GoPro Joins the 2026 Laughlin Desert Classic as Supporting Sponsor
GoPro Technology Will Capture In-Car POV, High-Speed Drone Footage and Crash Cam Perspectives Throughout the Race
LAUGHLIN, NV — UNLTD Off-Road Racing is proud to announce GoPro as a supporting sponsor of the 2026 Laughlin Desert Classic, taking place October 15–18 in Laughlin, Nevada.
GoPro cameras have become an essential part of how modern off-road racing is captured, allowing production teams to place cameras in locations and perspectives that would otherwise be impossible. Throughout the Laughlin Desert Classic, GoPro cameras will be used extensively by the Mad Media production team as in-car POV, on high-speed FPV drones and as strategically positioned “Crash Cams” around the racecourse.
The result will give race fans a visceral perspective of the speed, violence and intensity of short-course desert racing — from inside the race vehicles, just feet away from major obstacles and from high-speed drones chasing racers around the course.
“GoPro has fundamentally changed the way we capture off-road racing,” said UNLTD Off-Road Racing CEO and Mad Media founder Matt Martelli. “We put these cameras in places where you would never put a traditional production camera. They’re inside race vehicles getting hammered for hours, mounted around high-impact sections of the course as Crash Cams, and flying on FPV drones chasing race vehicles at speed. That allows us to capture perspectives that put the audience right in the middle of the action.”
GoPro's compact size, professional image quality and durability have made its cameras an important production tool in some of the most demanding environments in motorsports. Desert racing presents an especially difficult challenge, combining extreme heat, dust, vibration, rocks, high speeds and violent impacts.
At Laughlin, the compact multi-lap racecourse gives the Mad Media production team an opportunity to deploy GoPro cameras throughout the course and capture the same racing action from multiple perspectives.
“Off-road racing is one of the most visually dynamic sports in the world, but you have to get the cameras into the right places to really communicate how insane it is,” added Martelli. “GoPro gives our production team the ability to do that. Our goal is to make people watching at home feel the speed, the impacts and the chaos that you experience standing next to the racecourse or sitting inside the vehicle.”
Footage captured throughout the Laughlin Desert Classic will be incorporated into UNLTD Off-Road Racing's event content, social media, race coverage and post-event productions, extending the reach of the race beyond the thousands of fans attending the event in Laughlin.
The 2026 Laughlin Desert Classic serves as the season finale of the American Off-Road Racing Championship, bringing many of the fastest off-road racers in North America together for one final battle in the Nevada desert.
The event will also feature the two-day Laughlin Off-Road Festival, October 16–17 in downtown Laughlin, bringing racers, teams, manufacturers, vendors and race fans together before two days of short-course, multi-lap desert racing.
About GoPro
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For more information, visit GoPro.com
About The Laughlin Desert Classic
The Laughlin Desert Classic stands among the most historic events in American off-road racing. Originally launched in 1975 by pioneering promoter Walt Lott, the race helped establish Laughlin, Nevada, as one of the sport's premier destinations. The event returned in 1984 under the leadership of off-road racing legend Sal Fish before being carried forward by the late Casey Folks, whose vision helped shape modern desert racing.
Over five decades, the rugged terrain surrounding Laughlin has hosted legendary battles featuring some of the greatest names in the sport, including Walker Evans, Ivan Stewart, and Rob MacCachren. Today, the Laughlin Desert Classic continues that tradition, bringing together professional and amateur racers from across North America to compete on one of off-road racing's most iconic stages.
The event now serves as a cornerstone of the American Off-Road Racing Championship, the unified effort between Unlimited Off-Road Racing and Best In The Desert to strengthen and grow the future of off-road competition. The Laughlin Desert Classic represents both a celebration of the sport's rich heritage and a bold vision for its future.
About the American Off-Road Racing Championship:
The American Off-Road Racing Championship (AORC) is the premier desert off-road racing league in North America, created through the unification of Best in the Desert (BITD) and Unlimited Off-Road Racing (UNLTD). Best in the Desert, founded in 1984 by legendary racer Casey Folks, is the longest-running and most respected off-road racing series in the U.S., with a legacy that includes iconic events like Vegas to Reno, the Silver State 300, the Parker 425, and the Laughlin Desert Classic. Unlimited Off-Road Racing, established by the Martelli Brothers in 2023, produces world-class events such as The Mint 400, The California 300, and The Parker 400. UNLTD is recognized for its focus on innovation, storytelling, and large-scale racer participation, with events known for high car counts, challenging courses, pre-running, and family-friendly fan experiences near major markets.
Together under the AORC banner, BITD and UNLTD preserve the heritage of desert racing while building its future—offering racers, sponsors, and fans a unified championship built on clarity, consistency, and world-class competition.