K&N Engineering to be Official Sponsor of the 2017 Mint 400 Race in Las Vegas, NV

Feb 20, 2017

Mint 400 Banner with K&N as an official sponsor of the race

"The Great American Off-Road Race”, aka the Mint 400 will happen March 1st - 5th 2017

One of motorsports’ oldest off-road races is upon us. Over 350 vehicles including trucks, UTVs, and buggies will be competing in an off-road race that has been around probably since before you were born. Surrounded by thousands of miles of open desert just south of Las Vegas, the famous (or infamous) Mint 400 is about to come to life once again.

You may or may not have heard of the Mint 400. If you’re a race fan and haven’t, well, you’re not a race fan. If you frequently visit Las Vegas, there’s a good chance you might have spotted a flyer while checking in at your hotel. Or perhaps you noticed one of the wall posters on the way to the casino to lose your first $100 at blackjack. (Buy a K&N intake next time; the joy of horsepower lasts longer!) Maybe you’re just a huge Johnny Depp fan and you remember the scene from the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas where Depp’s character is shooting photo coverage of the Mint 400 while attempting to drink a beer amidst the slew of dirt and dust. (Spoiler alert - he ends up dumping the muddy beer.) Of course, that’s just one of the many outrageous antics that happen in the film adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's novel of the same name, but truth be told, even Johnny had no clue what was in store for the Mint 400.

The first Mint 400 race was an endurance race from Las Vegas to Lake Tahoe, California

Here’s a little bit of what we know about the Mint 400. Back in 1967, a Las Vegas Journalist and auto racing enthusiast by the name of Norm Johnson was working in public relations for Del Webb's Mint Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. To generate buzz for the new hotel, he created an endurance off-road race between two identical dune buggies from The Mint Hotel in Vegas, to the Sahara Hotel in Lake Tahoe, California. Media coverage caught race teams and auto racing fan’s attention and thus, the Mint 400 was born.

Norm took title of Race Director through 1974 and even participated in the race from 1969-1982. During the second year (1968) Norm’s close friends and famed race car drivers Mel Larson and Parnelli Jones helped him with financing a purse prize of $30,000, increasing the participant list exponentially. Some of the most famous and recognizable names that have raced in the Mint 400 include Parnelli Jones, Al Unser, Mickey Thompson, Jack Flannery, Walker Evans, James Garner, Steve McQueen, Mort Sahl, Gordon Cooper, and many more.

The "Pit Crew Challenge" has become a popular event at the Mint 400

In 1972, the Mint Hotel executive and longtime Mint 400 Race Director K.J. Howe created “The Girls of the Mint 400” to add glamor and PR value to the race. Today it is known as the “Miss Mint 400” competition. Hundreds of girls submit their photos to the Mint 400 website and then are posted up for viewers to vote. Six Miss Mint 400 Finalists are then selected and one winner is determined through a series of interviews made by a team of judges.

Come 1988, the Mint 400 race ended when the Las Vegas Mint Hotel was sold to new owners. After a 20-year hiatus the “Great American Off-Road Race” was revived in 2008 by longtime sponsor General Tire with help from the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts group. Trucks with newer and better-than-before race technology were competing and media coverage was abundantly improved due to social media and portable cameras and phones used by teams and fans alike.

The various Mint 400 races tend to go on into the night

In 2012, the Mint 400’s new owners, film and TV producers Matt and Joshua Martelli, partnered with the Best in the Desert Racing Association to get the Mint 400 on the championship schedule. For the first time, a new one hundred mile loop was carved out for the 400-mile race.

With the 2017 race coming up fast, last minute modifications and testing is being done by race teams and spectators are booking their Vegas suites. Sponsor spots have all been claimed with the Polariz RZR taking the title role and BF Goodrich as the presenting brand. K&N is proud to be an official sponsor not only of the Mint 400 race, but also of many of the teams and drivers competing in the race as well. A few of the K&N-sponsored racers include names like Bryce Menzies, Curt Leduc, Tracy Graf, Steve and Brett Sourapas, Mitch Guthrie Jr, Nicole Pitell-Vaughan of Total Chaos Fabrication, and even Katie Vernola, a former K&N Calendar model who will be racing in the UTV Pro Turbo Class.

Race Director K.J. Howe created “The Girls of the Mint 400” to add glamour to the race

It makes sense for K&N Filters to be a part of the Mint 400 because of our involvement in the development of filtration technology for all kinds of off road vehicles. When racing off-road, filtration can be the deciding factor between a win and a loss. Many K&N products are available for trucks, dirt bikes, and UTVs.

So get ready for the action! Get ready for the madness! Go grab the family and make a trip to Las Vegas that you’ll never forget. The “Great American Off-Road Race” is just around turn 2 and coming up fast!