Team NAXJA and King of the Hammers '09

[Goatman]

Team NAXJA is competing in the ultimate desert race, King of the Hammers '09.

As many of you know, Paul Sinclair and I competed in the inagural running of this new race format in Feb of this year. We had a Top 10 finish placing 7th out of 43 entries in my XJ based buggy with a bone stock 4.0L. King of the Hammers is a brand new racing format, which combines rock racing and desert racing. Last year's course had roughly 10 miles of rock crawling and 40 miles of desert, including 8 of the original Hammer trails in Johnson Valley, CA.

Since we're racing XJ's, or at least what used to be XJ's, the club has agreed to allow us to compete as TEAM NAXJA and cover some basic expenses. We believe that the exposure that this race will provode for our club and this website make this worthwhile for all of us. The only other 4x4 website/club that has a team entered is Pirate4x4, which puts us in some pretty good company. Our team members and pit crew are NAXJA members, so this is really a club effort. Paul and I will again compete in my buggy, and Dave Taylor and Garry Hall will compete in Dave's XJ buggy.

The date for next years race is Friday, Feb 27th. There will also be a short last chance qualifier race on Thurs, Feb 26th. There are 75 entries in the race, all chosen by the promotors and marketing partners. We had an automatic invite because of our Top 10 finish in the last race. Dave and Garry did not get one of the 75 initial invites, but they did get invited to compete in the qualifier race on Thurs. This qualifier race could be really intense, as the racers will be competing on a tough 2 mile course, with the best times getting entry into the big race on Friday. The number of last chance qualifiers to get into the race will be determined by how many of the 75 invited entries don't end up sending in their entries fees by the Oct 1 deadline, so the field will be kept at 75 competitors. Last race, there were 55 invited, and 43 entered, so we'll have to wait and see how many of the 75 actually enter, and how many spots Dave and Garry will be competing for.

The competition this time will be fierce, as there are almost twice as many competitors, and after the last race teams have a much better idea of what this race is all about. We also understand that the course will be longer and tougher. The web based coverage of last years race was pretty sketchy, and we've been assured it will be much better this time. The race will also be open to spectators for any that want to come out and be a part of the action.

We have a number of things that we need to do to be more competitive, including some improvements to the rig and other race equipment. We were able to borrow a few things last race, but we'll need to purchase them this time, and now we have two cars to equip. We plan to have a team fundraising effort, and are working on a "Proud Supporter of Team NAXJA" T-shirt. We'll get details out as soon as they're ready.

Many thanks to those of you who helped us out last year, to those who sent some financial help, to those who came by and helped do prep work on the buggy, and to those who came out to the race to wrench on the rig and work in the pits. I also want to thank our sponsors again, NAXJA, Rigwerks, JE Reel Drivelines, Maxxis, and the Rolling Gnomes Blue 52's. We look forward to working with you all again, and let's go kick some butt!!

[karstic]

Looking forward to it. Hopefully this year I get to see it in person.

[Tom R.]

Richard, this is GREAT news! I remember your recap from the first race and will definitely look forward to hearing about this one. Best of success to the team!

[XJEEPER]

Looking forward to this.....hoping to attend!
BTW, did they ever release the video of the event?

[nick86]

They actually did a feature on it on Extreme 4X4, on Spike T.V. Showed quite a few rigs & interviews.

[Goatman]

They actually did a feature on it on Extreme 4X4, on Spike T.V. Showed quite a few rigs & interviews.

Here's the segment that showed on Spike TV, minus the commercials. This was about half of a 1/2 hour show. Paul and I both got interviews.

http://phillipscreative.us/movies/KOH/

The DVD is supposed to be released the first of Oct at the Offroad Expo in Pomona.

[Goatman]

Here's a link to a 26 minute video of the last race on Pirate4x4 TV:

Pirate4x4 TV King of the Hammers '08 (http://www.pirate4x4.com/tv/7.php)

[Grant]

There will the some of the Colorado contingent making the trip out to help run and staff the pits and assist with the vehicles in any way we can. The first event was so much fun, and there is no way we are going to miss the 2nd race.

Besides a trip to the desert while Colorado is still in winter - just rocks

Grant

[Paul S]

I can't wait for KOH 09...

We've just gotten started on improvements to Richard's buggy, & Dave's putting his list togetther.

I'd say we definitely exceeded all expectations in KOH 08, & with what everyone learned form 08 we know that 09 will be much more competitive. For a couple of months I felt that we had little chance to do as well in 09, but not now; with the work we're putting into the buggy, the team (support crew, etc...), & the time we're going to put into prerunning, I'm convinced we can do even better than last year.

Paul

[Paul S]

Looking forward to this.....hoping to attend!
BTW, did they ever release the video of the event?

