NC4×4 will be hosting live coverage of the ECORS King of the Hammers Qualifier Race in Harlan, KY on Saturday, August 14, beginning at 9AM. Live coverage is provided by the folks from Nuthin Fancy Video and Photography.
9:00AM – Class A and B race begins. A and B will run simultaneously.
11:00AM – A/B race ends. Mid-day intermission begins.
12:00PM – Class C racers begin staging
1:00PM – ECORS King of the Hammers Qualifier begins
9:00PM – Racing Officially Ends
Wheelers are some of the best folks you’ll ever meet. When Jody Childers, a member of the Big Dixie Boggers, was badly burned in an accident at work, the Big Dixie Boggers got together to raise some money to help Jody along. ECORS and the Mud Devils heard about the Boggers’ fund raising and thought the upcoming race would be a great opportunity to help. Rob Klinger from ECORS raffled off a chance in the driver’s seat of his own buggy in the Class C race.
Chuck Smith won the raffle to race the ECORS buggy, but a broken wheel stud ended his day early.
Chuck Smith was the lucky raffle winner and started seventh. Chuck was doing pretty well in his rental ride until partway through lap two, when a bad wheel stud got caught up inside the hub and wiped out all the spindle studs. It was a tough break for Chuck, but between the raffle and an R/C table crawl competition, the event raised over a thousand dollars for Jody.
The Mud Devils were nearly unstoppable on their home turf, finishing second, third, and fourth places in the Class C race. Despite some carnage and mechanical mishaps, there was a lot of wide-open racing. Will Carter, in his KOH-proven 52x race car, was the only one able to beat the Devils. In fact, Will was so quick, he taunted his competitors by passing out koozies to spectators during the race.
In last year’s Fall Brawl, Sam Winget crashed head-on into a tree, destroying most of his buggy’s front tube work and ripping his steering ram from the axle housing. Sam was able to patch the buggy back together during the winter and started third at the Second Coming.
He was running in second place on lap four when a small fluid leak got big enough to light off on the hot exhaust. He says he lost count after the fifth time they had to stop and play firefighter. Despite losing about ten minutes, Sam still completed the race and earned a third place finish.
John Thomas's GSXR-powered Samurai spins 10k rpms everywhere it goes.
John Thomas, known to friends as Stump, brought out his GSXR 750-powered Samurai for its first ECORS race. For those that haven’t seen Stump’s Sammy in action, you should know that it doesn’t go many places that it’s not running wide-open. It’s always a blast to watch the little sport bike engine scream around the race course. John combined a trouble-free day with quick lap times to finish second.
Chuck wasn’t the only guy to start the Class C race in a rental. PJ Mallory’s race rig wasn’t finished in time for the Second Coming, so he borrowed a turbo single seater from a friend. PJ rolled the borrowed buggy on the first lap when he lost a bead coming in to a hairpin turn. His teammates ran all the way from the pits to flip the car back over. PJ had to limp back to the pits to change the tire, but his troubles weren’t over. He bent the rear steer ram on the second lap and had the fan come unplugged on lap five. Each time, he was able to get back in the race and salvaged fourth place. The extra effort paid off. Combined with winning his class at the Fall Brawl, PJ is now in the lead for the series points championship.
ECORS will be racing in Marion, NC this Saturday, April 17th. The race kicks off with Class A at 9AM. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the event. Kids under 12 are free. Check out the ECORS website for more information.
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It was barely halfway through the first lap, but Joe Darlington’s Isuzu was already out of the race. His front axle quit pulling in the middle of the first rock section and the rest of the field was quickly piling up behind him. Mark Zabath, Darlington’s co-driver, asked the first rig in line if they could give the Isuzu a push. Greg Slade didn’t need to be asked twice. “I put it in 2nd gear, hit him, and kept in it. That Isuzu was too pretty anyway.”
With Darlington out of contention, it became a two car race for first place. Greg Slade’s Wrangler, nicknamed Herbie, was quick in the trees and rocks. But it couldn’t outrun Dylan Wiles’ Cherokee in the open straights. Lap after lap the pair duked it out, but Dylan successfully prevented a pass by the more nimble YJ. The crowd had other ideas. As the racers snaked through the trees on one lap, spectators noticed a place where Greg might be able to cut the corner and get around Dylan. They shouted to Greg, “Go through the woods!” He pointed Herbie toward the hole and pinned the throttle.
