Once again it’s that time of year. The NORRA Mexican 1000, one of the coolest off-road events ever conceived, is back. After its rebirth, many claimed it would “never happen again!” But now it’s on its fourth run down the Baja peninsula, with over 143 pre-entered to race.

Baja legends such as Walker Evans, “Baja” Bob Gordon, and now this year’s Grand Marshall, Mark McMilli,n keep coming back to what has been coined “the happiest race on earth.” Although, it may be more accurately described as a rolling cocktail party with good times and good people making memories at every turn and stop along the way.

Characters from all walks of life have dusted off, constructed or restored a piece of off-road history to run this rally. The types of vehicles vary greatly from buggies and trucks to sedans and rat rods, old-school dirt bikes to full Dakar rally bikes. It truly is an eclectic group.

In the past three years, ORC has been embedded with the #26 Team Diablo Caballos of Boyd Jaynes and Brian Godfrey. With them, we’ve felt the lows of defeat, DNFs, and mechanical issues along with the high of a perfect race win, where the teams won every stage along the way. Stay tuned for more in the upcoming week on this year’s event.