Grauman's Egyptian Theater Debuts Raptor-Born in Baja Documentary in Hollywood

Hollywood, CA (June 25, 2009)—Hollywood's Grauman's Egyptian Theater was host as FORD debuted Raptor-Born in Baja produced and directed by Bud Brutsman. Raptor-Born in Baja is the all new documentary film launched by FORD as they took FORD's new F 150 SVT Raptor truck to the 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. FORD unveiled their new SVT Raptor to the automotive world by entering it in the toughest point to point off road race, the SCORE Baja 1000 as Brutsman portrays in the film.

This documentary tells the story of how the all new FORD F150 SVT Raptor went from the dealer to Baja and captured third at the well known SCORE Baja 1000. Brutsman and the BCII crew followed the Raptor Baja adventure from it's earliest planning stages around the board room table at Ford headquarters in Detroit, to the buld up of the race truck at Foutz Motorsports in Phoenix, Arizona, to the unveiling of the trick to the press at the 2008 SEMA Show in Las Vegas and then on to Baja for what is known as one of the toughest races known to man.

Bud Brutsman was approached by FORD as they searched for a team to take their all new SVT Raptor from the factory to the dirt to put the truck through the ultimate test in the deserts of Baja. FORD and Brutsman put offroad racer and builder Greg Foutz in charge of the build as Foutz Motorsports took charge of converting the FORD SVT Raptor into a race truck, complete with roll cage, MasterCraft Race Seats, GPS units, race radios, etc. in preparation for the 2008 SCORE Baja 1000.

"This film really tells the story of the Baja 1000 from a complete perspective," said SPEED VP of Programming Robert Ecker. "Many of us have seen motorsports coverage of the events, but Raptor - Born in Baja really provides an inside view of what it takes to design and race a vehicle capable of surviving the Baja 1000."

The entire crew behind the film put together an incredible launch at the Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California. Along with off road stars, Frank DeAngelo, Robbie Pierce, "Pistol" Pete Sohren, Bud Brutsman, Samuel Hubinette and many more stars from Hollywood also joined in on the fun. Jay Leno, Adrienne Janic, Andrew Ordon, Kevin Farley and Marissa Ramirez of Mental took time to drop in and check out the video.

Be sure to tune in to the TV premier of Raptor - Born in Baja as it hits the airwaves on SPEED Sunday July 12 at 4:00 PM EST.

The Raptor Story

You don't build the best-selling trucks for 32 years running by resting on your laurels. You do it by going out and pushing the limits every day. And that's what Ford continues to do.

Ford, the undisputed off-road racing leader, wanted to up the ante. The results of that effort is the F-150 SVT Raptor. Built on the same platform and assembly line as the already great '09 F150, the F150 SVT Raptor is a street legal, high performance off road truck for all those times when you'd rather driver off the road than on it.

Never satisfied, though, Ford then took it yet another step further and created the Raptor R race truck.

Now it's one thing to say you've created an off-road truck; to go out and prove it is an entirely new thing altogether. But proving they're great at making trucks is what Ford is known for.

In order to truly put their new creation to the test, Ford took the Raptor R race truck to the fabled Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, a location known for being one of the toughest environments on earth for off-road racing.

What better place for the new Raptor to show the world what it's got?

Historically, prototypes haven't fared very well at the Baja 1000 - a place known for chewing up and spittin gout preproduction vehicles. True to its roots, however, the Raptor R race truck not only finished the race, which in itself is virtually unheard of, it actually had a podium finish for its debut.

This spectacular finish proved once again that when Ford makes a truck, it's Built Ford Tough.

The 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is available summer 2009.