Loren Healy, the 2014 King Of The Hammers winner, continued his winning streak at the Nitto Tire National Championship presented by 4Wheel Parts held at the Wild West Motorsports Park in Reno, Nevada. This final event of the Ultra4 Racing season, captured in the video above, featured 106 Ultra4 teams competing in front of more than 5,200 spectators at the very first Ultra4 race held at the park.
The Nitto National Champion is determined by the driver with the most points after competing in King of The Hammers, 3 Regional Ultra4 Races, and the season ending Nitto Championship Race. With Healy’s win at Wild West, he successfully won all five races and ended the season with a perfect score of 5,000 points.
When the green flag dropped for the main event, it was two-time King of The Hammers winner, Shannon Campbell that ultimately gave Healy a run for his money. The two drivers raced side-by-side in nearly identical lap times. However, when Campbell went for the pass on a long downhill straight-away, one of the tires on his car caught a boulder at the bottom and sent the car into a roll. This accident gave Healy the lead.
2012 KOH Winner, Erik Miller was gaining on Healy by mid-race. This year’s Ultra4 European champion, Levi Shirley had been able to make his way from a last place LCQ starting position to third. Healy kept going strong throughout the race, and when the checkered flag flew, he was followed closely by Miller, with Shirley completing the podium.
All five limited classes also vied for their Championship titles at Wild West, too. John Currie took the top spot in the 4500 Rubicon Express Modified class after a battle all season with Jordan Townsend. With two regional wins and a second place in Reno, Ben Varozza earned the 4600 class title. Jessi Combs secured the 4700 Spec Class Championship by a landslide with her multiple podiums all season long.
In the new 4800 Legends class, it was veteran driver Dave Schneider who went home with the National Championship. A tight UTV class points race between Off Road Evolution’s Mel Wade IV and Brian Hogue saw Wade narrowly beating Hogue to claim his first ever Ultra4 National Championship before the age of 16.
The 2015 Ultra4 Series will begin with KOH Week 2015. Hammertown opens on January 30th, 2015. The week will include King of the Motos, the Polaris KOH UTV Race, the Smittybilt Every Man Challenge race, and the 9th annual Nitto King of The Hammers race that will take place on Friday, February 6th, 2015 in Johnson Valley, California. For more information, check out Ultra4Racing.com.