“The Great American Off-Road Race,”™ set a new world record this week, when it announced that the 2014 Mint 400, will field 57 Trophy Trucks on Saturday March 15th, for the annual epic 400-mile off-road marathon. Trophy trucks are the premier class of off-road racing vehicles, and lead the massive group of vehicles, spread across twenty different classes. The total number of entries reached its limit of 330 vehicles, and currently has 45 additional entries on a waiting list.
“This is an incredible field, maybe the most competitive field in history. Not just in the car count, but in talent,” CEO, Matt Martelli said. “We have several former Mint 400 Champions including, Bryce Menzies, BJ Baldwin, Robby Gordon, and Andy McMillin, as well as former and current champions stacked throughout the massive field of different class competitors. This is going to be an incredible weekend of racing,” Martelli added.
Trophy Truck vehicles, also known as “Trick Trucks”, are the most advanced off-road racing vehicles on the planet. They make a remarkable 850+ horsepower, and are capable of speeds in excess of 130 mph, over the roughest terrain on earth. The horsepower and torque produced by these machines is extraordinary, but it’s their suspension system that makes them completely unique. They have between twenty-four and thirty-six inches of travel, which allows them to race over massive rocks, deep ruts, and across landscapes that would rip most vehicles in half – at breakneck speeds.
“The fifty-seven trophy trucks represent over $28,000,000 in custom-built off-road race machinery!” Mint 400 COO Joshua Martelli explained. “That’s an astonishing figure when you consider the previous record for entries was somewhere in the mid-forties only a year ago. These sports, and the entire off-road industry, are on a rapid growth trajectory. We’re thrilled that so many teams have come to compete at this premier event. The Mint 400 Red Bull Signature Series television show will feature the best of the best, worldwide.”
The Mint 400 race consists of four, 100-mile laps of the most treacherous and devastating silt, rock, and dirt off-road racecourse in North America. Each trophy truck vehicle team must battle a minimum of 71/2 hours non-stop, to finish on the podium. Each lap, the course conditions deteriorate radically – and drivers are forced to navigate carefully around other slower classes. The Mint 400 is the ultimate proving ground for the premiere class of off-road vehicles.
[richadbanner]
THIS AND THAT QUICKLY:
One of the stalwarts of desert racing is, Bob “The Weatherman” Steinberger, known as the voice of desert racing, will return to The Mint 400, where he first began providing communications during the 1974 Mint 400. Steinberger put communications in the vehicles of Bill Stroppe, Joe MacPherson, and Walker Evans. He sent up three weather balloons with five hundred feet of coax cable attached, and the first successful radio relay from a pit was made. It is believed that it was Joe MacPherson, who couldn’t remember his name, so he dubbed him, “The Weatherman,” on the radio. The rest is history and Bob’s iconic status has been reached through nearly half a century of work with the communications company he founded, PCI Race Radios. “Its people like The Weatherman that make off-road racing such a great culture. You have to be extremely determined, and part crazy, to pull off the radio relay system he created. Bob is an integral part of off-road culture and we are happy to have him back at The Mint 400. We have a tremendous amount of respect for the commitment he has made to off-road. He has helped countless people and is a shining example of what our culture is about when tenacity meets selflessness,” Matt Martelli said.
The “Best in The Desert” channel will still be used for race operations and emergencies. Locked VHF handheld radios will be available for sale, so spectators can listen in on all the race action from “The Weatherman” as well as their favorite teams. In addition, fans from all over the world will be able to listen to both radio streams and follow live tracking of the race exclusively online at Race-Dezert.com.
Rugged Radios would like to invite you to come and meet the racers of The Mint 400. Get autographs for your walls, photos for your social media, and lessons for life and anything else you’d want to say to your favorite off-road racer. The Rugged Radios Meet & Greet will be happening Thursday, March 13th from 4:30PM-10PM and all day Friday, March 14, at the corner of 6th and Fremont.
Bob Wayne and his merry band of Outlaw Carnies are headed to the 2014 General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris, to headline an evening of music and libations! This is the first-ever musical act to join the world famous Mint 400 race and festivities, which are expected to draw crowds in excess of forty thousand throughout the week. Wayne is well known for his wild shows and take-no-prisoners style of punk rock American country music. Bob and his Outlaw Carnies will perform at the “KMC Wheels Pit Crew Party” at the Fremont Country Club, Thursday March 13, at 10:00 p.m., immediately following the “KMC Wheels Pit Crew Challenge”. The show is open to all with a $10 cover. Backstage Bar & Billiards (next door) will host the “General Tire Mint 400 VIP Party” by invitation only.
Jim Tavaré, an internationally acclaimed actor and comedian, with a highly distinguished career, opened Monday night at the Laugh Factory, inside the Tropicana Hotel, along with Brian McKim and Traci Skene. Show times for the world-famous Laugh Factory are 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Tavare. co-wrote and starred in ITV’s, “The Sketch Show,” which won a British Television award, and is now in world-wide syndication, and has been remade for audiences in seven different countries. Jim also wrote and starred in six highly acclaimed short silent films for the BBC Television network in the United Kingdom (UK), called, “Jim Tavaré Pictures Presents.” This was followed by his own comedy sketch series, “The Jim Tavaré Show,” a 13 part TV series co-written with, Ricky Gervais, who also starred. Tavare was asked, and performed three times on The Royal Command Variety Performance Show, as well as numerous private functions for the British Royal Family, including a private Christmas party for HRH Prince Charles, and a Gala held at Highgrove, in front of Her Majesty the Queen, and 13 Crowned Heads of State. Jim is well known in Britain for being Prince Charles favorite comedian.
Jim holds the distinction of being the only overseas act to ever reach the final of NBC’s, “Last Comic Standing.” As a finalist, he embarked on a 63-date national US tour with NBC, as part of the “Last Comic Standing World Tour.” Tavares’s major film debut in the United States came when he played, “Tom the Inn Keeper,” in “‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” He has since made several film and television appearances, including roles on, “Californication (Showtime),” “Chuck’ (NBC),” “Tosh.0 (Comedy Central),” and numerous talk shows, including, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” For more information and to purchase tickets call 702-739-2411, or 1-800-829-9034. Tickets range in price from $34.95 to $49.95 plus fees.
Well, gang, see ya in the desert.