King of the Hammers: Previewing off-road racing's big week
For those making the trek to his barren chunk of raw desert that's punctuated by rocky terrain and endless trails, much of their time will be focused on succumbing to an intoxicating 24-hour energy that KOH spins off in excess. For racers, however, a prestigious week of competition that touches different aspects of the sport is reason enough to make King of the Hammers — and it's legendary 'Hammertown' focal point — a can't-miss exercise.
Class 4400 Factory Bronco of Vaughn Gittin Jr.
While technically the 2025 KOH calendar included a rather insane 'King of the Motos' a week ago, things in Johnson Valley really kick into high gear starting today. This weekend's focus is on traditional desert racing, with wide open sections of desert sprinkled into sections of race course marked by soft sand and undulating, endless bumps.
Prerunning will officially open on Friday, with the limited classes having the opportunity to qualify in the morning as well. Saturday will see those classes take on the event's primary 64.9-mile course –– known as the 'Red Lap' — for two to four laps depending on the category. The driver line-up features an impressive list of racers in the UTV open category including the factory Polaris team and its recent Dakar Rally UTV category-winning rookie Brock Heger. Other top names include veterans Wayne and Kristen Matlock, Cayden MacCachren, Max Eddy and short course off-road specialists CJ Greaves and Doug Mittag.
Desert Challenge Unlimited Truck.
The day will also include Unlimited class qualifying and capped by the Class 11 race for race-prepped by mostly stock vintage VW Beetles.
Sunday, Feb. 2 is all about unlimited desert categories. Four open-wheel Class 1 cars (B1 class) and 24 Trophy-Truck Spec machines (known as the T2 category in KOH nomenclature) will chase 18 Trophy-Truck (T1) racers for overall honors. Top names include former Baja 1000 champions Luke McMillin, Cameron Steele, Ryan Arciero and Adam Householder in T1 and Apdaly Lopez, Kyle Jergensen, Pierce and EJ Herbst and short course champ Trey Gibbs in T2.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week offers up intense qualifying sessions for more specific KOH machines that combine desert and rock racing disciplines. There are even youth classes preparing for racing on Tuesday on Hammertown's short course section.
Desert Challenge Limited Race Class 10 car.
Next Thursday things get serious for a combination of factory and privateer drivers in the Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship race. Comprised of six different classes of Polaris, Can-Am and Kawasaki side-by-sides, most of the top names will run in the 4900 Pro Open and Pro Mod categories. Many of the fastest competitors will have competed in the desert UTV race, but others to watch for the rock racing version include Off-Road Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Greaves, Ronnie Anderson, Cody Miller, Phil Blurton, Mitch Guthrie and Hunter Miller. Special attention wil also be on Kyle Chaney, who came a whisker short of taking his Can-Am to the overall victory in last year's Race of Kings weekend finale.
The King of the Hammer's universal appeal is on full display during Friday's Yokohama Tire Every Man Challenge race. Created to offer off-road and 4×4 enthusiasts a way to build production-based machines into the sport, three classes that include Ford, Jeep, Dodge, Chevy, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Mahindra and Toyota-based race cars make for a true fan favorite.
The Everyman Challenge field lines up.
Saturday, Feb. 8, KOH's Race of Kings wraps up the busy week in grand fashion. Bolstered by a perfect backdrop that showcases the performance and versatility of modern Class 4400 unlimited machines, the Race of Kings has sparked the imagination of adventurous racers around the globe. A truly unlimited class with very few regulations outside of those focused on safety, the almost all the top level 4400 teams and drivers will be on hand.
Last year's King JP Gomez will try to defend his title against a stout field of 85 other competitors, a group that includes his former race winners Raul Gomez, Randy Slawson, Josh Blyler, Jason Scherer, Shannon Campbell and Eric Miller.
Motorsports fans around the world can enjoy live coverage on KOH's YouTube channel, with wrap-up shows airing the next day on the MAVTV network. With this much talent and all those bragging rights on the line, off-road racing's biggest week offers something special for everyone.
KOH official livestream link:
https://www.youtube.com/@kingofthehammers_official
Optima Battery King of the Hammers Schedule (all times Pacific)
Friday, Jan. 31
Desert prerunning (all day)
Limited class Desert qualifying (10:00am)
Saturday, Feb. 1
Unlimited class Desert qualifying (8:00am)
Limited class Desert Race start (10:00am)
Class 11 race (4:00 pm)
Sunday, Feb. 2
Unlimited class Desert Race start (9:00am)
Monday, Feb. 3
XRock Extreme Rock Crawling (10:00am-4:00pm)
UTV Hammers Championship qualifying (10:00am-4:00pm)
Tuesday, Feb. 4
Every Man Challenge class qualifying (10am-4:00pm)
KOH Kids 170 race
Wednesday, Feb. 5
Race of Kings qualifying (10am-4:00pm)
UTV Hammers Championship tech and contingency (10:00am-5:00pm)
Race of Kings Power Hour (2:00pm-3:00pm)
Thursday, Feb. 6
UTV Hammers Championship Race start (8:00am)
Every Man Challenge tech and contingency (10:00am-4:00pm)
Friday, Feb. 7
Every Man Challenge Race start (8:00am)
Race of Kings tech and contingency (10:00am-5:00pm)
Saturday, Feb. 8
Race of Kings race start (8:00am)
Story originally appeared on Racer
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