Off Road Xtreme is back at again, sans white Vans but still covering the biggest off-road events of the year. It’s now early March, which can only mean one thing: packing the bags, gassing up, and heading off to Sin City and its environs to cover some badass teams as they prepare for, endure, and celebrate the outcome of the mighty Mint 400.

With help from Polaris, Team Ragland has been running with a RZR for the past two years in several racing events.

One team we had to see was Team Ragland, with father and son Larry and Chad, blood relatives and pure competitors in their own right. We had the pleasure of talking to (let’s call it a Minterview) Larry last year when he was Grand Marshal of the race, but this year, he’s hopping back in the saddle for another wild ride as he completes the opening lap for the team.

Interestingly, however, it’s not a buggy or truck that the Raglands are taking out; it’s a UTV, a Polaris RZR that has been with the team for about a year now. The vehicle has undergone some trial and error that Larry hopes has been sorted out.

Issues have cropped up for Team Ragland with the RZR, but Larry and Chad are holding their heads high as tomorrow’s race looms.

“Hopefully, we’ve gotten a lot of the bugs worked out,” said Larry. “We’re pretty new to UTVs and there is a lot to learn about them.” Nevertheless, Larry’s experience and skill in Class 1 carries right over the UTVs, he feels. “The Class 1s I used to race had pretty comparable features to a RZR. The wheelbase may have been a little longer, but the 12 inches of travel and 100 horsepower are right there.”

Larry poses for a shot with his grandson, Sawyer.

Chad’s past experiences with the Mint 400 were gleaned from the inside of a Trophy Truck (or Trick Truck, as BITD calls them nowadays), where in either 2011 or 2012 he took a podium finish while driving one of these monster machines. Asked about what it was like to go from those big, brawling trucks to the small, snappy UTV, Chad joked, “It’s been a lot less expensive!”

On a serious note, however, Chad said: “They’re obviously completely different vehicles, make no mistake. But they’re both really tough, competitive classes. Matter of fact, the UTV class is the largest class here, followed by the Trick Truck class. So yeah, the UTV has less power and suspension travel, but at the end of the day, it takes a really talented driver and a well-prepared vehicle to win this race.”

We’ll see how things shake out for Team Ragland come tomorrow, as the #1999 RZR heads to the Start Line at Buffalo Bill’s. In the meantime, stay tuned for more LIVE coverage of the 2016 Mint 400  right here on Off Road Xtreme.