The thought is enough to give self-proclaimed “off-road racing purists” nightmares. A UTV defeating the rock crawlers to win the King of the Hammers’ Race of Kings? Preposterous!

… or is it?

Kyle Chaney had come close in 2024 but was nipped by JP Gomez in the closing run and was further dropped down the order by penalties. This time, he utterly dominated the competition. His Can-Am Maverick R was the only car with a sub-eight-hour time, finishing over half an hour ahead of Gomez and the rest of the 4400s.

After starting fourth, Chaney worked through the course before taking the lead on the third and final lap. He mostly avoided mechanical issues or getting stuck, hence being so far ahead of everyone else, but that didn’t mean he just sat in cruise control as he went through the rocks.

The third and final lap was particularly confusing and treacherous, all thanks to some fanciful course designing by King of the Hammers boss Dave Cole. Chaney also received a penalty for missing a checkpoint early in the day.

“We didn’t even know where we were going,” Chaney said about Lap 3. “There was just nothing there. We just had to pick where we were going. There’s definitely a lot of luck involved in this, but we picked some good lines, Terry (Madden) was an awesome navigator, the car stayed together, we just took care of the car all day. Guys were passing us and I’m like, ‘Just let him go. We got to keep this car together.’

“It just wouldn’t end. It just kept going and going and going and wouldn’t end. We didn’t know where we were going that Lap 3. It was so challenging, not pre-running, not knowing where you’re going, just following a GPS and there not being any trails. Dave was just like, made it from an airplane, just put a line through wherever we were. We just had to guess our best and get to the RCPs. It was crazy.”

Still, to reach the finish in such convincing fashion was obviously huge, let alone in a UTV. The Maverick R had been hyped as the most powerful UTV on the market since its release in 2023, and it’s lived up to those expectations so far with success in virtually every discipline. For the Race of Kings, the Maverick R was modified by CT Race Worx to meet 4400 regulation such as a reworked chassis to accommodate the 37-inch tires (the stock model uses 32″ tires), though the rest like the engine and body remained untouched.

While Polaris has been giving Can-Am a run for its money as of late, Chaney likely would have contended with current UTV juggernaut Brock Heger for the Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship earlier in the week if not for a broken differential.

“We are immensely proud of Kyle’s achievement and the effort our team put into this race,” Bombardier Recreational Products racing manager Jean-François Leclerc began. “King of the Hammers is unlike any other race with the mix of high-speed desert terrain and technical, rocky canyons. We knew it would be difficult, but we put some of our best racers in the pack to go for the win. To see the Maverick R prevail against vehicles from major automotive manufacturers with three times the horsepower is very gratifying to say the least.”

Among the “traditional” 4400s, Gomez battled with Josh Blyler early on before both of them suffered flats. The former also had a bolt come off one of the blocks holding his wiring. Despite being the fastest through Lap 2, he lost the lead to Chaney in the maze a lap later.

Even if UTVs aren’t typically built for rock crawling like the 4400s, Gomez found they have their perks that give them the upper hand. Ironically, the increased course difficulty for 2025 might have swung the race in the UTVs’ favor.

“The advantage of the Can-Am is they could sneak through the rocks straight up,” he stated. “Our cars are 88 inches wide or 72, that foot matters when you’re in those pinches. The IFS (independent front suspension) cars get all offset because they’re so wide. That’s the downside. But you have to drive. You have to know your vehicle. If my car was probably 1000 pounds lighter, I’d probably break it because I like the strength, but I’m seeing these guys just zigzagging out and they’re gone. It’s like, ‘Shit, I’m giving it my all, this guy drove by like I’m standing still.’”

Brian Caprara finished third after taking advantage of three time penalties handed out to the #77 of Max and Robby Gordon. Max started in last but weaved through the order into the top 40 by the end of Lap 1; his dad then took over the car midway through Lap 2. The Gordons initially finished third physically before being penalized twice for missing waypoints and again for driving over a fence in Lasernut Alley; the infractions cost them 45 minutes and the podium.

Further attesting to Cole’s track design, only 27 of the 100 entrants reached the finish. The rather funky Porsche 911 of Kevin Taylor was one of them, the second to last car to make it home.

While Chaney had a field day, his teammates weren’t as fortunate. Cody Miller ran as high as second before his Maverick R literally broke in two along the front end. His brother Hunter Miller also bowed out with a mechanical failure.

