From Dakar to Vegas… Ford Raptor T1+ takes on a new challenge

Comfort zone.. It’s a relative term in the world of off-road racing. You’ll never be comfortable launching off the crest of a sand dune at 100mph, or picking your way through jagged, unforgiving boulder fields.

But that’s the way Ford likes it, and taking on some of the world’s most demanding terrain to test its capabilities and durability to the limit is why its Raptor T1+ competes in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) and its signature event, the Dakar Rally.

Ford was born in racing, it’s part of its DNA, and the challenge of competition continues to push it forward. Every mile completed by the Raptor T1+, every jump, every bump, is a lesson learned and experience gained to help design the vehicles you drive every day.

The Raptor T1+ finished second and third overall on the 2026 Dakar Rally, a two-week marathon through the deserts, ravines and rocks of Saudi Arabia. It was fast, reliable and competitive, winning six grueling stages on the way to its double-podium finish. But in its comfort zone? Hardly.

Still, after two years of competing with the ultimate Raptor on Dakar and the other rough and unforgiving events on the W2RC schedule, there’s at least a familiarity with the challenge Ford is taking on. So, when a gap in the calendar provided a chance to try something a little different – a new challenge and a chance to race the T1+ in the USA for the first time – Ford was all in.

The Casey Folks Vegas to Reno race is an American classic. Coming in at almost 500 miles through the sandy, rocky trails and twisting passes of the Nevada desert, it’s an event that North America’s top off-road aces all want to win. It’s always brutal, always ready to bite, but for its 30th anniversary, running it “The Other Way” – from Reno to Vegas – added another twist.

Powered by a Coyote-based, 5-liter V8, with 37in. BFGoodrich tires on long-travel FOX suspension, and carbon fiber body panels on a steel spaceframe chassis, the all-wheel-drive T1+ is the pinnacle of the Raptor racing line-up. But taking on a stacked field of 1,000hp-plus Unlimited Trucks purpose-built for U.S. desert racing in its first non-W2RC start would be a huge challenge – which is exactly what Ford wanted.

Behind the wheel of the T1+, Ford called in the home team, W2RC regular and Dakar stage winner Mitch Guthrie (pictured below). The Californian was joined by his co-driver Kellon Walch in an all-American lineup that relished the opportunity to put the Raptor through its paces in the Silver State.

Friday, Aug. 14, Guthrie and Walch roared away from the Reno start line. After a problem-free run, they crossed the finish line in 7h43m49.379s – just 5m53.392s behind the winning Unlimited Truck.

“Bringing the Raptor T1+ home to race in the United States was important to us, but doing it with Mitch and Kellon and finishing on the overall podium makes this a really special moment for Ford Racing,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Racing. “This truck was developed to compete at the highest level of rally raid around the world, and this weekend we saw that capability translate to a very different challenge in the American desert. In the 125th anniversary year of Ford Racing and as America celebrates 250 years, America’s race team brought the ultimate Raptor home with an American driving team and fought at the front.

“We’re proud of the result, but even more excited about what we learned and where this program goes next.”

Rather than modifying the Raptor T1+ specifically for American desert racing, Ford Racing entered the truck in full Dakar specification, complete with the regulatory limitations required for W2RC competition. The objective was both to see how the global Raptor would perform against purpose-built American desert racers and to use one of the longest off-road races in the U.S. as an intensive test ahead of the next Dakar Rally.

The answer came quickly. Guthrie and Walch were in the fight for the overall win throughout the race.

“This thing’s in full Dakar spec. We have all the limiters and everything, and we really didn’t know how today would go,” said Guthrie at the finish line. “I think we surprised some people with what the T1+ could do and what it’s capable of. I know this truck is fast and super reliable – and this is just the start. I’m happy to bring this truck here with Ford Racing for the first time and have a great result.”

For Guthrie, Vegas to Reno represented a connection between two sides of his career. The American grew up competing in U.S. desert racing, including multiple Vegas to Reno starts, before establishing himself on the international stage and joining Ford Racing’s Raptor T1+ program. Bringing the truck to Nevada put those two worlds together for the first time.

For Nevada-born Walch, the race was even closer to home.

“We didn’t miss a beat all day long,” he said. “Mitch did a great job. The team did amazing. It’s been a lot of work getting this together, and I couldn’t be happier. It was honestly a dream comes true for me to race this truck here in my backyard.”

While the podium demonstrated the Raptor T1+’s ability to compete at the front in American desert racing, the mileage gathered in Nevada was equally valuable to Ford Racing and its technical and operational partner on the program, M-Sport.

Vegas to Reno packed approximately 500 miles of competition into a single day – roughly twice the competitive distance the team would typically encounter during one Dakar stage. That created an opportunity to put sustained load on the Raptor T1+, its components and the team while continuing development toward Dakar.

“It’s fantastic to be here,” said Matthew Wilson, M-Sport program manager. “We’ve achieved what we what we set out to achieve. Obviously, the truck’s still in full FIA Dakar spec, so it’s nice to know that even with that, we can come and compete and be fighting at the front. But the most important thing is really that from a Dakar preparation point of view, it’s brilliant – 800 kilometers [500 miles] in one day. To get that without any issues other than a puncture has been the biggest positive out of the whole thing. But overall, it was really exciting – a very different way of racing and something we’re not used to, but it’s been fantastic.”

The second-place finish adds another chapter to a Raptor T1+ program created to take Ford Racing to the front of global off-road competition. But in Nevada, the program came full circle: a Raptor carrying lessons learned around the world returned to the terrain that has helped define Ford’s high-performance off-road vehicles for generations.

One American truck. One American driving team. And one more podium for America’s Race Team – this time, at home.

• For more on how Ford is taking lessons learned in the world’s fastest laboratories, from the 24 Hours of Le Mans to the Baja 1000, to help design the vehicles you drive, check out Ford.com.