Every February the serene desert-scape of Johnson Valley, California undergoes a change when tens of thousands of off-road enthusiasts fill the dry lake beds. The normally quiet desert erupts with the sounds of horsepower thundering through the rocks as equally loud fans have their cheers echo through the canyons. This annual change is known as King of the Hammers, and 2022 would bring more racers and fans than ever before swelling to near 100,000.

This year’s feature race, The Nitto Tire Race of Kings would bring out a total of 102 unlimited 4400 rigs. The 4 Wheel Parts Everyman Challenge would include another 105 participants in and over 110 UTVS registered for the CAN-AM UTV Hammers Championship. With over 300 rigs taking on one of the most challenging off-road races in the world the weekend headliner delivered epic offroad action.

Qualifying For The 2022 Nitto Tire Race of Kings 

The 1.8-mile qualifying run offers a mix of a high-speed short track as well as multiple climbs up and back down sheer rock faces. One of the biggest factors for the main race was drivers having to navigate the narrow signature rock sections cleanly and quickly. Drivers eagerly laid down rapid qualifying times, to gain valuable front row starting positions and avoid the inevitable bottle necks come race day. 

Bryan Crofts offered up the fasted run of the day clearing the next qualifier by over two seconds in his Campbell Enterprises #9 rig. Jason Scherer was the next top finisher looking to repeat the Ford performance dominance in the 4600 class. But the real star of qualifying was the 4th place finisher Loren Healy taking an absolutely insane line straight over and down the first rock section.

2022 Nitto Tire Race of Kings Main Event

Now, that all the start orders were sorted out, it was time for the main event of the 2022 Nitto Tire Race Of Kings. As the rigs left the start side by side all eyes were on the first rock area, Turkey Claw, only a few miles out. As the leaders cycled through the narrow rock valley it wasn’t long till it claimed its first of several victims as the dust built up, obscuring the lines.

Despite the sheer toughness of these trucks, the battle of attrition was well underway. Even before all the cars could make their start, two of the top five qualifiers were pulled over off track nursing problems. With Crofts and Healy both falling behind, the leaders headed into Cougar Buttes covering the northern end of the course.

As Lap 1 ended, Jason Scherer led the field back into HammerTown where he topped off with fuel and headed back out. Following close behind was Raul Gomez and multi-time “King” Randy Slawson. Despite plenty of shuffling in the middle of the pack, Lap 2 for the leaders showed the leaders maintaining their fast pace. As Lap 2 ended, both Scherer and Gomez found themselves in the pits topping off and replacing tires. The 4Wp Ford Bronco got out about a minute before Gomez’s brand new UFO rig.

The final lap, however, was a different story. With heavy race lap traffic clogging up the entry to Turkey Claw the #83 was able to close the gap on Scherer. Halfway through the canyon Raul let it all hang out sending it hard on an alternate line and securing the lead. But despite the lead, the wide open desert heading to Outer Limits proved to favor the Bronco with the #76 taking back the lead.

The Difference Between Winning And Losing

As the desert yielded to the rocks of spooners, Jason was still leading with what seemed like a commanding gap. Then Outer Limits happened. The #76 tipped and Scherer took a huge spill climbing down. After collecting himself, winch-line in hand he watched as Raul Gomez passed by to take physical and first place.

With The UFO rig of Gomez commanding the rocks all race, it seemed he had all but secured a win. But coming into Wrecking Ball he high centered his truck. Being a single seater, it was all on him to work the winch lines allowing the Bronco to eat away at his gap to within 5 minutes. With the battle going back and forth the #76 took his turn for hardship having his front left tire go down.

Now through and finished with the majority of the rocks, both the top drivers were hard charging in the open desert towards the finish line. As they crossed, Raul Gomez finished first taking the title of “King”. Jason Scherer finished 2nd, and 15-minutes behind after time adjustments. Finishing 3rd, was Josh Blyer 34-minutes behind the leader. Another finisher to mention was Josh Webb in his CAN-AM 4400 entry, putting a UTV in the Top 10.  This incredible feat shows how durable and competitive modern UTV already are. It should be known that special modifications were made and this particular UTV was designed around the 4400 technical requirements. With that in mind, the UTV division had its own dedicated race. 

UTV Highlights

Qualifying for the CAN-AM Hammers Championship was tight with Cole Clark in his RZR taking the #1 pole position followed within 3-seconds by Phil Blurton, Cody Miller and Hunter Miller all in CAN-AM’s. Starting eighth would be Mitch Guthrie in his Open Class RZR and RJ Anderson would take the final Top 10 spot in his Stock Turbo Class UTV.

On race day, only 35 of 117 UTVS would be able to complete the course to register a finish. Kyle Chaney was the fast man on course finishing Lap 1 10-minutes faster than 2nd place finisher Hunter miller. The last step on the podium belong to another UTV PRO MOD driven by Paul Wolfe. RJ Anderson was the first Stock Class UTV across the line finishing 4th overall.

Overall, this Year’s KOH delivered some of the hardest fought battles I’ve seen. Whether they finished on the podium or even finished at all, my hats off to every driver, co-driver and team that made the track out to Johnson Valley to test themselves. For many years to come, wild stories from the trail will be told; Co-drivers hiking seven plus miles of winch cable, Cameron Steele jogging through the desert with 80 pounds of parts to repair his car, the way the race would have gone if this or that happened or didn’t happen. Come next February, new versions of those stories will once again replace the quiet desert of Johnson Valley with the sound of Horsepower.