Robby Gordon‘s SPEED UTV brand has been making waves in the off-road community since its introduction before beginning competition in 2023. This past weekend, the manufacturer enjoyed its strongest race so far as his son Max Gordon was the fastest UTV overall in the NORRA 500.
Five SPEED UTVs took part, all of which completed the race. Max’s SPEED UTT, a racing variant of the El Diablo, won the Evolution Production Turbo UTV class with jet ski world champion Kole Cramer as his co-driver; the two’s total time of 9:16:11 was nearly twenty-five minutes faster than the Polaris of Javier Gonzalez. Robby was third in class, followed by John Spar (seventh in the SPEED UTV Bandit) and Brad Halco (eleventh in a SPEED UTT). The fifth SPEED, an El Jefe model, won the Evolution Four-Seat class with Chris Knippelberg.
SPEED UTV, which has occupied much of Gordon’s time, partnered with NORRA to provide a support programme for participating drivers at the 500. The company also offered USD$10 thousand (€9,463.55) for the winners of the Evolution Production Turbo UTV and Evolution 2000 classes, the latter claimed by Thomas Purcell.
The younger Gordon’s victory marks the first major triumph for SPEED UTV since débuting competitively. Both Gordons retired from King of the Hammers in February before tackling the Mint 400 a month later, where Max finished eighth in class. Robby’s increasing focus on the company forced his Stadium Super Trucks to drop a trip to Toronto in 2022, while their 2023 calendar was only two rounds long though returns to Australia have been considered. In August, Gordon set up a new engine division for SPEED UTV after moving to a North Carolina facility formerly owned by NASCAR team Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Dave Mason Jr. won the overall among all forty-nine finishers for the second year in a row. Defending NORRA 500 UTV champion P.J. Jones, a friend of Gordon’s, retired after three stages.
Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg won in the Evolution Class 7100 category, driving a modified Nissan Frontier with NISMO Off Road parts. Skateboarding star Letícia Bufoni served as his navigator in her first desert race, having made her motorsport début in what is now Nitrocross’ side-by-side category in 2022.
Bruce Anderson and John Bonanni were the only drivers to sweep the 2023 NORRA events, respectively winning the Evolution Trophy Lite and Vintage Open Truck Rear Leafs at the Mexican 1000 in early May.
Class winners
Group 1
| Class | Overall Finish | Number | Driver | Vehicle | Total Time |
| Evolution 2000 Class | 8 | 1979 | Thomas Purcell | 2022 Polaris Pro R | 9:18:14 |
| Evolution 4-Seat UTV | 39 | 139 | Chris Knippelberg | 2023 SPEED UTV El Jefe | 12:26:46 |
| Evolution 6100 | 6 | 223 | Tony Murray | 2016 Geiser Trophy Truck Spec | 9:15:29 |
| Evolution Heavy Metal | 10 | 811 | Trevor Glidden | 1988 Chevrolet 1500 | 9:39:21 |
| Evolution Production N/A UTV | 49 | 1978 | T. Bradley Millner | 2015 Polaris RZR 1000 N/A | 19:45:07 |
| Evolution Production Turbo UTV | 7 | 977 | Max Gordon | 2023 SPEED UTT | 9:16:11 |
| Evolution Ultra 4×4 | 35 | 3013 | Jack Mildwaters | 2021 Ford Bronco | 11:36:09 |
| Evolution Unlimited Buggy | 1 | 165 | Dave Mason Jr. | 2020 Class 1 Unlimited | 8:30:01 |
| Evolution Unlimited Truck | 2 | 48 | Craig McCarthy | 2015 Geiser Trophy Truck | 8:32:33 |
| Vintage Class 5 | 47 | 514 | Carl Rohrer | 1982 Volkswagen Baja | 15:36:04 |
Group 2
| Class | Overall Finish | Number | Driver | Vehicle | Total Time |
| Challenger Buggy | 20 | 540 | Joe Dean | 1993 Chenowth 4LWD | 15:03:35 |
| Challenger Truck | 24 | 869 | Matt Johnson | 1969 Ford F100 | 22:17:35 |
| Evolution Class 7100 | 21 | 7164 | Chris Forsberg | 2023 Nissan Frontier | 17:18:15 |
| Evolution Meyers Manx | 9 | 382 | Richard Cushman | 2020 Meyers Manx Dual Sport | 12:19:47 |
| Evolution Prerun Buggy | 5 | 2008 | Shawn Aldridge | 2016 ES Motorsports Prerunner | 10:56:47 |
| Evolution Prerun Truck | 2 | 1453 | Clinton Pierce | 1997 Ford Ranger | 10:15:08 |
| Evolution Rally Car | 26 | 90 | Mikhail Sidorov | 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS | 26:15:00 |
| Evolution Trophy Lite | 13 | 6036 | Bruce Anderson | 2022 Trophy Lite | 13:00:17 |
| Legend Buggy | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A | DNF |
| Pioneer 4×4 | 25 | 407 | Eric Olson | 1973 Ford Bronco | 24:47:33 |
| Pioneer Buggy | 6 | 305 | Ramon Castro | 1972 Funco SS1 | 11:10:26 |
| Pioneer Car | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A | DNF |
| Pioneer Truck | 18 | 304 | Mac Johnson | 1975 Dodge D100 Stepside | 14:06:16 |
| Vintage 4-Cylinder Buggy | 1 | 33 | Bob Howie | 1989 Chenowth DR2 | 9:16:34 |
| Vintage 6-Cylinder Truck | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | N/A | DNF |
| Vintage Class 1/2-1600 | 3 | 1655 | Jean-Paul Cyr | 2004 Porter 1600 | 10:15:34 |
| Vintage Class 11 | 12 | 1177 | Ramon Manriquez | 1987 Volkswagen Bocho Spec | 12:55:59 |
| Vintage Open Truck 4×4 | 22 | 802 | Roland Sarmiento | 1989 Ford Bronco | 19:09:30 |
| Vintage Open Truck Rear Leafs | 23 | 826 | John Bonanni | 1978 Ford Truck | 19:40:56 |
| Vintage Open Truck | 16 | 821 | Richard Rasmussen | 1992 Chevrolet 1500 | 13:48:46 |
