Total Chaos launching off the line at the 2017 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich | The history of the Mint 400 is replete with excitement, drama and quite a bit of celebrity, just like Vegas itself. Known as the toughest, most sensational off-road race in North America since 1968 when it was first run, the Mint 400 desert race was created by Norm Johnson who not only participated in the event until 1982, but was acting race director until 1974. What began as a public relations event to promote the Mint Hotel’s annual deer hunt quickly turned into a legitimate desert race. To maintain momentum Norm enlisted the help of a few of his friends, famed race car drivers Mel Larson and Parnelli Jones. Throw in a guaranteed prize purse of $30,000, and the participant list grew at an exponential rate. 
Ready to rock 'n roll, Nicole is exactly where she wants to be, behind the wheel of her race truck | Competitors in the event came from all over the world, from all racing genres along with the television and film industry. Indianapolis 500 winners Al Unser, Rick Mears; off-road champions Mickey Thompson, Ivan Stewart, Walker Evans; and actors James Garner and Steve McQueen are among the many racing and entertainment notables who competed in the Mint 400. 
Nicole and Tom head down Fremont Street in the old part of Las Vegas with 1000s of onlookers | After the sale of the Mint Hotel in 1988, competitors and enthusiasts said goodbye to an era of racing that would not be forgotten. In fact, this great American off-road race would return to the Mojave Desert with a vengeance in 2008. For some, life is about dreaming big and setting goals. Pushing to achieve their goals regardless of how big the challenge may seem. Never giving up on their dreams and stretching until those goals are reached. As the co-owner and Director of Operations at Total Chaos Fabrication, Inc., Nicole Pitell-Vaughan, known to some as “CHAOS”, is forward thinking and determined in every aspect within the business, proving that she is anything but chaos! 
Lap 1 main pit, everything is as it should be | For more than 18 years now Total Chaos Fabrication, a female owned automotive fabrication business, has been affiliated in the sport of off-road, participating as racers, chasers, spectators, weekend warriors, and customers, manufacturing premium quality Toyota aftermarket suspension equipment and accessories here in the USA. But beyond the desk, she lives her life in the dirt. As a driver, competitor, and big air chaser, K&N-sponsored driver, Nicole Pitell-Vaughan, raced her 2005 Toyota Tacoma, with the Best in the Desert Racing Association in the Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich, with co-driver, Tim Schrader. Nicole will tell you that she doesn't chase checkered flags, but when she does she has the most amazing inner circle of friends that are really an extension of family at Total Chaos. Vaughan has competed in off-road (two and four wheel) for 18 years and is known for her aggressive racing style and her love of air. On Saturday, we saw Nicole, laser-focused and driven, having come back from knee surgery to train pretty hard so she could stay behind the wheel for the entire distance of her first Mint 400 race. 
Nicole Pitell-Vaughan is best known for her aggressive behind the wheel style | The Total Chaos race truck, known as “Lil T”, is a 2005 Toyota Tacoma Regular Cab 2WD. The front suspension features the Total Chaos Long Travel system with 2.5” Fox Coilover shocks, 3.0” Fox Bypass shocks, and 2.0” Fox Hydraulic/Air bumpstops. “Lil T’s” sporting a Total Chaos 4 Link in the rear with 49.5” long control arms. They’ve added a Currie 9” axle housing, Inland Empire Driveline driveshaft, Wilwood disc brakes, 2.5” Fox Coilover shocks, 3” Fox Bypass shocks, 2.0” Hydraulic/Air bumpstops. All the Total Chaos suspension components are equipped with the same uniballs, materials, and construction techniques that you find in Total Chaos bolt-on production suspension systems. Unique to the 7200 class, “Lil T” is not a tube chassis race truck. Under the Tacoma badging, it is a production chassis retaining many original parts including the stock frame, cab, doors, and headlights. The custom built suspension bolts to the factory control arm mounting locations and utilizes modified OE Toyota components to complete the build. Total Chaos performed a 4.0L 6cyl motor swap installing a 4.0L Dual Over Head Cam 1GR-FE V6 VVT-i. They added a K&N intake and filter and installed Doug Thorley Headers with a Dynomax Muffler to create a tough growl. The team modified a 2007+ Tundra steering rack to fit the narrower vehicle and custom fabricated 86-95 Toyota 4WD lift spindles that utilize Land Cruiser hubs. The interior was fitted with a Full 4130 chromoly roll cage, Mastercraft Pro seats, Mastercraft window nets and harnesses plus a Momo steering wheel. To complete the exterior they added Glassworks Unlimited front fiberglass and Hannemann fiberglass bedsides. 
