2022 King of the Hammers

Race Recap

The leadup to racing takes a lot of prep, travel, tuning, and more prep. The guys spent a week on the lakebed shock tuning, pre-running, hanging out, and getting ready for a hectic week.

Chip and Zandy started race week as the first two cars off the line for UTV qualifying. They both had some issues and would start in the middle of the pack come race day. The week rolled on with Dana and Peanut taking off on their first King of the Hammers qualifying lap. They made it down the Ford Bronco arch but took a tumble on one of the short course turns. The roll bounced in their favor, and they were able to step on the gas and save it to cross the finish line. When 4400 qualifying came around, both cars had solid runs and resulted in Zandy starting four spots ahead of Chip. After three days of many qualifying laps and pit fixes, the guys were ready to hit the course!

The Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship was one of the hardest courses Chip recalls being on, and the cars took a beating. Zandy and Dave broke a diff around mile 107 that ended their day early. Chip and Brad made it through though (with no tire issues), crossing the finish line at the exact cutoff time to finish.

Dana and Peanut put all their effort into the car and the 4WP Every Man Challenge race, including Peanut running from near Backdoor to main pit to get a new alternator to fix on course. Battery issues around mile 110 made them decide to call it a day and bring the car back in one piece.

The Nitto Race of Kings was all it was expected to be and more. Chip and Brad had issues early on lap one, but a quick stop at remote pit 1 had them back on course quickly. Zandy cruised through, but lap 2 gave him and Dave some trouble. A roll in Wrecking Ball landed them in a tough spot so Nightmare was stuck for a few hours. When they finally got going again, they pushed the car and ran hard to be able to go out on lap 3 before timing out. A few more issues in the rocks slowed them down, and they decided to call it a night when they hit remote pit 2. When Chip and Brad hit the rocks, they were able to roll through most of the trails without any major issues and crossed the line unofficially in 24th place.

Thank you to all our sponsors for helping us get to the lakebed and race our best! We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them. We’ll see everyone back on the track soon!

Photos by Tyler Arnold & McKenzi Morris