SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/918183
SCORE JOURNAL 125 A MISSED OPPORTUNITY Back in 1978, Stahl was winning races in the Chenoweth buggy and at the SCORE Baja 1000 that year, his co-driver didn't have the time to pre-run the course and simply wasn't ready. According to Stahl, he asked Ivan Stewart to co-drive with him, but Stewart was already positioned to drive in the brand new, black F-100 built by Fillmore Ford. Ironically, Stahl was forced to drive the race by himself, ultimately winning the overall in Class 1 and becoming the first "Ironman" in the SCORE Baja 1000. That win and that truck stuck with Stahl, who recalls that Stewart raced with it for two or three years, winning in Riverside, California and the Mexicali 300 with it. Decades later, and after that NORRA Mexican 1000 race, he searched for the truck until he received a call from with someone claiming to have an old Ivan Stewart truck he wanted to sell. "I had the truck bought and delivered to me in a week," said Stahl. THE RESTORATION BEGAN The truck was in bad shape, and Stahl called upon his friend Rory Ward again, to help him with the restoration. "When he got the truck, it had been pretty much abused," said Stahl. "It was in sad shape, and took a full year to restore it into racing condition." With the factory chassis still intact, Stahl and Ward began the restoration, utilizing factory front Ford I-beams from a one-ton truck, and supporting the suspension with dual Bilstein shocks, performance coil springs and factory spindles. The rear suspension consists of custom leaf springs with four Bilstein shocks on each side of the Ford Nine-inch rear axle housing. "This old truck has a soft suspension that makes it fun to drive," said Stahl. "It doesn't handle as well as it could, so you have to drive it to its limitations." PHOTO COURTESY IVAN STEWART ARCHIVES