Josh Blyler has been crowned the 2020 King at the King of the Hammers race in Johnson Valley. For years, there have been just a very small handful of racers that continuously won the event over and over. Blyler had the lead at the very end of the race with Hammertown in his sights when he rolled the car on Backdoor. Every second would count. Recovery crews positioned in the canyon had to hook up to the vehicle and get it back on all four wheels. Blyler left his co-driver behind and raced to the finish line with a 20-minute lead on corrected time.
“We really messed that up. That was really stupid,” said Blyler when asked about the rollover. “We came to this race four years ago and my goal was to finish,” said Blyler. Finish he did in a Miller Motorsports chassis. Right behind Blyler was Erik Miller who was eventually scored in second place on corrected time.
Just under one hundred starters took the green flag at the 2020 King of the Hammers race. The day began with a military flyover from the 29 Palms Marine Base. Loren Healy was out front early on in the race. Healy opted to run this year’s King of the Hammers in a single seat race vehicle. That may have been a wrong gamble as he soon began to drop back in the field. Through the dust, Bailey Campbell was leading on her last lap with shot at the title. She would go down with mechanical issues. Cameron Steele was next up in lead as he passed Campbell. It wouldn’t be long before the gremlins struck Steele too. Mechanical issues would end his run. Steele competed Thursday in the T1 Unlimited Desert truck race. Mechanical issues sidelined him there too.
A potential bottleneck in Chocolate Thunder had officials scrambling to discuss a course re-route. As the leaders neared the famous obstacle, Promoter Dave Cole gave the competitors a thumbs up to go through. Crisis averted. Racers will finish throughout the night, accomplishing the impossible. Conquering one of the toughest races on the planet. Full results will be available on http://www.ultra4racing.com once the course closes.
