Down and dirty in Las Vegas

Behind the scenes of the Mint 400


I was going to preface this title with the line 'if you’re an off-road enthusiast', but that’d be just plain wrong, because these mad machines and the gladiators that race them are simply intoxicating entertainment and they don’t do it for the money – it’s glory that counts here.

Off-road racing is big in America, real big. At this year’s Mint 400 race (part of the Best in the Desert series) around 64km north of Las Vegas in the tiny town of Primm, Nevada, there were more than 550 teams across an incredible 50 individual classes from motorcycles to the main-event Trick Trucks that put out as much as 1200bhp to the rear wheels – and everything in between.

One of the BFGoodrich guys called it the Superbowl of off-road racing, and judging by the endless gridlock of more than 65,000 spectators heading back to LA after the race, there’s no denying it’s got a massive following, and that includes entire families – that’s grandad all the way down to the grandkids from what we saw on race weekend.

More to the point, the ‘Mint’ in 400 is rich in history, too, dating back to the inaugural ‘Mint 400 Desert Rally’ held in Vegas in 1968 as a way to promote Del Webb’s Mint Hotel. But the hotel was sold in 1988, and although the new owner kept the race running for a couple of years, it disappeared for almost 20 years until the off-road racing organisation SNORE sold the franchise to TV producers Matt and Joshua Martelli, who proceeded to build the event into one of the biggest off-road races on the planet.

Also billed as The Great American Desert Race, it also featured in Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas depicting the 1971 race, but also gained notoriety in the 1998 film of the same name starring Benicio Del Toro and Johnny Depp. The race also attracts well-known racers from other disciplines and sports like former British F1 champion Jenson Button, NASCAR racer Casey Mears, and two-time UFC champion Cain Velasquez joined the field this year.

And, it’s not just the race you’ll want to see, either. We arrived in Vegas on the Wednesday before the race weekend, and you’ll want to follow exactly the same plan in order to take it all in.

We stayed at the iconic Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, which opens up onto famed Fremont Street, where you can ride the super-high SlotZilla Zoomline – 11 stories high and you’re flying down the strip like Superman.

But if you’re like me and scared stiff of any heights above a stepladder, you’ll find the buskers just as entertaining before heading into any one of dozens of casinos for a flutter at tables along with a $9.99 lobster meal. But, for those on a budget, you can also check out any one of several free staged concerts with real talent on show along the strip.

But, if you’re not into any of that stuff, then I’d get into Vegas on the Tuesday and roam down the other end of Fremont, where many of the race entries and drivers are set up and freely available to show you the vehicles and give you all the juicy power figures these incredible machines put out.

And don’t forget the very best of Mint 400 merchandise sold out of several huge clearly marked fire-engine-red trucks selling everything from hoodies, tees and hats with a multitude of different designs. Just as popular is the race team merch, whether it be off-road driving gloves to Fox shocks and even race kit like overalls and helmets.

Moreover, you might want to check out the new UTVs and buggies for sale. All brands and all types are on display including Polaris (which has a huge number of different versions on offer – two- and four-seaters). But, if you’re from out of town and never really had a drive or ride in one of these things, go ahead and book an ‘off-road’ driving experience.

This is proper bucket-list stuff – car enthusiast be damned – this stuff is for the whole family. In fact, it’s doubtful you can have this much fun anywhere else in Vegas. We chose to escape the strip and hit the trails in a premium Polaris RZR XP 1000 side-by-side with Zero1 Tours after only a short 20-minute drive from our hotel.

The costs vary depending on the length of time you spend charging around the Mojave Desert, but expect to pay anywhere between US$333–$783 for between 2.0–3.5 hours of trail time for two people in the vehicle – slightly less for a single driver.

It’s a well-run outfit with solid safety standards and mature trail leaders who take the lead in a four-man version. Although, if you’re capable (and they’ll work that out quickly enough with all UTVs fitted with helmet-to-helmet communications), you can do some real hard charging once you’ve experienced a few bumps and washouts at a reasonable clip.

Honestly, you won’t believe what the Polaris can do out here on these trails, thanks to the insanely capable suspension system that allows you and your passenger to hit some heavy-duty washouts at real speeds (50mph/80km/h) or more and barely feel it. It’s like nothing you’ve ever driven, and the more time you have behind the wheel, the gamer you get. It’s so much fun that 3.5 hours goes by way too quickly. The remedy, in our opinion, is less gambling and more time in the UTVs with the whole family or a bunch of your mates.

