This is the third, technically fourth iteration of the event since its inception 4 years ago, what began as a bet/friendly wager between buddies, quickly took on steam to become one of the most toiling, demanding, and difficult off road races in all of motorsports.

And here I stood, among some of the most amazing pieces of machine I had ever witnessed rocketing across a (mostly) dry desert lakebed, to the soundtrack of engine notes ranging from mild 4 cylinders to roaring 8 cylinder powerhouses.  Gleaming shock absorbers, worth much or more of what my Jeep Cherokee back home would blue-book for, sat waiting in each rig for the proverbial moment of lift-off where they would, to the best of their efforts, attempt to lend some form of control to the heaping tube monsters that sat above them.

Upon heading out into the seemingly endless desert, it is then when you are granted an almost pure silence, interrupted only by the occasional distant brap of engine echoing off the canyon sides near-by.  It is here where you realize where you are.  The greatest event in rock-sports, and arguably for some, in motorsports.

For ages, desert racing remained synonymous with advanced independent suspensions and unthinkably deep pockets with equally thick wallets, but KOH would bring a new player to desert whoops, the rock crawler and weekend warrior.  What was once mostly unattainable to what some would call “an average joe” would now be completely realistic given the right amount of motivation and drive.  Not to say it would be “cheap”, but certainly attainable.  The “no-chase race” grassroots aspect of King of the Hammers would prove to be a great appeal to many people in the sport, both new and old, and this would show in full force come February 12^th, 2010.

The sun rose just like any other on this day, to the east, and through the mountain range, but this time it would reveal a new city.  A completely mobile city assembled in the middle of the California desert dubbed, Hammertown.  A barren lakebed two weeks before, gave way to an estimated 20,000+ people living out of RVs, tents, wheeling rigs, you name it, spanning across Means Lakebed in Johnson Valley.  All people there gathered for the sole purpose of experiencing this event.

Upon waking, I gathered my camera gear and headed for the start/finish line, the epicenter of all the action come 8am in the desert.  I was greeted with a line of buggies spanning about fifty long and two wide, patiently yet anxiously awaiting their turn for what was described to be the 135 mile long car crash through open desert and some of the United States’ most challenging winding rock trails.

The tension rose as the clock counted down until go-time.  Teams scrambled doing last minute checks and passing on their good luck wishes to the competitors at their side, it was time to check all ill-will and differences at the door, it was race time.  A time many of these men and women have worked all year, or in some cases, their entire life for.  As I adjusted my gear, I observed the environment around me, if only in passing.  In the crossfire of sunlight peaking through the mountain valley, you could see each breath, with each passing one the start of the race grew closer, and the spectacle just that much more real.

It has been said, sitting at the start line is a feeling unlike any other, a feeling of tension interrupted only by the wave of adrenaline as the green flag drops.  It is in this moment that you realize, racing is a matter of spirit, not strength.  And that the path ahead separates not only the men from the boys, but the weak from the brave.  True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, and from daring to begin.  And with that, the flag dropped and the tires spun, the racers were off.  The King of the Hammers had begun, and a new king would be crowned by the setting of the sun, but not before bearing witness to the course ahead, and the unexpected challenges it would bring.

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone is doing well today.  I know Mondays can be hard to enjoy, but if you try really hard the weekend will be here before you know it!

Speaking of the weekend…this Saturday (November 21^st, 2009), Rausch Creek ORP and HeavyMetalConcepts are having a premiere showing of both the RCrocs: Contention 2009 DVD and the King of the Hammers: Road to the Throne RCQ DVD at the Pine Grove Theater in Pine Grove, PA.

The premiere starts at 4 p.m. and is ABSOLUTELY FREE!  That’s right, show up, bring some friends, sit back and relax, and enjoy the show!

Over the weekend I got the chance to watch the RCrocs: Contention 2009 DVD.  Will worked on it all of last week, making sure it would be done in time for the premiere.  He included footage from all of the seasons events, including all three rock crawling competition, the Hands Climb challenge, and both races.  He did a really great job editing and the final product is fantastic.  I suggest you all go out and buy one when they are on sale!  When they are released I will make sure to post that information here!

Have a great week guys!

-Nicole

After sitting in the usual I-87/Tappan Zee bridge traffic, Will and I stopped at a Five Guys Burgers & Fries in PA (one of our new favorite places!) and refueled.  We finally arrived at the Hampton Inn and waited for the rest of the HMC crew to arrive.  We took it easy for the rest of the night knowing we had a long day ahead of us.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early only to find a clear, sunny day!  Usually weekends at Rausch Creek involve clouds, rain, and more clouds, so this was quite the surprise for us!  Around 8:30 a.m. we headed towards the park, fully stocked for the day.  We had lots of layers on, since the temperature was only in the 40’s all day.

Entering the park is always fun, especially on competition days.  The parking lot is full of trucks, trailers, and cars of the many spectators that come to watch the show!  The race was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., and around 9 a.m. they had a drivers meeting, giving everyone involved the run-down of how the day was going to work.  They were told that the race was 8.5 miles long, and they would be running 12 laps.  The end time was 4 p.m., finished or not.  9:30 a.m. was the starting lineup, which meant go time for us!

