BFGoodrichTires Dominates at King of the Hammers

New BFGoodrich Baja T/A®KRTB-compound tire Reigns Supreme at Grueling Off-Road Race

GREENVILLE – March 2, 2009 – BFGoodrich® Tires dominated the second annual King of the Hammers off-road race that took place last Friday, February 27, near Johnson Valley, Calif. The predominant off-road tire manufacturer captured the overall win and the first nine finishing positions in a winner take all combination dash featuring some of rock crawling’s most technical courses and wide-open off-road racing. BFGoodrich Tires driver Jason Scherer mastered the 82-mile loop course, which encompassed the harsh terrain of Johnson Valley’s Hammer trail system to take the win in 4 hours, 42 minutes and 49 seconds.

Jason Scherer

“This was the most outstanding day ever,” said Scherer. “Our BFG tires were awesome, we never had a flat, and we were flying the whole day.”

Scherer’s event specific race rig was outfitted with event specific BFGoodrich Baja T/AKRT B-compound tires, a combination of the Baja T/A and Krawler designed specifically for rock racing and the punishing desert terrain found at the King of the Hammers. Randy Slawson finished in second place but disqualified himself on Sunday after admitting to cutting the course. This news bumped third place finisher, Casey Currie, into the runner-up spot and Rick Mooneyham into third. The late news now marks Currie as a two-time runner-up in the event. Both feats occurred on BFGoodrich Krawler T/AKX tires.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to get up those rocks,” said Currie. “My rig was awesome, I was flying along with no problems, and no flats, these BFGoodrich Krawler’s were perfect for this race.”

Out of a field of 92 starting entrants, 36 competitors officially completed the demanding journey within the 10-hour time limit, 23 of which were equipped with BFGoodrich tires. Five out of nine competitors equipped with BFGoodrich Baja T/AKRT B-compound tires finished in the top ten, a testament to how BFGoodrich Tires takes pride in utilizing its race proven technology to develop specialized race tires to respond to specific types of terrain and the unique challenges found at the King of the Hammers.

“We are very pleased with the performance of the new Baja T/AKRT B-compound tire at its competition debut,” said Karl Koenigstein, motorsports technical team leader for BFGoodrich Tires. “The combination of grip and high-speed stability required from a tire for this race was a challenge and although we are pleased with our first efforts at producing such a tire, we are not entirely satisfied because it is our intention to improve this tire while looking for more opportunities to compete and win. Congratulations to Jason and his extraordinary efforts on this new tire, he pushed the envelope throughout the race and it showed.”

In addition to developing the Baja T/AKRT B-compound tire and supplying the Krawler T/AKX tire for the race, BFGoodrich Tires was on-site lending pit and communications support to teams through its fleet of off-road motorsports vehicles. This immense undertaking involved more than 40 off-road enthusiasts and volunteers who donated their time to help King of the Hammers continue living up to its “ultimate one-day desert race” status.

Using motorsports as a proving ground for more than 30 years, BFGoodrich® Tires is involved in every type of racing, including oval, sports car, drifting, drag, desert, dirt, rally, and extreme rock crawling. BFGoodrich Tires combines technological expertise with vast motorsports experience, delivering a high-performance tire for every type of vehicle. Visit BFGoodrich Tires online at www.bfgoodrichtires.com.

2009 King of the Hammers winner is: Jason Scherer

“It’s like Baja Racing in 1972″ shouts a spectator in excitement as the first wave of rigs approach one of the road crossings. What he probably saw was less sophisticated suspension and straight front axles on Jeeps bouncing over the open desert in rather slower speeds then your average class 9 car.

However can a 9 car or any common desert race vehicle successfully conquer 4 foot vertical rock walls? Exactly. The winning formula is a purpose built Rock-Crawler that can also drive fast in the wide open. However what works well for high speed doesn’t help in the rocks and vise versa. Balance is key.

The hot ticket was last years winner Shannon Campbell (5AZ) and he looked extremely fast until a transmission failure forced him into an early DNF. Desert and Short curse racer Casey Currie (2x) had better luck in Shannon’s old rig. He was able to finish 3rd place with ease.

After all was set and done Jason Scherer (76) proved to be the top dog of the 2009 King of the Hammers. We caught up with him at the finish line and he shared his day with us (See upcoming RDC Video of the Month for that and more). Congratulation Jason.

This years King of the Hammers event was multiple times larger then last years. The Johnson Valley dry lake turned into a temporary city as thousands of people set camp for multiple days. Jeff (KOH Producer) admitted after the event that this was probably his biggest undertaking ever. “Last year our budget limited us to a couple of hours of helicopter usage while today we have the bird for 3 days” shares Jeff proudly with us.

We liked the event and feel that most desert racers would feel the same. It’s far from the slow paste Rock Crawling you may have seen on TV and we predict that by next year it will be even more of a success.

Top Ten Finishers
1 – Jason Scherer
2 – Randy Slawson
3 – Casey Currie
4 – Rick Mooneyham
5 – J.R. VanOrtwick
6 – Brad Lovell
7 – Rob Mc Kinney
8 – Adam Woodlee
9 – Joachim Schwiesow
10 – Greg Hussey

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