PJ Jones entered the NORRA 500 looking for his third consecutive class win in the race. It ended with him having to abandon ship. We don’t mean that metaphorically either—he literally had to escape his UTV like it got torpedoed by a U-boat in World War II.

Hurricane Rachel brought heavy rain and flooding to Baja California and Southern California, which also impacted the NORRA 500 course since it ran along the coast. This led to much deeper water crossings and treacherous conditions that. The weather was so bad that the finish had to be moved from the planned track at Estero Beach. Trophy pickup was also relocated to the Hotel Villa Marina.

Conditions weren’t any better on course. Jones was looking to win the Pro SxS FI class after taking Pro Turbo UTV in 2025, only for his Can-Am Maverick R to get stuck in a crossing. He tried to work his way out, but the UTV instead tipped over like a capsizing ship, forcing him and navigator to climb out as water filled the cockpit. The car was eventually pulled out, though his race was obviously over.

With Jones out of the picture, Jeff Terzo took advantage. Terzo and Jones split the overall wins across the three specials Day 1, then the latter’s retirement gave Terzo the breathing room to pull away. Besides topping Unlimited Buggy by 8:15 on Andrew Whitehead, he beat Cesar Cuevas by 4:33 for the overall win.

Jones’ DNF also opened the door for Max and Robby Gordon’s 1–2 finish in Pro SxS FI. Max also beat his dad in the Stadium Super Trucks’ season opener at Long Beach in April; Trey Hernquist, who joined the Gordons on the podium in that race, retired from the 500 in his own Speed UTV.

The younger Gordon and Stephen Beal each received $10,000 as the winners of the King of the Beach challenge, given to the top Pro SxS FI and Class 6100 drivers. Cuevas also got the same prize money for being the top SxS (although Terzo raced a UTV, he was entered in Unlimited Buggy rather than a side-by-side dategory).

A week after missing out on the overall win in the inaugural Rallye du Maroc Classic because of an engine failure on his Nissan Patrol, Taz Harvey’s modern Honda Talon held up to win Pro SxS NA.

Casey Currie topped the Evolution Pre-Runner Truck in his Jeep Wrangler Striker Concept. It’s a custom vehicle built with inspiration from Currie’s main discipline in rock crawling, and also comes with a Dodge Hellcat V8 inside.

70 cars reached the finish. At the tail end, journalist Emme Hall was 69th in a 2001 Mazda Miata of all cars, and received the Mary McGee Trophy as the best finishing woman driver of record. Ahead of her, the Barbers’ 1976 IH Scout Race Terra ran into transfer case issues that had doomed them at the Mint 400 in March, but managed to get it fixed and make it home as the Legend 4×4 winner.

Tom Bird pulled double duty in his 1974 Porsche 914 and more uniquely in a 1986 Volkswagen Doka. The latter was entered in the RV class (because yes, there is a category for recreational vehicles), though both retired.

Despite appearing in 2025 after a three-year absence, the bikes were removed from the 2026 program due to insufficient entries. A quota of 20 bikes needed to be satisfied, but that never came to be. In hindsight, with how much the four-wheelers were struggling in a literal hurricane, this was probably for the best.

In lieu of the bikes, BJ Baldwin hosted the inaugural NORRA Raptor Rally. The event was a guided exhibition reserved for 30 Ford F-150 Raptor, Raptor R, and Bronco Raptor owners along a designated route.

“The people make the party and there were some really incredible people at this event in that of the competitors, the fans and the locals in Baja,” said Baldwin. “As well as many of my favorite people. My type of people, my type of race course, Baja, you are very deeply loved.”

Class winners

Class	Overall	Number	Driver of Record	Vehicle	Total Time
Challenger Car	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	DNF
Challenger Truck	26	804	John McCormack	1982 Ford F-100	9:46:36
Evolution Class 5 Open	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	DNF
Evolution Class 10	46	1081	Manuel Maldonado	2022 Alumicraft Class 10	11:17:19
Evolution Class 11	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	DNF
Evolution Class 6100	7	241	Stephen Beal	2024 Geiser Bros G6 Trophy Truck	8:59:23
Evolution Class 7100	51	7164	Chris Forsberg	2026 Nissan Frontier	12:03:09
Evolution Pre-Runner Buggy	64	2008	Shawn Aldridge	2016 ES Motorsports Pre-Runner	17:40:40
Evolution Pre-Runner Truck	12	1942	Casey Currie	2015 Jeep Gladiator	9:08:05
Evolution Pro SxS	2	1811	Cesar Cuevas	2025 Polaris RZR	8:24:50
Evolution Pro SxS Forced Induction	4	77	Max Gordon	2023 Speed UTV Bandit	8:41:43
Evolution Pro SxS Naturally Aspirated	17	285	Taz Harvey	2021 Honda Talon	9:25:02
Evolution RV	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	DNF
Evolution Sportsman SxS	37	3036	David Jenks	2024 Polaris RZR Pro R	10:33:38
Historic Buggy	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	DNF
Historic Truck and Truggy	15	811	Trevor Glidden	1988 Chevrolet 1500	9:21:24
Legend 4×4	68	1976	Sean Barber	1976 International Harvester Scout Terra	19;24:47
Legend Buggy	53	228	Wayne Kriehn	1979 Sandhawk	12:22:32
Legend Car	66	34	John Lannom	1967 Volkswagen Beetle	18:15:14
Legend Truck	70	120	Mack Johnson	1981 Dodge D50	20:41:00
Pioneer 4×4	60	407	Eric Olson	1973 Ford Bronco	15:03:08
Pioneer Buggy	58	304	Ramon Castro	1971 Sandwinder Buggy	14:10:02
Unlimited Buggy	1	3737	Jeff Terzo	2025 Can-Am Maverick R	8:20:17
Unlimited Truck	19	21	Matthew Lambrecht	2019 ES Motorsports Trophy Truck Spec	9:30:03
Vintage 4-Cylinder Buggy	42	33	Bob Howle	1989 Chenowth DR2 Fast Attack Vehicle	11:09;23
Vintage 6-Cylinder Truck	54	729	Rodd Fantelli	1986 Ford Ranger	13:11:41
Vintage Class 5 Open	6	521	Hap Kellogg	1957 Volkswagen Class 5 Unlimited	8:55:47
Vintage Class 11	59	1188	Matthew Cyr	1974 Volkswagen Beetle	15:01:35
Vintage Military Vehicle	40	22	Robert Blanton	1988 Chenowth DR3 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle	10:47:03
Vintage Open Buggy	63	200	Tim Scalzo	1986 Raceco Class 2	16:49:19
Vintage Open Truck with 4×4	57	806	Bryant Blakemore	2003 Dodge Ram 2500	14:00:16
Vintage Stock Production Car	69	649	Emme Hall	2001 Mazda Miata	19:38:07

Featured image credit: GETSOMEphoto