As if you needed another reason to come to Johnson Valley for KOH week, the festivities in Hammertown went just a bit bigger this year. For the first time ever, The Jump Champs brought a new event to King of the Hammers. The idea is simple. Bring your rig out to the Hammers, send it off a specially built ramp in the infield of the course, and whoever lands furthest from the takeoff takes home the prize. The “Lakebed Launch” took over the Ultra4 Live feed in between qualifying runs on Tuesday, and gave KOH spectators a wild show of suspension and horsepower.
Let's be clear, not just any old rig can take on this jump. It takes a vehicle built to withstand the immense force of landing 2-3 tons smoothly on the dirt. That means your suspension better be dialed, your tires better be in good shape, and you better have some power behind you if you want to put on a good show.
Among the list of competitors was two-time King of the Hammers winner and champion driver Loren Healy. But with the 4400 class main event just three days away, Loren didn’t risk his newly-finished single-seat Ultra4 car on this jump—instead, he climbed into the cockpit of the new Team FunHaver 6100 class Spec TT truck equipped with 37-inch Nitto Trail Grapplers for some aerial acrobatics. While not quite as powerful as his Ultra4 car, the 6100 truck is better suited for this sort of thing.
Also on the registered driver list was Blake Wilkey, piloting his world-famous supercharged V8 Bug. This is no ordinary Volkswagen Baja bug; Wilkey’s car puts down some fierce power and has the A-arm IFS suspension to back it up. Wilkey is no stranger to Jump Champs either, having won multiple jump competitions in prior years at Glen Helen Raceway.
One by one, each competitor lined up for a parade lap behind Jump Champs owner, Sean Kepler in his Ford Ranger race truck. Once they got the lay of the land(ing), it was go-time. Jeremy Deakins, a first-time Jump Champs racer, lined up his Ford Ranger and sent it big over the jump. Following him was Wes Taylor in his tube chassis prerunner, Joel Leboeuf in his Ford Ranger prerunner, Loren Healy, Blake Wilkey, and last but certainly not least, Pat Gerber in his full-size monster truck. Needless to say, this was quite the stacked field and the crowd was cheering each driver on as they powered their way towards the jump.
But just like the King of the Hammers itself, there’s only one clear winner at Jump Champs. With the furthest distance of 102 feet, Blake Wilkey took the top of the box. Just two feet shy of that jump was Loren Healy in the 6100 truck, and with 96 feet, Jeremy Deakins took third place. And in true Jump Champs style, there was also a crowd favorite award—Joel Leboeuf had a standing ovation from the crowd, many of whom were his close friends, as he launched his leaf-sprung Class 2000 Ford Ranger across the infield.
Jump Champs put on a great show out there, as they do with their numerous other events throughout the year. Check out our article featuring the Jump Champs home event at Glen Helen Raceway, where you can sign up your vehicle in one of the many different classes and put your skills to the test on both the time trials course and the jump competition. We’re looking forward to the growth of this event here at King of the Hammers, and we have a feeling the jump will have to be bigger next year.
