Ford F-150 Raptor R Drags Mustang Shelby GT500 and the Unbelievable Happens

For those who have not followed his exploits from early on, his initial rise to stardom was through a reaction-type video of his beautiful sister while they tested a 1,000-hp GT500 Super Snake. But, as it turns out, he wasn't a 'one-hit wonder' and instead quickly switched the focus to an enthusiast owner and race car driver feed. And, over the years, he has bought, reviewed, and tracked, then sold enough cars – mainly of the sports variety – to demonstrate that he knows his stuff.

Both on and off the track, by the way. His most recent exploits, though, revolved around two of his main passions – the Chevrolet Corvette and the Ford Mustang. For example, he recently sold his collectible Shelby GT350R and bought a 2023 Mustang Mach 1 instead, but he also decided to replace his 2023 Corvette Z06 with something even faster and equally mid-engined – a McLaren 750S. In the meantime, he also has a Ford F-150 Raptor R that he used for countless adventures.

The latest one is a little blasphemous, though. While playing around the hills surrounding the Willow Springs Raceway – that "super-fast 2.5-mile / nine-turn road racing circuit (…) that is the oldest permanent road course in the United States," he also got the idea to race it. Not in time attack mode, because that would be silly, of course. Instead, there was a little unprepped drag race gathering at the iconic track, and he decided to enter his Ford F-150 Raptor R just for fun.

After a quick talk with the Mustang community on the premises, Everett found a crimson 2023 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 owner willing to put up with the controversy of duking it out with a dune-bashing high-performance pickup truck. Typically, if you look at the specification sheet, both have the same 5.2-liter supercharged V8 Predator engine under the hood, and the advantage goes to the GT500 by 760 to 700 ponies. Alas, do not hurry to conclude that a Mustang Shelby would easily beat a Raptor R – not when Willow Springs is involved, that is.

Remember, the F-150 has all-wheel drive, and the muscle car is RWD. And although the Raptor R lacks a launch control system, Everett's prior experience with so many Fords and tracks has helped him take full advantage of the fact they were in the middle of the desert on a sandy track where AWD is king. So, in the end (well, rather at the 3:45 mark), the unbelievable really happened, and the Mustang GT500 obviously lost the quarter-mile battle.