After four amazing days of off-road festivities throughout Sin City, The 2013 General Tire Mint 400 presented by Polaris finished with an incredible day of off-road racing in the unforgiving Nevada Desert. Las Vegas native and Red Bull athlete Bryce Menzies won the historic race overall, placing his name among the best off-road racers in the world. Menzies, who started the race in 3rd place, battled all day with off-road champions Rob MacCachren, BJ Baldwin, Jesse Jones and Mark Weyrich, and a field of over seventy Unlimited vehicles. The overall lead changed multiple times during the epic 400-mile battle, making the race a thrilling event for the competitors, and the more than thirty thousand fans who showed up to spectate “ The Great American Off-Road Race”!
“The Mint 400 is an incredible race. It’s a dream come true for me to win it. It was an awesome battle all day long,” said Bryce Menzies. “This is the biggest race win of my career.”
The brutal 100-mile Mint 400 loop course was devastating this year. Of the 255 starters, only 132 finished within the time limit – marking the rate of attrition at 48%, the toughest in recent Mint 400 history.
The 2013 General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris – Top Ten Overall Finishers:
1. Bryce Menzies 6:19:59.614
2. Mark Weyhrich 6:28:17.427
3. Rob MacCachren 6:34:41.112
4. Jason Voss 6:51:51.231
5. Gary Weyhrich 7:02:31.999
6. Chuck Hovey 7:09:44.050
7. Steve Olliges 7:12:47.163
8. Cameron Steele 7:15:00.611
9. Dan McMillin 7:16:25.464
10. Harley Letner 7:22:46.722
“The Mint 400 is the biggest off-road race event on the planet!” said Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli. “We have the largest group of world-class off-road racers, the most spectators, and the best television coverage in the sport. The Mint 400 is also the most visible off-road race event in the world. We had over one hundred thousand people attend our festivities throughout the week, and we reached 1 Million people on Facebook!”
The 2013 General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris – Class Winners:
Class 1400: #70 Bryce Menzies Class 5000: #5001 Steve Alexander
Class 1500: #1518 Chuck Hovey Class 5100: #5124 Mike Boone
Class 1000: #1032 Chip Prescott Class 5500: #5501 Patrick Dempsey
Class 1100: #1153 Ronny Wilson Class 6000: #6022 P.J. Guglielmo
Class 2000: #2016 Bob Mathews Class 6100: #6176 Jason Ruane
Class 3000: #3027 Keith Wabel Class 7100: #7101 James Burman
Class 1700: #1710 Rick Randall Class 7200: #7226 Al Hogan
Class 1800: #1806 Steve Sourapas Class 8000: #8034 Cole Fielding
Class 1900 P: #1934 Scott Kiger Class 8100: #8108 Tim Casey
Class 1900 S: #1988 Lacrecia Beurrier Class 9000: #9038 Derek Dixon
Class 3700: #3704 Bob Mamer SR1: #1980 Brad Griego
Class 4500: #4591 Mike Self
The 2013 General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris – was held March 20th – March 24th, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over nine-hundred racers and two-hundred and sixty professional off-road race teams, competed in twenty-one classes of vehicles – and battled 400 miles of grueling Nevada desert! The highly coveted Mint 400 Overall Championship went to Bryce Menzies, who piloted his Red Bull Energy Trick Truck to victory – with a margin of eight plus minutes over the second place overall finisher Mark Weyhrich. Third place overall went to Las Vegas native, Rob MacCachren.
The 2013 Mint 400 began with the inaugural “4 Wheel Parts Mint 400 Off-Road Vehicle Parade” – which saw eighty off-road race vehicles parade down the world famous Las Vegas Blvd in front of crowds in excess of 20,000! The procession celebrated the 2013 General Tire Mint 400 presented by Polaris, and the massive group of off-road racecars was led by Mint 400 founders Mel Larson, Norm Johnson and the 2013 Mint 400 Grand Marshall, KJ Howe. Over ten million dollars worth of custom fabricated off-road racecars thundered down the Strip, in tribute to the famed Mint 400 vehicle processions that took place on Fremont Street decades ago.
The Mint 400 festivities were held on Fremont Street on Thursday night and all day Friday, including; The KMC Wheels Pit Crew Challenge, the crowning of the new Miss Mint 400, Taylor Cox, the KMC Wheels Pit Crew Party, and the famous “Contingency and Tech Inspection”. Estimates on attendance top sixty-five thousand – including the over twenty five thousand spectators that watched the race for free, near Jean, Nevada on Saturday, March 23th.
2013 marks the fourth year in a row that The Mint 400 television production group MAD MEDIA covered the event from both the ground and the air – employing thirty seasoned off-road cinematographers, photographers, and producers, as well as a helicopter that was outfit with a Cineflex Elite camera system, capable of capturing steady images at over 140mph.
“The Mint 400 Facebook analytics alone show us that we reached 1.17 Million people over the week. That’s an amazing value for our sponsors and race teams and really proves that we are on the way to making this the most important annual race event in the world. We have begun production on a two-hour television special and iTunes download that will showcase all the great stories from the race. This has been a fantastic experience for all of us,” commented Mint 400 COO Joshua Martelli.
For 2013 Mint 400 press photos/video, and artwork visit: www.themint400.com
For ALL Mint 400 Photography go to: http://themint400.com/media/photos/
Photography by Vincent Knakal, Jason Zindroski, Ernesto Araiza and Bryan Novak.
