King of the Hammers….How to sum up the hardest one day race in the United States of America? A roller coaster of emotions filled with plenty of ups and downs. This was our second year racing in the infamous King of the Hammers Everyman’s Challenge race and we not only finished but finished 9th! It was better than my team and I ever could have imagined. Our KOH experience started in November when we made several trips to the Hammers to scout and pre-run many of the trails we raced on race day. It started early and involved many hours of prep and time away from family and friends. It all paid off in the end though.
Our first race at KOH was very disheartening as we went in with very little knowledge and unrealistic goals and unfortunately we received a DNF at race mile 27. I didn’t want that this year so I invested in my car, team and sponsors. I wanted to prove the car was capable and I could finish the hardest race. My team and I prepped the car and then tested and re-prepped the car. We added some key changes in what I believe helped us to a finish. A major one was ADS racing shocks as it was their shocks and customer service to their drivers that got the car fine-tuned and made us fast. Fast enough to stay in front of the pack and maintain a top 10 finish! Thank you ADS racing shocks.
But what is prep without knowledge? Nothing but a car with clean fluids and tight bolts. If it wasn’t for Big Rich and Shelly with W.E. Rock promoting and holding Dirt Riot races which we took 3rd in the national points I would have never learned how to persevere and finish races. They gave me a place to learn to race endurance races and were key in my finish, so thank you again Big Rich and Shelly.
The week of KOH up to our race was pretty uneventful for us compared to last year. We fueled the car and did a lot of pre-running followed up with making minor adjustments. But realistically the car was ready from the day we hit the lake bed which was huge as it kept me relaxed and confidant. I remember telling Andrew owner of Letzroll Offroad Racing “if it isn’t ready now it won’t be on race day”. We went through the motions like getting through tech and contingency then drivers meeting then bed as the following day was race day.
Woke up Thursday the 6th to calm in the desert air, slightly cloudy but no breeze and quite. It was surreal but was feeling good and relaxed. Started staging cars and mingled with fellow drivers like Jason Kaminsky as we waited for our start time. The seconds flew as the minutes ticked and before I knew it my brother and I were strapped in and pulling up the start line. The green flag dropped and we were off and skirting the hill and heading for our first climb. It was a climb that would expose the one area we never checked, our transfer case shift cable. In the process of shifting to 4wd the bolt backed out making the cable useless. More importantly I got stuck on the one hill Andrew told me not to. Calmly and collectively my brother and I backed off the trail and exited the car. We quickly saw the issue and fixed it as best we could without our tools. Got back in and made it up the hill and out to the desert. We were by ourselves as the other drivers passed us on the hill. Clean air and smooth sailing from then on to pit 1.
Thanks to our great team Mike and Tim squared our transfer case cable away and conducted a once over before giving us thumbs up and sending us on our way. We hit the sand hill referred to as by many drivers the big dumb sand hill. This year Dave Cole added alternate routes to enable drivers pick their risk and rewards. My brother and I choose the alternates as it was littered with rocks giving us constant traction but added a bit to the course but we felt it was worth it. As we cleared this section of race course and seeing hammer town I felt ecstatic and relived as I felt like a winner right there just for simply making it the first lap as we passed cars littered on the side due to failures or rollovers. We rolled in to the pits and were greeted with smiling faces and thumbs up as everyone tore in to our car. Some were giving us food and drinks while others inspected or splashed fuel but before I knew it we were off again. This time we made it up the hill that originally stopped us with ease and no problems, off on lap 2.
