The 2020 Nitto King of the Hammers Powered by Optima Batteries has added Josh Blyler to its exclusive rank of Kings. It’s what many call “the toughest one-day off-road race in the world,” and when Josh Blyler began racing in Ultra4 four years ago, his goal was to simply finish the grueling race. After over seven hours of racing, Josh Blyler took a 15-minute lead at the finish line to win the coveted title of King. This makes Blyler only the seventh King in KOH’s 14-year history and breaks a seven-year streak of only previous-Kings winning.
Before you think that his win only comes down to luck, Josh has quickly proven himself in this sport—finishing strong in each of the three King of the Hammers he’s competed in and winning the 2019 Ultra4 National Points Championship. His consistent driving, proven Miller Motorsports chassis, well-prepped team and Nitto Trail Grappler tires all help to propel him to the top. In fact, Nitto Trail Grapplers and Team Nitto swept this years’ podium and secured six of the top ten finishes.
“The entire team at Nitto Tire is extremely proud of our amazing drivers and their incredible accomplishment at one of the toughest off-road races in the world,” said Chris Corbett, Nitto Tire U.S.A.’s events and motorsports manager. “This race pushes competitors and their rigs to the extreme, so a reliable, durable and race-proven tire like the Nitto Trail Grappler M/T is crucial to success. Speeding through the desert and navigating countless rock obstacles, the right tire is one of the single biggest factors in determining whether or not you end up on top of the podium.”
This years’ podium seemed to be up for grabs as the lead changed multiple times throughout the 212-mile race, especially on the final lap. As with each King of the Hammers, attrition truly begins to set in midway through the race due to the extreme toll both the high-speed desert sections and technical rock trails take on vehicles and tires alike. While most rock crawler enthusiasts would only try to tackle one or two Hammers trails in a day, this years’ KOH course included no less than 30 rock trails for racers to navigate through.
“These Nitto tires, you don’t even understand the beating,” says Marcos Gomez who placed third. “When you start 98th in the field, and there’s no wind, and you’re going through these whoops, I hit everything on this course. I hit every rock, every cactus... I hit everything. And these Nitto tires held up.”
It was partway through third and final lap when Blyler took the lead position, but the race was too close to call before the checkered flag flew. “We just stayed in it as hard as we could without wrecking,” recounts Blyler. “We put it on a mission and stuck with it. We had one problem just off of Spooners [rock trail] where we had to winch and then our embarrassing flip over just before the end.”
While Nitto Trail Grapplers have been with Josh Blyler since the beginning of his racing, and helped to win teammate Erik Miller a crown in 2016, this year they both made one big change to their racecars by extending the wheelbase of their Miller Motorsports chassis. “It allowed us to run in the desert hard enough to stay with the pace,” said Blyler. With Blyler winning and Erik Miller taking second, it seems that they’ve figured out how to get a leg up where traditionally there’s been a compromise between straight axle and IFS cars.
As the entire BigB Motorsports team charged around the race-worn car at the finish, you could feel that this accomplishment was made by not just one man, but a whole team. Blyler summed it up when he said, “If it wasn’t for this group of people, we would not be here. They all pour their heart and soul into this team and I’m just super grateful.”
Josh Blyler was joined on the podium by two Team Nitto teammates, Erik Miller in 2nd and Marcos Gomez in 3rd.
