“Black Rhino Performance Sponsored Athlete Sean Cook’s Best in the Desert Mint 400 Race Report”
El Cajon, CA, March 15, 2016- The #1930 SPEED Energy / Polaris VillaHermosa UTV team traveled to Sin City aka Las Vegas to take on the challenges of the Mint 400. The team headed by drivers Sean Cook and Jesus “cactus killer” Leon along with navigator David “Action” Jackson brought home a 15th place finish out of 40 in class.
The team arrived early to tech on Friday morning. The Martelli Brothers did not disappoint; they put on one amazing tech / registration event down on historical Fremont Street. As the team worked their way up through tech they were greeted by thousands of spectators and vendors; so much to see and do. The drivers and car finally made it to tech and after the usual scrutinizing by race officials the official Mint 400 race ready sticker was applied to the vehicle.
As usual, with most Best in the Desert races, the UTV race started before dawn on Saturday morning. Driver Jesus Leon and co-driver David Jackson were tasked with starting the race. At approximately 0630 the green flag dropped and they were off into the sunrise. Jesus went right to work pushing the RZR into the fray. He was making good time when at mile marker 23 the CVT belt shredded; this was the first of four belts to shred on the car. David hopped out and made pretty good time changing the belt and before long they were back in the hunt. As the team watched from the pits they could see Jesus making up time on the leaders. The first lap was nearing an end with no more failures. It was time to turn the car over to driver Sean Cook.
Sean jumped into the car while the team handled the service. The team was joined by a couple of familiar faces; Josh Lahaye from CryoHeat along with his friend Barry Waugh handled fuel and tires, Josh from RCV Performance also jumped in and made sure our RCV axles were performing properly. The car was serviced and Sean and co-driver David Jackson were off. Immediately Sean and Dave had their first challenge, George Felix. Sean locked onto the rear of George and rode with him out of the pits, as soon as they exited the pits the race began. Sean rode George’s tail for miles until George overshot a turn and Sean was by him. The pass did not stick for long because a few miles later George passed them back. This exchange went on for many miles until the RZR shredded belt number 2, then again another about 20 miles later and then the last one about 5 miles from the finish line.
The team was down more than they wanted to be but they never lost sight of the finish. If it had not been for the hard work of co-driver David Jackson they would have never seen the checkered flag.
The #1930 SPEED Energy / Polaris VillaHermosa UTV has come a long way in recent months with the addition of some key partnerships and plenty of hard work by crew Chief Jeff Correia and Todd Latronica. The team now utilizes the Lone Star Racing Suspension; tough as nails and no failures, GBC Kanati tires; one front flat, KING Shocks, Twisted Stitch Seats, Factory UTV, Dirty Dawg Clutches, Galfer Brakes, Black Rhino Performance, OMF Wheels, CryoHeat treatment, RCV Performance Axles, Torco Oils, Rugged Radios, Ram Camera ounts, Replay Cameras, Fabwerx Chassis, Driven Steering Wheels, Helwig Suspension, Rigid Industries, Transfer Flow Tanks, PowerTanks, Fabtech, L&L Powder coating, Optima Batteries, Baja Tracking,Dirty DNA, Daves Off Road, D&D Graphx and Trident Beach Resorts.
