Mint 400
| Location | Las Vegas, Nevada |
|---|---|
| Corporate sponsor | The Mint Las Vegas |
| First race | 1967 |
| Surface | Desert off road race |
The Mint 400 is an annual desert off road race that was resumed in 2008 after a 20-year hiatus.
The race was for both motorcycles, until 1977, and four-wheel vehicles (buggies, cars and trucks) sponsored by Del Webb's Mint Hotel and Casino. Del Webb, a real estate developer and friend of Howard Hughes, was owner of the Mint Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. It became known as The Great American Desert Race.
In 1967, Norm Johnson organized the first ever “Mint 400 Off-Road Rally” to promote and publicize The Mint Hotel. Norm sent two matching dune buggies across six hundred miles of scorching desert, from The Mint Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada - to the Sahara Hotel in Lake Tahoe, California. The coverage by the national media caught the attention of race teams and off-road enthusiasts everywhere - and the endurance race became famous overnight.
The future of the Mint 400 race came into question in 1988 following the sale of Del Webbs Mint Hotel and Casino to next door neighbor Jack Binion owner of the Horseshoe Club. However as a testament to the race itself, the prestige and importance of the event created by veteran race director K J Howe and the Mint management team and the financial benefit this promotion brought to the City of Las Vegas, under new ownership the annual Mint 400 Off Road Race continued to be run in 1988 and 1989.
Unfortunately, two years removed from previous ownership and upper management that were themselves race competitors and motorsport enthusiasts, who understood and appreciated the importance of this event to the sport of off road racing and the local community and; now owned by an individual that once remarked the race, its competitors, tech inspection on Fremont Street and surrounding ancillary activities, was a negative impact on gambling and his Bingo players, the rougest and toughest racing event on United States soil was gone following the 1989 Mint 400 event.
The Mint went quiet for nearly twenty years – but was resurrected by longtime sponsor General Tire with help from the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts group. General Tire has been the title sponsor of the race ever since. SNORE eventually sold the franchise to film and television producers Matt and Joshua Martelli – marking the next significant chapter in the Mints evolution. The race resumed on March 29, 2008. The race was preceded by inspections of the vehicles on Fremont Street in the Fremont East district.
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