Kelly Walker photo
By Rich Walker
Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holidays were plentiful, relaxing and filled with lots of quality family time. I know mine were. Here’s to wishing you all a very prosperous and wheelin’ filled 2015.
By the time you read this, most likely The 2015 King Of The Hammers will be a thing of the past, but for me right now, that is all that’s on my mind. As I write this, I have a stack of paper on my desk with flight itineraries, rental car agreements, pit maps, and check lists all for KOH ’15. In just under a month I hop on a plane destined for Palm Springs where I will pick up my rental car (or Pre-Runner as I call it) and head out to the lakebed for eight days of playing in the dirt with my friends.
I know I’ve said it before, but yet again, this year will be bigger and better than year’s past. For the second year in a row, there will be a “Shootout” on the famous BackDoor obstacle on Monday night. Again, it will be an Ultra4 vs. Rock Bouncer shootout with one winner from each coast. Plus, this year they have added a third payout for an independent driver. So if you are not a Ultra4 or Bouncer, but have a beat up old Sidekick, Toy pickup or weekend warrior buggy you can go play too. I remember last year an older four-door Sidekick that was all dented and beat to hell entered the challenge and laid a beat down on the obstacle and put down one of the fastest times.
The 2014 SCORE Baja 1000 took place over five days in November (11th-15th). The race saw over 230 teams leave the start line in Ensenada and try their machines against the 1,275 miles course to La Paz. Take a quick second and think about that. That’s 1,275 miles over some of the roughest and deadliest terrain on earth as fast as you can go.
Once again, the Trophy Truck class set the fastest time with a team of superstars tag-teaming the driving duties. Rob MacCachren, Andy McMillin and Jason Voss averaged 56.64 mph and finished the race in 22 hours and 31 minutes. That is impressive if you ask me. Especially considering that only 133 teams even crossed the finish line, some taking over 48-hours to complete the course. Could you imagine racing for 48 hours straight? That’s Baja!
One last thing, if you are a true rock crawler at heart, like me, then check out Sand Hollow Flats in St. George, Utah. Similar to Moab style terrain, this area is being named “Rock Crawler’s Heaven”. It’s an OHV area with named, rated and marked trails. Trails rate anything from a 1 all the way to above 10 (that’s buggy only). With trail names like The Maze, Nast Half, Chain Reaction, Fault Line and TNT, you can imagine what you could get yourself in to. Every year there is an event there called Winter On The Rocks and people with varying levels of rigs come from all over to attend. We are currently planning a trip there this year and I am super excited to find some new trails similar to the ones I have loved for years in Moab. So far, it is early in the planning stages, but we are determined to make our way down there before it gets too hot. I will be sure to keep you all posted and bring you some coverage when we’re back.
Man, I just thought of something. It’s only two weeks into 2015 and I already have three trips planned; KOH, Vegas for Monster Jam World Finals in March, and Sand Hollow. And here I was going to try and slow things down in 2015…
Stay safe and see you on the trails (in Utah!)