Dan Chamlee drove the entire race with Amy Tate, Ryan Gomez and David Owens as his co-drivers. The Factory Racing’s chase crew included: Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Bill Chamlee, Ben Buchmiller, Dean Teague, Matt Tindell and AJ Denunzio.

The team started the race with a handicap. Thomas, the most knowledgeable and experienced team member was injured earlier in the week preparing the truck and only had use of one arm.

Right at the beginning of the race the team began having problems. The sway bar broke at race mile 10. It was removed and handed off to the chase crew where the course crossed the road at race mile 75, who could get it to the next pit to begin fixing it before the race truck arrived. Without the sway bar Dan had to be careful to not roll the truck over. While putting the sway bar back on Dan picked it up off the ground unaware that it had just been welded. He received 2^nd-3^rd degree burns all over his fingers. While the truck was being repaired many of the slower classes passed him, which meant he’d have the added challenge of getting around them. Race mile 102 was a very narrow, steep, rough hill that many of the smaller classes had a hard time making it up and many got stuck causing a blockage in the course. Though the factory racing had no problem going up the hill they had to sit and wait their turn. Chamlee got stuck in the silt at race mile 170. Silt is a powdery dust that sucks all the power out of the vehicle. Luckily, he only got stuck once which he quickly winched himself out.

At Race Mile 255 the chase crew had to go into the course to fix the sway bar again, and was able to fix the amber lights, and light bar. He battled with the alternator starting around race mile 270 until the finish. One of the chase trucks got stuck in the silt and spent an hour digging out. Dan was again stuck in silt on a steep hill at race mile 370. By the time Dan got to race mile 380 he had a comfortable lead of about 100 miles on his closest competitor. All he had to do was finish. That became a greater challenge than expected. At race mile 390 the front spindle broke. The chase crew only about 10 miles from him had the part, but they couldn’t get to him without going backward on the course. So the chase crew had to travel 30 miles to Ensenada and give the part to another chase crew who traveled 20 miles to give it to Thomas. Thomas and Matt took the part with his prerunner into the course from race mile 360 and some of the slowest nastiest course around. The spindle had to have some modifications to get it work. With only an hour left and almost 50 miles to go the team held their breath to see if they could make it before the clock ran out. Fortunately they completed with only 7 minutes and 22 seconds remaining. This is the teams 5^th consecutive Class 7 Baja 500 win and extends there points lead for the annual points championship by being the only finisher in their class.

The team will begin the prep for the Primm 300 to be held in September.

The Factory Racing traveled South of the border again to San Felipe Mexico on March 12-14. Amidst much turmoil reported in the news about Baja. The team wouldn’t miss their favorite race of the Score International Series. San Felipe is a small town south of Mexicali removed from the crime but showing signs of the US economy with many stores closed. Evidence that tourist aren’t traveling to Mexico as much. These wonderful people are struggling to make a living. But this weekend the streets were alive with race teams, race vehicles, support vehicles and fans of off road racing. Friday was spent at Contingency and Technical inspection along the Malacon (a street along the ocean). It’s a great time to see the other drivers, the other vehicles and sign autographs for the fans.

After Contingency was completed Dan Chamlee took the truck out to make sure the truck was set up properly for the famous San Felipe Whoops. The truck wasn’t ready. He broke a spindle. During our pre-race inspection we missed a small crack that was developing. He had a spare but it wasn’t reinforced strong enough for the toughness of the course. So he decided to repair the broken one. The team worked until 1 a.m. fixing the part welding and grinding with their portable race shop. They were confident that it would hold and it did.

There is nothing like the rush of race morning, making sure each chase team knows the plan, which parts they have, and where they will go. After all trucks where loaded they each headed to their first chase point to wait for the truck to fly by. A chaser’s perfect day is if they are not needed but rarely is that the case.

Dan Chamlee, driver and Scott Brady, as co-driver were to run the whole 248-mile race. The team was given 11 hours to complete the rough, rough course. It only took the team 8:32:17 to win class 7 with an average speed of 29 mph. San Felipe has eluded the team victories in the past, so it was a very satisfying win.

The first 155 miles where flawless and spent passing vehicles in other classes in front of them. The truck was running fast and smooth. Another competitor commented that Dan had “passed me in a rough section as if I was standing still”.

