After a grueling day of racing through the rocks and desert, Mitch Guthrie Jr. crossed the finish line victorious at the Can-Am KOH UTV Race by HCR. These UTVs are given the same terrain as the unlimited 4400 cars do, on 29" tires rather than 40", racing 2 laps rather than 3 as they do on Friday. At the finish it was a family affair for the second year in a row, with Mitch's father, Mitch Guthrie Sr. following along in third (2017 found father/son Shannon & Wayland Campbell placed on the podium.) Leading an extremely clean race, Mitch Guthrie Jr. came across the line more than 40 minutes ahead of his closest competitor.
Co-driving for his dad a number of years, Sr. has captured six total wins in the KOH UTV race. Last year saw Jr. take the wheel to lead his own battle. “I don’t know what to say" exclaimed Mitch Jr., "It’s been a long road getting here riding with my dad a lot and we had a few wins but I really wanted to do it by myself. I was nervous going in. It’s my first time really getting in the rocks. We made it through, and it was a clean race.”
Second across the line and on the podium was Branden Sims, who's claimed 2nd place three times at the Hammers. Narrowly missing the podium, Casey Currie finished in fourth, a little over a minute behind Mitch Guthrie Sr.
With drivers consistently asking for a harder course, Ultra4 head Dave Cole delivered this year—with the result being that just 12 finishers out of the 118 UTVs that started the race Wednesday morning. An additional three drivers were able to complete the course, but did so after the offical end time—including Loren Healy, Bailey Campbell and Cody Currie. Hats off to those 10% who finished!
Check out the full results below and gallery above, and follow along with us at King of the Hammers!
