Feast your eyes on the new Bug Invasion perpetual trophy that we'll be racing for at the VORRA USA 500 in mid-July.

Geoff Curtis of Five Axis built this for us. He's working on a Class 11 of his own and the guy has some serious fabrication skillz.

Bob Messer & Company won the first two Bug Invasions. Thankfully, he's retired (I hope) so someone else should have a shot at it at this race. I still need to get it to a trophy shop to get the engraved plates done.

So far it's looking like us, Green Booger, DrtDgr and Project Baja, a new team out of Colorado racing the 500. Winner gets the perpetual trophy (until we call Bug Invasion 4), a 12-pack of PBR and $20 cash money from my wallet.

I did a little write up here: tinyurl.com/8y339h5

that is certainly worth a 1000 mile round trip to take that home, but I wont do it for less than 25 bucks, 20 makes you look like a complete tight wad

Could someone do me a solid and throw down $5 cash money so Dave will do the 1000 mile round trip and race with us?

I got 5 on it!

Green Booger for the win. Looking forward to welcoming DaveCo11 to represent for SoCal at the USA 500.

The press release:

VORRA RACING ASSOCIATION RELEASES MAP AND EVENT SCHEDULE FOR SECOND ANNUAL USA 500 OFF ROAD RACE JULY 13-15

The “Original” Northern Nevada 500 Mile Race Returns to the “Home of the Brave”

June 29, 2012 (Sparks, NV) – The Valley Off Road Racing Association (VORRA) today announced details of the second annual USA 500 off road desert race July 13-15 with a course designed to push racers to the limits of their skill and endurance.

“We reintroduced long distance desert endurance racing to Northern Nevada in 2011 and the response was fantastic,” said VORRA Race Director Wes Harbor. “For 2012 we’re continuing to put together challenging courses and at the same time making it more affordable for grass roots racers to join the fray.”

VORRA is offering racers a $25 discount to teams pre-registering by July 2. VORRA also arranged for free camping at the start / finish line.

“VORRA goes back 37 years and our focus is the racing,” Harbor said. “We’re out to inspire the next generation of off road racers and lure back all of those experienced veterans who’ve parked their rigs in the garage but still have the desire to mix it up.”

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 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 www.vorra.net or call 877-418-6772.

Still no map though! Doh!

Word on the street is it will be very close to last year's course - looking like a balloon on a stick. From the start finish line we'll do about 35 miles straight on utility and power line roads. At the end of that we'll do three laps on a 155 mile loop. At the end of the third lap, we'll go back down the 35 mile "balloon stick" to the start finish line.

2011 map is here: www.vorra.net/forms/VORRA2011USA500.JPG