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King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Dreon.
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Parking lot. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Nicolas Stevenin.
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jason Carner in the Miller Welders Special. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon www.danielsimon.com
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Phil Henderson.
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
We all know King of the Hammers is growing year over year, but it must be said; the size of this year's King of the Hammers is just insane. We say this in a good way, of course, another testament to Dave Cole for moving this event, and sport in general, in the right direction. We are still waiting for a semi-official count of those in Hammertown, but we know from first hand experience (we've been part of KOH since the beginning) the number of spectators, drivers, and teams is beyond anything that could have ever been dreamed of. It's crazy, and we love it.
Today wrapped up the rest of qualifying, setting the starting order for 156 Pro racers for Friday & 77 EMC racers for Thursday. Add to this the 24 UTV racers who ran today (congrats Mitch Guthrie for the win) & the 75 Moto racers who ran last Sunday, and you can see where we're coming from. It's a wild ride, to say the least, and we can't wait for Thursday and Friday.
If you're getting ready for the next two days, be sure to check out Thursday's running order at bit.ly/1es6SiW and Friday's running order at bit.ly/1e4MsX6 . Also, DO NOT MISS the live coverage this year over at ultra4racing.com/live/ . This page includes a live multi-channel video feed and chat, and will honestly keep you in the loop during race day better than being in Hammertown alone. The coverage has been amazing this year, the best ever, so a big congrats to Shannon Welch and the entire production crew for knocking it out of the park.
Finally (one last word), a huge thanks to all of the drivers and teams supporting Spidertrax and Spider 9 products this year. For Friday's main race, 8 of the top 10 off the line are drivers powered by Spider 9 axles and components. A testament to both the product and support we have from amazing racers. Thank you, and best of luck tomorrow and Friday to everyone racing. We'll see you out there!
#koh2014 #kingofthehammers #spec
Spidertrax Off-Road | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
Return of the King -- 2014 King of the Hammers
We're a few days late to the KOH recap party, thanks in large part to both a hard drive and CF card failure. Apparently our computers don't like the desert as much as Spider 9 axles do (shameless plug). So first things first, a HUGE CONGRATS to Loren Healy, for taking top honors in this year's 2014 King of the Hammers. For 178 miles, Loren raced his Spider 9 powered solid axle Ultra4 through easily the toughest terrain these United States has to offer. Never giving up, which always seems to be the recipe for success out in Johnson Valley, Loren crossed the finish line in just over 8 hours, roughly 15 minutes ahead of the 2nd place finisher.
Easily the toughest KOH yet, a huge honor to Loren for winning and for everyone else who managed to cross the finish line, which was 32 in total. That's 32 finishers in a race made up of roughly 156 Ultra4s, or just under 21%. Yes, it was that hard. Finishing or not, we are still very blown away by the continued support we receive from all drivers and teams. No doubt Spider 9 axles have found their place in Ultra4, we are both grateful and honored just to be part of the action. It's going to be an amazing year, and with 7 more US races and 4 European races still on the books, we're just getting started.
Oh, and remember that hard drive and CF card failure? Yeah, those had all of our photos on it from KOH. Luckily, by a little technical magic, we managed to recover both failures and we'll be back in full swing with photos to share. So, stay tuned this week (and likely a little of next week at this point) for some of our favorite shots from KOH.
#koh2014 #kingofthehammers
Spidertrax Off-Road | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Paolo Baraldi.
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jason Carner in the Miller Welders Special. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Parking lot. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
You Would Be Smiling Too If You Won $7,000
Last night was simply off the hook. A two in the morning idea, spawned by Dave Cole and friends many months ago, turned out to be one very cool addition to the KOH week. Monday nights SRRS ULTRA4 King Shocks Shoot Out was simple in form, borrowing from the previously successful Hot Springs, AK Ultra4s at Superlift shootout run (event photos from that over at flic.kr/s/aHsjHMDsty ). Namely, a timed shoot out style race capitalizing on the East meets West, or Ultra4 vs Rockbouncer, theme. As was the case back in Hot Springs, the X vs Y theme was just the tease, really all anyone cared about was "could the best time be beat!". Back to last night, we got to see this play out once again, this time though we watched the action unfold on one of the most well-known KOH obstacles, Back Door.
Of course, it's worth mentioning the prize for fastest time last night was $7,000. That's not all, fastest "other coast" driver took home $3,000, and the best showman took home $2,500. The rules, start at the bottom of Back Door, and launch up as fast as possible. This lead to a night of roll overs, axles driving away from their vehicles, a cowboy "stripper" dancing on top of their rig (that's not a typo, this actually happened), and of course those that blasted their way to the top in record time.
So, the title and photo likely gave this one away, but it was KOH native and current king Randy Slawson that captured the fastest time (about 30.5 seconds ). Smooth, fast, effortless... basically what you would expect from the king. Congrats to Randy and the Bomber Fab crew for taking top honors at the SRRS ULTRA4 King Shocks Shoot Out. Be sure to stay tuned to all the action on ultra4racing.com/live/ , we're just getting warmed up!
#koh2014 #kingofthehammers
Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jason Carner in the Miller Welders Special. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jason Carner in the Miller Welders Special. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jason Carner in the Miller Welders Special. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Parking lot. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jason Carner in the Miller Welders Special. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Parking lot. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Chocolate Thunder climb section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Dreon.
King of the Hammers #20
Another one from the "Every man challenge" race on the 9th. Not every shot has to be close up with lots of action. I did want to show some of the back desert areas these drivers had to deal with. It may look wide open here, but a few of hundred yards later, they were going slowly up another steep rocky ravine to the top of the mountain and beyond. Only people to see what was going on that stretch, was the NBC film crew with their drone. We were able to see some of the great footage that they were able to capture.
And yes, that's snow on the far back mountains - hazy dust conceals some additional snow.
King Of The Hammers, 2012. Johnson Valley, California. Jackhammer decent section. Photography © Daniel Simon. www.danielsimon.com
King of the Hammers #35
As mentioned in an earlier dialog, this race class comes in various sizes and shapes.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Dreon.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Nicolas Stevenin.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Paolo Baraldi.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Dreon.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Paolo Baraldi.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Phil Henderson.
King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. It is the largest off-road race event in North America in terms of both competitors and spectators. It combines desert racing and rock crawling, and has expanded from one race to a series of 5 races held throughout the week that take place each February on BLM-manged public lands in Johnson Valley, California.
Photo courtesy of Kathy Durrett.