USA 500 this weekend in Fernley - new "rabbit" purse announced

[DesertDingo]

VORRA & ORMHOF TEAM UP WITH $1,000 "RABBIT" PRIZE FOR USA 500 TEAM WITH FASTEST HANDICAPPED TIME

July 11, 2012, Sparks, Nev. - Valley Off Road Racing Association director Wes Harbor announced today that VORRA has again teamed with the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) and Sly Daddy Racing to award a $1,000 special purse to the USA 500 team posting the class handicapped fastest finishing time for the 2nd running of this 500 mile trek on July 14.** ¡Ay, caramba!**

"We wanted to give all the teams a shot at a big payout for an extraordinary performance," Harbor said. "We're handicapping every class's times over the past year's desert races, and the team showing the greatest improvement overall walks away with the cash."

“Think of it like bracket racing for the ranks of classes that make up our sport,” Harbor explains. “A racer from a limited class that on average would finish one hour behind the class 1’s and Trophy trucks has the opportunity to win the money by covering the spread by finishing say… 53 minutes off the leaders rather than the expected 1 hour.” The system was first introduced at VORRA’s 2012 Yerington 300 where Kenny Ott of Fallon, NV claimed the $1,000 prize representing the ranks of class 10 as top racer in the field with the fastest class adjusted finish for the day.

The "Original" USA 500 runs from July 13-15 in Fernley, Nev. Pre-running began (Friday, July 6th) and the reviews are reporting a fast and exciting course. Tech and Contingency is Friday the 13th. Racing starts at 6:30 a.m. Saturday with a maximum finish time of 22 hours. The event stages, starts and finishes at the Terrible’s Travel Center at Exit 48 on Interstate 80, 30 minutes east of Reno. The 529-mile course, which includes a 155-mile loop, starts in Fernley and takes racers northeast past Lovelock over a classic mix of desert terrain, including sections VORRA has used over its 37-year history.

To view the course map and register online, go to http://www.VORRA.net Follow VORRA on Twitter at @vorra_racing . Get USA 500 updates via Twitter using the hashtag #USA500.

About VORRA
Valley Off Road Racing Association (VORRA) was established in 1975 and has operated as a family-oriented organization for over three decades. It is currently led by Wes Harbor who believes that “off road racing has its roots in people’s garages” and continues to keep the entry fees to a minimum while maintaining a high quality racing experience. For more information, visit http://www.vorra.net or call 877-418-6772.

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[Dirty Harry]

When they introduced this at Yerington I really liked the idea. Kenny Ott came in third place OVERALL there in a 10 car and definitely earned his money! Cool to see them bringing it back for the 500, it will be interested to see which class takes the money.

[ksmith]

Good Luck to everyone racing tomorrow! So cool of Rod Hall and the Off Road Motorsports Hall Of Fame as well as Sly Daddy Racing to put up this prize money! Should be a great event! Wish we could be there, too many irons in the fire right now

[WickedGravityVideo]

Where are the race updates? photos? anything? media blackout? How many entries? overall winner in yet?

[Dirty Harry]

Not sure why there isn't more love for this race. The course is awesome and VORRA is a very friendly, economical place to race.

Mike Koenig just posted on FB that they came second in class and second overall. There was a photo of Koenig's Total Chaos Toyota next to Don German's bad ass Class 8 Chevy so I am thinking that German probably won overall. Not sure what happened to Clayton Scudder yet, he was the favorite going into the USA 500. He came in second at the Fireworks 500 last weekend (yet somehow this is lost in all of the drama) and finished first at VORRA's Yerington 300 earlier this season.

[TrevorPiggott]

Order they came through the finish: Don/Chris German,Mike Koenig/Troy Robinson and then Jerry Wood.4th was Sam Cothrun. Clayton Scudder didn't race.

[Dirty Harry]

Thanks for the update! Sorry to hear that Clayton did not race, but that is awesome that Jerry got his first Class 1 victory.

Crazy that Sam Cothrun and Chad Hall got 4th overall. Last year Sam won overall in a 7200 with a stock Trailblazer engine, but his truck is in pieces so they races the Hall's Stock Full H3 Alpha and got 4th overall and 3rd in Group T.

[Samco Fab]

Who won the bracket racing "rabbit" purse?

Great to see the Germans win in their class 8 truck, lots of hard work pays off some days. That was a good duel between them and the General Tire Ecoboost truck in Group T. What happened to the General truck?

[madmyres]

Congrats on the finish Sam! Amazing for you and Chad to pull a 4th OA. Wish I could have been there to see it!

[y2kbaja]

General Tire truck blew a turn on the upper east side (RM87ish)--blew two tires and knocked off the power steering cooler or something in the ps system--big wide trail of oil led up to the truck. They were in the lead on the last lap.

Jerry Wood assumed the lead and 45 miles from the finish blew a CV or axle. He finished 3rd OA.

Class 11 Two Larry's Racing (1112) won the "rabbit hole" award. Don't ask how this is figured out. There needs to be more info and data IMO on this award since it's BIG money to VORRA racers.