If the racers who came to the 2016 Mint 400 thought the desert would be kind and merciful this year, they were dead wrong. Just because the course direction was reversed, made no difference on the wear, tear, and frustration that the Mojave doled out today.

Lofton was announced as the unofficial 1st place winner. Jason Voss (background, blue and white truck) took 3rd place.

And the man who handled these problems best was Justin Lofton, who rolled into first place in the Trick Truck class. As of this writing, he has been declared the unofficial class winner, with an elapsed time of 5 hours, 36 minutes, and 10.6 seconds. This is incredible news for the Lofton team, who can now add to their resume “consecutive winner” as this is Lofton’s second straight championship here at the Mint 400.

It was even more interesting considering that Lofton was also the first to leave the start line owing to his qualifying win as well. You just can’t keep a great driver down, folks!

Provided by a source inside Mad Media, here were the unofficial results for the Trick Truck class, arranged by place:

• 1st place: Justin Lofton, #41, 5:36:10.647
• 2nd place: Andy McMillin, #31, 5:36:52.479
• 3rd place: Jason Voss, #35, 5:43:30.174
• 4th place: Brett Sourapas, #88, 5:45:40.279
• 5th place: BJ Baldwin, #97, 5:46:09.443

Also provided by the source, here were the unofficial results for the 1500 class, arranged by place:

• 1st place: Cody Parkhouse, #1501, 5:56:42.846
• 2nd place: Sam Baldi, #1542, 6:31:44.074
• 3rd place: Scott Bailey, #1529, 6:31:58.879
• 4th place: Justin Davis, #1585, 6:41:13.621
• 5th place: Jon Walker, #1589, 6:43:40.226

As these are unofficial results –meaning the elapsed times don’t account for penalties incurred during the race – these names and places may change, and our source informed us this will likely take until later tonight or early tomorrow. In any case, we’re glad to see Lofton was the one rolling into the pomp and circumstance of being first place tonight, and we’re also glad to some of our friends and acquiantances including Jason Voss and Brett Sourapas occupy other positions of the top five finishers.

The Mint 400 is truly one of the most difficult races in North America, and it’s not an easy one to finish. As Sourapas told us, “The race was good. The best of the best come out here, and it’s always a thrill to compete against them.” Look for more upcoming coverage of the Mint 400 here on Off Road Xtreme!