We also got to visit the home of Kroyer Race Engines, which has won more off-road accolades than we have room to list here, including the BAJA 1000 as well as countless Engine Builder of the Year trophies. These guys build these monster V8s for the likes of off-road legend Rob MacCachren, who won in 2017 and was on-site with his Mint 400 entry talking us through various aspects of his car and the race itself.

The race venue proper at Primm is no less entertaining, with various truck manufacturers showcasing their latest and greatest up-and-coming releases. In our case, Jeep had the yet-to-be-released Wrangler Gladiator on display as well as a Rubicon Unlimited shod in the latest BFGoodrich off-road rubber and Fox shocks, while Ford was showing a superb F150 Shelby Raptor that was attracting plenty of attention. That too was shod with BFGoodrich tyres; in fact, there weren’t many vehicles that weren’t wearing the brand.

Interestingly, the BFGoodrich racing tyres are actually handmade at this point, so a very high-end product no doubt, but you’d have to wonder about the margins given the sheer man-hours involved in the process.

Better still, BFGoodrich also provided an opportunity to drive the Gladiator across a small off-road course set up midway down Fremont. The Jeeps were fully kitted out with aftermarket suspension – so effective was it as to completely insulate the cabin from the boulder-size rocks underneath.

As a family-friendly sport, tickets to the Mint 400 are relatively cheap, with start/finish line tickets selling for $10 online or $15 at the gate, while parking at any one of five spectator areas on the race course is just $40 per vehicle.

That said, if you can stretch the family budget, by far and away the best way to experience this spectacle is a VIP package giving you access to a huge marquee featuring food by Michelin star chef Drew Deckman, and that’s everything from freshly shucked oysters (the best I’ve ever had) as well as BBQ meats and mind-blowingly good pulled-pork tacos complete with crackling.

Also on display was an impressive collection of those weird and wonderful sand-dragging machines – some with 2800hp (2088kW) at the rear wheels and an exhaust noise that very nearly destroyed my eardrums – seriously.

I say weird because the super-fat rear tyres resemble paddle wheels rather than the huge slicks of traditional Top Fuellers, given they need to get grip in the sand. It’s a crazy form of motorsport that can be traced back to the late 1950s and gaining further popularity in the ’60s.

Today, sand drags are held all over the US on tracks using the same starting-line systems and timers as seen on the pavement side of the sport. Sand drag tracks are typically 300 feet in length due to traction issues given the combination of huge power with limited grip. And if you want entertainment, this is where it’s at with the Top Fuel dragsters running in the low-two-second range at over 150mph (240km/h) while sending a rooster tail hundreds of feet into the air.

This year’s event also saw the return of motorcycles to the Mint 400 – not since 1976 have they raced. It's hair-raising stuff out there on those desert trails, but no more so than the freestyle bikers that put on free shows all weekend performing some amazing jumps of a huge Monster Energy truck. These guys are absolute legends given what they can do on a bike.

They even had a motorised model Trick Truck on site that also did the jump and roll over said truck. Best thing is, they were also selling an array of those model trucks on-site for those that want to have some cheap fun.

Despite the 140-mile lap course into the desert proper, you get to see some close-up action, including a few jumps at the start line and initial section, which is great for photos and for those wanting an earful of V8 race engines putting out nearly 1200 horsepower.

Race vehicles are waved off the starting line in pairs, so it’s a full-throttle sprint to the first corner that includes a jump where even the Monster Trick Trucks get fully airborne. Spectacular stuff if you’ve never seen this kind of racing before.

The race itself is gruelling and best seen from a low-level chopper flight, where the scale of the race course and flat-out speeds of 140mph can be witnessed across the most demanding race course I’ve ever seen. And some of these guys are behind the wheel for an astonishing five hours. Amazing.

It was of course pitch black when race winner Justin Lofton pulled his Unlimited Series Truck onto the podium in a time of 5:24:26, and became the first-ever three-time winner of the Mint 400.

All in all, this is a brilliant event – see you next year, guys.

Click on the Photos tab for more of Tony's images of the Mint 400

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