King Of The Hammers 2009 - Who's King Of The Hammers?

Just as we'd seen at mile 20, Jason Scherer was the first one through. Jason's run up Sledge was far from trouble-free. After he got this far, he slid backward through the notch, off the ledge, and onto his side.

Under the impression that spectators couldn't touch the rig to set it back on its wheels, Scherer's spotter got out and pulled some winch line while looking for an anchor point.

Pete Sohren, a fellow competitor who was out of the race early, was under the impression that spectators were allowed to right the vehicle, but nothing else. Not wanting to risk a DQ, Scherer wanted to be sure of that before he said 'ok.' Sohren held Scherer's antenna upright while the driver radioed race headquarters for a rule clarification. Sohren was right: spectators were allowed to help get the rig back on its wheels.

About a dozen sets of hands sprang into action, and Scherer's rig was rubber-side down again.

He'd already burned up several minutes trying to drive through the obstacle, so Scherer wisely opted to winch through the notch. The rock in the foreground provided a perfect anchor point.

The drama had just begun. Dust and tire smoke filled the air as drivers flung themselves at the ledge. The object of the race was to get to the finish line first, not to clean all the obstacles without using a winch. There was no penalty for winching, yet most drivers spent tons of time and wasted plenty of parts trying to drive up the ledge instead of winching after one or two unsuccessful tries. Still, you can't fault these guys for trying.

Casey Currie moseyed up in Shannon Campbell's '08 solid-axle rig. Casey's off-road experience includes dirt bikes, desert racing,.....

.....CORR Pro-lite racing, and being last year's runner-up in King of the Hammers. Casey approached the ledge, sized it up, and made it look easy. Casey took about 20 seconds where some took 20 minutes.....

......Casey took second again in '09. If there's an heir-apparent for the King of the Hammers throne, it's Casey Currie.

This shows 52X, Will Carter, after going shiny-side down at the notch. Carter was busy trying to right his buggy from the driver's seat. Unfortunately, spinning the wheels in both forward and reverse while sawing the steering wheel back and forth didn't work. Meanwhile, Shannon Campbell came up from behind. Remember the part about Campbell getting DQ'd? Since King of the Hammers was held on open trails in a public OHV area, the trails were technically open to drive on. Campbell, with his fresh tranny installed, was simply out for a drive.

Simply out for a drive" went out the window when Campbell reached Carter. Campbell used Carter's underside for traction on his way up the ledge and through the notch. The resulting contact burst Carter's front left shock, showering hydraulic oil all over the place.

Eric "Mustard Dog" Anderson was struggling with the ledge in his modified Formula Toyota chassis. Anderson ditched the leaf springs and four-cylinder engine for links and coilovers and throaty V-8 power. The V-8 and coilover infusion was helpful, but the ledge gave Anderson the smack down time and again. Meanwhile, Brian Shirley of Team Lucky Dog found his way up the ledge, only to have his steering system bleed out its fluid.