Latest news with #RaceofKings
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Chaney nails historic King of the Hammers victory
In a week dominated by memorable performances, Ohio's Kyle Chaney shook the sport's current paradigm to its core by taking a historic overall victory in Saturday's King of the Hammers 'Race of Kings.' With a field filled with the sport's best drivers and most potent race vehicles, Chaney piloted a Can-Am based UTV to victory against machines costing four times as much (or more) that carry four to six times the horsepower. For the most part, the first part of the race was over run over familiar territory. Up front, the factory Ford Bronco of former race winner Loren Healy got past pole winner Paul Wolff early. Healy led for much of the first lap and a half before succumbing to terminal drivetrain woes. Defending race winner JP Gomez was first back to Hammertown after the second lap, hoping to make some time on a rapidly moving Jason Scherer, who had been carving through the field from his rear starting position. Also in the hunt at this point was the Jeep-based racer of Casey Currie. In an unusual move by race promoter Dave Cole, this year's third lap was plotted over some virgin rock trails and kept secret until just before the race. Gomez was the first to enter the new section, which proved as much of a navigational challenge as a driving one. Close behind was former king Josh Blyler, followed by the Can-Am of Chaney and navigator Terry Madden before a second Can-Am of Cody Miller. JP Gomez took the fight to Chaney but had to settle for second. Hammerking Productions photo Without any pre-running of the so-called 'Mystery Lap,' the last circuit provided thrilling action on the rocks that saw Blyler and Gomez exchanging the physical lead before Blyer broke his car trying to extract himself out of the rocks. At the same time a solo Gomez was forced to fix a flat, opening the door for Chaney and Miller to get by. On the next rock section Chaney made it through cleanly, but Miller's car literary broke its chassis in half. After that, it was down to Chaney and Gomez, with the latter having to stop at least once to overcome an electrical issue. Nobody else was within two hours of the leaders. After coming so close to winning in 2024, Chaney finally took the King of the Hammer's 'Race of Kings' checkered flag, providing Can-Am the honors of being the first UTV-based vehicle to win the title. The veteran desert and short-course racer had dominated the KOH UTV rock races in the past but made the move to a purpose-built chassis with Can-Am components and reliable 37-inch Maxxis tires to finally win the big one. A tired but happy Gomez came home second just over 30 minutes later, followed by Brian Caprera, Robby Gordon (who shared driving with son Max) and Cody Addington in fifth. Only 27 of the original 97 started earned a race finish, a testament to the difficultly baked into the 2025 Race of Kings recipe by KOH's Dave Cole. Brad Lovell won overall in the Yokohama Tire Every Man Challenge. Hammerking Productions photo The commitment by Ford and Ford Performance to King of the Hammers competition was evident by Brad Lovell's overall victory on Friday's Yokohama Tire Every Man Challenge race. A 2022 Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee, Lovell piloted his No. 4621 Amsoil Ford Bronco with son Adam as his navigator to a surprise win in the 4600 Stock class. The duo defeated all the 4800 Legends and 4500 Modified entries, that, on paper, offer far more capability and performance. Cody Young, Legends class. Hammerking Productions photo First physically back to the Hammertown finish line was Amber Slawson in the No. 70 Legends class machine, with Cody Young next in his No. 4862 Legends car. Slawson was hit with several time penalties that prevented her from becoming the first women to overall a KOH race, dropping her to third. Lovell's time was just 5h3952s, just over 14 minutes faster than Young's corrected time. After a long week of disappointments Cameron Steele earned a third-place finish in the Legends class, and fourth overall. Taking 16th overall and winning the Every May Challenge Modified class was the No. 218 Toyota of Dan Wyrick. Only 30 of 120 starters managed to complete the two-lap marathon. Another victory for Brock Heger, this time in the Pro UTV Open class. Photo courtesy of Polaris Thursday's Can-Am King of the Hammers UTV Championship race provided yet another platform for Polaris racer Brock Heger to add to this amazing current hot streak. Using last year's RZR Pro R Factory, the 2025 Dakar UTV champion and winner of the week's UTV Desert Challenge race secured the overall and Pro UTV Open class win as the only driver to finish in under four hours while crossing the line 26 minutes ahead of the next physical competitor. Heger started the race from the second line after qualifying third, and once the green flag waved, it was clear that this would be another commanding performance. Setting a blistering pace from the start, he had already stretched out a nearly two-minute lead by mile 50. The car's large fuel tank eliminated pit stop time, as did choosing to drive over rock obstacles many other competitors chose to overcome with the aid of on-board winches. Other class winners included Casey Currie in a Polaris (4900 Pro Stock Turbo UTV), motocross legend Jeremy McGrath in a Kawasaki (4900 Pro Stock NA UTV), Cody Miller's Can-Am in 4900 Pro Mod UTV, the Can-Am of Jonathan Nelson (4900 Sportsman Stock UTV) and young Cameron Sorensen in a Speed UTV taking the 4900 Futures Youth 1000 UTV division. Story originally appeared on Racer
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
