PRIMM, Nev. — Dale Dondel will get to start the BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 Unlimited Race on his own after pacing Friday’s time trial session in Primm.
The final Unlimited Truck 4WD qualifier of the day threw down a blistering 4:15.228 on the five-mile qualifying course, outpacing 2024 top qualifier Nic Whetstone and all the 2WD entries for Saturday’s top honors.
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As in years past, as well as with Thursday’s Limited Race qualifying session, racers were split into two groups. The Unlimited Truck SPEC racers would get first crack at the course, followed by the Class 1 cars and both 2WD and 4WD Unlimited Trucks in the second group. Unlimited qualifying would run simultaneously with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Race, as those racers completed their last laps on the full 93-mile race course.
In the first group, RJ Stidham set one of the fastest laps of the day right away, turning a 4:42.676 as just the second driver to hit the course. He’d soon be eclipsed by Kyle Jergensen, last year’s Mint 400 class winner, with a 4:41.322, before Conner McMullen rolled to the line and turned a blistering time to earn the right to pace the SPEC trucks on Saturday. But while the 2024 Parker 400 overall winner cleared the rest of the field by over five seconds, second through ninth place was separated by just over three seconds, setting up an intense battle to come.
In the second group, after a re-rack due to an incident involving a Class 1 car, defending 2024 Overall winner Adam Householder kicked things off by throwing down a blazing 4:23.305, followed by 2023 champ Eric Hardin with a 4:27.339. Ryan Arciero, Householder’s closest competition for much of last year’s race, came just short of the pole at 4:23.696.
That’s when Whetstone rolled out and, just like last year, set the quickest Unlimited Truck 2WD time of the day. With a nearly six-second advantage over Householder, he would hold the overall top spot until the 4WD trucks came out. Dondel, the last of the group, came flying out of the gate to knock Whetstone off the overall top spot.
Watch this year’s Mint 400 races LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1.
