I Took A 720 HP Pickup Truck To A Giant Party In The Desert And It Taught Me A Lesson About Life

Life is full of decisions, from easy calls like choosing what to wear, to more difficult situations, like selecting your career. It can be hard to say “yes” to something when you cannot be certain of the result your decision will bring. I just learned an important lesson about decisions in life, and weirdly, I learned it by taking a 2025 Ford F-150 Raptor R out into the Arizona desert to the second-ever Raptor Rally. My biggest lesson after honing 720 horses? Say ‘yes’ more.

Last weekend, I descended into Arizona to take part in the second-ever Ford Raptor Rally, which was hosted in beautiful Lake Havasu City. This year’s turnout was amazing, and more than 400 Ford F-150 Raptor, Bronco Raptor, and Ranger Raptor owners turned up to have a giant party. The event was full throttle from start to finish, and featured some of the best off-roading I’ve ever done in a desert.

Ford tossed me the key to a glistening 2025 F-150 Raptor R, and my steed could only be described as an off-road supercar. This is a pickup truck with the 5.2-liter supercharged heart of a Shelby GT500, pumping out 720 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque with a thunderous roar. But this truck wasn’t just brute force in a work-truck wrapper. This Raptor will break your brain. And yet, the truck was only one of the things that blew my mind that weekend.

(Full Disclosure: Ford tossed me the keys to two Ford F-150 Raptor Rs for the weekend to participate in the second-ever Raptor Rally. Ford paid for my travel, my admission, and most of my fuel.)

Full Send

Truth be told, I’m a bit of a ‘yes’ woman. If David Tracy asks the team if he should take on some project, I immediately say ‘yes’, no matter how ill-advised the purchase is. If someone hands me a key and dares me to do something with a car, they won’t even be finished spelling out the challenge before I’m in the driver’s seat. I’m the kind of person who hates taking ‘no’ for an answer and will find a way to make it a ‘yes.’

You’ve seen this play out with my cars. I used to hear people talk about how Smarts can’t go off-road and can’t handle loads, so I turned that ‘no’ into a ‘yes’ by overcoming my own reservations and making one of my Smarts haul motorcycles and go off-road. There was a time when I didn’t believe in my own abilities and doubted myself at every turn. ‘No’ was my primary feeling. I used to think that so much just couldn’t be done, or that doing the thing would result in something bad happening. As I’ve written before, it would take me going on the Gambler 500 for the first time to not just crack my shell, but give me a different outlook. It gave me a reason to find ‘yes’ in my life.

This strategy has gotten me pretty far in life. Certainly, I would have never found my home at the Autopian without some dice rolls, taking some chances, and saying ‘yes.’ Sometimes, the results are silly. Back in my Jalopnik days, an editor warned against swimming the Mississippi River because of the strong currents, dead things, and other dangers, so I did it, anyway. Sorry, Lalita! There was also a time when I refused to say no to Volkswagen Passat TDI wagons, and bought four examples before finally teaching myself that ‘no’ is at least sometimes a valid answer.

However, I’ve never really seen this approach to life played out as a third party. By that, I have never gotten to watch someone else learn the power and the liberation that can come with saying ‘yes’ when the version of you that’s in a shell is telling you ‘no.’

That changed over the weekend. In being my absolutely crazy self, I accidentally convinced a bunch of people to try new things, defeat their fears, and say ‘yes.’

Raptor Is A Fitting Name

Just getting to the venue was an adventure. Ford flew me to Phoenix, where I picked up my Raptor R press loaner. From there, I stared down a roughly 200-mile, 3.5-hour drive to the Raptor Rally basecamp in Lake Havasu City. As far as I can remember, this is probably the furthest I’ve ever driven a press vehicle from an airport to an event, and I loved it. I got lots of time to experience the Raptor R just like many owners do. Lots of people buy these super trucks as lifestyle or status vehicles, and they will spend the vast majority of their time just being driven on road trips and commutes.

