2/19/13
King of the Hammers Race Report from Superchips sponsored driver, Aaron Sykes
“We started 14th in one of the most stock rigs in the field (70 + started). The course was 115 miles long consisting of two loops; the first loop was 54 miles long was mainly desert. The second loop was 61 miles with 25 miles of desert and 36 miles of the hardest rock trails on the west coast. To run a few of these trail would be a good weekend for most people, we were running all of them (about 12 trails).
The first 48 miles went as expected, our rig is not fast in the desert and tops out at about 60 mph compared to others who can do 90 mph or faster! We held on pretty good coming out of the desert in about 18th place, at this point we ran into a bottleneck (bunch of rigs stuck in way in a canyon, basically a traffic jam) with the adrenaline flowing we decided to take a risking line around it and broke a rear u-joint! Took about 45 minutes to get that fix (had the tools and parts on the rig) and we continued on. As we came into main pits (mile 54) our pit crew noticed we had blown a rear shock apart in the desert and the mount was almost ripped off the frame. 10 minutes in the main pits and we were repaired and off again minus one rear shock and in roughly 30th place.
As we started into the rock crawling loop we were now in our element and picking rigs off one by one, every time we hit a bottleneck we would just find a really hard/crazy line and crawl around all the stuck/broke rigs blocking the trail. Feeling good and making good time we didn't even notice that our rear axle locker had not been working (it’s an air actuated locker that gives power to both wheels so when one is off the ground the other still drives) despite not having a rear locker we continued on to pit 2.
We hit pit 2 in 8th place (mile 79) and were able to get our locker fixed and headed out to finish the course, some of the harder rock trails were still ahead and waiting for us. Around mile 85 we entered a trail called Chocolate Thunder, it was one of the harder trails and a main spectating area with 15,000 people lining the canyon watching. Being a pro rock crawler this was not a tough trail to me but others normally struggle so we were feeling good as we headed up it (even making a comment about putting on driving lesson for the others lol)
Well that's where I jinxed myself, as we hit the first obstacle (one that every other rig winched besides us) I hit the switches to turn on my front and rear lockers (so all 4 tires would get 100% power) and nothing happened!!
After messing with the air compressor (it supplies air to work the lockers) we decided to try without lockers, our only real choice. We really surprised our self's and make the first obstacle with basically 2 wheel drive (the one everyone else winched)
Now feeling overly confident we hit the next obstacle (with 15,000 cheering us on) and broke! It was a bad break too. We had broken the rear of the transfer-case off. It was race ending damage.
One the plus side, out of all of the 115 miles of race course we broke at the one spot PACKED with media, TV and spectators. They had us live on both jumbotrons and the Internet for 30 minutes as we winched off the trail and I got calls and text from 20 people saying we got by far the most coverage of anyone else all day so that was a little bit of a silver lining lol
I can’t wait to see what’s in the DVD, Hammerking has a helicopter that they film from and followed us for about 1 hour during the race”
- Aaron Sykes
Superchips Signs as Title Sponsor of W.E. Rock & Dirt Riot Championship Events
Superchips is pleased to announce their title sponsorship of the W.E. ROCK Grand Nationals and the Dirt Riot Series Championship races. Both events, to be held early this fall, will bring together top competitors to make a run for their respective championships. An exciting year of crawling and endurance racing will culminate with drivers and teams traveling to their corresponding venues, in what is sure to be a fight to the finish. Thousands of spectators are expected to attend these intense races and Superchips is excited to support the series.
The W.E. ROCK Grand National event historically draws a tremendous crowd, with over 5,000 fans expected over the course of the weekend. Action packed rock crawling will take place September 28-29, 2012 in Dayton, TN. Rock crawling teams, from the East and West coast series, will go head to head on the course. Fans and teams are always excited and curious to see how a drivers’ experience with terrain, from various regions across the country, transfers to their overall performance on this incredibly challenging course in Dayton. Team Superchips driver, Aaron Sykes will be bringing his Superchips buggy to the event with hopes to take home some hardware and a championship.
Dirt Riot Series racing is one of the most exciting forms of motorsports to watch. Endurance racing requires speed, skill, and patience. The Dirt Riot National Rampage event will be held October 12-13, 2012 in Bridgeport, TX. Teams from five different regions will make the trek to Texas, where they will be put to the test. Superchips is looking forward to intense competition on the course and expects finishes to come down to the wire. A full recap of the event, photos, and videos will be posted on Superchips’ Facebook page -http://www.facebook.com/Superchips
Superchips is pleased to sponsor Throughbred Diesel's 4th Annual Judgement Day! Join us October 6, 2012 in Winchester, Kentucky. Free to spectators to come out and watch, $100 to compete with payout's as high as $750 and $1,000's of product to be given away!
Pre-Register Now Online to Ensure your Spot!
- Stock Class Rules (35 trucks only)
- 2.6 Class Rules (no limit on trucks)
- Unlimited Class Rules (no limit on trucks)
www.thoroughbreddiesel.com/dyno-event.htm