Cody hung out at the start/finish line and was going to film the start plus the rock crawling part of the race.  Will and I headed over to the high-speed section across the street from the park.  This was only the second time Rausch used this land, the first being the RCQ for the King of the Hammers race back in May of this year.  Will was ready to film and I was ready to grab some photos of the racers.

We set ourselves up in a straight section of the high-speed course, and waited for the racers to fly through.  However, within the first few minutes of the race, we discovered that the racers were being sent in different directions!  We had people flying past us going in both ways, and eventually we received a phone call from the start/finish line telling us to stop anybody we see and send them back; they were going to have to restart the race!

Instead of heading back towards the start/finish line, we stuck around in the high-speed section and waited to hear when the new starting time was.  We found out that they were going to have another drivers meeting and start at 11:45 a.m.  Also, the race was now being shortened from 12 laps to 8.  This time around we headed to a different location.  We had our friends Jon and Brian with us in Jon’s Jeep Cherokee to make it easier to travel and get some side-by-side shots.

Finally the race started and before we knew it rigs were flying by us at speeds unimaginable!  I grabbed as many pictures as possible while Will filmed, and before I knew it we were relocating.  We spent time at several different spots in the high-speed section, capturing some really great moments, including passes, repairs, and even Doug Bigelow who had to pull over during the race and unfortunately did not get to finish.  The race was so intense that according to the Rausch Creek website, eleven racers were out in the first lap!

We got a phone call from Cody saying that the first few guys were about to finish so we quickly jumped in Jon’s Jeep and headed towards the start/finish line.  We were able to get some good photos and footage of the first three guys who finished the race, as well as some shots of the rock crawling portion of the race.  We then headed back over to the high-speed section with Cody to get the last few guys racing.  Doug Bigelow was still on the side where we last saw him, so we went over to see what was going on and if there was any way he would be able to finish racing.  He unfortunately had to get a trailer and tow himself back to the staging area (with help from Dean from Rose Crawlers and Kyle from the RC staff!).

Around 5:30 p.m. we were all done for the day at Rausch.  We packed up our things and headed back to the hotel.  After grabbing some food from O’Neil’s down the block, we checked out some of the footage from the day and posted up a few pictures online.

This was our last event at Rausch for the 2009 season, and it was definitely weird leaving the park this weekend knowing we won’t be back to cover any events for quite some time.  Now it’s time to get to work on the RCrocs: Contention 2009 DVD. Our premiere is going to take place on November 21^st, at 4 p.m. at the Pine Grove Theatre in Pine Grove, PA.  Both the RCrocs: Contention 2009 DVD and the King of the Hammers: Road to the Throne RCQ DVD will be shown.

I leave you all with a few of our pictures! Check them out here!

-Nicole

]]> http://heavymetalconcepts.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/back-from-the-races/feed/ 0 HeavyMetalConcepts http://heavymetalconcepts.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/hmc-has-a-blog/ http://heavymetalconcepts.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/hmc-has-a-blog/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:52:22 +0000 HeavyMetalConcepts http://heavymetalconcepts.wordpress.com/?p=30 ]]> Hello everybody! We at HeavyMetalConcepts have decided to make a blog to document all the various events we’re covering, as well as informing readers about our latest work and upcoming events!

We’re going to try our best to update while we’re out at events, giving readers real-time updates.  When we’re out filming we often post on our Twitter with commentary & pictures (check it out here).

If HeavyMetalConcepts is a new name to you, allow us to introduce ourselves…

HeavyMetalConcepts started just as any business does, as a plan, an idea, a goal.

It is a joint venture between two friends, Will Gentile and Cody Stevenson. Through this business they have combined their love of the outdoors and automotives and their passion for the visual arts to create HeavyMetalConcepts.

We specialize in (but are not by any means limited to) outdoor media, whether it be advertising for your business, covering your event with video/photo, creating/designing DVDs, designing logos, layouts, poster prints, or many other forms of media, it is our passion and our expertise.

If you check out our website you can find our portfolio work, as well as event media (both videos and photos) from the various events we have attended.  In addition you can purchase our DVDs.  We currently have the King of the Hammers: Road to the Throne RCQ DVD, as well as the RCrocs 2008 Overdrive DVD.  Both of these events took place at Rausch Creek Off Road Park in Pennsylvania.

This weekend we will be attending the Rausch Creek Race Series Event 2.  This is the last and final event for the 2009 RCrocs season, and will be featured in the RCrocs: Contention 2009 DVD that will be coming out towards the end of this month.  This DVD, as well as the King of the Hammers: Road to the Throne RCQ DVD will be shown at a premiere at the Pine Grove Theater in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania on November 21^st, 2009 at 4 p.m.  As the date gets closer, we will post up more information about the event!

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading, and for those of you racing this Saturday, good luck!