2019 Nitto Tire King of the Hammers presented by Optima Battery _ World of X Games episode

it began on a set of rock canyons called the hammers with a quest to become king of these trails evolves into America's toughest off-road race [Music] drivers dedicating every waking hour to improving one of mankind's greatest inventions forging new ways to solve old problems a shift in thinking sparked an industry change the ignition of a whole new sport [Music] test it until it fails break it to make it stronger faster more capable when the dust settles only the strongest emerge to be crowned king of the hammers this time on world of X Games the NATO tires king of the hammers powered by Optima batteries the king of the hammers which started in 2007 as a competition between friends has taken on a life of its own and become the largest gathering of off-road enthusiasts in the country this year 70,000 spectators came to Johnson Valley aah V area to watch a week of racing and they've seen some of the biggest and brightest stars in the off-road world showcased their skill [Music] in the UTV class the reigning king held off contenders for another year while the everyman challenge saw kings and queens toppled from their thrones and replaced by a new generation the team won unlimited truck class competed for the first time ever and Luke McMillan added his name and king of the hammers to the desert racing history books now there's one more group of racers left to take on the Hammers the 4400 division is the week's flagship class and it's the one that spawned both king of the hammers and the ultra for racing series ultra far is really an evolution of what was started off this trail wheeling where we would go and try to make it from one can into the next and desert racing and they really kind of collided into the world of hey who could get through the trails the fastest and you have to link those together by getting through the desert sections that link the trails to time king Jason Shearer has experienced the growth of ultra four and the Hammers firsthand the idea was really based on who could run all the hammer trails and get back to the lakebed first and that's really evolved from that to a huge desert loop lots of trails multiple times and how hard can they make it and that's what makes it the hardest one-day race in the world Eric Miller is another two-time King and the owner of Miller Motorsports so the roots of an ultra four car really spawned from rock crawlers and Jeep based designs with influences from desert and short course as far as chassis design and suspension geometry because the whole idea was to make something that could rock crawl go fast in the desert which is really ass tonight when you think about it you want a vehicle that will go slow articulate and and have a high center of gravity but then you also expect it to go 100 miles an hour in the desert with a ton of wheel travel with a low center of gravity and still handle well you're just you're asking for too much out of one vehicle but that's the idea behind the class and that's what's so awesome about it as both driver and fabricator he's intimately familiar with the challenges of building a vehicle that can take on came to the hammers and win [Music] really cool thing about this series is that they basically said hey whatever you think it'd be the fastest thing through those trails through that desert you can build whatever you want in contrast with the everyman challenge where vehicles must adhere to certain limitations the 4400 class is unlimited these safety rules in place so that everybody had a you know roll cage and safety belts and fire suppression systems and stuff but other than that you can bring anything you want in the 4400 class there's no rule on tire size how many shocks you want solid axle independent front suspension independent rear suspension you want electric car a turbo motor you can bring whatever you want with the freedom to go in a direction hobbyist racers began to design vehicles from the ground up you know the sport has evolved so quickly you know in the 10 or 12 years that I've been doing it you know now the racecars they went from I built my first car for less than $50,000 that we want Kingma hammers in 2010 now a competitive ifs our cost you four or five hundred thousand dollars Loren Healy is now a two-time king of the hammers he's built two more cars since his first win the pace of innovation and the investment required rapidly accelerated for drivers with industry backing it's an ideal situation but it's left some struggling to keep up you the 2019 Nidoking of the hammers powered by Optima batteries in racing disciplines like NASCAR in Formula one engineers must work within a slew of constraints imposed by their governing bodies the freedom allowed in ultra force 4,400 class encourages uninhibited experimentation but it's the attitude embraced by the off-road community that's driven innovation it's such an impressive pace I think it started with the trail guys you're on a jeep trail somebody was broken you helped them with whatever it took to get him fixed because you wanted the same done for you ain't never changed with this sport I might have changed in other forms of off-road but on this it's the same thing we're all there to help each other and it made it a really good community one singular person who kept that spirit alive and it was Shannon Campbell and he said it like you know so many times said I don't