Honda Racing Corporation USA just rolled out a purpose-built Trophy Truck that carries the Passport name into the harshest desert races on the calendar. Built with Mason Motorsports and set to race under Menzies Motorsports with two-time Baja 1000 winner Bryce Menzies driving, this machine targets the top class of the SCORE World Desert Championship. Its first competitive run comes at the 2027 Baja 500 in June, with the bigger goal an overall win at the Baja 1000 that same year as the event marks its 60th anniversary. The truck appears publicly for the first time at the 2026 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
The powertrain of this Trophy Truck is built on a 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that is mounted uncomfortably high in the middle of the chassis. They used the same unit as Acura’s ARX-06 GTP prototype, which recently took home some significant trophies in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. HRC US created not only the engine, but also a comparable 800-volt hybrid system in-house at its Southern California headquarters. Putting it all together yields a combined output of more than 1,300 horsepower, handily outperforming the big V8s that typically dominate Trophy Truck competition. The battery pack, which uses pouch cells similar to those used in F1, is kept cool in a carbon-fibre container and is light enough not to weigh down the truck. They created and tested the pack in a dedicated clean room at HRC’s headquarters in Santa Clarita.
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Power is distributed to all four wheels via a strange Masomatic 5-speed transmission positioned directly in front of that V6. The all-wheel-drive system employs a twin-angled five-speed transmission that distributes power to the rear wheels via dual driveshafts and a pair of high-pinion spiral bevel gears at each, eliminating the traditional ring-and-pinion setup to keep the truck from scraping and making it easier to adjust camber and toe angles. Up front, a Mason differential feeds a portal gearset to each hub, keeping the truck stable and allowing you to work on geometry.
The chassis is Mason’s most recent all-wheel-drive design, modified with a unique HRC rear section to accommodate the hybrid power unit while keeping weight distributed equally. A massive 145-gallon carbon-Kevlar safety tank sits smack in the center of the cab to keep the handling consistent as the fuel burns off, while other fixed heavy pieces like the batteries and fluid tanks are chunked further back, lowering the center of gravity even further.
They’re managing the tough terrain with a long-travel suspension system with dual FOX Racing shocks at each corner and Toyo tires. They spent a significant amount of time working aerodynamics on the carbon-fiber body, utilizing computational fluid dynamics to achieve the desired shape. There are a couple of deep side channels behind the front wheels that help minimize drag by funneling airflow through the cab to a cooler located low and far back. The exhaust is now out behind the cockpit, and the fins on the end help keep it steady and under control.
Electronics-wise, they’re introducing some real F1 technology to the Trophy Truck class for the first time. They include dual-axle brake-by-wire, adaptive traction control, and AI-controlled power delivery, all thanks to Honda’s experience in F1, IndyCar, and IMSA. The crew may log onto the computer and adjust how the entire system reacts to circumstances, course, and driver in real time.
Honda’s Baja story stretches back to 1962, when dealers Dave Ekins and Bill Robertson Jr. rode CL72 motorcycles from Tijuana to La Paz in under 40 hours. That ride helped inspire the first Baja 1000. Honda has since collected 22 overall motorcycle victories in the event and 17 class wins on four wheels since 2015, including multiple Baja 500 and 1000 results. This Passport Baja Spec represents the next step: a factory hybrid entry designed to challenge for overall honors against the established V8 contingent.
The truck will sit in the HRC booth at SEMA next to a Passport TrailSport Baja Chase vehicle and other race machines. From there it heads into testing and preparation for the 2027 season. A smaller-displacement hybrid package carrying technology from the highest levels of road racing now prepares to take on the open desert, where durability and consistency matter as much as peak power.