Paul Wolff traded in the Maverick R he raced in UTV Hammers for his usual 4400 and was the fastest qualifier, but retired after losing the exhaust sensor in the engine. This caused him to stop in the rocks, where he inadvertently caused the sPOD power distribution system to reset while winching before the winch broke off entirely.

Loren Healy capped off a dismal 2025 KOH with his third retirement in as many races when he lost both fuel pumps and the front locker in two laps. He had crashed out of UTV Hammers with his son followed by suffering a rear axle failure on his Ford Bronco in the Every Man Challenge. Vaughn Gittin Jr., who split time in Healy’s Bronco at the EMC, lost his brakes on Lap 1 then rolled in a canyon a lap later and was unable to winch it out; Gittin and Healy, along with the rest of RTR Vehicles Off-Road Team, returned on Sunday to recover it.

Race of Kings results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver of Record	Laps	Total Time	Margin
1	4	191	Kyle Chaney	3	7:53:45.051	Leader
2	10	82	JP Gomez	3	8:24:06.708	+ 30:21.658
3	57	9901	Brian Caprara	3	10:24:57.416	+ 2:31:12.36
4	100	77	Robby Gordon	3	10:46:36.447	+ 2:52:51.39
5	42	888	Cody Addington	3	10:58:35.060	+ 3:04:50.00
6	28	456	Chad Hundt	3	11:00:19.347	+ 3:06:34.29
7	7	4046	Chris Branton	3	11:00:47.733	+ 3:07:02.68
8	49	792	Justin Wicks	3	11:27:53.039	+ 3:34:07.98
9	66	4570	Joe Gatlin	3	11:38:55.668	+ 3:45:10.61
10	56	4417	Jonathan Dawes	3	11:54:43.295	+ 4:00:58.24
11	14	83	Raul Gomez	3	11:58:35.227	+ 4:04:50.17
12	95	248	Ryan Blount	3	12:01:3.369	+ 4:07:48.31
13	52	60	Chad Owens	3	12:02:53.198	+ 4:09:08.14
14	40	78	Pip Justice	3	12:02:56.322	+ 4:09:11.27
15	18	41	Josh Blyler	3	12:17:45.753	+ 4:24:00.70
16	59	726	Dennis Sterndahl	3	12:20:52.157	+ 4:27:07.10
17	8	47	Phillip McGilton	3	12:24:52.999	+ 4:31:07.94
18	48	50	Jeremy Brown	3	12:42:46.595	+ 4:49:01.54
19	34	48	Dan Fresh	3	12:45:12.293	+ 4:51:27.24
20	99	4413	Tom Pendergrast	3	13:12:45.315	+ 5:19:00.26
21	44	4	Chip Maclaughlin	3	12:30:49.988	+ 5:37:04.93
22	90	15	Mike Slawson	3	13:44:38.344	+ 5:50:53.29
23	73	4333	Rich Goldman	3	14:14:19.956	+ 6:20:34.90
24	87	777	Harold Fijman	3	14:14:51.644	+ 6:21:06.59
25	21	21	Erik Miller	3	14:23:51.303	+ 6:30:06.25+ 6:37:14.81
26	71	911	Kevin Taylor	3	14:30:59.870	+ 6:37:22.43
27	65	416	Brian Reid	3	14:31:07.486	+ 1 lap
28	11	14	Casey Currie	2	4:28:38.543*	+ 1 lap
29	82	53	Jeff Waggoner	2	5:04:49.573*	+ 1 lap
30	45	321	Tom Wayes	2	5:08:19.035*	+ 1 lap
31	20	1481	Chayse Caprara	2	5:43:01.207*	+ 1 lap
32	37	46	Rusty Blyler	2	6:17:29.660*	+ 1 lap
33	72	178	Aaron Smith	2	6:31:05.157*	+ 1 lap
34	58	4401	Kirk Jensen	2	7:44:07.219*	+ 1 lap
35	3	25	Vaughn Gittin Jr.	2	8:07:12.253*	+ 1 lap
36	64	750	Oracle Lynn	2	7:23:08.020*	+ 1 lap
37	69	4475	Edwin Abd	2	8:13:28.083*	+ 1 lap
38	46	1997	Mitch Hoover	2	9:14:43.469*	+ 1 lap
39	9	3	Wayland Campbell	2	4:38:21.636*	+ 1 lap
40	94	76	Jason Scherer	2	4:05:37.858*	+ 1 lap
41	15	221	Cody Miller	2	9:09:09.507*	+ 1 lap
42	92	136	Josh Heeger	2	9:59:30.304*	+ 1 lap