care if you run the same junk as me I'll still beat you and it was like that's such a good attitude because yeah you're competitive but you didn't care if the guy if you bought a chassis from you and had exactly the same car you know and it was always that attitude that I think kept us from getting into the side of yeah we made a technological wing let's hide it you know and that changed everything you want to straighten it Shannon Campbell is the owner of Campbell Enterprises and it will happily sell a competitor the best car he can build Campbell Enterprise is a business me and my brother started in the late 90s kind of started out just doing our own stuff you know building four-wheel drive vehicles and then playing with them on the weekends and people kind of seen what we could do and and came to us and wanted us to start doing stuff for them and after a while I just got busy enough to where we just quit our regular jobs and started our own business Ultra four is it's advancing so fast the technology you know the vehicles like shoot what we build today will be obsolete tomorrow because there's always someone with a new idea and that's what's cool about it it's not just like NASCAR where everything has to be equal in the same you know it's everybody's ideas out here and you never know what you're gonna walk by and see that you might oh man that sparked something in my head and I'm gonna build that the open flow of knowledge throughout the ultra4 community has spurred improvements every year but it's also led to a substantial rise in costs this car that we've just built Bailey it's it's the first one that I've really done myself in and had it drawn in SolidWorks where I can actually mass-produce it the tubes were laser-cut and a lot of the parts were lasered and broke and stuff and that's my goal is always to to build a car that someone to want whether or not they can afford it that's the hard thing you know and I know I can't afford to buy one and but I build them so it's easier for me at all tiers of the sport racers work on their own cars it's a way to cut costs but it also ensures their exacting specifications are met Nick Nelson is a professional driver from Las Vegas who spends hundreds of hours wrenching on his car to be able to make it to the starting line we still get people that think that I've show up in a helicopter or something they have no idea that I built every piece of the car by hand from the chassis to the suspension to the plumbing to exhaust everything's done by hand and I have a hand in every bit of it when we took on this sport because it was affordable art my race car out here in 2010 was $30,000 and the motors well past that now you can't even start a car without that so yeah we went in the trophy truck money here and the sponsor game really hasn't caught up so it's it's it takes a lot of sacrifice to to keep going and hang in here so that's the thing that's that's key for us right now I think we have the rest of it we just need ketchup on that side of it and then the technology will follow because ultra4 is still in its relative infancy there's a limited amount of sponsorship money to go around the race for that money is just as competitive as the one out on the course but in this race the fastest driver doesn't always win Tom's the fastest guy like Tom's for sure the fastest guy at hammers and you know that formula is gonna work somewhere down the road no matter how fast you are you can't win if you're not at the starting line I think that's a fine balance between being able to afford what you want to do or you know is it a racing addiction that you're trying to figure out what you got to do to sell to scrounge together to go to the next race Tom wayes was noticeably absent from last year's king of the hammers and the 2018 ultra four season he's the guy that he's the fastest guy he's got personality times ten and all he's missing from the whole formula to be able to win consistently is the financial side by representing a brand that can say here's your car here's your money let's go and there are the ones missing out it's difficult to fathom the amount of time and money that goes into the creation of a competitive 44-hundred car I really focused hard on trying to do the East Coast the West Coast series and put a lot of effort into it and a lot of money and felt like needed to take this past king of the hammers off and the season off and kind of make it a transitional point to where I got rid of the single-seater and had some people step up to help a new two-seater being built that I'm trying to get done for king of hammers with a few sponsors to help fund his next build tom is one step closer to getting back behind the wheel but he'll be working around the clock to finish in time for this year's race for right now I think what my next evolution of car is is gonna be what I can be proud of when I bring it to the green flag and it might take longer than I hope but I'm hoping I can get it to the to the green flag and be proud of our effort and be ready to race put the top bolt for four drivers a win isn't the same unless you're racing against the very best because we're here racing King and Amber's and everybody wants to compete against each other to say they're the best you have to race the best because when you win against the guys that are fast it means something we can go sandbag other classes and beat up on guys who or you know in lesser cars but that doesn't that doesn't