by Matt Konkle
Torque Editor-in-Chief
Massive. Eye-opening. Immense. Jaw-dropping.
Choose your adjective and you’ll no doubt find one to describe just what encompasses this pop-up village in California’s Mojave Desert named Hammertown.
Well, even calling it a village may be underselling the thing a bit. More like a city.
A massive, eye-opening, immense, jaw-dropping, well, you get the idea.
And that’s because the whole massive area is set up with rows and rows of tents, vehicles, RVs, stages, vendor areas, garages and a bunch of other auto and race-related stuff. Some rows even have names like Spidertrax Street, Yukon Gear Boulevard, Optima Drive and Griffin Expressway.
Yes, it is impressive. Even to a point where you realize that while there are plenty of racers out there tearing through the desert and climbing rocks, determined to reach the finish line in a variety of events during King of the Hammers week, the real action seems to be in Hammertown.
With the masses.
”This is our first time here and we weren’t sure what to expect,” said Eric Brown from Fresno, California. Brown, who owns a 2015 Wrangler JK, stopped by the Quadratec booth in Hammertown after driving to the event Wednesday with his wife and son.
"I watched (the KOTH) live feed for years, but I really wanted to come out once to experience the whole thing. So we decided to make a little vacation out of it and this place just blows me away with everything going on here.”
While it is probably impossible to determine just how many people are flocking to this remote area in Johnson Valley for KOTH week, most here are saying the number to be somewhere between 60 to 90 thousand.
That would put this year’s KOTH audience higher than at any other point in its history.
Throughout the day, Hammertown is a blizzard of activity and noise in all dusty directions. Helicopters and drones whirr overhead, vendors show off their wares; drivers and support staff tinker inside garages putting final touches on their vehicles for either race inspections, qualifying runs or, on race days, a hopeful podium finish; thousands, or more, are either crowded around Hammertown’s live video display board, listening to commentators relay race info, jam GMRS radios to their ear for up-to-date race news, or perch against steel barriers near the finish line, waiting for racers to buzz out of the hills.
There are all kinds of food vendors for nearly every palate, RC car action, music blaring around every corner from different genres, rumbling engines coming to life at any time, lights flashing, and RVs or tents almost as far as the eye can see into the Mojave Desert.
At night, the entire place comes alive in a blizzard of lights and noise that gives even the revered Mardi Gras experience a good run for entertainment value. There are nightly concerts, Jeeps, UTVs, trucks and various types of cars flit across the entire landscape like so many ants streaming in and out of their homes. People flow in all directions, some going to visit friends or vendor/manufacturer gatherings, others back to their lodging for rest after a long day’s work.
Only to get right back up in a few hours to do it all again.
Because, after all, this is Hammertown.