As we cleared lap 1 and lap 2 intersect we stated seeing cars clearing the rocks, it was upsetting as I felt like I was doing terrible but I looked at my steering wheel and read the saying, “Drive your race”. After reading it I smirked as I was further than last year and skirted to the rock trails. We hit aftershock, one trail I have never done until then. Passed a few more cars but not before asking if they needed anything, more times than not they gave us thumbs up and we pressed. As we got further in the rocks we came a across 4 corners Orange Jeep LJ driven by Jason kaminsky helping a broken modified car out of a jam. We pulled up behind and waited for our turn as he was helping. Patiently waiting cars began to line up behind us with the same thoughts but a modified stock and spec class car took a high line bypassing all of us. Seeing this new line and the damage the car blocking the trail had the line of cars backed up. Once we cleared the new entrance ultra 4 racing sportsmanship showed as no one moved. Yes we were racing but now one moved until Jason was back in front as he was when we first pulled up. Once he entered the new line we followed and continued our race. We cleared aftershock and made quick work of the desert and pulled in to pit 2. Once again the Letzroll crew dove in head first and squared us away sending us on our way.
Clearing pit 2 we descended in to Jackhammer where we were still chasing Jason in the 4 corners LJ. As luck would have it Jason and his LJ experienced fuel issues leaving me the option to pass. The pass however was down the water fall I wanted to avoid but thanks to great products and trusting my brother Adam I made it down with not incidents. Adam got back in and we were off to chocolate thunder. Wasn’t until we cleared the top the hill I hit the brakes and went straight to the floor, I instantly knew I lost a brake line. We cleared the race course where Adam and I did the fastest brake line swap ever. Calling back to pit and talking to Jay, the voice in our helmets we told him the problem. We lost a brake line got it swapped but I don’t care brake fluid, what could I use to get us moving safely again. Right around that time Jason and the orange LJ came creeping over the hill and passed us but not before asking if we needed anything. We sent him on the way and dumped some power steering fluid in our mastercyclinder and took off chasing after him.
We entered Chocolate thunder where it was a bit of a traffic jam and after being heckled by Big Rich I got our 4 door Cherokee through the gate keeper and started my climb up. Jason and the orange LJ was in front and we were hot on his heels. We waited our turn and kept crawling up but not before getting hung up on a roller rock but thanks to the gas pedal and solid parts we powered over it and continued on. We exited chocolate thunder and passed Jason and the LJ on a sand hill climb but not before nerfing and trying to push a jeep with no front wheel drive. After two hits and no success we hit the siren to signal sorry but you need to move. He did so and I tried the hill again but no go. Several more attempts and was still denied. Jason and the orange LJ comes flying up and makes it, following his lead I got a running start and up over the sand hill we were and back on the chase. We hit some more desert before dropping in to lower and upper big Johnson. We crawled past Jason and the orange LJ on lower big Johnson and made quick work of the rock section before entering upper big Johnson. Seeing bright Spyder Auto LED light bars coming up I knew Alan Johnson and Ryan Frost in the 4511 Letzroll car were fast approaching so we cleared the obstacle to allow my teammate to pass. Once he cleared us we got back in the rocks and crawled right up following our mod stock car. We rolled through bolduar dash and into pit 2a. The crew not only took care of my car but the 4511 with ease, it was magic watching our team handle two cars when some struggled with one. Truly thankful for my Letzroll Offroad Racing team.
We hit the desert and could taste the finish and we kept running our race. I originally thought I wouldn’t finish the course on time but after clearing Martel and Elvis I realized my brother and I could be official KOH finishers. At the time we had not cars in front of us or behind us and even with 30K people on the lake bed and some 75 teams competing I felt like my brother and I were the only ones there. The sun was setting so the flipping the light bars on we kept moving forward. Passing race mile 111 and dropping back in to lap 1 course we were closer than we expected. I would ask for my temps and like a great co-driver my brother would read off temps then calmly call off time. He wanted me to know we were going to finish and on time. We dropped in to the range above the dry lake bed seeing hammer town and held the gas pedal down till we crested King hill dropping us on to the lake bed and to a checkered flag. Watching the flag wave and seeing the people at the jumbotron cheering filled me with relief, relief that it was all for something. That something was us finishing the hardest one day offroad race in the US. We later found out the we finished 9th with only 10 cars finishing in our class on time.
