First Ever 4-Door Jeep Wrangler Finishes World’s Toughest Single Day Race

February 20, 2020

GenRight Off Road Jeep Wrangler JKU Completes the 4400 Unlimited Race at King of the Hammers

SIMI VALLEY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GenRight Off Road today announced race team vehicle “The Terremoto” (‘earthquake’ in Italian) has officially been recognized as the first-ever first full-bodied, street-legal 4-door Jeep Wrangler to finished the 4400 Unlimited Class at the world’s toughest single-day off-road race, the 2020 Nitto King of the Hammers powered by Optima Batteries.

GenRight Off Road owner and team driver Tony Pellegrino, entered his LS Swapped Jeep Wrangler JKU in the 4400 Unlimited Class, just eight weeks prior to the scheduled start of the week-long event. The Terremoto is built from all off-the-shelf parts that either GenRight or its partners manufacture, and any Jeep Wrangler owner can buy.

“I have watched for years as purpose-built race rigs have failed to complete King of the Hammers, Watching Tony Pellegrino not only finish the 4400 race but doing it in a Full body Jeep, with a Jeep Frame is not only impressive, it’s never been done before,” said Dave Cole, Founder of King of the Hammers. “He just raced a trail rig in the unlimited class!”

The race, which takes place on some of the most brutal terrain in Johnson Valley, CA, consists of three different laps: Lap 1 was 77 miles of desert racing, Lap 2 was 67 miles of desert racing and 11 rock-crawling trails, and Lap 3 was 69 miles of desert racing and 13 rock crawling trails. 105 Top drivers from around the world came to race each other and compete for the title of 2020 King of the Hammers. In the 12-year history of this race, less than 1/3 of the participants actually finish.

With a 14-hour time limit, Pellegrino and his co-driver Nick Repanich of Chico, California, started 86th and battled their way through the rough desert terrain and rock-crawling trails to finish 32nd out of a total of the 44 vehicles that completed the race. The GenRight Off Road-built Jeep Wrangler finished 2.5 hours before the end of the race was called and ahead of 73 purpose-built 4400 Unlimited Class race cars.

“Johnson Valley and it’s one-of-a-kind Hammer Trails are my second home and the place where we take all of our GenRight products for testing before they are made available for purchase. I was more than confident in the rig and its parts, comfortable navigating the terrain and believed our team could rise to the challenge where others had failed,” Said Pellegrino. “I’m excited for the future of Ultra4 as it continues to grow, and it is my sincere hope that this finish will inspire other Jeepers to compete in the 4400 Unlimited Class in properly-built full-bodied rigs.”

Finishing a grueling race like this is a team effort and the GenRight race team was able to accomplish this finish thanks to the ongoing and full support of industry partners like Mickey Thompson Tires, Rockstar Performance Garage, K&N Filters, Scosche, R1 Performance Brakes, Aeromotive, VisionX LED Lights, Fox Shox, Auburn Lockers, Currie Axles and Yukon Gear & Axle.

GenRight has designed, built and tested its products on hundreds of trails across the country as well as in racing and completion rock crawling. GenRight sources their materials and labor in the U.S.A. Anyone can now build their own Jeep Wrangler JKU into a race jeep with race proven, trail proven parts from GenRight Off Road.

The next day Pellegrino and Repanich led the 9thAnnual KOH Experience in the same Jeep. This gives fans the chance to drive 20 miles of racecourse the day after the main Unlimited 4400 race and participate in a live Q&A about how the race went for Pellegrino and the Terremoto. The Jeep Wrangler JKU ran flawlessly through the 20 miles of racecourse leading the group.

ABOUT THE TERREMOTO

Equipped with GenRight Off Road aluminum bumpers, fenders and rocker guards, the Terremoto’s armor sustained little damage, with the exception of the rocker guards from a trail called Hell to Pay on the final lap. GenRight Off Road built a new kit to make a Jeep Wrangler JKU pass tech inspection, which included additional tubing to the 2” GenRight Off Road Roll Cage, a bladdered fuel cell, and catch cans for fluids. GenRight Off Road’s Elite Suspension featuring FOX Shox, Currie Enterprises Axles allowed the suspension to work flawlessly at 105 mph across Emerson Dry Lakebed, and at a slower pace through the rock trails such as Bender Alley, Wrecking Ball, Outer Limits, and Chocolate Thunder.

ABOUT GENRIGHT OFF ROAD

GenRight Off Road was founded in 2006 by Tony Pellegrino. The company was built in the ideal of having genuine ideas engineered right for the Jeep, for not only trail use but also on daily drivers. GenRight Off Road manufactures both steel and aluminum parts for the 1976 Jeep CJ7 through current model year of Jeep Wrangler JLU and Gladiator in Simi Valley, California and are 100% American Made. Additional information can be found at genright.com.