While the Limiteds start at 6am, the Unlimited classes don’t start until 12pm. This separation prevents the faster vehicles from running into those far more limited vehicles and causing issues for both. On Saturday morning, everyone treks down south on the I-15 to Primm, NV and the staging area for The Mint 400.There are two stages for the race: the slower Limited Classes, where the UTVs, Buggies, Vintage, and Stock race, and the fastest Unlimited Classes, where the Trick Trucks, Unlimited Buggies, Ultra4s, and Trophy Spec classes run. The ladder format whittles teams down to two of the fastest finalists with the winning teams taking home prize money. This is also where the crews get to shine as the Pit Crew Challenge takes place later that night. ![]() Fans stand in lines to get autographs from their favorite racers after the trucks are staged up again. This gives the race maximum exposure and allows fans, both familiar and unfamiliar, a chance to see these machines up close before qualifying and race days.Īfter Friday’s qualifying just outside of Las Vegas, not far from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the crews and machines come back to Fremont to announce the starting order for Trick Truck, Unlimited, and Trophy Spec. There, they are inspected, and contingency is officiated rather than near the race staging area in Primm. A section of the world famous street is closed down just for The Mint. Prior to contingency, the vehicles are lined up at the start of The Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard and escorted down to Fremont Street. In 2012, the late Casey Folks, a veteran off-road motorcycle racer and owner of the Best in the Desert (BITD) joined the Martellis to sanction the event. Two things separate the Mint 400 and other off-road races in the United States, and that is the use of Fremont Street and the race vehicle parade. Then, in 2008, the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts (SNORE) revived the historic race with the Martelli Brothers, Joshua and Matt promoting and producing it. No motorcycles thumping through whoops, no trucks roaring through the berms, no Baja Bugs flinging sand. Unfortunately, after 1989, there was no Mint 400 run.įor nearly twenty years, the race course that made up the famous race was silent. With all of that success, you’d think the Mint was around those entire 50 years. It was an overnight success and even inspired “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” the cult classic written by gonzo journalist Hunter S. The original race was run from the Mint to the Sahara Hotel in Lake Tahoe, CA with two matching dune buggies racing across 600-miles of open desert. The Mint 400 started out as a promotion for Del Webb’s Mint Hotel in downtown Las Vegas in 1967 and was organized and promoted by Norm Johnson. ![]() ![]() And 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the “Great American Off-Road Race.” The history, the glamor, and the glitz all describe Las Vegas but each of these terms that can also be applied to the Mint 400. The Mint 400 queens were an intregal part of the publicity and advertising for the race and added a little glamour to the dust and dirt event.Mint Condition: The 50th Anniversary Mint 400 Written By: Larry Chen Glitter Gulch, in front of the Mint Hotel was closed while the vehicles paraded through downtown Las Vegas before the start of the race, getting their last minute "harrahs". The deserts around Las Vegas became a race course for hundreds of dune buggies and motorcycles every spring. The Mint 400 was the biggest and richest off-road race in America from the late 60's until the mid 80's.
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