Top 3 Spills, Crashes, And Bashes At The 2015 King Of The Hammers

REWA_165Everyone comes to the King of The Hammers in Johnson Valley looking to prove themselves worthy of the vast and varied race course. Stretching over 87-miles and packing everything from uphill rock climbs to flat, open dry lake beds, drivers are forced to do three laps of the course while taking required alternate routes at certain points.

This combination can do a number on racers, and it certainly does: this year, only 17 teams competing in the Nitto King of The Hammers made it all the way to the finish line (the Smittybilt Everyman Challenge, which took place a day before, had four classes and 111 entrants, and only 12 finished). KOH wash-outs included such legends as Shannon Campbell and Ultra4 points leader Loren Healy, and they were among 125 other racers who had to take home a “DNF” (“Did Not Finish”) in spite of their efforts. Let’s take a look at a few of these competitors and break down what all happened.

Nitto King of The Hammers (Chocolate Thunder)

REWA_228A inclining gulch of big, jagged boulders stretching an eighth of a mile–that’s the simplest way to describe the entrance to Chocolate Thunder. The slow, grueling pace it requires to overcome puts a lot of strain on the vehicle and its passengers, and Jack Badossian (#818) was forced to learn the hard way the limits of his 4×4.

Reaching the halfway point of CT, Badossian’s rig up and died on him. Even when hooked to a winch point, the vehicle continued to sputter and die time and time again. Badossian eventually had to face the facts, and hopped out of the car to explain to the course workers that his “fuel was boiling.” For all intents and purposes, this was where Badossian’s race finished: 10:39am, less than two hours after he had started.

Editor’s Note: Badossian actually stopped at Chocolate Thunder at around 3:00 pm, and had to wait 15-20 minutes while his fuel cooled down.

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Stranded at Chocolate Thunder, Badossian and his co-driver are quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place during Friday’s Nitto King of The Hammers.

Smittybilt Everyman Challenge (Chocolate Thunder)

REWA_254Not everyone meets their demise at Chocolate Thunder, however. Take Mike Amaral (#4828) for instance. Along with his co-driver Sarah, the Bakersfield duo made it to the spire in the middle of CT and unexpectedly found themselves stuck.

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Mike and Sarah get bypassed by Matthew Peterson, who takes the right-side route to get around the spire of rocks in the middle of the pathway.

Sarah leapt out of the car first after the vehicle stalled, and focused her attention on the 4×4’s electronics. She swapped out dead batteries for new ones, but it proved to not be enough, and Mike extricated himself after noticing Matthew Peterson (#4608) amble by on the right side of the canyon wall.

Time was against them, but the Amarals found a way to tinker their way out. Winched up and moving, the team made it up and over this rocky section after a total of 10 minutes had passed.

Incredibly, Mike and Sarah managed to make it to the podium that day, coming in 3rd place in the 4800 Legends Class with a total time of 8 hours, 31 minutes, and 38 seconds. Well done, you two!

Sarah gives Mike directions as the 4x4 winches its way of Chocolate Thunder.

Sarah gives Mike directions as the 4×4 winches its way out of Chocolate Thunder.

Nitto King Of The Hammers (Backdoor)

REWA_146Remember the tale of the tortoise and the hare? Nowhere is this fable more applicable than Backdoor. With its terraced rock formation, racers face steep steps that can result in flips, high-centerings, and rollovers if not handled correctly.

REWA_158

Oh shi–!

No matter how much this section of the race course is despised and dreaded, everyone must go through Backdoor once (spectators wear cheeky T-shirts alluding to this). Some choose to do it later, while others prefer to get it over with as soon as possible. The competitors here–Doug Jackson (#61) and Keith Xavier (#4459) opted to do their run of Backdoor in the midst of the first lap.

Oftentimes, competitors make use of a winch to overcome the steps, but not these two. Jackson was the first to start the climb, but quickly fell victim to a backwards rollover. His ride “played dead” as Xavier went right, making it past the first step with ease.

Xavier soon fell victim to the same mistake, however. He landed on his right side, wheels spinning futilely before he killed the motor. After the dust had settled, course marshals stepped down onto the track and coordinated recovery efforts. Jackson wound up winching himself backwards before he took to the right side of the trail, while Xavier was righted and set on his way.

Editor’s Note: It was actually Jackson’s second lap when this accident occurred. Dave Cole and some spectators helped to right the vehicle, although Jackson had to forfeit the race later at Jackhammer when his fuel pumps malfunctioned.

The fallen warriors (left) are righted and set on their ways with the help of course volunteers (right).

That about sums it up for our cream of the crop crashes at this year’s King of The Hammers coverage. Did you ever get to watch any nastiness unfold out at Johnson Valley? Tell us all about what happened in a comment below.

About the author

David Chick

David Chick comes to us ready for adventure. With passions that span clean and fast Corvettes all the way to down and dirty off-road vehicles (just ask him about his dream Jurassic Park Explorer), David's eclectic tastes lend well to his multiple automotive writing passions.
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