By Jon Crowley
The 2014 King of the Hammers UTV race was my sixth. Many would call that some sort of sickness. I prefer to think of it as an addiction.
King of the Hammers has always been a test of people and machines, but race organizer Dave Cole pushed the difficulty to an entirely different level in 2013. Only three UTVs finished that race—a completion rate of less than 10 percent.
For a broader look at how the event and its UTV competition evolved, visit our history of the King of the Hammers UTV race.
Switching Seats for the 2014 Race
For the 2013 race, I built a Polaris RZR XP 900. It had been tested and was ready to race, but I had yet to decide on a co-driver.
About six weeks before the race, I teamed up with Jagged X for pit support and enlisted Blake Van de Loo as my co-driver. The course was incredibly tough, but Blake and I worked through the challenges like we had been racing together for years. The combination of vehicle, co-dog and pit support turned out to be the ticket: We finished second, just 16 seconds behind Mitch Guthrie. Read the complete 2013 King of the Hammers UTV race recap.
After the race, I met up with Blake at Rally on the Rocks, where we discussed switching seats for 2014. I figured it would give me a reason to get in shape, while Blake was eager to build a new race UTV and try his hand in the driver’s seat.
Building a Polaris RZR XP 1000 for King of the Hammers
The new Polaris RZR XP 1000 arrived in August 2013, and we believed it would be superior through the rough desert sections of Johnson Valley.
I quickly got my hands on one and headed to the Rubicon Trail to find out how it would fare in the rocks. After completing our RZR XP 1000 rock-crawling review, I was sold. Blake and I decided that the XP 1000 would be our platform for the 2014 King of the Hammers UTV race.
My plan was to build a second RZR alongside Blake’s car so we could use it for pre-running and as a backup. I equipped my RZR primarily with bolt-on accessories, while Blake stripped his XP 1000 to the frame and started cutting and fabricating.
Blake installed a fuel cell in the bed, allowing him to remove the stock fuel tank and raise the bottom of the chassis for additional ground clearance. He lowered the seats and added a custom cage, WARN winch, hydraulic sway-bar disconnect, Factory UTV UHMW skid protection, LoneStar Racing A-arms, High Lifter radius rods, Muzzy’s dual exhaust and custom trailing arms.
He also installed the unlocking rear differential from a Polaris RANGER XP 900 and added individual turning brakes for the rear wheels.
Testing and Suspension Setup in Johnson Valley
The build came down to the wire. We arrived in Johnson Valley on the Friday before the race, and Blake showed up a little frazzled with several items still on the punch list and approximately five miles on the odometer.
We knew the long, rough desert sections would punish the car, so dialing in the suspension was our first priority. The Walker Evans Racing crew arrived Saturday morning and immediately went to work.
We installed a new pair of 2.5-inch shocks up front, while the crew reworked the rear shocks with new valving, springs and crossover settings. After adjusting the ride height and compression settings, the XP 1000 blasted through Johnson Valley’s rough terrain better than any UTV I had previously ridden in.
After more desert testing and a few rock trails, the car was race-ready except for its sponsor graphics. Jagged X’s Bill Schueler spent much of an afternoon installing the graphics while I pre-ran sections of the course in my RZR. We then took the race car to Turkey Claw for one final rock-crawling test ahead of Tuesday morning’s qualifying session.
A Rough Qualifying Run
Blake and I pre-ran the qualifying course twice on Monday. After determining that he would not need to winch, we decided he would be faster without the extra 200 pounds in the passenger seat.
Blake was running well until he reached the rock obstacle beneath the Red Bull arch. A large rock had been moved near the downhill side, forcing him onto a sketchy line down a rock-covered drop. He charged downhill, hit a large rock with both passenger-side tires and nearly rolled.
Blake qualified 10th, but the impact was hard enough to bend the front wheel and puncture two tires despite running 15 psi and TireBlocks. We were fortunate that it did not tear a suspension arm off the RZR.
We spent the remainder of the day preparing the car and decided to install my wheel-and-tire package. I was also running 30x10R14 GBC Mongrels with TireBlocks, but mine were mounted on HiPer beadlock wheels with Fullerton Sand Sports billet centers. It was an easy swap, and beginning the race without plugs already installed in the tires seemed like the safest choice.
