The surname Currie is synonymous with off-road. From their early beginnings in the late-'50s with Frank Currie to where they are now, the Currie family has been at the forefront of all things dirt related. Representing the Currie brand now more than ever is Frank’s grandson Casey Currie. He’s raced everything from motorbikes to short course and almost everything in between.
He’s an icon in the world of off-road racing, especially with his newest race vehicle, dubbed the “Hammer Jeep”—which is part trophy truck and part rock crawler. With a vehicle as versatile as that, Casey wanted to summarize it in one action-packed video, “Hammerdown to Havasu.” I’ve been shooting and documenting Casey’s racing career on-and-off for the past few years and was invited to come on set and check out the Hammerdown action for myself.
While I’ve been on a good handful of video shoots, I’ve never been on one as exciting as this. Taking place in and around Havasu earlier this summer, average daytime temperatures hovered around 115 degrees, adding to the challenge of pulling this off, but when an opportunity like this arises, you don’t turn it down. I knew what the Hammer Jeep was capable of, and I wanted to see Casey pull off this idea he’d had marinating inside his head for so long. Knowing how skilled of a driver he is, I knew it was going to be packed with jumps, crashes and so much more.
From the start, the goal of Hammerdown to Havasu was quite simple: make it for the kids. This project is not meant to replicate something like BJ’s “Recoil” series, so you’ll find that it’s a little different. As a family man, Casey has always had a big following with the younger audience. What better way to cater to that than to make a video showcasing his Nitto Trail Grappler equipped Hammer Jeep doing the absolute gnarliest stunts that kids (and adults) would go crazy over? This simple idea turned into what you’ll see in the video above.
I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you all, so give Hammerdown to Havasu a watch before checking out the rest of my photo set below.