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Friday 26 April 2024
Dave Mason Jr. and Team Mason Off Road will compete in their 3rd NORRA Mexican 1000 event starting this Sunday 4/28/2024. Racing their Evolution Unlimited Buggy prepared by team members Seth Walther and Evan Erdelyi, the team is looking for a smooth run throughout the long and grueling race.
See down below for links to our live-streaming video, plus social media outlets where we will post updates constantly during the event.
"This race requires a careful balance of speed and reliability." said Mason Jr. before the event. "The last two years in this race we have won stages, lead the Unlimited Buggy Class, and fought for the Overall lead, but we have failed to make it past day 4 in both cases. Seth [Walther (Crew Chief)] has made continuous improvements to the car, and Steve Reeder has put his heart into building us a new engine. We hope it all pays off with some good results."
A race this long takes a lot of heart indeed, but it also makes for a great time. Nicknamed "The Happiest Race on Earth", the NORRA Rally-style format makes it easy for teams to chase the cars down the peninsula. Transit stages in between the competitive racing stages allow teams to fuel and fix their cars without losing out during the timed portions. The format lets team members see the racecars in action more frequently too, but it is still a long way to Cabo.
"We do this race because we love Baja, and NORRA lets you spend more time down there." said Team Manager Steve Reeder. "You really get to see and spend more time in places you're usually just flying by in other series. We have a good group of guys on this team, and we hope to prove what we are all capable of".
Crew Chief and Lead Fabricator, Seth Walther, has had a long road just to get the car to the start line: "After we won the NORRA 500 Overall last year, I stripped the car to the complete bare chassis. We did a complete sandblast, crack check, and Steel-It Coating, then started the long assembly process. It all came together well, and we were ahead of schedule, but then we had a freak transmission problem on the dyno. We sent it up to Weddle Industries to tear completely down and they rebuilt it in two days. I put the tranny back in and we lost the engine in testing! Reeder quickly put another LSX engine together, and now we're ready to go. It's been a tough 3 weeks!"
It has been a real team effort getting ready for the event, and all members involved have worked hard to make sure every detail is covered. Thank you very much to our sponsors for supporting us in all of the racing we do: Yokohama Tires, Vision Canopy, Champion Metal Works, Baja Designs, Tri State General Contractors, Weddle Industries.
Follow the action with Live In-Car Video each day! Link:
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube: @davemasonj65