Industry News Trip Reports

2014 King of the Hammers UTV Race

Mitch Guthrie

By Rusty Baptist, Fatography.net

The crew at Hammer King Productions added qualifying for UTVs at this year’s King of the Hammers UTV race. Tuesday morning 24 pro UTV racers would stage in Hammer Town. The iconic Red Bull arch would span the starting line. A 2 mile mini hammers course was marked in the foothills just outside of town. The course would encompass many aspects of the 120 mile race course. Everything from short course style infield, rocks, whoops, jumps and hill climbs. The idea was to create a course that would test the cars and driver without destroying them. Being first off the line for Wednesday’s race has its advantages. Bottle-necks can form in the rock sections and working your way from the back is a daunting task. It’s a 49 mile sprint through the desert to the first obstacle. Being first here is key to getting out front. Lone Star Racing’s Brandon Sims in his 2014 XP 1000 took the top spot, Second place would be Dean Bulloch in his Wildcat 1000 and the XP 1000 of 4-time KOH champ Mitch Guthrie in third.

Branden Sims
Braden Sims qualified first and finished the race 2nd

8:00am Wednesday morning 36 UTVs paired up into 18 rows. Top qualifier Brandon Sims and number two Dean Bulloch would go first. The green flag would drop for the rest of the field two at a time, 30 seconds apart. By Race mile 15 the battle was on. Blake Van de Loo would fly past everyone. His Walker Evans shocks were dialed and he was making up time after starting 10th. Unfortunately Blake caught some bad luck and clipped a bush (not Brian Bush) that took out the radiator. But in true Jagged X fashion a spare radiator was quickly swapped into the car. The time lost would be something Blake and Jon would battle all day. RM49 known as the Sand Hill, more of a sandy notch in a mountain with huge boulders just under the sand waiting to grab you. Guthrie would be the first to attempt the Sand Hill. His 3rd place qualifying spot and his mad dash through the desert put him in a very comfortable spot. Guthrie made the hill look easy. The 4-time KOH champ was already off to a good lead. Sims and Bullock only minutes later would split at the base. Bulloch opted for the sure thing option line, and in true Sims fashion he would roll the dice and shoot for the sand hill. Many competitors opted for the alternate line. Guthrie pitted at the end of lap 1 to make some repairs. Guthrie’s tie rod bolt had worked loose but they could not find the right tool to tighten it. The crew tightened it by hand and soaked it with red loctite. For the next 22 miles the teams would battle in the desert hoping to pick up spots before getting to Aftershock.


Matt Enochs Climbing Chocolate Thunder – 4th Place

Aftershock is the first major rock obstacle, and it would claim many. The Brave Motorsports Wildcat X would break a driveshaft trying to one shot the last obstacle at the top. With only front wheel drive they would be forced to winch out and drive 4 miles to the pits. Brain Bush would fall victim to a mechanical failure at the bottom of Aftershock. He hiked 4 miles to the pit and back to get an axle so he could drive his car out backwards. Enochs, aka Team Nasty, were first up Aftershock. Sims made a slight error and put his XP 1000 on the side. Winching himself back onto his wheels cost him precious time. Guthrie, Casey Currie and Duckworth were climbing Aftershock chasing the leaders. Casey Currie and Cody Currie would both come through Aftershock just blazing. The Currie brothers in their Kawasaki Teryx’s made quick work of the rocks. They were less than 1 minute apart and pushing hard.


Casey Currie in his Kawasaki Teryx4 – 3rd Place

A minor trail plug had formed in Hwy 19/20 with the leaders hung up. Guthrie tried winching up and around them for the pass, but Sims managed to get going before he could complete the pass. Team Nasty had a broken axle and waived Guthrie by. Sims would lead Guthrie up Chocolate Thunder and into Wrecking ball. Once in Wrecking Ball Guthrie cranked it up a bit. If there was a time to strike it was now. While Sims was winching up a line on the left,  Guthrie put the pass on Sims to the right and never looked back. For the next 27 miles Guthrie would push hard to hold the lead. Guthrie would take home his 5th KOH win at 1:00pm. 3 hours before the finish line closed. Sims in 2nd and Casey Currie would round out the Pro UTV podium with a solid third place finish.