say anything at the end of the day so one of the guys we want everybody to have their stuff together and it'd be one day we'll see ten of us come to the finish line at once and battle it out or something before they can make it to the finish line they'll need to make it to the starting line when we come back racers qualify for their starting positions in the 2019 Nitto king of the hammers [Music] this episode of world of X Games is brought to you by Nitto tires Optima batteries steel @ coatings and Monster Energy you we're back at the 2019 king of the hammers where drivers are getting ready to compete for starting position in the main race in the early days there was no need for qualifying at king of the hammers a smaller field of vehicles with large disparities in performance meant that fast cars could quickly make their way to the front by passing early in the desert the most competitive drivers avoided being stuck behind slower vehicles and blocks it's koala Sonia king of the hammers is really important it's something I pushed for all along back when we were racing in 2010 and 11 it didn't exist it was a random draw so you may be the slowest guy would be up front the fastest guy in the back it's it just was random which you know kind of work its way out because of enough desert distort the cars out but as the competition got stronger and the cars became more advanced and the playing field almost became more level that inconsistency in speeds across the board really started to take away from the race and it kind of added an element of like unfairness that you know we could sort out qualifying so Dave was open and receptive to to doing that and the first year he did it it was a hit it was perfect and worked out well with a growing contingent of professional drivers and an even bigger group of legitimate contenders a strong performance in qualifying is an essential part of a winning strategy as racers complete a single short course lap one by one starting position in the main race will be decided by just seconds got three minutes two minutes depending on how long that course is is probably the most intense of the entire race that you really go out there for for the whole week and if you make a mistake you can throw it all away and it's just as simple as you know a little too hot into one corner and you tip it up bike it up and you know you basically don't have a chance if you didn't save it to starting on top of 75 that are gonna be out there in the front the race is run on corrected time so a driver who starts ten minutes after the leaders will have ten minutes subtracted from the final results it's possible to come from behind but being stuck in the back means breathing dust and fighting traffic not the best way to start a race that can last up to 12 hours qualifying for the 4,400 race is an all-day affair and culminates in what's known as the power our our our is the is twenty guys that are kind of picked on purpose due to either you know they're consistent finishes and podiums or maybe just their you know driving style I mean even if it's someone that's gonna put on a show they're the guys that are focused on toward the end of the day you know they're gonna be pushing hard for the top times and they're gonna be the ones to put on the show the power hour is full of top drivers but Cody Addington throws down the gauntlet well before it begins surrounding a 48 sticky tire independent front suspension and of course it's got Cody Abington behind the wheel a Cody are you tuned is throwing down one heck of a run I suspect this to be the quick time of the morning and we'll see how long it holds up I just get confirmation now the Cody attitude threw down a two minute 25 seconds police during ly fast the time will stand at the top for almost two hours before Brian Croft beats it by 4 seconds [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] just minutes before the power our make Nelson lines up to qualify with a big-block engine tuned down to around 800 horsepower his car is an ideal platform for raising the qualifying bar here guys could lease ain't leaving the light Nick Nelson listen to that big block saying it wasn't necessarily about how much power we can make but how we can make reliable horsepower and so that's how we end up with a big block platform and it's been awesome it just makes a lot of torque and I think that's kind of our downfall is it just really doesn't pull itself down there's no there's no loss of of power at any time it's just there's this a freight train there's always Fowler there sure enough Nick crosses the line with the new time to beat Nick Nelson takes the ball at 2:18 he takes 3 seconds and a broad cross so here we go it's another dragon of course - the dragon - Annie's Lauren Haley - time king of course in a two-seat IFS Jimmy's car almost identical to Nick Nelson [Music] we already got a heap of dragons sit inside that top Ted could Lauer and had his to the mix where is Laura fine at they spayed this is awesome to watch he sets a blistering pace and crosses the halfway point ahead on time but a flat tire near the end of the lap costs in the pole [Music] okay now we all know who this man is it's number 76 is Jason Shearer last year's King to tide King what can he do to add the best shot at defending his title it's essential for reigning king Jason Shearer to qualify toward the front of the pack we ever got a clock on him but this looks very good heading down the 4 wheel