John Swift was introduced to the excitement of desert racing by his father Ray. Ray Swift began racing back in the ’60s when the sport was in its infancy and instilled his passion for the sport in his son. John’s racing career was soon to become legendary. By 1984 John was already in the seat of his own race truck and well on his way to success. In 1986 John Swift had carefully chosen the Ford Ranger Platform as his weapon of choice for battling the Baja.  John continued to work with the Ranger platform, perfecting its performance and his driving skills until 1989 when he won both the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 with a Class 7/ 4X4 Ranger. Not only did John amazingly take both wins, but also the team was pioneering new ground, by being the first to utilize Ford’s Electronic EEC-IV system. John Swift’s success continued as he piloted his Ranger to another Baja 500 win in 1991, finishing up second-in-class for season points that year. That same year, John joined the BFG/Ford Rough Riders Team and had a V-6 powered Ford Explorer built by Bill Savage. The inaugural race for the Explorer landed it in the winner’s circle for the first time and it wouldn’t be the last. John claimed three successive Class-6 titles with the Explorer, making it one of the most successful icons of desert racing today.  John’s success with the Ranger platform didn’t end there. In 1994 John decided it was time for a new truck and began to have it built. This new truck would be based on the same winning formula as the Explorer. The formula was simple: Build a reliable, durable, fast truck while keeping a perfect power-to-weight ratio. Using the Ford V-6 engine made for a quick and nimble vehicle, and that’s what the new Ranger would have. After almost 10-years of fabrication and perfection, the new Ranger was finally rolled out of the shop and ready for action just in time for the 2005 season. John still loves to race and likes to jump behind the wheel whenever he feels like it, but the majority of the racing duties have since been passed along to his son Jonathan, in much the same way it was passed down from his father.

 

EMAIL: john@swiftrace.com