I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Olliges a couple years ago when I bought a Ford Raptor from his Las Vegas dealership, Team Ford. Steve, through his racing relationship with Ford, had a close hand in developing the Raptor and because of that now makes it point to come in (even on a Saturday) and meet everyone who buys one of these incredible trucks from him. I had no idea about this at the time but it ended up being a very cool experience. We talked for quite awhile from everything about the Raptor to off-road racing and his incredible career. He was true gentleman and even whipped out his iPhone at one point to show me some video footage of a gnarly crash involving one of his trophy trucks. He described the carnage as something “like burning down your house”, implying the cost of repairs being about equal to the cost of a nice house.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Las Vegas native Steve Olliges, he’s one of the original Rough Riders and has had an accomplished off-road racing career since 1981 with over 30 class wins and 7 championships. He has a long history with The Mint 400, America’s most prestigious off-road race with an incredible history that takes place in Las Vegas every spring.
Check out this video and follow Steve and his team as they head to The Mint 400 to compete in the Unlimited Trick (Trophy) Truck Class for the overall win at The Great American Off-road Race. Spoiler Alert; We’re going to be bringing you inside coverage from The Mint 400 this year so stay tuned for that.
We love his old-school racing truck.
