The 2021 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 Extended TV Show

in 1968 the las vegas mint hotel held the first ever mint 400 del webb desert rally a 400 mile marathon that marked the birth of modern desert endurance racing in the united states and for the next two decades the historic event attracted a special breed of the most adventurous and fearless competitors and celebrity racers on the planet the mint became a crown jewel in the world of automobile racing alongside daytona indy and the 24 hours of le mans it was championed by nascar legends parnelli jones and mel larson and off-road giants al unser rick mears roger ward mickey thompson ivan stewart jack flannery walker evans and rod hall film and television stars james garner steve mcqueen chuck norris and ted nugent all raced the mint in the 70s and 80s and helped create a mystique around the race that still exists today the 1971 race inspired hunter s thompson's fear and loathing in las vegas and the event soon became a fixture of the golden age of sin city but when the mint hotel was sold the fabled contest disappeared amid the softening glow of the neon lights it was gone but not forgotten for over 20 years the mint was reborn in 2008 and for the past 13 years it has once again been molded into the super bowl of off-road racing by its owners brothers matt and josh martelly in 2021 the storied event was moved from march to december and was split into two thrilling race courses a devastating hundred mile loop for the cars and trucks and a dedicated 60-mile loop for motorcycles that would challenge even the most experienced two-wheeled racers over 400 race teams from 30 states and 10 countries travel to las vegas to compete in 60 different classes all vying for a chance to be crowned a champion and earn the distinction of being named a mint 400 class winner but less than half of those who started would make it to the finish line the mint 400 pulls no punches it is the reigning heavyweight of off-road racing to win here you must be flawless this is the great american off-road race this is the bf goodrich tires mint 400. the 2021 bf goodrich tires mint 400 kicked off this year with the fifth annual mint 400 desert cleanup presented by republic services over 350 volunteers showed up and removed a remarkable 29 tons of illegally dumped waste from the ivanpah valley bringing the group's lifetime total to nearly 250 000 pounds of trash later in the week the mint 400 came roaring back into town 150 race vehicles and motorcycles took over the las vegas strip for the 9th annual mint 400 vehicle procession over 35 million dollars worth of off-road machinery ground past the huge las vegas crowds from the mgm grand all the way down to fremont street which was renamed mint 400 boulevard for the week the parade was led by this year's grand marshal las vegas sheriff and nevada gubernatorial candidate joe lombardo later that evening was the fourth annual dinner of champions a high-class dining experience that honors off-road's greatest legends guests were invited to rub elbows with the likes of rob mccacron and kj howe while partaking in a multi-course dining experience delivered by michelin star chef drew deckman justin kingsley hall and brandon rogers the team prepared an outstanding multi-course meal at main street provisions the next day the spectacular mint 400 off-road festival saw over 150 exhibitors and vendors pack the streets of fremont east for one of the biggest and best off-road showcases on the planet all of the 150 motorcycle racers and a slew of utv limited and unlimited trucks and cars pushed through the massive lineup as 25 000 race fans filled the streets all buying for autographs while shopping for off-road products it was yet another record-setting year for the great american off-road race friday december 3rd 10 a.m the o'reilly auto parts limited race was about to get underway in front of a massive crowd gathered at the prim valley start line in the mix were class 5 unlimiteds 23 utv pro turbo racers 16 naturally aspirated utv competitors 14 utv pro unlimited racers and two-time mint 400 champion mitch guthrie jr in the all-new four-cylinder utv built by polaris making its north american debut there were nine trophy light trucks vying for a points championship class 3000 class 12 some jeep speed trophy challenge and outlaw racers five 1450 trucks 22 utv rally teams eight vintage racers spread across three classes and 11 open sportsman trucks and if that wasn't enough class 11 racers were about to wage war for ten thousand dollars in cash courtesy of baja jerky finally six military vehicles left the start line competing in modern and vintage military classes in all 172 race cars ripped off at the start and out into the desert in the pro turbo utv class phil blurton who was fresh off his fourth utv world championship win in five years looked strong and fast at the beginning of lap one but he suffered a flat near race mile 38 and relinquished the lead to number 950 vito renuo who had moved from 7th off the line into second physically in his class early in the race former mint 400 champ number 913 brandon sims moved from 11th to 2nd physically meanwhile number 978 dustin jones moved from 14th to 5th by race mile 76. he had number 909 christian serapis right on his tail christian started 19th and was already in the lead pack but it was mike calfro who started 25th off the line and rocketed out to first place on corrected time that stunned the field mike was coming off a class win at the baja 1000 and it showed the treacherous mint 400 racecourse was already claiming victims tim fields took a major tumble at race mile 17 and struggled to get his machine off the course and out of the way [Music] concrete motorsports is one of the fastest up-and-coming unlimited truck teams in the sport the combination of owner and driver kevin thompson and the seasoned third generation racer harley leitner has been a force to reckon with since they first teamed up the team led much of the mint 400 in 2020 before suffering a mechanical failure and they would like nothing better than the climb on top of the podium this year and take home mint 400 gold like i mean we started out as you know just 15 year old kids racing for my grandpa because it's the family thing to do never thought i'd be up here racing with kevin in concrete motorsports is one of the top contenders in the sport it's like i always dreamed of it but i never i guess i never really thought it would happen you know i feel very lucky and privileged to be racing for someone like kevin like a lot of guys it's family like to be like a hired driver and to work here with the team and drive it's just i just i couldn't be more excited like i'm super stoked on it i mean one of my first races i remember going to mint and standing