Rally Raid
Keep on Truckin'
The Mint 400 was one of the last big motorsports events to take place before 2020's global lockdown. Now, as the world shakes off its stasis, America's oldest desert rally is revving up once more.
A 688km blast through the Mojave Desert, The Mint 400 began in 1968 as a PR stunt for the annual deer hunt of Las Vegas hotel and casino The Mint. But the event, which starts and finishes just beyond the glare of the Las Vegas Strip, soon transformed into something bigger: the ‘Great American Off-Road Race’.
“I first went in 2018,” says British photographer Gavin Bond. “It was the 50th anniversary, and I knew nothing about it. My producer in LA – this English guy called Skinny – is an amateur petrolhead. He got one of those competition trucks and entered, so I went along. I fell in love with the race and knew I had to go back to shoot it.”
And that’s what he did in March 2020. What Bond didn’t know at the time was that the motorsports scenes he’d capture would be among the last before everyday life transformed for ever – 12 days later, the world went into lockdown.
A mix of trophy trucks and UTVs in action at the 2020 Mint 400
© Gavin Bond
The race endures
A year on, the world has changed, but, against the odds, The Mint 400 is back. This isn’t the first time the event has been in peril – for two decades, it didn’t run. When casino owner Jack Binion bought The Mint hotel in 1988, he shut down the race as he believed it negatively impacted his businesses. It wasn’t until 2008 that the rights were bought by Matt and Joshua Martelli, makers of viral motorsports series Ken Block’s Gymkhana.
You couldn’t have anything more ‘America’
Today, The Mint and many surrounding casinos are gone, replaced by entertainment complexes. But the race endures, just as it did throughout the era of the Hollywood macho man – when the likes of Steve McQueen and James Garner took part – and the birth of gonzo journalism; it was while covering The Mint 400 for Sports Illustrated that author Hunter S Thompson was inspired to pen his classic travelogue Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
“You couldn’t have anything more ‘America’,” says Bond of the race. The lensman set out to document a sporting event, but, like Thompson, found something more raw and fascinating.
Bike day
Bikes were mixed with cars in the original Mint 400 race
© Gavin Bond
The day before the main race, bikes take to the field. “They were part of the original Mint 400, mixed in with the cars, which was crazy,” says co-owner Matt Martelli. “That stopped [in 1976] for insurance reasons. We brought them back in 2018.”
Two vintage classes (1980-90, and earlier) are mixed in with pro and amateur riders, a women’s category and even father/son teams. “Bikes have always been the gateway to off-roading. Most racers started on one," says Martelli.
It’s definitely a family affair. One guy rides one truck, the son rides in the other truck, and the daughter rides the bike
The fast youth
In 2019, Seth Quintero became the youngest Mint 400 winner
© Gavin Bond
Red Bull driver Seth Quintero waits by his UTV Pro N/A (utility terrain vehicle, non-aspirated, meaning it isn’t turbo- or super-charged). In 2019, aged 16, the Alabama-born rider entered the history books as the youngest Mint 400 winner in the UTV Pro Turbo category. “This shot is before the race. It’s hot and they just want to get out on the track,” says Bond. Quintero failed to finish in 2020 after crashing out.
400-mile war
A 400-mile war in the Mojave Desert
© Gavin Bond
“The calm before the storm – a 400-mile war in the Mojave Desert for the next six-to-12 hours,” says Martelli of the race start.
“As these guys drive around, helicopters are flying around, getting intel on the race and explaining to the driver who they’re chasing,” says Bond. “That’s how much money they throw at this thing.”
The pits are ready
Bryce Menzies has a passion for racing that runs through his veins
© Gavin Bond
The Red Bull team were waiting for Menzies, but he just didn't stop
© Gavin Bond
“There are three pits: two in the desert, this one is by the start,” says Bond. “I had radio info that Bryce Menzies was about to refuel, so I raced back and got this great shot of Red Bull waiting there with the fuel lines ready…but the car just didn’t stop.”
'Run your colours'
Competitors have no issue showing their political allegiances
© Gavin Bond
“I didn’t notice the Trump/Pence decal when I took this shot. Now it’s special," says Bond. On the issue of competitors fronting their political affiliations, Martelli is matter-of-fact: “Run your colours.”
Urgent repairs
The trucks come in smashed to pieces
© Gavin Bond
"These trucks come in with pieces hanging off them,” says Bond. “The guy underneath is fixing something that fell off during the race. The colours you can see are from the lights of the stage where they receive their prize. Even if you come 15th, you get a little medal."
The racer's class
Joseph Jepson in his Alumi Craft open-wheel buggy
© Gavin Bond
Joseph Jepson of the Diamond J Racing team in his Alumi Craft open-wheel buggy. “This is in Class 10 – the ‘racer’s’ class with equal cars – which is very competitive,” says Martelli.
“I’m shooting on a long lens,” says Bond, “but I was probably closer than I should have been. You’re out in the middle of nowhere with five or six other photographers, all trying to get the best shot, and sometimes you get led astray.”
Suddenly you find a car hurtling towards you and it doesn’t control itself very well. You just have to dive out of the way. It’s definitely dangerous
Destruction derby
Destruction derby: racers battle it out
© Gavin Bond
“This is the start of the race,” says Bond. “Just out of shot behind the orange vehicle is a bandstand where Eagles of Death Metal performed the night before."
The going gets tough even before the desert stage
© Gavin Bond
"Here, the trucks are jockeying for position. They come off the hill, then out into the desert, trying to get away from each other," says Bond.
Medals galore
Travis Chase (right) and co-driver Jacob Lauxen claim their medals
© Gavin Bond
Former winner Travis Chase and co-driver Jacob Lauxen claim their finisher’s medals. Among the other competitors were UFC fighter Donald Cerrone, who fought and lost to Conor McGregor two months before the race. “He calls himself ‘Cowboy’,” says Bond. “The race draws a certain type, and he’s that type – he looks like America.”
The starting grid
Trucks line up on the starting 'grid'
© Gavin Bond
Trucks on the starting grid, in their qualifying positions. “If I was to look to my left, I’d see the rollercoaster of Buffalo Bill’s [Resort & Casino],” says Bond. “It’s where the competitors stay, about 40 minutes from the strip. It’s $18 a night and it’s pretty horrible – the kind of place for people who don’t even make it to Vegas."
The Mint 400 takes place in Las Vegas from March 3-7; themint400.com
