King Healy Clinches Nitto National Championship
Photo by Thom Kingston of Spidertrax
October 24th, 2014, RENO, NV: 2014 King of The Hammers winner, Loren Healy continued his winning streak at last weekend’s Nitto Tire National Championship presented by 4 Wheel Parts held at the Wild West Motorsports Park in Reno, NV. Saturday’s event featured 106 ULTRA4 teams competing in front of more than 5200 spectators at the first ever ULTRA4 race held at the park. The Nitto National Champion is determined by the driver with the most points after competing in King of The Hammers, 3 Regional ULTRA4 Races, and the season ending Nitto Championship Race. With Healy’s win on Saturday he successfully won all five races and ended the season with a perfect score of 5000 points.
Going into last weekend’s event, less than 300 points separated Healy from Reno’s own Jake Hallenbeck, who’s been consistently on the podium all season long. Since the debut of his car in July at Glen Helen, Healy has been undefeated. The question going into last weekend’s race was if the substantial rock obstacles added to the track for the ULTRA4s at Wild West Motorsports Park would prove a challenge for Healy. After laying down the 2nd fastest qualifying time on Friday, it was clear to everyone that Healy was going to be tough to beat.
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When the green flag dropped for the main on Saturday, it was two-time King of The Hammers winner, Shannon Campbell that ultimately gave Healy a run for his money. The two drivers raced side-by-side, nearly identical laps with the crowds watching in awe. That is, until Campbell went for the pass on a long downhill straight-away and caught a boulder at the bottom sending him into a roll, allowing Healy to clinch the lead. By mid-race, 2012 KOH Winner, Erik Miller was gaining on Healy, and this year’s ULTRA4 European champion, Levi Shirley had made his way from a last place LCQ starting position up to the front of the pack. As the checkered flag dropped, Healy clinched the win followed closely by Miller with Shirley completing the podium.
All five limited classes also raced for Championship titles this weekend as well. In the 4500 Rubicon Express Modified class after a battle all season between 88 John Currie and 4580 Jordan Townsend, it would be Currie who clinched the win and the 4500 Nitto National Championship Title for the 4500s. In the 4600 Pro Comp Stock Class, 4608 Matt Peterson took the win in Reno, however, with two regional wins and a 2nd place in Reno, it was 4612 Ben Varozza earned the title of 4600 Nitto National Champion. For the 4700 Spec Class, UK native Rob Butler took the win in Reno, but 4703 driver Jessi Combs secured the Championship by a landslide with her multiple podiums all season long. In the new 4800 Legends class it was newcomer 4881 Ernie Hardaway who won the race, however, veteran ULTRA4 driver Dave Schneider in his 4871 Legends car went home with the National Championship. In the UTV Class it was Darren Mitchell who came through and won the race in the #3 UTV. A tight UTV National Championship point race between Off Road Evolution’s Mel Wade IV and Brian Hogue saw Wade narrowly beating Hogue to claim his first ever National Championship before the age of 16.
Several other awards were given out at the banquet on Saturday night which was attended by more than 500 people at the Atlantis Casino. Nitto Tire paid for every driver and co-drivers dinner and Currie Enterprises bought each driver and co-driver their first drink. The ULTRA4 Sportsman of the Year award was given to Levi Shirley. This was Shirley’s 2nd time being voted Sportsman of the Year by his peers for his professionalism both on and off the race course. The 2014 Rookie of the Year award went to Car #54 Mike Bou for his consistent finishes throughout the entire season in his first year of racing.
The 2015 ULTRA4 Series will begin with KOH Week 2015. Hammertown opens on January 30th, 2015. The week will include King of the Motos, the Polaris KOH UTV Race, the Smittybilt Every Man Challenge race, and the 9th annual Nitto King of The Hammers race will take place on Friday, February 6th, 2015 in Johnson Valley, CA. Registration for all races is available online atwww.ultra4racing.com
The final results for the race are below followed by the results for the National Championship.