in the wheel of bigfoot that's how little it was it's always been a family deal so i believe like with the leitner family there was uh eight or nine second place finishes and our first minute we came back cory and myself got a second so we continued it for about two or three years the second place is until we finally finally broke the curse and won them in [Applause] first started at off-road racing uh 17 years old did it till about 21 took hiatus from that and did the asphalt stuff for for about 15 years and then got back into this in 2012 i believe yeah getting back into this nine years ago it was baby steps i didn't want to come in you know we bought again the first car was unlimited car we did what we could with that for four or five years and got our feet wet did as much racing as as i could to get the experience back then when i decided it was time to go for a trophy truck made the decision and and uh now we're here in my competitive my nature absolutely i do anything i do off-road racing i've seen is obviously getting extremely competitive probably more competitive it's ever been as i always say is sea time so multiple trucks it gives us a lot of test time a lot of pre-running time in a race truck i want to pre-run a speed to get our notes as accurate as possible you know we go down to mexico that's why i want us both harley and i'd have two identical race vehicles to pre-run so we can get our notes dialed in because it is incredibly incredibly and competitive out there do bfgs give us competitive advantage absolutely again if uh see the guys on the side of the road changing tires and everybody's quick at that these days but uh still it's a minute and a half minute minute and a half bfgs you just don't have it unless it's a driver screw up because we do screw up and and puncture a tire but that's that has nothing to do with with the tire that's all i want to do for the rest of my life is race but i mean i'm like i said i'm super happy where i'm at i'm hoping kevin runs this team for a long time and i would love to be a part of it i feel we have the team 100 assembled right now that uh we're just going to be out here for a long time my goal is to just stay out there be consistent and stay on the radar be a top top tier team i definitely have that reputation from the buggies and driving a bit out of control been called winter break which has been proven more times than none but uh i feel like this last season we got it all together minor mechanical issues i feel that now we showed that we have the equipment we have myself has the smarts to drive fast run up front and keep the truck together and get the solid finishes and championship at the end of the year what it's like working with harley we gelled together really well our driving styles are pretty similar we're pretty close the same height so there's many things that that work out does he push me absolutely and we push each other this was really neat 100 was part of the decision because uh i do not like baby and equipment in a long race i think these things need to last and if they're going to fall apart just like we've had some problems in the past and we we fixed them or found fix for them i don't want a handicap of driving for the truck we need to fix the truck get the truck better to handle a thousand miles hard a thousand miles and we're there kevin and his teammate is amazing not only does he provide us with this amazing shop in the chubby trucks but uh he's crazy fast most time he makes me qualify i can get out of the truck and you know first second third fourth and i have all the confidence in the world that he's gonna go out there and better whatever position i give him or hold it like he's really picked it up he's not afraid it's a big joke with mark of the data guys like i'll go 117 he'll go 170 and a half we always try to one-up each other he always wins but i mean kevin's driving commitment is 110 percent if there's something that's going to make our team better or our truck faster we get it you know we bought a third trophy truck just so we can have two pre-runners out of mexico [Music] i've always prepped my cars that i drive since i started that was something my grandpa instilled in us you know you guys have to know your vehicle and even up at the trophy truck i feel that it's just i think it gives me that confidence level and just uh knowing [Music] my first race cars were all bfg ran bfg for a long time and then tried quite a few other ones until i came back to bfg first time back was on the trophy truck and it was just i couldn't believe how good they were i mean they were great back in the day and they just i think they even got better they longest time around in the industry and they're out there every race they're checking tire chimps they're in the pits every time we get out of the truck they're measuring treads seeing what happens so their dedication is unreal so it's not hard to believe they have the best tire out there [Music] the man's uh extremely challenging because all the different terrain we'll be doing 150 across the lake bed take a left into some six foot whoops with sandy and then you go up some canyons and you got beer bottle pass with rocky the mint 400 course it's got a new uh new character every lap it it first lap is always fast uh man it gets tore up though and and that's what makes it fun that's what that's where these these trucks right here are rockets over it the last lap is just brutal and that's what i like twin to met 400 again i got chills it's just to be a dream uh twin any race these days again it's so competitive is a dream but to win the men it's the man you know i think it is the indy 500 of off-road racing m400 is the who's who of everyone i think everyone shows up cement rather you know it's a no points race it's the big granddaddy mall the longest races in america everyone like half the field is divided with a score in best in the desert i feel some guys will stick down there some guys take the best in the desert but the man 400 everyone comes out of the woodworks like if you win them in 400 you won i think one of the baddest races there is against the baddest drivers there are so [Music] while the limited racers continued to battle deep in the desert back at the start finish line the unlimited racers were preparing to qualify for their start positions at the mint 400 it's almost impossible to come from behind and win while racing through the brutal nevada desert though each racer is timed individually there are dozens of factors that affect the race such as dust lap traffic and the ability to pass that all come into play on race day it's far better to go hard at qualifying and start up front with clean air than to hope for a miracle from the back of the pack class one is the distant cousin to the unlimited class and is most easily distinguished by their traditional buggy shape morgan langley son of the late john langley led the class and qualifying session in his cops racing car morgan worked his way through the brand new qualifying course and put down a very respectable time of 5 58 followed by max peltzer who was noticeably faster than the previous racers and landed a time of 5 12 the fastest on the day so far it was short-lived however as rj anderson driving the number 103 class 1 car for adam lund came roaring through next and absolutely demolished the course in front of him with a time of 4 26 putting the team in first overall in class but next up was casey curry driving his jeep class 1 car and casey drove like a bat out of hell he put his dakar and king of the hammers championship driving experience to work and ended up fastest in class besting anderson by a tenth of a second at the finish there were 22 unlimited spec trucks all vying for some gold this year at the mint brent foxx stood out right away scoring a time of 434 that would earn him a first place start in class and in unlimited legends it was thomas victor who not only qualified fastest in his class but ended up in the top 20 of all the qualifiers with a time of 4 28. the unrestricted kings of desert off-road racing rolled to the qualifying start line next and it was three-time mint 400 champion justin lofton who drew the first run in his class justin rocketed off the start and boosted over the road crossing but a few minutes later experienced a mechanical issue and lost power he pulled off the course and would now be forced to start from the back of the pack it was a challenging start to the weekend for the former champ tracy graf alexander wacker and steve olegus each shot off the line next graff put down an impressive 4-16 run while olegus ended up a few seconds behind him with a 4-19 then it was the dark horse harley leitner driving the number 70 truck of owner kevin thompson harley blasted through the start gate and ripped through turn after turn his years of driving experience were on full display as he slammed his way through the rough qualifying course lentner screamed through the finish gate and put down a blazing fast time of 408 moving into first and setting the stage for an all-out war a few minutes later the reigning mint 400 champion luke mcmillan left the line in his beautifully prepped two-wheel drive racer engineering unlimited truck luke was coming off a massive career wind down in baja and full of confidence and it showed immediately he tore down the course and boosted across the road jump then floated through the five short miles of twists and turns he slammed the gas pedal to the floor and rocketed through the finish with a time of 403 propelling him into first place overall here's a look at all of the results at this year's bf goodrich tires mint 400 qualifying race phoenix arizona native chase warren grew up watching off-road films and eventually began racing motocross and then utvs the family passion for the sport soon grew into a full-fledged professional class 10 race program that has now put the warren team on top of some of the biggest podiums in the sport it also meant a lot of time together as a family which the warren clan have learned to cherish along the way i grew up when i was racing motocross and dust to glory was a movie that i watched over and over and i knew from even before we even had the idea of going out desert racing that i wanted to do it someday we started in local races around here uh they had a couple of amateur nationals that came to town uh traveled a little bit but mostly stayed in arizona and california for racing when my dad bought a can-am 2013 we knew we needed to get a little bit more serious out in the desert and bought a couple of polaris razors and ended up doing the work series stepping into the class 10 car scene was pretty interesting ride a lot of competition you know everybody's on a level playing field with the same motors very similar cars it's not a class that you know money's gonna buy you a win you need the talent you need to be able to hold the car together and drive it fast yeah my dad is the glue that holds every bit of the team together he's out in california and that's where the car is and the car is prepped and he does a majority of the work out there well we kind of decided all the work to go race these side-by-sides for a 45-minute race was a little too much and in 2015 we looked into best in the desert and gore and we bought the lumacraft 10 car the first race we did was a snort 250 and he won that race and that kind of hooked us a lot of times you say well let's get together next week or next month but with the racing schedule we have to be together and to be out there with the boys in the desert nothing better we've really enjoyed it as a family the car and everything being located out in california is a little bit unfortunate for me because i'm a farmer out in arizona i live here and you know the farming is where it is it's not going anywhere else i stay here to attend to the business with my girlfriend and our three dogs there really is a lot of similarities in between agriculture and racing both of them you do have a lot that's out of your control you have certain variables that you just need to accept both of them you really need to be able to get yourself out of a bad situation and think on your toes you know i just love being outdoors though spending time out in the desert spending time out on the farm [Music] to me the mint 400 is honestly my favorite race of the year i love the course i love the location being out in vegas is always a good time i like the rough course the beat up stuff i know a lot of guys complain about it but to me that's that's the heart of racing and it separates the field and the big stuff it really shows that i think the top of the competition will shine through in that kind of conditions being that we won it before it was the most exciting race to win for me we've raced thousands of miles all different kinds of terrain the tires have held up tremendously for us never an issue i think it really is the best tire on the planet we haven't run anything else and we wouldn't run anything else on them this last year at the mint we never had a flat i don't think in the last three years we've had a flat tire with the bfg tires with their backing that's why we've chosen bfg [Music] the o'reilly auto parts limited race continued to heat up and dozens of classes were now on their third laps the ultra-competitive trophy light class had been battling all year long their points championship came down to this final race of the year and it was a four-way scrap between greg bragg luke knupp josh cobb and ty fall the class stayed neck and neck for most of the morning but by the start of