The Toyo Desert Challenge Presented by Monster Energy is in its fourth year as one of the feature events of the 2024 KOH long Week. Capturing the overall and T1 class win in the Unlimited Race was Christopher Polvoorde (#94) in his brand-new 1,000-horsepower Mason Motorsports AWD truck. Polvoorde started from the pole and had a near-flawless race with only one flat tire the entire afternoon. Following Saturday’s Prologue, the Baja Vida Class 11 Showdown Presented by EMPI had a land rush start across the Melville Dry Lake to take on the same 35-mile course.

Photography by Paolo Baraldi, Story by KOH

Introduced to the King of the Hammers race program in 2019, the Desert Challenge has become a big part of the KOH Week and what started out as a one-day invitational race is now an all-weekend event with all categories in this specialty.

From 2023 the race are expanded vehicle classes to now include even more buggy types and truck builds. Everything from three build levels of UTVs and basically any VW-based tube-chassis car to stock mini-trucks and 1000-horsepower unlimited race trucks that literally fly across the desert will be included for a total of more than 10 vehicle classes.

The 2024 Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Presented by Monster Energy Prologue was packed with action Saturday 27 January as over 200 competitors  took off on the short course in Hammertown to tackle the 35-mile racecourse to set their positions for Sunday’s main race. Following the morning’s Prologue, the Baja Vida Class 11 Showdown Presented by EMPI flew onto the course in a land rush start on the Melville Dry Lake for an exciting  45 minute, plus one lap, all-out battle in Volkswagen Beetles.

For the third year, the Prologue on Saturday was an important part of the race. A driver’s time on the 35-mile prologue, which was held over a short portion of the actual racecourse, established their overall starting order and will be added to the driver’s elapsed time on the complete 182-mile racecourse of Sunday’s two lap race. Sunday’s races will be split, first with limited classes that include  B2, B3, B4, T3 and T4. Race two will include the highly competitive and anticipated T1, T2 and B1 classes, with some 1400/1450 class vehicles participating in the unlimited race.

With the fastest time in both T1 and overall, the first competitor off the line in Sunday’s Unlimited Race will be Chris Polvoorde (#94) in his brand new 1000 horsepower, all-wheel-drive truck, a build that debuted here in Johnson Valley this weekend. With a blistering time of 30:05.5, Polvoorde was 13.6 seconds ahead of Rob Arcieo (#1066)  in second. In the T2 class, Dustin Grabowski (#272) captured the race one class win in the Grabowski Brothers Racing Spec Truck. B1 Unlimited Buggy had a total of four entrants that completed the Prologue with J Dean (#175) setting the fastest time of the day.

“It was really good out there, just a little frustrating being in the dust the last 15 miles,” said overall winner Chris Polvoorde. “The truck is fast, scary fast actually and I needed to calm down because it felt like I was driving a little bit over my head out there. Hopefully I didn’t beat her up too bad for tomorrow.”

Out of nearly 100 UTVs in the Prologue in the B3 class, Brock Heger (#1896) took the top spot in B3 in UTV Open in his Polaris RZR Pro R Factory with a lap time of 32:50.4. Brock will start today’s Limited two-lap race as the first UTV off the line ahead of UTV Pro Modified class leader, Can-Am Factory driver Vito Ranuio (#1825). The UTV Pro Stock Turbo class win was captured by Joe Terrana (#898) and Ethan Groom (#1911) rounded out the B3 class in UTV Pro Stock NA.

In 1400,  a class requiring a traditional steel body with working doors, Darren Parsons (#1447) took the win in his Ford Ranger and will line up for the feature race today in T1. The 1450 class victory ended up in the hands of 15-year-old Zack Conner (#1444), also in a highly modified Ford Ranger. In the Limited Buggy B2 class, Todd Jackson (#1030) ran a strong race to top the class with a time of 34:38.0. Amy Brandt (#1632) lead the class in B4 Desert Vintage Buggy. A familiar Ford Bronco driven by Bailey Cole (#13) topped T4 for the day.

