Alumi Craft’s Prescott With The Victory and Parker on the Podium at The Mint 400
Las Vegas, NV
A Mint 400 course that looked flat and smooth was pure fool’s gold for Alumi Craft racers and the over 250 other drivers who lined up for The General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris. The race is legendary for being tough on competitors and this year’s race lived up to its reputation with only 33% of the field able to finish.
Despite the treacherous conditions and a hard hit from an unseen rock, Alumi Craft racers Chip Prescott and his co-rider Ben Himel took the class 10 victory. On lap two of four, they hit a boulder in the dust that peeled the skid plate back and damaged the master cylinder rendering the brakes useless. “Any other car would probably be unable to continue after that hit,” said Chip Prescott, “Our car was fantastic, even without brakes! I had to use my Mendeola transmission to slow the car down; we had a couple of scary moments but we got to the finish first, that’s what counts.”
Chip and Ben planned to run a smart race after they drew a 28th place starting position. They passed a few cars on lap one but the dust was so thick they had to let others go past. They picked up the pace on lap two and were running great until they slammed into the rock. “Despite the lack of brakes everything else went perfect,” said Chip, “We race out of my garage and the crew is made up of friends and family but the pit stops were textbook and we had zero flats to our BFG tires. I hit another car in the dust coming off the lakebed. I’m not sure who it was but I would like to apologize to them. They stopped way short of the checkpoint, probably couldn’t see, and we hit them. It’s hard to drive blind especially with no brakes. We had a good lead on the last lap so we backed off the pace. The crew kept us informed where the others were so we could run only as hard as we had too. I have to thank Alumi Craft for building such a solid car, my friend Richard Glaszczak from Richards Performance Muffler for all his help, Ben my co-rider who did a fantastic job in the dust and the whole team for making this win possible.”
Greg Parker and John Cooley, driving the Competitive Metals Alumi Craft car landed on the podium in third place after a tough race of their own. “It was challenging but fun,” said Greg Parker, “The dust was so thick you couldn’t see ten feet and after a few laps there were huge holes everywhere. We gave the FOX shocks and BFG tires a good workout. It was just insane on lap three when the six leading Trick Trucks went by. John Cooley put in a great drive and the co-riders Marty Richardson and Brian Saunders did an amazing job.
We have a small team but they have big hearts, we couldn’t do it without them. You had to be in shape for this one physically and mentally. I was praying for wind but it never came. The guy who took the win, Chip, he was on a mission. With the thick dust and rough course, you had to fight the urge to back off the pace. Luckily these Alumi Craft cars stay together; this race was not for the faint of heart.”
Championship-winning Alumi Craft race cars are engineered to perform at their best under the toughest conditions you will ever see whether on the track or in the desert.
Prescott Photos By Brian Binkert
Bink Designs – www.binkdesigns.com
Parker Photos By Art Eugenio
Get Some Photo – www.getsomephoto.com
About Alumi Craft
Alumi Craft is the premier racecar chassis manufacturer in the off road industry. Crafting cars from lengths of 4130 Chromoly tubing is our specialty. We offer a variety of vehicles to accommodate the professional off road racer to the recreational driver. Since 2004, Alumi Craft racers have earned countless wins and nineteen points championships; seven in short course and thirteen in the desert. Rob MacCachren, Chuck Cheek, Cameron Steele, Luke McMillin, CJ Greaves, Matt Cullen, Darren Hardesty, Darryl Smith, Gunnar Peterson, Mike Porter, Mitchell Dejong, Roger Starkey and owner John Cooley have all won championships behind the wheel of an Alumi Craft race car.
For more information on Alumi Craft Race Cars check out www.alumicraft.info
About Bink Designs
Bink Designs is a premier graphic design company located in San Diego. Since 2003, we have been committed to providing cost-effective solutions to our clients’ high-end graphic needs. Whether you want to create, maintain, or revamp your corporate identity, Bink Designs will work with you to develop a strategy that matches your goals. Bink Designs offers a number of services, including: Identity, Print Design, Vinyl Graphics, Web Design, Photography and Apparel.
For more information on Bink Designs see www.binkdesigns.com
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Category: Race Recap