lap three larry schmoozer and jeremy crandall had moved out front and were outpacing the chase pack greg bragg was holding down third by midday in the 1450 class roman ramirez and john walter took an early lead with canadian jason walmsley in the mix but number james williams got past all of them midway through lap one and held the physical lead all the way through the final 20 miles of lap four but he suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure and gave up the lead to number 1498 john walter walter would end up being the sole 1450 truck to finish the race meanwhile back in the pro turbo utv class vito rainio dustin jones brandon sims christian sarapas and mike caffro were all running top five still with rodrigo ampudia still giving chase it was a sprint to the finish with jones right on the tail of rainio vito crossed the finish physically first but jones had him on corrected time vito had also made contact with a vintage vehicle and was penalized by mint 400 officials at the finish line a tough finish to an otherwise brilliant day of racing it was a second mint 400 victory for dustin jones and he popped champagne and celebrated with his team brian croft mauro diaz and blake wilkie each took home their share of 10 thousand dollars for taking first second and third respectively for the baja jerky class 11 shootout here's a look at all of the winners at this year's o'reilly auto parts limited race [Music] saturday december 4th 806 a.m for only the 11th time since 1968 professional and amateur desert motorcycle racers from every age representing 12 different states and multiple countries began ripping off the start line at the 53rd annual bf goodrich tires mint 400. the pros would raise six brutal laps around the dedicated 60 mile course for a total of 360 miles while some of the lesser experienced classes would have a grand prix finish and the hooligan racers would battle for two laughs in all there were 16 different moto classes this year ranging from the most experienced pro open and pro ladies racers all the way down to the sportsman hooligan enduro racers who were competing on modified street bikes many with little to no desert experience out on the mint racecourse this year was a crew of nearly 100 dedicated bike course officials from the motorcycle racing association of nevada they joined the mint this year as the official motorcycle race operations partner row by row the pack of hungry moto racers ripped off the start line and out into the desert in the pro open class danny cooper jumped out to an early lead with clean air jacob argobrite remained just outside his dust trail knapa and moses were only a minute behind them in sportsman open iron man nate van der vleet looked strong early on he moved from sixth to third on lap one by race mile 38 david smith held down first place just ahead of mark roth and the three of them led the pack of 27 open iron man racers throughout the morning in sportsman open number s21 vincent van binsbergen led the entire first lap butt number s64 johnny deegan finally caught him and passed him near race mile 10 on lap two kyle adams shannon sawyer and gage matthews all remained in the top five as they approached the halfway point of the race [Music] it's saturday december 4th 10 a.m for only the 35th time since 1968 70 fire-breathing unlimited race vehicles representing seven classes from 15 different states and six countries were preparing to launch off the start line at the 53rd annual bf goodrich tires min 400. all of the unlimited warriors would raise four brutal 100 mile laps around the unrelenting car and truck course for a total of 400 miles nearly 30 percent of the course this year was new which helped level the playing field first off the line was defending mint 400 champion and the fastest qualifier this year luke mcmillan luke had earned clean air and would be tough to catch if he had no mistakes behind him it was the goat rob mccachren lined up against the dark horse harley leitner in the number 70 truck of kevin thompson rob went wide on turn two and leitner was able to take the lead leaving the infield then it was eric houstead in the number 38 truck who went door to door with number 32 arcierro houstead took the lead heading out of the infield two by two they rocketed off the start tracy graff got in front of robert johnston then it was kyle jurgensen who just inched ahead of coal pots followed by the legend of larry rossler who bested steve olagus in his number 27 ford truck but only by a tiny margin the unlimited roster this year was overflowing with talent ross maddox sam baldi sterling miller zach langley kevin adler bernard steinman and three-time mint 400 champ justin lofton all attacked the dirt ready to wage war on the famous desert racecourse behind the unlimited class came wave after wave of talented racers in the unlimited truck legends class class 1 unlimited truck spec class 10 and class 8. the mint 400 course was now buzzing with the sound of unrestricted 1000 horsepower motors tearing through the desert at breakneck speeds but only half of these battle-ready racers would survive the day minutes into the race there was already drama unfolding number 70 harley leitner who was sitting in second place was suddenly forced to pull over at race mile 8 due to an overheating issue the team frantically inspected their engine compartment and found some of their wiring had melted it was a tragic and frustrating end to their race not long after tracy graf was forced to pull over just after race mile 12 with a mechanical issue as well he was running fifth at the time he spent nearly 36 minutes making repairs to his truck falling way behind to the back of the pack in true canadian fashion graff refused to quit and resumed racing at full speed up ahead luke mcmillan was in full command of the opening lap he was a few miles ahead of number 11 rob mccarron number 38 eric husted number 32 ryan arciero number 12 robert johnston and kyle jurgensen rob ryan and kyle had each lost the mint previously on the final lap of the race and knew that 350 plus more race miles meant that anything could happen in unlimited spec brent fox put his uncontested starting position to work early but he had bear nunley on his tail for most of the first lap they had a few miles of cushion ahead of allen levinson and carrie chrisman who were running in front of the chase pack that included five other trucks meanwhile in class one casey curry led his race thus far for all of lap one in his class one jeep buggy he was tailed closely by number 150 morgan langley and max peltzer bailey campbell and michael fry meanwhile would battle most of lap one campbell made the pass near race mile 68 and she began to run down peltzer towards the end of lap one she then made a calculated move to pass max in the main