Category: Desert Racing

Travis Chase Wins BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 Saturday Afternoon Race

Will also compete in Class 6100 on Sunday afternoon

Travis Chase kicked off his quest for two class victories at the 2019 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 with success on Saturday afternoon. The Chase Motorsports driver and 2017 Class 5000 winner returned to the class for this year’s event and scored the unofficial victory alongside co-driver Jacob Lauxen over runner-up Christian Fessler.

“This was supposed to be a little jaunt around the park!” Chase joked from the podium. “It was tough out there, we were pushing hard, and there were a couple of lead changes. But we persevered, and pushed forward with our plan: push hard, mellow out towards the middle, and push hard again toward the finish. That’s what we did.

“The car was perfect, and we didn’t have to touch this thing all day. We didn’t have one flat. Today was great—everything was phenomenal.”

As he did at the Best in the Desert season-opening Parker 425, Chase plans to pull double duty in Class 5000 and Class 6100 in this year’s Mint 400. The Californian qualified 13th for tomorrow afternoon’s Class 6100 start order during Thursday’s Method Race Wheels Time Trials. He’ll be hoping to have a similar run to this afternoon’s event, where Chase’s advantage grew larger and larger as the race went on.

The first of three car, truck, and UTV races in this weekend’s event saw an even split of three-lap and two-lap classes. Classes 5000, 6000, 1100, 2000, UTV Unlimited, and UTV Sportsman ran three laps each, while nearly a dozen classes ran two laps. Despite losing an alternator on the first lap and having to push their Class 4700 truck off the podium, Bunch Racing was unofficially the top overall finisher in the two-lap race.The 2019 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 continues on Sunday with two more races, kicking off at 6AM with seven classes including both premier UTV classes and continuing at 1:30PM with the premier Unlimited Trucks headlining five of the fastest classes in the sport. Fans can watch the official live stream starting at 9:30AM, and follow along with timing and scoring all day long, at themint400.com/live.

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.

March 11, 2019

The 2019 BFGoodrich Mint 400 powered by Monster Energy Roars Back into Las Vegas, March 6-10

Over $600,000 in contingency money offered up to Mint 400 racers

The BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 powered by Monster Energy returns to Las Vegas, Nevada this week, March 6-10. The Great American Off-Road Race™ will be held Saturday, March 9 and Sunday March 10 in Primm, NV with pre-race festivities beginning earlier in the week on Fremont Street East in downtown Las Vegas.. The massive field of nearly five hundred and fifty race teams includes fifty unlimited trucks, fifty 6100 trucks and nearly one hundred and fifty UTV’s. The world famous Mint 400 has always attracted celebrities and racers from around the globe. This year Formula One Champion Jenson Button, NASCAR Racer Casey Mears, and two time UFC Champion Cain Velasquez will all join the field of racers.

Click here for the full 2019 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 this year for the first time since 1976. The 90-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 $40 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 6th, when 125 of the planet’s toughest off-road race vehicles parade down the world-famous Las Vegas Strip during the Ignite CBD 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.

The Method Race Wheels Time Trials will take place on Thursday, March 7th at 9:00AM to set race day starting positions for over one hundred Unlimited Truck, Class 1500 and Class 6100 racers. Later that night, the results will be announced at 8:20pm on 9th and Fremont during the Method Race Wheels Pit Crew Challenge, where top 6100 and Unlimited Truck pit crews will throw down to see who is the fastest pit crew in off-road.

The two day Mint 400 Off-road Festival presented by Rockford Fosgate will be held Thursday, March 7 and Friday, March 8 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 five hundred and fifty 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.

The Mint 400 will feature two exciting races on both Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10th. The 2019 Grand Marshal and off-road racing legend JN Roberts will be at the start line to waive the green flag, launching the massive field of racers into the brutal Nevada desert. For the first time since 1976, the motorcycles are returning to The Great American Off-Road Race™ and will start off the line at 7:00AM on Saturday, followed by the limited four wheel vehicles beginning at 1pm. On Sunday, four wheel racing resumes at 6am with the Pro UTV Classes and more limited race vehicles. Then on Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm, 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 years 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 off-road racing and motocross legend Ricky Johnson, off-road cultural icon Bob Bower, Ultra-4 competitor and KOH announcer Jim Marsden, and roving pit reporter Tiffany Stone.

