The team started arriving on Thursday prior to event week. The teams got the maps on Friday so First thing everyone got in their cars and immediately headed out onto this year’s new race course. Tony and his (6x) co-driver Bryan Lyttle were able to run all the desert sections.The next day they ran the rock sections of the course so Bryan could do his magic and get the notes loaded into the GPS for race day. Jordan arrived late that night with his car. There were a few things to be finished so he could get out and heat cycle the gears and get in a shock tune.
Sunday the weather changed into a frigid, windy, sandstorm so we stood down from test runs. In the meantime the awesome GenRight crew re-wired Jordan’s car and loaded in a new tune for the engine.
On Monday Jordan and Tony finally got out to pre-run the rocks together, so father could show son a few spots to pass other racers on race day. In the process, Jordan followed Tony down a section where he dropped off a big rock and hit the belly skid, breaking the transmission housing and damaging the front driveshaft!
Once again the team jumped in and changed out the transmission. Jim at J.E. Reel made us 2 new drive shafts that were ready by Tuesday.Tuesday was Tony's day to qualify, which determines his starting spot for the big race. His car was running good and he was ready for my run. Getting a good starting position is important because it places you on the starting line with other drivers with similar talent and with cars of similar speed. Qualifying is a short (2 minute) race against the clock on a predetermined course. Tony got a good jump off the start line and was nailing his run for a great time! Then his power steering belt jumped off! The vehicle is full hydraulic, so this meant he had no steering and was not able to complete the lap. This meant Tony would start from the back of the pack.
Tony took this circumstance in stride and remembered in 2011 when he took off in 96th position and came in 2nd place. Once again the team guys jumped on it and solved the belt issue to get 4485 ready for race day.
Wednesday was Jami’s UTV race and he did really well until mile 100 where a bolt fell out of the rear suspension which broke off the rear shock and damaged the rear axle shaft. So he was out with only 16 miles to go to the finish! It was a solid first year effort. While Jami was racing Jordan got in a quick shock tune with Wayne at Fox.Thursday was Jordan’s race day and he was in the 9th row off the starting line. He drove like a champ for a strong 2nd place finish, only 1 minute off first place! This 17 year old young man was dubbed "The Fastest Teenager in the Desert" by the announcer when he drove onto the podium after the race. Meanwhile, Tony met the King Shock guys late in the afternoon and got in one last shock tune on his car so he was ready for race day!
Friday was Tony's race day, He was 94th off the starting line, starting side by side with Tom Wayes, another fast driver who had a bad qualifying run on Tuesday. Tony's 4485 car was running great and he was having a flawless day of driving. He was “in the groove” with co-driver Bryan while picking off other racers quickly. By race mile 90 they had passed over 80 other racers putting them in 12th physical place with another 80 miles left in the race. The team was starting to dream of a podium finish.Tony started noticing his car was driving a little loose, making him think they had a flat tire or two. This is not unusual in a race like this where the car is being beat on all day long. After ramping up to 105 for a successful pass, Tony dialed back to about 75mph, Suddenly, at race mile 98, something broke and sent the car tumbling 6 times! The impact was so hard that Tony later admitted to feeling lucky to be alive. The car had just come to rest on the passenger when the car they had passed a few miles back (Bailey Campbell) hit them inside the dust from Tony's crash!
Her co-driver Terry Madden quickly hopped out and made sure the GenRight driver and co-driver were OK and helped them out of our car. Another classy moment for off-road racing. Shortly after that a course worker and some Marines pulled up and helped get the car back upright and off the middle of the race course.
The shocks were broken. They had 3 flat tires. The radiator was smashed. The steering was bent and the knuckle was ripped off. The car was done by 12:20pm after starting around 8pm. While gathered up the yard sale of parts left from the crash, Tony noticed a very sore wrist and knee. It took a couple hours to get the car back together enough to tow it back into Hammertown. Tony got checked out by the onsite medics, who splinted his wrist before he made my way to the finish line to congratulate friends, Erik, Jason and Raul for their awesome finishes!Thanks to everyone who made this week happen including the from the folks at Hammerking Productions, their volunteers, the media, our many wonderful sponsors, and the fans who came down or supported us online. Is it too soon to start looking forard to King of the Hammers 2017?
