Celebrities, Racing Legends, and K&N Stars On Hand at the Mint 400 Contingency

Mar 6, 2017

Jay Leno at the Mint 400 Contingency in Las Vegas, Nevada

Leno brings his enthusiasm for motor sports to the Mint 400 (Photo: Mint 400)

Thousands of race fans packed Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 2017 Mint 400 Desert Race Contingency. Mixed in with the masses enjoying the electric contingency experience were entertainment celebrities, racing legends, and K&N race stars.

Possibly the highest profile star set to race in the Mint 400 is Jay Leno. Leno has joined a long line of A-list celebrities who have thrown their hat (or helmet) into the Mint 400 ring. James Garner, Steve McQueen, Lee Majors, and Ted Nugent are among the other stage and screen stars to have strapped in for a Mint 400 experience.

Jessi Combs and Robin Leach at the Mint 400 Contingency in Las Vegas, Nevada

Jessi Combs talks to the press as Robin Leach checks his schedule (Photo:Tim Kessel)

The former Tonight Show host is a major motorcycle, car, and truck collector. He is also a big race fan, and his experience in the Mint 400 will be the focus of an upcoming episode of his show "Jay Leno's Garage." Leno will start as the driver of a Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro in the Mint, but will not drive the entire race.

The Grand Marshal of the 2017 race, Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” fame, talked to reporters during the contingency press conference about his connection to desert racing. The amiable Brit reporter and journalist discussed that his son Steve Leach has been a longtime chase crew member of the McMillin Off-Road Team.

Katie Vernola at the Mint 400 Contingency in Las Vegas, Nevada

K&N Racer Katie Vernola rolls her SxS through contingency (Photo:Tim Kessel)

Also speaking to the press on Fremont Street was builder, fabricator, TV personality, and friend of K&N, Jessi Combs. Combs discussed her excitement about competing in the Mint 400. Combs' Mint 400 experience will become an episode of the Autoblog show "The List: 1001 Car Things To Do Before You Die!" Combs will drive in the vintage class.

There will be no shortage of TV shows reflecting on this year's Mint 400. Builders Diesel Dave and Heavy D will be racing a truck they built in the Mint's morning race. They will be documenting their Mint experience for their Discovery Channel TV show "The Diesel Brothers."

Storied Mint 400 racers like Rod Hall and early race promoters were on hand to reminisce about the event’s infancy in the 1970s, as current racers worked through the contingency out in the street. The legends talked about the incipient stages of “The Great American Desert Race.”

RJ Anderson at the Mint 400 Contingency in Las Vegas, Nevada

Desert racing champion RJ Anderson meets fans at the K&N booth (Photo:Tim Kessel)

Of course, a full slate of K&N-sponsored racers were in attendance at the Mint Contingency. Katie Vernola drew crowds wherever she rolled her SxS. Vernola was more than a little excited to be driving in her first Mint 400.

"I just want to go with the flow," Vernola said. "You have to take what the course gives you. If your car is hurting, you're hurting." Vernola is slated to run the full schedule of the Best in the Desert racing series in 2017.

No stranger to the Mint 400 is the 2015 runner-up RJ Anderson. Anderson missed the top podium spot that year by a matter of minutes. The five-time off road racing champion signed posters for fans in front of K&N’s truck.