GPS Trouble from the Starting Line
Race day arrived, and everyone lined up at 7:30 a.m. Our GPS immediately began losing its position. We reset the unit several times without any improvement and hoped it would begin working once we started moving.
The UTVs left the line two at a time. We started from the fifth row, two minutes behind the first pair. Blake grabbed the holeshot and settled into a smooth pace, but the GPS lost our position again within the first few miles. I repeatedly switched it off and back on while we passed one UTV after another.
The Walker Evans shocks were working incredibly well, and we soon caught Mitch Guthrie. We passed Mitch and then spotted Branden Sims ahead. We closed the gap in the dust and found another line alongside him. His spare tire was flopping around in the bed like a rag doll, but Sims did not slow down. We raced with him for a while before moving ahead into clean air.
Blake began opening a gap over Sims and Guthrie, but without their dust to follow, we were dependent on our unreliable GPS. We eventually found ourselves about a mile off course. After returning to the marked route, we were once again behind Guthrie and Sims.
We passed them again and approached Pit 1. We had been calling our chase crew without receiving a response, but finally made contact when we were about a mile from the pit. We passed through without stopping and returned to race speed.
Near race mile 39, three or four trails branched in different directions with almost no course markings. We followed the GPS, which appeared to be working at that moment. Less than a minute later, it refreshed and showed us off course. We could see Sims on the correct route to our right, so Blake cut across the desert to rejoin it. While trying to get there before Guthrie passed us again, we hit a bush directly with the front bumper.
A Punctured Radiator
We rejoined the course and started chasing Sims, but the RZR soon began to stutter. We stopped to inspect the car and discovered that the radiator was leaking.
We were approximately two miles from Pit 1. Our Jagged X chase crew received permission for us to return to the pit after the other racers had passed. It took several rounds of adding water, driving until the engine began overheating, stopping to let it cool and repeating the process.
More than half an hour later, we reached Pit 1 and the Jagged X crew went into action.
Repairing the radiator at Pit 1.
I expected a long wait because the replacement radiator had to come from Hammertown, which would normally require a lengthy trip in a chase truck. Instead, Eric Anderson from VARTA Batteries arrived at the pit on his KTM motorcycle just a few minutes later—with a new radiator strapped to his backpack. It is hard to beat service like that.
Once the radiator was installed and the cooling system was bled, we rejoined the race well behind the final UTV. Our goal was now simply to finish. The GPS continued cutting out on the way to the main pit, but we passed several Sportsman-class cars.
Breaking an Axle in Aftershock
At the main pit, we added fuel and tried a different GPS antenna. That failed to solve the problem, so we returned to the course and passed a few more UTVs on the way to Aftershock, the first major rock obstacle.
We were making good time when we approached a short waterfall. I remained in the car, and the RZR climbed it easily, but neither of us saw the large rock that reached between the driver-side A-arms, struck the axle and destroyed the outer CV joint.
I jumped out, retrieved the axle and climbed back in. It was déjà vu: We had broken the same axle during the previous year’s race while heading up Highway 19/20. We still had more rock crawling ahead of us before reaching Pit 2, but Blake and I knew what we were facing.
We passed several broken cars and eventually caught a few Sportsman UTVs. They were moving more slowly, and although we made passes whenever possible, we lost another 15 to 20 minutes getting through the traffic. Aside from the congestion and a few winching sections, Aftershock went relatively smoothly.
At the top of the trail, we stopped to make a decision. I could hike about three-quarters of a mile over the hill to Pit 2, retrieve a replacement axle and complete a field repair, or we could keep moving and attempt Highway 19/20 in three-wheel drive, just as we had the previous year.
We quickly decided to keep moving.
Climbing Highway 19/20 in Three-Wheel Drive
In my opinion, Highway 19/20 was the longest and most difficult trail on the 2014 course. It climbs well over 1,000 feet in approximately two miles and includes several obstacles that are challenging in four-wheel drive, much less three-wheel drive.
We took our time, and I completed most of the trail outside the RZR. We winched frequently, giving me a serious workout as I hauled the winch line and tow strap uphill.
At the final major obstacle, I started setting up another pull. One strange thing about winching in Johnson Valley is that rocks are everywhere until you need a suitable winch anchor. I pulled the cable a long distance uphill, only to have the line come completely out of the winch with the top of the climb in sight.
