If officially licensed desert racing games existed and came out annually, Christian Sourapas’ vehicles would be perpetually adorned with his name instead of his sponsor. His challenger for this weekend’s Vegas to Reno is no exception.

Sourapas and his brother Brett will compete in UTV Pro with the #T7 Polaris RZR sponsored by Jack Daniel’s. Aptly nicknamed “Jack”, the RZR’s number is also a nod to the whiskey’s “Old No. 7” branding.

Both brothers and their father Steve have long enjoyed sponsorships from alcohol brands. Coors Light was a longtime partner of the family, appearing on Steve’s Class 10 that won the 1985 Baja 1000 before backing his sons as well. Christian’s “Silver Bullet” Coors Light Trophy Truck Spec was also a contender in SCORE before it was sold in 2022.

While Coors is synonymous with his family name, Sourapas’ career took off in a Corona Extra-liveried truck. He scored his maiden overall desert victory at the 2018 Laughlin Desert Classic with “Ole #6”, which also became the first Mason AWD truck of its line to win a race.

In 2024, he joined forces with Monster Energy’s alcohol division Monster Brewing to race with Nasty Beast Hard Tea on both his Polaris and truck. Sourapas won the UTV Pro class at that year’s Parker 400 with the former before taking the latter to the Mint 400, where he was fifth overall and second for in Unlimited 2WD.

Of course, he has raced with non-beverage companies too unless you’re weird enough to consider VP Racing Fuels (his Stadium Super Truck at the 2021 Grand Prix of Long Beach) a drink.

Jack was prepared by Evan Weller Racing, which also services Sourapas’ trucks. #T7 is a reference to Jack Daniel’s brand name, which purportedly came from the founder’s government-assigned distillery number. This numbering approach was also taken when the whiskey was a NASCAR sponsor in the late 2000s, appearing on the #07 car of Richard Childress Racing. Even the number font on the #T7 was changed to match that on the bottle.

Vegas to Reno qualifying takes place on Wednesday followed by racing on Friday.

Featured image credit: Christian Sourapas