parts section one of his main sponsors Jason shear really pushing hard wants to qualify well and here comes Jason look at that car in the air as he makes his way down behind king hill Jason Shara crosses the line in second position there's one man we haven't seen yet today and by the could change everything tom waste is made it to this year's king of the hammers every one of my crew that's been with me for the last 10 years it's almost every single person serious and it's incredible because this will be interesting to see how this plays out because last time Tom wayes raced here at kena hammers he'd left the line side-by-side with Nick Nelson one small mistake since Tom off-course in costs in precious seconds hurry a new to seat ifs that coughing a lot of suspense each / Church of his old car and he finds he's racing with his old engine in this new car with a time that puts him in 41st he'll have his work cut out for him on race day Nick Nelson's lap has withstood the assault of all 20 drivers in the Power Hour it's earned in the KMC hard-charger award and a position on the starting line next to the king I'm stoked to have the bowl I really ran a a good lap well I really wasn't sure I was gonna stick but I just want to take care of the car and then we got lucky and landed on top it's the third at least the third time I started on the front row here and leave that just bad luck every year so I'm looking to knock this monkey off and and get this with qualifying first is a good step but Nick's experience proves that it's no guarantee of success [Music] when we come back racers leave hammer town and head out to take on 250 miles of desert and rock [Music] you [Music] welcome to the 2019 Nidoking of the hammers powered by Optima batteries it's the first and biggest race of the ultra four season and drivers are eager to show what they're made of once we get in there put the helmet on that's where everything else goes away and I just am comfortable and don't have to worry about anything don't have to think about it just let it do its thing and I do mine and we get in that groove together but to get there just punts work any moment now we're gonna see thousands of angry horses charging off the line here in hammer town and on the pole is Nick Nelson side by side to Jason shear Nelson out front with a little bit of Nelson finds his groove early beating Shearer off the line and leading the charge out into the desert there goes more alien Brian cross side-by-side healing it's nearly jump Casey Currie lines up next - JP Gomez let's look at JP go business coming off the back of two ultra4 wins the last two races can email king of the hammers it's Patrick Shannon Campbell the only three-time King starts in 10th we got one of the oldest guys at Ultra for racing of one of the youngest children Pellegrino in the full independent suspension car and then next to him three-time king his son Waylon is in twelfth and daughter Bailey sits in 21st alongside Dan fresh Bailey's in a two CIFS Campbell chassis with Terry man riding shotgun [Music] racers will start with a 90-mile desert loop that spreads out the field then they'll have to complete two laps of an 80 mile course that includes the punishing hammers Rock trails between each lap they'll come back through hammer town which also serves as a main pit area for repairs and refueling for pressing mechanical problems that occur out on the course each loop has its own remote pit after a promising start in seventh Cody Addington rolls to a stop just five miles into the race Tom wayes battles hard out of the gate but he too makes an unplanned stop in the first one low bit king of the hammers is a no chase race so outside of these designated areas drivers can only receive help from their competitors and course personnel [Music] at 120 miles per hour Nick is taking advantage of clear air and maintaining his lead but he can't shake Jason so Jason doing a great job and he's probably holding back he doesn't want to be right up on him although his car can go even faster he needs to last until the end of the race to have a shot at the win look at that that's Lauren hailey we've seen this big red eyes there but none of these guys don't want to be bunching up really tight at this stage Nick Nelson out front physically in the lead but on corrected time it's gonna be an interesting day to finish first first you must finish and back with the live heli it's kind of coming in what it looks like is that Jason sheer chasing down Nick Nelson it does look like a so we've got a physical gap that we can now see where so we're probably seeing a gap or something I read about eight nine seconds here that is nothing in order for racing Nick Nelson I believe out front still he was on the pole and he's still pushing hard when he's got about 800 horsepower in that big block machine how hard does he push you need to save it for the rocks but this car does shine in the desert could this be his first time winning this race it's gonna be a long day time will tell after holding on to the lead for nearly 60 miles Nick Nelson takes a wrong turn entering into Cougar buttes Shearer is quick to capitalize and he takes the physical lead to have Nick and third place Loren Healy so because we were worried about putting extra miles on stuff we didn't do as much pre running as we'd like to and then going into cougar boots they caught up to us and we passed the entrance and Jason fastest but it was kind of a blessing