If there's a racer who's keen to showcase just what the phrase "winning ways" is about, it's Ricky Brabec. After starting the year by taking his second-ever Dakar Rally win (an unprecedented feat by an American rider), Brabec and famously mustachioed teammate Skyler Howes were back at it again in Las Vegas at the 2024 Mint 400.
The Monster Energy Honda teammates traded in two-wheels for four, which is fitting since if you add both their bikes together, that's the number you'd get anyway. We kid. Anyway, the formidable pair on any number of wheels drove their Honda Talon to win the BFGoodrich Mint 400's UTV Pro NA class on the very first day.
Brabec wasn't done yet, though. After scooping that UTV Pro NA win, he and another Honda teammate, Preston Campbell, saddled up on a Honda CRF 450R and proceeded to win the 2024 Mint 400's Open Pro Motorcycle division. Yet another piece of shiny hardware for the trophy room!
“Yeah, you know, was a really good weekend for Monster. And a really good weekend for Honda. Dakar’s the dream, but to come to the Mint 400 for the first time in a side by side, with my Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally teammate Skyler Howes, yeah we did a really excellent job. 1st in Pro non-turbo. Really cool to be a privateer team and beat the HRC Factory Honda Talon Ridgeline program. That’s a big push there and we were really happy to accomplish this," Brabec said later in a statement.
And because he did the double, we'll do a thing we don't normally do and embed two of his joyous Instagram posts here:
What About Skyler Howes?
For his part, Brabec's Dakar teammate Howes expressed surprise that Brabec invited him to join him in piloting the Talon. In fact, he said, he'd never actually driven one before and also hadn't raced on four wheels in at least the past three years. While Brabec powered through the first two laps to secure the lead, Howes was able to bring it home after the intense nine-hour race. Though, we suppose, after multiple days doing the Dakar, nine hours probably is less daunting than it might be to anyone else.
Howes added in an Instagram post that this Mint 400 win was especially meaningful to him, since his family's early racing history was on four wheels. In fact, his grandpa was both a mechanic and a driver in the Baja Boot, and also had Mint trophies dating back to the early 1970s. That's quite a feat to have in the family, for sure.
Congrats to the teammates, their crew, and everyone who loves to have a good time on any number of wheels.
