KOH 2026: Randy Slawson Wins Record 4th King of the Hammers
By Amber Slawson, Bomber Fabrication | Gardnerville, Nevada | February 2026
Car #4448. The Bomber Fabrication 4400 unlimited that won the 2026 Race of Kings. Click any photo to enlarge.
On Saturday, February 7, 2026, in front of 80,000 spectators and 2.5 million online viewers, Randy Slawson climbed out of car #4448 after 13 hours, 1 minute, and 51 seconds of the most punishing racing this sport has ever seen. He was the first and only 4-time King of the Hammers champion. And I got to watch the whole thing from Hammertown with my heart in my throat.
This is the race recap from inside Bomber Fabrication. Not from a press release. From the people who built the car, prepped it, broke it earlier in the week, fixed it, and then watched it survive the toughest course in the 20-year history of King of the Hammers.
EMC Friday and the Roll That Changed Everything
KOH week 2026 started hot for Bomber Fabrication. On Friday, February 6, nearly 120 competitors took the green flag for the Every Man Challenge across three classes. Randy and I were both racing Bomber chassis cars in the 4800 Legends Class. Randy had a brand-new 4800 car for this year. His 4400 Race of Kings car, the 5-year-old #4448 that has won three crowns, was sitting in the pit ready for Saturday.
Randy was leading the EMC when he rolled the car in Sledgehammer. It was one of those moments where the whole pit goes quiet. The roll shuffled the front of the field, but thankfully the 4400 car was untouched. Different car, different race. The 4800 took the hit. The #4448 was still ready for Saturday.
Meanwhile, I kept racing. With Randy out, I moved into podium contention and finished the Every Man Challenge in 2nd place overall. Dylan Summers took the win. His father Derek Summers finished third, making it a family affair on the podium. It was a strong result and my second consecutive EMC podium, but our heads were already focused on Saturday. We had a Race of Kings to win.
Randy and Amber Slawson at the 2026 King of the Hammers driver meeting. Three Bomber chassis cars, two races, two podium-or-better finishes.
Race Day: 81 Starters, 3 Laps, and a Mystery Lap Nobody Saw Coming
The 2026 Griffin King of the Hammers powered by OPTIMA Batteries was the 20th running of the Race of Kings. Dave Cole and the Hammerking crew had been saying all week that this would be the hardest course yet. They were not exaggerating.
Eighty-one competitors rolled to the starting line. The three-lap format combined high-speed desert sections with the legendary Hammer trails that define Johnson Valley. But the real wildcard was Lap 3: a mystery lap revealed to competitors only the day before the race. No pre-running allowed. It featured mostly new rock trails, including Slip N Slide, The 5-Minute Trail, and Ball Peen. The racers were seeing this terrain for the first time at race speed, in competition, under pressure. And for most of them, in the dark.
The attrition started early. Paul Wolff took the physical lead on Lap 1 but stopped in the desert. By mid-lap on corrected time, Loren Healy led a tightly packed group that included Darian Gomez, JP Gomez, Jason Scherer, and Vaughn Gittin Jr. At the end of Lap 1, Healy held the corrected-time lead. None of the leaders had yet attempted Backdoor, which was run uphill this year.
Lap 2: The Field Falls Apart
Lap 2 is where the course started eating cars. Jason Scherer surged into the physical lead through Outer Limits, then suffered a broken steering rack in Sledgehammer. The failure triggered massive bottlenecks and eliminated multiple contenders as cars stacked up behind him. Jack Hammer and the surrounding trails punished the pack further, sidelining several top runners with major mechanical failures.
Randy and co-driver Dustin Emick were running 12th at this point and having problems of their own. They had to replace two power steering rams during the race. From the tracker in Hammertown, it looked like the day might be slipping away. But Randy and Dustin have been in this position before. Their strategy has always been the same: save it for the rocks. Hunt in the technical sections. Let the course take out the cars that were pushed too hard too early.
By mid-Lap 2, Tad Dowker had emerged as the corrected-time leader, trailed closely by Tom Wayes, Darian Gomez, Healy, and Casey Currie. As daylight faded, the attrition continued to mount.
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Car #4448 hunting in the rocks. Randy and Dustin's strategy: save it for the technical sections, then pass everybody in sight.
Lap 3: The Mystery Lap in the Dark
No team was more than halfway through the mystery lap when night fell. The new trails were brutal. At Ball Peen alone, more than 10 vehicles became stuck in a single section, creating pileups that brought progress to a crawl. The organizers had already cut 40 miles off the final desert loop just to give someone a chance of finishing under the 14-hour time limit.
