NORRA 500 2026 Race Prep: Day 1 | High Altitude Racing

Colorado to Ensenada

Day 1 of preparation for the 2026 NORRA 500 began early in a blaze of Colorado fall color, with the season’s first snow dusting Pikes Peak. By midnight, we were deep in sensor wiring and cloud code at our Ensenada compound. Between those moments came an entire day of travel, teamwork, and the kind of controlled chaos that makes race week unforgettable.

Colorado fall colors with the first snow on Pikes Peak — Colorado sent us south with fall color and the first snow on Pikes Peak.

Aerial view of Borrego Springs and the Salton Sea — From the air, we passed our familiar Borrego Springs test country near the Salton Sea.

Final approach into San Diego — San Diego marked the end of the flight—and the beginning of the drive south.

Across the Border

The Pacific led us to Ensenada.

Helpful customs officials and representatives from Baja tourism made the border crossing smooth and welcoming. From there, the road unfolded alongside the Pacific: bright water, coastal cliffs, and the unmistakable feeling that race week had truly begun.

Every mile south brought more Baja into view—and more anticipation for the two days of racing ahead.

Pacific Ocean view on the road into Baja — Pacific views accompanied the drive south.

Coastal view looking toward Ensenada — Ensenada waiting farther down the coast.

Mexican flag flying in Ensenada during NORRA 500 race week — ¡Viva México! Back in Ensenada and grateful for the welcome, the hospitality, and another chance to race in Baja.

Compound Open

Unload, organize, get to work.

At our Ensenada compound, there was no easing into the evening. We unloaded #355, turned the garage into a working race shop, laid out tools and spares, and started moving down the prep list.

The car had survived the trip on tiny OEM transport tires—the only way it fits inside the trailer. Those tires had done their job. Now it was time to put #355 back on the equipment built for Baja.

High Altitude Racing compound in Ensenada — Our Ensenada base for race week.

Race shop set up inside the Ensenada garage — A temporary garage quickly became a working race shop.

Transport Mode to Race Mode

The right shoes for the desert.

The narrow OEM tires came off and our race setup went on: Tensor Tires mounted to Method Race Wheels. The side-by-side comparison says everything. One setup gets the car into the trailer; the other is built to carry speed, absorb punishment, and bring #355 home through Baja.

NORRA race tire beside the small OEM transport tire — Transport tire versus the Tensor and Method race setup.

High Altitude Racing changing the transport tires for race tires — The tire swap officially moves #355 into race configuration.

Front view of High Altitude Racing car 355 prepared in Ensenada — #355 standing ready on its Baja race setup.

A Race Car Full of Data

Six axes, hundreds of signals, one Starlink uplink.

With the mechanical setup taking shape, attention shifted to the remaining GPS and telemetry work. At the center of the new sensor package is a six-axis accelerometer and inertial measurement unit. Together they capture how the car accelerates, rotates, pitches, rolls, and reacts to the terrain beneath it.

That information joins the rest of #355’s telemetry stream and travels over Starlink to the cloud. There, it feeds our analytics package—and becomes live data that can add context to the in-car video stream.

Telemetry sensors prepared for installation in race car 355 — The sensor package before final installation.

Custom telemetry sensor circuit board — Compact hardware built to survive a very uncompromising environment.

Six-axis IMU telemetry data displayed during race preparation — Live IMU data confirms that motion is becoming measurable information.

High Altitude Racing telemetry displayed on a computer screen — The telemetry stream begins to take shape on screen.

Watch Live from Car #355

Baja from the best seat in the house.

Join us live from the race car during tech inspection and contingency on Thursday, October 8, then ride along for Race Day 1 on Friday, October 9 and Race Day 2 on Saturday, October 10. Subscribe now so you are ready when #355 goes live.

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube →

The Late Shift

Wires, firmware, and a flood of telemetry.

The lights stayed on late. We finished sensor cabling, wrote microcontroller firmware, and modified the cloud code to use Google Bigtable for fast queries across the incoming telemetry flood.

The volume is substantial enough that it may be a perfect fit for the architecture we presented at #CriblCon26: using Cribl as a telemetry control plane, routing data into tiered storage based on its relevance, immediacy, and long-term value. We will add the presentation video as soon as Cribl makes it available.

Writing telemetry microcontroller code during race preparation — Microcontroller code turns raw sensor signals into a usable stream.

Continuing late-night cloud and telemetry coding — More code, more testing, and fewer hours left before tech.

Late-night telemetry cabling inside race car 355 — Midnight cabling: where software meets the race car.

Next: Race Prep Day 2

Two cameras. Two directions. One live Baja story.

We are having a ball preparing for this race. Day 2—Wednesday—gets its own story as we wrestle the camera livestream into shape: two GoPros, one looking forward into the course and one looking back at the dust, terrain, and everything #355 leaves behind.

There is still plenty to solve, but the compound is alive, the car is taking shape, and the NORRA 500 is almost here.

Follow the Live Stream Continue to Prep Day 2 →

From First Snow to Baja Dust