Photos by Friese Images
Shannon Campbell is no stranger to the checkered flag after a voyage through The Hammers located in Johnson Valley California. In fact, the 3rd time “King” savagely rolled in on 3 tires and a cracked wheel with the fastest time of 6:46:04. As he and his son Wayland Campbell duked it out side by side racing down Backdoor, Shannon comments, “It was the best moment of my life to see him come out of his shell and actually not let anyone pass him and just to see the things that he’s learned!”
Second place finisher, Wayland Campbell, son to King – Shannon Campbell, expressed to everyone his best experience, “The race was awesome, I had such a good time. The race pace was incredibly fast this year. It felt so good to be out there running with all my idols that I’ve looked up to for so long… I want to say thanks to my dad for not letting me just have it! That was by far the best last 20 miles of racing I’ve ever had.” With a time of 6:46:32 and only 28 seconds behind dad!
Returning King and third place finisher with a race time of 6:49:08, Jason Scherer, talked about the the highlight of his week, “It was probably getting another pole position (during qualifying) when we didn’t really expect it; we had made a lot of changes and I thought they would slow the car down too much to win on a short course but it surprised us more than some of the other times when we had the car but needed to cut a good lap.” This is Jasons 3rd year in a row taking the pole position during qualifying at King of The Hammers. Lets not forget the innovative racer “added” a co driver (Jason Berger) for this years race… “We had a great time and it was really nice to be able to make clear judgment calls with someone that was such a good decision maker during the heat of the battle.”
Race facts:
Course length: 181 miles.
Time limit: 14 hours.
Entries: 122.
Finishers: 50.
4th place finisher Erik Miller
7th place finisher Levi Shirley
15th place finisher Dustin Isenhour
Top 10 KOH finishers:
| ORDER | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | RACE OVERALL |
| 1 | 5 | SHANNON CAMPBELL | 6:46:04 |
| 2 | 3 | WAYLAND CAMPBELL | 6:46:32 |
| 3 | 76 | JASON SCHERER | 6:49:08 |
| 4 | 21 | ERIK MILLER | 7:14:13 |
| 5 | 4482 | JP GOMEZ | 7:24:36 |
| 6 | 41 | JOSH BLYLER | 7:27:06 |
| 7 | 81 | LEVI SHIRLEY | 7:27:21 |
| 8 | 48 | CODY WAGGONER | 7:50:21 |
| 9 | 26 | CLAY GILSTRAP | 7:54:47 |
| 10 | 4483 | RAUL GOMEZ | 7:58:59 |
Video highlights of the 2017 Nitto King of the Hammers powered by Optima Batteries.
