Heger and Polaris make more off-road history with Limited win at Mint 400

Brock Heger and his factory Polaris RZR team continued their historic run of major off-road race victories by taking the win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Race at the BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400. For the 24-year-old Heger, the UTV Pro Open and overall race victory was the fifth conquest of the world’s most prestigious off-road events including the Baja 1000, a rookie class victory at Dakar, two wins at the King of the Hammers and now the legendary Mint 400.

Heger completed four laps of this year’s rugged Mint 400 course in 7h11m30s, clearing his Polaris SCI factory racing teammate Cayden MacCachren by just over seven minutes and Red Bull Polaris RZR and racer Mitch Guthrie by more than 11 minutes. It was also Heger’s fourth Mint 400 class victory in five races.

“We got out front early, which was something we were after,” Heger said. “We wanted to just do our thing, set the pace, and see how everyone else liked it. We never really looked back and ever got out of the car. Our BFG tires were solid all day, so I’m super happy with how the day went.”

The biggest question coming into race day was if the Class 10 limited open-wheel race cars could beat the UTV Pro Open class. By the end of the first lap the answer became clear as the UTVs had an edge on pace. Heger would lead Guthrie (above), Chase Carr, Branden Sims and MacCachren on time, with that group separated by just over the lead Class 10 battle between Eliott Watson and 2025 Parker 400 winner Cole Potts.

A deep entry list meant that anyone who wanted to win would need to be nearly perfect, and attrition could strike anyone; multi-time winner Dustin Jones would run into issues that took him out of contention early, while a broken axle for Brayden Baker and fire for Sara Price eliminated other notable names. Even defending winner Ronnie Anderson wasn’t spared from the DNF list before the halfway point.

As the race continued, Heger and MacCachren separated themselves from the field, with Heger gradually increasing his lead each lap. Attrition would allow Guthrie to make a last-lap charge before falling back again in the late stages, but he’d still be far enough clear of Max Eddy Jr. to deny the SCI Polaris Factory Racing a completed podium sweep.

Potts (above) topped the Class 10s at fifth overall, while Brody Aikins recovered from power steering issues at the Parker 400 to finish second in class.

Factory Ford-backed entries of Loren Healy (above) and Brad Lovell swept the Full Stock and Mini/Mid Production classes against multiple manufacturer-backed competitors. The win made it two in a row for Off-Road Hall of Fame inductee Lovell, who also took a class victory in February’s King of the Hammers event.

Alongside the main 95-mile course, this year’s Limited Race also featured a shorter but equally challenging 73-mile loop for lower-powered classes. Blake Wilkey (above)’s 7h32m38s in Class 11 for vintage VW sedans beat David Lawler’s Open Sportsman time by just four seconds among the four-lap classes.

Today the Unlimited class racers including the Unlimited (Trophy Truck), Unlimited Spec (Trophy Truck Spec) and Class 1 unlimited open wheel vehicles attack the 400 mile, four-lap course – a challenge sure to test some of the world’s best drivers and teams.

Results from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Race at the 2025 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 were as follows:

1. #996 Brock Heger, UTV Pro Open, 7:11:30.008

2. #992 Cayden MacCachren, UTV Pro Open, 7:18:36.151

3. #951 Mitch Guthrie, UTV Pro Open, 7:22:57.950

4. #994 Max Eddy Jr., UTV Pro Open, 7:30:32.810

5. #1061 Carib Potts, Class 10, 7:34:43.289

6. #979 Branden Sims, UTV Pro Open, 7:36:52.792

7. #915 Ryan Piplic, UTV Pro Open, 7:40:43.933

8. #1077 Brody Aikins, Class 10, 7:46:59.653

9. #1006 Hector Garcia, Class 10, 7:47:16.462

10. #1030 Eliott Watson, Class 10, 7:49:56.815