Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

Looks like the official 2016 King of the Hammers Schedule of Events has landed, courtesy of Ultra4Racing.com . While it’s best to keep that official schedule of events page bookmarked, we’ll post the schedule as it has been laid out here as your unofficial backup. There are no real surprises, just plenty to keep you busy all race week-long.

• Friday January 29th, 2016

o    9:00 AM Registration Opens – Means Dry Lake Bed
o    9:00 AM Pre-Running Opens
o    9:00 AM  Tech Opens – All new cars need to be teched by close of tech on Monday

• Saturday January 30th, 2016

o    Continue Registration and Pre-Running
o    6:00 PM Mandatory King of the Motos Riders Meeting

• Sunday January 31st, 2016

o  Continue Registration – see Registration houses on Main
o  8:00 AM – 4:00 PM  King of the Motos
o  5:00 PM KOM Awards Ceremony

• Monday February 1st, 2016

o    Pre Running Day
o    12:00 PM Vendor Show opens
o    3:30 PM Mandatory Drivers meeting for 4WPW Qualifying Days
o    4:30 PM Mandatory Drivers meeting for Shootout
o    6:00 PM Vision X SRRS vs. ULTRA4 Presented by King Shoot Out

• Tuesday February 2nd, 2016

o    9:00 AM Start of Qualifying on 4 Wheel Parts Qualifying course
o   12:00 – 6:00 PM  UTV Tech and Contingency EMC may take as well
o   12:00 – 8:00 PM Vendor Hours in Hammertown
o   3:45 PM Awards Ceremony for Shootout Participants before Power Hour
o    5:00 PM Close of Day 1 of Qualifying/ Start of PCI GPS and Comms Class
o    6:00 PM Mandatory drivers meeting for all KOH UTV racers
o    6:00 PM Outlaw KOH R/C Rock Racing at Axial Booth (for spectator handout only)

• Wednesday February 3rd, 2016

o    8:00 AM Start of Polaris RZR KOH UTV Race
o    12:00 PM Start of Day 2 of 4 Wheel Parts Qualifying
o    12:00 – 6:00 PM EMC Tech and Contingency
o    12:00 – 8:00 PM Vendor Hours in Hammertown
o    4:00 PM End of KOH UTV Race
o    5:00 PM End of Qualifying
o    6:00 PM Mandatory Drivers meeting for Smittybilt Every Man Challenge Race
o    6:00 PM Outlaw KOH R/C Rock Racing at Axial Booth (for spectator handout only)
o    8:00 PM Volunteer Meeting
o    8:00 PM King Shocks Party

• Thursday February 4th, 2016

o    8:00 AM Start of Smittybilt Every Man Challenge Race
o    6:00 PM Close of EMC Race
o   12:00 – 7:00 PM KOH Tech and Contingency in Hammertown
o   12:00 – 8:00 PM Vendor Hours in Hammertown
o    6:00 PM Raceline Volunteer Dinner presented by Extreme Wheelers 4 Christ
o    6:00 PM Outlaw KOH R/C Rock Racing at Axial Booth (for spectator handout only)
o   7:00 PM Mandatory Drivers meeting for Nitto King of the Hammers
o   8:00 PM Volunteer Staffing meeting

• Friday February 5th, 2016

o    6:00 AM Driver Line Up 2016 Nitto King of the Hammers Powered by Optima
o    8:00 AM Start of the 2016 Nitto King of the Hammers Powered by Optima
o    10:00 PM Close of the 2016 Nitto King of the Hammers  Powered by Optima

• Saturday February 6th, 2016

o    9:00 AM Awards Ceremony UTV – KOH – EMC
o    10:00 AM KOH The Experience

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

We have some dates for the 2016 ULTRA4 European circuit, courtesy of ultra4europe.com .

King of France 20th – 22nd May
King of Italy 17th – 19th June
King of Portugal 14th – 17th September
King of Britain 7th – 9th October

There’s a few interesting things here, some of which will require a little time & patience to figure out. First, France is back on the list and slated to be the kickoff race of the season. Last year, this got cancelled for paperwork reasons that will likely put you to sleep. So now it’s back, and that’s exciting.

Second, King of Portugal is no longer the final race of the season. This is a big deal because that final race hosts the year-end awards ceremony, which leads us to…

Third, King of Britain is the final race and should be the host of the year-end awards ceremony. This event name is new as well, ULTRA4 Europe started in Wales with the King of Wales, and it doesn’t require much brain power to see this is likely not the location for King of Britain. Which leads us to our final though…

Event locations are not yet made available. That will clear things up a bit, as soon as we get those “official” locations we’ll be sure to post them here.

As for us, we love ULTRA4 Europe.  Having been involved with the European circuit since inception, these races are a big deal to us. The schedule is beyond tight this year for our own personal appearances, but tentatively we’d like to make at least 2 of 4 races.

With that, for those looking to easily add these events to their favorite digital calendar (and other 2016 races we plan on attending), THIS LINK should get you what you need.

You know we’re getting closer when we need to set time aside for a Pre-Show. That, and our race vehicles almost look ready to race (almost). Don’t miss the 2016 KOH Pre-Show, January @ 6pm PST, broadcast live at http://ultra4racing.com/live/ .

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

If you’re not one of those guys shipping last-minute parts to the lake bed, you’re certainly friends with one. It happens, we’ve all been there. Last minute tweaks, minor changes, major changes — a lot can happen in the days leading up to the big King of the Hammers race day. Each and every year, Wheeler’s Ship it Shop is there to ease our pain.

This post is more of a PSA than anything else, a reminder for those that don’t know or simply forgot, Wheeler’s Ship it Shop is located just outside Hammertown and offers a service to receive your inbound shipments needed for KOH. They charge just a few dollars per package, depending on the weight, and are open all week-long from 10am to 4pm PST (often later as we near race day).

To use their service, inbound shipments can be sent to the following address with your name as the attention:

Wheeler’s Ship it Shop
51720 Hacienda Road
Johnson Valley, CA 92285
(760) 364-3392

Pay the few dollars per package they charge at the time of pickup, and you can be on your merry racing way. Enjoy your race prep weekend of course, and for those that need a reminder the 2016 King of the Hammers week starts in just 21 days.

While we’re working on the final stages of this month’s axle shaft run (checking for straightness / front shaft assembly), best to lay out our holiday schedule for the rest of this week. We will be closed tomorrow and Friday (that’s December 31st and January 1st ’16) for New Year’s. Orders placed online for in-stock items during that time will ship when we return on Monday, January 4th 2016.

Also, another friendly reminder, for those still needing axle shafts for KOH race day Friday, you’d need to get that order in today or place that order online by tomorrow, December 31st. That’s about as last-minute as we’ll be able to get, after that our axle shaft manufacturing time is just too long to pull off a KOH miracle.

With that, we have another amazing year down and another amazing year ahead. To all the drivers, teams, families, and fans who allow us to do what we do, THANK YOU. We wouldn’t be here without your support.