At a new start time of 9 am, racers took to the starting lines and prepared for the climax of this week’s UTV races. First off the line after a flawless qualifying run was Can-Am’s Kyle Chaney (#191) in the Maverick R. Starting just behind him to kick off this grueling challenge of dirt and rock was Ronnie Anderson.

The course soon filled with the all too familiar sounds of helicopters and distant engine’s groaning. Spectators and photographer’s attention alike turned down the course to get a view of the procession of UTVs attempting to tackle the boulders and steep climbs of Turkey Claw.

As soon as the competitors arrived, problems became apparent. The first several racers to reach the thin passable strip between the hills quickly leaped up, without requiring any kind of out of car assistance from their co-drivers. However, it was here that disaster struck for Mark McCleery (#1317) falling victim to the rocks. After a heroic effort, involving winching and plenty of right foot pressure, #1317 was able to clear this obstacle, but would go on to fail to finish the race itself.

Joining them in this quagmire was the efforts of Kyle Smith (#146), who also suffered an early exit from the contest with a mechanical failure. After a quick investigation of the issue, helmets were off and phone calls were made, signaling this heart crushing early exit.

These technical sections of the course quickly became traffic jams. As the drivers in the front of the pile up frantically attempted to recover, either with the throttle or by having a co-driver assisting with a winch to a nearby boulder, those in the rear either had to take new lines they hadn’t taken in pre-running or became dependent on the recovery of the vehicle in front. What started as a slow flowing stream up Turkey Claw had fully devolved into a chaotic parking lot.

In typical fashion, this race would thin out a massive starting grid to more manageable numbers. A stark reminder of this fact was made with a plume of thick black smoke rising from Back Door, visible across the entire course. With a car that had been safely exited by its driver and co-driver, it then proceeded to burn down entirely, serving as an accidental, but poignant funeral pyre for the 72 recorded DNFs from the race.

With this grim reminder of the dangers involved in a contest like King of the Hammers, racers continued to thunder through the faster “desert” sections that separated the gauntlet of trails on the 129-mile course. Helicopters continued to circle, like vultures looking for the next DNF or dramatic failure for the broadcast screen. These airborne signs drew spectator attention, signaling the imminent arrival of the “show” they were enduring the elements to witness with their own eyes.

This year’s course included a bypass option for the difficult Back Door section, with driver’s required to face the task on only one of their two laps. Notably, The Can-Am’s of Kyle Chaney (#191) and Philip Blurton (#944) decided to face the task on their first lap of the course, with both taking a more cautious approach than Chaney’s now social-media-famous jump from Back Door in qualifying.

The much more popular option as it played out was to take Back Door on the second lap, with the sole Polaris Factory effort helmed by Brock Heger (#1896) and co-driven by his Polaris Factory compatriot Max Eddy Jr. taking this approach to the race. As drivers split their strategies from this point, the field soon began to settle into a flowing pace.

It was also at this point in the race when the forecasted rain began to become a reality. As the wind quickly whipped the rain into the faces of spectators, the temperature took an even steeper turn to the cold. The rain dampened the dirt as well, giving racers added traction in the run up to the main stretch of spectators at Chocolate Thunder.

“Dave Cole made a crazy, awesome course for us this year. It’s the longest rock lap we’ve ever done in the UTVs. It was challenging.  Can-Am gave us the option to race the new Maverick R and we came out here, tested a couple of times, and I really liked the car. So, I decided to go with the R. CT RaceWorks built an awesome car, and G-Force and Pete did great work on the suspension. I knew starting out front, that’s going to be tough for anybody to get us.”

Hot on Cheney’s heels was his fellow Can Am Maverick R driver Philip Blurton (#944), keeping a similar enough pace to come in mere seconds behind Cheney. Wrapping up the Pro Mod podium, Cole Clark (#24) managed to stave off a Can-Am podium sweep behind the wheel of his single seat RZR.

Pro Stock Turbo saw the sole Polaris Factory effort, helmed by Brock Heger, who stormed to a resounding victory in last Sunday’s desert race. With a co-driving effort from Max Eddy Jr. helping lead him to a relatively clean race, that saw few stoppages for obstacles. With a resounding (unofficial) stage time over an hour faster than the second place Pro Stock Turbo car, this was a pure definition of a dominant victory.

“The car was great and the team keeps making improvements everyone we take it out. This race was really interesting, exciting, and definitely new for me. I’m ready to give it a go next year. But up next is the Mint 400.” – Max Eddy Jr., #1896

Rounding out this turbocharged class podium in second place was the driving from Nathan Parker, and a valiant effort by Robby Gordon (#877) completing this class’ podium. A smaller class podium was the result in the Sportsman Stock class, seeing two finishers out of a field of six. Zach Szymik (#777) wound up beating out Benjamin Heiting (#9009) for the trophy.

“We f*cking did it! We started 120th, won our class and finished 8th overall! Cloud nine at the moment! We’ve never used a GPS much less been to a desert race. We killed the hardest single day offroad race in the world.” – Zach Szymik #777

Yet another testament to the brutality of this course at Hammers this year played out in the Pro Stock N/A class, which saw a field of four entrants racing for the trophy. However, every single effort in this class fell to the desert and rocks, with no recorded finishers.

The final class podium belonged to the Open UTV class. Seeing a healthy field of entrants, with household names driving. One of those big names, Mitch Guthrie (#51), took home the class victory hot from competing at the Dakar Rally. Another notable entry in the class which fell victim to the course was Bryce Menzies (#7), who recorded a DNF at the end of the race. Second place went home with CJ Greaves (#33), who was then followed by Paul Wolff, grabbing the final spot on the podium for the day.

This year’s edition of the Can-Am UTV Hammer’s Championship has been as brutal as ever and wraps up the action for UTVs for the week. The desert sand and rocks proved to be a harsh mistress for those competing this year, as 129 miles of wilderness was transformed into a bustling racetrack filled with all the drama, heartbreak, and celebrations one could ever ask for.