LAS VEGAS, March 13, 2018 — BFGoodrich® Tires celebrated the 50th anniversary of the MINT 400 with a podium sweep amidst its first title sponsorship of the storied race. (more…)
The Mint 400 today announced FOX has returned as a supporting sponsor of the 2018 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 powered by Monster Energy. FOX designs and develops high performance shock absorbers and suspension products, offering the same technology designed to withstand the extreme conditions of off-road racing in a complete line of bolt-on, direct replacement shocks for your daily driver or UTV.
For the 6th consecutive year, FOX is putting up ten thousand dollars for the overall winner on FOX shocks. Additionally, the FOX Proving Grounds returns as the ultimate proving grounds in one of the toughest and most challenging sections of The Mint 400 race course.
FOX athletes have won the last five Mint 400 races overall – Rob MacCachren (2018), Justin Lofton (2017), Justin Lofton (2016), Andy McMillin (2014) and Bryce Menzies (2013). In the first Best in the Desert race of the year, Andy McMillin took home the overall win at the Parker 425. FOX also has swept all EMC and King of the Hammers races this year, with the major KOH win coming from Jason Scherer.
“FOX’s continued support for The Mint 400 has been instrumental in our growth. Without brands like FOX, we simply can’t do what we do. FOX has been in the shock game for over four decades and is a great example of a company that created a product specific to off-road racing and took it mainstream. Taking the overall win the last five years really proves their dominance in the sport,” commented Matt Martelli, Mint 400 CEO.
FOX has also stepped up to give each winner of the Method Race Wheels Pit Crew Challenge a set of Performance Series 2.0 Smooth Body IFP direct replacement shocks for trucks or SUV’s.
FOX will be giving away two Traxxas RC cars at Contingency on Thursday, March 8th & Friday, March 9th so come by and see FOX’s line of products on Fremont St. East and at the official Primm Valley Mint 400 Start/Finish Line in Primm, NV on Saturday, March 10th.
ABOUT FOX FACTORY HOLDING CORP. (NASDAQ:FOXF)
Headquartered in Scotts Valley, CA, FOX designs and manufactures high-performance suspension products primarily for mountain bikes, side-by-side vehicles, on-road and off-road vehicles and trucks, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, specialty vehicles and applications, and motorcycles. For more than three decades, FOX’s team of enthusiasts and professional athletes has been improving vehicle performance through a unique commitment to redefining ride dynamics.
About The Mint 400
Known as “The Great American Off-Road Race™,” The Mint 400 is the oldest, most prestigious, and most challenging off-road race on the planet. This annual four-hundred mile marathon between the top off-road racers in the world includes over three hundred and fifty race teams in twenty-four different classes of off-road vehicles. Established in 1967, The Mint 400 is steeped in American lore. Thousands of racers and celebrities from around the world have attempted to tame the brutal Nevada desert, but less than half of them have ever finished the Mint. An entire week of events lead up to the famed off-road contest in and around Las Vegas, including a vehicle parade down the Las Vegas Strip, a drivers meet and greet, a pit crew challenge contest, the Miss Mint 400 beauty pageant, massive parties, a qualifying race, and a huge ten-block “contingency” gathering on Fremont Street East. Over forty-thousand spectators gather to watch the worlds best off-road race teams do battle at The Mint 400!
About Mad Media
Mad Media (www.madmedia.com) is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, with in-house film and television production. We craft authentic, culturally engaging brand messages, and deliver them across print, web, photography, and film platforms. Mad Media has been leading the online content revolution since 1995 producing major commercial, television, online content and viral film projects such as The Gymkhana Series and XP1K Series.
Dougans Racing Engines went full force at Best in the Desert’s 2017 Vegas to Reno. Named the longest off-road race in the United States, it is naturally the most grueling as well. Of the 21 Dougans powered trick trucks that took the green flag, 18 finished finished led by second place finisher #4 Justin Matney & third place finisher #7 Bryce Menzies. (more…)
With a finishing time of 09:02:42.094, King Shocks’ Jason Voss earned the overall win at the 2017 Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno. The victory marks his fourth Vegas to Reno overall win in five years and distances himself further ahead in the 2017 overall Best in the Desert points championship.
