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Team NAXJA and the 2009 King of the Hammers

Goatman

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
Bakersfield, CA
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 2008. 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 chosen by the promotors and marketing partners, 10 more from the qualifying race, and some spots for marketing partners, 92 total competitors. 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 2.5 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 10 plus however many of the entries don't end up making it to the race, so the field will be kept at 92 competitors. So far, 3 have dropped out of the race, so there will be at least 13 entries from the qualifier race.

The competition this time will be fierce, as there are twice as many competitors and the course is going to be twice as long, and after last years race teams have a much better idea of what this race is all about. The web based coverage of last years race was pretty sketchy, but this year the services of RallyTracker have been secured. The RallyTracker system will report the location of every car on the course every two minutes, and this will be available on both the RallyTracker and King of the Hammers website on race day. 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've done to be more competitive, including some improvements to the rig and other race equipment. We have new ORI Struts, which are new type of air shock, and the rig is much faster with the new shocks. We also have a new 4.6L stroker motor thatnks to Cal and Russ and others from the SoCal chapter. Between the shocks and the motor we are much faster than we were for last years race. The challenge will be to be quick and also to finish the race. Our number one goal is to finish.

Many thanks to those of you who have helped us out in some way, including those who bought "Proud Supporter of Team NAXJA" shirts to those who have been there to physically work on the rig, and to those who will be helping us in the pits or some other way. I also want to thank our sponsors again, NAXJA, Rigwerks, JE Reel Drivelines, Maxxis, and the Rolling Gnomes Blue 52's.

I'll be posting up more info, so stay tuned.
 
subscribed

bought the Team Shirt in Moab

wish I lived closer

Go get em...

mac 'wish i could make it out there for the race' gyvr
 
Sure you can.

I mean you don't need two kidneys, do you?

no but i might need to trade a kidney for a liver later on...

mac 'still paying off moab related expenses' gyvr
 
i wish i could make it, but missed days in my new school are a HUGE no-no, each missed day is 10% off my grade :shocked:

i bought a shirt, and ruined it working on a stranded XJ the same day, i'd fit right in on the pit crew lol. maybe next year! i might try to make it out for the party friday night as we celebrate the team NAXJA win tho! :D
 
And the live feed will be much better this year. Every car's position will be reported every two minutes, baring any technical or reception difficulties, by monitors in every car. Lessons learned last year will help provide much improved coverage.

Those of you watching online will probably have more info about how we're doing than we will. :)
 
i wish i could make it, but missed days in my new school are a HUGE no-no, each missed day is 10% off my grade :shocked:

i bought a shirt, and ruined it working on a stranded XJ the same day, i'd fit right in on the pit crew lol. maybe next year! i might try to make it out for the party friday night as we celebrate the team NAXJA win tho! :D

I've got one you're welcome to if you'd like, sitting with your AC bracket.

Everyone already knows I support team naxja, and yellow isn't black. :)
 
38 days left (till people start showing up on the lakebed... )
 
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