I assume that a lot of contenders couldn't race this year for whatever reason. It has been hard to do long distance training in a lot of countries.
The Trans Am Bike Race winner finished a little slower than the record, but that route is considerably longer than RAAM and there are strict rules about support.
Bike nonstop is going on now. Gravel/bike paths for the most part. They had trouble because of the heat dome, but most of them are back on track. At least this year there weren't problems with the route being too muddy to race.