The King of the Hammers UTV race delivered one of the wildest battles the class has ever seen, a day defined by heavy attrition, constant position changes, and an unlikely hero standing tallest at the end. From the drop of the green flag, the pace was brutal and the race turned into survival mode almost immediately. Paul Wolff and Phil Blurton, both pre-race favorites, saw their days end in stunning fashion with major crashes within the first five miles. Before teams had even settled into a rhythm, two contenders were already loading damaged machines.
Even the front-runners couldn’t escape trouble. Kyle Chaney, in the mix early, suffered a flat tire on Lap 1 that cost him valuable time. Later, steering issues on Lap 2 further derailed his charge, another reminder that at Hammers, speed alone means nothing if the car can’t survive.
Jeff Martin, a non-factory driver in an older Can-Am Maverick X3 with minimal sponsorship, navigated the madness with co-driver Dave calling the shots from the right seat. They battled traffic jams in the rocks, fought through bottlenecks, and resisted the temptation to overdrive the car.
“I am honestly speechless,” Martin said after the finish. “We hit a lot of traffic and bottlenecks, and Dave, my co-driver, was incredible all day. Once we got through the chaos, we focused on driving smart and keeping the car together. With that long desert run at the end, we knew we couldn’t afford to hurt the car. When things opened up, we pushed as hard as we could and brought it home.”
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