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.

March 5, 2019

FOX Puts up $10k Purse to the Overall Winner of The 2019 Mint 400

The Mint 400 today announced FOX has returned as a primary sponsor of the 2019 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 powered by Monster Energy. An industry leader in design and development of high performance shock absorbers and off-road racing suspension products, FOX returns to The Great American Off-Road Race for the seventh consecutive year.

FOX athletes have won the last six Mint 400 races overall – Bryce Menzies (2019), Rob MacCachren (2018), Justin Lofton (2017), Justin Lofton (2016), Andy McMillin (2014) and Bryce Menzies (2013). FOX is again 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.

“Simply put, no one comes close to FOX’s dominance at The Mint 400. FOX has been in the shock game for over three decades and is a great example of a company that created a product specific to off-road racing and took it mainstream. Without brands like FOX, we simply can’t do what we do,” 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 offers bolt on performance shocks for your daily driver and UTV, utilizing the same technology used in high performance world off-road racing. Come by and see FOX’s line of products at The Mint 400 Off-Road Festival presented by Rockford Fosgate from 9:00am-5:00pm on Fremont St. East Thursday, March 7th and Friday, March 8th.

ABOUT FOX FACTORY HOLDING CORP. (NASDAQ:FOXF)
Fox Factory Holding Corp. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets ride dynamics products worldwide. The company offers front fork and rear suspension products for mountain bikes and road bikes; and powered vehicle products for side-by-side vehicles, on-road vehicles with off-road capabilities, off-road vehicles and trucks, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, specialty vehicles and applications, and motorcycles. It also provides mountain and road bike wheels, and other performance cycling components, including cranks, bars, stems, and seat posts, as well as aftermarket products to retailers and distributors. Fox Factory Holding Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Braselton, Georgia.

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.

February 26, 2019

The Mint 400 Announces Race Day Live Stream

Watch The Great American Off-Road Race for free on YouTube and Facebook

The Mint 400 announced their second annual live stream schedule today. New to 2019, they have expanded the 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 years 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 off-road racing and motocross legend Ricky Johnson, off-road cultural icon Bob Bower, Ultra-4 competitor and KOH announcer Jim Marsden, and roving pit reporter Tiffany Stone.

“In 2018, The Mint 400 hit some significant milestones with the debut of our live stream package. The entire race was captured by our massive crew of photographers and cinematographers and broadcast internationally for twelve hours to over 250,000 viewers,” said Mint 400 CEO, Matt Martelli. “Mint 400 fans at home, on their mobile device, and at the race were all able to see unparalleled off-road race coverage of over 400 entries. Our social media impact in 2018 increased 290%, partly due to this new component.”

The Mint 400 live stream expansion this year will include a slew of new features and guests, including recaps highlights, and live coverage of the motorcycle and four wheel vehicle racing on Saturday March 9th as well as twelve hours of dedicated four wheel vehicle race coverage on Sunday March 10th. Saturday will feature hundreds of motorcycles competing in nineteen different classes in the morning, and eighteen classes of trucks, Jeeps, UTV’s, stock Volkswagens and vintage off-road race vehicles in the afternoon. Sunday morning the Class 10 cars, Pro UTV’s and five other classes will battle, making way for the Unlimited Trucks, Class 1 Cars, 6100 trucks, and more in the afternoon.

The live R/F helicopter downlink that debuted in 2018 will return again this year, piloted once again by John Tamburro of Pursuit Aviation. The system will feature a Cineflex RED MONSTRO 8K system operated by world renowned cameraman Dave Arnold, capable of transmitting an incredible twenty-three miles. The Mint 400 broadcast team executed an extensive amount of R&D in the off-season to test ways to incorporate multiple remote cameras throughout the course during the broadcast and overcome the topographical challenges of filming around the beautiful 4000’ McCullough mountain range. Their new technical solutions will be a game changer for both the industry & the viewer.

“We’ve spent the last eight years producing the most dynamic and engaging off-road race program on the planet, for every major network from SPEED to NBC to ABC. We’re now in our second year of building the new gold standard for live streaming off-road racing, and we’ve amassed a team of incredibly experienced veterans to deliver the goods,” stated Mint 400 COO, Josh Martelli. “Our lead producer Jason Markham Exec produced the 28 hours of Live CORR (Championship Off Road Racing) coverage on both NBC Network & SPEED Channel in addition to the 56-hours Live to tape for both networks when HD broadcast was just taking hold. Together with Brian Lippy and his team at Highwire Digital, we’ve once again stacked the deck so that our racers and our sport get the same level of professional coverage as NASCAR, IMSA, and Formula 1.”

