The Mint 400 is one of the toughest off-road races in America, but Adam Householder was more than up for the challenge. In fact, as many of his rivals dropped out or suffered mechanical issues, Householder’s Unlimited Truck was perfect from start to finish.
After chasing down Ryan Arciero for the first of four laps, he took the lead and never had to look back particularly close. Although Arciero and Christian Sourapas provided the biggest challenges, both were hit by truck problems on the final lap that enabled Householder to pull away. Kyle Jergensen, the 2022 Mint 400 winner, inherited second after Arciero was knocked out by a broken driveline and finished almost eleven minutes back.
The reigning Unlimited Off-Road Racing Series champion, Householder began his title defence on a strong note when he finished won the Unlimited overall at the Parker 400 in January. Now two-for-two in the 2024 season, he can complete the clean sweep by taking the California 300 in October.
“We had a flawless day. No issues, nothing. Never had to get out, had a fantastic day,” said Householder. “We just ran with everyone at the beginning to kind of see what their pace was doing and set it from there. Everyone just kept dropping out like flies and we just proceeded to go to the front.
“It’s not easy out there. By the time you get to the last lap, it is brutal. You’re hitting kerbs, I just tried to keep the truck alive and that’s what we did. There’s a lot of rocks out there, and so he was on it, Trevor (Ellingham) did an incredible job all day telling me what to do, where to go, and we made it happen.”
Sourapas started the race alongside Householder but spent most of the day pursuing him after the latter gained the early advantage. Brake wear caused him to fall back slightly before he came to a stop entirely on the final lap while running second. He eventually salvaged a top-five finish.
“It was an eventful day,” Sourapas began. “Had a really clean first lap, lost the holeshot to Adam, so I knew he was going to set a really good pace. We stayed in his dust pretty much the whole lap. Lap two, we started to run into a little bit of brake fade. Still in the hunt for the most part, and then halfway through the last lap, lost the brake pedal entirely. Had to pull over an fix that and did the whole last lap with only front brakes. Trying to stop a six thousand-pound truck with only fronts is a little bit challenging, especially when you’ve been in a truck for seven hours and you’re ready to get the hell out of it.”
Arciero, who led the first lap before losing an alternator, assumed the runner-up position following Sourapas’ brake failure only for the driveline to break an hour later. While he still reached the finish, it was just another addition to a long string of bad luck at the Mint; he was leading the 2022 race late before his truck lost power, then retired in 2023 with a broken transmission.
“I don’t know what it is about the Mint 400, but it kicks my ass every time,” Arciero remarked. “We’ve been second, we’ve been third, we’ve been fourth, we’ve been second again and we’ve been third.
“I need to get this monkey off my back. I don’t know what I need to do to do it. I don’t know if I need some voodoo, some sage, I don’t know what it is. But we’ll get it.”
2023 winner Eric Hardin and twice victor Rob MacCachren failed to complete a lap before bowing out, a fate that also befell nine other drivers including all three in Class 1 Unlimited headlined by Casey Currie. Pole winner Nic Whetstone struggled and finished nineteenth overall, while Parker 400 Class 1 winner Conner McMullen was disqualified for illegal outside assistance.
Troy Grabowski joined Householder and Jergensen on the outright podium. Cole Potts, who rolled in qualifying on Friday, rebounded to win the 4WD truck class. Marco Fuentes Zaragoza finished sixteenth overall and won Class 1, though the former could have been much higher as he ran second at halfway before having to make late repairs.
Unlimited class winners
| Class | Overall Finish | Number | Driver of Record | Total Time |
| 4400 Unlimited | 40 | 4482 | Cole Johnson | 8:37:14.509* |
| Class 1 | 16 | 179 | Mario Fuentes Zaragoza | 8:04:07.806 |
| Class 1 Unlimited | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A |
| Unlimited Truck 2WD | 1 | 24 | Adam Householder | 6:46:59.415 |
| Unlimited Truck 4WD | 4 | 60 | Cole Potts | 7:05:11.247 |
| Unlimited Truck Legends | 20 | L22 | Robert Malone | 8:37:18.210 |
| Unlimited Truck SPEC | 2 | 222 | Kyle Jergensen | 6:57:45.928 |
Unlimited overall results
| Position | Number | Driver of Record | Class | Laps | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 24 | Adam Householder | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 6:46:59.415 | Leader |
| 2 | 222 | Kyle Jergensen | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 6:57:45.928 | + 10:46.513 |
| 3 | 272 | Troy Grabowski | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:03:16.722 | + 16:17.307 |
| 4 | 60 | Cole Potts | Unlimited Truck 4WD | 4 | 7:05:11.247 | + 18:11.832 |
| 5 | 6 | Christian Sourapas | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 7:11:38.709 | + 24:39.294 |
| 6 | 263 | EJ Herbst | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:16:28.504 | + 29:29.089 |
| 7 | 205 | Trey Gibbs | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:17:46.409 | + 30:46.994 |
| 8 | 246 | James Scully | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:22:53.449 | + 35:54.034 |
| 9 | 273 | Jordan Brenthel | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:32:17.278 | + 45:17.863 |
| 10 | 34 | Brett Comiskey | Unlimited Truck 4WD | 4 | 7:36:09.116 | + 49:49.071 |
| 11 | 279 | Cole Hardin | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:37:46.604 | + 50:47.189 |
