Category: Desert Racing

The BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 returns to Las Vegas, Nevada this week, March 3rd-8th. The Great American Off-Road Race™ will be held Friday, March 6th and Saturday March 7th in Primm, NV with pre-race festivities beginning earlier in the week on Fremont Street East in downtown Las Vegas.. The massive field of over 400 hundred race teams including car, truck, motorcycle and youth classes. The world famous Mint 400 has always attracted celebrities and racers from around the globe. This Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes, and  UFC superstars Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Brian “T-City” Ortega will all join the field of racers.

Click here for the full 2020 Schedule of Events

The inaugural “Mint 400 Desert Rally” was held in Las Vegas in 1968 as a way to promote The Mint Hotel and Las Vegas Gun Club. The race has a rich and storied history, and has once again become the largest and most important off-road race in the world. The event attracts over 65,000 spectators to Las Vegas for the race and week long activities. It features a massive field of five hundred and fifty teams competing across an incredible fifty individual classes, including motorcycles which have be reintroduced to the Mint last year for the first time since 1976. The 108-mile loop that extends from the California-Nevada state line in Primm to the Southern edge of Las Vegas in Jean, NV is considered the most grueling and challenging off-road race course in America. With five massive spectator areas, The Mint 400 puts fans safely in front of thrilling off-road racing action.

Click here to purchase a Jean parking pass, Primm Start/Finish Line Ticket or a Primm VIP Hospitality pass.

The Mint 400 is the ultimate family friendly motorsport event. Start/Finish Line Tickets in Primm, NV are $10 online or $15 at the door. Parking tickets are $30 per vehicle for access to the five dedicated spectator areas in Jean, NV.   VIP packages are available for race days at the official Primm Valley Resorts Start/Finish Line. Led by Michelin star chef Drew Deckman, the Mint 400 VIP package is the ultimate way for fans to experience the event featuring premium food, drink, and comfort.

The Mint 400 will kick off on Wednesday, March 4th, when 125 of the planet’s toughest off-road race vehicles parade down the world-famous Las Vegas Strip during the Mint 400 Vehicle Parade. The parade will begin near Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and stretch all the way to the Fremont East district in downtown Las Vegas. Over forty million dollars of machinery will be on display. Immediately following the parade the official Mint 400 kicks off at Hogs & Heifers Saloon beginning at 3pm followed by The Dinner of Champions at 7pm at La Monja Cantina featuring Chefs Dan Krohmer And Drew Deckman.

Click here to purchase tickets for Dinner of champions

The Method Race Wheels Time Trials will take place on Thursday, March 5th at 10:30AM to set race day starting positions for over one hundred Unlimited Truck, Class 1, Baja Truck and Class 6100 racers. Fans can watch the Livestream online for free at Themint400.com.

Later that night at 7:00pm on 9th and Fremont, the Amsoil Pit Crew Challenge returns where top Baja Truck and Unlimited Truck pit crews will throw down to see who is the fastest pit crew in off-road. Rockers The Eagles of Death Metal will play a free concert following the Amsoil Pit Crew Challenge.

The two day Mint 400 Off-road Festival will be held Thursday, March 5th and Friday, March 6th and feature nearly two hundred of the top aftermarket off-road companies on Fremont Street East from Las Vegas Boulevard to 11th Street. Each of the three hundred plus teams will parade in front of twenty five thousand off-road fans daily, on their way to technical inspection at the end of the festival. This year’s off-road festival will feature a new art display dubbed “The Art of War” featuring works by artist Stefan Marjoram available for purchase alongside custom Mint 400 merch.  The event is free and open to the public.

The Mint 400 will feature two exciting races on both Friday, March 6th and Saturday March 7th. The 2020 Grand Marshal and off-road racing legend Bruce Meyers will be at the start line to waive the green flag, launching the massive field of racers into the brutal Nevada desert. For the second time since 1976, the motorcycles are returning to The Great American Off-Road Race™ and will start off the line at 7:00AM on Friday, followed by the limited four wheel vehicles beginning at 12:30pm. On Saturday, four wheel racing resumes at 6am with the Pro UTV Classes and more limited race vehicles. Then on Saturday afternoon at 11:30am, the entire weekend culminates with the unlimited truck race for all the glory.