Nitto Nationals Race Results
4400 Unlimited Class
Place
First
Last
Car#
Laps
Time Behind
1
LOREN
HEALY
67
7
00:00.0
2
ERIK
MILLER
4421
7
00:12.5
3
LEVI
SHIRLEY
81
7
01:48.8
4
TOM
WAYES
321
7
02:28.6
5
WAYLAND
CAMPBELL
3
7
03:00.4
6
MIKE
COLVILLE
4418
7
03:11.6
7
CLAY
GILSTRAP
26
6
8
JAKE
HALLENBECK
4775
6
9
PAUL
HORSCHEL
19
6
10
DOUG
EVANS
4457
6
11
BILL
BAIRD
5252
6
12
BRIAN
CAPRARA
9901
5
13
BEN
SWAIN
36
5
14
CHRIS
GARRISON
4494
5
15
ROD
KAVEN
833
4
16
JASON
ONEAL
101
4
17
RAUL
GOMEZ
4483
3
18
SHANNON
CAMPBELL
5
2
19
JASON
SCHERER
76
2
20
GREG
ADLER
210
1
21
RICK
WATERBURY
444
1
DNF
BRENDON
THOMPSON
5150
0
DNF
JASON
BLANTON
966
0
DNF
JESSE
HAINES
4499
0
DNF
GARY
FERRAVANTI SR
44
0
DNF
MATT
RAGER
74
0
4500 Rubicon Express Modified Class
Place
First
Last
Car#
Tot Lap
Tot. Time
1
JOHN
CURRIE
88
11
56:10.0
2
DOUG
FALONI
713
10
57:41.3
3
JORDAN
TOWNSEND
4580
9
34:28.5
4
MIKE
BEDWELL
4540
9
01:59.7
5
STEVE
LOPEZ
4508
8
59:13.8
6
MORGAN
DERODEFF
4518
7
57:15.6
7
JUSTIN
HALL
13
6
26:07.0
8
SHAWN
RANTS
4531
5
21:30.0
9
KEITH
ULINGER
4554
3
39:15.9
10
JIMMY
JACK
63
1
11:54.5
4600 Pro Comp Stock Class
Place
First
Last
Car#
Tot Laps
Tot Time
1
MATTHEW
PETERSON
4608
10
26:16.5
2
BEN
VAROZZA
4612
10
27:00.4
3
MEL
WADE III
4651
9
26:35.1
4
KEVIN
ADLER
4602
9
26:53.5
5
BRIAN
CALHOUN
488
9
31:09.2
6
SEAN
MCNAMARA
4696
8
25:21.8
7
JUSTIN
REECE
4619
8
28:06.8
8
BRET
SCHEIDING
4621
7
21:20.1
9
BAILEY
COLE
4654
6
23:44.4
10
BRIAN
BEHREND
4648
5
18:28.1
11
CODY
FOLSOM
4670
5
29:38.3
4700 Spec Class
Place
First
Last
Car #
Tot Laps
Tot Time
1
ROB
BUTLER
4704
11
55:51.7
2
Axel
BURMANN
4705
10
57:29.0
3
JESSI
COMBS
4703
9
53:55.4
4
JIM
MARSDEN
4706
9
55:29.0
4800 Legends Class
Place
First
Last
Car #
Tot. Laps
Tot. Time
1
ERNIE
HARDAWAY
4881
9
53:18.2
2
JADE
WICKHAM
4823
9
54:04.4
3
JIM
BROWN
104
8
25:17.0
4
RORY
ROMERO
4813
7
52:58.7
5
DAVE
SCHNEIDER
4871
6
25:07.2
6
RICHARD
FENTON
4852
5
40:04.0
7
ROSS
GLAVE
4802
4
31:43.0
8
SEAN
LEONARDINI
4824
4
33:39.7
9
KURTIS
HARRYMAN
4829
4
35:57.9
10
MIKE
ORTEGA
4458
0
00:00.0
UTV Sportsman
Main
First Name
Last Name
Car #
tot laps
tot time
1
DARREN
MITCHELL
3
12
09:05.2
2
ANDREW
GORMAN
1958
11
09:34.7
3
BRIAN
HOGUE
1915
10
10:04.0
4
Melvin
WADE IV
1951
9
08:00.6
5
PHILLIP
CAGLIERO
21
8
02:58.8
Nitto Tire National Series Champions
2014 ULTRA4 Sportsman of the Year
#81 Levi Shirley
2014 ULTRA4 Rookie of the Year
#54 Mike Bou
4400 – ULTRA4 Unlimited Class
1
LOREN HEALY
67
2
JAKE HALLENBECK
4775
3
TOM WAYES
321
4
WAYLAND CAMPBELL
3
5
BILL BAIRD
5252
6
ERIK MILLER
4421
7
LEVI SHIRLEY
81
8
ANDREW MCLAUGHLIN
4493
9
SHANNON CAMPBELL
5
10
JASON BLANTON
966
4500 – Mod Class
1
JOHN CURRIE
88
2
JORDAN TOWNSEND
4580
3
DOUG FALONI
713
4600 – Stock Class
1
BEN VAROZZA
3562
2
MEL WADE III
3480
3
SEAN McNAMARA
3308
4700 – Spec Class
1
JESSI COMBS
4703
2
WES AGEE
4706x
2
JEFF RECTOR
4704x
2
ROB BUTLER
4704X
4800 – Legends Class
1
DAVE SCHNEIDER
4871
2
RICHARD FENTON
4852
3
JIM BROWN
104
UTV Sportsman
1
MEL WADE IV
1951
2
BRIAN HOGUE
1915
3
ANDREW GORMAN
1958