The bags are packed, the phone is charged, and the car is topped up with gas–the weekend is here, and it’s time for a Vegas getaway! Well, sort of. Though Sin City plays host to the earlier part of this trip, the real destination is some 31 miles south of there, where we’ll be watching some of the most awesome, rough-and-tumble off-road racing in the United States of America: the Best In The Desert Mint 400.

The excitement can be felt in the air as this weekend gets ready to kick off big time. The Mint 400, which started back in 1967, has steadily grown from what was once a public relations event promoting deer hunting, to a legitimate and exciting enterprise that attracts off-road racers of all stripes, from the “little guys” in Class 4 VW Bugs to the big names–Menzies, MacCachren, Baldwin, and so on–commanding the fan favorite Trick Truck (aka Trophy Truck) 1400 class.

We here at Off Road Xtreme are excited to be here, and to prove it, we’re going to be doing LIVE COVERAGE of the event. From those first hectic hours of contingency processing, to the pulse-pumping race, to the final moments of the prestigious awards ceremony, we’ll be there for it all, and so will you!

DAY 1: It Was Somewhere Near Barstow That The Coffee Began To Get Cold…

The traffic coming up the Interstate 15 hits a turn for the worse coming into Cajon Pass, but it can’t dampen our spirits (or energy levels, thanks to that Grande coffee from Starbucks) as we make our way north. Time flies as a shuffled playlist blasts Knife Party dubstep, then switches to Cake alternative rock, followed by some bombastic Tchaikovsky classical music.

Most teams push and pull their silent rigs through the contingency lanes to avoid stop-and-go wear and tear on their engines.

We skip past Hesperia, blow through Victorville, and bypass Baker and its dubious alien jerky. Primm gives us the rest stop and refueling to carry onward, and it’s high noon as we arrive on the scene in Las Vegas.

Fremont Street has been more or less cordoned off for four blocks west to east, as vehicles of all types are pushed by hand through contingency and tech inspection. All along the way, booths from various aftermarket companies–AIRAID, Currie Enterprises, Camburg Engineering, just to name a few–have been set up, with reps and booth babes chatting up the racers as they crawl past.

As slow as the process can be, it still can’t temper the competitive drive of guys like Tyler Denton, returning for his fourth time to the epic competition in the 6100 Class. “I have a love-hate relationship for the Mint 400,” he confesses. “It’s kind of like one of those races that always gets you, and contingency can get a little chaotic, but I live for when race day comes and that flag drops. I’ve just got to go for it, hammer down!”

Class 6100 racer Tyler Denton chats with a tech inspector as he awaits the verdict on his truck’s inspection.

Veterans like Denton are familiar with what the Mint 400 can dish out: silt beds, rock patches, and other obstacles that get steadily worse and worse as the course deteriorates, and undoubtedly play a part in doling out DNFs to a lot of racers. Challenges like these are all but unknown to rookies like the teenaged Garrett Alrith, competing in his Class 17 JeepSpeed Grand Cherokee, whose recent class victory at the Parker 425 has boosted his confidence.

“Parker was my first race, and I took first place in it” he says. “It was the greatest feeling ever knowing that I beat 18 other cars. For this race, my strategy is just to take it nice, slow, and easy. All the stories I’ve heard just say to take it nice and easy, and the car won’t break and you’ll be one of the top finishers in your class.”

Relatively cheap, fun, and cordial to first-timers, JeepSpeed is quickly becoming one of the best ways for novices to get into desert racing. Mike Barnett, one of the three founders of the class, is nearby and speaks to us about its background.

“In each class, you have to spend a certain amount of money if you really want to compete,” he explains. “We wanted to give the budget-minded guys a chance to compete and have fun, and that’s what JeepSpeed is all about. We have some mandated components, but it also allows folks to build their rigs in their garage with off-the-shelf parts.”

At the end of the line is where we find the tech inspection area. BITD’s inspectors work fast as dozens of trucks, buggies, and side-by-sides pile up behind, but that doesn’t mean mistakes are made. Racers breathe a sigh of relief as they’re given the thumbs-up, and quickly wheel their way back to their trailers.

After getting the okay from the officials here at the tech inspection area, racers are free to leave and head back to their trailers.

So ends the first day of the Mint 400’s race preparation. We’ll be back again tomorrow night, where we’ll give you the inside scoop on all the spills, chills and thrills that went down here in the intense yet exciting event.

DAY 2: Broken But Not Beaten

Pi Day–3/14/15, which this year represents the first five digits of the ancient integer–may have been the cause for celebration in other parts of the world, but here in southern Nevada, it was the impending balls-to-the-wall Mint 400 that held everyone’s attention.

Using a floor jack, Lopez and Jimenez replace a broken axle shaft on their UTV.

Two individual races make up the Mint 400, actually. First up is the Limited Race, which starts bright and early at 6 a.m. Competitors occupy the seats of side-by-sides, buggies, rock-crawlers, and other such vehicles, and commence a day of what amounts to 15 hours of full-on racing.

Our first interaction with one of these teams happens upon “Las Vegas Boulevard,” an open straightaway that parallels the real street stretching north to south. We find Alonzo Lopez and Hector Jimenez broken down on the side of the track, with spectators and passing rivals breathing down their necks.

Lost time spent on repairs can be devastating, but such is the way of racing.

A broken axle shaft has put the duo’s UTV out of commission for the time being, but it’s the good-hearted nature of onlookers that hauls them out. One man donates his brand new floor jack to Alonzo and Jimenez, and they’re back on track in almost no time at all.