I knew I was in for a ride the second I picked the truck up from the airport parking structure. The Raptor R, with its bulging tires and thick hips, fit in a normal parking space, but only just barely. Firing the beast up was an experience in itself, as, like a Shelby, the 5.2 V8 under the hood woke from its slumber with an angered growl. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to find an exhaust button with four loudness settings. At its quietest, you can make this truck as unobtrusive as a normal, unmodified V8. At its loudest? You’ll probably wake the dead, or at least rev up your heart rate. I set my truck to Sport mode right out of the gate.

The Raptor R has a character that makes the truck live up to its name. This is a truck where, if you even dare think a single naughty thought, the engine will light the rear tires into a smoke show as you rocket off at mind-melting speed. Did you just think about that time you skipped school to play arcade games with your friends? Well, shucks, now you’re doing a burnout. Had a thought about sleeping with your spouse? Oh no, here comes a donut!

Admittedly, I try to do an informal, unscientific 60 mph acceleration test in every press vehicle just for the fun of it. The F-150 Raptor R definitely takes the win for causing the most drama. I gave the pedal a size-10-high-heel mashing and the Raptor immediately responded by lighting up the 37-inch all-terrain tires and kept them screaming through most of first gear. Traction control couldn’t rein in the chaos, and with traction control off, you’re liable to recreate the scene of a Mustang leaving a car show if you’re not careful. I can see why Sport mode defaults the drivetrain to four-wheel drive ON.

Normally, I’d say a truck like this builds speed rapidly, but “build” would be too soft. “Rocket” isn’t right, either. This truck doesn’t accelerate, it escalates. Allegedly, this truck will hit 60 mph in around three and a half seconds, but that’s assuming you can keep the tires hooked. But also, this is a gargantuan pickup truck with 37-inch tires and lockers that hits 60 mph in under four seconds. Call the Raptor R ‘Max Rockatansky,’ because it’s fully mad to the max.

Once I restrained myself and reminded myself that I’m nominally an adult, I pointed the truck toward Lake Havasu. The drive was comfortable and uneventful, but the truck kept wanting to go faster at all times. I somehow beat Google’s time by 30 minutes, and I wasn’t even trying. Later that day, I met the leader of a Raptor club, and he joked that, with the power of the Raptor R, it must have taken me only 20 minutes to drive those 200 miles. I mean, it sure felt like it.

I will give you a full review of the truck later, because it’s truly an amazing machine. But I just had to tell you how comically fast it is. The speed just doesn’t make a lick of sense. It reminded me of the time I got to test the Ford F-150 FP700, but it was even sillier because while the FP700 was a souped-up work truck, the Raptor R was a cartoon on wheels.

Lake Havasu

I have been to Arizona more times than I can count, including twice to the Grand Canyon. Yet, I have never been near Lake Havasu. The first time you see it, you will be blown away. If you’re like me, you will have driven for hours seeing nothing but hot desert, and then bam, almost out of nowhere, you’re driving alongside a glistening lake.

The trick here is that Lake Havasu is actually a large reservoir created by the Parker Dam on the Colorado River. So it comes out of nowhere and looks weird just because, well, it sort of is weird.

My jaw dropped for most of the weekend because of the scenery. Once I got to Lake Havasu City, I saw the London Bridge. Isn’t that in London? No! I mean, yes, it was, all the way back in the 1830s. Apparently, Robert P. McCulloch, the madman who founded Lake Havasu City, purchased the bridge in 1968 and moved its original exterior masonry to the United States.

So, technically, the Arizona “London Bridge” is not the London Bridge, but a concrete bridge wearing the London Bridge’s face. Still, as a fan of bridges, I was fangirling over the sight of the thing.

Lake Havasu City also had plenty of fun sights to see, from silly local cars to famous restaurant chains from different regions. I did a double-take when I saw this Rosati’s Pizza so far from Chicagoland! There was also an In-N-Out Burger. Before you ask, yes, I did swim in Lake Havasu, and it was absolutely awesome. I got to see a shooting star from the water!

I had to revisit the bridge later, because my mission was to land at the Raptor Rally. Thankfully, the event’s basecamp was right next to the bridge.