pit and moved into third the class 10 racing on lap one was intense the entire pack stayed within minutes of each other and was led by chase warren chase was followed closely by jared teague as well as mike coulter and timothy craig wheeler morgan got by craig early on and slid into fourth physically towards the end of lap one warren remained out front while coulter had moved into second ahead of morgan nt preston brigman meanwhile remained in the hunt in fifth [Music] over on the mint 400 motorcycle course things were starting to heat up of the nearly 100 racers that started the race over 30 percent had succumbed to mechanical issues or physical exhaustion in the pro open class danny cooper remained out front after battling jacob argobrite all morning he had a lead of just over a minute and remained physically out front both racers had a half lap lead over the next pro racer scott moses in the pro ladies class krista conway had run away with her race and would now be impossible to beat and in sportsman open iron man number i-58 nate van der vleet now had a commanding lead on lap five he was four miles ahead of mark roth who was running in second place the two made it out of the pit prior to pro open leader danny cooper coming through but the rest of the class would end up settling for four laps for their grand prix finish in the hooligan open class mikey hill jumped out to a very healthy lead on their final lap jordan graham was not about to give up though and he remained a few miles on his tail it was ducati versus harley and neither racer backed off the throttle tony nolan meanwhile had moved out in front in the sportsman 201 300cc class and in sportsman ladies allison cliff jennings was dominating all of the motor racers grabbed a gear and made the final push to the finish line [Music] it's lap two of the unlimited race and the current reigning mint 400 champion luke mcmillan driving the number one unlimited truck is sitting a few precious minutes ahead of the greatest off-road racer in recent history and former mint 400 champion rob mccarron and they are both being pursued by not one but two dark horses in the race number 38 eric houstead and number 32 ryan arciero who remained dangerously close to luke and rob a single flat tire or mistake could cost anyone the race at this point behind the leader set a chase pack made up of some dangerous ringers as well robert johnston was having a heck of a race he was sitting fifth in front of kyle jurgensen cole potts and larry rossler any of whom were capable of taking the lead from the men out front any minute in the unlimited spec class meanwhile it was number 275 brent fox and number 215 bear nunley who led the first 32 miles of lap two ahead of a field of 18 other trucks but nunley was forced to pull over and alan levinson and michael pyle got by him james scully then got by him 10 miles later and then it was michael pyle who was forced to pull over both nunley and pyle would succumb to mechanical gremlins a bittersweet finish to their race this year after the shakeup it was brent fox still out front with levinson and scully right on his tail they had a six mile lead over householder and chrisman who rounded out the top five meanwhile in class one casey curry still had a commanding lead over the field he was being chased by number 150 morgan langley and the two of them were 11 miles ahead of third place bayley campbell by race mile 20. in the meantime in class 10 chase warren was still running ahead of the chase pack with an eight mile lead mike coulter held down second place but he had wheeler morgan and preston brigman right on his tail jarrod teague and scott christensen were still in the fight as well the order remained unchanged as the pack of class 10 racers charged through the main pit and out on their third lap in the unlimited legends class thomas victor had a commanding lead over robert malone the two were battling for bragging rights and a chance to finish in the top 10 overall in the unlimited race and back in class 8 brian blakemore had given it everything he had all day but his truck finally succumbed to mechanical issues on his second lap back up in the lead pack of unlimited racers luke mcmillan had come through the main pit but had not stopped for fuel or tires it was a calculated move to prevent rob mccarron from passing him rob kept going as well and they both left the infield and back out on course for lap three in a hail of dirt [Music] both eric houstead and ryan arciero remained in the third and fourth positions and they both pitted quickly and were back out on course kyle jurgensen robert johnston cole potts and larry rossler were still in the mix as well but it was bernard steinman that caught the attention of race fans at the end of lap two bernard had moved from a 20th starting position to fifth on corrected time he was driving an all-new herbs smith unlimited truck for people's racing steiman was making a statement [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] the road to the mint 400 begins with preparing a race vehicle that can survive the brutal and punishing nevada desert and at the heart of every race car is the motor and powertrain the father and son team of fritz and kevin croyer have been building motors and powertrain packages at the elite level for decades and have a long and storied connection to the great american off-road race off-road racing has been kind of a family deal for a long time my father who moved us from canada in the 60s to the united states was working at a volkswagen dealership and through the volkswagen dealership he met another mechanic who had an off-road car and they wanted to go race the ball 500 i think that was 1967. so i was four at the time didn't even know what it was that we were doing but kind of grew up around it rob was semi-famous when i went to work for walker evans and my first professional job in motorsports was working for walker evans prepping the truck for rob mack in 1986 and 87 i raced for michael gahn who sponsored walker evans and through that relationship walker evans hired me and i went to work there driving short car trucks in the mickey thompson series and desert trucks ways that's kevin and i's first uh you know knowledge of each other and working together and in 2009 i think it was i ended up approaching kevin and talking to him about doing my motors again and i ended up taking to lunch and talking about everything and we sat down and you know we never we didn't know where was really going to go but he said hey you're not going to know unless you try it so i knew kevin shoppe was second to none at that time and the year prior to that when menzies steve menzies was starting his own team and he said hey where do we go for motors and i go there's only one choice really in my mind right now and