California driver outlasts Las Vegas racers at Mint 400

Apparently nobody told Kyle Jergensen the Mint 400 was supposed to be a Las Vegas parade.

The Perris, California, driver covered the distance in 6:43:49, finishing ahead of a bevy of Las Vegas entrants Saturday. Tim Herbst, BJ Baldwin, Steve Olliges and Rob MacCachren finished second through fifth.

Jergensen took the lead after MacCachren, seeking his second straight Mint 400 victory and third in six years, began to leak oil. Jergensen also encountered an oil pressure problem but was able to nurse his truck to his first victory in the prestigious off-road race originating in Primm.

“The race has to come to you, and it did,” Jergensen said. “We were just kind of staying patient behind Rob, we saw a trail of oil and then we saw Rob pulled over. But after that, we had our bundle of issues. There was a little excitement on the last lap, but everything else ran great.”

Herbst finished 3:19 behind Jergensen, with Baldwin rounding out the podium finishers in a race marked by attrition.

“We were just hoping to get some luck in the last 30 miles if Kyle would have had a few more problems than he already did,” Herbst said. “It’s a really fast, rough course, and you just have to make sure you don’t wear it out in the first couple of laps so you have something left to race at the end.”

Baldwin dedicated his third-place run to Las Vegas off-road fans.

“This is a very difficult sport to spectate, but you have people driving an hour out to spots to see us drive by for 15 seconds,” said Baldwin, the 2011 Mint winner. “There’s more passion in this form of motor sports than any other form on the planet.”

Justin Lofton, bidding for his fourth overall win, led the field away from the starting line after qualifying first, but was not a factor after pulling off the track with other racers still waiting to start. Ryan Arciero, son of the late Indianapolis 500 car owner Frank Arciero, led much of the way before breaking down on the third of four laps.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.