"Been there, done that." While most of us are working toward legitimately uttering that declaration, Steve Sourapas can belt it out unchallenged. Steve's racing rsum goes back nearly 30 years. Sourapas Motorsports has four SCORE class championships to its credit and one overall SCORE championship. His is the only team ever to win the fabled Baja 1000 overall in a limited-class vehicle. Steve and his team accomplished that feat racing Class 10 in 1985. Steve has also taken the helm of Trophy Truck No. 6 (highlighted in Dezert People: Second Lap) and shared seat time with Brian Ickler at the controls of the Corona Extra RPS Class 1 Unlimited Buggy. Like several of his desert-racing peers, Steve has also thrown his competition hat into the CORR short-course ring, entering the Pro 2 and Super Buggy classes. This plethora of racing classes combined with nearly three decades of racing experience led to one question: What prerunner does he drive?
The prerunner wish list was simple and can be distilled down to four words: fast, smooth, comfortable, and reliable. The base vehicle of choice was an '06 Ford F-150. The quest to combine an F-150 with fast, smooth, comfortable, and reliable led to the door of Stewart's Raceworks.
Like Steve, Stewart's Raceworks has a long off-road rsum with impressive highlights. Raceworks' creations include Wayne Lugo's Trophy Truck, a four-wheel-drive V-8-powered S-10 rally truck for a customer in Indonesia, and Protrucks for European customers. Raceworks also offers race-prep services and has the substantial Tube Specialties racing fleet under its charge. Even with a variety of vehicle builds to its credit, Stewart's Raceworks states, "Our true passion is the Ford F-150."
This is at least the fourth time a Raceworks F-150 has found its way onto our pages. Let's see Steve Olliges' bright-red '90 I-beam truck was first, followed soon after by a feature on Scott McMillin's '00 three-seater. Jump forward a few years, and we wrote about Mark McMillin's four-seat, four-wheel-drive SuperCrew.
Although each of these three F-150s properly showcased the building talent and Blue Oval passion that's in-house at Stewart's, there's an important difference between those trucks and the Corona Extra three-seater on these pages. The latest-generation Raceworks F-150 prerunner is based on a full set of CAD drawings in place of more typical one-off, case-by-case fabrication methods. After the CAD files were created in the computer, they were translated into DXF files, which were then sent to a nearby waterjet-cutting facility. The waterjet cutter then translated the DXF files into specifically shaped aircraft-grade 4130 chrome-moly. The computer work carries big benefits: It saves fabrication time, improves the design, and ensures repeatability. To date, there are about a half-dozen Raceworks-designed F-150 prerunners in action across the southwestern U.S. and in Baja. In addition to building the F-150, Stewart's Raceworks has sold its design to a few racing teams for their own fabricators to use.
Off-Road's lenses were fortunate enough to be there during the Corona Extra F-150's first time in the dirt. Fast, smooth, comfortable, and reliable have indeed been combined with an F-150. When you've "been there and done that," getting behind the wheel of a prerunner like this just might be the final step up.
 It was almost a shame to get...  It was almost a shame to get this truck dirty, but dirt duty is its lot in life. Raceworks employee Keith Mila de la Roca was the primary fabricator on this truck, and Craig Stewart gives him props. "Keith had an excellent eye for detail and symmetry when building this truck," says Craig. |  Textbook-level TIG welds are...  Textbook-level TIG welds are par for the course. The beautiful welds are made possible by skillfully fitting the tubes together before any welding is performed. |  These are the burliest lower...  These are the burliest lower A-arms in recent memory. Three-inch King coilovers and 4-inch King bypass shocks control a whopping 26 inches of front suspension travel. |
 CNC-machined upper control...  CNC-machined upper control arms are as impressive as their counterparts beneath. There's a Lee Manufacturing steering box and a custom steering swing set between the A-arm mounts. Mounting the control arms this far inboard meant that the engine had to be moved rearward. |  It's as cushy as a corner...  It's as cushy as a corner office but way more fun. Zoom Factory created the custom dash and console. Both the Nordskog driver's panel and the Lowrance GPS in front of the codriver are shaded by generous visors. This is a feature we'd like to see more often because the very best of gauges and GPS screens can't be read when there's sunlight glaring off of them into your eyes. Air conditioning is standard. |  No factory framerails here;...  No factory framerails here; it's a completely fabricated chassis. The flat belly makes it easier to glide over rough spots. Custom aluminum skidplates protect the Rancho-built Turbo 400 tranny. With all of the custom parts on this truck, custom headers almost go without saying. Greg Holman's building talents created this set. |
 The engine isn't under the...  The engine isn't under the hood. It's under the wiper cowl. Radically rearward engine placement makes access and maintenance tougher, but that same placement does a lot to balance the chassis and aid handling. |  A custom Ron Davis aluminum...  A custom Ron Davis aluminum radiator is up to the task of cooling the Leon Patton 442ci Ford V-8. Six hundred and fifty ponies produce a lot of BTUs, so Spal fans were called on to pull plenty of air through the radiator. | |