The Gambler 500 comes to rural Northern Nevada, plans underway for 2020 event

2019 was the inaugural year for the Northern Nevada Gambler 500. What is the Gambler 500 you ask? The Gambler 500 was born from a dream. A dream of giving forgotten, tossed aside and abandoned autos new life and a chance to become legendary.

Our biggest goal, besides having FUN is cleaning up the trails and campsites while enjoying our public lands. It was originally founded in Oregon and is the underground, off-road rally race where participants gas up the cheapest, most impractical, piece-of-junk cars and set off on a navigational backroad adventure in the middle of nowhere. Participants are encouraged to spend no more than $500 on a vehicle to drive during The Gambler 500.

This price limit is not enforced or officially verified, but is generally abided by. The point of the Gambler 500 is not to win, it’s about traversing backroads all across Northern Nevada and piloting your beater over 500 miles.

We recommend you use navigational apps capable of downloading offline areas that you plan to travel as well as helping you to locate any waypoints given. We also recommend that you plan your route ahead of time. Participants are also encouraged to pick up any trash that they find along the route, trails, and campsites, leaving it all cleaner than we found it.

Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23 were the official kick off dates for the first Gambler 500 here in the rural parts of Northern Nevada. We took to the back roads with several check-points ahead of us each day. The launch point was the parking lot of the old Wal-Mart in Fallon, Nev. We were all there bright and early, ready to roll! Extra tires, gas cans, food, and gear loaded.

Cars of all kinds were there, new trucks, old trucks, beaters, SUV’s, even a Geo Metro.

Day one consisted of 11 check-points and about 300 miles of mostly backroads. We rock crawled a little through a tight canyon and saw some beautiful areas of Northern Nevada that I had never seen before. We all checked in at the first Rally Point in Middlegate, Nev., and had some lunch at a rustic little restaurant that reminded me of the store out of the first Tremors movie. Two cars were down by the first rally point and several tires blown by some of the participants, but we all ventured on.

Another check-point along the way was Ione, Nev. What a tiny little town out in the middle of no-where. We ventured on towards our final Rally Point in Austin, Nev. Austin is a quaint little town that we all gassed up in to head to our camping site for the night. We camped out at the Spencer Hot Springs, had a nice fire, food, drinks, and world famous Steven Christy playing the guitar and singing us some tunes around the fire. It was a great day complete with an amazing night.

Day two we were all up bright and early and ready to hit the road! Day two consisted of traveling mostly through Pershing County headed towards Dixie Valley. It got a little interesting on day two when one of the participants, Chris Kinney decided to take his 2017 Chevy Camaro for the second stretch of the Gambler 500.

We watched that Camaro go over ditches, rocks, washouts, and creek beds that were iffy in the Pathfinder we were traversing in. Needless to say Chris Kinney, driver of the 2017 Camaro won the award for the “Best Worst Idea” at the end of Day two. Only the two of us stuck together on day two as we all split up to take our own ways back to Fallon, Nev.

There were 5 awards given at the end of Day two for the inaugural Northern Nevada Gambler 500. The Inaugural N NV Gambler 500 Awards given were as follows:

Shade Tree Award: 1st person to make it to camp, slow down and see some scenery:
Awarded to: Roger and Debbie Carey

Best Worst Idea Award: Awarded to: Chris Kinney 2017 Chevy Camaro off road

Never Give Up Award: Blew up a transmission, went home and finished in a daily driver Awarded to: Shawn and Danielle Hartzel

Most Trash Picked Up Award: Awarded to: John Carey

Best Gambler Award: Rescued two broke down gamblers and had the best attitude Awarded to: David Aniya

With 2019 being the inaugural year and such a huge success we are so excited for the 2nd Annual Northern Nevada Gambler 500 in June 2020! You won’t want to miss the HooptieX Races or the Gambler 500 in 2020!

This is a fun packed 4 day adventure full of off-roading, racing, camping and more!

Full Details will be announced soon so be sure to follow us on our Northern Nevada Gambler 500 Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/NNVGambler500/
Join our Northern Nevada Gambler 500 Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/997948713737696/

The Gambler 500 is a navigation car club. Participants bring new life to forgotten autos at a chance to become a local legend. Plan to bring food, drinks, a tent, and a sleeping bag for the post-event campout.
If you are interested in being a Sponsor for the upcoming Northern Nevada Gambler 500 in June 2020 please email us.

Meet the team:
Rob Carey: Benevolent Dictator

Pete Olsen: Vice President of route planning and bad ideas

Blake Brandenburg: Chief Safety Officer/Lead first responder to previously mentioned bad ideas

Cassidy Davis: Treasurer/Vice President of eye rolls and the real power behind the throne.

Article Written By: Cassidy Davis

#AlwaysBeGambling #NNVGambler500 #Gambler500