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After the race, Dylan said, “I heard the crowd yell at the same time Greg did. I could hear his rev limiter coming. It was like we were both driving the new Priuses and the throttles were stuck.” But Greg still wasn’t quick enough, and his bumper hit Dylan’s passenger rear tire.
Greg Slade chases Wade Sullens' F-Toy into the mud
The impact caused the Cherokee to sideswipe a tree on the driver’s side, but it seemed otherwise unscathed. Unfortunately, Dylan was knocked out of the race when the passenger side leaf centering pin sheared a few laps later. The bump from Greg might have done him in after all.
Meanwhile, Wade Sullens was quietly plugging along in third place. His F-Toy had driveshaft problems early in the day that put him too far back to contend for first. But Wade found some good luck in Dylan’s misfortune and passed the blue XJ after it broke down to earn a second place finish.
Although Greg’s Herbie Jeep won the race, victory didn’t come cheap. The front passenger shock was seen flapping in the breeze during the early laps. A post-race inspection also revealed that the front driver’s shackle tore itself out of the frame and both of his sprung-under Waggy springs were bent from collisions with rocks and other racers. Greg took the damage in stride, saying this is far from the first time he’s had to repair Herbie’s front suspension. He’ll patch it all up and be racing again in no time.
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You could hear them through the trees. A low roar of engine noise punctuated by a shout or cheers from the crowd. They had been bottled up for over half a mile, weaving through the forest with scarcely a spot to pass. The cars burst into the sunlight, first one, then two more. There was only a quarter mile of open field to gain a position or two before a right-hand hairpin, over the jump, and back into the woods.
Brad Carrier’s blue Cherokee darted to the right and came alongside Joe Darlington’s Isuzu. There wasn’t enough room to outrun the Isuzu before the end of the stretch, but Brad had position entering the corner. He tried for one more, tucking his nose alongside Jody Treadway’s orange Comanche as they lined up for the jump. But Jody didn’t yield, and Brad was forced to drop in line as they entered the forest again.
Brad Carrier and Joe Darlington try to chase down Jody Treadway
The course at the Devils’ Playground was decidedly different from the previous race in Callalantee. Much shorter at roughly two miles, fans could see most of the track from the start line. This created a bit of a challenge for the organizers and racers, though. Class A rigs could turn laps in just over four minutes. That meant staggered starts were only fifteen seconds apart, guaranteeing congestion and tight racing in the first few laps.
Out of nine starters, only four would finish all twelve laps. Brad Carrier and Tony Hirko were both in contention for first place, but Brad was knocked from a podium finish when a series of mechanical problems late in the race resulted in a pair of thirteen minute laps. After the race, Tony said, “Racing in A Class was so much fun, there’s not much else I’d rather be doing. It was tight racing with both obstacles and competitors. Every tree I hit was accidental, every racer I hit was incidental, and I think I hit every racer I came near.”
Tony Hirko's consistently quick laps earned him a first place finish
Joe Darlington and John Herr traded positions all day long. Both were fast, but would occasionally turn a slow lap that let the other guy by. In the end, John’s XJ beat Joe’s Isuzu by nine seconds, earning second and third places respectively.
Looking at the field of Class A rigs, it seems incorrect to call them race cars. A motley assortment of old XJs, Explorers, and Toyotas, some spend most of their time as weekend trail rigs. Others were once so far gone they were thought to be useful only as parts donors before finding a second life with a fresh coat of paint and a number on the door. But race, they certainly do. They rub fenders, they bump and get bumped. They brake late and throttle early. They might have racked up 200,000 hard-earned miles of commuter duty, but today, they’re race cars.
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They’ll be taking over the Uwharrie Adventures off-road park near the stables. The event is open to everyone, including clubs and any make or model of 4×4. They’ll have a mud pit, rock garden, tractor pull area, as well as the 4×4cross off-road race course. Attendees can camp for free at the stables for the weekend.
Organizers are collecting a $20 donation per person for the event. Proceeds will benefit Operation Homefront, a non-profit who provides assistance for our troops, the families they leave behind, and for wounded warriors when they return home.
ROCK’VEMBER is hosted by Southeast Custom 4×4, presented by 4×4Cross Racing, and sponsored by Rick Hendrick Toyota of Fayetteville.
We’re on site in Mountain City. If you’re nearby, pack your bags and come on out. If not, stay tuned for updates throughout the weekend.