LAS VEGAS, Nev., August 15, 2026 – Four races. Four wins.
The Ford F-150 Raptor continued its undefeated run in stock-class off-road racing at the 2026 Casey Folks Vegas to Reno, with Brad Lovell, Adam Lovell, Jason Hutter and Paul Blangsted taking the Stock Full-Size class victory in the 3.5-liter EcoBoost®-powered production truck.
The team took control of the class early and never gave it back, completing more than 500 miles across the Nevada desert without a mechanical issue and reaching the finish with a lead of more than an hour and a half over its competition.
The victory extends a perfect record for this F-150 Raptor. Since making its competition debut at the 2025 Baja 1000, the truck has entered four races and won its class in all four: the Baja 1000, the 2026 King of the Hammers Desert Challenge, The Mint 400 and now Vegas to Reno.
Four races across some of the most demanding terrain in North American off-road racing. Four class victories. And across those starts, the 3.5-liter F-150 Raptor has been nearly flawless.
That record has established the truck as the benchmark for Ford Racing’s stock-class program — demonstrating what the production-based Raptor platform can withstand when hundreds of race miles replace the controlled conditions of a traditional proving ground.
“We had a flawless day out here today in the 3.5-liter F-150 Raptor. I mean, really from the start of the race to the finish, we had no problems whatsoever. We took the lead, and we stayed out in front. I’m so proud of that. It is pretty rewarding to see how great the F-150 Raptor is in the desert, and how efficient the team has become with running it. The truck we raced today has four straight wins. It’s run four races, so it’s undefeated, and nearly flawless in all those four races,” said Lovell.
The Benchmark in Stock Truck Racing
For Ford Racing, stock-class competition serves a direct purpose: taking vehicles rooted in what customers can buy and putting their capability to the test over hundreds of miles of punishing terrain.
The 3.5-liter F-150 Raptor has become one of the clearest examples of that approach. Its success comes with the same high-output 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 at the heart of the production Raptor, competing in a category designed to retain close ties to the production vehicle.
“Where I started the team meeting yesterday, I mentioned that we’re the benchmark in stock truck racing, and Brad went out and showed it today. The 3.5 liter has been the benchmark this entire season so far, and just continues to push the bar up higher and higher,” said Mike Neinhuis, Off-Road Motorsports Program Manager.
Vegas to Reno provided an especially demanding test. The 2026 edition reversed the traditional direction of the race for the first time, sending competitors from outside Reno toward Las Vegas over more than 500 miles of desert.
By the time the Stock Full-Size field reached much of the course, the terrain had already been churned up by unlimited competition vehicles ahead. Rocks, ruts, silt and increasingly rough conditions put durability at the center of the challenge.
The F-150 Raptor finished without missing a beat.
From Pre-Run to Race Day
The race also put the broader Raptor family to work in the Nevada desert.
Ahead of the race, Lovell pre-ran the route in an F-150 Raptor R as part of the Legends Rally, joining other Raptor owners in experiencing the same terrain that would become the racecourse. When competition began, he traded the Raptor R for the 3.5-liter F-150 Raptor and returned to that terrain at race pace.
That progression - production Raptor to stock-class competition Raptor, pre-run to race - underscored the connection between the vehicles Ford develops for its customers and the environments where Ford Racing continues to prove them.
For Brad and Adam Lovell, Vegas to Reno also continued a father-son partnership built through some of North America’s toughest off-road races. Together with Hutter and Blangsted, they added another victory to a season that has established the F-150 Raptor as the truck to beat in Stock Full-Size competition.
Four starts. Four victories. Still undefeated.
