2020 King of the Hammers Press Release

Shannon Campbell

This year’s KOH might not have been one for the record books, standing on the podium and celebrating, but if we won every race it would get boring! I’ve never heard so many people talking about how they were leading the race, no one wins until it’s done. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch” is something I was taught. I can’t count how many times I’ve been leading and the inevitable happens. It ain’t over until it’s over. If my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle! A lot of people lead the race, shit happens… It’s racing. Lap one was insane, driving through dirt, almost crashing every second, but we survived. Dropping back door and rolling into main with all 3 of us in the top ten but unfortunately my transmission wasn’t so good. 300° and leaking out the front pump seal, I knew it wouldn’t make it but that didn’t mean quit! I didn’t spend half the year prepping for this race to give up so with the help from crew, friends, and other racers we changed it in an hour and 10 minutes while listening to Hammertown cheering at the edge of their seats as Wayland and Bailey moved to the front of the pack. Unfortunately at the end of lap 2 Wayland lost a head gasket and was out of the race, but Bailey had physically taken the lead before lap three and was walking away with Hammertown chanting “queen of the hammers” when all of a sudden she came to a stop, her water pump pulley broke. I was bummed as I listened to the radio and with my mind going 100 mph I told main to strap a pump and water to the back of my car so she could continue. I dropped her parts and pushed on with hopes of catching the field, passing cars one at a time as I slowly destroyed my machine, rolling into pit 2 with only three shocks, we had to steal one off Wayland’s dead car, taking up more time, finally limping my car into Hammertown in 11th position with Bailey not far behind in 22nd. Not exactly what you dream of but it’s KOH. Just finishing is a feat in itself. I’m proud of my friends, family, crew, and sponsors for their dedication, hard work and determination! This is what KOH is... not who was winning but who got it done! 

Bailey Campbell

It has taken me a few days to come up with something to write about during my experience at this year’s King of the Hammers. Not only because it was one of my most accomplishing races but also because it was probably the most emotional one as well. I wait and wait for the year to go by as fast as it can just thinking about this race, thinking what I can do to be a percentage better than what I was the year before. I certainly have my family, friends and sponsors to thank for making myself and my car that percentage better.

I woke up race day morning thinking the past few days were going by way to fast and the hours spent working on my car getting it ready were just to easy and it didn't seem right. I was of course still in a panic thinking I was still going to run out of time getting strapped into my car and I would still be trying to throw a glove on as the green flag dropped. I was rushing my co-driver Ryan Miller who is also the head Honcho when it comes to anything pit related. He was hanging out, making sure all the spare parts and tires made it into the pit vehicles, calm as could be. We buckled in, listened to the beautiful national anthem, and worked our way to the start line. Hunting down the field while we worked our way through lap 1 was just a pure dust cloud. Miller and I couldn't see anything but we kept our cool and played it safe to keep our car together. Now going on our second lap and passing sitting cars we didn't know we were in 2nd place just 30 seconds behind Jason Scherer. I took a deep breath and we entered our first rock trail of the second lap, Aftershock. All the rock trails were so smooth and as we dropped down backdoor to head to main pit we heard on the radio that we were now in the physical and corrected time lead at King of the Hammers. Im not gonna lie, I cried a little bit...! We stopped at the pit to take fuel, I saw the one and only Emily Miller in the distance, as she gave me a thumbs up. I took a second to look at our whole pit crew as they looked back at me with the biggest grins on there faces, knowing Miller and I could do this and we were on our way. I ran the car the hardest I have ever ran it, and not because I was driving out of control but because I knew this car was prepped and could handle what I was giving it. We had spent the week before shock tuning with Fox/ Mike Kim and I am very pleased with how it was driving.

Leaving Emerson lakebed to enter our last lap of rock trails I pulled over after my steering locked up, we had thrown a belt. Thinking it was no big deal, Ryan got out and I searched for the tools to put a new belt on. Then from behind the car Miller relays that we had a bigger issue. The pulley on the water pump had cracked around the hub on the shaft. I completely sank. We relayed to the pits what was going on, knowing the hike would be way to far to go find spare parts at a pit, I told Miller there was nothing we could do. He never really said anything and just kept talking on the radio. We made a decision to try and limp the car down to the lakebed. Soon over the radio we heard that my dad was going to bring us a new waterpump and Amsoil fluids strapped to his spare tire and that we needed to be ready to cut everything off when he pulled up. Thank you again dad! We got moving again as quickly as we could and finished our last lap. I am so thankful Ryan pushed me to finish this race, I was not ready to get back in the car because I knew our finish wouldn't be where I wanted it to be but then I realized that just finishing this race is a win. I want to thank our whole team for sticking around and waiting for us to cross that line. It's the best feeling in the world. 

Wayland Campbell

Where to start... King of the Hammers was one for the books. Showing up two weeks early to test out a car that my family and friends finished in a mere 37 days was a struggle to say the least. New car blues consumed the new car and myself throughout the week just like they would anyone else, but I was confident that we had a chance to sit on top of the box this year. Our amazing team and kickass sponsors helped me work the bugs out before race day and we were able to start the race in 21st position. Off the line I gave it everything the car had and got the whole shot! Off to an amazing start, my first desert lap was phenomenal I passed multiple cars and battled it out with some world class drivers. Leaving main pit I had worked my way up into a physical 6th place but I knew if I wanted that top spot I had to keep pushing and I did so, white knuckled on the steering wheel making some questionable passes. I eventually made it to physical 4th and 2nd on corrected time by the time I hit the first rock trail. Sadly as I entered aftershock I noticed my water temp climbing drastically due to two defective radiator fans... pit 2 was just over the hill so I pushed trying to get airflow through the radiator to try and cool it down but sadly by the time I hit the pits the water temp had rose to 325 degrees and the car would no longer fire after getting it cooled down. My race came to an end but my day did not. Many people asked me why I was so happy even though I had broke, my answer was because my family and teammates were still out there dominating the race and I was determined to do whatever I could to make sure they all made it to the finishline. Thank you to my Sponsors, Family and Friends!

We seriously have the best pit crew. Without them we wouldn't be a successful team at any race and we would like to sincerely thank them for putting up with it all. We love you guys!