It seems summer has arrived six months early.

Dylan Summers and father Derek were the stars of Friday’s Every Man Challenge. After leader Randy Slawson was taken out of the race, the Summers moved into the top two. With virtually no competition from each other, they did battle with each other.

The younger Summers’ car took a beating along the way. His sway bar broke just 20 miles into the first lap and he lost his shocks later on. Even then, he got by Derek and they crossed the finish in that order. Soon after, Derek followed his son to the main stage and bumped him in the rear.

“I was envisioning being able to catch him and hit him again. That’s why I did it right here,” Derek remarked afterward.

Their 1–2 would eventually be spoiled when Derek was penalized for missing multiple checkpoints on Lap 2, dropping him to fifth overall and third in 4800. Still, it didn’t take away from the family celebration.

“No words,” continued Derek. “It’s absolutely amazing. Everyone’s always asked me, ‘What if you guys got down to the end? Would Dylan let you or would you let him?’ Absolutely not. We’re gloves off on the course and he proved it today. Super proud.

“Last year was his rookie year. He drove the car for the first time about two months before last year, finished tenth last year, and now just dominated today. Couple people were out that I would have loved to see him battle with, but still. I want it to be his day for sure.”

For Dylan, who’s still fairly new to rock crawling, winning at King of the Hammers was as good as it gets. In 2025, he finished runner-up in the Ultra4 USA West standings for the 4800 class and two spots ahead of his dad.

“I used to race the short course stuff. It was just as fast as you can physically go for six laps, and that’s what I was trying to do the whole time,” said Dylan. “(This is a) long race. I had to keep the long rock trails in my head and came around the corners and picked one off and another and another and got my dad pretty quickly. It’s amazing.

“I told him if he beat me in qualifying, I’d buy him ice cream. So now, he’s got to buy me an ice cream at the ice cream store.”

Derek’s penalty promoted Brad Lovell up to second overall, repeating in the 4600 Stock class. Amber Slawson was third in her 4800, adding another podium after her runner-up in 2025.

Peter Doolan won the 4500 Modified class. Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, the victory was a strong rebound after a frustrating 2025 in which multiple rear differential failures knocked him out.

While a stock Bronco typically wouldn’t fare as well as the modified rock crawlers in the EMC, Lovell gradually worked his way up the order. He was running sixth as Lap 2 began but sliced his way through to get into third.

Ford teammate Loren Healy and Vaughn Gittin Jr. were runner-up in class with their own Bronco. Gittin did the first lap before switching out with Healy, who struggled with winch issues including one that caused him to take a “ten-minute nap on our side” at one point. The driver’s side door also took damage, preventing it from closing fully.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to take it to our local Ford dealer and get it fixed right now,” Gittin quipped.

Class winners

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Total Time
4500 Modified	11	353	Peter Doolan	Hibernian Racing	Jeep	2	7:55:16.0
4600 Stock	2	4621	Brad Lovell	Ford Racing	Ford	2	6:27:53.3
4800 Legends	1	170	Dylan Summers	Summers Racing	Jimmy’s 4×4	2	5:49:28.4v

Featured image credit: King of the Hammers