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| As you can see from these two rigs, there is a huge difference in the way an IFS rig works vs. a Solid Axle. |
“Desert Racing, it's not just the Baja”
Desert Racing is the top level of Off Road Racing with the largest series being run by SCORE International, or the Short Course Off Road Enterprises International, that sanctions the famous Baja 1000. Many enthusiast and professional off road racing organizations base their rules off of the SCORE rulebook. The world's most famous Desert Race is the Dakar, sanctioned by the FIA and is now only in name as it is run in South America. These events are typically 400 miles or more and can be run from checkpoint to checkpoint or in a very large loop. They are endurance races for both man and machine, as not only the desert heat gets to drivers, but also the ever changing terrain that they race on.
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| Do I really need to explain why Desert Racing is cool? |
There are many classes in Desert Racing, from Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs) to stock trucks to “Baja Bugs” to fully custom-built rigs. Engines range from 4- to 12-cylinders and can use most anything for fuel depending on class. Superchargers and turbos are allowed depending on class and/or organization body.
“Bringing it all Together”
When Dave Cole, of Ultra4 Racing and Excutive Director of Hammerking Productions, decided he wanted to make a race out of the different rock crawling courses, he came up with the “King of the Hammers.” Dave describes, “We were just trail riders, racing to the different trails, and you know it turned into full contact racing.” So, why is it called the “King of the Hammers?” Most of the crawling portions of the course are named after different types of hammers, like the Jackhammer, the Clawhammer, and the Wrecking Ball. There are other parts of the roughtly 79 mile loop course and qualifying takes place on Chocolate Thunder. Don't let the name fool you, it's one of the harder courses and is the perfect area to do a qualifying run as it best combines the elements of the desert run with the elements of the rock crawling run.
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| Qualifying took place here at Chocolate Thunder! |
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| This small map is the King of the Hammers course! If you really want to see it, click here! |
“The only other racing I've done other than this is drag racing and Desert Racing,” said the King of the Hammers' most consistent driver, Rick “EZ” Mooneyham, “This has all of the aderenaline pumping rush of speed and G's in the seat of drag racing and it's got the high speed dodging of stuff like desert racing.” He continues, “That's where you can run out of talent, it's too fast in the rocks and you can't turn it fast enough in the desert!”
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| With four team rigs, with one being an all Japanese crew, and several privateer teams, Nitto Tire was out in force with their new Trail Grappler M/T competition off road tire. |