A special mention to M.e. Hall and Julie Boyer who had the idea to participate in the 1400 class with their little Miata "Buddy". "Well Julie Boyer and I", said M.e. Hall" went off the line with the eventual winner of the 1400 Rush and crossed the finish line two and a half hours later. We got stuck twice, climbed some gnarly sand hills, surprised at least one photographer and took the hardest line through the Bronco Arch but we brought Buddy back to Hammertown for a finish. JFF baby! Yeah Buddy!!!!"

Following Saturday’s Prologue, the Baja Vida Class 11 Showdown Presented by EMPI had a land rush start across the Melville Dry Lake to take on the same 35-mile course, but in near-stock Volkswagen Beetles. 36 competitors raced  in this year’s showdown with a familiar face taking the win after 45 minutes and a final lap of racing. Blake Wilkey drove aggressively throughout the race in his purple Beetle including hitting the short course jumps at full speed, but in the end, it all paid off. Four drivers did not start the race.

“My mom had a Volkswagen bug when I was born and there has been a picture of me and her with it up on the fridge as long as I can remember,” said Blake Wilkey when asked about his early connection to the Volkswagen Beetle. “I love the history of Class 11 racing and the culture around it, and to see it celebrated at King of the Hammers is rad. This is my fourth year at King of the Hammers, this is my third win and since the day I built that car, it has zero DNFs in 47 races now, but it might be about time to build a new one because it’s finally starting to show some wear and tear. I gotta give it to my team and all the people that support me.”

The second day of the 2024 Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Presented by Monster Energy saw 182 competitors take on the challenging 182-mile race winding its way through the rugged and rocky terrain of Johnson Valley. Taking the flag first were the limited trucks, buggies and UTVs in the morning race, while the fastest vehicles in desert racing took to the course in the afternoon in the Unlimited Race. Both races were extremely competitive, with only seconds separating the top finishers.

Capturing the overall and T1 class win in the Unlimited Race was Christopher Polvoorde (#94) in his brand-new 1,000-horsepower Mason Motorsports AWD truck. Polvoorde started from the pole and had a near-flawless race with only one flat tire the entire afternoon. Tim Herbst (#19) was able to pass Polvoorde for the lead while he changed the punctured tire, but Polvoorde quickly regained time on Herbst, running seconds behind him. In a dramatic showdown in the pits between the race’s two laps, Polvoorde’s crew got him back on course before Herbst, and he was able to retake the lead. Polvoorde never looked back, holding the lead for the rest of the race, with Herbst finishing just over two minutes behind.

“It feels good. It was a super fun race, and we just cruised. I made a mistake early on and got myself a flat, but I just put my head down,” said Polvoorde. “I have to give a huge shoutout to my pit crew. They are really the ones who got me this win. They got us in and out faster than Tim Herbst, so really, they are the ones that should be up here celebrating. They pulled me out of a bad situation. I am super happy, and tonight we celebrate.”

The battle in the T2 class was also highly competitive, with Kyle Jergensen (#6147) and Cade Garcia (#6104) fighting it out at the front. Both of the more restricted trucks set a blistering pace, running in the top five overall and among T1s with double the horsepower. Garcia was able to pass Jergensen in the pits but bypassed most of the short-course section in the process, resulting in a penalty. While finishing before Jergensen, the penalty time pushed Garcia to second and bumped Jergensen to first. “I feel good. It was a quick day, so we are not too exhausted,” said Jergensen. “Sean (co-driver) did great, and the truck ran flawlessly all day. It was good racing out there. The spec class is always fun.”

The UTV classes in the morning’s Limited Race saw a massive turnout, with the largest field of both races. Brock Heger (#1896) bested them all, setting a blistering pace with a time of 3:35.23.4, taking the B3 overall and UTV Open class wins. “It was a good day. We qualified first, so went out first on the road,” said Heger.  “It was nice having clean air, and we charged hard on the first lap. Obviously, it got rougher on the second lap, but the car came alive. We had some fun out there.”