At race mile 155 Dan and Scott started to hear a clanking noise that got progressively worse. They pulled over to find that the bolt that holds the rear shock on had broken, also damaging the shock mount. They removed the shock and limped to the next chase team. The chase team including Laurie Chamlee, Bill Chamlee, Alicia Munoz and Doug had just arrived to their scheduled stop at race mile 172 knowing the truck was going to need some welding and parts and a splash of gas. Just as the team was finished setting up to make the repairs the race truck pulled up and they began the repairs. Within a few minutes the truck was moving again. Laurie marveled that “We couldn’t have timed it better for us to get here”. Keep in mind the chase team had traveled approximately 8 miles on the famous Zoo Road, a rough, dirt wash board road, with lots of traffic from there first chase point, 5 miles to town, than through town with thousands of race fans and lanes blocked, stopping for a taco, another 30 miles on the freeway, then 4 miles along a sandy, whooped road to intersect the course.

The truck was again running fast and hard. Around race mile 201 the temperature shot up to 240 degrees and the circuit breaker was tripping. They pulled over to find the radiator fan motor was smoking. Not a problem Thomas Chamlee and Heather Sherman were waiting at race mile 204 in his pre-runner, with Jose Garcia, his family and the spare. Thomas took the spare to Dan. However, the spare was a different style and would take time to make-work so they took the one off of Thomas’s pre-runner getting the race truck moving again but leaving Thomas with the spare and needing water for his radiator and separated from Jose. He stayed out on the course until the rest of the team was done and able to get him water.

The team is now prepping the truck for the Baja 500 in June.

The 2010 Race season brings new hopes and challenges for Dan Chamlee and The Factory Racing. This year it began in Laughlin Nevada for the 16^th Annual Laughlin Dessert Challenge. The race is the shortest race of the season but surely not the easiest with only 48.41% of competitors finishing. The teams are given 80 minutes to complete 6 laps on the 6.25-mile loop course on Saturday and then repeat again on Sunday.

There had been a lot of Internet smack talk before the race among the racers over two classes that are similar but with the potential of being very different causing many of The Factory Racing’s competitors to move to Class 6 from Class 7. The team was surprised to find themselves amidst so much controversy; they only want to be out racing. But that sometimes comes when you have won so many races and championships and have a target on your back.

Saturday the team had a perfect day and completed the course in 53.31 with an average speed of 42.042 mph, faster than both classes. Many of the competitors came to The Factory Racing’s pit after to congratulate them and were surprised how truly fast this new truck is. Dan is also known as very generous and many competitors came to borrow parts so they could fix their trucks and be ready to run again on Sunday.

Sunday Dan only wanted to finish the course, that’s all he needed for the victory but it wasn’t to be. As he started his second lap the engine cut out. He began playing with wires and it started running again. He began passing teams in class 6 again but as he got to the end of the lap his clutch broke leaving him sitting in the in field as he watched the rest of the race go by. And starting the season with a big fat DNF. He technically still won the race by finishing more laps of the race than the rest of class 7. The team is back to the shop to research a stronger clutch and to find that shorted wire and prepare for the next race.

The Factory Racing traveled to Ensenada Mexico to compete in the granddaddy of all the off-road races the Baja 1000 on November 19-22, 2009. This year’s course was a grueling 672.85-mile course traveling from Ensenada down the Baja peninsula through San Felipe and back up to Ensenada. Each team was given 30 hours to complete the course; the factory racing led by Dan Chamlee only needed 22:01:16 to complete the race with a 30.55 mph average speed.

Thursday, November 19^th was spent at the usual festivities in downtown Ensenada where the race vehicles need to be inspected to pass technical requirements. Thousands of fans and vendors line the streets as the trucks pass through them as they wait for their turn for inspection. The fans hope to receive stickers or autographs from the teams.

After technical inspection was completed the team headed out to pre-run the first 30 miles of the course, a section that is only available to pre-run the day before the race. This also gave the team a final check to see if the truck was running properly. The team did find a problem with the sway bar. Back at camp they welded a piece on the sway bar and hoped it would hold together.

