Larry Trim and his Trailready team entered the NORRA 500 with heavy hearts, five months after his co-driver Brent Yeadon passed away from a heart attack during the Mexican 1000. After two days of racing, he was able to pay tribute to his late friend by winning the Vintage Short Wheelbase 4×4 category.
With Colton Gruber as navigator, Trim set the fifth fastest time among those in the Classic division. Like he did in May, he was driving a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was previously driven by Curt Leduc to the 1993 Baja 1000 victory in the Stock Mini class.
“All ups. Ran clean all day. Didn’t stop for anything except a little bit of fuel. No problems at all. We had a blast,” said Trim after the first day. Gubler also called it a “good time” and save for a “little tricky” final sector on the third Selective Section, “was a good day all overall.”
Kyle Murray set the fastest outright time in his 2016 Geiser Trophy Truck Spec. Bill Zemak was runner-up in a Jackal, a buggy developed by Rhys Millen with inspiration from rally raid cars and Trophy Trucks, ahead of 2023 NORRA 500 overall winner Dave Mason Jr.
“The truck worked flawlessly,” said Murray. “The goal this weekend was consistency and that’s what we did. The truck was perfect. We’ve had no issues, no flat tyres, it was an easy weekend. We’re ready to go for another.”
Although NORRA events are held in warm regard for their competitive yet friendly nature, some UTV drivers were displeased with the decision to merge Class 10 buggies with UTVs to create the Evolution Pro 2000 UTV class. This was particularly evident as NORRA offered a USD$20,000 (€18,392) cash prize to the class winner, double that of 2023.
Eli Yee won the prize in his Alumicraft Class 10 ahead of off-road journalist Austin Farmer‘s Polaris RZR Pro R. Farmer, better known as Fishgistics, questioned Robby Gordon’s role in lumping the two together, which was also done in 2023 where Thomas Purcell‘s UTV defeated Yee for the $10,000.
“It really doesn’t make sense,” Farmer began. “I’m going to get a little whiny for a second, but if you’re gonna put up money for a UTV class, we should be racing against UTVs. Nothing against the Yees, they’re super fast, they’re Class 10 cars are badass, it’s a nice Alumacraft car. It’s just silly that we’re racing UTVs with a Class 10 car that gets twenty grand in our class for beating us and we get nothing.
“I don’t know why Robby does that. It makes no sense.”
P.J. Jones, a close friend of the Gordons, joked that UTV qualifying the day before the race was specifically “tailored towards Max (Gordon).” Nevertheless, Jones won the Production Turbo UTV class in a Can-Am Maverick R.
“For this thing to ride here with zero miles on it, we had a couple teething problems in qualifying but it was flawless,” Jones commented.
Neither of the Gordons finished the race. Robby crashed during the first day while son Max, who was fastest in qualifying, also bowed out. A year after beating Yee for the cash prize, Purcell was fifteenth and the last car in the class to finish.
The Pro 2000 Polaris of Jeremy Frazee arrived at the finish without its right-front wheel and with Frazee riding on the back while his navigator Rich Kwesell stayed in the driver’s seat. The axle had broken in the final forty-five miles that destroyed the steering arm.
“We needed a little counterweight,” quipped Frazee, who officially finished tenth in class. “It’s been a long 28 miles, but you know what? This son of a bitch is across the finish line.”
Janey Lee and Kylie Walton, who usually work as Monster Energy Girls, finished fourteenth in Production Turbo UTV in their first off-road races. Lee received the Mary McGee Trophy as the highest finishing woman in the field.
“It honestly feels so good,” said Lee back in Ensenada. “Kylie, I couldn’t have done it without her today. It was just teamwork, teamwork. I will say stage three was my absolute favorite stage, hands down, the beach is just so beautiful. All the silt that we went through at the beginning of the stage and then going into the rocks, that was so much fun, right on, so much fun, right on.
“Honestly, it was pretty positive. We had a little bit of issues with our navigation during Stage #1, but we made it work and she put the roadbook down; I was driving off of instinct and she was calling out cautions for me. So really no lows, honestly, I feel lots of highs.”
The Nissan Frontier of Chris Forsberg and fellow Formula Drift driver Alex Jagger was the final Classic vehicle to complete the race. Forsberg had suffered a rash of mechanical issues on Saturday but managed to reach the end, with Jagger taking over on the second day.
Jim Greenway, who finished runner-up at the Mexican 1000, was the top Classic car at the 500 in his 1980 Raceco 2/1600 buggy that won its 1984 SCORE International class title. Race grand marshal Ramón Castro won the Pioneer Buggy class in a 1971 Sandwiner buggy.
