2009 The Mint 400 Off-road Race

For the second year, I was called to cover the Historical Race – The Mint 400. This year, it was held just south of Las Vegas, Nev. instead of in Primm. I would be doing pit reporting for both Speed TV and the Outdoor Channel – which was great, other than the fact that I was changing shirts all day long!

I stayed at the Golden Nugget, and apparently, so did everyone else with the Mint as it seems to have been taken over by the racers, teams, and sponsors. I was worried that the race might be down, given the economy, but the attendance and entries were up. The hotel was definitely buzzing with a lot of excitement and anticipation.

The excitement definitely carried over to Saturday race day. I was covering the Class 1, Class 8, and Baja Pro Truck classes and it was a lot of work! The highlight of the day was interviewing KJ Howe. KJ was the organizer of the original Mint 400, and he always has the most amazing stories from past Mint races. It is always fun to have a chance to speak with him. KJ is a super sharp dresser and on this day he was wearing super clean, crisp, white clothes during our interview, which was right next to one of the turns on the Mint 400 course. So, of course, we were getting sprayed with rocks and dirt, and he just smiled and said “Isn’t this great!”

It was a long day, but thankfully it wasn’t too windy and wasn’t scorching hot like last year’s event. Look for it on Speed Channel and Outdoor Channel!

To view some fun images from the event click here