Raptor Rally

This rally was fascinating. I have taken part in single-make rallies before, from Polaris Camp RZR to countless Smart rallies. There was something funny about this one. At the back of my mind, I knew that everyone here was packing some serious power under the hood. There wasn’t a single regular Bronco, Ranger, or F-150 in the field of 400-plus vehicles. All of them were screaming and snarling beasts. I was far from the only Raptor R there, too.

Raptor owners came from far and wide to have just two days of fun in the desert. One person drove their truck from really deep in Canada. I’ve heard some others flew in from other countries.

The first thing that caught my attention was that, while everyone at the event was either a Raptor owner or a friend or family member of a Raptor owner, not everyone there was an off-roader. Many of the folks there had trucks that bore the battle scars of getting bashed by trees and rocks. Countless folks there have been to Moab and all of the off-road havens. But there were also people there who didn’t take their truck off-roading, people who bought their Raptor because they thought the truck was cool, but didn’t ever use the off-road capability.

The spread of people went far and wide. There were people of all shapes, genders, and races. It was a big ‘ol melting pot of horsepower and long-travel suspension. Not everyone even owned a nice truck, either. The Raptor has been around since the 2010 model year, and there were quite a few people there with totally beaten-up first-gen F-150 Raptors. There were a surprising number of people rolling in well-used trucks with well north of 200,000 miles. Remember this for later.

Basecamp was a great place to settle down and relax before heading back out into the trails. While there, Raptor Rally participants were able to get drinks, food, and stroll through a little village of vendors, sponsors, workshops, and games. You could learn how to off-road, learn how to change a tire, buy merch and gear, or drive an RC Raptor. The little village was small, but it was just right as a place to slow down.

Something that I liked about this event is that it wasn’t just built for hardcore off-roaders. Yes, there were plenty of hard trails, jumps, whoops, washboards, and all sorts of challenges for experienced off-roaders. However, many of the folks who came to this event had either just bought a Raptor and never taken it off-road, or just didn’t have much off-roading experience, period.

As I watched driver meetings and workshops from afar, I realized that a lot of folks were concerned about scratching up their rigs on branches, and didn’t like the idea of actually using the skid plates and the sliders on their trucks. Many didn’t even know if they could physically perform a rock crawl or a mild hillclimb, let alone the harsh off-roading that people like David and I enjoy.

This was different. When you go to something like Camp RZR or a manufacturer-specific car rally, it’s often assumed that you’re already an enthusiast who uses your vehicle at least somewhat like the way it was built for. The organizers of the Raptor Rally knew this, and a lot of the activities were geared toward just getting people comfortable getting their Raptors off pavement, and I loved that.

I took part in a couple of these events, a triplet of so-called “Driving Exercises” meant to familiarize you with some of your truck’s abilities, plus a jump from a ramp. The Driving Exercises featured a very short rock crawling course, a side-tilting turn, and a mild short hillclimb. If you’re an experienced off-roader, this stuff was a walk in the park. The rocks weren’t that huge or damaging, the side tilt was only 22 degrees, and the hillclimb was barely 19 degrees.

The jump also wasn’t particularly scary, either. The jump was built so that any Raptor could safely leap from it and land without any drama. The instructors also had everyone start in second gear and gave everyone a runway that was far too short to build enough speed to get them into trouble. Truth be told, I’ve gotten better airtime jumping a Jeep Renegade and a Toyota Camry.

Just Go For It

But really, these courses were made for everyone, regardless of skill level, which was great. Still, I met quite a lot of folks who were scared or otherwise reluctant to do the courses. They were scared that their trucks would roll over, get scratched, or break something. They were scared that maybe they didn’t have it in them to jump a truck. Which is fine! Full sends aren’t for everyone, for sure.

I incidentally spent some time talking with these strangers, explaining that the trucks they bought were basically supercars. Like, sure, they have beds, tow campers, and have car seats in them, but these trucks are more capable than the skills of most drivers. I told them how the jump was so mild I could probably do it in my Smart car, and that the side tilt alone wasn’t nearly enough to roll their truck.

