ST. GEORGE —From rock crawling and off-roading to custom Jeep builds, one woman is about to add racecar driver to her list of abilities as she sets out to complete the race of a lifetime.
“Rock crawling and off-roading, that’s the world that I traditionally live in,” Rubi Kunsch said. “So the racing world, I’ve never raced the King of Hammers or anything else like it before. I’ve never built a race car. It’s all a lot of firsts and it’s been a dream to do this.”
Kunsch said she and her husband Joe will race the 2023 King of the Hammers Every Man Challenge, a 4600 stock class competition. The race will consist of three laps: the first two approximately 70 miles and the last lap around 65. The full King of the Hammers event will run Jan. 26-Feb. 11 at the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area in San Bernardino County, California.
“The King of Hammers is the hardest offroad race on earth,” Kunsch said. “It’s basically designed to break vehicles. Getting to the race is a huge feat. To finish the race is almost as good as winning because it’s that hard.”
Kunsch will be in the driver’s seat, racing a 1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ that she and her husband are building. The full build has included converting the motor from a 2.5 to a 4.0, running super-duty junkyard axles, a custom suspension and more.
All the fabrication for the suspension on the Jeep build was completed by Kunsch, who said she learned to weld for the first time specifically for this project. Her husband Joe, who has been in motorsports for a long time, completed the motor swap and is assisting in the required roll cage, which Kunsch will weld on.
“I don’t know any other women that are building as much of their car as I am,” she said. “A lot of people have a lot of help and a bigger online following with a full team of people, but you can’t worry about what other people are doing. Getting to this point is cool enough and doing it all in my first three years is an accomplishment.”
The heart of the racing class is to keep the vehicle as stock as possible, and she said that requires the motor and transmission to only include what was actually available in that year, make and model.
But how did she get here?
Kunsch, who works at Dixie 4 Wheel Drive, said she originally started out as a successful fashion blogger who happened to own Jeeps. In 2021, she decided to make a separate Instagram account, which would allow her to brand herself and apply for sponsorships.
“I began building a Jeep and it just kind of exploded from there,” she said. “I’d never driven offroad or put a wrench to a vehicle until 2020.”
Being asked constantly if it was her husband’s Jeep, she began to wear sparkly and outlandish outfits as a joke. In her first year, she went on a tour with Rockstar Energy and traveled to many places, including Southern Utah’s Trail Hero, and fell in love with the area. When she hit it off with her now-husband Joe, she got baptized and the couple was married shortly after.
“While I am more conservative in the way I do things now, I have worked hard over the years to be respected for my technical driving abilities instead of just being a pretty face,” Kunsch said.
With a list of health scares, including being hit by a car while cycling, Kunsch said she has faced the possibility of death more than once.
After a car accident in 2016, doctors discovered a tumor in her throat. She began to have seizures and developed calcium deposits in her brain and veins that led to symptoms similar to those caused by Parkinson’s Disease. At that time, she was told she had a maximum life expectancy of 10 years.
Once she was released from the hospital, she vowed to live life to the fullest with no regrets.
“Nothing is promised and I don’t want to be an old person, which is a gift in itself, and look back wishing I had done things,” she said. “Whether it’s doing offroad, being a good human, or helping someone else realize that they, too, deserve good things – that’s why I live the life I do.”
The most exciting part of the upcoming race for Kunsch is the ability to be in the driver’s seat and prove her skills. While one lap is considered completion, she and her husband plan to complete all three and look forward to standing on stage in triumph after the race.
“Just knowing there are so many people that are going to look at me and be like, ‘She can do that, I can do that,’ and that’s why I keep doing this,” Kunsch said.
The couple is in need of additional sponsorships for the upcoming race. Spectators will be able to stream the Ultra 4 race series live on YouTube and track the couple’s progress. Visit the King of Hammers website for more information.
To see Rubi Kunsch’s past accomplishments, follow the Jeep build, and see her racing experience, follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
Photo Gallery
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo in one of her signature outfits, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo while off-roading, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch is seen rock crawling, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch is seen rock crawling with her husband Joe, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo while off-roading, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo while off-roading, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch and her husband Joe take a photo together, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo while off-roading, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo sporting her brand, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch's Jeeps are seen parked in her front yard in St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch is seen rock crawling in her Jeep, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch learns welding for the first time in order to build a custom Jeep for the upcoming race, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo next to her rock crawling Jeep, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo next to her husband Joe, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rubi Kinsch, St. George News
Rubi Kunsch takes a photo next to her Jeep build, which she will use to race the King of the Hammers race, St. George, Utah, Jan. 22, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
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