You should fly down for the Rockin Jambo in Nov., there might be a way for you to use someone's a buggy for a day:dunno:

Paul

[cal]

I'm sure you know Richard I've already got the event on the calender and the vacation request put in.

Please god don't let it rain this time. I'm still getting clay out of my ears.

[Paul S]

I'm sure you know Richard I've already got the event on the calender and the vacation request put in.

Please god don't let it rain this time. I'm still getting clay out of my ears.

The rain sucked a lot for you, but it did keep the dust down. We're kinda stressing about how to handle the potential dust with 75 competitors & likely no rain.

Paul

[cal]

The rain sucked a lot for you, but it did keep the dust down. We're kinda stressing about how to handle the potential dust with 75 competitors & likely no rain.

Paul


Why would you stress? thats the problem of 74 guys behind you.

[Paul S]

Why would you stress? thats the problem of 74 guys behind you.

Good point:) Actually, starting position will factor into it big time, so we'll know more on Oct. 4th.

Paul

[GSequoia]

Gonna try to make it there... We'll see

[David Taylor]

Is it February 26th yet ? I couldn't be anxious for it to get here.
Garry and I will need to get in the main race through the LQC. An all out race up backdoor against the rest of the people trying to qualify for the few remaining spots in the main race.
It's going to be 2 miles of pure hammer down fun.

Thanks to everyone at naxja for all the help and support. It's an honor to be on the team with Richard and Paul. With the great crew we have and a little luck, we should be there to take the green flag in the main race.

[mikedashg]

Good news! Can't wait for it. See you guys at Rockin Jambo, KOH, Moab, the works :D

[Kevin3151]

Hopefully I will make it out this time, unless I break more bones.

This sounds great.

KH

[markw]

Hey Dave, if you guys need anything I've got a miller, plasma cutter and gear tools you can use. :)

[JeepFreak21]

That's awesome! I'm stoked!

Now we just need some more tech posts on those buggies! :D

Billy

[Starboard M]

Richard, you need a trail bitch? :crossesfingers:



Good luck for next year! Let us know about the shirts and other fund raising.

[cal]

Richard, you need a trail bitch? :crossesfingers:


Richard is lucky to have (one of) the best copilot(s) in JV. Between Richard and Paul, they know every rock in the hammers by first name, and what boulder it broke off of. If you've ever seen those two on the trail together, its like a work of art.

Paul can say "turn your wheels a hair to the right and PUNCH IT!" .. Richard doesn't even have to look, he just goes with full faith that its the right thing to do.

Dave and Gary are likely to be just as good once they get out on the trail, both EXCELLENT drivers.

[GSequoia]

Richard is lucky to have (one of) the best copilot(s) in JV. Between Richard and Paul, they know every rock in the hammers by first name, and what boulder it broke off of. If you've ever seen those two on the trail together, its like a work of art.

Paul can say "turn your wheels a hair to the right and PUNCH IT!" .. Richard doesn't even have to look, he just goes with full faith that its the right thing to do.

Dave and Gary are likely to be just as good once they get out on the trail, both EXCELLENT drivers.

And you forgot to add that Richard won't let Avery withen 100 miles of the event weekend.

[cracker]

And you forgot to add that Richard won't let Avery withen 100 miles of the event weekend.

On the contrary. Who do you think will be driving the full body yello rig :D

[cal]

On the contrary. Who do you think will be driving the full body yello rig :D

At KOH?

[IMORTL]

Here's the segment that showed on Spike TV, minus the commercials. This was about half of a 1/2 hour show. Paul and I both got interviews.

http://phillipscreative.us/movies/KOH/

The DVD is supposed to be released the first of Oct at the Offroad Expo in Pomona.

I saw that this weekend and thought it was you...

Nice work representing...


Ken

[Goatman]

Here's a little more info about how we did in the last race. In the prep work that we did, we missed protecting the air locker lines from potential heat problems. It hasn't been a problem on trail runs, but running for so long at a much faster pace produced heat we didn't anticipate, and we blow out the rear air line before we got to the first trail. We spent about 6-8 minutes in a pit stop getting that line fixed and got passed by a bunch of rigs. Then we lost both air locker lines by the time we got part way through Sledgehammer, and broke the rear driveline on Jackhammer.

Still, by studying all the split times, we were in 9th place when we broke the driveshaft, which was about halfway through the race, just past check point 7 (out of 14). By the time we got the new driveline to us and installed, and fixed both air lines, and got to the next check point, we were in 15th place. We actually passed 4 rigs that had passed us when we were broke by the time we got to the next check point. From the time we broke to the end of the race, from check point 8 to the finish, we had the 4th fastest time. The 3 faster times were the guys who ended up placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. On one section, from ck 8 to ck 9, we had the fastest split time of the field, which we are pretty proud of.

