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Dave Mason Jr. Seizes the Overall Victory at the 2025 NORRA's Baja Mexican 1000!
- Mason Off Road Staff
- 7 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 6 minutes ago
Monday, 5 May 2025
Team Mason Off Road's efforts pay off in spectacular fashion after 6 long days of battling in Baja.
A Strong Start:
Day 1 of the event would find competitors traversing from coast to coast after the start in Ensenada, and would wind their way to San Felipe for the night. Mason Off Road driver Dave Mason Jr. has extensive experience on virtually all of the roads and trails in that region due to his past experiences racing NORRA, SCORE events, plus numerous recreational rides he does with friends exploring the beautiful, undeveloped, wild terrain. "The first day is always a little tricky," said Mason Jr. "I know the area really well, so I'm tempted to push hard and try to gain an early lead. That said, you always have to remember that the race is over 1,400 miles long and you still have to conserve the car the entire way." In any Baja race, it is common to see some drivers crash very early on. This is possibly due to them being overly excited, not comfortable in their vehicle yet, or simply pushing too hard in the blind dust. In any case, Mason Jr. and expert codriver Rob Schulz understood the assignment: get through the chaos and finish clean. That is exactly what they did as they won the very first stage of the rally!
They would continue to run smoothly through the final 2 stages to finish Day 1 a respectable 4th Overall and 1st in Class. Those 2 stages leading into San Felipe included the largest whoops in all of Baja, which favored the Trophy Truck competitors in a significant way. The team knew though that the Mason Off Road Unlimited Buggy would be better suited to many of the technical stages later on in the event.
"Today the course was tough, but fortunately our car and our Yokohama Tires were tougher! Great start, let's keep it going!" said Team Owner Dave Mason Sr.
Skilled Competition
After Day 1 the race began to take shape. Those who came to compete rose to the top of the standings, and those who came to have fun settled in behind. Each year the NORRA attracts some of the most talented and well-organized teams in the sport of off road racing. One such group was the entry of Mark Post in the Black Diamond #3 Historic Trophy Truck.
Post put together a roster of Hall of Fame drivers that many dubbed the "Riviera Racing Dream Team". These Baja Legends were Larry Ragland, Rob McCachren, Robby Gordon, and of course Mr. Post himself. Their idea was to switch drivers strategically to ensure each would run through the sections that would play to their strengths and individual style. Though their truck was originally built in the early 1990's, it has been continuously updated with the best components and development in the industry. To consider their program cutting edge would simply be an understatement.
Other notable top teams competing in this year's NORRA were Brent Fox, Scott Bailey/Larry Job, Gabriel Torres (2024 3rd Place Points Finisher in the SCORE TT Class), Zak Langley of Cops Racing, among many others.
While most teams switch drivers at various points throughout the race, Team Mason Off Road planned to follow a different approach and keep Dave Mason Jr. in the driver's seat for every mile. This enabled him to become deeply in-tune with the handling of the car. His codrivers Rob Schultz and Evan Erdelyi traded time navigating during the event and each did a flawless job of keeping Mason Jr. on course and going fast.
Race Days 2, 3, and 4 would see Brent Fox holding the Overall Top Position, with the Mason Off Road entry less than 2 minutes behind. Consistency is key in NORRA, and Mason Jr. avoided making mistakes to keep the pressure high at the front throughout each of those long days. His LSX-based engine, built by Steve Reeder, with top quality Wiseco Pistons, performed without a single hiccup from start to finish. The engine's reliability and massive power output are also due to the team's choice to run Fuel Factory F110 racing fuel, which the team is using in all of their race cars this season.
Day 5 ran from Loreto to La Paz, and was the longest stretch of the rally. In total, that section of course ran over 350 miles. The first stage started off fast and flowy, with a smooth graded road running past the spectacular San Javier Mission. Just after that point though, the course became narrow, twisty, and rocky. "That whole stage I was stressed because I wanted to go faster, but it was so technical that I couldn't risk smashing a rock or sliding off the road. We were blessed to get through it without any trouble." said Mason Jr. At the end of that stage he would discover that they had gone plenty fast; winning the stage Overall! The #165 would end up finishing 1 minute and 20 seconds faster than Brent Fox, and 32 seconds faster than Larry Ragland driving the #3.
