Interview: Matt Martelli Doesn't Need to Make the Mint 400 Great Again, He Already Has

Well, it must be said that Matt Martelli doesn't work alone. Alongside his brother Joshua, their shared film production studio, Mad Media, is a powerhouse in North American racing media. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but raised on the gearhead-friendly sands of Southern California, their unique combination of racing acumen and media production credentials make Mad Media especially qualified to get the absolute most out of a timelessly iconic American race.

As press and media gathered around Matt at the Mint 400's infield in Primm, Nevada, with thousands of spectators just a stone's throw away in the stands, our unbroken attention was only challenged by relentless waves of trophy trucks roaring down the straightaway less than 50 yards away. As it turns out, Matt had some freshly printed details as to exactly how many vehicles entered the race. "There's 112 four-wheel vehicles on the grid between different classes this year. Add the bikes, and our total entries are 430, and we have basically 1200 racers." Martelli said of the racing field at this year's Mint 400

So then, a fairly stacked and packed entry list this year, enough to make for an entire day of total balls-to-the-wall desert racing. But it could've all never come to pass after the Mint 400 went dormant back in the very early 1990s. Only when a small but dedicated group of gearheads from the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts (SNORE) revived the race in 2008 did the Mint see the light of day again. When that day arrived, the Martelli Brothers were ready to help kick things up several notches.

"We bought the race two years after SNORE started it," Martelli said of their rendevous with the subsequent purchase of the Mint 400's intellectual property rights. "We were actually doing all the media for it and raising all the sponsorship money, so we knew that we could build it up to its former glory and beyond, just because of the legacy of it." The Martelli's shared media experience includes shooting the first three Gymkhana films alongside Ken Block, the iconic XP1K short with RJ Anderson, filming multiple skateboard videos and multiple commercials for skateboard-related brands. So to say, the pair really did have a media acumen a cut above the rest.

The Martelli Brothers' knowledge of how to market a semi-outlaw, rule-relaxed truck race to the average Joe or Jane fed up with the bureaucracy and red tape of modern auto racing was just what the doctor ordered for the Mint 400. With a core nucleus of heritage flanked by contemporary video streaming capabilities and even a SpaceX Starlink system to help broadcast it all, Mad Media's arsenal of high technology is pulling a race most associated with the 1970s into the 21st century. If you ask the Martelli Brothers, they'll tell you that's a benefit that most off-road truck lack these days.

"I like to use stupid analogies, and the one I'll use is it's like everyone's been eating hamburgers, and they've never had steak before. You give the people steak, and they freak out. The same is true for racing content. When you bring somebody here and they see a truck jump 20 feet in the air, it sells itself," Martelli said of the effort to amplify the Mint 400's strong suits in its presentation and marketing. But what if you're like a lot of lapsed racing fans and assume everyone else simply left the hobby like you yourself might have done? Is there even a market for racing anymore?

At least according to Matt Martelli, there's a huge disconnect between what AIs and algorithms think is cool on YouTube and Twitter and people's opinions in real life. "You see, I disagree with that [modern media trends against broadcasting racing] and I'll give you factual data," Martelli said of competitive auto racing potentially being on the decline in popularity in the age of social media. "Two of the biggest events in America this year were Daytona [500] and the F1 race [USGP]."

As Martelli explained, the issue around the modern perception of auto racing goes even further than just social media. "It's not just social media but media in general. What's been done is we've all been indoctrinated into accepting what they distribute and what they decide is cool." Martelli said that established old-school media is gradually drifting away from covering auto racing as of late. "That's never been the real truth. The truth is that what's cool is defined by people who are cowboys and are willing to take risks. Nothing illustrates that more than desert racing, you have to be crazy to do this."

Now, if that's not the best sales pitch we've ever heard, we don't know what is. But that's not to say the Martelli Brothers don't make changes to America's most famous desert race when the time comes. Over the decade or so since Mad Media purchased the Mint 400 race, each year presents a new opportunity to fine-tune the racing experience for a more balanced and exciting racing series. Keep in mind that these changes don't include a whole bunch of regulations and stuffy rule books.

From a certain point of view, holding that balance between maintaining the purity of the Mint 400 while making positive changes only when necessary could be seen as the most difficult aspect of the Martelli Brothers' jobs. "I think for us, there is no committee or board that can stop us or turn us down. It's just me and my brother, and now my cousins," Martelli explained about the amount of creative control at Mad Media's disposal. "We make decisions based on our proximity to the culture and the market. Often times what happens in other motorsports like NASCAR is it gets homogenized because there are decision-makers who say no, we can't do this, no, we can't do that. This is the opposite."

Indeed, there's something undeniably enticing about a "truly unlimited" form of racing in 2024. In a race where 950 horsepower trophy trucks share the grid with Beetle-based dune buggies, swarms of dirt bikes, UTVs, and odd-ball, gambler-class vehicles forged from everyday road cars from any era, there's more variety in one day at the Mint 400 than there is in most of the rest of motorsport put together. That said, some of the changes the Martelli Brothers have made to the race are for the benefit of a better racing experience.

"When the race first started, it was crazy. They'd line up two motorcycles next to two vehicles and scream 'go,' not a good plan. So what we've done is have separate days of racing for separate racer fields," Martelli explained about how he and his brother profoundly changed the starting procedure at the Mint 400. Hopefully, it's a change for the better. "For the bikes, they have a separate bike-only course that's designed for them. So I think coming up with creative ways to have separate courses and multiple days of racing, we have a lot to be proud of."

Keep in mind. This is the kind of race the average Joe or Jane could pay in order to get behind the wheel of a Class 11 UTV and have almost the exact same experience as a seven-figure trophy truck. Also, being a totally unlimited racing event, you could enter a truck powered by a friggin' turbine engine out of a helicopter, and the only question the Martelli Brothers would ask is whether it's got the proper roll cage. A Rivian R1T was out there on the trot at this year's race. Once that shark's been jumped, is there any reason to show any restraint? It's just another way the Mint 400 is a race that is not quite like any other in the world.

Oh, and did we mention a two-day pass is only $30 bucks a pop? That's before the airfare, hotel, parking pass, and rental car, of course. But still, these prices make visiting an F1 race feel like two or three months of student loan or mortgage payment in comparison. As we can attest, the fans popped out at every stretch of the race, and not just the starting infield. After spending half an hour with one-half of the brains behind Mad Media, it's safe to say the Mint 400 is in very safe hands and will not go away again any time soon. Many thanks to Matt Martelli for sitting down with us live at the Mint this year. Go check out Mad Media's official web page if you want to learn more.