The Mint 400 has expanded their live stream coverage to include two days of fantastic race action. The two-day format will build on the storied events wildly successful live stream roll out, that reached over a quarter of a million unique visitors in 2018. This year’s program will be available on TheMint400.com as well as select sponsor websites, YouTube and Facebook, and fans will be able to tune in on their computers and handheld devices from anywhere in the world to follow The Great American Off-Road Race™. On air talent will include Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli, Motorsport radio star Jim Beaver off-road cultural icon Bob Bower, Ultra-4 competitor and KOH announcer Jim Marsden, and roving pit reporters Tiffany Stone and Ryan Thomas. You can watch the livestream for free on live.TheMint400.com or download the Mint 400 app from the Apple app store.

About The Mint 400 Known as “The Great American Off-Road Race™,” The Mint 400 is the most celebrated, prestigious, and challenging off-road race on the planet. This annual four-hundred mile marathon between the top off-road racers in the world includes over four hundred and fifty race teams in twenty-four different classes of off-road vehicles. Established in 1968, 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 world’s best off-road race teams do battle at The Mint 400! About Mad Media Established in 1995, Mad Media is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, specializing in adrenalized film and television production. Owners Matt and Josh Martelli have spent over two decades crafting authentic, culturally engaging brand messages in print, web, photography, and film platforms for some of the worlds top brands including Red Bull, BFGoodrich Tires, and Polaris Industries.  Mad Media’s viral film projects, such as the Gymkhana series and XP1K series, have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. From their early days as pioneers of branded viral video content for skateboard companies Osiris and Expedition, to their most recent work spreading the gospel of off-road racing with the world famous Mint 400, Mad Media remains a powerhouse pioneer of digital media.

• The BFGoodrich MINT 400 race and Republic Services will host a desert cleanup Feb. 29
• Event has removed more than 140,000 pounds of trash from the desert over multiple years
• BFGoodrich helps in the cleanup and rewards volunteers with a chance to win tires

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 24, 2020 ― Hundreds of off-road racing fans will show their appreciation for the Mojave Desert on Saturday, Feb. 29, by cleaning up tons of trash illegally dumped near the MINT 400 race course before the race even begins.

The BFGoodrich MINT 400, known as the Great American Off-Road Race, and Republic Services, a waste solutions company, have made an annual tradition of cleaning up the desert before the race.

Republic Services is providing large dumpsters and hauling out the collected waste. BFGoodrich, the title sponsor of the race and leading tire brand in off-road racing, has joined in the effort by providing employee volunteers and a set of tires to raffle off to volunteers after the event.

The MINT 400 runs through the picturesque Mojave Desert south of Las Vegas. Most of the land is open to the public and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Unfortunately, many of these public lands become dumping grounds in the months before and after the race, with everything from furniture, large appliances and even vehicles illegally discarded.

“BFGoodrich has called the desert home for more than 40 years,” said Harold Phillips, global general manager for BFGoodrich Tires. “Desert racing has served as a real-world R&D laboratory for the brand, resulting in the toughest off-road tires in the market today. Supporting the cleanup is a natural fit for a brand that has a love of the desert found in its DNA.”

If you’re in the Las Vegas area and want to join BFGoodrich Tires, Republic Services, the MINT 400, and hundreds of volunteers clean up the desert on Saturday, register at themint400.com/donttrashthedesert/.

About BFGoodrich^® Tires

BFGoodrich is dedicated to providing high performance tires for those who have a passion for driving in virtually any environment. Combining technical expertise with 45 years of motorsports experience, BFGoodrich delivers tires for a full range of driving experiences from ultra-high performance street to off-road terrain with one common theme – extreme performance. Come upgrade your performance with BFGoodrich and see where our tires can take you at www.BFGoodrichTires.com, www.BFGoodrichRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/BFGoodrichTires or on Twitter or Instagram at @BFGoodrichTires.

The Great American Off-Road Race boasts expanded live streaming, two full days of action

Coming off of a 50th anniversary event that was heralded as one of the best in the sport, the BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 had high expectations to fulfill in 2019. From Wednesday’s parade down the Las Vegas Strip to Monday’s awards brunch in Primm, this year’s event elevated the standards yet again for a premier off-road event in the United States.