that's kevin croyer the history croyer has with not only off-road racing but other avenues of automotive racing is incredible you know he's been around he's learned a lot and for me you know i take racing very seriously the amount of trust we have with kroyer if you really look at our truck we've brought in a lot of things in-house we've redone a lot of things ourselves and when it comes down to it our race truck is mcmillan and kroyer powered you know it's both of us it's our two teams it's our prep team and then it's his drive train that really comes together and with those two teams it's pretty unbeatable in my opinion he's got to be able to supply me a package that i can go and race as hard as i need to without thinking about the drivetrain but putting my head down to go race and be confident that we have the most reliable drivetrain possible i've been working with a lot of different teams over the years and and tires are definitely one of the things that will make or break your race you used to be you were a transmission change away from winning a race now you're a flat tire away from winning a race we've worked on our powertrain to obviously be reliable to be able to go a thousand miles bf cartridges have that same passion of working on their tires as the sun began to dip low in the cool western sky most of the motor racers had been competing for well over seven hours in the pro class danny cooper and jacob argebreite had been trading the lead on corrected time all day it was a stunning performance for both racers who were the only two to complete six laps at the race this year but as they rounded the final turn and crossed the finish line it was danny cooper who would eke out the victory argobrite would end up second on the box ahead of number five scott moses who took third in the pro ladies class krista conway finished first ahead of second place ashley ross and in the sportsman open iron man number i-58 nate vanderbleet would take the first place spot ahead of mark roth and david smith gage matthews took the overall victory in the sportsman open class and jason mount pulled out the win in the sportsman over 30. [Music] in the hooligan enduro class it was number h-106 brad huffnagle who managed to pull ahead and take the win over tyler valentick and his brother david huffnagel and number h0963 mikey hill would take home his second mint 400 victory here's a look at all of the winners from this year's bf goodrich tires mint 400 motorcycle race for third generation off-road champion luke mcmillan nothing about a success has come easy he rose up through the ranks of the sport with the support of friends and family but it took patience and perseverance to rise to the top of the podium for luke winning the mint 400 in 2020 was a crowning achievement to an already impressive career but like his father mark cousin andy and grandfather corki before him one mint 400 victory is simply not enough to satisfy him everything i did was based around off-road racing when i was in school i was daydreaming about racing but i didn't play sports i wasn't super into sports i was thinking about racing from when i was five years old to where i am now in that entire journey of racing limited cars and watching my dad race and then getting up into the trophy trucks it's really been a seamless lesson for me to to progress as a racer driving 1600 just really helped me develop those skills behind the wheel to read the terrain and and to work my way up you know i have a ton of respect for those limited car racers because they're gnarly they're just as talented as the as the unlimited racers it's a different skill set for sure but it's it's really interesting and i'm thankful that i had to start down at 1600. 2012 came around and uh my dad made the decision he's all right why don't you go ahead and hop in the class one car and uh so now i'm in the class one car which are the cars i watched my dad race in growing up and that exact car we call it j3 uh he raced in it my brother raced in it and now i'm racing in it we swept the mexico series that year we won three in a row the 250 500 000 with justin smith and uh from there you know i honestly i would get to the finish line and you know as humbly as i could say it was that was easy i'm i'm ready for the next step so you know i only raised four races in class one we won three of them second place at one of the 250s and then it was then it was onto trophy trucks so it really progressed fast for me but you know like i said from five years old to where i am now in the trophy truck only 27 years old i do believe that i have 25 years of experience in racing [Music] our family has been consistently running bff rich tires for over 30 years my dad won them their first baja 1000 back in 1986 which was super cool and have bhe continuing to come back and support our family and win another baja 1000 and mit 400 with them is really cool 2014 came around and i got the opportunity to build my first trophy truck and that's a trophy truck 83. i went out and i drove all different kinds of uh trucks a lot of different builders were talking to me you know mike jolson and david id and stuff um you know calling me hey build my truck build my truck and they could see i had a future in this well i went out and i drove four or five different trophy trucks and i ended up with a racer engineering truck i i liked the way the thing drove it was super stable you know and at that time i loved that truck i loved everything about it i wasn't an engineer i wasn't a genius at these trucks but i'd look at it and a lot of the ideas that i that i had in my head were on that truck so the three things are in line you know i'm building this chassis i got a great drive train i got a great team let's go win some races um that's not that didn't happen that didn't happen at all i had a lot of success in the in the classes before and uh we built this truck and i think it was just the off-road gods basically saying this isn't going to come easy for you you know and it didn't 2015 2016 were super tough years in those years with the dnfs i said i need to understand what's going on there's only so many parts on this trophy truck i'm not letting another part take me out i'm not letting another quality control thing from an outside vendor from my team whatever it is i'm ready to take control of the situation i was at the race shop every day helping analyze you know what was going on just listening and learning from our team manager and our mechanics and and then just traveling around the off-road industry talking to people and uh really understanding what was going on so i dove in um started making our own parts at the shop along with a crew that helps me you know i don't do any of the single-handed lead we're going to go through the ringer and we're going to