Offroad
Talking TexPlex SXS Course Design with Seth Quintero & Mitch Guthrie Jr.
The latest TexPlex park design by the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Teammates and they're stoked.
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The year-long TexPlex park SXS Race Series returned once again, and Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team members Seth Quintero and Mitch Guthrie Jr. had a once-in-a-lifetime chance in designing this specific race course.
This is especially important because Red Bull will be leaving this course behind, allowing it to be used much longer than the 2021 season.
Quintero and Guthrie Jr. are long-time friends, teammates, and competitors, and this course brings a competitive energy and a motivation to progress the sport while pulling inspiration from other motorsport disciplines that inspire their riding style. “Seth, he’s like my little brother sometimes. We’re always of course trying to beat each other, but at the same time we’re helping each other out and wanting each other to do better. So I think that’s pretty cool,” says Guthrie Jr.. TexPlex Park’s 11-round SXS race series hosted at their 52-acre compound has been gaining some serious traction around the country, especially due to their large guaranteed payout.
Mitch in action
© Karlo Ramos / Red Bull Content Pool
“TexPlex is nuts, it’s probably some of the craziest tracks you’ll see for a UTV and it’s the highest payout. So there’s a lot of guys that are willing to throw a lot of money at the cars in preparation, because they know if they win, they’ll make a little bit of money. $100,000 RZRs to be honest,” says Quintero. So, when asked to partake in a course design for the 2021 Tex-Plex Park Series, both of these drivers were in from the start and excited for the challenge. “It all started with Mitch and I hanging out,” Quintero explains. “We were actually filming for another video and got the phone call that we were able to try and design a course. So immediately we started drawing stuff on napkins and anything we could find.”
These napkin drawings quickly turned into reality, and the TexPlex staff and course builder Zack Beavers went to work to create a course with never-before-seen features. The course was built on 52 acres and took 261 hours of machinery to move and shape 90 tons of sand. However, while the features hadn’t been seen in SXS or UTV racing, the inspiration for this course came from a sport that many might recognize. “Some of the stuff that I really dreamed up was kind of more motocross style stuff,” says Quintero. “I came from a long line of moto family. The dragon’s back is something you really never see on a RZR. I kind of got that idea from supercross and wanted to bring it to the RZR world. A lot of the big step-on, step-offs, bowl corners, and the big jumps is where I came into play.” He adds, “While the inspiration was supercross and motocross style, what we really wanted to do was bring all forms of UTV racing together. There are sand traps in there, there’s logs, rocks. We basically wanted to bring WORCS racing meets desert racing meets short course racing. You can’t build a car just for just one section of the course.”
According to Quintero and Guthrie Jr., it seems as though versatility was key for a win at TexPlex park. However, both drivers had their own ideas for a successful weekend. “Honestly I just wanted everybody to have a good time. It’s what we’re all here for. If we’re not having fun it doesn’t make sense in my opinion. I just want to see everybody enjoy the track, have a good time, make sure everybody’s safe, and hopefully no crashes,” says Quintero.
Participants drive at Quintero, Guthrie, Jr. custom-built SXS course.
© Karlo Ramos / Red Bull Content Pool
“Short course is something that I started racing, and TexPlex has been doing a good job of keeping that going. I think they’ve built the biggest race series for short course SXS racing,” adds Guthrie Jr.. “When UTV’s became a thing 10-12 years ago, I don’t think anyone could have seen what was going to happen with UTV’s and Side by Sides and how far they’ve come. I think it’s just going to keep going, it shows no signs of stopping.”
Aside from this course build, both Seth and Mitch have been focused on their future race endeavors which include Red Bull Stone Scramble, Rallye du Maroc, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and the Mint 400.
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