RZR XP 1000 at King of the Hammers
1919 Jagged X – Blake Van de Loo and Jon Crowley – 5th Place

2014 would see a total of 10 finishers. 7 Pro and 3 Sportsman. At the pace UTV’s are progressing who knows what’s in store for 2015. Maybe a UTV will race on Friday with the big boys.


John Duckworth finished 1st in Sportsman


Cody Currie – 2nd Place Sportsman

2014 King of the Hammers UTV RaceBrian Bush2014 King of the Hammers UTV Race2014 King of the Hammers UTV Race

2014 King of the Hammers UTV RaceRob Usnick1919 Jagged XBlake Van de Loo

Casey CurrieMitch GuthrieMitch Guthrie2014 King of the Hammers UTV Race

Photo Credit: Rusty Baptist – Fatography.net, Don McNeilly – Discount Tire

2014 King of the Hammers UTV Race Results

 

Class

Name

#

Time

Start

Finish

Adjusted Race Time (includes Transit and Staggered Start)

 

Pro Class

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

UTV PRO

Mitch Guthrie

1

04:33.2

8:00:30

13:00:43

5:00:13

2

UTV PRO

Branden Sims

1913

04:10.8

8:00:00

13:12:45

5:08:27

3

UTV PRO

Casey Currie

2

06:14.8

8:03:00

13:40:29

5:34:27

4

UTV PRO

Matt Enochs

1924

04:57.4

8:01:30

14:24:07

6:20:19

5

UTV PRO

Blake Van de Loo

1919

05:09.1

8:02:00

15:53:29

7:49:10

6

UTV PRO

Bill Barnett

1948

06:58.2

8:03:30

16:16:06

8:09:44

7

UTV PRO

Wesley Gryner

7

04:59.5

8:02:00

16:23:54

8:19:22

 

UTV PRO

DEAN BULLOCH

1909

04:11.7

8:00:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Chris Barnett

1961

04:34.2

8:00:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Matt Dow

1224

04:46.0

8:01:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

BRIAN C BUSH

1911

04:53.0

8:01:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Brandon Sinclair

23

04:53.9

8:01:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Cody Nygren

1916

05:12.1

8:02:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Joseph Chavez

1912

06:07.5

8:02:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Rob Usnick

1999

06:07.5

8:03:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Wyatt Casper

1946

06:15.6

8:03:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Matthew Hamilton

1949

07:17.6

8:04:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Brian Braun

16

DNF

8:04:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Troy Bigelow

313

DNF

8:04:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Jason Murray

1917

DNS

8:04:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Lanse Chournos

1929

DNS

8:05:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Arnold Parris

1959

DNS

8:05:00

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Darryl Dunlap

1921

DNS

8:05:30

 

DNF

 

UTV PRO

Fred Stanford

17

DNS

8:05:30

 

DNF

 

Sportsman Class

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

UTV SPORT

John Duckworth

1920

N/A

8:08:00

12:46:08

4:35:24

2

UTV SPORT

Cody Currie

22

N/A

8:08:30

12:58:05

4:47:13

3

UTV SPORT

Scott Barnett

1907

N/A

8:06:00

14:26:45

6:17:32

 

UTV SPORT

Mel Wade, IV

1951

N/A

8:06:00

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Amberly Sacalas

35

N/A

8:06:30

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Lindsay R. Syler

226

N/A

8:06:30

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Terry Kenyon

64

N/A

8:07:00

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Brian Hogue

1915

N/A

8:07:00

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Brett Snyder

7212

N/A

8:07:30

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Len Damouth

911

N/A

8:07:30

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Angie Sripoona

1918

N/A

8:08:00

 

DNF

 

UTV SPORT

Justin Barth

526

N/A

8:08:30

 

DNF

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