Eric Hardin survives for 2023 Mint 400 triumph

Last year, The Checkered Flag called the 2022 Mint 400 a “test of reliability” as every leader was knocked out by mechanical trouble until Kyle Jergensen held on for the win. Fast forward to 2023, and the carnage continued with Jergensen as one of the victims.

Saturday’s Mint 400 Unlimited race saw multiple frontrunners eliminated by mechanical trouble, which Rob MacCachren suggested was a byproduct of pushing the vehicle too hard in the first two laps. MacCachren was among those knocked out during said stretch with a transmission failure.

Every driver in the top five overall in qualifying—Justin Lofton, Jergensen, Dale Dondel, Ryan Arciero, and Tim Herbst—failed to finish, with Dondel being taken out almost immediately due to a hard landing off the very first jump. Said jump had also presented problems during the Limited race on Friday that resulted in officials urging competitors to bypass it when they start the next lap. Arciero, who was leading the 2022 Mint when truck problems struck, exited with a broken U-joint in his transmission.

Amid the chaos, Eric Hardin inherited the lead after Kevin Thompson‘s truck broke down on lap three and, despite fears of his transmission coming apart in the last twenty miles, held on to beat Christian Sourapas with a time of 6:46:37, over twelve minutes and forty-two seconds ahead. Sourapas was filling in for his father Steve, who had a medical situation prior to the weekend, and walked away with a runner-up despite having last raced a fully-fledged Trophy Truck in 2020 (he mainly competed in Spec truck models)

“I couldn’t be more humbled to able to honour my dad yesterday with a podium finish,” said Sourapas on Sunday. “I know he wanted to race so bad, so doing well for him meant the world to me.

“I couldn’t have done it without the amazing people who’ve supported me even during the hard, no fun times. It’s truly those individuals who give me the confidence and belief that I can still run with the best of the best and belong up front. I’m forever greatful.”

Adam Householder finished behind the two to win Class 1 after leading the overall on lap one. Dustin Grabowski was the highest finisher in the Unlimited Truck SPEC class.

Long after the leaders had departed the area, the Class 10 of Josh Burns stole the show as the last car on track once the start line closed in the evening. He was marred by multiple flat tyres throughout the fourth and final lap before a constant-velocity joint in his car broke with just five miles remaining, prompting a lengthy repair process until the death blow was dealt via a damaged transmission. While Burns would have been classified as a retirement regardless of whether he finished as it was well after the finish was closed, his Herculean effort drew praise from fans and those who stayed behind in the late hours, including a motivated PCI Race Radios communications team and workers who kept the Gonzo Pit (located fifty-seven miles into the ninety-four-mile course) open beyond its closing time for him.

While Burns came up short, YouTube personality and former NASCAR driver CJ Faison overcame a third-lap flip and broken belt to be the last competitor to reach the finish. Roy Tomkins, the final truck classified in the order, ran in the top three until a rear main seal leak struck.

“So much for my début in a spec TT, finished dead last,” Tomkins quipped.

Akira Miura, three-time winner of the Dakar Rally’s T2 category and class runner-up in the 2023 race, retired after three laps when mechanical failure struck his Trophy Truck Spec.

Earlier in the day, Dalton Shirey won the Motorcycle race for the third time in four years with Dave Kamo as team-mate. The two also claimed the 2022 edition.

“The course was super fun, and that made it easy on the body, so I’m feeling great and not too tired,” commented Shirey. “The bike is in one piece, nothing too crazy. I had one little mistake in the infield, but other than that, it was a good day.”

Unlimited class winners

Class	Overall Finish	Number	Driver	Time
Class 1	32	172	Cole Barbieri	9:45:55.845
Class 10	20	1003	Nick May	8:21:33.073
Class 6800	46	6817	Troy Stone	8:19:03.192*
Class 7	22	709	Ethan Ebert	8:24:32.208
Class 8	68	800	Wyatt Wyllie	1:58:16.673*
Ultra4 4400 Unlimited	60	4482	Cole Johnson	5:11:32.616*
Unlimited Truck	1	79	Eric Hardin	6:46:37.651
Unlimited Truck Legends	15	L65	Thomas Fichter	7:55:33.844
Unlimited Truck SPEC	5	272	Dustin Grabowski	7:13:43.395

* – Did not complete every lap or full distance not required for class

Moto class winners

Class	Overall Finish	Number	Rider	Time
0–200cc Pro	79	P383	Piper Wells	DNF*
0–200cc Sportsman	72	S360	Nicholas Krizman	7:24:15.068*
201–300cc Pro	4	P227	Tate Dyer	8:39:40.862
201–300cc Sportsman	9	S267	Jordan Sobey	7:35:31.718*
1975–1982 Sportsman	60	V110	Taylor Baker	3:42:03.480*
1983–1995 Sportsman	58	V269	Victor Borg	2:35:10.097
Adventure Bike Sportsman	54	A112	Jordan Huibregtse	3:17:23.623*
Hooligan Sportsman	56	H22	Mark Atkins	3:25:26.413*
Ladies Pro	36	W1	Krista Conway	7:40:598.184*
Open Iron Sportsman	6	I1	Reed Christensen	7:28:11.605*
Open Pro	1	P1	Dalton Shirey	7:34:04.346
Open Sportsman	5	S16	Coleman Westbay	9:06:43.206
Over 30 Sportsman	7	300	James Justin Shultz	7:29:56.395*
Over 40 Sportsman	8	401	Stephen Berger	7:34:08.711*
Over 50 Sportsman	12	525	Marcus McManus	7:56:00.980*
Over 60 Sportsman	30	656	Cortney Whipple	9:07:20.633*
Scrambler Sportsman	55	SC001	Mikey Hill	23:20:51.482*

Short course/Junior class winners

Class	Number	Driver
Class 11 Short Course	1157	Blake Wilkey
Youth 170	O158	Declan Shields
Youth 250	Y237	Jacob Williamson
Youth 570	Y531	Evan Atkins
Youth 1000	Y1088	George Llamosas