understand how to make this truck a winning and finishing truck [Music] we went on to win the mint 400 in 2020 which was an unreal feeling and that's what really kicked us off again for 2020. it was gnarly it was rough it was getting squared it's the meant 400 it's a long race so we just got to keep our heads down we got to keep going it wasn't until about 30 miles to go that we ended up passing our sierra who also pulled off with a flat tire we passed them for the lead and i remember my my response every time i've been in the lead has been the same thing i looked i told duncan said don't say a word little did i know we were on the live feed and everyone at home was watching this whole thing and all of a sudden everyone's phone goes off apparently luke's leading and we rolled off that jump and that just kicked off the excitement of winning so we won them at 400. [Music] mark mcmillan pulling into victory lane for the overall championship let's go to jerry garrett well mark you broke the hdra victory drought that you had back here with the gold coast race now you won the overall looks like in the mid-400 well i sure hope i have i understand there's a car right behind me but i think i'm going to have him beat on time and this is going to be one of the sweetest victories for us since our first ball 1 000 overall and uh it's been hard earned people say that mark mcmillan is a good driver and a fast stuff but you had a lot of tough slow stuff today to overcome too didn't you well it was a typical mint rough course and for a lot of years the people thought the mcmillan did the mcmillans didn't prepare a car for the high desert just for mexico well we can prepare a car to beat anybody anywhere it's pretty amazing to think there's 32 years separating that win but really it's the same idea of what it takes to win that race we always go back for the challenge because it's it's exactly that it's a challenge and it's a it's an iconic course that at the end of the day it's got a little bit of everything in it it's got a fun sand wash up behind the mountains it's got a fun road two-track road back there some gnarly whoops square edge whoops that consistently get bigger and bigger which is pushing our equipment to get better and better which is also kind of cool this this course is continuing to develop and you know the direction maybe that's not so fun but making it even more and more of a challenge you go through the rock quarry and stuff and getting out of there the silt and the rocks are gnarly i mean yeah there may be bigger silk beds in baja and stuff but i know for sure every time i get out of that rock quarry i make a couple of those right-hand turns and i'm in the silt ruts and i'm going god i know there's basketball-sized boulders hidden in this silt you can say what you want about the chorus you might want to claim that it's easy but even last year the lead changed the physical lead changed three or four times from flat tires every lap we go around it can be different and that's what's challenging about the mint and that's just another aspect that you know we go for for the adventure it's lap after lap it's four laps of absolutely gnarly terrain what was really cool about the mint 400 was not only did it come down to the last lap in the last 30 miles but the best of the best were there you know bryce menzies was there with the mason all-wheel drive that that's a top-notch team and a top-notch truck in his own backyard he's like it's going to be tough to take him down ryan r cereal is out there rob mccackern the winningest trophy truck driver of all times there it's going to be no easy feat [Music] i think it's safe to say tires are one of the most important aspects of the truck i mean if not the most important it's the only thing you know connecting your truck to the ground and at the end of the day you know that the brutal terrain we go through through the ruts and the rocks and all this stuff the tires are what's really taking the brunt of it without a doubt the bf goodrich tire is a major advantage and unless i really deserve and earn a flat tire which happens you know we're out there racing we're pushing hard and you get crossed up and you smack a boulder uh you might earn a flat tire but what's not going to happen with the bfgoodrich tire is a mystery flat you're not going to go down the road and if we're being cautious and we're feeling good that you know we're doing a good job dodging the rocks and being patient and all that good stuff you're not going to get a flat tire [Applause] while the motorcycle team streamed into the finish the unlimited lead pack was now halfway through lap three 2020 mint 400 champion luke mcmillan was still out front but he had rob mccachren breathing down his neck and just behind rob was eric houstead and ryan arciero two guys that at any moment could pounce on the leaders and move ahead meanwhile back near race mile 15 kyle jurgensen was forced to pull over it was a tough break for the racer who ran in the lead pack for much of 2020 and was an odds-on favorite this year as well he dropped down to ninth but was not out of the race yet up ahead race leader luke mcmillan finally pulled into the gene hurst pit and took on fuel and tires by his seasoned pit crew rob mack however did not stop and stayed right on luke's tail behind the leaders and lead chase packs had a group of hungry unlimited racers ready to capitalize on any mistakes justin lofton a three-time mint 400 champ had clawed his way from 22nd all the way up to 11th on lap 3 and was running strong as was sam baldi who started 31st and was now 14th on corrected time steve olagus was having a good run too he was now in 16th after starting 36th off the line and zach langley was still in the hunt as well driving the number 51 cops racing truck in memory of his father john langley alexander wacker was still fighting the good fight and tracy graf hadn't quit despite being down early for nearly 40 minutes in the unlimited spec class meanwhile brent fox continued to put on a clinic on how to dominate a race he was several miles ahead of james scully who sat in second place defending mint 400 champion terry householder was right on his bumper however waiting for him to get a flat or make a mistake on the dark and treacherous race course las vegas sheriff and mint 400 grand marshal joe lombardo suddenly emerged in fourth place ahead of a vicious chase pack of racers joe was able to hold them off all the way into the main pit but brent fox was on a tear and nearly 30 miles ahead of all of them at the start of lap four meanwhile in class one casey curry had completely run away with the race he was 50 miles ahead of the chase pack and showed no signs of slowing down michael fry sat in second place just ahead of max peltzer but morgan langley and bayley campbell