Temple Gets Help, Wins Second Mint 400

Jim Temple, a land developer from Las Vegas and Palm Springs, took time away from his Mesquite Golf and Country Club long enough Saturday to win his second Mint 400 overall off-road championship while driving with Kenny Cox of Phoenix.

Cox was a late replacement for Temple’s son, Mark, who usually shares the driving duties in the family’s two-seater Raceco. Mark did not race because his wife was expecting their first child on race day.

Temple, who led the first two laps of the 106-mile course, and Cox, who gave up the lead only briefly before charging back in front, were out in the scorching desert sun for 9 hours 8 minutes 1.6 seconds.

Temple, 55, also won the overall championship in 1982 while driving with three-time world motocross champion Rolf Tibblin of Sweden.

“That one was faster, but this one was sweeter,” Temple said. “We got around in 8 1/2 hours in ‘82, the fastest anyone ever did the Mint, but this year I had the thrill of leading (the entire field) for two laps. I never was in front the year we won. It’s a real thrill, especially on that first lap when nobody’s ahead of you and it’s like a Sunday drive.”

Temple’s first lap, 2 hours 41 seconds, was the fastest of the day as a trail of dust about 100 miles long soon enveloped the course and restricted visibility for all the drivers. By the time Temple started the second lap, he was lapping slower cars, and his time of 2 hours 8 minutes reflected the difference in conditions.

He and Cox, who won the two-seater championship of the High Desert Racing Assn. last year while driving with Brian Collins, finished almost eight minutes ahead of Dave Richardson of San Diego, a surprise second-place finisher and winner in the 1,650cc class. Richardson had to drive solo because his car owner and co-driver, Steve Sourapas of La Jolla, came up sick with the flu Saturday morning.

Las Vegas hometown favorite Jack Johnson, twice an overall Mint winner--once on a motorcycle and once in a single-seat car--was the first finisher in the unlimited single-seat class, but his win was disputed because he had to push his car across the finish line. The transmission gave out about 400 yards from the finish, just as the rough and dusty course turned to asphalt at the Las Vegas Speedrome finish line, and Johnson jumped out and helped get it to the final few yards.

When Jerry Penhall, Cox and Danny Letner finished the third lap, it appeared the Mint 400 was in for the closest finish in its 18 years. Penhall led Cox by four seconds, with Letner only 24 seconds farther back as they headed back for a final lap on the roughest course in off-road racing.

“I don’t know what happened to Penhall,” said Cox. “We pitted at the same time and after we came out I never saw him again. Letner went by us and led for about 10 miles, but we caught him about 40 miles out when he started slowing down. From them on, we didn’t see anyone.”

Temple opened his Mesquite golf course and a 600 condominium development in the heart of Palm Springs last January.

“It was quite an undertaking,” he said. “I never played golf before, but I’m learning. To keep having fun, I spent $53,000 on a new Raceco that I had specially built around a suspension system designed by Charlie Cornutt. It took eight races to work the bugs out, but there were no bugs today.”

For Cox, 29, a former Las Vegas plumbing contractor who recently moved the business to Phoenix, it was his first Mint win after twice finishing second. His father, Orlo, drove with the senior Temple in the Mint 400 for about 10 years before he retired in 1979.

Defending champions Jim and Billy Wright were running strongly in fourth place on the final lap, only a few minutes behind the leaders, when their hopes of a record third straight overall win ended when their transmission gave out.

Walker Evans, who was trying for an unprecedented eighth class win in his air-conditioned Dodge truck, dropped out on the final lap when he lost oil pressure in his engine.

Ed Herbst of Las Vegas, driving with his brother Tim, finished fourth overall and second in the two-seater class.

Cars and trucks continued to race through the night as only five vehicles finished before the sun set. To be an official finisher, cars must finish within 18 hours of the start.