In addition to the live stream, The Mint 400 will once again feature the state-of-the-art Yellow Brick Leaderboard and Tracking System, providing race fans and teams up to minute coverage of their favorite racers and classes all weekend. The combination of the live stream, tracking, leaderboard and social media coverage will once again raise the bar for off-road racing media coverage.

The live stream, race leaderboard and race tracking links can be found at TheMint400.com beginning Thursday of race week.

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.

February 19, 2019

BFGoodrich® Tires Debuts as Title Sponsor of the SCORE Baja 1000

On the 50^th year of the epic desert race, BFGoodrich ups the ante with a $50,000 contingency prize

GREENVILLE, S.C., Nov. 13, 2017 – BFGoodrich^® Tires will be the title sponsor of the SCORE Baja 1000, running from Nov. 14 through Nov. 18, expanding the company’s long-term commitment to desert racing and the racers who challenge themselves on the world’s toughest terrain. BFGoodrich has been associated with desert racing for more than 40 years and sees the title sponsorship as an opportunity to further its theme this year: Decades of Desert Dominance. (more…)

November 15, 2017

Dougans Racing Engines Takes Top 4 Overall Spots at the SCORE Tijuana Desert Challenge

Matney, Lopez, Steele sit 1-2-3 in overall points standings heading in to the Baja 1000

The 2017 SCORE Tijuana Desert Challenge was an all out sprint to the finish line, where RPM Off-Road’s #4 Josh Daniel, #1 Apdaly Lopez and #9 Eduardo Laguna, filling in for Armin Schwarz, swept the podium. Daniel, who filled in for Justin Matney due to scheduling conflict, finished the two-day, 140.4 mile race with a total elapsed time of 03:13:46.915, over two minutes faster than RPM and Dougans Racing Engines teammate, Apdaly Lopez. After a second place finish at this years Baja 500, the #4 truck of Justin Matney now sits first in the overall points championship standings.

With only three laps totaling 70.2 miles each day, it was all or nothing for the shortest race of the 2017 season heading in to the longest race of the year. With Day 1 in the books, it was Daniel, Lopez and Laguna out front on corrected time. At the end of the second day, Daniel was able to string together two flawless days to take the overall win, a feat he was very proud and honored to be a part of.

“I was stoked to come out, meet a lot of people and be a part of putting us on the top of the championship points standing going in to the Baja 1000,” commented Daniel. “I always love racing in Mexico where the fans go crazy for everything off-road. Thank you to Justin Matney and Clyde Stacy!”

In second place, 2016 overall SCORE points champion Apdaly Lopez finished a few minutes off Daniel’s pace. Lopez is 12 points off Matney for the lead in the points championship and is focused and ready for a race completely opposite of this one. “This was a good warmup for November. I’ll be teaming up with my dad for the fourth year in a row. We are focused and the truck, team and drivers are getting ready for the big dance,” says Lopez.

#9 Eduardo Laguna and navigator Damien Duran was fourth over the finish line but took the third overall spot for the weekend over Dougans teammate #16 Cameron Steele. The fourth place finish for Steele puts him in third place in the overall points standings and gives him huge momentum in to one of the biggest off-road races of all time.

All focus now shifts to the SCORE Baja 1000 this November, where all Dougans racers will give Baja everything they have in hopes of taking home the overall win at its 50th anniversary running.

About Dougans Racing Engines
Dougans Racing Engines (www.dougansracing.com) specializes in high performance engines for the top off-road competitions including the Best In the Desert and SCORE racing series. With over thirty-five years in the industry, Dougans offers high quality engine packages for trophy trucks, Class 1 trucks, and prerunners. We build complete engine packages that have gained a reputation in the racing world as consistent, powerful, dependable winners. Along with our engine packages, we provide dyno testing and personal track support to ensure that our customer’s needs are met all the way to the finish line. At Dougans Racing, customer satisfaction is our top priority and we strive to keep you running hard and winning races mile after mile.

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.

October 23, 2017