were still in the fight langley passed peltzer near race mile 16 and held down second place all the way to race mile 49 but was forced to pull off due to mechanical gremlins and retire from the race back up in the lead pack of unlimited racers luke mcmillan remained out front with a three-mile lead over rob mccacron as they came into the main pit to prepare for their final lap neither racer pitted behind them ryan arciero passed eric husted and now sat in third housted was having major mechanical issues and as he came into the main pit area he was forced to pull over and retire from the race it was now mcmillan mccarron arciero cole potts and bernard steinman in class 10 chase warren was still ahead of the chase pack but his lead had been cut down to six miles wheeler morgan moved out in front of mike coulter and preston brigman sat in third place jared teague and scott christensen were still running in the top five the class 10 racers ripped into and out of the main pit and it was chase warren wheeler morgan and now preston brigman in third [Applause] [Music] it's the final lap of the most challenging and destructive off-road race in america and less than half of the trucks who started the race are still running what started as a challenging race course at 10 am has now completely disintegrated into an absolute horror show of dirt gravel three foot ruts loose rock and thick silt each lap at the mint 400 brings with it more wear and tear up ahead in the lead pack luke mcmillan was now battling his nerves his equipment mother nature and the greatest off-road racer of all time rob mccachren who was right on his tail like a shark hunting its prey rob had been patiently tailing luke for almost the entire race waiting for a flat tire a bobbled pit stop or some other mistake but the steely eyed macmillan had been in this position before and he was not about to throw away a back-to-back victory at the great american off-road race behind them said ryan arciero the third place finisher from 2020 a man who just like luke was leading the race on the final lap last year when it all went wrong if anyone was ready to jump on the leaders and take the win it was ryan he was 14 miles ahead of bernard steinman who had qualified and started 20th and ground his way up to fourth place behind the leaders it was cole potts larry rossler and kyle jurgensen who had made a remarkable comeback since being down early on and robert johnston this race was not over yet back up in the lead pack of unlimited racers near race mile 60 luke mcmillan remained two miles ahead of rob mccarron but luke knew he needed to remain at least one minute ahead of rob in order to win the race on corrected time suddenly just past race mile 63 in the quarry luke was forced to stop to replace a flat tire his co-driver dove out of the truck and in less than 90 seconds had it fixed however rob had made a precious time on the leaders he was now winning the race on corrected time all luke could do was stabbed the throttle pedal and hoped for the best he had less than 30 miles to make up 60 seconds or more it was going to be very close rob shadowed luke for the next 40 minutes each time the young macmillan would pull away rob would reel him back in at race mile 91 they hit the speed zone and luke knew it was all over there was no way to make up 60 seconds in the infield at the mint the two came over the bridge into the infield and then the unthinkable happened rob inadvertently tapped luke from behind and due to the narrow coarse and soft sand luke caught an edge and rolled over rob immediately slammed on the brakes and jumped out of his truck to ensure luke and his co-driver were not hurt two precious minutes ticked off as rob and luke argued about rob finishing the race ryan arciero meanwhile had hit race mile 90 and was closing on them both rob left luke in the capable hands of the mint 400 retrieval staff who rolled luke back over and got him headed towards the finish line what happened next was the ultimate display of sportsmanship and class rob took the finish and the win but invited his friend and fellow racer on to the finished stage to tell the story of their race and share the glory of the moment [Applause] you know to let you know what happened uh just in a battle all day with luke mcmillan and uh the last lap you know we closed it on him in the dust and got right up behind him going across the bridge and in coming in and ended up he was behind someone else and and uh you know i guess he just kind of surprised me maybe checking up a little bit more than i thought he would and i got into the back of him and flipped him over and we stopped cut out to help him get it turned back over and he kept trying to get me back in my truck to send me you know get out of here go and i didn't want to go the only part about this that makes it okay is we had him on time at the time so all i had to really do is get in you know follow him into the finish line but um the mcmillan family is you know they're some of the best people on the face of this earth got to thank all the fans bf goodrich tires my son rode it's difficult for both of us but um again you know luke helped me at the ball 1000 he ran my number on his truck number 11 and we he helped win the championship there and that's one hell of a family i can't you know thank those guys enough for everything they've done and they're such good people you know awesome but anyways thank you ryanair sierra would end up second and luke mcmillan third after the final timing was calculated in class one casey curry had run a flawless race all day leading from pole to pole he finished over an hour ahead of the next racer adam lund who bested michael fry for 20 minutes max peltzer and bailey campbell would round the top five and in class 10 chase warren took home another mint 400 victory preston brigman ended up in second place just ahead of mike coulter it was a clean sweep for alumacraft this year here's a look at the top finishers from every class for the 2021 bf goodrich tires mint 400 unlimited race while the unlimited class winners and their families began to celebrate there were many teams still on the course that would be racing right up until the finish line closed just finishing the mint is an incredible achievement and this year was by far one of the most difficult on record [Music] the great american off-road race will return to las vegas march 9th through the 13th in 2022 visit the mint 400. or facebook.com the mint 400 for complete details [Music] so [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] so [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: The Mint 400

Views: 17,713

Keywords: Mint 400, BFGoodrich Tires, Mad Media

Id: p7nn364w-PI

Length: 67min 34sec (4054 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 28 2022