After 114 miles of brutal, rocky racecourse in Johnson Valley, the father-and-son duo of Mitch Guthrie Sr. & Jr. crossed the finish line in their Polaris XP1000 to earn the team’s fifth UTV King of the Hammers victory in the Pro UTV class. The Guthrie team from Glendora, California – consisting of Guthrie Sr., 49, and, Guthrie Jr., 17 – finished the two-lap run ahead of Branden Sims for the first spot with a time of 5 hours and 13 seconds; Sims finished 8 minutes and 14 seconds behind the Guthries on corrected time. Casey Currie earned third place in the Pro class to nab the final podium spot with a time of 5 hours, 34 minutes and 17 seconds.

“We ran our own pace,” Guthrie Sr. said. “We were getting passed by some people, and we were just like, ‘I’m not sure how long they’re going to last.’ Honestly, we were running at 80 percent. Even when you saw us flying, we weren’t to the floor because I had heard some things about belts popping off once they get up to the top. We were never on the floor. We just ran our own pace and kept the car together.”

In spite of the fact that treachery lies around every turn on the 114-mile course, the team had very little trouble and only had to winch up a few sections.

“I’ll be honest, it was a really smooth run,” Guthrie Sr. said. “We had to winch three times. The car was working and the tires were grabbing good. We had to winch at Highway 20 because we had to get around somebody who was stuck, and at the very end of Wrecking Ball, and Aftershock once.”

The race was certainly a tough one today, as only seven Pro-class racers crossed the finish line, while only three Sportsman-class racers made the finish. Even though the Guthrie team has won this event four times before this year, Mitch Guthrie Jr. said they were still prepared for a tough race.

“We came into this year and it was the same course, and we knew it was going to be really tough,” Guthrie Jr. said. “But going through all these trails this year… Chocolate Thunder was a catastrophe last year. I was winching all over. But we got right up it this year.”

Taking the win in the UTV Sportsman class is John Duckworth, who was actually first across the finish line in Hammertown with a time of 4 hours, 35 minutes and 24 seconds. The Sportsman class ran nearly the same distance but had a few key bypass sections, including one that avoided Wrecking Ball and Clawhammer. Cody Currie earned second place with a time of 4 hours, 47 minutes and 13 seconds. Scott Barnett finished in third with a time of 6 hours, 17 seconds and 32 seconds.

Check back for more updates on the UTV King of the Hammers as racers continue to cross the finish line.

More King of the Hammers Coverage:
Cody Webb Wins 2014 King of the Motos

King of the Motos Photo Highlights

KOH Coverage Page
2014 KOH Pro & Sportsman Results
UTV Pro
1. Mitch Guthrie – 5:00:13
2. Branden Sims – 5:08:27
3. Casey Currie – 5:34:27
4. Matt Enochs – 6:20:19
5. Blake Van de Loo – 7:49:10
6. Bill Barnett – 8:09:44
7. Wesley Gryner – 8:19:22

Sportsman UTV
1. John Duckworth – 4:35:24
2. Cody Currie – 4:47:13
3. Scott Barnett – 6:17:32