CONGRESS, AZ: With less than 300 points separating the top ten drivers in the ULTRA4 series, there was a lot riding on last weekend’s Nitto Tire National Championship held at Thunder Rock Off Road Ranch in Congress, AZ.  All top 10 drivers in series points along with 38 additional ULTRA4 cars were on hand to compete not only for the win, but also for the series championship.

At the end of the day, two former Kings again stood atop the podiums.  2009 King of The Hammers, Jason Scherer, won the race while the only two- time King of the Hammers, Shannon Campbell, came in 11 minutes behind him in 8th place, earning enough points to secure the 2013 Nitto Tire National Championship.

Drivers had to complete five laps of a sixteen mile desert course designed specifically for ULTRA4 cars. The course was filled with open desert and plenty of tight and technical rock sections. Shannon Campbell started the race in the pole position, while Scherer started 12th. Starting order was determined by series points with drivers starting one every 30 seconds.  The first three off the line were Campbell, followed by 2010 King of The Hammers, Loren Healy, and then Campbell’s 17 year old son, Wayland Campbell who was only 77 points behind his father going into Saturday’s race.

Wayland Campbell was the first to take the checkered flag with Nitto drivers Jason Scherer and Rick Mooneyham close on heels. On corrected time, Jason Scherer would finish nearly three minutes ahead of Wayland Campbell with Mooneyham less than 25 seconds behind him. Scherer was penalized 20 seconds for missing an obstacle on course making the gap between first and second place less than five seconds.

Ten cars equally divided between Pro Comp Stock Class and Rubicon Express Modified Class also competed last weekend.  Arizona driver Alan Johnson, won the Mod class with Shawn Rants taking 2nd place. In the Stock class, Matthew Peterson won the race in the only stock vehicle to finish the 2013 Smittybilt Every Man Challenge.  Richard Gauthier came in 2nd in the stock class and earned enough points to clinch the Stock Class National Championship. Despite suffering technical difficulties at Saturday’s race, Mod driver Wayne Hartwig, had also earned enough points throughout the season and retained his lead and won the National Championship for the Mod class.

Several other awards were given including ULTRA4 Sportsman of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Partner of the Year.  Sportsman of the Year was voted on by ULTRA4 Drivers and this year Shannon Campbell won by an overwhelming majority.

Jake Hallenbeck won the Dynomax Rookie of the Year for his breakout 2013 season. This was Jake’s first year with ULTRA4 Racing and he finished 6th in the series.

Partner of the year went to Thom Kingston of Spidertrax for his continuous support of the series which included helping Levi Shirley compete in Europe and his excellent work photographing and promoting every 2013 ULTRA4 Race.

Photo: Thom Kingston

1. Jason Scherer    – 2:38:11.90
2. Rick Mooneyham   – 2:38:15.92
3. Wayland Campbell – 2:41:34.02
4. Jason Blanton    – 2:43:01.92
5. Derek West       – 2:44:38.83

Stock Race Results
Matt Peterson 1000
Richard Gauthier 966
Mel Wade 880
Bailey Cole 844
Kevin Adler 836

Mod Race Results
Alan Johnson 1000
Shawn Rants 441

Sportsman of the Year
Shannon Campbell

Rookie of the Year
Jake Hallenbeck

Partner of the Year
Spidertrax

Stock Series Championship
Richard Gauthier 3791
Kevin Adler 3467
Bailey Cole 3292

Mod Series Championship
Wayne Hartwig 2730
Shawn Rants 1981
Paul Bickerton 1133

West Coast 4400 Series Champion
Wayland Campbell 2830
Jason Blanton 2810
Jeff Russell 2772
Hallenbeck 2761
Sacalas 2740

East Coast 4400 Series Champion
Derek West 2749
Shannon Campbell 2551
Erik Miller 1947
Gilstrap 1794
Terhune 1523