Bilstein Shocks Make Impact In The Desert And The Short Course

Bilstein has been kicking dust and taking names again. At this year’s King of the Hammers, Bilstein off-road racer Doug Mittag lead the charge with two podium finishes in two different competitions. Bilstein teammate, Ryan Beat was also on the lakebed for the opening round of Great American Short Course and scored a big win in his Pro 2 Chevrolet truck to start out the season. 

Bilstein Shocks At 2023 King Of The Hammers

Photo Credit: Bink Designs

Outfitted with Bilstein’s all-new Black Hawk Powersports UTV shocks, Mittag’s Polaris RZR Pro R took to the finish line first during the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge prologue. This quick time helped Mittag secure a B3 – Desert UTV Open class second-place podium in the race final. He finished just over a minute behind class winner Brandon Simms which earned Mittag a 3rd place overall ranking in the limited desert race.

Bilstein Shocks At 2023 King Of The Hammers

Bilstein Shocks On The Podium

I had an amazing week on the lake bed, starting out with a flawless UTV race battling for 1st the entire race out of 80 + cars, and then battling our way to a podium finish in the PRO-2 race! Huge thanks to Bilstein for making it easy on me and the team with zero failures and not having to make a single adjustment on any shock all weekend! —Doug Mittag

This marked the first time Bilstein’s all-new Black Hawk Powersports shocks entered into competition, and with great results. These same shocks are now available to the public for several powersports platforms. The performance advantage all has to do with the patented dual-stage, externally adjustable “Zone Control” jounce cut-off system for tool-free on-the-fly tuning. But as Doug stated, the shocks were great right out of the box and zero adjustments were required. 

Bilstein Black Hawk UTV shocks use a proprietary Zone Control internal bump-stop system that provides position-sensitive damping without the downsides of internal bypass.

Bilstein Shocks On The Rocks

The following Monday Great American Short Course Round 1 was hosted in Hammertown. The door-to-door racing was new to King Of The Hammers, and the racers put on a show! It quickly went from an off-road motorsports event, to what Bilstein referred to as “…a knock-down brawl of a finish.” A race that resulted in Bilstein racer Ryan Beat taking first place in Pro 2 Unlimited thanks to the help of Bilstein shocks. Doug Mittag also racing in Pro 2 rounded out the podium in third.

A few other Bilstein-sponsored racers had a hell of a good run as well during KOH. One of these cats included Brian Deegan, who took fourth place in the Can-Am Pro-Stock Turbo UTV class. 

“We couldn’t be more proud of our racers’ achievements this year as well as the performance of our new Black Hawk Powersports dampers. And let’s not forget thanking Dave Cole’s group for putting on the most spectacular event in off-road racing. We’re excited and looking forward to continuing our re-entry into desert motorsports, a winning legacy that dates back almost 50 years in North America.” —Steve Seggern, Head of Marketing & Powersports for Bilstein.

Bilstein Shocks At 2023 King Of The Hammers

KOH Continues To Kick Ass

All told, King of the Hammers brought professional off-road racers from 37 states and an array of foreign countries to the Johnson Valley in southern California. Over the course of almost two full weeks, teams of UTV drivers, desert-racing truck racers, buggies, and motorbikes all battled for gold and glory.

Bilstein was in attendance showcasing its wares, and supporting an array of sponsored racers. It is a thrill for spectators, vendors, racers, and also manufacturers to be at the “Super Bowl” of off-road racing.

Bilstein Shocks At 2023 King Of The Hammers

Images provided by Bilstein Shock Absorbers and Bink Designs.

Article Sources

About the author

Micah Wright

Raised on LEGOs by grandfathers who insisted on fixing everything themselves, Micah has been a petrolhead in training since age four. His favorite past times include craft beer, strong cigars, fast cars, and culinary creativity in all of its forms.
Read My Articles