The race will be longer, and there will be almost twice as many entries, 75 this time and 43 last time, and plenty of trick new rigs are being built. But, we're also making improvemnts to our rig and we know that we can be faster. If we can do a great job of prepping the rig, and are fortunate enough to not have any major mechanical problems, we think we can do well again. We'll see next Feb.

Here's a couple of pics from the last race.

http://davidgtaylor.smugmug.com/photos/258311447_KNfi8-L.jpg

http://davidgtaylor.smugmug.com/photos/258311525_fJQpS-L.jpg

[David Taylor]

As you can see from this shot my roof is a little low. You need to have 3" over your head with a helmit on.
http://davidgtaylor.smugmug.com/photos/363805963_Bo6SZ-M.jpg

Looks like Rigworks is going to help us out with some new quality cage work.

[Porch Puppy]

Richard--Pimp'n--
http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/18307/2459804460038561203S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2459804460038561203uGJHla)

[Matt S.]

Richards buggy got the first major rounds of mods done this last week. Left my shop late last night. Maybe he can toss a few completed pictures up for us!

[Goatman]

Matt and Ron, you guys at Rigwerks need to market that crossmember/belly pan skid, that thing is bad ass! Unquestionably the stoutest and best designed crossmember for an XJ/MJ that you can get.

I'll try to remember to get some shots of it installed this weekend. These pics don't show the rear attachment points, which really make it mega stout.

http://www.fototime.com/F6396388B49129B/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/162CF2D346A6827/standard.jpg



And yes, I'm pimpin' for my sponsors. :D

Scrappy and Capt Ron had the buggy at Rigwerks for a few days. They made new LCA frame mounts that relocated the mounts inside the frame for tire clearance, finished a complete installation of their belly pan, finished off the rear of my storage area under the seats, re-did my rear track bar mount on the axle, mounted up my front coilovers after Paul took them over to Sway-A-Way for some revalving, and helped me mount up my new ORI air struts in the back with some brand new mounts.

Thanks again, guys. :cheers:

[corbinafly]

Matt and Ron, you guys at Rigwerks need to market that crossmember/belly pan skid, that thing is bad ass! Unquestionably the stoutest and best designed crossmember for an XJ/MJ that you can get.

I'll try to remember to get some shots of it installed this weekend. These pics don't show the rear attachment points, which really make it mega stout.

http://www.fototime.com/F6396388B49129B/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/162CF2D346A6827/standard.jpg



And yes, I'm pimpin' for my sponsors. :D

Scrappy and Capt Ron had the buggy at Rigwerks for a few days. They made new LCA frame mounts that relocated the mounts inside the frame for tire clearance, finished a complete installation of their belly pan, finished off the rear of my storage area under the seats, re-did my rear track bar mount on the axle, mounted up my front coilovers after Paul took them over to Sway-A-Way for some revalving, and helped me mount up my new ORI air struts in the back with some brand new mounts.

Thanks again, guys. :cheers:
God I want one of those soooo badly.:worship:
Just can't afford it now.

[Goatman]

More info about the race is now available. There will be 92 total entries. 10 or more entries will be coming from the qualifier race which will be on Thurs, Feb 26. The start of the race on Friday will be staggard, with two cars leaving side by side every 30 seconds. We drew 27th starting position, so we're in the 14th row.

The course is supposed to be much longer, and harder, than last years course. I anticipate there will be 12-15 miles of trails and 70-80 miles of desert. Dave and Garry will run in the qualifier race on Thurs, which could be really crazy as 30+ rigs battle on a short couple mile course for 10 spots in the main race.

Both Dave and I are getting brand new shocks, among other things. I'm getting new ORI Struts for all four corners, which are a relatively new design of high tech air shocks. Dave landed a King sponsorship (discounted, but not free) and will be running and testing brand new King triple bypass piggyback air shocks.

We sure appreciate all of you who are ordering T-shirts to help us make this effort possible. We have plenty of things to get yet, more tires, safety equipment, etc, so any help is greatly appreciated. We have "Proud Supporter of Team NAXJA" T-shirts avalable, both long and short sleeve, for a $40 dollar donation, which includes shipping. If you'd like a shirt or two, please go to the Team NAXJA website www.teamnaxja.com (http://www.teamnaxja.com/) and click on the link to place an order. We're trying to print another order of shirts on Nov 10th, so we'd appreciate getting orders by Nov 9th.

Thanks again for being able to be Team NAXJA.

[Mosephus]

Good Luck Guys! It's fun watching your rigs transform.