The victory didn’t come without difficulties and complications. In the first few miles the truck began to lose voltage indicating a problem with the alternator. At race mile 30 they met up with a chase team to find a wire coming unplugged from the alternator, fortunately a quick fix and not requiring a replacement. The first scheduled pit stop was at race mile 88. Laurie, crew chief, had ordered fuel based on beginning the race with a full tank of gas however, due to some confusion the truck didn’t start the race with a full tank of gas. Dan radioed to the team that he was afraid he wasn’t going to have enough fuel to make it to the pit, fortunately he did however they only filled him with the amount ordered which was going to leave him short for the next pit. The chase team including Laurie, Ryan Gomez and Amy Tate headed to the next pit to see if they could get some fuel and headed out to intercept them on the course. Which turned out to be a good decision they intercepted the race truck a mile from the pit where the race truck was sputtering.

At this point Dan had a list of things that needed to be repaired at the pit. However, the one chase group was still coming from the road crossing through heavy traffic. Chase 2 including Thomas Chamlee, David Owen, Bill Chamlee and Jose Garcia was stuck waiting for fuel at a very long line at a gas station and hadn’t arrived at the pit yet. So Dan arrived at the pit to find no help and had to get out to begin the repairs himself until everyone else arrived. The sway bar broke in spite of the attempt to repair it the night before; it was taken off making the truck lean and less stable. He had no brakes, they found that when the sway bar broke it snapped a brake line, which was capped off, and the brakes bled. The shocks where too low so an adjustment was made to them. The truck was also fueled and sent back on the road, losing one position back to second.

The next 200 miles was the section that the truck should easily put some time on its competitors. This truck was built to handle the sandy “whoops” of San Felipe and it performed beautifully during this section and he gained that position back and an additional 50-mile lead.

The next section through the famous Mike’s Sky Ranch was slow and steady with only a stop to push someone’s truck out of the course so they could continue on. The section along the beach near Irinida was fast and uneventful despite the sway bar issue, furthering the lead to about 150 miles.

Just as the team was starting to taste a victory at race mile 635 Dan caught a ledge on the road and the truck tipped over on its side. It was on the edge of a 30-foot cliff, a scary experience for driver and co-driver. Fortunately Chase 2 was only a half-mile away and quickly there to help. The race truck is equipped with a winch that was fastened to the chase truck and safely tipped back over. Fortunately no one was injured and the truck sustained no damage except replaceable body panels.

Now with only 2 miles to the finish a victory in sight, all they had to do is make it to the finish line, Dan made a wrong turn and found he was off the course. He decided to go over a small berm to get back on course and found a large ditch on the other side. The truck again found it’s self on its side. This time Dan was able to continue down the ditch driving on its side to the end of the ditch and turned the truck back on it’s wheels. This time it broke the spindle on the front wheel. He was able to finish with the front wheel wobbling like a broken shopping cart wheel, getting the team to the finish and the victory. Second Place was Jose Gonzalez of Mexicali with a time of 27:15:45. There were 9 starters in Class 7 and 2 finishers. There were a total of 328 competitors and 185 finishers only 56% were able to beat the course and finish in the allotted time.

Dan Chamlee drove the entire race, his co-drivers were Tiffany Thomas from Hawaii, Amy Tate of Goleta, David Owens of Santa Barbara and Ryan Gomez from Oxnard. Support was given by Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Bill Chamlee, and Jose Garcia of Riverside.

The Factory racing turned the driving over to Laurie Chamlee for the 4^th Annual Powder Puff: Race for the Cure on October 10, 2009. This has become a very popular event among the wives and friends of off-road racers to help raise money for Cedars Sinai Research Center for a cure for breast cancer. The totals are still being tallied but it looks like it will be around $80,000 that was raised from this event. Only women were allowed to compete. There were about 190 teams competing in 25 different classes.

Friday the team headed to Barstow to get in some practice time and have technical inspection. Dan drove Laurie around the 27-mile course to make sure the truck was running properly and to get her familiar with the course. Laurie commented “I almost backed out with Dan driving, I wasn’t sure I could do it.” When Laurie took the wheel she was more comfortable being in control and going the pace she was comfortable with gradually bringing it to race speed.

Saturday morning was spent checking the truck and getting ready for the 12:00 start time. Chamlee was given 3 hours to see how many laps she could complete. The first lap was very frustrating. They had started the girls 16 seconds apart and the factory racing was quite a ways back in the pack so the dust was thick it was really hard to see to pass. “I spent the first lap trying to pass people to get clear of the dust, as you would get close to them it was denser and harder to see. I had passed about 20 people and was leading my class when I came out of some dust and didn’t see a large rock in the road, as soon as I hit it I was afraid I was going to have a flat tire”. Sure enough the team had a flat. Though quite capable of changing the tire themselves they were grateful to a group of men along side the course waiting to help any team possible, who quickly changed the tire and had them on their way, allowing the girls to wait in there safety harnesses. Sadly about 6 people passed the team while the tire was being changed. She spent the rest of the lap passing those girls again. The third and fourth laps were much clearer and easier to pick the speed.

