Brendan Gaughan has achieved plenty in both NASCAR and off-road racing. He has to be a happy father to see his 12-year-old son following in his footsteps in the latter.

On Saturday, Ryland Gaughan won the overall for the Mint 400’s combination Youth Race between the 200, 250, and 170 Open classes. The event, as were the other youth races, had a course that overlapped with those used by the adults’ events; Friday’s races were on a 5.8-mile track while Saturday was on a 1.5-miler.

“It was pretty fun. I liked the course a lot. It hurt a little bit though,” Gaughan remarked.

The younger Gaughan mainly races in the GBC Short Course Series and was even co-driver for his dad at the 2024 Baja 500. He also competed in the Youth 1000 race but was set back by mechanical issues.

Wyatt Cotter headlined the first day’s action by winning Youth 1000. The 13-year-old previously won his class at the 2021 and 2022 Mints, and also has youth titles in Best In The Desert and WORCS. Laethe Earp, who only started racing 570cc RZRs a year ago, topped Youth 570.

8-year-old Dylan Llamosas, whose brother George starred in the now-defunct Great American Shortcourse, claimed Youth 170 as he and Murphy McKay were the only drivers to complete 11 laps.

“My favorite part was passing everybody and getting on this podium,” said Llamosas. He had started 17th.

The Youth Races are reserved for drivers in their early teens at the oldest. Everyone competes in Polaris RZRs with the engine displacement varying by class. As their names suggest, Youth 250 is for RZRs with 250cc engines while Youth 1000 is the most powerful at 1000cc. Youth 1000 mandates drivers must be between 12 and 17 years old, while Youth 570 (where engines are 600cc at most) requires an age range from 10 to 16. Smaller classes like Youth 170 permits racers as young as five.

Given such categories are for kids, it’s unsurprisingly common for youth racing to be a family affair. Besides the Gaughans, other relations included the Earp Boys (Laethe, Recker, and Steele) and the Atteberry family. Danger Cerrone, the son of UFC great-turned-desert racer Donald Cerrone, raced in Youth 170 Production.

Brixton Wirt, the 2024 Championship Off-Road 200 SxS runner-up, finished fifth in the combination race. Preston Zygela, who won Youth 170 Open at last year’s Mint, was disqualified for an illegal exhaust while Jack Gillaspy and Ryder Foerster were respectively binned for noncompliant fan and air intake. Over half of the Youth 1000 field received disqualifications for modified air intakes.

Friday results

Youth 570

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Time
1	Y511	Laethe Earp	7	47:52.313
2	Y501	Indigo Bartley	7	47:55.187
3	Y566	Addie Atteberry	7	48:53.460
4	Y598	Recker Earp	5	35:38.174*

Youth 1000

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Time
1	Y1612	Wyatt Cotter	8	45:55.980
2	Y1866	Cameron Leaming	8	46:28.051
3	Y1021	Cash Martinez	8	46:39.693
4	Y1088	Landon Morrow	8	46:51.862
5	Y1127	Aiden Coots	8	48:40.823
6	Y1062	Ryland Gaughan	8	51:16.173
7	Y1258	Declan Shields	9	46:10.586 †
8	Y1311	Ryder Barnaby	8	46:01.56 †
9	Y1037	Jacob Williamson	8	46:10.586 †
10	Y1119	Cole Warner	8	46:21.437 †
11	Y1028	Gavin Vazquez	8	46:57.502 †
12	Y1077	Gray Lantz	8	47:47.156 †
13	Y1099	Nixon Nagel	8	47:55.325 †
14	Y1223	Liam Cadwell	8	47:56.114 †
15	Y1015	Samuel Gibbs	8	48:39.285 †
16	Y1085	Estella Gaddis	8	48:40.671 †
17	Y1544	Brody Behorst	8	48:41.635 †
18	Y1000	Chloe Wallin	8	48:44.3763 †
19	Y1038	Brenna Goerke	6	49:49.187 †

Saturday

Youth 170 Production

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Time
1	Y058	Dylan Llamosas	11	27:25.722
2	Y098	Murphy McKay	11	27:18.996
3	Y140	Johnny Savino	10	25:51.260
4	Y099	Brooks Hopkins	10	25:54.723
5	Y002	Braden Lucas	10	26:07.904
6	Y118	Brody Kline	10	26:09.227
7	Y100	Rylee Atteberry	10	26:10.508
8	Y161	Maverick Atteberry	10	27:14.640
9	Y169	Maisyn Atteberry	10	27:26.878
10	Y008	Greyson Gentry	9	25:29.774
11	Y023	Raelee Lucas	9	25:39.738
12	Y090	Danger Cerrone	9	25:46.613
13	Y066	Cade Finley	9	26:13.456
14	Y199	Steele Earp	9	26:37.095
15	Y073	Natalie Fernandez	9	27:11.735
16	Y191	Cassidy Walton	8	21:01.147
17	Y010	Iydalis Martinez	8	25:23.140
18	Y044	Steele Hopkins	7	25:36.841
19	Y022	Landon Malone	5	14:16.577

Youth 250/200 and 170 Open

Finish	Number	Driver	Class	Laps	Time
1	Y262	Ryland Gaughan	Youth 250	12	26:13.245
2	Y215	Kyson Christensen	Youth 250	12	26:37.188
3	O114	Korbin Grinolds	Youth 170 Open	12	27:11.974
4	O028	Paxton Grinolds	Youth 170 Open	11	25:26.921
5	O014	Brixton Wirt	Youth 170 Open	11	25:50.985
6	Y247	Maggie Flores	Youth 250	11	25:56.175
7	Y250	Gage Skutt	Youth 250	11	26:19.593
8	O018	Zola Gaddis	Youth 170 Open	11	27:19.430
9	O190	Brianna Walton	Youth 170 Open	11	27:24.246
10	Y227	Baron Daniel	Youth 250	11	25:32.657
11	O074	Alianna Fernandez	Youth 170 Open	10	26:28.272
12	260		Youth 250	9	18:21.082*
13	O007	Carter Cadwell	Youth 170 Open	9	25:21.380
14	T222	Mathew Pryor	Youth 200	9	26:06.800
15	T223	Savaya Levinson	Youth 200	9	27:07.069
16	24	Slater Sperry	Youth 170 Open	8	19:02.985*
17	O111	Jaxon Cotter	Youth 170 Open	0	DNS
18	O069	Ryder Foerster	Youth 170 Open	11	25:25.279 †
19	T279	Jack Gillaspy	Youth 200	10	27:42.197 †
20	T218	Presten Zygela	Youth 200	9	25:54.456 †