541 entries represented a triple-digit jump from last year’s Mint 400, boosted in part by the long-awaited return of motorcycles for the first time since 1976. But of those entries, representing dozens of classes in all disciplines of vehicles, only a handful of champions could be crowned. Those racers included Ricky Brabec, the Dakar Rally front-runner who gave Honda its first-ever motorcycle win at the Mint 400, and Justin Lofton, who became the first-ever three-time Mint 400 overall winner in Unlimited Truck alongside co-driver Derek Balcunas.

“This year’s BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 week went beyond our wildest expectations,” said Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli. “It was an incredible event from start to finish, and we couldn’t have done it without the incredible efforts of our entire crew. Congratulations to all of our finishers, and especially this year’s winners, including Justin Lofton, our first-ever three-time overall champion. We’ll see you again in 2020!”

The week began with the annual Ignite CBD Mint 400 Vehicle Parade, where 125 of this year’s entrants headed down the streets of Las Vegas before winding up at Atomic Liquors for the second annual Mint 400 Dinner of Champions. Thursday and Friday saw the Mint 400 Off-Road Festival powered by Rockford Fosgate take over Fremont Street, with an official proclamation from the city renaming the area “Mint 400 Boulevard” for the weekend. From racers going through tech and contingency to hundreds of displays from the foremost companies in off-road, as well as over 25,000 attendees, the event was a testament to the health and strength of the modern off-road industry.

Thursday was especially busy with Time Trials and the Pit Crew Challenge, both of which were supported by Method Race Wheels. The Unlimited Truck team of Jason Voss and Class 6100 team of Terry Householder each took home prizes worth nearly $20,000 for their respective top pit stops, while the midway point of the competition saw Bryce Menzies and Brock Heger announced as the fastest qualifiers on the four-mile time trial course.

Saturday and Sunday would see the action move to Primm and Jean, where a massive presence at the start/finish line and sold-out spectator areas allowed the fans to get up close to the competitors as they battled for the win. Saturday morning’s action saw the motorcycles take on an 80-mile course designed especially for them, while cars, trucks, and UTVs would tackle a 119-mile layout on Saturday afternoon and in two separate Sunday races.

Expanded live coverage was at the forefront of the many initiatives taken on by the Mint 400 team for 2019, and the coverage didn’t disappoint. Between Saturday and Sunday, the Mad Media team produced nearly 18 hours of streaming content, utilizing two dozen live cameras—including two helicopters and two drones—and nearly five dozen GoPros to bring the story of this year’s Great American Off-Road Race to life. From breathtaking live shots of the sport’s fastest vehicles barreling through the desert to studio interviews with event legends and race winners, this year’s live show set a new standard for what can be done with live production in off-road racing.

This year’s Mint 400 inspired a large contingent of big names to compete alongside off-road regulars, from 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button to two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. Both were able to take the checkered flag on Sunday, with Velasquez placing second in Class 5500 and Button cracking the top 20 in Class 6100 despite limited testing.

About The Mint 400 Known as “The Great American Off-Road Race™,” The Mint 400 is the most celebrated, prestigious, and challenging off-road race on the planet. This annual four-hundred mile marathon between the top off-road racers in the world includes over four hundred and fifty race teams in twenty-four different classes of off-road vehicles. Established in 1968, 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 world’s best off-road race teams do battle at The Mint 400! About Mad Media Established in 1995, Mad Media is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, specializing in adrenalized film and television production. Owners Matt and Josh Martelli have spent over two decades crafting authentic, culturally engaging brand messages in print, web, photography, and film platforms for some of the worlds top brands including Red Bull, BFGoodrich Tires, and Polaris Industries.  Mad Media’s viral film projects, such as the Gymkhana series and XP1K series, have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. From their early days as pioneers of branded viral video content for skateboard companies Osiris and Expedition, to their most recent work spreading the gospel of off-road racing with the world famous Mint 400, Mad Media remains a powerhouse pioneer of digital media.

Fans looking to relive all of the action from this year’s BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 can visit themint400.com for live stream replays, photo galleries, and stories from this year’s running of the event. Stay tuned for updates and announcements about the 2020 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400!