With his water polo days at Loyola Marymount University behind him, August “Augie” Renezeder has been following in the tracks of his father Carl. After trying his hand at short course for the first time in January, he took to the desert earlier in May for the Mexican 1000.

Despite being his first time competing in Baja, he impressed as he was runner-up among all UTVs.

Renezeder shared a 2025 Polaris RZR Pro R with his father and Rob MacCachren, competing in Evolution Pro SxS. Carl and MacCachren are regarded as two of the greatest off-road racers of all time, both achieving tremendous successes in short course racing. Once he graduated college, Augie was keen on doing the same and won in his Championship Off-Road Racing debut at Glen Helen in February.

With his burgeoning short course career off and running, he and Team Renezeder were off to Mexico to compete in NORRA.

The team proved to be fast from the start, finishing second among side-by-sides in the opening special and ending Day 1 third for UTVs. Unfortunately, the run was upended by a front end failure 50 miles to go the next day. A broken drivebelt on Day 5 further hampered matters, though Renezeder won the other two specials that day.

Although the Matlocks were their main rivals, they gladly gave Renezeder spare parts to help out too. Kristen and Wayne Matlock ultimately won the UTV overall by placing tenth, while Renezeder was 22nd outright and 1:02:02 behind. In total, Renezeder won five stages.

“NORRA was by far the most fun I have had racing in my career,” Renezeder stated. “It was amazing to experience Baja for the first time and it felt awesome to do it at a competitive level. I was very fortunate to learn from two of the best to ever do it along the way.

“Securing a P2 finish after battling some adversity meant everything to both myself and my team. The car worked flawlessly and we were blown away by how little problems we encountered. Jimmy Sizelove and his crew did an incredible job at making sure the car was ready for every mile of the race.”

Featured image credit: TracksidePhoto