ATTICA, IN: More than 30 teams competed in the 2nd Annual ULTRA4 race held at Badlands Off-Road Park last Saturday as part of the Ultimate Motorsport Championship in Attica, IN. While the course layout was similar to last year, the dry and dusty conditions of 2012 were replaced with heavy rain and extensive mud. Thousands of fans braved the wet and mucky conditions for a chance to see some of their favorite ULTRA4 drivers compete in a course that featured a newly created off road amphitheater and a technical rock quarry made even more punishing due to the slick conditions.
Several west coast teams made the trek to Indiana including; Shannon Campbell, Jesse Haines, Troy Stone, and Nitto Tire drivers Nick Nelson and Loren Healy. Shannon Campbell, the only two-time King of The Hammers and this year’s 2nd place KOH finisher, laid down a blistering 45 second qualifying time, beating out 2012 King, Erik Miller by 5 seconds. One second behind Miller was this year’s 3rd place KOH finisher, Chicky Barton.
Shannon Campbell, who is still recovering from an injury, started the race in his single-seat independent front suspension (IFS) car, but quickly handed the car over to his 17 year old son, Wayland Campbell. ULTRA4 rules state the driver of record must either start or finish the race in the driver’s seat. Because of this, Shannon started on the pole, but pulled into the pits on the first lap and handed the wheel over to Wayland. On Wayland’s first trip to the amphitheater, the young Campbell got high centered in a rock section and struggled to free himself for nearly 10 minutes.
Nitto Tire’s Derek West started in 4th and quickly took the lead by the end of the first lap with Erik Miller hot on his heels. West and Miller spent the next several laps trading back and forth for 1st position while the young Campbell maintained a solid hold on the 3rd place position. With less than 30 minutes of racing left, both West and Miller suffered mechanical failures that saw both drivers jogging back to the pits for supplies as the young Campbell took the lead and ultimately the checkered flag.
Second place went to Jesse Haines who suffered some mechanical issues early on but overcame them and managed to consistently and skillfully navigate the rock quarry each section to move up into 2nd place. 3rd place went to Clay Gilstrap of Texas who also managed to maintain a consistent speed and expertly navigate the rock quarry to a 3rd place finish.
A complete list of results is available below.10 drivers qualified for the 2014 Griffin King of The Hammers. The next race in the ULTRA4 series will be the 3rd Annual American Rocksports Championship in Tooele, UT on July 13th. The next east coast race will be at the Superlift Park in Hot Springs, AR August 17th.