A Hard Day in the Desert – 2026 King of the Hammers

It was another epic year of off-road racing havoc in Johnson Valley, California, where 770 teams competed in front of 80,000 spectators and 2.5 million online viewers. The 2026 King of the Hammers featured two weeks of racing, culminating with the Race of Kings on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Often referred to as the toughest single-day off-road race in the world, the Race of Kings combines desert racing and rock crawling over 200 miles of grueling trails. After the dust settles over the carnage and chaos, only about 15% of racers typically finish, as the losers extract their busted vehicles from the desert.

The Race of Kings three-lap format combined the typical high-speed desert sections and legendary Hammer trails, but the final lap was revealed only days before the race. It featured many new, highly technical and extremely challenging rock trails that overwhelmed most teams. Making things more difficult, drivers weren’t allowed to pre-run, so they experienced the new trails for the first time during the race.

The 2026 Race of Kings turned out to be one of the toughest events in King of the Hammers history. Expected to finish by 4 p.m., after a dozen hours of racing marked by extreme mechanical failures, organizers cut 40 miles off the final loop so someone might be able to finish within the 14-hour time limit.

No team was more than halfway into the final lap after nightfall, and the race ended with only two of the 81 competitors finishing in the allotted time, after 10 p.m. Three additional teams completed the course after the time limit, still an impressive accomplishment given the unprecedented difficulty. The 2026 Race of Kings will be remembered as one of the toughest off-road races ever, where simply finishing was a victory.

“This is what King of the Hammers is supposed to be.”
– Randy Slawson

Race of Kings

1st – Randy Slawson – 13h2m
Having also won the previous longest race at 8h15m, Slawson became the first four-time Race of Kings winner and is the only driver to race all 20 years.

2nd – Josh Blyler – 13h25m

3rd – Paul Wolff – DNF
Of the remaining competitors, Wolff advanced the farthest on the third lap before time expired.

“That was insane.”
– Josh Blyler

15th – Kyle Chaney – Team AMSOIL
The four-time King of the Hammers UTV champ became the first driver to win the Race of Kings in a UTV in 2025. Coming straight off a second-place finish in the Dakar Rally, Chaney was charging through the pack toward the leaders on the last lap of the Race of Kings when he stopped to assist an overturned vehicle. As he was winching through the remainder of the course, an untimely rollover ended his run.

Unfortunately, Chaney was also unable to finish the Desert Challenge or UTV Hammers races this year due to mechanical failures.

46th – Brad Lovell – Team AMSOIL
Brad entered the Race of Kings with his son Adam driving their iconic championship-winning Ford Ranger.* Unfortunately, they lost a seal in the rear differential, followed by a front wheel, leaving them stranded in the middle of the pack and unable to finish the race.

“It was a very intense race – a very difficult course.”
– Brad Lovell

Every Man Challenge

For the fifth consecutive year, the Lovell team captured the top qualifying position in the production-based Ultra4 Every Man Challenge 4600 class. As driver and co-driver, Brad and Adam Lovell debuted a new Ford Bronco Raptor,* proving the team’s continued mastery as they dominated the 4600 class and claimed the win, plus a fourth-best finish overall. It was an impressive feat for a mostly stock vehicle. The father-son team also piloted to a class win in the Desert Challenge Limited race.

UTV Hammers

Nick Leonard & Frank Jungnitsch – Team AMSOIL
Team R3 had an impressive UTV Hammers qualifying run with first-in-class and 14th overall, but they cracked the transaxle during the race. After welding it back together and passing 10 other racers, the team ran into a massive slowdown at the Jackhammer obstacle, which had become a parking lot. They broke a tie rod while navigating around nine more competitors, but without a replacement they were unable to finish the race.