The 2017 Ultra4 MetalCloak Stampede was held at Prairie City State Vehicle Recreation Area on June 9-10, 2017. This is the fifth annual Stampede held in Sacramento, CA and is part of the Ultra4 West Series which also includes Sierra Blanca, TX and Fallon 250. The National Championship is held in Reno in October.
John Goodby of NorCal Rock Racing creates the course for the MetalCloak Stampede which consisted of a 2 mile lap, filled with man-made rock obstacles, tight turns, jumps, whoops and go fast sections. This venue is awesome for spectators because most of the track can be seen from the stands.
We had some rain and cooler weather roll through Northern California for the weekend and this made for near perfect conditions. Last year’s race held earlier in the season turned into a full blow mud-fest (see 2016 MetalCloak Stampede UTV Race), so this was welcome news to racers and spectators.
George Lisenbery in his Yamaha YXZ1000R during practice
UTVs got their first look at the track during practice on Friday. This year’s course was lighter on hard core rock sections as compared to the 2016 Stampede. Two short rock sections that other classes ran were not part of course for UTVs and this probably helped boost up the car count a bit. 12 UTVs had registered for the race which included two Can-Am Maverick X3, two Yamaha YXZ1000R’s and eight Polaris RZRs.
Phil Cagliero in his RZR XP Turbo
Darian Gomez is always a strong contender at Prairie City
Qualifying was held Friday afternoon with each racer on the track running solo against the clock.
UTV Qualifying Results:
| UTV Pro | 79 | CASEY | SCHERER | DANVILLE | CA | 02:45.9 | |
| UTV Pro | 21 | PHILLIP | CAGLIERO | SAN MIGUEL | CA | 02:47.5 | |
| UTV Pro | 90 | DARIAN | GOMEZ | LOTUS | CA | 02:49.9 | |
| UTV Pro | 1028 | SEAN | STROUD | 02:55.4 | |||
| UTV Pro | 1966 | GEORGE | LISENBERY | PORTERVILLE | CA | 03:00.3 | |
| UTV Pro | 1987 | MATT | LIPPMAN | SAN BRUNO | CA | 03:03.7 | |
| UTV Pro | 1944 | GREG | UFFENS | TRACY | CA | 03:08.8 | |
| UTV Pro | 777 | RICK | MARKLEY | OAKHURST | CA | 03:15.3 | |
| UTV Pro | 485 | JAMI | PELEGRINO | SIMI VALLEY | CA | 03:18.0 | |
| UTV Pro | 1908 | CRAIG | HONNOLL | 03:21.3 | |||
| UTV Pro | 1904 | ANTONIO | COSTA | MTN HOUSE | CA | 04:29.0 | |
| UTV Pro | 1911 | PAULY | HART | SACRAMENTO | CA | DNF |
UTV Prelims were held Saturday morning and this is where all hell broke loose. Racer Sean Stroud tangled with Phil Cagliero in the first lap, then hit Casey Scherer and then he also hit Paul Hart in the air after a jump on the last lap. While Scherer and Cagliero were able to make repairs and compete in the main event, the last crash took Stroud and Hart out of competition for the weekend. Several complaints were lodged against Stroud after the prelims.
Greg Uffens finished in second place
Casey Scherer in his Can-Am Maverick X3
During the UTV main event Darian Gomez (Polaris RZR XP Turbo) led with Casey Scherer (Can-Am Maverick X3) on his heels for most of the race. Then Gomez had a mechanical and Scherer jumped into the lead and crossed the finish line first. Rounding out the podium for the UTVs were Greg Uffens and Matt Lippman.
Casey Scherer Takes First Place
2017 Ultra4 MetalCloak Stampede UTV Race Results:
| 1 | 79 | CASEY | SCHERER | 8 | 2:12:55 PM |
| 2 | 1944 | GREG | UFFENS | 8 | 2:14:09 PM |
| 3 | 1987 | MATT | LIPPMAN | 8 | 2:14:48 PM |
| 4 | 1966 | GEORGE | LISENBERY | 8 | 2:15:01 PM |
| 5 | 485 | JAMI | PELEGRINO | 8 | 2:15:02 PM |
| 6 | 777 | RICK | MARKLEY | 8 | 2:16:06 PM |
| 7 | 1908 | CRAIG | HONNOLL | 7 | 2:13:17 PM |
| 8 | 21 | PHILLIP | CAGLIERO | 7 | 2:15:10 PM |
| 9 | 90 | DARIAN | GOMEZ | 4 | 2:01:04 PM |
About Ultra4 Racing:
Ultra4 Racing is the sanctioning body behind King of The Hammers: The toughest one day off road race on the planet. Ultra4 cars are unlimited 4 wheel-drive endurance racing. Rocks, deserts, hill climbs, whoops, trees, you name it, we race it.
ULTRA4 is a vehicle type, class and series. ULTRA4 Racing was born from the popularity of the annual Nitto King of the Hammers Powered by Optima Batteries, considered to be the toughest one-day off-road race. The vehicles are unlimited four-wheel drive, capable of competing in multiple racing disciplines – extreme rock crawling, high-speed desert racing and short course. In ten years, the sport has grown significantly from the inaugural King of the Hammers to an eight race national series including a National Championship. ULTRA4 Racing is managed by Hammerking Productions located in Temecula, CA.
Can-Am, a leader in the side by side industry, is the Official UTV of ULTRA4 Racing for the 2017 season. The sponsorship also includes title sponsorship of the Can-Am King of the Hammers (KOH) UTV Race.
More information on the race can be found at www.ultra4racing.com