King of the Hammers: Undercards give way to the main events
While the competition at the Optima King of the Hammers presented by Ford Performance has seen its share of agony and victory this week, the next three days of main events are certain to test drivers and machines while entertaining a reportedly record-sized crowd in California's Johnson Valley. Indeed, some of the sport's very best talent will be showcased today in the Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship race. Comprised of six different classes of Polaris, Can-Am and Kawasaki side-by-sides, most of the top names will run in the 4900 Pro Open and Pro Mod categories. The top five in qualifying showed a portent of what's to come as longtime Polaris race Ronnie Anderson edged out perennial UTV favorite Kyle Chaney's Can-Am for pole position by just 0.194s. Just over two second back in third is UTV juggernaut Brock Heger (Polaris, pictured above) in third, then CJ Greaves (Polaris) in fourth and Phil Blurton (Can-Am) in fifth. A total of 100 UTVs will take the green flag. CJ Greaves showed strongly in KOH UTV qualifying. Hammerking productions photo Friday will feature the Yokohama Tire Every Man Challenge race. Created to offer off-road and 4×4 enthusiasts a way to build production-based machines into the sport, three classes that include Ford, Jeep, Dodge, Chevy, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Mahindra and Toyota-based race cars make for a true fan favorite. Paul Wolff took pole for KOH Race of Kings. Hammerking Productions The three weekend KOH extravaganza wrap-up on Saturday with the aptly named Race of Kings. Yesterday the qualifying course proved to separate those looking to push their luck for the Race of Kings all-day endurance test from the front vs those looking to make the show and start from a good position. While all the previous race champions ran at the end of the day for 'Power Hour,' the pace was set early by Paul Wolff in a blazing fast run in his single seat Unlimited car to nab top honors. The two factory Ford Bronco unlimited RTR machines of Loren Healey and Vaughn Gittin Jr. were second and third respectively, followed by the Can-Am UTV of Kyle Chaney and then Bill Mcgibbon. Currently 99 entries are slated for Saturday's KOH finale. As promising as the King of the Hammers main events will be in terms of top-tier competition, the week's completed races have proven to be much more than secondary undercards. There is no doubt that spreading this massive show over one week is great for spectators and racers, and those that took on the challenge brought out their very best no matter the category of racing. Chris Polvoorde mastered both the high- and low-speed challenges of the Hammers Desert Race. Hammerking Productions photo Sunday's Toyo Tires King of the Hammers Desert Race presented by Monster Energy Unlimited race was a points event toward the 2025 Best-In-The-Desert championship. In a dominating repeat of his winning 2024 KOH performance, the No. 94 Optima Ford Unlimited truck of Chris Polvoorde lead from pole to finish after qualifying first. Polvoorde's Mason Motorsports-built all-wheel drive Ford was untouchable, with co-driver and Fox Shox tuning expert Mike Kim providing impeccable navigation. 'It was a long day and a rough course, but it was a lot of fun,' said Polvoorde. 'Mike and I and the team went in with a plan and stuck to it and now we are here. I am thankful. There were a lot of moments where you could make big mistakes. Some spots are super-fast where you are going over 130mph, and in other spots, you are going 2mph, scared you are going to crash off a cliff.' Kyle Jergensen and his Trophy-Truck Spec surprised the field. Hammerking Productions Kyle Jergensen shocked the field with his second overall and first place performance in the T2 (Trophy-Truck Spec) category. Armed with two-wheel drive and at least 400hp down to Polvoorde, Jergensen and the No. 6175 Beast-sponsored, Camburg-built truck was just six minutes behind the winner on corrected time. The T1 (Trophy-Trucks) of JP Gomez and Thor Herbst come home third and fourth, with the T2 of Jason Coleman rounding up the top five. Last Saturday, the Desert Challenge for Limited class vehicles proved to be another showcase for the talents of Polaris factory phenom Brock Heger. Hegar wasted no time picking up where he left off after his win at the Dakar Rally. Once again proving unstoppable behind the wheel of his RZR Pro R Factory, Heger delivered a dominant wire-to-wire performance to secure his second consecutive victory at the event, claiming the overall UTV win in the UTV Open class during the Limited race. In addition to Heger, Polaris-supported racers dominated the event, securing nine of the top 10 positions, including a podium sweep. Doug Mittag and Dallas Gonzalez claimed second and third places in their modified RZR Pro Rs, while RZR factory racing driver Max Eddy Jr. finished fourth in his RZR Pro R Factory. Fifth place was taken by the Can-Am of Michael McFayden. Blake Wilkey again starred in the PRP Seat Class Showdown. Hammerking Productions Finally, Blake Wilkey continued his dominance of the PRP Seat Class Showdown presented by EMPI, taking his famous lavender vintage stock VW sedan to another KOH victory despite another large field. The exploits of Wilkey have been largely credited for the recent surge in interest in this class, which is a fan favorite wherever they race. Complete coverage and information of all this week's remaining King of the Hammers races can be found by visiting UNLIMITED DESERT RACE RESULTS LIMITED DESERT RACE RESULTS CLASS 11 SHOWDOWN RACE RESULTS Story originally appeared on Racer
