Meet Sara Price: Stuntwoman, X-Games Medalist, and Dakar Rally Competitor
She started competing in motocross events when she was just 8 years old, and now she’s racing on a boat team funded by none other than mega movie star Will Smith. She’s won the X-Games, raced off-road, and performed movie stunts: driver Sara Price, 32, turned pro half a lifetime ago at 16, now driving four-wheeled vehicles in world-class competitions.
All along, she says, running the epic Dakar Rally has been her dream. In 2024, Sara finally reached Dakar as an independent and made a name for herself as the first American woman to win a stage.
In the process, she also caught the attention of power sports company Can-Am and competed for their factory team in the 2025 Dakar Rally. The Dakar spans 5,000 miles and 14 days of relentless desert terrain across Saudi Arabia, a notoriously challenging feat.
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The Dakar Rally’s Endless Dunes and Bright Blue Sky
The Dakar Rally requires not just focus but obsessive attention to detail to figure out where to collect points and where to go next.
“The Dakar Rally is the pinnacle of off-road, period,” Sara says. “It’s the toughest race in the world. To get there and experience and do it, there is nothing that comes close to it.”
She’s not kidding. The dunes seem endless against the Arabian sky, and sand is strewn everywhere. Competitors are exhausted, physically and mentally, and tension can run high.
“It’s two weeks of unrelenting misery,” agrees Ford’s Jay Ward, who works closely with Ford’s Dakar team.
Still, that doesn’t stop people like Sara from going out there and proving they can finish. She says one mistake she often sees is when competitors push too hard and don’t anticipate the long haul. She’s focused not on being the first vehicle out of the gate, but gaining on the competitors in front of her.
Sara’s Drive Spans Across All Four Seasons
Dakar Rally is Sara’s priority, her everything, her dream come true, she says. She intends to win the Dakar Rally at some point. Meanwhile, Sara is working on her winter gig: racing electric hydrofoil boats. She grew up at the crossroads of desert terrain and a watersports-ready river, and now Sara and Ricky own a property they named Rip and Dip Ranch.
“We rip across the desert and then take a dip in the river,” Sara says with a grin. “Being able to race boats and cars really is the dream.”
She doesn’t simply relax and enjoy a casual boat race, though. Sara’s team owner, actor Will Smith, star of movies like The Pursuit of Happyness, Enemy of the State, and Hitch, has skin in the game. He doesn’t race with them, but Sara says she gets him into the boat every now and then.
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Can-Am Sees an Opportunity to Back a Champion
Piloting two and four-wheel racing machines across multiple terrains is one thing – Sara’s also an entrepreneur as part owner of the Rip and Dip Ranch and her own off-road motorsports team.
This multi-talented motorsports competitor made history as the first-ever factory-supported female racer under Monster Energy Kawasaki before taking on the Dakar.
Even with a lot of experience and notoriety under her belt, Sara had to work hard to secure a sponsorship for the desert rally. To compete in Dakar, the budget you need is “astronomical”, Sara says.
Finding a partnership for financial and moral support was key. She says being patient and trusting the process got her through it, and in the end, Can-Am signed her to a team.
“This has been a dream of mine since 2015, and I spent every dollar in my bank account to get here,” Sara says. “You never know what’s going to get thrown my way. There’s no guide for being completely prepared.
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So, What Does Sara Do During the “Off” Season?
When she’s not piloting a powerful side-by-side in the middle of the desert, Sara is a stunt driver for movies, television, and commercials. Did you see Jumanji: The Next Level, starring The Rock and Jack Black? Sara was the stunt motorcycle rider for Karen Gillen, who played Ruby Roundhouse in the movie.
It’s clear this stunt professional/rally driver/boat racer is a tenacious, driven woman. And while she makes it look easy, it’s anything but.
“I wish more people would ask about what it really takes,” Sara says. “People don’t get to see the back end, and behind the scenes, it’s a lot of work they don’t see.”
I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more of Sara’s success in the coming years. And we’ll know just a fraction of the hard work she’s completing to get there.
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