2024 King of Hammers Caused Carnage for Monster Energy Racers
Phil Blurton podiumed in 3rd place at KOH UTV Championship. Monster Energy’s CJ Greaves placed 5th as the infamous KOH rocks take their toll on equipment and racers in the championship races.
Rough day out on the rocks for Monster Energy competitors at the 2024 Progressive King of the Hammers, presented by Nitto and Powered by OPTIMA Batteries. Emerging with the lone trophy on the day for Monster Energy was Phil Blurton, who raced his Can-Am Maverick X3 to a 3rd place podium finish in the Can-Am UTV Championship in the rugged desert and surrounding rock landscape of the legendary Johnson Valley Desert near San Bernardino, Calif.
Early on in the contest, Blurton would be joined by Monster Energy’s CJ Greaves in their pursuit of Can-Am UTV Championship race leader Kyle Chaney (Can-Am). Greaves and Blurton were literally within seconds of each other through much of the contest, with Greaves blinking first when he had to stop in order to winch his UTV over a massive rock at a portion of the track referred to as “Chocolate Thunder.”
Though Greaves’ winching situation allowed Chaney to escape, it also created a bottleneck, which held up the rest of the field, including Blurton. Blurton would ultimately get around Greaves at that point in the race, and moved into sole possession of 3rd place – a position he’d keep through the checkers. Greaves would eventually get rolling again and held on for a solid 5th place.
Said Blurton: “A mile into the race I had my visor up and we barrel-rolled the car and I got a face full of dirt. We landed on all fours and never let off, kept going. These Can-Ams are phenomenal. You just hold it to the floor and go.”
In the premier Nitto King of Kings race Monster Energy’s Casey Currie put himself in position to podium – then found himself leading when the race leader, Raul Gomez, put his car on its roof – allowing Currie to move ahead with the overall lead (on Lap 3). A broken driveshaft at Pit 2 would deliver the death blow to Currie’s chances at the win as his day was over.
Monster Energy’s Vaughn Gittin Jr. would be the top finisher for the King of Hammers’ energy drink partner, placing a strong 6th in the difficult conditions of the Race of Kings.
How to watch KOH
Check out all of the 2024 Progressive King of the Hammers, presented by Nitto and Powered by OPTIMA Batteries, action on the event’s official YouTube channel.
Here are race results and the schedule.
Next up on the Ultra 4 Racing schedule…
The Unlimited 4 Wheel Drive Racing (Ultra4) schedule picks up April 4-6 for the NorCal Stampede in Prairie City, Calif., the opening round of Ultra4’s West Series.
