The Mint 400, '70 Style
THE MINT 400, '70 STYLE
BRYON FARNSWORTH
UNDOUBTEDLY THE TOUGHEST OFF-ROAD MOTORCYCLE RACE IN THE UNITED STATES. FORTUNATELY, IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE RICHEST.
TAKE A BARREN wasteland covered with an assortment of rocks and gullies, throw in a few steep hills, and liberally sprinkle with the finest powdery, choking dirt you can find, and you'll have the site of the 3rd Annual Mint "400" Dell Webb Desert Rally. This sporty sounding title is a cover-up for the meanest form of motorized torture yet devised.
The course covered a 50-mile loop outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Start/fin ish was set up at the Mint/Sahara Gun Club, about 10 miles northwest of town. Eight laps constituted the 400mile event, with a two-rider team for each motorcycle entered. Riders were allowed to change every lap; this kept the pace hot and heavy with a some what fresh competitor starting each successive tour.
Rules were kept simple. Two engine displacement classes made up the mo torcycle division: over 250-cc and under 250-cc. The rest was just a matter of staying on the course and making all the required checkpoints. Motocross type machines prevailed, with lights added due to the possibility of making the final ioop in the dark. Husqvarna and Yamaha dominated the two-stroke en tries while Triumph Twins topped the four-stroke contingent.
Two-wheelers and four-wheelers ran in separate races for equal money, un like last year when everybody was lumped together, and the bikes came out on the short end of the pay line. Running the cars and bikes in one event proved to be too dangerous, so the motorcycles went the full 400 miles on Sunday while the slower cars made two 200-mile races-the first on Monday and the second on Tuesday.
A big purse of over $25,000, includ ing cash and contingency awards, brought out a record total of 77 entries. The Mint Hotel, sponsors of the race, put up $12,500 in each of the four divisions: bikes, buggies, cars, and util ity vehicles. The remainder was pro vided mainly by the entrants them selves. $250 per vehicle was the entry fee, and this times 77 motorcycles added up to quite a bundle. All well worth it, as the sponsors put on a first rate show. Leading contingency prize money donor was Kawasaki Motors Corporation, with $3,000 going to the overall winner, and $500 to each of the two class winners, providing they rode Kawasakis. The balance of the cash and merchandise awards totaled $12,577.09 which, added to the Mint's $12,500 provided a good reason for these guys to beat their brains and backsides out and eat dust and sand in the burning South em Nevada desert.
Twenty-nine-year-old school teacher, Phil Bowers, from Chino, Calif., streaked into the lead right from the start. Phil teamed up with Mike Patrick to ride a new 360 Yamaha. Both are desert racing veterans and had prepared the machine at Patrick's dealership, Competition Enterprises in West Covina, Calif. At the end of the first lap, the Patrick/Bowers team had the lead fol lowed by the "Grumph" (Triumph 500-engined Greeves) of Fish/Jagow. In strong contention were the McLaugh lin/Utsey team (Jawa 402) and the Husky of Silverthorn and Fetty. One of the pre-race favorites and the overall winner of the first Mint "400" in 1968, J .N. Roberts, had fought his way through the dust and passed over 50 riders before handing his 400-cc Husq varna to teammate Hans Hansson of Sweden.
The second loop saw a strong bid by veterans Whitey Martino/Malcolm Smith (360 Husky) and Mexican 1000 winners Larry Berquist and Gary Preston aboard a Bultaco 360. Patrick continued to hold a slight lead over Silverthorn/Fetty and Roberts/Hansson. The third go around found the Yamaha duo (Pat rick/Bowers) still leading, although a determined drive was helping Montesa 360 teammates Steve Kirk and Tim Smith. Also showing a great improve ment after a late start was the Tom Muto/Bruce Dunford team. These two had started back in 68th spot along with J.N. Roberts, and had gunned their 400 Husky well up in the pack.
Half-way point still showed the trusty Yamaha 360 of Patrick/Bowers leading. The first of five flat tires that put Berquist/Preston out showed up as Berquist limped into the pits minus a rear tire. Berquist cut the tire from the rim when it went flat out on the course and continued to ride on the bare rim. Roberts/Hansson and Silverthorn/Fetty both suffered flats but quickly repaired them and were back in the fray. The order was now Patrick/Bowers with the Martino/Smith Husky only four minutes behind. Tire trouble had dropped Roberts/Hansson to third followed by Silverthorn/Fetty. A 250 Yamaha DT-l with young Al Baker riding like the throttle had stuck was coming up fast. Baker and his teammate, international motocross star Lars Larsson, had moved up to take the 250 class lead.
Mechanical woes and tire trouble continued to thin the field. AMA pro fessional racers Dusty Coppage (who stopped on his way home from a 10th place at Daytona) and teammate Keith Mashburn suffered piston problems with their 250 Yamaha. Berquist and Preston threw in the towel due to an epidemic of flats. J.N. Roberts suffered another flat, this time on the front. Martino and Smith quickly replaced a pair of col lapsed rear suspension units and were right back in the running.
Patrick took off on the last lap with a slightly comfortable lead of 10 min utes over Martino/Smith. Bowers waited in the pits with his fingers crossed, counting his share of the $8,000-plus first place winnings. The new Yamaha 360 didn't let the boys down as Patrick came in still leading for a repeat of their 1969 win, in record time of 8.53:22. Second and 17 mm. behind was Whitey Martino, who picked up $2,000-plus to share with his partner Malcolm Smith. J.N. Roberts and Hans Hansson rounded out 3rd, 22 mm. behind the Yamaha. It was almost 6:30 and getting quite dark as the rest of the crews connected up their lights to continue on in hopes of being in the first 1 5 finishers and a chance at some of the prize money. You can bet they'll all be back next year to try and conquer the "Mighty Mint."