because we obviously didn't really know exactly where we were going in there and so it was good to be able to jump in behind him and just watch where he went and then you know make up the time when it made sense for us Jason's lead doesn't last long [Music] shortly after they go through the mandatory check Craig Nelson makes a pass to regain physical first but it's Lauren who is leading on corrected time remember this commission hair out there is that this is gonna start playing it's back for Sunday goes on behind him there's more action outside of Cougar buttes as Rahul Gomez's passes Wayland Campbell Raoul is now in physical six behind his brother JP there is a physical leader Nick Nelson as the leaders close it in on remote pit 1-the course is already starting to take its toll Loren Healy is in third when his day ends last chance for Cates oh my god front-wheel drive and Paul Horschel moves up to take his place with JP Gomez in pursuit Nick and Jason enter the main pit with a lead of more than three miles after of fuel and go they head out to take on the toughest part of the course betrayus this episode of world of X Games is brought to you by Nitto tires Optima batteries the fab school and Monster Energy you [Music] in California's Mojave Desert the toughest single day off-road race in the world is underway for the race leaders who have just returned through the main pit the course is about to get tougher with the 90 Mile desert lab behind them they're starting one of two 80 mile laps through the Hammers Rock canyons our thought was just don't lose the race of the rocks cuz it's it's easy to do something dumb get hung up or break some stuff getting eaten rolled over whatever so knowing we had the extra power and knowing how good our shocks are was kind of the plan to be smart stay down you know keep the pace down and cruise and try to just stay with Jason all day long back door is an imposing 12-foot rock ledge drivers must complete this obstacle one out of the three laps of this race this Jason shira's joined him at backdoor both Shearer and Nelson opted to take it on in lap to getting through back to her early is the key this is a foot race now after three attempts to climb the ledge and a near roll Nick and his co-driver decide to winch and he can use Nick Nelson as traction if he wants to right absolutely with Nick in the better line Jason doesn't hesitate to hook up his cable his co-driver gets to the winch point first and the 76 car makes a pass for the lead at a snail's pace and there you have it now has Paul Herschel we've got a spotter in back door because if he has he would have been sitting there saying blow through come in on another lap in which case Paul Marshall if he's blown past he's gonna picked up minutes here over these guys and potentially our new leader is commercial JP Gomez and Paul Horschel passed both back door and Nick and Jason they've taken the lead but they'll have to complete one of the toughest obstacles on their final lap Eric Miller enters the main pit having worked his way to physical eleventh from his starting position in 19th his straight axle car will be at an advantage in the rocks as Nick Nelson enters the first remote pit on lap 2 it's clear that something is wrong during winching and back door Nelson's co-driver has broken his ankle the unexpected substitution costs Nick five minutes in two positions up ahead Horschel is the new leader with Jason and second and JP and third they come to a four with a more established clawhammer trail on the left and a steeper but shorter climb on the right notice full of hate all three leaders head up full of hate and navigate the technical climb successfully but Horschel continues right at the top while Shearer veers off to the left as they descend into wreckingball it's Shearer who's back on top [Music] meanwhile Nick Nelson catches up to Levi surely at the same fork like the leaders Nick Dobbs for full of hate and it appears to be the right decision as he broadens the distance between them less than 30 minutes after leaving hammer temple Eric Miller has worked his way from 11th to physical forth in chat with Josh Bleiler unplugs the trail by flipping Chad Owens back up right shortly after Tom wayes comes through and takes advantage of a clean line from the rocks [Music] back in the main pit Bailey Campbell is fighting her own battle when the driver in front of her came to a sudden stop she rear-ended the vehicle and destroyed her winch it's possible to complete the walk section without one but it would jeopardize her entire race I know we're bringing about 20 to 50 pit crew guys to help us pit and it's that's what I think makes our team more successful is we're having 100% on our pit crew team they know exactly what to do on the cars they know exactly what to do when we pull in a pit to get us at like a spare tire chain or tighten anything we need so I think that helps a lot after 25 minutes Bailey heads to backdoor there's limited traffic and the replacement Lynch gets her through the quickly wedge in that pit beneficial luck she's able to use the other drivers tire finishing king of the hammers is about minimizing risk the GPS tracker on the NYX car shows that in spite of this best efforts the former leader is at a standstill Nick Nelson is out of the race so here we're watching one of the Gomez brothers now that's Raul it looks like we're running on a flat here trying to make his way to the pit up ahead in physical