I will have a life time of memories and stories just from this week alone. Thank you to my wife Megan for supporting me in this crazy hobby called endurance racing. You’re the best and I couldn’t thank you enough. To my Dad Robert and Brother Adam, we did it! We set out and did exactly what we said we were going to do. We just did it better than we expected but it was because of the love, commitment and determation we put in. I love you and thank you for taking the ride with me. Rick thanks for exposing me to KOH and the Rez. You did more and helped make this happen more then you know. Mom thanks for making the drive to watch us finish, I t was great to have you there and to see the hard work pay off.
To my team and sponsors, you all rock and you all made this happen! The Letzroll Offroad Racing team is so diverse from people from the East Coast, West Coast and the UK. But once were all together we function like a well oiled machine, an oiled machine that put three cars top ten at KOH. Thank you ESAB welding and cutting for supporting us and giving us the tools to build finishers as it all starts with a welder. Yukon Gear and Axle, you provided the constant traction and helped us moving forward and thanks to your superior products I never feared or worried about axle problems. ADS racing shocks you made the car fast in the desert and comfortable in the rocks. The car scared me as it wanted to go and that was thanks to the massive 2.5 remote reservoir shocks matched with our Deaver coils and lead pack. Thanks Deaver for the continued support and helping us tackle the desert at speeds. C-rok engineering your bumpers and sliders took abuse the most rock crawlers see in a life time in one day and held up and still look good. Prime 4x4 your switch panel kept everything on and working properly and within arm’s reach. Thanks for the continued support to our team and our sport. Spyder Auto Lighting your LEDs illuminated our way to a finish, a top 10 finish. Thanks for lighting the path. Knuckle Busters thanks for the continued support and supplying us with our Cherokee parts to not only make it run like new but look good while doing it. TAD driveshaft’s thanks for building quality driveshafts that kept us moving forward. We never had one driveline issue and that’s thanks to you. Raceline wheels, thanks for building solid parts that take the abuse. This is our second season on our monster series beadlock and have had zero issues. Last but most importantly Letzroll Offroad Racing, THANK YOU! Thank you for everything, you have encouraged, supported and built the car and I couldn’t be happier or prouder to be a part of your team. Thanks for having us. To the fans, followers, supporters and spectators thank you for taking an interest in my team and our car. We enjoy meeting you and putting a show on and I hope we can continue to grow together. Till next KOH, be safe and keep it rubber side down.
Our first race at KOH was very disheartening as we went in with very little knowledge and unrealistic goals and unfortunately we received a DNF at race mile 27. I didn’t want that this year so I invested in my car, team and sponsors. I wanted to prove the car was capable and I could finish the hardest race. My team and I prepped the car and then tested and re-prepped the car. We added some key changes in what I believe helped us to a finish. A major one was ADS racing shocks as it was their shocks and customer service to their drivers that got the car fine-tuned and made us fast. Fast enough to stay in front of the pack and maintain a top 10 finish! Thank you ADS racing shocks.
But what is prep without knowledge? Nothing but a car with clean fluids and tight bolts. If it wasn’t for Big Rich and Shelly with W.E. Rock promoting and holding Dirt Riot races which we took 3rd in the national points I would have never learned how to persevere and finish races. They gave me a place to learn to race endurance races and were key in my finish, so thank you again Big Rich and Shelly.
The week of KOH up to our race was pretty uneventful for us compared to last year. We fueled the car and did a lot of pre-running followed up with making minor adjustments. But realistically the car was ready from the day we hit the lake bed which was huge as it kept me relaxed and confidant. I remember telling Andrew owner of Letzroll Offroad Racing “if it isn’t ready now it won’t be on race day”. We went through the motions like getting through tech and contingency then drivers meeting then bed as the following day was race day.
