We had a great time at the King of the Hammers!
Team Adam Racing and Wide Open Design took out four vehicles this year to the lake bed to support Team Adam Racing in an effort to have a successful run at being the 2011 King! We pulled into Hammer Town almost two weeks before race day this year. The first week was spent dialing in the Ultra 4 race car that we would be racing. The car got faster and faster as the week went on with the susspension changes that were made to the shocks, so we were feeling good about our chances. We spent time on the rock trails and in the desert trying to get a good grasp on this years course. The race car got parked on the Sunday before the race and race preped for the big day while we took all of the other buggies out to pre run during the week. We had a strong game plan of how we wanted to race this race and the whole team was ready for race day.
On race day we started off the line 72nd and we were having a good run through the desert making good time and picking other race cars off left and right. When we hit the first rock trail there was about a 45 car pile up of race cars waiting on a jam in the trail in front of us. We just went with the pace through the trail and some how a huge rock got kicked up from a front tire and wedged in between the frame and the Bypass shock breaking the shock shaft. We removed the shock and kept going. The car was still running pretty good even with out the Bypass shock so we just kept pushing on. After the start of the second lap we were clear of back door and we were getting back in our grove in the desert we caught up with another competitor in a rock section and waited for another desert section to make a fast pass. As soon as we hit the desert we took a lane that we hadn't pre ran and ended up driving to hard into a whoop section and rolled the car at about 40 mph. Every thing was ok in the car structure wise but the engine was making a noise when we tried to start it. So we called the race instead of ruining the engine. But thats racing and we will be back again to see what we can do next time.
Wide Open Design also decided to debut our new Blower Buggy project at this event as well. It was its first trip out of the shop and every thing went really well with it. There is a nice video on you tube of it being tried out on back door. This was the very first obstacle we hit in the buggy and it made it no problem.
At Race Line Wheels car show we were awarded with two trophies in two different classes. Best Ultra 4 Rig for our race car and Best Trail Rig for our Blower Buggy. This was huge for us as a team!
Over all the two weeks that we spent out there was epic. King of the Hammers is a race for true racers and once it gets a hold of you it will not let go easy. I can't wait for next year.
Adam Woodlee