But I think more important was showing them that their fears were making things way more complicated than they actually were. So long as you kept the wheels pointed straight and let off the gas once the front end was airborne, you were going to nail the jump. So long as you follow the tracks of the truck in front of you, the side tilt will be no problem. Even the rock crawling was easy because an event staffer spotted you every step of the way. If you screw up, it’s not a big deal. That’s why these trucks have rock sliders and skid plates!

I sort of finished my spiel by saying something along the lines of “say ‘yes.’ Once you do it, you’ll feel like you’ve unlocked a new superpower, and you’ll want more of what you experienced. You might even discover a part of you that you didn’t know was there. You won’t regret it.”

Apparently, I did enough of this talking that several people signed up for the jump and the exercises. I had my own itinerary to follow, so I didn’t go with them to see how it went. Instead, I would spend most of my Saturday hitting up the trails by myself, and occasionally joining others for a group trail ride and for hot laps with a pro driver in a Raptor R.

The wheeling just outside of Lake Havasu is epic. Yes, there’s desert for miles, but it’s surprisingly varied and challenging. There are plenty of blind climbs, sharp sideways grades, filling-rattling washboards, and an expansive network of public trails. If you didn’t download offline maps, you could have easily gotten lost out there. The rocks were big, sharp, and were looking for tires to pop. It was also 93 degrees under the hot sun, so your truck had to be in decent shape just to handle it.

I even managed to find mud by driving by what I think was a culvert. The “mud” did smell pretty sewage-y, so maybe it wasn’t traditional mud, but I still splashed through, anyway! Even Ford’s people were surprised that I found a mud-like substance in such a dry place.

Of course, a lot of people buy Raptors because these trucks can go ridiculously fast off-road, and there was plenty of that, too. If you have the bravery, or stupidity, there was nothing stopping you from hitting 100 mph on the trails. Well, nothing aside from a surprise rock or destructive washboard.

But the real heartwarming part is what happened later, when I was done banging ditches and rev limiters, I returned to basecamp to admire how dirty I got the truck. I really was the only one in the parking lot with mud, and I was weirdly proud of that.

But it was when I ran into some of those people later in the night. They were so happy to tell me that they had the time of their lives jumping the truck and doing the rock crawl. True to my words, these people discovered that, hey, they really did have a skill they never knew they had. Now, they can’t get enough. I created monsters.

Okay, I didn’t, but really, what I accidentally had shown these people was the power of ‘yes.’ They learned what they could achieve by pushing past their feelings and, as Nike would say, just doing it. You can always get paint protection film to fight pinstripes from the flora, and any scrapes or dents you take to skid plates and such? Now you have a story to tell. You can say that you were off-roading in the blazing hot desert and slammed into a rock at a million miles per.

‘Yes’ Is Fun

I think that was my biggest takeaway from the Raptor Rally. This was an event for everyone from everywhere of every skill level. So far as I was able to tell, everyone was welcomed and celebrated here, from the hardcore off-roaders to the folks who bought janky first-gens. There were everyone from dudes in camo shorts to me in the long dresses I wear to go off-road. Everyone was having fun, and countless people learned something new about themselves, their truck, or motorsports.

If you want to join next year’s Raptor Rally, sadly, I do not have information about the next event. But I can say that if you search the web, you will likely find a local or regional Raptor group, and you can take part in regional Raptor Run events. Click here to see an example regional group.

I have no doubt that at least some people left the Raptor Rally a changed person. I probably wouldn’t go as far as to say I was changed, but my heart was warmed to see so many people discovering something new for the first time. So, I think the lesson here is, just say ‘yes.’

I don’t mean to say that you should say yes to everything. Don’t volunteer to do something that’ll make your quality of life worse. But for stuff like this? Say yes, you will have a ton of fun and might even wonder why you didn’t do it before. Maybe you’ll smash your shell open and find a whole new you.

Top graphic images: Mercedes Streeter