Press Release
2012 King of the Hammers
Johnson Valley, CA

February 12, 2012 (Gilbert, AZ)- The toughest one day race in Offroad has once again put man and machine to the test. Shannon Campbell of Team Monster Energy literally drove the tires off his car to take a 3rd place podium finish.

Shannon and the #5az Monster Energy car qualified (4:57.06) 3rd and would be starting in the second row next to Erik Miller. Campbell was able to get the hole shot as the green flag dropped. At turn 2 – naturally following the course markers Shannon looked at his GPS and realized he was off course. After driving in circles Shannon made it back on course to make sure he was not made an example of or DQ’d. Campbell was back far enough that he could barely see his GPS and began driving by braille, bouncing off rocks and trees and whatever else was in the way trying to rail it to the front. About RM 12 Shannon was making passes and went off course and all he could see were Marines and signs that said you aren’t supposed to be here! Finally getting the pass after a little landscaping he hit the Emerson lakebed where he ran across Robby Gordon rolling to a stop with a blown motor and thought maybe he should relax and slow it down and save the car. As Shannon went to slow down he realized he had no brakes and drove about 5 miles to find a safe spot to see what was wrong. After capping the right rear brake, he was again chasing the pack. Getting a flat at RM 20 and not having to slow down with the help of tireballs he was still running speeds of 100mph. Running the double lane road coming into pit 1 Shannon came up on another competitor who was running about 40 mph slower who decided he was going to switch lanes. Not able to stop fast enough he went for a hair raising ride swapping from side to side, saving it and knocking off what was left of the tire. Limping it through Elvis on 3 tires and a rim, and making it to Pit 2 where he fueled and did a tire change and continued on his mission to pass several more cars. Coming into Chocolate Thunder just behind Scherer and Levi Shirley knowing he was still down quite a few, making the pass at the top and with some clean air he held her down to the wood. Not being very friendly to the car at RM 68/Pit 2A the boys said get in here and let’s do a tire change and thankfully he did because he was losing the trailing arm on the rear. After a little patch and welding Shannon asked if they trusted it with their lives and the answer was YES and he took off. The rest of the race was pretty flawless other than a tire change and fuel. Shannon drove the car like it was on fire to the finish not knowing he was in 3rd position. Getting unstrapped from the car he asked who finished in front of him, we told him Erik Miller and Rick Mooneyham and with a look of surprise, said, “I thought I was racing for 6th but I’ll take 3rd”. Just to finish King of the Hammers is one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of offroad racing. Only 49 out of 134 competitors finished. Congratulations to the 2012 “KING” of the Hammers, Erik Miller and the whole Miller Motorsports Team and Rick Mooneyham for an awesome 2nd place podium finish.

Without the support of my sponsors, family and friends none of this would be possible!
Monster Energy, Goodyear Tires, Currie Enterprises, ARB, TurnKey Engines, ProAm Racing, Fox Shox, Howe Performance, Hughes Performance, Ron Davis Radiators, Walker Evans, Advance Adapters, WARN, Mastercraft Safety, Powertank, KC Hilites, Dynomax, Motive Gear, Arizona Driveshaft, PCI,MasterPull, Southwest Ground Control, SDHQ, Rugged Radios, Tireballs

Crew:
Rob Finelli, Mike Flores, Don Campbell, Wayland Campbell, Nick Campbell, Bailey Campbell, Tammy Campbell, Ben Pettersen Andrew Knoell, Harley Smith, Matt Fenmore, Jake Eberhart, Robert Gamarano, Mike Dieu, Brian Meyers, Roy Deban, Matt Taylor, Jason Speiss, Bill Campbell, Kerry Campbell, John and Steven Butz, Larry Corum, Adam Schrand, Larry Corum Sr, Bill Baird Motorsports Team, Bill, Matt, Keith and Brock, John Larson, EJ Rusiski, Mitch Guthrie, Bob Willis and a huge Thank You to Kenny @ Bar T Equipment for the use of the boom truck.

Next up for Shannon Campbell/Team Monster Energy:
Mar 31/Apr 1 LOORS/Firebird Raceway Phx, AZ
Mar 31/Apr 8 EJS/Moab UT
Apr 21-22 LOORS/Lake Elsinore Raceway

Hesperia, CA

The General Tire Trophylite Race Series was created to provide an affordable alternative to the high cost of racing. Drivers are pitted against each other in identical vehicles that provide the thrill of competitive racing without the million-dollar price tag. The original R4, four cylinder powered chassis, packs a ton of performance in a compact package. The newly designed R8 and R6 Trophylite are larger and more powerful expanding your racing choices immensely.

Chassis and engine choices are not the only thing expanding in the Trophylite series. For starters, ownership of the company is now in the hands of Rick L. Johnson and Matt Scaroni who each bring many years of spec class racing experience to the management team. Joining Rick and Matt are Craig Malloy, responsible for parts and inventory, Matt Dowland, tech director and Gary Messer who will be the driver’s representative. Trophylite will handle all new truck sales, parts for it’s customers and offer in house prep. Stewart Raceworks, long known for their impeccable craftsmanship, will be constructing and assembling the cars, preparing them for competition and fabricating the spare parts inventory. With help from partners General Tire, KC Hilites, Mastercraft Safety, Method Race Wheels, Azunia Tequila and Impact Trophylite will award competitors with a purse totaling $50,000 in prize money during the 2012 season. “General Tire is very excited to continue our relationship with Trophylite for the 2012 season. “said Travis Roffler, director of marketing, General Tire. “General Tire has been with the Trophylite program since its inception. We believe under the new direction of Rick L. Johnson and his staff, the program will breed new ideas and will continue to strengthen the off-road community by providing an attainable way to race.”

Trophylite racers have already completed the first round of racing at the Best in the Desert, Parker 425 held in Parker, Arizona on February 4th. With all the changes to the Trophylite series this year one thing has remained constant, 2011 championship winner Troy Messer’s winning ways. Troy, with help from father Gary, took the win over newcomer Chas Dana. “We had a great run,” said Troy, “We passed a lot of cars and had some clean air ahead of us but still had close racing all day.” Second place finisher Chas Dana, who shared driving duty with Sean Geiser, contributes his winnings along with the rest of his MGI Racing teammates to Orchard Africa a charity that helps the poor in Africa. “I couldn’t believe how rough it was out there,” said Chas, “Our truck took a heck of a beating but held up just fine. Besides losing a battery due to the pounding we had a great day. We got to race, finish with a second and raised some money for charity so it was good for everyone.”

Third place went to Tyler Denton and Jake Gort.

All in all, eight of the thirteen Trophylite teams that started this brutal race finished as well as Jim Riley and Rick Johnson who brought the recently completed R8 home in good time. “We had an easy time considering how rough it was,” said Jim Riley, “We didn’t even need to use the KC Hilites to light our way but we had then just in case. Rick Johnson gave a great presentation before the race laying out all the changes to the series. Everyone left pumped up for the race and proud to be a member of the Trophylite family.”

Next stop on the General Tire Trophylite race series is the historic BITD General Tire Mint 400 being held in Las Vegas, Nevada March 23-25th.