2025 KOH REcap - 4413
4413's Wild Ride at Hammers: A Race to Remember
This year was a whirlwind for 4413, so grab a coffee or a cold beer, find a comfy seat, and settle in—because this story is going to take you for a ride.
The Plan, The Prep, and a Tough Call
Heading into Hammers, we had a solid plan: get as many test miles on Tiffany as possible before race day. As many of you know, she’s been a bit of a troublemaker from day one. Things were looking good when we arrived at the lakebed—our pre-run went smoothly, and shock tuning with KDM Shock Technologies was a huge success. Keith worked his magic, and Tiffany was handling the whoops like never before.
Then, trouble struck. A rattling noise led to the discovery of a rear differential failure. After exploring every possible solution, we had to make the tough call—Tiffany was out for the race. Instead, we shifted gears, focusing our efforts on pre-running with Chuck for the EMC race and Joe for 4400 race.
A Side Quest: Co-Driving with Chuck
A quick side note—if you missed it, Tom had the chance to co-drive with Chuck Crossland in the 4800 Every Man Challenge race. They managed to squeeze in some pre-running, but a transfer case issue put them in a time crunch. With little time to spare, they fixed it and tackled the course with limited prep. Check out Chuck’s recap for the full story on his page!
Now, back to your regularly scheduled program as this is where things get fun for the Fire River Racing crew.
The Crazy Idea That Became Reality
On Wednesday night, sitting around the smudge pot, the crew started joking about racing Ian’s 4400 car as 4413 with Tom and Ian partnering on driving & co-driving. Ian wasn’t planning to race this year but had his car at the lakebed for a potential photoshoot. That joke quickly turned into the team evaluating every option to see if it could be possible. The biggest question hung over everyone’s head…could we actually pull this off in time?
Prepping meant a full check-through of the car, tech inspection, and re-wrapping it in FRR colors and 4413’s number—all before Saturday.
At 2 AM, we sent out some Hail Mary texts. First to Kyle at HD Signs CO, asking if he could print and deliver a wrap in time. Then to Ian’s shock tuner Andrew at Accutune Off-Road, hoping he could make it to the lakebed. We all crashed that night, thinking, There’s no way this will work.
48 Hours to Race Day
Morning came, and Tom and Ian woke up to a message from Kyle: “You guys are insane. I’m in.”
Just like that, the mad dash began. Kyle and his team printed a new wrap, loaded up their trailer, and hit the road—driving straight from Colorado to California. Meanwhile, Tom helped get Chuck’s car through tech, while Ian and Seth tore into Ian’s car to get it race-ready.
24 Hours to Race Day
Friday, Tom co-drove for Chuck in the EMC race. Nerves were high at the start, but they settled into a rhythm, picking off cars in the desert. Switching from driver to co-driver was an adjustment for Tom, but he and Chuck made it work— even pushing through obstacles that 37s had no business being in. While they crossed the finish line just past the deadline, they were the talk of the night as they rolled in on four wheels, three tires, and sheer determination.
That night, back at camp, the focus shifted again—getting Ian’s car prepped for Saturday. Kyle and his crew arrived mid-day, immediately stripping Ian’s wrap and applying the FRR skin. It was all hands on deck. Joe, John, Kevin, and Jesse from Southwest Krawlers jumped in, making the impossible happen.
Race Morning
4 AM: The HD Signs crew woke up to finish the wrap. Tom and Ian did a final check-over and started to discuss their strategy on course.
1.5 hours to race: Everything was done—except for the hood wrap. Tom and Ian stalled as long as they could, lining up in the very last starting position—101st.
As the cars rolled onto the short course, we saw Kyle’s crew sprinting toward the car, hood in hand. With a sigh of relief, the crew slapped the hood on while we quickly strapped in.
The Race: A Ride to Remember
From the start, our mindset was simple: have fun and remember why we love this crazy sport. Neither of us had ever finished Hammers, and we wanted to enjoy the ride. We agreed—if anything major broke, we’d call it. And we’d split driving duties, giving each of us a turn behind the wheel.
Ian took the first stint, with Tom in the co-driver seat. Dead last off the line, we knew we had to make up ground. By the end of the first lap, we had climbed from 101st to 25th on corrected time—with zero issues.
Pulling into Pit 1 for Lap 2, the excitement hit us—this was the farthest either of us had ever made it but exhaustion was also setting in. Two days of racing caught up to Tom, bringing heat exhaustion and stomach trouble. Additionally, Ian’s air hose had snapped midway through the lap so he had been chocking on dirt for miles. The guys needed a few minutes outside of the car to collect themselves while the crew worked to fix Ian’s air hose. Once back in the car, they were determined to push on.
Lap 3 was a wild card—nobody knew what to expect. Running it blind actually leveled the playing field, and we had a blast getting back to our rock-crawling roots. Through Outer Limits and Spooners, we clawed our way toward the finish.
With just 13 miles to go, every second felt like an eternity and we kept repeating to ourselves - dont screw up, dont screw up. We had fought too hard to come up short. Dropping down Backdoor, we knew we were almost there. At that point, it wasn’t about finishing within the time limit—it was about finishing, period.
The Moment We’ll Never Forget
As we flew over the last jump on the short course, we saw our entire crew waiting, cheering us on. The checkered flag was in sight.
Crossing that finish line was everything.
No breakdowns. No major issues. A clean race from 101st to 20th.
Huge thanks to Ian for offering up his car and sharing the driver’s seat. This was, without a doubt, one of the best Hammers experiences any of us have had in years.
Here’s to remembering why we do this—and to the next adventure.