Kicking off the weekend, King Shocks took seven of the top ten qualifying positions in the time trails event held at the notoriously rough APEX Road. Full of jumps, g-outs, whoops and overall nasty terrain, APEX weeds through the field and keeps the fastest racers up front.
“It’s always going to be rougher and more challenging qualifying at APEX and that’s how I like it knowing I’m equipped with one of the best trucks out there. I can’t say enough about King Shocks’ ability that allows me to push its limits. We were able to earn a third place starting position for race day and muscle our way to the front nearing the halfway point. From there, we held off Justin Matney for the overall. Four out of five years ain’t bad!” commented Jason Voss.
After a grueling 550 miles, Voss was first to the finish line in Dayton, NV, followed by King Shocks teammate Justin Matney. Matney started the race in seventh position and proved that the RPM Off-Road 4WD trick truck has its advantages in a race which winning pace was around 61mph. At race mile 300, Matney handed the truck off to Josh Daniel, who fell just short of catching Voss in the second half of the race by just +00:03:30. Vegas to Reno marks the second race in a row in which Matney has missed out on the overall by three minutes.
King Shocks also took the top five spots in Class 1500. #1589 Jon Walker took the class win by nearly four minutes over teammate #1549 Sam Berri. Youtheory Racing’s Harley Letner finished in third place and will keep his points lead in the overall points championship for Class 1500.
#6107 Steve Kovach destroyed the 6100 field, with second place finisher Carrie Smiley crossing the finish line +00:46:10 than Kovach’s pace.
About King Shocks
King Shocks makes world-class desert racing shocks for trucks, buggies and UTV’s. King manufactures and hand assembles all of their shocks in Southern California. King Shocks has been the industry leader for over a decade and continues to leave the competition in the dust by providing the level of quality, performance and customer service that champions demand.
After a grueling 550 miles, Jason Voss was first to the finish line in Dayton, NV and took home his fourth Vegas to Reno overall win in five years. Starting from third qualifying position, Voss quickly got out front physically nearing the halfway point and remained in position to take the overall win with a time of 09:02:27.
Second place finisher Justin Matney had one a strong performance in the #4 RPM Off-Road Trick Truck. Matney split seat time with Josh Daniel, who fell just short of catching Voss in the second half of the race. The duo’s spectacular performance finished just +00:03:30 off of Voss’ winning pace.
Bryce Menzies finished in third place after an unusually high (nine) amount of flats. Him & co-driver Pete Mortensen pushed on to secure the final spot on the podium, despite their significant down time.
Many classes are still battling it out in the Nevada desert. Click here for a full list of unofficial results as the finish.
The longest offroad race in America is now officially underway as 54 unlimited vehicles qualified this afternoon to see who would start first at the 2017 Best In The Desert Vegas To Reno race.
BITD setup the qualifying loop out at Apex once again in the same area as The Mint 400 time trials but changed it up a bit on the drivers by giving them a qualifying course with a few sections not used in a few years.
Rob MacCachren was the last driver to qualify as the team had to work on the truck in between the parade lap and his scheduled run. Even though he got the roughest course compared to all the other drivers he would walk away with the pole position finishing with a time of 4 minutes and 58 seconds.
About Race-Dezert.com
Race-Dezert.com was created by off-road enthusiasts, giving off-roaders a place online to share information about the sport and culture of off-road racing. Based in Southern California, Race-Dezert.com highlights the off-road disciplines of desert racing, short course off-road, stadium truck racing, rally raid, rally racing and rock crawling.
Our goal is to connect the world of off-road racing globally, bringing people together through the common denominator of off-road culture. Whether you are a racer, a promoter, a chase team member, a casual fan, or just interested in learning about off-road, Race-Dezert.com is a place where you can learn about the sport and culture of off-road racing.