Woke up Thursday the 6th to calm in the desert air, slightly cloudy but no breeze and quite. It was surreal but was feeling good and relaxed. Started staging cars and mingled with fellow drivers like Jason Kaminsky as we waited for our start time. The seconds flew as the minutes ticked and before I knew it my brother and I were strapped in and pulling up the start line. The green flag dropped and we were off and skirting the hill and heading for our first climb. It was a climb that would expose the one area we never checked, our transfer case shift cable. In the process of shifting to 4wd the bolt backed out making the cable useless. More importantly I got stuck on the one hill Andrew told me not to. Calmly and collectively my brother and I backed off the trail and exited the car. We quickly saw the issue and fixed it as best we could without our tools. Got back in and made it up the hill and out to the desert. We were by ourselves as the other drivers passed us on the hill. Clean air and smooth sailing from then on to pit 1.
Thanks to our great team Mike and Tim squared our transfer case cable away and conducted a once over before giving us thumbs up and sending us on our way. We hit the sand hill referred to as by many drivers the big dumb sand hill. This year Dave Cole added alternate routes to enable drivers pick their risk and rewards. My brother and I choose the alternates as it was littered with rocks giving us constant traction but added a bit to the course but we felt it was worth it. As we cleared this section of race course and seeing hammer town I felt ecstatic and relived as I felt like a winner right there just for simply making it the first lap as we passed cars littered on the side due to failures or rollovers. We rolled in to the pits and were greeted with smiling faces and thumbs up as everyone tore in to our car. Some were giving us food and drinks while others inspected or splashed fuel but before I knew it we were off again. This time we made it up the hill that originally stopped us with ease and no problems, off on lap 2.
As we cleared lap 1 and lap 2 intersect we stated seeing cars clearing the rocks, it was upsetting as I felt like I was doing terrible but I looked at my steering wheel and read the saying, “Drive your race”. After reading it I smirked as I was further than last year and skirted to the rock trails. We hit aftershock, one trail I have never done until then. Passed a few more cars but not before asking if they needed anything, more times than not they gave us thumbs up and we pressed. As we got further in the rocks we came a across 4 corners Orange Jeep LJ driven by Jason kaminsky helping a broken modified car out of a jam. We pulled up behind and waited for our turn as he was helping. Patiently waiting cars began to line up behind us with the same thoughts but a modified stock and spec class car took a high line bypassing all of us. Seeing this new line and the damage the car blocking the trail had the line of cars backed up. Once we cleared the new entrance ultra 4 racing sportsmanship showed as no one moved. Yes we were racing but now one moved until Jason was back in front as he was when we first pulled up. Once he entered the new line we followed and continued our race. We cleared aftershock and made quick work of the desert and pulled in to pit 2. Once again the Letzroll crew dove in head first and squared us away sending us on our way.
Clearing pit 2 we descended in to Jackhammer where we were still chasing Jason in the 4 corners LJ. As luck would have it Jason and his LJ experienced fuel issues leaving me the option to pass. The pass however was down the water fall I wanted to avoid but thanks to great products and trusting my brother Adam I made it down with not incidents. Adam got back in and we were off to chocolate thunder. Wasn’t until we cleared the top the hill I hit the brakes and went straight to the floor, I instantly knew I lost a brake line. We cleared the race course where Adam and I did the fastest brake line swap ever. Calling back to pit and talking to Jay, the voice in our helmets we told him the problem. We lost a brake line got it swapped but I don’t care brake fluid, what could I use to get us moving safely again. Right around that time Jason and the orange LJ came creeping over the hill and passed us but not before asking if we needed anything. We sent him on the way and dumped some power steering fluid in our mastercyclinder and took off chasing after him.
We entered Chocolate thunder where it was a bit of a traffic jam and after being heckled by Big Rich I got our 4 door Cherokee through the gate keeper and started my climb up. Jason and the orange LJ was in front and we were hot on his heels. We waited our turn and kept crawling up but not before getting hung up on a roller rock but thanks to the gas pedal and solid parts we powered over it and continued on. We exited chocolate thunder and passed Jason and the LJ on a sand hill climb but not before nerfing and trying to push a jeep with no front wheel drive. After two hits and no success we hit the siren to signal sorry but you need to move. He did so and I tried the hill again but no go. Several more attempts and was still denied. Jason and the orange LJ comes flying up and makes it, following his lead I got a running start and up over the sand hill we were and back on the chase. We hit some more desert before dropping in to lower and upper big Johnson. We crawled past Jason and the orange LJ on lower big Johnson and made quick work of the rock section before entering upper big Johnson. Seeing bright Spyder Auto LED light bars coming up I knew Alan Johnson and Ryan Frost in the 4511 Letzroll car were fast approaching so we cleared the obstacle to allow my teammate to pass. Once he cleared us we got back in the rocks and crawled right up following our mod stock car. We rolled through bolduar dash and into pit 2a. The crew not only took care of my car but the 4511 with ease, it was magic watching our team handle two cars when some struggled with one. Truly thankful for my Letzroll Offroad Racing team.
