When the Ultra 4 American Rock Sports Challenge visited Miller Motorsports Park for the first time in 2011, they attempted to answer one simple question: What happens when you combine both short-course off-road racing and rock-crawling in the same event?
After two days of intense competition, the answer was clear: One of the most amazing motorsports events ever!
Ultra4 Racing was born out of the legendary King of the Hammers off-road event held annually in Johnson Valley, Calif., to provide a series of events for their KoH competitors. The rulebook is very thin: four-wheel-drive is required, and everything else is open to interpretation. That results in a staggering array of vehicles, each illustrating the builder’s best guess as to what combination of chassis, engine, transmission and suspension will be the most effective.
Most Ultra4 events take place in wilderness areas. At Miller Motorsports Park, they found a completely unique venue that just happens to lend itself to the type of racing they do. With MMP’s seven-acre rock-crawling course situated adjacent to the 1.0-mile Off Road Short Course, it was if the facility was custom-designed for Ultra4 racing.
Each race requires the drivers to do six laps of the Off Road Short Course as well as two circuits of the Rock-Crawling Course. After the first lap is completed on the Off Road Short Course, the drivers can choose when to switch over to the Rock-Crawling Course. To combine the high-speed, big-air action of the Off-Road Short Course with the low-speed, high-torque, very technical driving required on the big rocks places a premium on both driving talent and mechanical engineering.
If you missed this event last year, you won’t want to make that mistake two years in a row. These amazing vehicles and their very skilled drivers will put on a show you won’t soon forget! We’ll see you there!