Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Las Vegas team wins overall title in Mint 400 (UPDATED)

Chuck Hovey of Escondido, Calif., and Brian Collins of Las Vegas earned the overall and Unlimited Trucks titles Saturday as the Mint 400 returned to the Southern Nevada off-road racing scene for the first time in two decades.

Hovey piloted the Las Vegas-based Collins Motorsports Dodge Ram truck for the first three laps around the 96-mile course that snaked its way from Jean to Primm and back. Hovey had built a lead of about 15 minutes when he handed the driving chores over to team owner Collins for the final lap.

Hovey, driving one of the 800-horsepower trucks for only the second time, clicked off laps of 1:32, 1:38.05, 1:39.45 and allowed Collins to take it easy for the final lap. The team covered the 384 miles in 6 hours, 36 minutes, 55 seconds.

Collins, a longtime desert racer, said the victory was special because of its history.

"That was a neat feeling to me," Collins said after crossing the finish line. "I was going to the Mint 400 when I was 8 years old and I think fifth or third was my best finish. To be able to come back and say I now have a Mint 400 overall win is a great feeling to me."

Hovey said he was nervous as he prepared to get behind the wheel of the Mopar truck to start the race, which was sanctioned by the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts (SNORE).

"This was only my second race in the truck so I was real nervous -- I didn't sleep too good last night," he said. "I just wanted to be smooth and clean and not do any damage to the truck. At the same time, I had to be fast to keep my job with this team so I think I accomplished all those things."

It was the second consecutive victory in the truck for Collins, who captured the SCORE San Felipe 250 on March 15 in Mexico.

Bobby Baldwin of Las Vegas finished second in Unlimited Trucks with a time of 6:45.53 and Scott Steinberger of Cypress Calif., was third in 7:21.32.

Other class winners Saturday: T.J. Flores of Las Vegas in Class 1; C.J. Hutchins of Henderson in Class 10; Ruben Rodriguez of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., in Class 1-2 1600; Lee Banning of Laveen, Ariz., in Class 12; Monte Tibbitts of Pine Ridge, S.D., in Heavy Metal; Rulo Solano of Garden Grove, Calif., in Class 5-1600; Wesley Stephens of Las Vegas in Class 15; and Briana Bradley of Las Vegas in Class 13.

Also: Ken Redelsperger (Class 18); Joe Stone (Class 7); Carl Sosa (Class 7S); Mike Horner (Class 8); Brandon Hughes (Class 9); Ed Mahoney (Stock Bug); Gary Messer (Mini Metal); Donald Moss (Class 3); Kent Kroeker (Stock Full); and Eric Ludian (Class 1450).

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy