Silverado in the Desert

10 OCTOBER 2019

Today, Chevrolet announced the Silverado will compete in the Best in the Desert Racing series, debuting at the Laughlin Desert Classic in October 2019. The Silverado race program follows the success of the Colorado ZR2 in off-road racing. Like Colorado, the Silverado race truck will be used for engineering development and validation.

“Off-road racing is just brutal on vehicles,” said Mark Dickens, chief engineer, Government Programs, Performance Variants, Parts and Motorsports, “and a single race puts more wear and tear on trucks than most vehicles will experience in years. That makes off-road racing a valuable test bed to evaluate new components. What we learn while racing informs everything from future performance parts and accessories to GM Defense projects and production vehicle changes.”

Chevrolet Performance first applied this model to the Colorado ZR2, which has competed in off-road racing since 2017. Driven by Chad Hall of Hall Racing, the Colorado ZR2 was one of only four of 434 vehicles to finish all 12 Best in the Desert races it competed in. In the process, the team developed a portfolio of 15 Colorado ZR2 race parts available through Chevrolet Performance. Many of those parts have since been integrated in to GM Defense’s Infantry Squad Vehicle selected for prototype testing and evaluation by the U.S. Army.

The Silverado race truck started as a LT Trail Boss model, powered by the 420-hp, 6.2L V-8 mated to a 10-speed automatic. The truck will compete in Best in the Desert’s 1200 Stock class, which limits changes to suspension, underbody and installation of race-safety equipment.