BILSTEIN Racers Earning Top Places at 2023 KOH Racing Event

Kings of the Stone Rage

BILSTEIN-sponsored racers are pounding out podium-topping performances at this year’s King of the Hammers off-road motorsports event. One thing several of the top-performing racers have in common are the BILSTEIN shocks they’re using.

Competing on BILSTEIN shocks in the Pro 2 category on Monday, Ryan Beat won first place after 12 laps of carnage. Another BILSTEIN-sponsored racer, Doug Mittag, came in third.

Mittag also placed second in the Toyo Desert Challenge on Saturday with his Polaris Pro R, fitted with Bilstein’s new Black Hawk Powersports UTV shocks, also logging the fastest qualifying time in his class.

Other BILSTEIN-sponsored racers still to compete this week include Brian Deegan in the Can-Am class on Thursday; James Gawrich in his Dodge Durango, Jon Loesche in his Toyota, and Johnny Valdez in his Bomber, all on Friday; and Cade Rodd in his Jimmy’s IFS on Saturday.

The 13-day event features races for all types of off-road vehicles, with competitors from 37 U.S. states and multiple countries filling the Johnson Valley area of southern California. It includes separate races for UTVs, desert-racing trucks, buggies and motorcycles, built around a temporary city known as “Hammertown.”

BILSTEIN will be there during the event with a booth to showcase products and host meet-and-greets with some of their sponsored racers. LiteBrite was there from 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 9, and Brian Deegan was also present at the booth during the event to take photos and sign autographs.

BILSTEIN-backed racers compete on the company’s 9200 Series Bypass and Coilover shock absorbers. The Bypass shocks are position-sensitive and adjustable, offering multiple zones of damping control, and Coilover shocks are made with aerospace-class materials and engineered to the tightest tolerances. In addition to these popular applications, BILSTEIN racers also use the Black Hawk Powersports and the 7100 shocks.