THE WEEKLY FEED: THE LEGENDARY MINT 400 RETURNS

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Steve Hatch Team Suzuki Off-Road

Steve Hatch was a young motocrosser from New York who was chomping at the proverbial bit to make it into mainstream off-road racing. We first met him at the John Zink 4-day Qualifier in 1990. It was a mudder, brutal to the bone and Steve was as bubbly following a 125-mile day in the slime as a normal human leaving the shower in the morning. Steve was always incredibly fast, a full fitness junkie and he went on to win the National Enduro title in ’94, was a 6-time Gold Medalist and is now a trainer for dirt bike racers.

RANDOM NEWS

The Nevada 200 Trail Ride: Open to the public for the first time!

This was an exclusive ‘invite only’ ride put on by Scot Harden and Daryl Folks, and is now open to the public for the first time in 35-years! The 3-day trail ride takes you from the desert to mountains, miles of single track , sand washes and many times just a smattering of snow! It’s coming up quick, April 12, 13 and 14 so go to their website, check out the videos and register for the ride online.

https://harden-offroad.com/nevada-200-trailride

Another excellent Rob Mitchell video showcasing both the stars and up and comers who travel the Full Gas Sprint Enduro circuit.

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THE MINT 400 RETURNS!

Story and pics from the legendary off-road journalist Mark Kariya

Ricky Brabec teamed with Kendall Norman and won the rejuvenated Mint 400.

The Mint 400 hasn’t featured bike classes since 1976. In those days, the list of motorcycle winners was full of legendary names like Jack Johnson, J.N. Roberts, Rolf Tibblin and many more.

The latest edition of the BF Goodrich Tires Mint 400, round two (for bikes) of Best in the Desert’s (BITD) American Off-road Racing Series, motorcycles and riders were welcomed to be part of the festivities beginning with a huge technical inspection/contingency row near Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.

The race started at Primm for a bike-only 80-mile loop that had a variety of desert terrain from past classics like BITD’s Whiskey Pete’s Hare & Hound World Championship, the Las Vegas 400, the Henderson 250 and various local MRAN races.

Jacob Argubright iron-manned it and gave the JCR Honda boys fits for most of the race. He ended up with a well deserved second place.

The event drew 160 teams, nearly everything from heavy hitters like the Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda duo of Ricky Brabec/Kendall Norman to former Kawasaki Team Green stars Ty Davis/Larry Roeseler/Kellon Walch to old bikes (including a BSA B50), a Dual-sport class, one for Women and one that had several Harleys!

The racing was tight up front with Jacob Argubright hounding the JCR boys for all three laps of that diverse 80-mile loop. The Kawasaki-mounted privateer kept it close all day and even led several times before Brabec finally pulled away a bit on the final lap, the margin of victory less than a minute after nearly five hours of intense battle. Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda’s Justin Morgan/Mark Samuels were about a minute and a half behind that for third.