Eric Hardin stood high atop the podium with co-driver Andrew Meyers Saturday evening. Hardin brought home his first career victory in the Unlimited Class. Starting 12th, Hardin stayed consistent and waited for the front runners to “drop like flies.”
Justin Lofton was the top qualifier. Lofton led the race for three out of four laps until a mechanical issue would side line him. Tim Herbst moved into the lead in the #19 Unlimited truck. Herbst ended up pulling off the track with an issue that would ultimately end his race. Up next to lead was the Concrete Motorsports Unlimited Truck driven by Harley Letner and Kevin Thompson. Mechanical issues would soon put them down nearly two hours. Eric Hardin seized the opportunity and had the race all to himself by over 13 minutes. Hardin kept pushing even as the truck lost second and third gear 20 miles from the finish.
“At first I thought it might be smoother like some of the other courses have been from the rain we’ve been having, but that wasn’t the case. The Martelli brothers did an awesome job like they always do. It was a super-fast course, but super technical, which makes it really fun,” said Eric Hardin.
A day earlier, the limited vehicles had their time on the course. Twenty-two-year-old Joe Terrana grabbed the biggest win of his career winning overall in the limited race. Terrana drove a Can-Am UTV, beating out second place Bruce Binnquist and third place Ryan Piplic. Terrana started deep in the field and kept a consistent pace all day. Terrana battled with Mitch Guthrie Jr until the last lap. Guthrie Jr had some mechanical issues that put him down on time. Other Mint 400 wins went to Trey Hernquist in Class 5, Brad Wilson in Class 12 and Rodriquez Tsosie in Class 11. The Grabowski Brothers also claimed a Spec Class win during the Unlimited race.
