Brock Heger, Mat Bellefontaine Top 2026 Mint 400 Limited Race Qualifying
Brock Heger will start his chase for a second straight win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Race at the BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 from the top starting spot. The 2025 race winner, multi-time Dakar champion, and one of the most dominant forces in North American desert racing laid down a blistering time of 6:19.627 in Thursday qualifying in Primm, completing the course more than 10 seconds faster than anyone else in the session.
Limited Race qualifying was broken up into two groups, with more than 25 Class 10 racers taking the course on first. The top time kept falling as the session went on, with Todd Jackson’s 7:13.881 holding at first before Mat Bellefontaine dropped a 7:10.484. Strong challenges from Brody Aikins and Eliott Watson would each come close, eventually splitting the top three times by a razor-thin 1.025 seconds. Jackson and defending Class 10 winner Carib Potts would complete the top five.
From there, well over 60 UTV Pro racers hit the course, and the top 10 qualifiers when it all shook out read like a who’s who of the sport. Coming in second was Kyle Chaney, the multi-time King of the Hammers and short course champion who will be running his first Mint 400, while Corbin Leaverton will look to replicate his class win in UTV Pro NA last year from third on the UTV Pro grid. Other names in the top 10 included past Limited Race winners Mitch Guthrie, Ronnie Anderson, and Dustin Jones.
Top qualifiers from the UTV Pro class were as follows:
- #T96 Brock Heger, 6:19.627
- #T191 Kyle Chaney, 6:30.162
- #T25 Corbin Leaverton, 6:30.357
- #T22 Cody Miller, 6:31.245
- #T51 Mitch Guthrie, 6:32.484
- #T52 Ronnie Anderson, 6:33.127
- #T90 Hunter Miller, 6:33.553
- #T21 Cayden MacCachren, 6:34.286
- #T44 Phil Blurton, 6:34.891
- #T978 Dustin Jones, 6:36.492
Top qualifiers from Class 10 were as follows:
- #1025 Mat Bellefontaine, 7:10.484
- #1077 Brody Aikins, 7:10.613
- #1030 Eliott Watson, 7:11.509
- #1021 Todd Jackson, 7:13.881
- #1061 Carib Potts, 7:20.712
- #1071 Brady Whitlock, 7:21.456
- #1014 Zack McLaren, 7:21.851
- #1015 Michael Wells, 7:24.368
- #1017 Cade Martin, 7:29.033
- #1006 Hector Garcia, 7:29.464
2026 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 festivities continue all day in downtown Las Vegas with the Mint 400 Off-Road Festival, with Limited Race qualifiers working their way through tech and contingency and hundreds of exhibitors on display through 6PM. From there, they’ll make their way back to Primm for tomorrow’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Race, which will go green at 8AM and stream all day long at themint400.com/live. The full race schedule can be found at https://themint400.com/schedule/.
The Mint 400 has carried the reputation as the toughest, most spectacular off-road race in North America since 1968, when it first roared to life in the Nevada desert. What began as a clever public relations stunt to promote the Mint Hotel’s annual deer hunt quickly evolved into something far bigger. A legitimate desert race forged in dust, horsepower, and bravado. By the 1970s, the Mint wasn’t just a race. It was a cultural moment. Immortalized by Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it became a symbol of American excess, grit, and wide-open desert freedom.
After decades of dormancy, the event was revived in 2008 by brothers Matthew and Joshua Martelli, who rebuilt it from the ground up with a singular mission. To restore its mythic status while elevating the professionalism, safety, and prestige of modern desert racing. Since that revival, “The Great American Off-Road Race” has only grown larger, deeper, and more competitive. The fields get stronger every year. The stakes get higher. And winning The Mint 400 remains one of the hardest achievements in off-road racing.
This year’s Mint 400 will take place from March 4th - 8th in Las Vegas. More information on the event for racers and spectators is available at TheMint400.com, or follow the event on Facebook and Instagram.
Details regarding racer registration, sponsorship packages, exhibitor vending, spectator tickets, camping, and parking passes for the American Off-Road Racing Championship are live on americanoffroadracingchampionship.com
About American Off-Road Racing Championship
About the American Off-Road Racing Championship:
The American Off-Road Racing Championship (AORC) is the premier desert off-road racing league in North America, created through the unification of Best in the Desert (BITD) and Unlimited Off-Road Racing (UNLTD).
Best in the Desert, founded in 1984 by legendary racer Casey Folks, is the longest-running and most respected off-road racing series in the U.S., with a legacy that includes iconic events like Vegas to Reno, the Silver State 300, the Parker 425, and the Laughlin Desert Classic.
Unlimited Off-Road Racing, established by the Martelli Brothers in 2023, produces world-class events such as The Mint 400, The California 300, and The Parker 400. UNLTD is recognized for its focus on innovation, storytelling, and large-scale racer participation, with events known for high car counts, challenging courses, pre-running, and family-friendly fan experiences near major markets.
Together under the AORC banner, BITD and UNLTD preserve the heritage of desert racing while building its future—offering racers, sponsors, and fans a unified championship built on clarity, consistency, and world-class competition.