The opening act of the Limiteds has wound down by about 1 o’clock or so, and things are starting to amp up for the headliners: the Unlimiteds. The mainstay is the Class 1400 (better known by their SCORE designation, Trophy Truck) Trick Truck, which never fails to be a big crowd-pleaser. Whoops, silt beds, and rock patches are all easily conquered by these monster machines–provided they’re in the right hands.

The time draws near 2:30 p.m., when the green flag will be dropped by none other than the famous Larry Ragland, a living legend in the off-road motorsports world and himself a former champion of the Mint. He tells us that every driver is sitting patiently in their seats, planning on taking the course “nice and easy and taking care of the truck, but that means nothing. Once you wave the green flag, it’s a free-for-all. There will be a lot of DNFs, and some of these guys will be upside-down within the first 10 minutes, no matter what.”

And sure enough, Ragland’s prophetic words prove true: we come across Troy Vest’s Trick Truck not far from the start, having been bumped off the course and into a puddle, with torn-up fiberglass panels and other debris trailing his demise.

Time passes and word comes through that more casualties have been added. A very nasty collision between two racers left both hospitalized, and immediately put a stop to the race for about an hour and a half as emergency vehicles made their way to the crash site.

A drive up to Pit A yields similar reports of stopped progress, albeit nowhere near as life-threatening. We happen upon Tom Greer and his #54 Trick Truck, which has halted to deal with severe damage to the driveline. “We found out that one of my transmission coolers clogged up and essentially melted my trans,” he says. “So we had to swap in a new one, and now we’re in the middle of making sure we don’t have any other cooling issues before we get back on the course.”

Tom Greer’s crew goes to work fixing the truck’s transmission and cooling parts.

Breakdowns are all but expected in long-distance races like these. Heat, terrain deformation, stubborn competitors, and bad luck all play an equal part in making sure no one emerges from the Mint 400 unscathed. Nevertheless, skill and confidence are what champions are made of, as in the case of this year’s overall winner, Justin Lofton.

Lofton gets lofty as he takes 1st place overall.

Running in a new Jimco-built rig, Lofton overcame his fair share of setbacks and disappointments, but knew he had a good thing going as far as strategy was concerned. Knowing full well that dust clouds and lower visibility would eventually even out the herd, Lofton had his plan all figured out well in advance.

Champagne and cash: it’s all in a good day’s work for Lofton and his Trick Truck.

“It worked out perfectly because as [the other racers] fell out, we were able to pick up our pace,” he says after his win. “In the first lap, we made it around with minimal issues. Second lap, we had some clean air, so we sped up some more. Third lap, people were dropping out left and right, and we were able to run hard and it all worked out.”

Joining Lofton in second and third place were Robby Gordon and Rob MacCachren, respectively. All three are no doubt having a great night, whether they’re partying on the Strip or just capping the day off with a cold beer and a clean bed.

RECAP: Reflection, Recognition, And Reward

The madcap, high-octane thrill of the race gives way to a somber Sunday morning as the awards ceremony starts. Here in the Grand Ballroom of the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, we reconvene like we did two days earlier, when we were there for registration. We’re wiser now, and a bit more tired, but still excited to hear the official announcements.

BITD President Casey Folks addresses the crowd at the Awards Ceremony.

Casey Folks, president of Best In The Desert, a former racer, and a longtime supporter of all things off-road, is the first to address the crowd. He tells us that while the race might be over for us, the next 30 days on his calendar constitute meetings with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), hotel managers, city officials, and more, reminding us all of the behind-the-scenes efforts that keep the Mint 400 alive year after year.

Folks then talks about the three-man accident that had occurred during the race. We learn that around Mile 30 of the race course, there lies a 400-yard stretch of pavement that turns into a sand wash. A gravel pit connected to the wash had been barred by BITD to prevent racers from accidentally going off-course.

Justin Lofton and his wife pose with the awards.

“For whatever reason, an Unlimited car hit the [barrier] and tumbled two or three or four times” explains Folks. “The racers began to unstrap themselves from the vehicle and were hit by the #75 Trick Truck at a high rate of speed. A fellow from the tumbled car had his back turned halfway when he got hit and smacked the dashboard…shattering three of his lower vertebrae and losing any feeling from his waist down.”

A third vehicle swerved and crashed 50 yards from the first collision, with minor injuries sustained to those racers. The race was stopped and rescue teams and helicopters were called in, only to be stopped by a clueless and careless private helicopter pilot who had landed close to the wreckage, blocking the rescue choppers from doing their job.

Class 10 winner Roger Starkey (left).

As the speech goes on, it is announced that the spinally injured racer is recovering in the hospital and has feeling in his legs. And on that high note, Folks hands the microphone over to Mint 400 promoter and media magnate Matt Martelli to begin announcing the winners from each category.

One by one, each of the 1st and 2nd Place victors are called up and handed their rightful spoils, ranging from plaques to headphones to bottles of champagne. Trophy certificates are given to those deserving of them, to be filled out and mailed for receipt of a custom-engraved trophy within a couple of weeks.

So ends the 2015 Mint 400. A great race and one that is sure to blow the doors off once again once 2016 rolls around. We wish all of the competitors that made an effort the best of luck as they regroup and get ready for the next BITD event, the Silver State 300, taking place May 1-3. Till next time! For tons of action photos from the 2015 Mint 400, check out the full Gallery below

Photography by David Chick and Stuart Bourdon