Unlimited Off-Road Racing announced that the 50th Anniversary of The Parker 400 Off-Road race was a massive success. Nearly 125 off-road warriors in twenty-five classes competed on the newly CRIT Gauntlet and infamous Parker desert race course for three exciting days in front of a crowd of over twenty-thousand race fans, campers and spectators.
The legendary and challenging Parker race course pulled no punches, taking out nearly 35-percent of the field who succumbed to mechanical issues. There were two racer rollovers, but no serious injuries, and the racers involved are recovering at home thanks to the quick and professional work of the Unlimited Safety and Retrieval team.
And there were no major law enforcement or spectator management issues, thanks to careful planning and coordination with the BLM, La Paz County Sheriff’s Office, CRIT PD, and Fish and Game. The weather proved to be ideal for racing and spectating, and drew massive crowds to the area, with an estimated economic impact to be in the multiple millions.
“The Parker 400 is back! It feels really good to see the massive fan turnout, a generation of people have grown up spectating and racing this race and it showed. The racing was nothing short of spectacular in every class, but the star of the whole weekend was Connor McMullen. His performance beating all of the Unlimited Trucks in a Class 1 car with half of the horsepower will go down in the history books as one of the greatest off-road race performances. This young man has a bright future in off-road racing ahead of him. We couldn’t have asked for a better event to kick off the inaugural year of the Unlimited Off-road Racing Series!” stated Unlimited Off-Road Racing CEO Matt Martelli.
Race action kicked off on Thursday with Qualifying, where the 4WD Unlimited Trucks of Justin Lofton and Cole Potts would top the Unlimited classes and Bruce Binnquist would earn the fastest Limited class time. Friday’s Limited Race saw Brayden Baker and Larry Heidler battle for the lead over the first two laps, but Heidler would win out after surviving the third and final circuit. It was a similar story in Saturday’s Unlimited Race, where Lofton and McMullen would fight tooth and nail for most of the day, but an issue 12 miles from the finish would hand the win to McMullen, returning the open-wheelers to glory.
“We are very thankful for the support from the sponsors as well as the Town of Parker, Mayor Hartless, La Paz County including the Board of Supervisors, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, Parker Area Chamber of Commerce, Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State Trust Land Department, and all of the local residents and landowners.” stated Unlimited Off-Road Racing COO Josh Martelli.
The next race on the Unlimited Off-Road Racing points championship calendar is the 56th Annual BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400, March 6th – 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Last year saw a massive surge in attendance and the second-highest entry list in decades – 490 race teams. Race fans and teams are encouraged to visit themint400.com now and reserve their spot for what will be another massive race event in the heart of Sin City.
For more information on Unlimited Off-Road Racing, check out their website.
