created a dome-like mountain, covered with less resistant rock. Years of erosion and weathering removed the soil and rock leaving the exposed mountain.

Sébastien Loeb (born 26 February 1974 in Haguenau, Alsace) is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He has won the world championship a record eight times in a row, and also holds several other WRC records, including most points, wins and podium finishes.

Originally a gymnast, Loeb switched to rallying in 1995 and won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001. Signed by the Citroën factory team for the 2002 season, he and co-driver Daniel Elena took their debut WRC win that same year at the Rallye Deutschland. After finishing runner-up to Petter Solberg by one point in 2003, Loeb took his first drivers' title in 2004. Continuing with Citroën, he went on to take a record eighth consecutive world title in 2011. Loeb is a tarmac expert, having won all but three WRC rallies on that surface since 2005.

Besides his success in rallying, Loeb is a three-time winner at the Race of Champions, after taking home the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and the title "Champion of Champions" in 2003, 2005 and 2008. In 2004, he won the Nations' Cup for France with Jean Alesi. In 2006, he finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2009, Loeb was made knight of the Légion d'honneur.

Rhys Millen (born in New Zealand), nephew of IMSA GTS driver Steve Millen, son of Rod and elder brother of Ryan, is one of the America's top competitors in drifting. Prior to that he was a top rally driver in the US, and became the first works backed driver from a car manufacturer with GM in 2004 after narrowly losing to Ken Nomura in the US D1 Grand Prix exhibition event in 2003. In 2011 Millen raced a 500bhp AWD Hyundai Veloster in the US Rallycross championship, in 2012 he will compete in the US-based so-called Global Rallycross Championship.

Millen became just the second champion in the short history of the United States' top drifting series, Formula D, just a year after his good friend, Samuel Hubinette, became the maiden series champ. Millen has two wins in his Formula D career: the 2004 season finale at the Irwindale Speedway, and the 2005 season opener at the Wall Speedway in Wall Township, New Jersey. He became the highest placed non-Japanese driver in the US round of the D1GP event in 2005, making it to the last 8 after beating Masato Kawabata, only to lose to Yasuyuki Kazama through a "One More Time" rerun. Millen's father, Rod, also competes in drifting on occasion. In fact, Rod made his Formula D debut at the 2005 season finale at Irwindale, the same event where his son was crowned the champion.

Jeremy N. Foley (born December 1, 1952) is an American university sports administrator and former college athlete. Foley is currently the athletic director for the Florida Gators Division I sports program of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. He also serves as the chief financial officer of the University Athletic Association (UAA), the private non-profit corporation that is responsible for the administration and financial management of the Florida Gators sports program.

Foley was born in Washington, D.C. in 1952, and raised in New London, New Hampshire. He graduated from the Holderness School in New Hampshire in 1970. He attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York, where he played football and lacrosse, and was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity (Delta Phi chapter); he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology in 1974. In 1976, he completed a master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Foley started his career at the University of Florida as an intern in the UAA ticket office in August 1976. When his internship ended, Foley was hired as a full-time employee and was soon promoted to ticket manager. Two years later he was named director of ticket and game operations. After just one additional year, he became an assistant athletic director and spent the next twelve years learning every facet of Gators athletics. From 1981 to 1986, Foley was the associate athletic director for business affairs.

Per Eklund, born on June 26, 1946 in Skönnerud (Koppom), Eda Municipality of Värmland in Sweden, is a Rally and Rallycross driver who lives in Arvika. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career.

Eklund was a Saab factory driver from 1970 to 1979. In 1982, however, the year after Saab discontinued its official rallying involvement, he achieved the brand's last top position in a World Championship event, finishing fourth in the Swedish Rally driving a privately entered, Clarion-sponsored Saab 99 Turbo. He was always proud of that result, since the competition consisted mostly of four-wheel-drive cars, and the event was run in snow. This signified the end of the rally era at Saab, even though Eklund went on to drive an officially-entered Saab 900 Turbo in the British round of the 1997 World Rally Championship. He was Swedish Champion in 1978, beating his team mate Stig Blomqvist. In 1982 Eklund finished 5th overall of the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers.