ROLLING THE DICE AT THE MINT 400

BY: SHAUN OCHSNER PHOTOS: SHAUN OCHSNER & ERIC MINKS

Promoting any event is no easy task.

Promoting an off-road race is even harder. There are months of conference calls before permits are issued. Meetings and contracts with vendors. Logistics. Planning. The Martelli brothers have learned this over the years. Matt and Josh Martelli own the Mint 400. This year their job became even harder as they made the tough decision to handle race logistics, safety and staffing volunteer course crews in-house. In previous years, the brothers have relied on the Best in The Desert organization to handle those things. The Martelli brothers assembled a team of over 150 volunteers and 50 rescue personnel to staff the Mint during the race. THE MINT 400

The Mint 400 is still one of the most historic races in the United States. It all started in 1968 as an effort by Norm Johnson to promote the Mint hotel’s annual deer hunt. It wasn’t long before the event became a legitimate off-road race, attracting Hollywood celebrities with the annual Miss Mint competition. Legendary off-road racers still come to be part of the Mint 400. Race festivities for the Mint 400 kicked off with a parade of race vehicles down the famed Las Vegas Strip. Race fans and tourists lined parts of Las Vegas Boulevard to watch the vehicles drive towards downtown’s historic Fremont Street. For two days, race vehicles were pushed or drove down Fremont Street through a maze of vendors to a technical inspection and safety area where they were officially signed off for the race. While all of this was going on, qualifying was held in a secret location just north of Las Vegas for the unlimited vehicles. Harley Letner qualified the number 70 Concrete Motorsports Truck on top earning the team a start in clean air.

The Martelli brothers made some schedule changes allowing motorcycles to race Friday morning. In the afternoon, limited vehicles and UTV’s took to the course. After four laps on the 107-mile course, Branden Sims took the win. Sims started on the front row and held the lead through the entire race. Jacob Carver finished 12 minutes behind Sims for second place. Dalton Shirey took a win in the motorcycle class earlier in the day. Other wins went to Joe Fitos in the Trophy Lite class, Kevin Thompson in 1450 and Eric Palacios in Class 11. THE MINT 400

“I can’t believe it! We worked so hard. This truck, we built it in 2014, and I can’t believe we just won the Mint 400. That’s badass!” -Luke McMillin

The second day of racing saw the Unlimited vehicles out on the course. As the designated spectator areas filled up, dust began to fill the desert. The biggest names in off-road racing battled it out on the rough, grueling track. Harley Letner and the Concrete Motorsports Team were looking towards a victory until a head gasket would shut down all their hard work up front. Ryan Arciero, Luke McMillin and Bryce Menzies were within seconds of each other on the fourth lap. Arciero lost valuable time changing a flat tire which allowed McMillin to gain the lead and take the overall Mint 400 victory. Menzies finished in second place. Cody Parkhouse won Class 1 and Preston Brigman took a win in Class 10.