King of the Hammers 2024

King of the Hammers 2024 was a special one for our team. With it being the kickstart of our ’24 season, we were determined to make Zandy proud.

After some last-minute tuning and prep, it was time to officially hit the track. Scott decided not to qualify and take a rear start for the EMC race to keep the car together. In the 4400 class, Pip and Dave led the Rufus crew at 32nd with Chip and Brad just behind them in 40th.

EMC race:

Turkey Claw quickly became a traffic jam after the race started. Scott and Little Foot were able to work their way through without much issue and took off for the rest of lap 1. They ran a smooth, consistent pace in the desert, and after a quick stop at main pit were ready to take on the rocks.

The #4626 car was running great on lap 2 until they blew a power steering line at Chocolate Thunder. After helping multiple cars winch up, they were finally able to get the parts they needed to get rolling again. Then it was off to the races with the rest of the rock trails.

Despite timing out, Scott and Little Foot were determined to keep going and drive across the finish line. They did just that – seeing the checkered flag waved by Jason and getting a finish after time.

4400 race:

Unfortunately for Pip and Dave, their KOH race ended quickly on lap 1 due to a broken rocker arm.

Chip and Brad ran smooth through the first two laps, picking off cars and running with seemingly no issues. Once they took off on lap 3, just before they got into the rocks, all the voltage shut down and they had to stop and change an alternator. Not usually a big deal, except they had the wrong pulley to go with the spare. After calls to Diamond in the pit, he told them use electrical tape to get it to fit, and that did the trick.

They ran almost all of lap 3 that way and secured 36th place to be official KOH ’24 finishers.

Hammers is always a week filled with making memories. This year, much like every year, some of our favorite moments came from the time spent leading up to and after the race – finding a Christmas tree next to our campsite, taking Ang pre-running, and having a beer on Z Walk to name a few. Now let’s see what the rest of 2024 brings!

To see more coverage from the race, follow us on social media @RufusRacingTX.