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King Of The Hammers 2023 is in full swing. Week two brings us to the fifth Annual running of the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge. This year, the KOH desert racing event was bigger than ever with over 220 drivers entering the fray. Join Off Road Xtreme as we look at how it all went down in Johnson Valley, California.
2023 Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Day 1: Prologue
The first day of racing started with the unlimited classes. Racers would be navigating a shortened 40-mile loop that would set the starting order for day two. Day 1 would have much more at stake than just starting the order though. The lap time would be applied toward each driver’s overall race time as well. With that, every competitor knew the race could not be won on day one, but it most definitely could be lost.
T1- Unlimited Truck
First, out of the gate was Tim Herbst (#19) followed by the rest of the twenty-seven T1 trucks filtering out five-minute intervals. That clean air and fresh track helped Tim finish with the second fastest time of the day, securing an early start on Sunday.
Last year’s winner, Kyle Jergensen (#27), also drew an early start. With a chance to defend his title, he would rip off the fastest run of the day. Jergensen’s blazing fast time of 30 minutes, and 50.609 was over 90 seconds quicker than Herbst. With the rest of the field all behind, Kyle was on pace for a repeat win.
Bill Apgood (#44) Finished third on the day. Bill’s time of 32 minutes, and 28 seconds put him in a tight group of finishers all within 20 seconds of each other. That group included JP Gomez, Adam Householder, and Eric Harden.
T2 – Spec Truck
As the T2s started rolling in, the power deficit to the T1s was only of minor significance. Over two and a half minutes behind the lead, the first Spec Truck finisher was Christopher Polvoorde (#294) at 33 minutes, 34.366 seconds, and 9th overall. Polvoorde was the T2 winner from last year but he also placed 2nd overall ahead of many other unlimited entries with much higher horse-powered vehicles.
The #219 of Thor Herbst came in next after Christopher, keeping the Terrible Herbst team in the hunt for both classes. Ray Griffith and Dustin Grabowski were the next two qualifiers to come across the line. Separated by less than 3 centiseconds (three one-hundredths of a second), it was a tight race for the third spot. Grabowski would have more than a three-minute deficit to make up if he wanted to repeat his big California 300 victory.
B3 – UTV
The UTVs hit the course as the afternoon sun started falling. Running after the huge unlimited field they would be charging down a well-worn track. With three separate UTV classes; Stock, Pro Mod, and Open, it was up in the air which class would be dominant in the Johnson Valley desert.
Dustin Jones (#T978) in a UTV Stock Can-Am Maverick was the fastest UTV of all to finish the lap. Coming across the line in 39 minutes, and 5.714 seconds, he set a blistering pace through.
Dustin “Battle Axe” Jones and his Can-Am Maverick were ripping!
Next in, was an Open UTV driven by Doug Mittag about 15 seconds behind Jones. Proving that the Pro Mod class was also a contender for the win in B3, Vito Ranuio (#T950) posted the third-fastest time for the day in a UTV. With the top three spots going to different classes, the race for top UTV would be open for the taking.
Doug Mittag looked fast in his Bilstein machine.
Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Presented by Monster Energy Prologue – Day 1
2023 Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Day 2: Main Event
For Sunday’s extended desert racing event, the open-wheeled buggy classes would get first dibs out. This included B2, and B3 (UTVs) as well. Based on the prologue times, the UTVs and B2 buggies would be mixed through the starting grid for the main race. A pair of buggies, Chase Warren (1088) and Ezra Ebberts (1077) would lead the pack out.
The Ebberts name holds weight in off-road racing and is always a family affair.
Despite setting the pace on Saturday, Chase would be the first in a long line of DNFs in Sunday’s race and would not repeat his limited win from last year. Ebberts would go on to take the overall win on the day, chased by a swarm of UTVs. fighting for the next two steps on the podium.
Battle of the UTV classes
As the race played out, the tight times between the three UTV classes widened. Open UTV proved to have the advantage over the longer course and heavier rock sections. Two Open drivers would round out the limited podium with Branden Sims taking second overall and a class win.
A proven race winner, Sims is touting his Polaris RZR R as a revolutionary UTV.
Doug Mittag would be next across the line securing the final overall podium spot. Brayden Baker (#977) would finish third in class about three minutes behind Sims.
Driving a Pro Mod UTV, Vito Ranuio proved his qualifying lap was not a fluke and took the class and fifth overall. The next Pro Mod to finish was the #T50 of Bruce Binquest in 9th overall. He was fast on course all day but burned a lot of time with dust forcing him to take creative lines around the course. Phil Blurton (#944) took the last class podium spot in Pro Mod.
With the fastest Day 1 time in a UTV, Dustin Jones’s Stock Class Can-AM was not able to stay on top across the 200 miles for Day 2. A lengthy on-track stop during the first lap spoiled his hope for an overall top 10. He did go on to take a class win but finished 14th overall. The S906 of Mitchell Alsup was the next UTV Stock across the line followed by Larry Heidler.
After a win at Dakar, AJ Jones was looking to be a top contender after qualifying in the top 10. Unfortunately, the brutal conditions resulted in a DNF for him. His Red bull teammate Seth Quintero fell to a similar fate and would not finish the day either.
Unlimited T1 And T2 Race
Once the Limited cars started crossing the finish, it was time for the big boys to run. With the weather shifting throughout the day, they would be met on track with 30+ MPH winds blowing fields of dust across the lake beds. Two by two the trucks left the line led by Kyle Jergensen looking to defend his title from last year.
#19 Tim Herbst was in contention all weekend.
With speeds topping 130 MPH, the race was fast and rough. It wasn’t long before that combo started to take its toll on the trucks. Kyle Jergensen only made it about 10 miles in before he was stopped in his tracks. As rigs started to drop out, it was #100 of Dale Dondel setting the fastest lap one.
Unlimited T1 And T2 Race: Lap 2
That pace was too much though and Dondel would not finish a second lap. Not far behind Dondel’s pace were Adam Householder in T1 and Dustin Grabowski was there in his T2 keeping pace as well. Tim Herbst looked to be in a good shape with his strong Day 1 run, posting the fourth-fastest first lap.
As the miles clicked down on the second lap, it was Householder leading the pack. Herbst was slowly falling back, and the trackers showed two drivers gaining ground. Dustin Grabowski was the first one and Ray Griffith was just behind him. Then Herbst had another tire go down and opened the door for the pair of T2 trucks.
2023 Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Results
When the times were tallied, it was Adam Householder’s flawless run that would take the overall win. “I love King of the Hammers, I grew up racing out here” was Adam’s response when he crossed the line. The first race of the KOH/Mint/CA300 Triple Crown belongs to Householder motorsports.
Dustin Grabowski was the next on time. Taking second overall and a class win, Grabowski is picking up right where 2022 left off. Ray Griffith took the third step on the podium and the second in class. Despite the rough second lap, Tim Herbst finished second in class. Jp Gomez was the third for a T1 podium finish.
Fast and hard seems like an accurate description of the 2023 Toyo Desert Challenge. With new winners emerging in all the classes, it proves how tough a win at KOH is to secure. For full 2023 King Of The Hammers results in all classes view the official events live scoring. Stay tuned to Off Road Xtreme for more action from KOH 2023.
