First of all, if you haven't heard of the King of the Hammers, you've been living under a rock (no pun intended). Secondly, if you haven't been to a King of the Hammers event, bust out your bucket list and add this to your "things-to-do-before-I-die" compilation. Ever since our first visit to Johnson Valley in 2015, we promised ourselves we would return for another mini-vaca, and for all obvious reasons. I mean, who wouldn't like to climb up the side of a canyon, park ass on top of a boulder overlooking the desert, crack a beer and watch the competition and carnage unfold below?! When we decided this would be our year to return as spectators, to gather media footage and to bug the vendors we work with on a daily basis, we were elated!   

KoH: The Beginning

King of the Hammers first started in 2007 as plans scribbled out on bar napkins by friends, co-founders and creators of the event, Dave Cole and Jeff Knoll. Cole, being a championship rock crawler and Knoll, having ties to desert racing and the industry itself, joined forces, brainstormed and made an off road race like no other that combines the best of both worlds. In the first several years, the event was invite-only with no spectators, vendors, sponsors or media. It was just some good friends getting together for some good times in the form of healthy competition. As word-of-mouth spread, the annual event sparked interest and more racers, classes and days were added. As more and more racers joined in on the fun, Hammerking Productions was formed, spectators and vendors were invited and sponsors signed up. Racers were separated into their respective classes including King of the Motos, UTV, Smittybilt Every Man Challenge and Ultra4 Unlimited.    

King of the Hammers: Now

King of the Hammers is a week long event that takes place the first week of February every year at Means Dry Lake in Johnson Valley, California. For the entire 8 days, spectators, vendors, racers and teams, media gurus and enthusiasts come together for what has been described as the largest off road race in North America. Hammertown officially opens this year on Friday, February 3 and remains chock full of crowds, booths, activities, rigs and plenty of things to do and see through February 11, with the main event taking place on Friday February 10. These races combine unforgiving rock crawling obstacles with high speed desert racing for a heart-pounding, blood-pumping week of everything under the sun. From dirt bikes and quads to rock bouncers and buggies to the occasional badass being pulled by a UTV while riding a PowerWheels Jeep, KoH seriously packs a punch. People travel from all over the country, if not world, to attend but no worries if you can't make it- it is also streamed live on ultra4racing.com/live. If you are planning on attending, there are a few things you should consider; Plan for the weather- just because your in the desert, doesn't mean you're exempt from high winds and bone chilling temps. Bring some sort of face mask/protection if you can; Breathing in dust and sand for hours on end isn't pleasant at all. If you're camping in a tent, make sure to pack heavy duty hold-downs- the winds are seriously no joke there. Although the roads into Hammertown are packed down and accessible by 2WD and 4WD vehicles, many of the obstacles that you can watch from are a little bit of a drive, if not a further walk. Be sure to pack any necessary recovery items just to be on the safe side. You won't want to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere with a stuck Corolla...just saying.

**Photo Courtesy of Larry Chen at Speedhunters

Schedule of Events:

Friday 2/3: Hammertown opens | Teams begin to arrive and register | Spectators planning on camping in tents and RVs begin to arrive along with the first flood of vendors.

Saturday 2/4: UTV/4600 Class Qualifying | Part 1 of King of the Motos

Sunday 2/5: Part 2 & 3 of King of the Motos | Pro & Amateur | KotM Awards Ceremony

Monday 2/6: Vision X Shootout Presented by Kind Shocks | Vendors open | Pre-Running day

Tuesday 2/7: Qualifying round for 4500 (modified) / 4800 (legend) / 4400 (Unlimited) | Award Ceremony for Vision X Shootout

Wednesday 2/8: Can Am UTV Race Presented by RCV | Qualifying Round 2 (4400 only)

Thursday 2/9: Smittybilt Every Man Challenge

Friday 2/10: Nitto King of the Hammers Powered by Optima

Saturday 2/11: KoH:The Experience | King of the Hammers Awards Ceremony | Axial RC Trail Runs

* As of 1/24/17, 439 racers and teams have been registered in their selected classes.

**Photo Courtesy of Larry Chen at Speedhunters

The Main Event:

This is event is the macaroni to my cheese. The peanut butter to my jelly. The eggs to my bacon! The Nitto King of the Hammers Powered by Optima is arguably the toughest and most grueling one-day off road race in the world. This race consists of Ultra4 Unlimited vehicles that are capable of reaching speeds over 100 mph for the desert portion of the race. The only requirement (aside from safety tests) for an Ultra4 Unlimited rig to compete in the race is 4WD. The rest is...well....unlimited- tire size, wheel travel, power, etc. Each vehicle is custom fabbed by its own team and must pass a fairly rigorous safety inspection. Drivers and co-drivers must wear fire-retardant suits and rigs must be properly equipped in order to get the green light to compete. Independent Front Suspension (IFS) is becoming a more popular suspension setup, mainly needed for the high speeds that are achieved during the desert portion of the race and all vehicles are geared with ratios of 100 to 1 or lower for the rock crawling segments. 40" tall tires and beadlocks are a common choice for most racers and the rigs are built with highly modified engines with up to 800 horsepower. There are no chase-cars allowed on the course, for safety reasons, so any carnage acquired during the race must be repaired by the driver and co-driver or they can limp back to their pit crew in Hammertown to make repairs there. It is rare for more than 1/4 of the racers to complete this punishing course. Each race consists of 3 laps and each time the driver passes the start/finish line, they can stop to refuel or make repairs. All of the "hammers trails" (Jack Hammer, Sledge Hammer, etc) must be executed during at least one lap of the race as well as a variety of other daunting obstacles (Chocolate Thunder, Back Door, Trap Door, etc). Co-drivers assist with navigation, spotting, recovery and repairs. Each team is given an allotted time, which can often reach up to 13-14 hours. Depending on the qualifying times, racers start off in 30 second intervals, the first ones out usually getting the upper hand since there will be less of a back-up at upcoming obstacles. The original competitors, commonly referred to as the OG13 and previously crowned Kings are invited back each year to compete again. This race includes some of the worlds best and most experienced racing teams for a day of dirt, rocks, dunes, sand, whoopsies, hill ascents/descents and the pure and constant rush of adrenaline!

** The race map for each year is different. This map is from the races in 2015. The map itself is released and downloadable to the racers and public via CarToTracks roughly a week before the event. https://www.cartotracks.com/maps/king_hammers

If this doesn't make you want to pitch a pants-tent, frankly I'm not sure what will. Check back with us soon for our experience at the 2017 King of the Hammers and for media coverage! We will be on all of our social media platforms throughout the event, giving you a live look at what is unfolding!

**KoH action photos are courtesy of Larry Chen at Speedhunters. You can view their coverage and photos here.