As the closing stages played out, it looked like the race might come down to a battle between Paul Wolff and Loren Healy. Healy was chasing his fourth crown to match the three-way record. But Wolff hit power steering issues. Then Healy rolled over in Claw Valley. Both got going again after lengthy delays but ended up in the remote pits. Healy's transmission gave out. Wolff's issue appeared terminal.
And then, out of the darkness, Randy Slawson appeared on the tracker heading toward Hammertown.
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"We were a lap-and-a-half or two laps in, running in 12th, and having problems. And I was like, there is no way we can reel all these guys in. But Dustin did a heck of a job spotting me up Ball Peen and holding winch, and we put on a clinic on a couple different trails, and just passed everybody in sight." -- Randy Slawson, at the finish line, KOH 2026 |
The Finish: History Made
Randy crossed the finish line after 13 hours, 1 minute, and 51 seconds. It was the longest winning time in the 20-year history of King of the Hammers. He had also held the previous record at 8 hours and 15 minutes. Josh Blyler, the 2020 King, came through 23 minutes and 4 seconds later for second place. Those were the only two official finishers out of 81 starters. Aaron Smith also completed every mile of the course and crossed the line in his Bomber chassis car, finishing out of time. When only a handful of cars out of 81 see the finish line at all, that says everything about the course and the car.
Both official finishers ran solid beam front axles. Despite the growing prevalence of independent front suspension in the 4400 class, the straight axle cars survived the toughest course ever while the IFS cars broke around them. Randy has been loyal to Spidertrax solid axles for years, and that commitment has now produced four crowns.
With this win, Randy broke the three-way tie with Shannon Campbell and Jason Scherer (each with three Race of Kings victories) to stand alone as the most decorated driver in KOH history. He is also the only competitor to have raced all 20 King of the Hammers events since co-driving in the winning car at the inaugural race in 2007.
History made. Randy Slawson crosses the line as the first and only 4-time King of the Hammers champion. Photo: Jordan Kimmons
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"This is what King of the Hammers is supposed to be about. If you are going to call it the hardest race in the world, this one earned it. Thirteen-plus hours, this tops them all." -- Randy Slawson, 4x King of the Hammers Champion |
The Bomber Fab KOH 2026 Week: By the Numbers
What Was Under the Car
People always want to know what is in the winning car. Here is the Bomber Fabrication Race of Kings drivetrain, the same components we sell to our customers and use in every race build that leaves the shop:
Chassis and DrivetrainBomber Race Chassis (4130 chromoly) |
Safety and ElectronicsPRP Alpha composite race seats |
Every single one of those components survived over 13 hours of the most brutal course in KOH history. The only repairs during the race were two power steering rams. The Atlas transfer case never missed a shift. The Spidertrax axles never flinched. The Bomber chassis took every hit and kept going. That is the whole point. We sell what we race, and what we race just won the hardest Race of Kings ever run.
Randy's Complete King of the Hammers Record
From Inside the Pit: My Take
I have been part of this team since 2021. I build these cars with my own hands at the shop in Gardnerville. I have raced Bomber chassis at KOH myself and I know exactly what these trails do to a vehicle and a driver. Watching Randy disappear into the dark on Lap 3 after already having problems on Lap 2 is a kind of stress that I would not wish on anyone.
But that is also what makes this sport what it is. Randy does not quit. Dustin does not quit. The car does not quit because we build it not to quit. Every weld, every bolt choice, every component on that car was put there because it has been tested and proven in the worst conditions this planet has to offer. That is what Bomber Fabrication is. We do not make parts for a catalog. We make parts that win the hardest race in the world.
As for my own race, finishing 2nd overall in the EMC for the second year in a row was bittersweet. I wanted that win. But I also know how rare it is to podium at King of the Hammers in any class, and I am proud of what our Bomber 4800 car did out there. We will be back.
The Bomber Fabrication crew at KOH 2026. We build it. We race it. We win with it. Photo: Andy Cardenas
"That was insane. We probably winched for three hours straight. The course was nasty, but it was great. Congrats to Randy, that was a hell of a race."
-- Josh Blyler, 2nd Place, KOH 2026 Race of Kings
Own the Winning Car: #4448 Is for Sale
Build What Wins
If you are building a race car, a trail rig, or anything that needs to survive real terrain, every component on our Race of Kings winning car is available through Bomber Fabrication. The Bomber Race Chassis starts at $6,999. The Atlas race case starts at $4,225. We keep both in stock. The Trail Chassis is $5,999 for builders who want Bomber geometry without the full race price tag. And the Kids Bomber is $3,499 for the next generation.
We sell what we race. We race what we build. And what we build just won King of the Hammers for the fourth time.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for build updates and race content. Rep the brand with Bomber Fab apparel from Battle Born Clothing. And if you want to talk about a build, email us or stop by the shop in Gardnerville, Nevada. The door is always open.
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