Bragging rights and beer?
Every year, tens of thousands of hardcore spectators and nearly 1,000 competitors flood Johnson Valley, California, to create the city affectionately known as “Hammertown.” Its off-grid location emulates the postapocalyptic “Mad Max” films, setting the stage for pure chaos, with some racing sprinkled in.
King of the Hammers includes an entire week of racing, with the mack daddy Race of Kings, taking place Saturday, Feb. 7. A race known for carnage and chaos, only about 15% of racers who take the start ever finish the race.
The event was conceived by a pair of racers in search of bragging rights and a case of beer. It combines desert racing and rock crawling through 200 miles of grueling trails. It’s no wonder almost 80,000 people flood this otherwise deserted valley to witness the havoc.
Win and earn the title of King. Lose and the walk of shame could be your vehicle lifted out of the desert by helicopter (it happens).
Let’s take a look at where Team AMSOIL is competing in 2025.
Precision in the rocks
Kyle Chaney has been called a “surgeon” when it comes to navigating the rocks. The four-time King of the Hammers UTV champ showed us just that in 2025, when he became the first driver to win the Race of Kings in a UTV. Unfortunately, Chaney did not finish the King of the Hammers race in 2025 due to a breakdown, but he plans to race Desert, UTV and Race of Kings again in 2026.
A full stable
Brad Lovell kept his legendary streak alive in 2025 by winning both the Desert Championship and Every Man Challenge. Having won the Every Man crown four times, and the 4800 class four times, 2026 marks Lovell’s 21st trip to the lakebed. He is currently planning to race both the Desert and Every Man again in 2025, aiming to add more trophies to his collection.
King of the Hammers 2026 Event Schedule
Here’s where you’ll find Team AMSOIL action at KOH 2026:
- Friday, Jan. 30 — Pre-Running
- Saturday, Jan. 31 — Desert Challenge: Limited
- Sunday, Feb. 1 — Desert Challenge: Unlimited
- Thursday, Feb. 5 — UTV Hammers
- Friday, Feb. 6 — Every Man Challenge
- Saturday, Feb. 7 — The Race of Kings
Video transcript: Surviving King of the Hammers: The World’s Toughest Off-Road Race
King of the Hammers is the toughest race to prepare for. I feel the most stress getting ready for it because there’s not a thousand things that can go wrong. There’s a hundred thousand things that can go wrong. So out here at King of the Hammers, this is one of the toughest environments on a race vehicle there is.
We’re running from the desert into the rocks. That is something so challenging. You know, this is a great spot to test product. When you’re trying to crawl these rocks at 2 miles an hour and you’re loading that converter, but when you’re taking off from that starting line, it’s only 30°.
You better make sure that oil in the rear end is right. The car is going to take some of my prep away for sure. You know, we have we’re pretty much all Dakar until, you know, we get back. So, it’s definitely going to be tough this year to prepare for KOH just because we don’t have as much time, but you know, taking what I learned last year and what we need to do for next season, I think we’re I think we’re going to be fine.
This is like the race of all races. I mean, winning a race is nothing compared to winning King of the Hammers. This is one of the toughest races in the world and the best of the best are here. It comes down to making sure that every single nut and bolt is tight and has Loctite on it and making sure that everything is perfect.
You know, cannot just have one loose wire flopping around that can cause an issue. It’s always the two to three dollar part that will end your day. Have no doubt that in a race like King of the Hammers, every piece of equipment we are running to the limit and it has a short lifespan. I’ve seen people be 3 miles from winning the race and have a complete failure.
And what AMSOIL is doing, what proper lubrication is doing, is ensuring that you’re keeping the heat as low as you can, you’re keeping the strain as low as you can, and you’re going to get to that finish line. Your odds are better.
Be sure to follow AMSOIL for daily updates and behind-the-scenes action from the lakebed, and don’t forget to tune in to the livestream on race day.
We’ll see you in Hammertown!
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Lindsay Tousignant is an AMSOIL Marketing Specialist focused on powersports. She works with product-development, product-marketing and Communications teams to turn engineering information, field experience and product testing into articles, campaigns and sales materials. Tousignant’s work covers motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, racing and other demanding powersports applications, including technical content about viscosity and lubricant shear stability.
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