The beginning of the year brings the yearly pilgrimage to Johnson Valley, California, for King of the Hammers. This year was no different, and Adam Fitza Racing made the trek from Colorado to the lakebed for the 2024 King of the Hammers UTV race.
Driver and owner Adam Fitza would be racing his 2020 Fitza Racing Development Polaris RZR Turbo S in the UTV Hammers Championship as part of the Pro Mod class. There is something special about King of the Hammers that brings racers to the lakebed year after year, and it is no different for Adam Fitza Racing.
“King of the Hammers is hands down the most difficult race ever,” Adam Fitza said. “It is 70 miles of desert and 80 miles of the gnarliest rocks in the nation. It is the Super Bowl of racing, the 24-hour Le Mans of off-road, and it is truly an honor to have the chance to race King of the Hammers.”
This was Adam Fitza Racing’s second time taking on King of the Hammers. Unfortunately, in their inaugural race, the team broke, which is extremely common in this race, so they returned in 2024 to redeem themselves.
King of the Hammers is a three-week event featuring many different races. Adam Fitza Racing showed up the week before the UTV Hammers Championship race to set up camp, prerun, and work out the last details before race day.
“After setting up camp, we were straight to business,” Fitza said. “Bilstein had brought their new Blackhawk Turbo S shocks to the lakebed for us to install and test. Out of the box, the shocks were great.”
“We were able to spend a full day with Chris and Nathan of Bilstein to really tune these in. After a few revalves, I was blown away, which provided me so much confidence and security with the Blackhawks. There wasn’t even a thought about bottoming out or upsetting the car. I was thrilled with how well the car was working. We felt prepared and ready to race this.”
“A major shout out to Chris with WRIZ Designs. I had a wrap printed and delivered to the lakebed. The WRIZ crew dropped everything and installed the wrap at Jimmy’s 4×4’s semi on Sunday night. The off-road family is real!”
Every vehicle has to undergo a tech inspection leading up to race day. Tech for the UTVs was the day before the race, and as usual, over 150 vehicles participated in the race.
Tech is a process that takes time and makes teams spend the entire day in Hammertown, but it gives race fans the ability to check out all the vehicles waiting in line. The team did some radio tuning with Rugged Radios while in Hammertown. After the team passed with flying colors, the team headed back to camp to load pit supplies, go over strategy, and get some rest.
Race day this year called for some rain, making for an interesting race in the rocks. The field was stacked, and the green flag dropped, sending two vehicles off at a time.
“The race started amazing,” Fitza said. “We took the green flag and were neck and neck with a driver in a Maverick R. We took two different lines in the desert, and I must have taken the slower of the two, but it would all work out as before hitting Turkey Claw, we had already passed so many cars. The car was just working.”
“Unfortunately, there were three slow cars in a train going up Turkey Claw. I knew we had to get around them before the top pivot. I dove inside where the rocks were big, and broke a trailing arm in half. We were dead in the water.”
“A third year is a charm cause you bet I’ll be back every year for redemption. Next year’s King of the Hammers, we will be in our brand new Jimmy’s 4×4 48P racing the Every Man Challenge race. It’s going to be a riot!”
Racing is a group effort, and a race like this could only be done with people helping. There are many people who help Adam Fitza Racing.
“First of all, I can’t thank our crew enough,” Fitza said. I couldn’t do it without them. I also want to thank my wife, who puts up with long nights in the shop and everything associated with racing. And, of course, our excellent partners, who supply us with amazing parts to perform racing in this treacherous terrain!”
Adam Fitza Racing could not do this without their amazing group of sponsors. They would like to thank Motul, Vision Wheel, X Comp Tires, Bilstein, Dynamic Motorsports, Vibrant Performance, Rigid Industries, Recaro Seats, Fitza Racing Development, MIL-LG OTSFF, Jimmy’s 4×4, Holley Performance, Area BFE, Neapco Drivelines, Rugged Radios, OMP Racing, RMS Built, Lava Box, Warn Industries, and Hyperco Coils.
