"Race radio, check point 1, over"
"Go ahead check point 1"
"Check point 1, be advised that the first vehicle is cleared check point one."
"Also be advised we have several roll overs, no ID yet. We'll advise... Shannon Campbell's vehicle is down and being towed in... over"
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| 4 Wheel Parts Prez Greg Adler and Bob Willis of Ranch Suspension warmed up on race morning in the Rancho rock buggy. |
The race radio chatter blared over the loud speakers above pit row as dust clouds drifted across Means Dry Lakebed and through main camp. In the distance, a thin ribbon of dust swirled off the desert floor like a contrail from a fighter jet on the hard deck. It was Jason Scherer and Jason Berger in the lead vehicle, running flat out across the lakebed. Starting 26th, they had passed everyone by the time they flew by us (literally) at race marker twenty-two. It was only an hour into the race and reports of breakdowns, rollovers, and position updates were already keeping the track marshals busy... and pit crews even busier.
We were in Johnson Valley, California for the 2nd annual King of the Hammers. From the way the day started, it looked like it was going to be one of the toughest, most grueling one-day races on the planet.
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| The morning before the main event, KOH holds a last chance qualifier event. Of thirty-five challengers, only fourteen would see a green flag on the following day. |
Although only 82-miles in length, and fast desert sections account for seventy percent of it, the other thirty is pure vehicular brutality. The Hammer trails have long been known for being some of the toughest and most extreme rock trails in the country (no, we're not kidding). And while most people will pick one trail and spend an entire day completing it (this writer's first run up Sledgehammer was in 1995--about a mile took a full day) Hammer competitors are required to do seven or eight trails in one day. Less than nine hours to be exact.
The Off Road Adventures crew arrived on Tuesday to set up, do some course recon and strategize race coverage. Considering the event is in its infancy stages, it was amazing to see the area morph from a few hundred camps, to several thousand motorhomes, fifth-wheelers and toy haulers by Thursday evening.
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| Greg Adler and Shannon Campbell battled it out early in the race. Both would eventually get a DNF dute to mechanical issues. |
Rules of engagement
There were only one hundred positions in the race; eighty-six were pre-assigned and the remaining fourteen would be determined in a contest called the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). If you didn't get a spot, the LCQ was your ticket in the backdoor. And it was literally through the Backdoor, Trail that is.
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| Getting in front of the pack in the high-speed desert sections was crucial. If you end up on the Hammers behind two dozen rigs, your chances of victory are slim-to-none. |
Of the thirty-five teams that entered, only a third would move on to the KOH. The LCQ was a timed event, on a short but gnarly two-mile course. It was a mad dash for the finish and teams held nothing back.
The race rules are simple. Competitors start side-by-side, two vehicles every thirty seconds, and must complete the 82-mile course by 5 pm. It is a timed event, so teams race against the clock based on their staggered start times. Each must pass through each of seven checkpoints and at all times stay within one hundred feet of the centerline of the course. KOH is a no-chase-team race; meaning repairs can only be done on the track by the racers or other teams. Otherwise, repairs must be done in the pits. This is to ensure that the big-dollar teams don't have a big-dollar advantage over the little guys when the green flag drops. Make a rig that works, get out and drive it, and keep it together.
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| Pit pass, we don't need no stinkn' pit pass. The pits were open for the public to mingle with the racers, pit crews and sponsors. It was a surreal carnival atmosphere in the middle of the desert. |
King of the Hammers really kicked it up a notch with regard to presenting a truly professional event. Rally Track, the guys that keep an eye on the Baja 1000 racers, tracked progress of each team via vehicle-mounted transponders on each car. Pirate 4x4 was streaming live web updates and video throughout the race, and Pinned TV had at least a dozen video cameras chasing down the action. Overhead was the constant whoop-whoop-whoop of the media helicopter, and at least a dozen print magazines were there for the action.
Chasing and photographing a race like KOH is a blast, but almost as much work as driving it. We used my project rig, the Two Week Taco, and this is how it went... just another day at the races.
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| Timing is everything. We had no idea when we snapped this shot of Jason Scherer that he would end up as the King of the Hammers. |
As an automotive journalist, I've covered events from Australia to North Africa, and this was one tough race. While not a long race, only eighty-two miles total, what it lacks in length it makes up for in moxi. This year's event drew competitors from across the US and Europe.
The contingency goodies and cash at stake must have tallied up to $100k between cash, products and sponsorship contracts. 1st place walked away with $10,000 and another $15,000 in contingency cash and gear including a full year BFG contract. Not bad for a day's work. Key sponsors of the 2009 KOH were Griffin Radiators, Rancho Suspension, BFGoodrich, 4 Wheel Parts, Poly Performance, Currie, Raceline Wheels, and a host of others.
If you are seriously sadistic and have dreamed of the perfect place to trash your sweat-of-the-brow built race rig, here is the secret to getting into KOH for 2010. The one hundred slots available are sorted out like this: Be a top finisher in a national rock or desert racing series, be invited (the Europeans for example), be a media dude like Fred Williams (4W&OR) in his Fun Buggy, or be a big sponsor of the event. Now if you don't fall into any of these categories, and most of us don't, you can sneak in the back door on the Last Chance Qualifier. This year the LCQ was open to anyone who registered, showed up, and passed tech inspection. Thirty-five lined up at the start line, only fourteen cut the mustard. The 09' King of the Hammers turned out to be one of the toughest and most adrenaline charged events of the year. We can't wait for 2010.