We hit the desert and could taste the finish and we kept running our race. I originally thought I wouldn’t finish the course on time but after clearing Martel and Elvis I realized my brother and I could be official KOH finishers. At the time we had not cars in front of us or behind us and even with 30K people on the lake bed and some 75 teams competing I felt like my brother and I were the only ones there. The sun was setting so the flipping the light bars on we kept moving forward. Passing race mile 111 and dropping back in to lap 1 course we were closer than we expected. I would ask for my temps and like a great co-driver my brother would read off temps then calmly call off time. He wanted me to know we were going to finish and on time. We dropped in to the range above the dry lake bed seeing hammer town and held the gas pedal down till we crested King hill dropping us on to the lake bed and to a checkered flag. Watching the flag wave and seeing the people at the jumbotron cheering filled me with relief, relief that it was all for something. That something was us finishing the hardest one day offroad race in the US. We later found out the we finished 9th with only 10 cars finishing in our class on time.
I will have a life time of memories and stories just from this week alone. Thank you to my wife Megan for supporting me in this crazy hobby called endurance racing. You’re the best and I couldn’t thank you enough. To my Dad Robert and Brother Adam, we did it! We set out and did exactly what we said we were going to do. We just did it better than we expected but it was because of the love, commitment and determation we put in. I love you and thank you for taking the ride with me. Rick thanks for exposing me to KOH and the Rez. You did more and helped make this happen more then you know. Mom thanks for making the drive to watch us finish, I t was great to have you there and to see the hard work pay off.
To my team and sponsors, you all rock and you all made this happen! The Letzroll Offroad Racing team is so diverse from people from the East Coast, West Coast and the UK. But once were all together we function like a well oiled machine, an oiled machine that put three cars top ten at KOH. Thank you ESAB welding and cutting for supporting us and giving us the tools to build finishers as it all starts with a welder. Yukon Gear and Axle, you provided the constant traction and helped us moving forward and thanks to your superior products I never feared or worried about axle problems. ADS racing shocks you made the car fast in the desert and comfortable in the rocks. The car scared me as it wanted to go and that was thanks to the massive 2.5 remote reservoir shocks matched with our Deaver coils and lead pack. Thanks Deaver for the continued support and helping us tackle the desert at speeds. C-rok engineering your bumpers and sliders took abuse the most rock crawlers see in a life time in one day and held up and still look good. Prime 4x4 your switch panel kept everything on and working properly and within arm’s reach. Thanks for the continued support to our team and our sport. Spyder Auto Lighting your LEDs illuminated our way to a finish, a top 10 finish. Thanks for lighting the path. Knuckle Busters thanks for the continued support and supplying us with our Cherokee parts to not only make it run like new but look good while doing it. TAD driveshaft’s thanks for building quality driveshafts that kept us moving forward. We never had one driveline issue and that’s thanks to you. Raceline wheels, thanks for building solid parts that take the abuse. This is our second season on our monster series beadlock and have had zero issues. Last but most importantly Letzroll Offroad Racing, THANK YOU! Thank you for everything, you have encouraged, supported and built the car and I couldn’t be happier or prouder to be a part of your team. Thanks for having us. To the fans, followers, supporters and spectators thank you for taking an interest in my team and our car. We enjoy meeting you and putting a show on and I hope we can continue to grow together. Till next KOH, be safe and keep it rubber side down.
