Mitch
Guthrie Jr.
United States
·
Rally Raid
Date of birth | November 20, 1996 |
|---|---|
Age | 29 |
Nationality | United States |
Career start | 2012 |
Disciplines | Motorsports Various |
Mitch Guthrie Jr has, by his own admission, been fortunate to have had a mentor like his well-known father – Mitch Guthrie Snr – but now it's the son that's making the headlines.
"My dad’s been a huge role model for me my entire life and having somebody to teach me everything he knows has been huge,” Mitch says of his father. “Finally I’m at the point where I can do things on my own, but for the past 10 years I’ve been learning from him,” he adds.
Mitch began racing shortcourse at the age of 11, in the CORR series, followed by the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series in 2008, racing in the Stock Kart class before moving up to the Modified Kart class, where he impressed in the 2011 season – his final year in karts.
He has also been a navigator for his father and he's the youngest-ever participant in the King of The Hammers UTV race.
At 15 years old, Mitch raced his first season in a Polaris RZR XP 900 in the 2012 WORCS Series in the production 1000 class and the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Regional Series.
In 2013 Mitch dominated in WORCS Production 1000 with five wins and six podium finishes in just nine rounds of racing to win the overall championship.
Next up, in 2014, was Mitch's rookie year in WORCS Pro class, racing his Polaris RZR XP1000. He finished fourth overall, with five podiums and one win. That was also Mitch's first year racing in the Terracross series, where he won the first round and and had one more podium finish.
In 2015, (Mitch's final season in WORCS) he continued to race in the WORCS series in SXS Pro and Unlimited. He finished the season winning the championship in Unlimited and finishing fourth overall in Pro. Mitch had a total of 15 podium finishes in that 2015 season and he also took a win in the Terracross series.
By 2016 Mitch was ready for a new challenge and he opted to try his luck in a different format of racing in the Best in the Desert Series. Again racing in a Polaris RZR, Mitch competed in the Pro turbo class, where he finished the eight-race season with six top-10 finishes (four of those in the top-five) and one win – in the 2016 UTV World Championship.
Mitch's 2017 season began with a win in the Parker 250, before a career highlight of winning the 2017 Mint 400 and he completed the season with a win at the Tonopah 250.
The 2017 Baja 1000 was another career highlight for Mitch, who, as a driver for Jagged X Racing, took the overall UTV win at the 50th anniversary of the race.
In 2018, Mitch emulated his father by taking the win in the King of the Hammers and a year later he become the first back-to-back King of the Hammers champion since his dad.
He also won the Best in the Desert Pro Class Championship in 2019 before joining the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA in time for the 2020 Dakar, where he raced in the SXS/UTV open class alongside Blade Hildebrand in an OT3 by Overdrive.
Mitch started his Dakar career in fine style, winning Stage 4 of the famous event before being forced out of contention due to mechanical failure, but he continued in the Dakar Experience category and won Stage 8 and Stage 10.
During the 2021 edition of the Dakar, Mitch had high hopes of achieving a podium finish, but unfortunately his race was cut short due to an engine oil pressure issue.
Mitch Guthrie Jr. is desert-ready
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Mitch Guthrie Jr. is stepping up to Dakar's Car class for 2025
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Mitch Guthrie Jr. chases victory in his Taurus T3 Max
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Mitch Guthrie Jr. is heading back to the Dakar
© Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool