King of the Hammers

There are tens of thousands of spectators who come out to watch King of the Hammers, they all gather at Johnson Valley, a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) area near Yucca Valley.[6] For the week (which happens to be nine days long), the Means Dry Lake bed turns into what the spectators call Hammertown. There are more than 400 teams and 60,000 spectators for this event.[7] Each day there is a new race: dirt bikes, quads, Side by Side or UTVs (Utility Task Vehicle), anyone with a four wheel drive vehicle and the main event Ultra4. The dates for King of the Hammers in 2020 are January 31st Until February 9th.

The King of the Hammers was founded by Jeff Knoll[8] and Dave Cole in 2007. Jeff and Dave were in a bar and they planned this race on a napkin.[9] The founders decided that there should be a trial run with a few good guys and a chance to have some fun.[9] There were only 12 teams at this first non-spectator invitational race. They are referred to as the OG13. The OG13 are always invited back to race year after year. All past winners, or Kings, are also invited year after year.[10] The first official race was in 2008 and it was still a non-spectator race. There were approximately 50 drivers in the first official race.[9] Race teams started at 30 second intervals from Means Dry Lake bed and navigated through the desert on a 50-60 mile set race course to their first rock course.

Ultra 4 Racing, the Ultimate Desert Race.

In 2014 Mopar brought their new 5.7 liter engine out to the races, an off-road race version of the (then) recently announced Scat Package performance upgrade.Hemi engine.[11] For the 2014 KOH Nitto Tire returned again as a sponsor. In 2013 Nitto sponsored six competitors; in 2014 Nitto sponsored nine competitors, all running the same tire.[12] Three of the nine entries that Nitto sponsored in 2014 were previous winners, “Nitto’s roster includes three former King of the Hammers champions, the 2012 winner Erik Miller, the 2010 winner Loren Healy and the 2009 winner Jason Scherer.[12]

In 2013 the United States Marines were supposed to take Johnson Valley, California away from off-roaders and turn the area into an expanded training facility. Through the work of California politicians the area called Johnson Valley will stay open to the off-road community. There will be changes made to the riding area, as the Marines did get a large portion of the land. The King of the Hammers course will have to be altered just slightly for 2015 and future King of the Hammers.[13] The compromise was what off-roaders needed in order to still visit their favorite places in Johnson Valley, the base expansion did not take away the most popular attractions on Johnson Valley. The compromise gave roughly 43,000 acres to Johnson Valley, 79,000 acres to the Marines and 53,000 of joint use land. The Marines can use that 53,000 acres for two 30-day periods every year, the rest of the time it will be for the off roaders use.[13] The off-road community will continue to benefit from this compromise even if part of their land was taken away. The community surrounding the Johnson Valley off-road area gains around $71 million a year from off roaders going to and from the area.[13] There was a petition put on the White House web site asking that the Marines not be given the land. One reason that was given was that it was fiscally irresponsible; that expanding such a large base would cost the tax payers for years to come. The Twenty Nine Palms Marine Base is the largest Marine base in the world; the petition gained 29,456 supporters however that was not enough to prevent the compromise from going through. The bill was introduced because the Marines needed the additional land for live-fire training in an area similar to where they will be actually fighting.[13] The compromise was decided upon in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).[14] There are no reports on the numbers by which the bill passed or how many revisions the bill had before it passed. The bill is H.R. 1676 and the bill is called “Johnson Valley National Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area Establishment Act.”[15]

The race vehicles used at the King of the Hammers are known as Ultra 4 vehicles which are capable of speeds over 100 miles per hour for the desert sections, but still contain gear ratios of 100 to 1 or lower for technical rock crawling. This Ultra4 class is unlimited 4400, and every vehicle is custom fabricated by each team. Traditional design for the front drive-train is a straight axle design, but (IFS) or (Independent front suspension) is becoming a popular design for the high speeds achieved in the wide open plains of the desert. Most racers use highly modified engines that can have up to (800 hp). 40" tires are common and racers use beadlock wheels.[16]

Competitors start side-by-side, two vehicles every thirty seconds, and must complete the 165-mile course in fewer than 14 hours. Each team must pass through seven checkpoints and at all times while staying within one hundred feet of the centerline of the course. KOH is a no-chase-team race; repairs can only be done on the track by the racers or in the pit area.[17][18] A last chance qualifier takes place before the race on a two-mile course. 35-50 teams attempt to qualify for the big race.[19]

• 2007: JR Reynolds and Randy Slawson
• 2008: Shannon Campbell[20]
• 2009: Jason Scherer and Jason Berger[21]
• 2010: Loren Healy and Rodney Woody[22]
• 2011: Shannon Campbell[23]
• 2012: Erik Miller and Robert Ruggiero[24]
• 2013: Randy Slawson and Michael Slawson[25]
• 2014: Loren Healy and Casey Trujillo[26]
• 2015: Randy Slawson and Michael Slawson
• 2016: Erik Miller[27]
• 2017: Shannon Campbell[28]
• 2018: Jason Scherer[29]
• 2019: Jason Scherer[30]
• 2020: Josh Blyler[31]
• 2021: Randy Slawson

• King of the Hammers Website
• King of the Hammers 2008 Results
• King of the Hammers 2009 Results
• King of the Hammers 2010 Results
• King of the Hammers 2011 Results
• King of the Hammers 2012 Results
• King of the Hammers 2013 Results
• King of the Hammers 2014, Every Man Challenge Story
• King of the Hammers 2016 Results