National Route 40 is Argentina's longest road, stretching more than 5,000 kilometers along the western edge of the country from Patagonia in the far south to the Bolivian border near La Quiaca in the north. Its length and the diversity of terrain it crosses — from Patagonian steppe through Andean foothills to Andean high desert — made it a natural corridor for a long-distance rally raid. The Argentine Automobile Club, which organizes the country's domestic motorsport calendar, chose the route as the backbone of an event to mark the 2010 Argentina Bicentennial.
The inaugural 2010 edition traced virtually the full length of Route 40, running 5,194 kilometers across nine stages from Cabo Virgenes in Santa Cruz province in the south to La Quiaca in Jujuy in the north. Its success prompted a repeat in 2011, again using the full route north to south.
From 2012 onward the format was adapted. The 2012 edition contracted to five stages between San Juan and San Salvador de Jujuy. In 2013 the event joined the Dakar Series, an FIA-backed program of international rally raids operating under the Dakar Rally umbrella, which raised its international profile and attracted more than 125 participants that year. The route again linked San Juan and San Salvador de Jujuy, this time running south to north.
The 2014 edition reversed direction once more, starting in Bariloche and finishing in San Juan, though heavy rain forced the cancellation of the first two stages at the last minute. The 2015 event was based in the provinces of Catamarca and La Rioja, while the 2016 running used Mendoza, San Juan, and La Rioja. In 2017 the competition was divided into two independent races: the Desafío Ruta 40 Sur, linking Neuquén with the Las Grutas resort on the coast of Río Negro, and the Desafío Ruta 40 Norte, which ran between San Juan and Tucumán. The 2018 edition returned to a single-race format in the northwest, running from Tucumán south to San Juan.
After the 2018 edition, the Desafío Ruta 40 was not held for four years. It returned in 2023 as a round of the newly established World Rally-Raid Championship, which succeeded the Dakar Series as the FIA's premier off-road rally-raid series. The event was placed as the fourth round of the 2023 championship season and retained its position for the 2024 season.
Competition takes place across multiple categories covering cars, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and trucks, in keeping with the format established by the Dakar Rally. The number of stages and the precise route vary between editions depending on the host provinces and the available distance, ranging from as few as five stages in shorter editions to nine or more in editions using a longer corridor of Route 40.