JK-Forum Gets Dirty at The Mint 400
We cover all the Jeep action at this wild desert off-roading event.
The Mint 400, a race billed as the “Great American Off-Road Race”, is probably not the first event that comes to mind for our JK-Forum readers. We think that needs to change because after our visit to this year’s event, we were impressed with what we saw. For fans of Jeep and Ultra4 there were two classes we were especially interested in: Jeepspeed and 4400 Ultra4. This consisted of a morning Limited class and an afternoon Unlimited class.
So, for the uninitiated, what is Jeepspeed? It’s a series within a series of The Mint 400, and is dedicated to Jeep and Mopar trucks and SUVs.
These Jeeps and Dodges are usually in the Limited starts with the bugs, buggies, and UTVs as they are mostly limited in tire size, suspension travel, and how many shocks they can run per tire.
The entry-level class is called the 1700 Jeepspeed Challenge, a stock category open only to Jeeps. Engines are limited to six-cylinders, tires can’t be bigger than 33-inches, only a single shock per wheel, and travel is limited to 10 inches in the front while the rear gets 12.
2700 Jeepspeed Cup is an intermediate class and open to both Dodge and Jeep vehicles. Entrants are allowed to have a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, or a naturally aspirated six-cylinder, with up to 35-inch tires. Two shocks are permitted, but travel is still limited, but vehicles can gain two inches front and rear (12 inches front, 14 inches rear travel).
The 3700 Jeepspeed Outlaws allow modified Jeep or Dodge chassis and bodies, so here you’ll see IFS Wranglers and MJ Comanches. Engines are unlimited but must be a production or crate version. You can have up to 37-inch tires with any shocks, but travel is limited to 15 inches in the front and 24 inches in the rear.
Finally, you have the 4700 Jeepspeed Trophy, essentially a Trick Truck class but for Jeepspeed. This is an anything goes, tube frame, and silhouette body class.
This year’s winner overall in Jeepspeed was Garrett Allred in his 1700 Class ARC Services Grand Cherokee ZJ. He beat the 3700 Class winner, Billy Bunch in the Bunch Racing LJ Wrangler, by just 23 seconds. Third place went to Scott Dzierzanowski in the 3714 Jeep Wrangler. The ZJ is a popular chassis that we’re starting to see more and more here in the West Coast for rock crawling. With this open-desert win, could we see more in Jeepspeed as well?
The 4400 classes were lined up by a random draw rather than qualifying or basing off of previous performance on their last event, the King of the Hammers. The Mint 400 is also the second round of the Nitto Tires Triple Crown of Off-Road for the 4400s. First off the line was Clay Gilstrap in a Legacy Services rig and his number one draw gave him a clean run. Once his time was up, they paired up with Jeff Brown in a Brown Motorsports rig, and Levi Shirley in a Maxxis Tires rig.
Despite their clean starts, it would be Paul Horschel in a 4419 Horschel Motorsports rig, beating second place finisher, Casey Currie in the Monster Energy Jeep Wrangler by 20 minutes. JK-Forum regular Loren Healy in the MBRP/Nitto Tires rig came in third. King of the Hammers winner Jason Scherer, who was in a Safecraft rig, finished fourth and remains in the lead for the Triple Crown.
Many drivers ran into issues in the desert terrain of Jean, Nevada. When the sun started to set, the rains came down and turned the dry desert into a muddy mess. Of the 29 entries that came to the Mint, only 13 made the midnight cutoff.
“This was the roughest race I have ever run,” Horschel stated. “I broke the rear off the race after six miles and had to run the entire race without a spare tire or a jack.”
The next round for the Jeepspeed competitors will be the VT Construction Silver State 300 on May 4th and 5th, and the General Tire Vegas to Reno in August, the longest off-road race in the United States. For Ultra4 Racing, next up is the Eastern Regional, the Ultra4s at Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area in Pennsylvania, and Metalcloak Stampede in Prairie City SVRA in the west. The third and final round of the Nitto Tires Triple Crown of Off-Road will be in Crandon, Wisconsin in August and is part of the 40th Annual World Championship Off-Road Race.
Photos for JK Forum by Justin Banner