In January 2025, Brock Heger won the Dakar Rally in the SSV class followed by the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge’s Limited Race two weeks later.

In January 2026, Brock Heger won the Dakar Rally in the SSV class followed by the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge’s Limited Race two weeks later.

Although not on the historic win streak that he had last year, Heger returned to King of the Hammers keen on repeating. He had plenty of momentum going into Hammers with his second straight Dakar title, and kept it going with a dominant performance in Saturday’s Limited Race.

Unlike in 2025, it wasn’t a flag-to-flag sweep for Heger as he qualified second of on pole. Instead, another Dakar alumnus in Corbin Leaverton was atop the box.

Heger and Leaverton fought early on in what the former called a “fun little battle” before he “was able to sneak by him early on. Never looked back. We just kept our head forward and just kept clicking miles, just trying to be smart.”

Cody Bradbury and Chase Carr were the main UTVs behind Heger. However, penalties dropped the former to sixth overall while the latter fell out of contention entirely.

Phil Blurton was promoted to second after Bradbury’s penalty, though still a comfortable gap behind Heger. The latter certainly hope to keep his run going at the Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship on Thursday, which he also won last year.

“It’s been a pretty wild month so far once again,” Heger remarked. “I’m just happy to be here. We’re just having fun. The course today was very fast, so it was good to get up there in the front, fun racing with obviously some of the kids in the NA class.”

The track was exceptionally dusty and slick, one that many struggled with. Michael McFayden, who had to deal with axle issues, felt there was a “whole lot of motor oil there on the ground. It was a rough course.”

Jacob Zuccone likewise said the “dust was terrible”. Amid the sea of RZRs and Mavericks, he was sixth in Pro Stock Turbo in the Hammers debut for Segway.

Despite some “self-inflicted issues”, Ethan Groom scored a fifth overall in his first race with RZR Factory Racing’s blue car, which he took over from Max Eddy Jr. for the 2026 season.

Kaden Wells had a rough day that began with him rolling in the very first turn after wheel contact with Travis Sallee. Although Wells rejoined the race, his Can-Am eventually caught fire to end his race.

Like Heger, Ricky Brabec arrived in Johnson Valley a fortnight after Dakar. After missing out on the Dakar bike win in heartbreaking fashion, he traded in his Honda CRF450 for a Talon and finished fourth in UTV Pro Stock NA.

Landon McMath and Mika Block also tangled in the Cross Grain Hills, causing their cars to get stuck. Block, son of the late Ken Block, is doing his second Hammers.

While UTV comprised much of the field, they weren’t the only vehicles. Classes 1400 and 1450 and the two Desert Stock categories involve pickups like Brad Lovell’s Ford Raptor and Alex Fleming’s Toyota Tacoma.

Class winners

Class	Overall	Number	Driver of Record	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Total Time
Class 1400	86	1417	Justin Miller	Miller Racing	Ford	1	1:04:25.9
Class 1450	85	1400	Brad Bauder	HP Helicopters	Ford	1	57:12.3
Desert Stock 7F	73	4628	Alex Fleming	Sherpa Motorsports	Toyota	2	2:55:56.6
Desert Stock OEM	71	8135	Brad Lovell	Ford Racing	Ford	2	2:26:54.1
Jeepspeed	72	4744	Brett Maister	Jeepspeed	Jeepspeed	2	2:36:34.9
UTV Open	1	1896	Brock Heger	RZR Factory Racing	Polaris	4	53:37.609
UTV Pro Modified	2	944	Phil Blurton	Can-Am Factory Team	Can-Am	4	54:38.318
UTV Pro Stock Naturally Aspirated	41	4999	John Meek	Sylvania Off Road	Polaris	4	5:26:29.9
UTV Pro Stock Turbo	19	78	Sara Price	SP Motorsports	Can-Am	4	4:17:53.7

Featured image credit: RZR Factory Racing