Desert Race ; 2013 King of the Hammers Recap

By Josh Burns, Photos by Josh Burns and Art Eugenio/GETSOMEphoto

The King of the Hammers race began as an unofficial event back in 2007. It was a competition among 13 friends to see if they could complete the course. Of that original group, known as the OG13, Randy Slawson was the co-driver for John Reynolds on the winning team, but in 2013, Slawson earned the victory in the driver’s seat as the King of the Hammers.

“I don’t know what to say,” Slawson said at the finish line, the racer still coming to grips with the fact that he won the race. “It was a fun day, not a lot of traffic. It was windy so the dust wasn’t too bad. We were able to just run our own pace and, I don’t know, everything just came together for us.”

Randy Slawson

If you’ve wondered just how tough the King of the Hammers race is, look no further than the finishing rate of less than 21 percent of the racers that took the line, as only 27 cars finished the race of the 129 that took the starting line.

Slawson held off two-time winner Shannon Campbell to earn the victory. Campbell explained after the race that he got lost at one point, and then on his way toward the finish line on the third lap while chasing Slawson he tipped over on the “Elvis “ section and was pushed off the pace.

Shannon Campbell

"It was the toughest,” Shannon said of the course. “I got lost today pretty bad.  I went up somewhere and I was gone for a while. My GPS … I started touching buttons and it went off, I was freaking out, [and] that's when I lost my cool and bent my driveshaft and screwed around out there for a while.

“I would have been fine if I didn't get lost,” Shannon explained. “I had a great time chasing. Randy Slawson is a good person to lose too. Good job, Randy.”

Chicky Barton

Chicky Barton was the next racer across the finish line to earn the final podium spot. Erik Miller, the 2012 King of the Hammers winner, finished in fourth place at this year’s race. Finishing in fifth place in a new Penhall vehicle was Ben Napier, proving that it was more than a nice-looking rig off the track. 

Erik Miller

David West

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Official Finishers (129 starters, 27 finishers)
1. Randy Slawson – 7:28:10
2. Shannon Campbell – 7:48:41
3. Chicky Barton 8:23:50
4. Erik Miller 8:36:52
5. Ben Napier 9:37:12
6. Derek West 10:14:32
7. Craig Ross 10:25:21
8. Jon Cagliero 10:54:24
9. Jason Blanton 11:27:48
10. Matthew Messer 11:50:08
11. Larry McRae 11:51:27
12. JT Taylor 12:01:24
13. Brian Shirley 12:04:38
14. Clay Gilstrap 12:40:14
15. Kevin Yoder 12:52:42
16. Chris Hoyt 13:02:51
17. Hal Deschamp 13:10:27
18. Andrew McLaughlin 13:13:50
19. Brian Capara 13:19:03
20. Nick Finch 13:21:10

 from .off-road.com