| 12 | 282 | Brent Fox | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:38:24.757 | + 51:25.342 |
| 13 | 9 | Ethan Ebert | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 7:41:46.127 | + 54:46.712 |
| 14 | 250 | Nick Isenhouer | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 7:50:36.766 | + 1:03:37.35 |
| 15 | 91 | Alexander Wacker | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 7:56:03.651 | + 1:09:04.23 |
| 16 | 179 | Mario Fuentes Zaragoza | Class 1 | 4 | 8:04:07.806 | + 1:17:08.39 |
| 17 | 32 | Ryan Arciero | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 8:06:12.475 | + 1:19:13.06 |
| 18 | 224 | Terry Householder | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 8:23:10.031 | + 1:36:10.61 |
| 19 | 18 | Nic Whetstone | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 8:26:12.389 | + 1:39:12.97 |
| 20 | L22 | Robert Malone | Unlimited Truck Legends | 4 | 8:37:18.210 | + 1:50:18.79 |
| 21 | 204 | Maxime Losier | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 8:39:53.175 | + 1:52:53.76 |
| 22 | 295 | Pat Gailey | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 8:41:38.728 | + 1:54:39.31 |
| 23 | 202 | Neal Drickey | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 8:44:05.194 | + 1:57:05.77 |
| 24 | 233 | Josh Horschel | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:11:47.524 | + 2:24:48.10 |
| 25 | 262 | Lincoln Day | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:11:52.890 | + 2:24:53.47 |
| 26 | 111 | Jay Reichert | Class 1 | 4 | 9:14:38.320 | + 2:27:38.90 |
| 27 | 299 | Sid Mattila | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:16:28.015 | + 2:29:28.60 |
| 28 | 210 | Louis Horschel | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:38:48.473 | + 2:51:49.05 |
| 29 | 288 | Andre Laurin | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:42:56.722 | + 2:55:57.30 |
| 30 | 211 | Thomas St. Peter | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:45:23.569 | + 2:58:24.15 |
| 31 | 269 | CJ Faison | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 9:51:06.573 | + 3:04:07.15 |
| 32 | 227 | Jack Olliges | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 10:02:58.958 | + 3:15:59.54 |
| 33 | 274 | Shane Lewis | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 10:07:32993 | + 3:20:33.57 |
| 34 | 230 | Chad Hall | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 4 | 10:07:32.993 | + 3:35:53.61 |
| 35 | 97 | BJ Baldwin | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 4 | 10:22:53.031 | + 3:51:22.01 |
| 36 | 255 | Kirk Harkey | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 3 | 10:38:21.428 | + 1 Lap |
| 37 | 251 | Michael Halverson | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 3 | 5:47:52.213* | + 1 Lap |
| 38 | 19 | Tim Herbst | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 3 | 6:06:59.262* | + 1 Lap |
| 39 | 212 | Paul Kraus | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 3 | 8:25:26.673* | + 1 Lap |
| 40 | 4482 | Cole Johnson | 4400 Unlimited | 3 | 8:37:14.509 | + 1 Lap |
| 41 | 4497 | Mike Spindler | 4400 Unlimited | 3 | 9:10:31.730 | + 1 Lap |
| 42 | 88 | David Bernstein | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 3 | 9:16:27.739 | + 1 Lap |
| 43 | 127 | Drew Norman | Class 1 | 3 | 9:22:52.490 | + 1 Lap |
| 44 | 245 | Adam Castaneda | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 2 | 3:40:47.505* | + 2 Laps |
| 45 | 44 | Bill Apgood | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 2 | 3:55:44.341* | + 2 Laps |
| 46 | 31 | Michael Frye | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 2 | 4:05:03.625* | + 2 Laps |
| 47 | 70 | Kevin Thompson | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 1 | 1:40:50.167* | + 3 Laps |
| 48 | 201 | Jason Coleman | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 1:44:03.956* | + 3 Laps |
| 49 | 219 | Thor Herbst | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 1:45:55.189* | + 3 Laps |
| 50 | 267 | Bret Jeffers | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 1:47:39.275* | + 3 Laps |
| 51 | 129 | Madix Bailey | Class 1 | 1 | 1:53:11.715* | + 3 Laps |
| 52 | 266 | Harrison Weiss | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 1:55:59.105* | + 3 Laps |
| 53 | 214 | Donald Cerrone | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 1:58:59.749* | + 3 Laps |
| 54 | 284 | Justin “Bean” Smith | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 2:12:01.378* | + 3 Laps |
| 55 | 208 | Garrett Gentry | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 1 | 2:22:29.105* | + 3 Laps |
| 56 | 79 | Eric Hardin | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 57 | 11 | Rob MacCachren | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 58 | 26 | Jonathan Brenthel | Unlimited Truck 4WD | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 59 | L23 | Luis Saenz | Unlimited Truck Legends | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 60 | U103 | Keith Basso | Class 1 Unlimited | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 61 | U102 | Casey Currie | Class 1 Unlimited | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 62 | U105 | Shannon Campbell | Class 1 Unlimited | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 63 | 115 | Dan Myers | Class 1 | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 64 | 277 | Travis Williams | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 65 | 254 | Trevor Brain | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| 66 | 271 | Chase Barbieri | Unlimited Truck SPEC | 0 | DNF | + 4 Laps |
| DNS | 27 | Steve Olliges | Unlimited Truck 2WD | 0 | DNS | N/A |
| DNS | 141 | Kyle McMullen | Class 1 | 0 | DNS | N/A |
| DSQ | 140 | Conner McMullen | Class 1 | 2 | 6:29:44.169* | + 2 Laps |
