El Cajon, Calif. – The 2014 General Tire Mint 400 presented by Polaris was arguably the greatest assemblage of off-road talent in history, with 57 Trick Trucks and 38 Class 1 cars battling for desert domination in front of thousands of rabid fans.  When the dust cleared, Andy McMillin’s FOX-equipped Trick Truck was the first to the checkered flag, winning with a 14-minute margin over the second place finisher.  “This was a huge win for us,” McMillin shared after the race.  “I want to thank Steve Sourapas for giving me the opportunity to show how we stack up against the best in the business.”  For his efforts, McMillin received a $10,000 payday for riding on FOX.

McMillin qualified 6th, putting him on the fourth row for the side-by-side start of the race.  “My strategy was to let the race come to me and not get overly anxious,” he explained.  “Without the ability to prerun I was more conservative than normal on the first two laps, but it worked to our advantage.  We didn’t have a single issue with the truck, and we knew that was what it would take to win.”  The multitude of high horsepower competition made for a rough course, including the FOX Proving Grounds at the starting line.  This one-mile stretch included some of the biggest holes and deepest ruts on the entire course, where a well-tuned suspension was more important that raw horsepower.  “That course was brutal, and kept getting more so as the race went on,” McMillin confessed the day after his victory.  “I am sorer today than after running the Baja 1000.”

Billed as the “Great American Off-Road Race,” this year’s Mint drew interest from beyond the traditional desert racing market: major news outlets like USA Today and Jalopnik covered the event, and motorcycle and rally champion Travis Pastrana and football star DeMarcus Ware were among the participants.  Ware even put up $10,000 of his own money to the winner, matching the $10,000 purse offered by FOX.  Pastrana, driving in his first ever Trick Truck race, qualified 19th and was the third physical finisher and fourth place on corrected time in a FOX-equipped Trick Truck from Jones/Menzies Motorsports.

While the Trick Trucks received most of the limelight, there was plenty of great racing among the other classes as well.  FOX athletes took top honors in nine classes at the Mint 400, including Jason Ruane placing first in the ultra-competitive 6100 class and 9th overall at the Mint 400.  “We are down on power compared to the Trick Trucks,” Ruane commented after the race.  “Our FOX suspension allows us to carry speed through terrain where other teams have to slow down.” There were 21 entries in the 6100 class, and 17 competitors in 7200, where Jeff Horsley was the winner.  All of the class winners took home money from FOX as part of the company’s industry-leading contingency program.

Mint 400 Class Winners
Trick Truck            Andy McMillin
6100                      Jason Ruane
7200                      Jeff Horsley
3000                      Tim Brown
1100                       Steve Melton
Trophy Lite             Ben Abatti III
7100                       James Burman
5500                       Mike Dillard
5000                       Jacob Meurer