Class winners
Pro
| Class | Overall Finish | Number | Driver of Record | Vehicle | Total Time |
| Evolution 4-Seat UTV | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A | DNF |
| Evolution 6100 | 1 | 6109 | Kyle Murray | 2016 Geiser Trophy Truck Spec | 7:37:25 |
| Evolution Class 11 | 55 | 1177 | Ramón Mariquez | 1987 Volkswagen Beetle | 18:05:22 |
| Evolution Heavy Metal | 17 | 811 | Trevor Glidden | 1988 Chevrolet C/K 1500 | 8:50:18 |
| Evolution Open UTV | 22 | 1958 | Doug Brummett | 2019 Can-Am Maverick X3 | 8:57:37 |
| Evolution Pre-Run Buggies | 16 | 1248 | Lloyd Banning | 2015 BMS 3-PR | 8:40:16 |
| Evolution Pro 2000 UTV / Class 10 | 4 | 1014 | Bruce Yee | 2020 Alumicraft Class 10 | 7:52:54 |
| Evolution Production Turbo UTV | 6 | 980 | P.J. Jones | 2024 Can-Am Maverick R | 8:05:09 |
| Evolution Production Turbo UTV | 25 | 1920 | Tricia Reina | 2018 Textron Wildcat XX | 9:33:10 |
| Evolution Ultra 4×4 | 46 | 361 | Kim Matzen | 2000 JHF Buggy | 11:38:49 |
| Evolution Unlimited Buggy | 2 | 935 | Bill Zemak | 2021 Rhys Millen Racing Jackal | 7:46:24 |
| Evolution Unlimited Truck | 12 | 99 | Matt Green | 2004 Geiser Prerunner | 8:31:01 |
| Vintage Class 1/2-1600 | 19 | 1690 | Robert Fleishman | 2020 PRC 2-1600 | 8:50:40 |
| Vintage Class 5 | 10 | 521 | Hap Kellogg | 1957 Volkswagen Class 5 Unlimited | 8:29:16 |
| Vintage Class 5-1600 | 43 | 560 | Ryan Baillargeon | 1965 Volkswagen Beetle | 11:26:10 |
| Vintage Open Truck | 47 | 564 | Jacob Whall | 2022 Polaris RZR Pro R | 11:50:44 |
| Vintage Open Truck 4×4 | 52 | 166 | Don Hatch | 1966 Ford Bronco | 15:06:53 |
Classic
| Class | Overall Finish | Number | Driver of Record | Vehicle | Total Time |
| Challenger Car | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A | DNF |
| Challenger Truck | 6 | 804 | John McCormack | 1982 Ford F-100 | 9:19:29 |
| Evolution Class 7100 | 16 | 7164 | Chris Forsberg | 2023 Nissan Frontier | 20:58:31 |
| Evolution JeepSpeed 3700 | 4 | 414 | Tom Allen | 2020 Jeep Wrangler | 9:06:27 |
| Evolution Pre-Run Truck | 3 | 828 | Michael Friel | 1972 Ford F-100 | 9:05:32 |
| Historic Buggy | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A | DNF |
| Legend Buggy | 1 | 1601 | Jim Greenway | 1980 Raceco 2/1600 | 7:55:52 |
| Pioneer 4×4 | 10 | 407 | Eric Olson | 1973 Ford Bronco | 11:23:09 |
| Pioneer Buggy | 7 | 305 | Ramón Castro | 1971 Sandwinder | 9:43:14 |
| Pioneer Truck | 14 | 304 | Sol Saltzman | 1975 Hall/Stroppe Dodge Pick Up Step Side | 16:51:31 |
| Vintage 4-Cylinder Buggy | 2 | 33 | Bob Howie | 1989 Chenoweth DR2 | 8:18:11 |
| Vintage 4-Cylinder Truck | 12 | 468 | Jose Julio Santibañez | 1986 Toyota 4Runner | 15:15:43 |
| Vintage 6-Cylinder Buggy | 13 | 8008 | Kyle Wirtz | 1972 Volkswagen Beetle | 15:17:18 |
| Vintage 6-Cylinder Truck | 11 | 711 | Richard Bartell | 1987 Ford Ranger | 14:40:07 |
| Vintage Open Truck Rear Leafs | 15 | 5150 | Adam Knapik | 1996 Ford Ranger | 19:18:01 |
| Vintage Short Wheelbase 4×4 | 5 | 301 | Larry Trim | 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee | 9:11:03 |