2016 Nitto Tires King of the Hammers: Eric Miller Takes Back the Crown
After some eight hours of hard racing, two drivers nearly ended up battling to the bitter end as Erik Miller took his second crown with a win in the 2016 running of the Nitto Tires King of the Hammers, powered by Optima Batteries. More amazing is that four of the top five drivers were on Nitto Tires, and Bailey Campbell made history by being the highest finishing woman in the existence of the event.
It’s no secret that Miller has been hunting the crown since winning for the first time in 2012. By taking this win, he joins Loren Healy, 2015 winner Randy Slawson, and Shannon Campbell as the only two-time winners of the King of the Hammers. He finished with a time of 7-hours, 30-minutes, 55-seconds.
“I’ve been dreaming about doing this again since we’ve won it in 2012,” said Miller after getting on stage, “and you know, we’ve been right there every single year, and we’ve had a problem that took us out of the lead. And that’s just so hard to swallow when you put all of this time, energy, and effort in. And I’ve got all of these people behind me that really allow us to do this.”
Coming in Second Place was Jason Scherer, who took the number one starting spot in qualifying, but had last lap issues that prevented him from taking the win. However, Scherer was only 25-minutes, 23-seconds behind Miller, so it was pretty darn close. His finish time was 7-hours, 55-minutes, 32-seconds.
If you want proof these guys were pushing until the very bitter end, look no further than Raul Gomez who finished in Third Place. He landed wrong on the final jump before the finish line and blew out his right-rear tire. Nearly losing the entire race in the final moments, he was able to keep it together and cross the line with a time of 8-hours, 23-minutes, 57-seconds.
Not to be outdone, Shannon Campbell finished in Fourth Place and just as sideways. While he was in front for a good portion of the race, driveline issues would prevent Shannon from challenging for the win. His race time was 8-hours, 26-minutes, 18-seconds and he and Gomez were the closest two competitors in the top five.
Coming in Fifth Place, and to the cheer of all the women in the crowd, was his daughter, Bailey Campbell, with a race time of 8-hours, 45-minutes, 18-seconds. Her brother, Wayland, finished in 15th Place at 11-hours, 33-minutes, 26-seconds.
Last year’s winner, Randy Slawson, would end up in Eighth Place with a race time of 9-hours, 22-minutes, 48-seconds.
Unfortunately, Loren Healy would retire after the second lap. His rig didn’t sound healthy at the start of the King of the Hammers and it would eventually stop running. Out of 110 starters, only 31 would finish.
Congratulations to Erik Miller for bringing home a second crown. We look forward to seeing what he does for the rest of the Ultra4 Regional Season.
For lots more from the 2016 King of the Hammers, head here and here!