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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
A broken axle would spell the end of Kris Fraser’s run.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
Joey Webber scrambling up “Backdoor” in a time of 98-seconds.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
Quinn Wentzel eating up the terrain.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
A rock crawler parking lot.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
Ryan Stambaugh was mixing it up with the top runners until fuel issues robbed him of a finish.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
JP Gomez shreds a tire in the rockery.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
Raul Gomez in a tight spot.
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Brady Melville
2017 King of the Hammers
Key to KOH is a perfect balance between finesse and aggression.
Story & photos by Brady Melville, Pathmaker Productions
With the annual pilgrimage to Johnson Valley for the 11th Annual Nitto King of the Hammers come and gone, it’s time for the yearly report on the world’s toughest off-road race. With 480 teams registered across all classes, this event has also become the largest off-road race in the world. This year saw more independent suspension vehicles than ever before, including the first Canadian teams running IFS cars.
Not only were the Canadians represented with two IFS cars, all eight other teams were running new or first-time cars at KOH. It was a big year for 2016 EMC Finisher Eric Brinker as he built not only a brand-new car for himself, the #312 in 4800 Legends Class, but he was also co-driving with Ryan Stambaugh in the #22 car he built in IFS 4400 Class. What this means is that Brinker did back-to-back days of racing, and put his very own BrinkFab chassis to the test. Matt Nieman’s #4487 IFS 4400 Class car is an innovative machine running not only independent front suspension but also rear steering and portal boxes, greatly improving ground clearance and gearing. Combine that with a big LS motor and a need for speed, and Neiman hit the whoops at over 112 kph and reported it ran smoothly.
KOH started off this year for the Canadians with two entries to the Vision X Backdoor Shootout. The first Canadian up was Kris Fraser who also was co-driving the #4487 car in the main event. The Backdoor Shootout event is the fastest run up a notorious canyon situated near Hammertown. Over 5,000 spectators packed the canyon walls for some of the biggest and fastest rock bouncers and racecars to climb the course with the fastest time. The highlight of the run was a huge first ledge over two metres in height that required luck and a ton of horsepower to launch the rigs up. Fraser got lined up on the first wall quickly and stood his car on end trying to push it up the waterfall. Coming down hard after a few bad bounces, a loud crack of a broken axle filled the canyon, ending Fraser’s night. Next up was Joey Weber in his brand-new Lovell Chassis buggy that he finished days before setting off for KOH. Weber got onto the first big wall and after a few bounces made it up the waterfall and finished the course in a time of 98 seconds and a 21st place finish.
Tuesday was a qualifying day with over 140 cars running the course for race position. Dustin Friesen was the first Canadian up in his new Trent Fab 4500 Class car, and he laid down a blistering time of 2-minutes 4-seconds, which was the second fastest qualifying time for a 4500 car. Eric Brinker and co-driver Rich Walker took to the track and put down a great time, looking very comfortable in the new car. They finished in 1 minute 59 seconds, which started them in tenth place for the 4800 Class Every Man Challenge (EMC) on Thursday. Next up was True North Racing’s Lyndon Sheppard and after a quick start off the line, the car had a wiring issue leading to an onboard fire. Thankfully Sheppard and his co-driver were able to put the fire out, but it unfortunately meant the end of their KOH as they battled wiring issues for the rest of the week. Running in the Shootout and the Last Chance Qualifier, Joey Weber took to the track trying to race his way into the main event. Joey’s car was working well and he flew around the track on pace until a small error in the rocks led to a rollover and the end of his KOH.
Wednesday was the first ever International Power Hour, a grouping of the fastest international cars at KOH. First up on the course was Stambaugh’s new Brinkfab IFS car putting in a respectable time of 1 minute 59 seconds, good enough for forty-seventh off the start line for the 4400 Main Event. Nieman was up next and made great time in the high-speed section of the track, letting his new suspension soak up all the bumps. As he got to the large waterfall, he started to slide around and halfway up realized he had bumped it out of 4WD. Deciding to carry on in 2WD, he put the pedal down and almost crested the hill before he was forced to put the transfer case in 4WD. After his mishap on the waterfall, Matt finished with a time of 2-minutes 16-seconds.
Thursday started clear with barely any wind and little dust for the EMC race. Brinker and Walker headed into the first high-speed desert lap, working their way up to fifth place and onto Brad Lovell’s (the eventual EMC race winner) tail. The new car was running flawlessly and the race leaders were in sight until the motor began to falter around Race Mile 40 and eventually came to a stop with a fuelling issue. Brinker and Walker decided to hike two miles over a mountain to the True North Racing team who had a broken trackbar but fuel to spare for Brinker. After trekking back to the car, they got it moving towards Pit 1 at RM 47. After giving it a look over in the pits, it was determined their race was over with fuel pump failure. True North Racing didn’t fare much better with their two other cars going down in the first 37 miles. Dustin Friesen had similar problems and bowed out of the race early leaving no Canadian finishers for the EMC Race at KOH this year.
Friday started with excitement in the air, Hammertown buzzing with over 35,000 spectators and the largest class of 4400 cars ever. For the KOH main event, Stambaugh and Brinker got off the line and started passing cars in the desert letting the IFS stretch its legs in the whoops and ruts. After a quick stop in the pits and the rock sections of Lap 2, they were making great time until another fuel problem arose, forcing them to bow out at Race Mile 94. Nieman and Fraser were off the line further back in the pack so they had to deal with the dust of over eighty other cars. Nieman started pushing his new car and was passing teams in the desert when they were slowed by a complete loss of brakes. Upon inspection, they realized the winch line had come loose, taking out a brake line and tearing a CV. A quick fix got them back on track passing cars again before they lost power for a second time. They pulled the radiator to diagnose their fuel system problems before jury-rigging the second fuel pump to get back running. Back on track yet again, they found more trouble when a bad sound from the rear end alerted them to a set of bolts breaking on the portal box, finishing their race and leaving them with a six-hour extraction job to get the buggy back to Hammertown.
Once again, KOH earned its reputation as the toughest off-road race in the world, but an unfortunate run for all the Canadian teams meant there were no finishers from the Great White North in 2017.