2019 Mint 400 Wishlist

[Kilian]

A few years ago Pat Daily started a Mint 400 Wishlist thread. Contributions ranged from "I like the idea of a spectator ish/pit area through Primm" to "multiple days of racing" to "pre-running" to "entry list cap needs to be raised" to "charity mud wrestling matches at Fremont street to benefit Fastaid"

We have begun the initial stages of planning and want to hear your thoughts on where to take this thing in 2019. Yes, there's been a tremendous amount of feedback and dialogue in other threads regarding certain topics but this one is meant to open it up to all ideas regarding all aspects of the event and get it organized in one place.

 

[ACME]

Less spam please!

 

[BigBlue&Goldie]

Give entry priority to racers that race Parker so people don't get screwed in points from not getting an entry spot.

 

[Mxrider99]

Earlier drivers meeting or two day drivers meeting to go along with two day Tech.

Better system for whose in or out. If you race parker you put a full entry fee down within a week after for the mint and your 100% in. No refunds.

 

[Mxrider99]

Far too many people only racing the mint because of its prestige and that's it. Taking spots from racers who want to chase the series or atleast do more than one race. If there was unlimited entry's this is fine and profitable for you guys, But you'd still cap out even if you make sure everyone that's racing more than one race gets in.

 

[R. Gross]

No pro Afternoon entries allowed to race sportsman in the Morning race and suck up an entry from another legit team. Easy to manage. DOR hands a copy of their DL out to race ops when they are checking wristbands and hans devices. A flip of the shield and you are good to go.

 

[J Prich]

Cool with the "priority" thing for racing Parker but keep in mind not all classes race Parker (7100, the stock bugs, the vintage guys)....so some classes wont have the opportunity to race a full season and shouldn't be left out IMO.

Two day tech was awesome, please do that more, LOL. IF a two day race with full distance for the limited classes is ever on the table, please do that.

Keep up the great work!

 

[Mike @ pit b]

That people wouldn't try to hype a race that's almost a year away.

 

[bajaxp]

...Ouch!

 

[Andy Mac]

1. Unlimited Race on a different day than all the other races (Class 1 and TT Only. Prefer TT only race by itself, as it is the absolute safest, but I am biased). Make it a week long event! Parade Tuesday, Qualify Wednesday, Tech Thursday, Limited Race on Friday, Unlimited Race on Saturday.

2. Driver's meeting at 3pm, not right in the middle of dinner time the night before the race. Never understood that.

3. Different race course. The same course around Primm gets old after 15 years, especially 3 and 4 laps each year... There are other options that should be explored fully. Beating yourself up on the same bumps is not desirable when planning your schedule at the end of every year. Maybe I'm uber sensitive because I just got back from pounding non-stop whoops at San Felipe for 5 hours haha!

Thanks for being open to feedback. Means a lot to the racers when the organizers/promoters listen to what the racers want, especially on an open forum.

Keep up the great work on the Mint 400 and never stop progressing! The live coverage from the Heli this year as I sat on my couch at home was nothing short of epic!!

 

[BANNED4LIFE]

tt specs start where they qualify....not behind donkeys in other classes......dont worry im sure i have more.....

 

[R_LLEWELLYN]

If a class has less than 5 entries by the draw date eliminate that class and let a guy on the wait list in a competitive class have it. To many pple brag about winning or podium when all they did was a poker run stroll. A mint trophy should be earned.

 

[BANNED4LIFE]

why are you dingdongs dwelling on the entry capacity, didnt everyone get to race??? i thought all where in the draw.......

 

[bajaxp]

If a class has less than 5 entries by the draw date eliminate that class and let a guy on the wait list in a competitive class have it. To many pple brag about winning or podium when all they did was a poker run stroll. A mint trophy should be earned.

This is a really good idea IMO.

A 'class' should be a fixed number of racers three or five...or whatever. If racers in a 'class' can't rally that many of their fellow class racers, then the 'class' should either be moved up to the next available class, put to sportsman or worst case dissolved. I actually think this will help entries as guys in emerging classes or waning will be pinging their fellow class racers to show.

 

[dirtslinger]

I wouldn't mind if those huge pre-runners and 1450 trucks didn't start right behind the 11 cars.

How about awards were at Primm, so people didn't have to drive all the way back to Downtown on Sunday.

The tech people could learn their own rules.

The Quarry sucks!

I like the 2 day tech.

 

[bajaxp]

why are you dingdongs dwelling on the entry capacity, didnt everyone get to race??? i thought all where in the draw.......

Lot's of peeps didn't get to race including my CL10 bud Max.

 

[Dirty Harry]

That people wouldn't try to hype a race that's almost a year away.

This post isn't about "hype" it is asking for feedback, but do you really think that they just pull together the biggest desert race of the year in a few weeks in their spare time?

 

[Mike @ pit b]

This post isn't about "hype" it is asking for feedback, but do you really think that they just pull together the biggest desert race of the year in a few weeks in their spare time?

You think the guy with the MINT 400 avatar isn't trying to hype next year's? El Oh El.

It's the biggest race of the year because it's only April. And technically the Parker 425 is bigger. The Baja 500 is in 7 weeks. SCORE just had the San Felipe 250, it's longest one ever, this last weekend. What those three races didn't have were spectators that paid to see it. They also didn't spam every person on the planets e-mail.

 

[vegasloki]

 

[Dirty Harry]

It's the biggest race of the year because it's only April. And technically the Parker 425 is bigger. The Baja 500 is in 7 weeks. SCORE just had the San Felipe 250, it's longest one ever, this last weekend. What those three races didn't have were spectators that paid to see it. They also didn't spam every person on the planets e-mail.

Technically Parker isn't bigger. Parker had 210 entries. The Mint had 458 entries, and it was capped! And didn't have bikes. San Felipe had 243 entries (and 48 of those were bikes), the 50th anniversary of the Baja 1000 had 412 entries (88 of those were bikes and quads).

I'm sorry your feelers were hurt by the paid spectating and the emails. I'm not trying to tell you that it is the best race (that is more difficult to qualify), but it is definitely the biggest desert race of the year. If another desert race this year has more entries than the Mint I'd be happy to buy you a steak dinner at the race of your choice.