Andy McMillin (above) crossed the finish line in first overall at the General Tire Mint 400 this weekend.

The famed General Tire Mint 400 is back for its second running under the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts (SNORE) banner after a 10-year absence from the off-road racing scene. The race started early Saturday morning 32 miles north of downtown Las Vegas, as the #91 Unlimited Truck of Bill McBeath took the green flag and raced into the cold and clear desert air.

The brutal course took its toll on equipment almost immediately, as several racers crashed into a large ditch only a few hundred yards from the starting line, and many more cars became stuck in the silt at race mile 4 on the opening lap. Throughout the day, cars fell by the wayside as victims of the course. Rookie star Adam Householder sheered all the studs from a rear wheel on his Unlimited Truck near checkpoint 19, race favorite BJ Baldwin blew his engine on the first lap, and his father Bobby Baldwin suffered a broken rear end.

"The amount of broken race vehicles on the course was amazing,” said Class 1/2-1600 winner Rob MacCachren (above) at the finish. “After the first lap there were cars and trucks strewn out everywhere. I was surprised by the amount of quality teams sidelined early in the race, but this area north of Las Vegas has not been raced on in over 10 years and we expected it to be bad."

The news was not all bad though, as those teams able to avoid major breakdowns to finish provided an exciting battle on the racecourse. Early in the race, Unlimited Truck drivers Andy McMillin and Cameron Steele pulled away from the field and continued to battle all day. Veteran racer Scott McMillin (Andy’s father) drove the first two laps, and he and Steele stayed close together on course, changing position several times.

Class 7 winner Charles Anderson launches out of this rut at SNORE's Mint 400.

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BJ Baldwin unveiled his new General Tire truck (above) before the race, but unfortunately motor issues early on kept him out of contention for the win.

On the third lap the truck was handed over to Andy, who took the lead again until he had to pit to change a driveshaft, which was all the opening Steele needed to regain the lead to begin the fourth lap, with Andy charging hard from behind to make up ground. Midway through the final lap, Steele had to stop for a flat tire and McMillin took the lead and never looked back. He finished four minutes ahead of Steele to take the checkered flag. This is McMillin’s third consecutive win (Henderson Desert Classic, Parker 425, and Mint 400).

A happy Andy McMillin after the race.

“That’s why we came up here, it was to win,” Andy McMillin said just after the race at the finish line. “We had a couple of issues. My dad drove the first two laps and I finished the last two, but we had a driveshaft change at the end of lap three and Steele got around us.  I was just trying really hard to stay in his dust and keep up with him. Then when I saw him pull over with a flat, I knew all we had to do was just cruise it in. My throttle linkage was sticking really bad on the last lap, and I actually thought that it was going to stick and we were going to break, but we made it.

“I really think the tires won the race for us today. Steele had a flat on the last lap and that allowed us to get around him. We had no flats with our BF Goodrich tires and I’m very proud to win the mint 400.”

“Winning the Mint 400 is all about tradition,” McMillin continued. “The McMillin family has raced the Mint since before I was born. For me to come out and win it and have my name in the record books, it really means a lot.”

Bryan Folks, son of BITD’s Casey Folks, took the win in Class 12 at the Mint 400.

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Class 10 winner Michael Hanson (above).

Class 1/2-1600 driver Rob MacCachren won his class but shocked the assembled fans and racers by finishing 8th overall on the treacherous course. Long considered one of the best of the best in the world of off-road racing, MacCachren continues to amaze the industry with his talents, even at 44 years old.

Rob MacCachren was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and first attended the Mint 400 race as a young child with his father and grandfather, who were both desert racers. Following in the footsteps of the elder MacCachrens, the multi-time championship off-road racer has staked a big claim in the Mint 400 heritage with his tremendous wild run that will not soon be forgotten. 

TJ Flores (above) took the win in Class 1 this past weekend.

"The Rockstar Energy Racing 1600 buggy was flawless today,” MacCachren said. “I have to thank everyone that is part of this program starting with Rockstar, Alumi Craft and John Cooley who built this car, FOX Racing Shox, BFGoodrich Tires, Kartek, Folts Transmissions, FAT Performance Racing Engines along with all of our associate sponsors that make such great contributions to our single-buggy program. My prep guy, Ian Beaman, did a fantastic job at prepping the car along with Brian Lopez and the crew that supported me on the race course. It's great to win, but this Mint 400 victory is really, really sweet." 

The carnage on the rough course was evident all day. Here, Mac Marmon crashed into a ditch near the start of the race.

MINT 400 RESULTS

Unlimited Truck
1. Andy McMillin
2. Cameron Steele
3. Rick Johnson

Class 1
1. TJ Flores
2. Steve Raskett
3. Rick Romans

Class 10
1. Michael Hanson
2. Pat Chicas
3. Tom Bjorstrom

Class 12
1. Bryan Folks
2. Dave Campbell
3. Justin Bean Smith

Class 1600
1. Rob MacCachren
2. Orlo Cox
3. Bryon Ziegler

Class 8
1. Ted Hunnicutt Jr.
2. Andy Schifanelli
3. Dave Crinklaw

ProTruck
1. Rob Reinertson
2. Jason Horsley
3. Troy Vest

Class 7
1. Charles Anderson

Class 18
1. Clint Braun
2. Mark Bass
3. Chester Williams

Class5/1600
1. Glen Mayernick
2. Patrick Dailey
3. Robert Gross

Trophy Lite
1. Gary Messer
2. Vance Smith
3. Brian Rlebe

Stock Full
1. Kent Kroeker

Class 15
1. Rory Ward
2. Greg Crew
3. James Corn

Class 13
1. Courtney Collins
2.  Bill Shapley, III

Class 3
1. Donald Moss
2. Chris Raffo
3. Gale Pike

Class 5
1. Bill Zoig

Stock Bug
1. Robert Johnson
2. Felipe Neri Sanchez