When you think about heading out to the desert for a UTV race, you probably picture dust, sunburns, and maybe a few busted knuckles. What you don’t expect is snow. But that’s exactly how things kicked off when the CW Motorsports crew rolled into Johnson Valley for King of the Hammers this year.
Yeah—snow. After all the warnings about sandstorms and being told to pack respiratory gear, the desert decided to throw a curveball. The first night, it snowed. Just one night, but still… snow in the middle of the desert? Wild.
Once the snow melted, it was game on. Our team set up camp with a solid crew: Cody, our driver; Randy, his co-driver; Randy’s wife holding it down with the food trailer (feeding everyone for two straight weeks—legend), and a few mechanics, media guys, and friends from both Illinois and Florida. We even had the guy who builds our transmissions flown out to meet us.
We weren’t alone, either. Whiskey Biz and Jet Full Throttle rolled in with their own cars, crews, and gear. Between all of us, it was a solid little village of about 20 folks working together—wrenching, swapping stories, and making sure everyone had what they needed to keep going.
Cody ran in the UTV 4900 class. The race itself is brutal—a mix of high-speed desert stretches and some of the nastiest rock crawling you’ll ever see. And this year, he didn’t even qualify well. He started 88th in a field of 135. Not ideal.
But Cody went full send. He worked his way through the chaos, dodging breakdowns and pileups in the rocks, and managed to fight all the way up to 4th in class, 9th overall. From 88th. That’s not just impressive—it’s unheard of.
In between race prep and tuning, there’s a lot that goes on out there. Pre-running with the beat-up car. Testing lines. Swapping to the nice car for the actual race. And yeah, there’s time for some fun too. There’s a big three-wheeler race that gets the whole camp buzzing, and the general vibe is one big, dusty party.
And then there’s Hammertown.
Imagine an empty lake bed in the middle of nowhere. Three days later? Boom—100,000 people. Legit bars, food stands, gas stations, fab shops, tire installs, and even power (somehow). It’s like someone hit a button and spawned a city just for off-road fanatics. If you’ve never been, you’re missing out.
All in all, King of the Hammers is more than just a race. It’s a grind. It’s a blast. It’s a little chaotic. But for us? It’s one of the best times of the year. Good people, crazy machines, and a whole lot of horsepower.
Until next year, Hammertown. Stay dusty.