Moving on to the 2nd and 3rd stages of Day 5, the Mason team felt good about their progress in the running order. What they were not aware of, however; was the fact that Brent Fox's transmission had suddenly given out in the transit section between stage 1 and 2. They had to replace the failed unit on the side of the road and lost more than 3 hours before they could get moving again. At the end of Day 5 Mason had taken over the Overall Lead, and sat 13 minutes ahead of the #3 on the clock.
The Final Day
Going into the 6th straight day of racing, the #165 Unlimited Buggy was still in great condition. The team had a solid lead for the Overall, and just needed to keep it clean to seal the deal. That said, in racing it's never over until you see the checkered flag. Through history many drivers have been in position to win, only to have a mechanical failure or driving error take them out of contention right near the very end. The seasoned racers of Mason Off Road knew this well, and recognized that the car, driver, and navigator could not relax until the job was finished.
"I was pretty anxious to see this car get to the finish" said Navigator and Lead Fabricator Evan Erdelyi. "Being responsible for the prep and riding in it I had a lot on my mind going into the last day."
Even though Mason Jr. held the Overall Lead going into the final day, Larry Ragland's strong finish in the last stage of the previous day meant that the Black Diamond #3 would be the first to leave the start line from La Paz to San Jose del Cabo. The #165 would take off 2 minutes behind. Mark Post took the wheel of his truck for the last stretch to Cabo and Mason planned to try and match his pace. Mason wouldn't need to pass him physically to win the race, but he also didn't have much time to lose if he wanted to win it all.
Fortunately, the course conditions favored the lighter and narrower buggy, since the beginning of Stage 1 on Day 6 was twisty, tight, and heavy on tricky navigation. They were able to reel in the #3 truck and pass it in a sand wash, but ambient air temperatures were very high. The Mason buggy saw its highest water temp of the entire race at the same moment that they stuck the pass. Now securely in the lead, they enjoyed the clean air and were able to let the car cool back down.
Stages 2 and 3 went without drama, which was a blessing because it's not easy being the first car on the road. As Mason Jr. worked his way through small local towns and heavily populated areas coming into San Jose del Cabo, the car's 40" Yokohama GEOLANDAR M/TR tires provided the traction and durability needed to maintain their blistering pace to the very end without any delays.
Waiting at the finish was the dedicated Mason Off Road crew, as well as Dave Mason Jr's wife (Taylor), 1 year old son (Myles), Mom, and other friends and family who had flown down to be there. When they pulled into Cabo, an exuberant Mason Jr. said "This is my biggest dream come true as a racer. To have a perfect race without any issues, be the first ones to finish in Cabo, win the Overall, and have my wonderful family here is as good as it gets! We are so blessed!"
The following evening the team attended the impressive awards ceremony that NORRA puts on. They were able to take in the magnitude of their achievement and see many of the other racers and new friends that were made along the way. Mason Off Road strives to race hard as well as earn the respect of their competitors. The camaraderie at NORRA events is unmatched and the team was grateful to race against such a great field of passionate fellow teams.
We would like to thank our whole team for supporting us this season, as well as our wonderful sponsors:
Primary Sponsor: Yokohama Tires #TeamYokohama
Vision Canopy
Baja Designs "The Scientists of Lighting"
Fuel Factory
RACELINE Wheels
Schultz Engineered Products Fuel Cells
Walker Performance Filtration
Champion Metal works
Tri State General Contractors
Wiseco Pistons
NAWAKAR Outdoor Products
Speed Strap
Weddle Transaxles
Hoffman Shock Prep and Tuning
Erdelyi Race Prep
Steve Reeder Performance Racing Engines