Out on course with the Total Chaos team in the Toyota Tacoma - killing it on Lap 1 | The Mint 400 started and finished at Primm Valley Resorts. Each lap, a 116 mile loop, in what is considered the roughest section of the Mojave Desert that Team Total Chaos would run three times. It was windy and overcast and time to put game faces on. While many were focused on the party aspect of what is The Mint 400, this team was keeping their eyes on the prize, knowing that they were indeed the dark horse. However, Pitell-Vaughan was racing with reports of an unforgiving course, she made a plan and stuck to it. First lap would be reconnaissance and she would drive to sort the track and the truck out. In Lap 2, she would up the ante and lay down a solid, hard charged race lap - what she is known for! On her third and final Lap she would put the hammer down and go for it. 
Co-Driver Tim Schrader, the ultimate McGyver with the insane ability to stay awake for days | Right off the line all things went according to plan for lap 1. However heading into lap 2 was a bit more like survival of the fittest with trophy trucks that had started an hour earlier blazing through amidst the other competitors. Sadly time was lost. With only 10.5 total hours to complete the race inside the time limit, our K&N driver lucked out. Nicole had clear air and set a blistering pace on lap 3. They passed vehicle after vehicle broken along the track – not surprising given the mini-van sized boulders strewn across the insanely rutted course. The team pumped up by the spectators and teams who cheered them on, as the pump gas, door-banger Toyota on 35” BFGoodrich Mud Terrains, purchased off the shelf at Tire Rack, put the hammer down to get to the finish. 
Spectators lined up to see the wheel spinning, dirt spitting unlimited class trucks | The Total Chaos team couldn’t be more pleased. After starting 11th they finished an unofficial 5th in the 7200 Unlimited Class. There equipment has been designed to enhance ride quality and reinforces the weak links that tend to show up on race day in the OE platforms. And while the bolt-on equipment is used for recreation and vehicle-based adventures, the same bolt on parts are used in racing applications. Durability test for Total Chaos suspension? You bet. The best kind. Inspired by having the cards stacked against her and sometimes being the underdog, Nicole is driven not to prove others wrong, but to prove to herself that anything is possible. 
The Total Chaos team of renegades that know where to find adventure and make a little chaos | When asked about the Total Chaos team, The Mint 400, and what’s important, Nicole Pitell-Vaughan, co-owner of Total Chaos and driver of #7211 “Lil T”, had this to say, "TC’s team of renegades lives life differently. We are fans. We are innovators. We love taking dirt roads to nowhere. We are energized by customers and their adventures. We personally test our equipment – from Death Valley to Baja Mexico pre-running and surf trips, recreational fishing trips to hidden creeks, hunting trips in Canada, racing in Africa, at the Mint 400, and Vegas to Reno, and the notorious last minute 'hey let’s stop here and let’s see where this dirt road goes'. We chase adventures." Looking forward Nicole Pitell-Vaughan would love to see the automotive programs return the senior high school education level. This industry needs creative, strong, intelligent men and women to keep pushing forward and we believe that she can be a driving force! 
Inside the cockpit of the Total Chaos Toyota Tacoma, "Lil T" | 
Final Pit on Lap 3 for Nicole and Tom, as they charge hard to the finish line | 
Nicole's smile say it all. The Total Chaos team has crossed the finish line in 5th place | 
Completing the legendary Mint 400 desert race to come in unofficially 5th place | |
