It was a brutal day on race course at the 2015 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by General Tire, but the number 41 Trick Truck driven by Justin Lofton took the overall win for the unlimited class, based on unofficial time. 

“We had a plan to come and win, and we stuck with it,” Lofton said. “This is pretty awesome. We had a really clean day, other than getting a flat tire around race mile 4, and we lost rear brakes on the last lap.”

Most importantly, Lofton did this on a near-new truck. “This is the first win and second race in his new Jimco Trick Truck,” Lofton said.

Tracking was down most the day, so teams and spectators were unaware of who was going to cross the finish line first until Lofton cleared the Red Bull jump to the finish.
 

Trick Trucks swapped the lead multiple times throughout the three-lap race in Primm, Nevada. Dale Dondel of Roberts Racing was the fastest qualifier, and he led most of the first lap until BJ Baldwin worked his way around him.

“We had a good start, and the guys were calling off split times, and we were ahead by 1:30, then we started losing brakes,” Dondel said. “That’s when BJ got around us. When we were stopped at the red flag we found fluid on the left front tire and were able to get it fixed. After the restart we were fourth on the road at that point and caught up to Robby, then caught MacCachren and BJ, then we got a flat and when we went to change it the airline on the air jack blew. ”

Baldwin held the lead for most of lap two but experienced torque converter issues.  Robby Gordon battled with Lofton for the lead on lap three, but he lost time in the pits on a tire change when the crew rounded off some of the lug nuts. 

The racecourse deteriorated through out the day, and by lap three attrition had taken its toll as the course was littered with broken vehicles. 

“It was tough out there. This was probably the toughest Mint I’ve ever raced,” said Ryan Arciero. “The dust did not move from lap one to the finish, it was relentless. It was pretty much follow the leader and be patient. There were Volkswagen-sized boulders on this course by lap three.”

Sam Berri won the 1500 class, on unofficial time, in his Jimco Class One.

“I’m in a single seater,” Berri said. “Had nobody to help me navigate or change a tire, but luckily I never got a flat. I’m out here to give these young guns a run for their money.”

Mike Klensin won the Ultra4 class at the Mint 400.

Earlier in the day, Roger Starkey won the 2015 Mint 400 limited race by 1.5 seconds. Other class winners in the Limited race include John Webster in Unlimited Sportsman, Paul Dallenbach in the Zero One cars, and Rick Randall in Jeepspeed.

The race was stopped for about an hour after a multi-vehicle accident near RM32 that sent two racers to the hospital.  The incident occurred on the second lap of the race shortly before 4:00 p.m. and the race resumed around 4:45 p.m.

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