The 2017 Ford Raptor F-150 took to the track for the first event of the 2016 Best in the Desert off-road racing series, but after looking strong on the first lap of the race – the Raptor ran into electrical issues during the second lap and the team was forced to drop out of the 2-lap race.
2-laps? That’s right – the race was only two laps long. The portion of the Parker 425 in which the Raptor competed consisted of 2 143-mile laps, so the whole race was 286 miles over the course of just 2 laps. Unfortunately, since the Raptor didn’t complete both laps, they didn’t get a placement in the final standings or an official time on the track so we don’t know exactly how quickly the stock Raptor made it around the track – but we do know that the stock drivetrain stood up to over 150 miles of racing abuse before the electrical system failed.
During the first lap, Ford’s Mike Levine was Tweeting about the progress of the #1201 Ford Raptor F-150 and based on the Twitter timestamps, the Raptor took about 2-2.5 hours to get from the 70 mile mark to the rest stop at 142 miles. While it is impossible to accurately measure time based on a portion of an off-road race, if the Raptor had been able to finish the race in 8 hours, the near-stock F-150 would have been right in the middle of the field in its racing debut.
While this is a disappointing finish for the new Raptor in its racing debut, it should be pointed out that the new high performance 3.5L EcoBoost V6, the new 10-speed automatic transmission and the new four-wheel drive system all handled more than 150 miles of off-road racing without any issue – with only electrical gremlins knocking the truck out of the race.
Fortunately, the new Raptor will be back on the track in a little over a month for the next leg of the Best in the Desert series.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