second JP Gomez has a more serious problem but there's still one Gomez brother left to pick up the torch Marcos has never finished king of the hammers before and the entire Gomez brothers racing team is hoping this year will be the first in spite of all our setbacks Bailey's fought her way back to physical 24th executing passes on some of the steepest and roughest sections of the course [Music] dan fresh who started next to her is 13th Tom wayes after qualifying xli has worked his way up to 19th it's 11:32 a.m. after a fifty second refuel Jason shear flies through hammer town and heads back out into the rocks he's about to start the toughest lap of the race what his rearview mirror is clear for now you welcome back to the 2019 Nidoking of the hammers powered by Optima batteries 170 miles into the race only the strongest remain led by two-time winner and reigning king Jason Shearer Waylon Campbell is in hot pursuit with Eric close behind as Jason makes his way out into the rocks for the third and final lap he'll have a few new challenges on lap three racers must run the same course as lap two Plus navigate 11 additional miles of even harder rock trails including sledgehammer outer limits and Spooner's they'll also have to find a path through a graveyard of broken-down vehicles as Scherrer andrews jack north a car still on lap 2 flips right in front of him plugging the mainline besides a healthy lead over the rest of the field jason has another advantage he's already completed the required passage of back door Shannon Campbell is next now JP and Raul Gomez on hand that's definitely gonna help Shannon reel in Wayland everything they're out of the race but they can still help other drivers Shannon passes Paul and back door but it won't last long so Paul takes the opportunity to regain his position [Music] as Whelan and Eric battle lap traffic Shearer works his way methodically through sledgehammer when Paul reaches the same trail things take another unlucky turn the broken rear driveshaft limits him to front-wheel drive meanwhile Bailey is back on course after more than half an hour in the pits waylynn Campbell breaks in a arm as other racers make room for second place Jason is having his own difficulties and pulls out the winch cable to get through a difficult section of Outer Limits there's just not there's not the margin of error that you get in a lot of other forms of racing and I think that's what makes that challenge of waiking and the Hammers is so brutal and so hard Erik moves into second place and quickly reaches Outer Limits the rock trails are a game of inches so you have such a precise driving style that happens in the rocks but if you miss one of those rocks at 10 miles an hour by an inch and you cut the sidewall or pin the rim or whatever it's a game changer like it's totally different race from that point on viewers lead is dwindling is the two-time King Erik Miller he is the master technician in the rocks and he's ever so slowly pulling Jason Shearer back towards him after exiting Outer Limits Jason approaches Spooner's a walk trail reserved only for the last lap and the only one between him in the open desert [Music] Eric fishing all that plastic job here water driver after leading almost two full laps in the rocks Shearer navigates the final miles to the finish in the end Jason keeps his crown and becomes the first back-to-back winner in hammers history Jason Shearer brings it back to van race that took six and a half hours Erik is less than six minutes behind on corrected time Shannon Campbell claims third place just 31 of a hundred and nine drivers finished [Music] the top three on the podium in this year's race now share eight king of the hammers titles between them [Applause] Marco's Gomez goes on to celebrate fourth place and his first king of the hammers finish Tom wayes rounds out the top-5 with an impressive return to ultra for racing after a year off two years ago when I was leading by 15 minutes commander schooners and drug that drive Sabbath I wanted to pick up Jason he's one of my best friends I'm really happy for those guys Jason Jason we're gonna bring and Sabrina bring heat for next year twelve years ago the king of the hammers was just an idea today it's the toughest off-road race in the world [Music] Ultra four cars are an anomaly they embrace competing demands of speed over desert and torque through the rocks to thrive in an environment where no other car can they've come a long way in a short time but no matter how much they've achieved they can exist without the people who dream them up the ultra4 community is taking on new challenges and pushing the boundaries of all motorsports it's an endeavor that's resonated with millions good job without the exposure and even cash prizes these same people would be in their shops pushing towards perfection see they're chasing a feeling a sense of accomplishment and no matter what order they're in when they emerge from the hammers they'll keep building breaking driving this race is the ultimate test but the finish line is just the beginning you

Channel: King of The Hammers - ULTRA4 Racing

Views: 65,390

Rating: 4.8996415 out of 5

Keywords: U4, Ultra4, Ultra4Racing, Ultra4 Racing, KOH, King of the Hammers, Desert Racing, Desert, KOH2019, King of the Hammers 2019, Offroad, Off road, Off road racing, racing, go fast, Johnson Valley, 4x4, Nitto, Optima

Id: 2wjeHhBilgg

Length: 47min 7sec (2827 seconds)

Published: Mon May 20 2019