BFGoodrich Tires helps Rob MacCachren capture first MINT 400 overall win

Las Vegas native and BFGoodrich Performance Team member Rob MacCachren, who, in his 30-year career has won nearly every race and championship imaginable, finally secured  the one race which has eluded him when he took the overall win at the 2017 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires.

“It’s good to get this monkey off my back!” said an elated MacCachren, drenched in champagne on stage after crossing the finish line with an unofficial time of five hours, 37 minutes, 35 seconds after three laps of the 116-mile course outside Primm, Nevada.

 

With the win by MacCachren, BFGoodrich Tires has now claimed 9 of the last 12 Best In The Desert races. Overall BFGoodrich placed seven of the top 10 overall finishers and claimed nine class wins.

The Mint’s reputation for being one of the toughest courses in off-road racing played to MacCachren’s favor when race leader Andy McMillin flatted on the final lap, ending McMillin’s shot at a third Mint 400 win and handing the lead to the eventual winner.

In several past Mints, luck has not been on MacCachren’s side, knocking him out of contention with the win nearly within reach. A 2011 inductee to the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, his accolades include Dirt Sports Magazine Driver of the Year (2007), BF Goodrich’s Motorsports Person of the Year (2007) as well as having been named SCORE Person of the Year twice (1987, 2008). This Mint win comes after three consecutive wins at the Baja 1000.

MacCachren takes home $10,000 from BFGoodrich Tires, $10,000 from Fox and a brand new Polaris RZR.

Always the gentleman racer, MacCachren paid tribute to Casey Folks, Best in the Desert founder, who passed away on Jan. 12, credited his crew for helping deliver the win, and thanked Mint 400 owners Matt and Josh Martelli and the hundreds of volunteers and crew who make the race happen each year.

Jason Voss, who won Thursday’s Method Race Wheels Time Trials, securing clean air as the first Trick Truck off the line shortly after 12:30 p.m. today, was awarded second place on unofficial time, coming in with a five hours, 38 minutes, 39 seconds, taking the checkered flag a little over a minute after Rob Mac.

“I was born and raised right here in Las Vegas, my first Mint 400 I raced was 1984, we won some Class 8, 7s, 1600, but never won the overall. 3 of the last 5 years we were leading on the last lap and had a mechanical and it feels good to get that monkey off my back.”

Andy McMillin recovered from the last lap flat to unofficially take third place with a time of five hours, 41 minutes, 36 seconds.

The race wasn’t a complete blowout though for Rob Mac as the lead changed multiple times not just physically but on corrected time as well. The majority of the day Jason Voss was leading the pack and after lap one was leading the race over Andy McMillin by a mere 19 seconds followed by Bryce Menzies who was 1 minute 12 seconds behind McMillin.

In the first part of the second lap the #4 RPM Off-Road truck of Justin Matney sneaked into the lead but only until the halfway point of the race when McMillin started to put the hammer down and took over the lead. By the start of the last lap it was a very close race with Andy leading physically and on time by 3 minutes but was still a very close race with over 100 miles to go.

 

Rob Mac, Voss, Menzies, BJ Baldwin, Apdaly, and Tavo Vildosla were all still in the game. At one lap remaining it would take a small break for any one driver to move forward, and after McMillin suffered a flat tire it was the opportunity the pack needed. Voss would take back the physical lead with Rob Mac on his heels and that is where things got interesting. With Voss starting first off the line, and Rob Mac starting 4th in order for him to win over Rob Mac he would need to finish at least 2 minutes and 1 seconds ahead of him.

At race mile 50 the tracker system had Rob Mac ahead by exactly one minute on time, and by mile 75 only stretched it a few seconds. With a little over 30 miles to go and now racing in the dark Voss could take advantage of his dust trail that Rob had to follow and he pushed hard to gain the time back. Voss saw the checkered flag first but after hundreds of miles in some of the most brutal desert terrain in the world he would fall short by only 44 seconds.

That would make Rob MacCachren the 2017 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires Overall Champion. With the win he not only achieved one of his goals in life but he will walk away with $10,000 from BFGoodrich, another $10,000 for Fox Shocks, and a brand new Polaris RZR.

2017 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires Top 10 Finishers (Unlimited Race)

BOLD – BFGoodrich Tires drivers

1. Rob MacCachren
2. Jason Voss
3. Andy McMillin
4. BJ Baldwin
5. Troy Herbst
6. Shawn Croll
7. Bryce Menzies
8. Tim Herbst
9. Eric Husted
10. Ryan Poleman

2017 MINT 400 Class Winners (BOLD – BFGoodrich Tires drivers)

1000: Brock Heger 2400: John Hsu 4400: Greg Adler 6000: Todd Jackson 6100: Jonathan Swift 7200: Dallas Luttrell 8100: Rob Mills VINT: Dana Dague STVW: David Hendrickson