Laurie was really impressed with the new truck and how well it handled compared to the last truck and glad she didn’t blemish it’s winning streak extending it to four wins in a row. The Factory Racing has won 5 of the 6 races for the 2009 season.

Laurie completed 4 laps in 3:08:05 with an average speed of 35.7 mph. Laurie drove the whole race with Amy Tate her co-driver for the first 3 laps and Valerie Chamlee took over the co-driver spot for the last lap.

We would like to acknowledge the following companies who helped us set up our truck: BFGoodrich, King Shocks, Richards Signs, Tubeworks.

This victory extends the annual points championship lead, which The Factory hopes to clench at the final race of the season in November at the Baja 1000. Dan is also in the running for the coveted Mile stone award given to drivers who finish every mile of every race.

Dan drove the 207-mile race with co-driver Thomas Chamlee. Pit crew was headed by Laurie Chamlee and supported by Whitney Chamlee, Bill Chamlee, Nathan Saito, Amy Tate, Ryan Gomez, Bill Taff, Jamie Taff, Donald Taff, Valerie Chamlee, Ian Graham, Megan Suiffe, and Matt Tindell.

Dan and Thomas Chamlee have spent every possible minute since late January working on building a brand new truck to replace the current truck that has run almost 7 grueling seasons. The goal was to have the truck done and tested before June 6^th to race at the Baja 500. They were able to have 2 test sessions with King Shocks that were very successful and found the truck was running even better than expected. The new 4” King Kong shocks soak up all the rough stuff. The new 37” BF Goodrich tires are a much stronger tire that help with traction and more ground clearance. Richard at Stuckongraphs.com jazzed up the graphics to give it a more showy paint theme. As the team traveled to Baja to compete, they were really excited but nervous they may have missed something in the preparation.

Friday was spent at Contingency where the truck was unveiled to the public. The response from the crowds made all the hours and sleepless nights worth it. After a quick pre-run the crew worked until 2 am finishing details to be ready for a 10:45 am start.

Dan was second off the starting line. At race mile 10 the fan belt fell off. It was a quick fix and back on the road. We had problems with the two-way radio, at the first pit the antenna was replaced which improved it but didn’t fix it so talking with the race truck was difficult but fortunately it didn’t affect the race. The starter would intermittently not work delaying him a bit. The team started breathing easier when they knew he had a 45-mile lead over 2^nd place at race mile 199 of the 432.51-mile race. The terrain varied between rough rocky sections, mile long silt beds, smooth graveled roads, steep hills and beach areas of soft ball size rocks. They completed the race in 11:46:18 with an average speed of 36.74 mph. His closest competitor, Aaron Celiceo completed the race in 13:25:21.

Dan drove the entire race. Ryan Kimball was his co-driver to race mile 199 then Amy Tate took over co-driver responsibilities for the rest of the race. Chase crew was Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Valerie Chamlee, Bill Chamlee, Megan Suiffe, Tyler Kimball, Chad Neeley.

The factory racing always looks forward to March’s San Felipe race.  It’s about a two-hour drive from Mexicali at the top of the Sea of Cortez.  San Felipe is a sleepy fishing village that comes alive each March for the Score-International San Felipe 250 this year was no exception.  The San Felipe course is notorious as the roughest course all season.  It has miles and miles of whoops the road turns into 3 foot high rolling waves of sand. 

A high light of the March 13-15 race was contingency/technical inspection along the malecon with the ocean along the side.  The factory racing was able to complete the 232-mile course in 6:25:13 to place 3^rd in class 7 with an average speed of 36 mph.  Time was wasted when the shocks overheated due to the roughness of the course.  They broke a clevis bolt that holds the tie down straps, which was welded at the pits.  They also had a flat tire near the end of the race wasting a small amount of time.  Dan Chamlee drove the entire race while Amy Tate was his Co-driver.  Support was given by Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Jake Spear, David Owens, AJ Denunzio.  The team is now preparing for June’s Baja 500.