- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Team 
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 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 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" 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,, 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!!
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
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 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
" 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,
, 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!!
Actually, starting position will factor into it big time, so we'll know more on Oct. 4th.
