| BEST
IN THE DESERT
Mint 400UTV Race
March 4, 2017
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Best in the Desert - Mint 400
- UTV Race Report
ITP's Mitch Guthrie
Jr Takes 2nd Straight BITD Win at Mint 400
| BEST
IN THE DESERT
Mint 400 Links |
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Las Vegas, NV (3/7/2017) - Polaris
RZR / ITP’s Mitch Guthrie, Jr. proved his Parker
250 victory in the Best in the Desert Series season
opener was no fluke as he dominated the Polaris
RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires. Guthrie
Jr led every lap of the UTV Pro Turbo race and beat
out Can-Am’s Jason and Derek Murray, who finished
second, ahead of BITD Pro Turbo rookie Sven Ellstrom.
Polaris / UTV Inc’s David Martinez finished fourth
followed by Can-Am/ LSR’s Logan Gastel. In the UTV
Pro Production class, Dodge Poelman overcame a crash
at the start to claim his first win.
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| Polaris
RZR's Mitch Guthrie Jr claimed his 2nd straight
Pro Turbo UTV BITD Win at the Mint 400 |
The Mint 400, billed as The Great American Off
Road Race, more than lived up to that tagline
this season as 110 UTVs were entered. In fact,
the series had to cut off entries to ensure a
smooth race Race day was the culmination of many
events in and around Las Vegas showcasing massive
growth in the off-road industry. UTVs paraded
down Las Vegas Boulevard on Wednesday. Friday’s
Contingency Day was a massive success with vendors,
fans and racers all mixing in the block party
atmosphere.
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Downtown
Las Vegas' Freemont Street was packed with
desert racers & fans on Friday for BITD
Contingency |
Title sponsor Polaris pulled out all of the stops
this year. During Contingency Day, Polaris officials
made certain fans came away with merchandise,
including sunglasses and towels. They even awarded
lucky fan Chris Jensen a brand-new Polaris RZR
Turbo after a drawing by the winning Trophy Truck
driver, Rob MacCachren.
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| Chris
Jensen was a randon winner of the Polaris
RZR Turbo when his name was drawn by Mint
400 Truck Winner, Rob MacCachren |
With all of the lead up events in the books,
the race kicked off early Saturday morning before
sunrise at 6am with picture perfect weather, but
the course was as tough as ever, which kept many
racers from completing all three laps over the
100-plus-mile long course.
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Mitch
Guthrie Jr along with Scott Sappington were
the first two UTV racers to leave the starting
line shortly after 6AM on Saturday morning |
ITP’s Mitch Guthrie Jr earned the pole due to
his victory in the season opener, and he was a
man on a mission after taking over the front spot
ahead of Scott Sappington on the two car start.
Once out front, he was never seriously challenged
and actually led the race by more than 30 minutes
at one point.
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ITP's Mitch
Guthrie Jr quickly ran away from the field
with clean air & he held the lead
from start to finish
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“My plan was to get the holeshot and get away
from everyone else so I could drive my own race,”
explained Guthrie jr. “That’s what we did and
it worked out for once. I got a flat coming into
the pits and it took a brake line, but after a
five-minute pit stop we were good to go. What
my machine got through today really shows how
awesome my sponsors are to put this thing together.
I have the best crew out here.”
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