Robby Gordon to reunite with legendary Ford Trophy-Truck at Parker 400

As it has for decades, this week’s American off-road racing season kick-off takes place in the Arizona riverfront town of Parker. This historic event, which is part of the four-race 2025 Unlimited Off-Road Racing series schedule, comprises two days of high-octane racing over a challenging 400-mile desert course.

One local semi-resident sure to garner the lion’s share of attention will be Robby Gordon. Not only is Gordon an honorary citizen of the picturesque town next to the Colorado River (he and his family have owned homes in the nearby Parker Keys for decades), but in a larger sense this weekend marks a motorsports homecoming of the very best kind.

While his time is highly focused on his Speed line of retail products that includes manufacturing a line of high performance side-by-sides, over the next three days Gordon will be returning to the driver’s seat of a revolutionary race truck he designed and piloted to off-road greatness in the mid-1990s.

Commonly refered to as “Black Diamond" by the sport’s aficionados, the potent Trophy-Truck is currently owned by Southern California restaurant and real estate entrepreneur Mark Post. The sleek black No. 3 Ford is entered for a Parker 400 return by Post’s Riviera Racing, with Gordon, Post and Robby’s son Max set to share driving duties for the three-lap race.

Mark Post and Black Diamond. Trackside photo

By 1993, Gordon had already set the motorsports world on fire with his outright speed in NASCAR, IndyCar and IMSA racing. Despite the success in other forms of racing, Gordon was hell-bent on building an all-new Trophy-Truck to take on the front running teams, including the factory-backed Toyota fielded by Cal Well and his PPI juggernaut and driven by Ivan “Ironman” Stewart. Unlike that effort, Gordon would do a lot with a little – a lesion learned from his father legendary off-road racing father Bob Gordon.

With inspiration gleaned from his exposure to other forms of racing and help from Ford and Valvoline, Gordon tapped into the real world expertise of Don Fair, Dave Forbes and Ed Buffington to build his vision. Their design included newly introduced componentry and engineering that included one huge internal bypass shock per corner, swing set steering and removable brake rotor hats.

“It took a small group of talented fabricators to build the truck. None of us were engineers, but we were just imagineers and built it," Gordon explained at the time.

According to Gordon, his new truck was also a lesson in basics. It was, in fact, a rather simple front engine V-8 attached to an automatic transmission attached to a standard rear end. He reportedly designed it on a napkin over dinner with his dad.

“From the start, the difference was our philosophy,” said Gordon. “Most racers think you have to slow down so you don’t break anything. I said no way. We weren’t going to slow down, we were going to perfect the truck so I could drive it wide open all day.”

By 1996, Gordon's Ford Trophy-Truck was sweeping all before it.

The Ford made its debut in 1994, and Gordon’s limited schedule relegated his new creation to two seasons of limited running and development. That was the prelude to an all-conquering season in 1996.

In that quest for ultimate performance Gordon and his small team tested more than 50 days that year, perfecting shock and suspension settings for each type of terrain and race course. Much of that advancement came via internal bypass shock absorbers first perfected by Bob Gordon in his Toyota-powered Class 1 Chenowth buggy.

Gordon also broke with conventional wisdom by using the actual race truck as a prerunner to reveal any weaknesses under near race conditions.

The 1996 SCORE season was a masterpiece of achievement, with Gordon taking overall wins in four SCORE International races including that year’s Parker 400 -- and the Trophy-Truck category championship.

Following a successful pre-Parker test a few weeks ago, the timeless nature of his former ride wasn’t lost on the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee.

“Honestly, this truck is still really, really good,” he said. “Remember, this thing was built without CAD or waterjet machines or anything else we use today. It’s handbuilt tubing and sheet metal. Yes, it has an updated version of my shocks. The one thing about driving it again was reinforcing just how advanced our thinking and design was over 30 years ago.”

Since being purchased in the late 1990s by Post, the ground-breaking machine has enjoyed a highly successful second chapter. Along with co-drivers Jerry Whelchel and Rob MacCachren, Post racked up an impressive list of SCORE, Best-in-the-Desert and NORRA overall victories -- none the least of which include the 40th anniversary SCORE Baja 1000 in 2007.

While much of the Ford’s chassis, suspension and body shape (originally penned by legendary designer Clay Dean) remains as it was, in the past few years the powertrain has been updated with an 1,100 horspower Joe Gibbs Racing engine and a Masonmatic sequential gearbox.

“This thing went from fast to being an absolute rocket,” said Post. “After the Parker test I can’t remember ever seeing Robby smiling so much. He was my enemy on the track for 30 years, but now we are both enjoying this reunion.”

The weekend’s strategy calls for will Robby to qualify today for Saturday’s race, then start the Parker 400 for the first lap. Max will take over for his dad to negotiate lap 2, with Post taking final stretch to the finish.

While a reunion with his past, Gordon sees his latest Parker run as a natural next step. Trackside photo

“For me, this weekend is more than a reunion with a piece of my past,” concluded Robby. “This is also about spending time with Max for another step in his career. Parker has always been special to the Gordon family, and I want to thank Mark for this special opportunity.”

The Post/Gordon entry will be facing a total 2025 Parker 400 field of nearly 130 entries, including 14 total Trophy-Truck and Class 1 unlimited vehicles.

Racing begins on Friday at 7:30am with the Parker 400 Motorcycle Race, a new addition to the schedule for 2025.

The Limited Race will follow starting at 1pm, with the first finisher estimated at roughly 8:30pm. Heidler won last year’s event with a time of 7h28m27s in a tight battle with Sierra Romo, and he’ll be among the favorites to repeat in 2025.

Conner McMullen's Class 1 car upstaged the Trophy-Trucks at Parker last year. Mad Media photo

On Saturday, the action kicks off with a pair of Youth Races starting at 8am, as the 170, 200, and 250 classes compete together for 25 minutes and the 570 and 1000 classes follow them with a 45-minute race of their own. From there, the Parker 400 Unlimited Race goes green at 10am, with the first finishers estimated to complete the course at roughly 4:30pm.

McMullen’s winning time of 6h36m02s last year saw him upset the Unlimited Trucks in his Class 1 car, while all three premier Unlimited classes -- Class 1, Unlimited Truck, and Unlimited Truck SPEC -- were represented on the overall podium.

The 2025 Parker 400 marks the first of four rounds on the 2025 UNLTD Off-Road Racing Series calendar. It will be followed by the BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 in Las Vegas on March 5-9, the inaugural Reno 600 in Reno on April 16-19, and the season-ending California 300 in Barstow on Oct. 1-5.

1994 SNORE Eldorado 250

1995 SNORE Vegas 300

1996 SCORE Parker 400

1996 SCORE San Felipe 250

1996 SCORE Primm 300

1996 SCORE Fireworks 250

2000 SCORE Primm 300

2002 SCORE Terrible 250

2003 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge

2003 SCORE Terrible 250

2004 SCORE San Felipe 250

2007 SCORE Baja 1000

2007 BITD Terrible Cup 250

2007 BITD Parker 425

2013 NORRA 500

2017 NORRA 1000

2018 NORRA 500

2018 NORRA 1000

2019 NORRA 1000