The 2017 King of the Hammers (KOH) saw 75 side-by-sides, with most being Polaris RZRs, lining up for the toughest off-road race in the world. When the dust settled, RZRs would take the top five spots and seven of the top 10.
This year’s KOH was a family affair with newly signed Polaris Factory Racer Shannon Campbell taking “The Hammer,” and his son Wayland finishing second. Shannon’s daughter Bailey also raced going toe-to-toe with her father in the beginning of the race. She ended up finishing 15th. All three raced RZR XP Turbo EPS vehicles. Shannon dominated the race and finished almost 15 minutes ahead of Wayland.
“My RZR is one of the most incredible vehicles I’ve ever driven,” said Shannon Campbell. “It is much more-nimble on the KOH course than my Ultra 4 truck.”
UTVGuide.net’s Jon Crowley and Walker Evans Racing’s Reid Nordin filled out the podium racing the naturally aspirated RZR XP 1000 Gold Matte Metallic Limited Edition model, built to dominate the trail and rocks. The team’s strategy for competing against the more-powerful, turbo vehicles was to keep the build simple, light and have excellent shocks. Starting in 24th, the strategy worked as they had moved up to 10th-place by the end of the first loop. By pit 2A, the team was in third place. A bottle-neck in Sledge Hammer due to a break down slowed them down and a wrong move in Chocolate Thunder allowed for Wayland Campbell and Eric Miller to pass them. The team crossed the finish line in fourth but edged out Miller on corrected time to take the third podium spot. The win showed the true dominance and sheer grit of the RZR platform, regardless of model.
The Campbells are sponsored by Polaris, Walker Evans, FOX, KC, ITP tires, Rugged Radios, ARB and Monster Energy.