Blake placed the RZR in park, and we worked in tight quarters next to the hot radiator to feed the winch line back into the drum. Once we repaired it, the remaining distance to the pit was relatively smooth.
We had been unable to contact our chase crew since leaving the main pit. As we crested the trail, the radio finally began working and we delivered the news about the broken axle.
The Race Against the Cutoff
At Pit 2, the Jagged X crew once again went to work. Blake and I climbed out to eat and rehydrate while the team quickly replaced the axle and refueled the RZR.
It was almost 2 p.m., leaving us slightly more than two hours to complete the course. With approximately 40 miles and several difficult rock trails still ahead, finishing before the cutoff would be a tall order. We were determined to give it everything we had.
We made quick work of Fissure Mountain before encountering traffic while descending Jack Hammer. I jumped out and asked the team ahead if we could pass. They waved us through, although Blake was not convinced that the available line would work.
Blake was right. The RZR tipped onto the hood of the other UTV, which fortunately kept us from rolling. It was a rookie move on my part, and I felt bad about attempting the pass, although we did not appear to cause any damage.
We bounced down the remainder of the rocky trail and then entered the sand. A large crowd had gathered at the bottom of Chocolate Thunder. I climbed out, and Blake made quick work of the lower section. From farther up the trail, I attempted to guide him over a ledge, but we struggled with the line.
That was when I realized I was much better at reading terrain from inside the RZR than from outside it. Blake eventually climbed the obstacle without winching, although it was not our smoothest ascent.
Working through Chocolate Thunder.
Pushing Through Wrecking Ball
About a mile later, we reached the bottom of Wrecking Ball and found another RZR on the trail. Blake and I knew that any significant delay could end our chance of reaching the finish before the cutoff.
I stayed outside the car looking for alternate lines while the other RZR continued making progress. Blake wanted me back in the passenger seat, but I thought I might still find a place for us to pass. He eventually got around the other car, and I continued running until the trail narrowed to a single lane where I could climb back in without being passed.
We winched once at the waterfall but otherwise made excellent time and put some distance between ourselves and the other RZR.
We continued through Clawhammer, Lower and Upper Big Johnson and Boulderdash before reaching Pit 2A. We did not need any repairs, but we stopped briefly so the crew could inspect the tires and make sure we had not developed a flat.
Finishing the 120-Mile Course
We flew into and out of the pit. The crew told us we were running out of time and needed to hurry—as if we had been doing anything else since they last saw us.
Back in the desert, the Walker Evans shocks allowed Blake to carry speed through the rough terrain. We charged up Martel and Elvis without winching and then headed across another high-speed desert section.
The final obstacle was a sand hill near race mile 116.5. Blake entered it cautiously but struck two large rocks that had moved onto the course. The impact sounded like another broken axle, and we knew there was no time left for that. Blake backed down, moved to the left and charged up the remainder of the hill.
The rest of the approximately 120-mile course was straightforward. We reached the finish line with only a few minutes remaining before the cutoff.
That finish felt like an accomplishment after everything the race had thrown at us. King of the Hammers is not always about making the podium. Sometimes it is about handling every problem the desert delivers and refusing to give up.
Blake built an outstanding race car with the potential to win King of the Hammers, and I am proud of what we accomplished that day. Racing from the right seat was a completely different experience, and I tried my hardest not to let the team down.
We could not have finished without a capable RZR XP 1000, the incredible support of the Jagged X crew and the additional help from Eric Anderson at VARTA Batteries and Scott at High Lifter.
The Future of UTV Racing at King of the Hammers
At the time, there was real concern that 2014 could be the final year for UTVs at King of the Hammers. Dave Cole said the event needed race sponsors and more UTV entries for the race to return in 2015.
Fortunately, the UTV race did return and eventually became one of the most important rock-racing events in the sport. Our continually updated King of the Hammers UTV race history follows its progression from the inaugural 2009 race through today.
Photo credits: Rusty Baptist of Fatography.net; Rachel of High Lifter; and Ashley of Jagged X.
Related Polaris RZR Coverage
- Polaris RZR XP 1000 First Ride Review
- 2014 Polaris RZR XP 1000 Build
- Polaris RZR XP 900 Long-Term Build and Review
- History of the Polaris RZR
- Ultra4 Racing
