GREENVILLE, S.C., Dec. 16, 2015 – The brand that invented the all-terrain tire category is putting its heritage of success in off-road racing behind the largest desert race in the United States annually – the Mint 400. The Polaris RZR Mint 400 Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires will be March 9-12, 2016, near Las Vegas. (more…)
November 11th, 2015 – San Diego, CA – Motorsports production powerhouse Mad Media led by directing team “The Martelli Brothers” announced premiere dates for their documentary style TV shows on The Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by General Tire and the Polaris RZR UTV World Championship presented by UTVUnderground.com. Both will premiere on NBC Sports in December closing out the season of off-road racing. (more…)
March 27th, 2015 – San Diego, CA – The first Oakley Bomb Award for desert off-road racing was handed out at the 2012 Mint 400. Since then, Oakley has kept the tradition alive, honoring the Mint 400 racers that clock the fastest lap at the The Great American Off-Road Race™.
Fastest Lap in Class 1500
Fastest Lap in Class 6000, Trophylite
Fastest Lap in Class Pro UTV Class
Over fifty UTV’s strong rolled up to the start line of the 2015 Mint 400, making them the second largest class in the race. Numbers alone warranted an Oakley Bomb Award for fastest lap in one of the most competitive classes. Only nineteen Pro UTV’s finished the race and it was #1962 Ryan Poelman that threw down the fastest lap time of 02:21:13.712 on his second lap. Poelman earned a third place finish in the class behind Scott Kiger and Pro UTV class winner, Dustin Jones.
A true drivers class, the General Tire Trophylite Race Series was created to provide an affordable alternative to the high cost of racing. Drivers are pitted against each other in identical vehicles that provide the thrill of competitive off-road racing. Fifteen Trophylite trucks started the race but only eight finished. Despite having to change a drive shaft on his first lap, #6002 Todd Jackson won the Oakley Bomb award in Class 6000 Trophylite. Once back on course, Jackson laid down a blistering lap time of 02:20:50.772 on his second lap to earn a coveted award.
The thundering speed and capabilities of Class 1500 make it worthy of an Oakley Bomb Award. Thirty four of the top open wheeled drivers came fists up to the Mint 400 but only half survived the brutal fight. Eleventh overall finisher, #1537 Eduardo Laguna, was one of only a few racers to finish a lap of The Mint 400 in under two hours. “Lalo” did it in just 01:59:52.868 on his second lap, earning mad respect and the final Oakley Bomb award up for grabs at the 2015 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by General Tire.
About The Polaris RZR Mint 400, presented by General Tire
Known as “The Greatest Off-Road Race in America,” The Mint 400 is an epic four hundred mile battle between the top off-road racers in the world in over twenty different classes of off-road vehicles. The race was started in 1967, and is steeped in American lore, as thousands of racers, as well as celebrities from around the world, have attempted to tame the brutal Nevada desert. An entire week of events lead up the famed off-road race in and around Las Vegas, including a vehicle parade, drivers meet and greet, pit crew contest, crowning of Miss Mint, multiple parties, qualifying, and contingency / vehicle tech inspection.
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.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (Mar. 20, 2015) – Four for four. That is the headline for the success BFGoodrich® Tires has had in the desert in 2015 after Justin Lofton claimed the overall win at the Polaris RZR Mint 400 outside of Las Vegas last weekend. This is Lofton’s second race since choosing to rely on BFGoodrich and its Baja T/AKR2 race tire, which continues to solidify its claim as the dominant desert racing tire in the industry.
In addition to Lofton’s win, drivers on BFGoodrich Tires won accounted for nine of the top 10 overall finishers and 16 of the top 20 as well as 12 class wins. In the Class 1000 category, Roger Starkey won on the company’s new 35-inch Baja T/A KR2 designed for that class. In all, 14 of the top 16 in this class ran the new tire. (more…)
Las Vegas, NV (March 20th, 2015)– The General Tire Mint 400 was a record setting high when over 330 entries were ready to do battle for the 2015 Great American Off-Road Race. This years race would have 5 days worth of festivities, two packed races and a new spectator friendly course that would allow fans to be able to be apart of the action. With all the hype leading up the Mint 400, Banning Motorsports was ready to grab their piece of the spotlight. (more…)
No. 41 Trick Truck driver Justin Lofton took the overall win in the 2015 Polaris RZR Mint 400, presented by General Tire, based on unofficial time.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Lofton said. “We set our sites on doing this and here we are.”
Tracking issues had fans uncertain who would be first across the finish line until Lofton, in his brand new Jimco truck, cleared the Red Bull Jump at the race’s end.
“We had a cleaner run than a lot of people had,” he said. “This truck is fast. This is (just) the second race for the truck. We were leading the Parker 425 before we had issues.”
Lofton was followed across the finish line by Robby Gordon in the No. 77 Trick Truck.
“We just ended up a little short here today,” Gordon said. “The truck ran flawlessly all day long.”
Gordon lost time on a tire change when the crew rounded off a couple of lug nuts.
The afternoon Unlimited race was stopped for about an hour following a multi-vehicle accident near RM32 that sent two racers to the hospital. The racers, whose names were not released, were taken to a local hospital and vehicles were removed from the course before racing resumed at 4:45 p.m.
“The safety of our racers is paramount,” said Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli. “Best In The Desert officials stopped the race immediately upon learning of the accident and only resumed after the injured were treated and the vehicles removed from the course.”
Sam Berri took top honors in the 1500 Class on unofficial time, driving the brand new Jimco Class 1.
“This is for everyone involved in building the car.” I’m out here to give these younguns a run for their money,” said the 62 year old.
Full official results will be released soon.
About The Polaris RZR Mint 400, presented by General Tire
Known as “The Greatest Off-Road Race in America,” The Mint 400 is an epic four hundred mile battle between the top off-road racers in the world in over twenty different classes of off-road vehicles. The race was started in 1967, and is steeped in American lore, as thousands of racers, as well as celebrities from around the world, have attempted to tame the brutal Nevada desert. An entire week of events lead up the famed off-road race in and around Las Vegas, including a vehicle parade, drivers meet and greet, pit crew contest, crowning of Miss Mint, multiple parties, qualifying, and contingency / vehicle tech inspection.
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.