43	84	4453	Billy Karras	2	10:19:30.538*	+ 1 lap
44	38	4089	Ak Whatley	2	12:43:15.462*	+ 1 lap
45	2	67	Loren Healy	1	1:05:03.656*	+ 2 laps
46	1	1018	Paul Wolff	1	1:05:08.461*	+ 2 laps
47	24	4456	Brett Harrell	1	1:11:35.763*	+ 2 laps
48	54	190	Hunter Miller	1	1:17:08.601*	+ 2 laps
49	19	5	Shannon Campbell	1	1:16:29.476*	+ 2 laps
50	25	4464	Guy Miller	1	1:21:49.413*	+ 2 laps
51	22	311	Dustin Robbins	1	1:22:05.053*	+ 2 laps
52	31	86	Marcos Gomez	1	1:18:24.930*	+ 2 laps
53	5	461	Bill McGibbon	1	1:18:55.607*	+ 2 laps
54	91	19	Paul Horschel	1	1:23:25.540*	+ 2 laps
55	13	5150	Brendon Thompson	1	1:19:54.653*	+ 2 laps
56	47	1982	Tom Gilpin	1	1:17:30.686*	+ 2 laps
57	41	13	Bailey Cole	1	1:22:59.315*	+ 2 laps
58	43	4493	Andrew Mclaughlin	1	1:32:03.728*	+ 2 laps
59	70	4480	Kris Hicks	1	1:34:15.447*	+ 2 laps
60	12	240	Cole Clark	1	1:40:33..393*	+ 2 laps
61	61	464	Glenny Page	1	1:38:52.367*	+ 2 laps
62	74	867	Tim Rogers	1	1:38:35.503*	+ 2 laps
63	51	4468	John Webb	1	1:48:21.701*	+ 2 laps
64	62	1776	Jeff Watson	1	1:50:17.444*	+ 2 laps
65	36	35	Bailey Campbell	1	2:04:30.966*	+ 2 laps
66	83	4497	Mike Spindler	1	1:55:19.852*	+ 2 laps
67	78	97	Jeremy Hammer	1	1:55:50.740*	+ 2 laps
68	6	81	Levi Shirley	1	2:37:01.586*	+ 2 laps
69	76	4434	Kevin Yoder	1	2:35:57.157*	+ 2 laps
70	93	4412	Eric Foster	1	3:04:30.273*	+ 2 laps
71	88	2404	Blake Holland	1	3:35:19.985*	+ 2 laps
72	80	553	Darrell Krebsbach	1	2:28:30.883*	+ 2 laps
73	89	4775	Jake Hallenbeck	1	1:52:37.618*	+ 2 laps
74	55	833	Kevin Condon	1	6:17:42.041*	+ 2 laps
75	79	4447	Patrick Peterson	1	8:20:08.311*	+ 2 laps
76	50	16	Cameron Steele	1	2:33:05.638*	+ 2 laps
77	86	906	Tad Dowker	1	1:17:56.935*	+ 2 laps
78	17	4448	Randy Slawson	1	1:29:30.951*	+ 2 laps
79	33	4482	Cole Johnson	1	1:30:21.473*	+ 2 laps
80	75	4400	Zach Savage	1	1:39:20.954*	+ 2 laps
81	98	4487	Matt Nieman	1	1:48:49.074*	+ 2 laps
82	67	1504	Josh Sowell	1	1:49:19.578*	+ 2 laps
83	30	4409	Matthew McCowan	1	2:00:46.448*	+ 2 laps
84	29	11	Kevin Stearns	1	2:10:30.358*	+ 2 laps
85	77	1444	Ignacio Arana	1	2:11:21.778*	+ 2 laps
86	27	4426	Kevin Porterfield	1	3:55:14.108*	+ 2 laps
87	53	710	Tommy Dykstra	1	7:22:48.764*	+ 2 laps
88	32	90	Darian Gomez	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
89	39	595	Craig Allen	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
90	68	4403	Pat Beckwith	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
91	26	7779	Kenneth Goodall	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
92	81	124	Roger King	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
93	16	618	Casey Gilbert	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
94	23	308	James Mahoney	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
95	35	69	Anthony Yount	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
96	60	4449	Rick Lavezzo	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
97	63	100	Jeff Bergemann	0	DNF	+ 3 laps
98	85	1177	Mark Nicholson	DNS	DNS	N/A
99	96	4445	Garry Easley	DNS	DNS	N/A
100	97	406	Corey Johnson	DNS	DNS	N/A