The Factory Racing

Dan Chamlee remains undefeated in the Baja 400 winning class 7 for the 4th year in a row. The Factory Racingwas disappointed to have a new transmission fail in the first few miles due to a defective case, taking almost 3 hours to replace the transmission. This left them the very last team on the course, behind the slower classes. A few miles later Dan lost a break line leaving him driving without brakes until race mile 30 where the team replaced the line and bled the brakes. He spent the rest of the day catching and passing vehicles. He stopped to change a bent wheel. Near race mile 250, Chamlee needed to winch out a competitor who was stuck, blocking the course in the ruts and silt. This allowed him to pass and put Dan in the lead. Finishing the 382 mile race in 14:04:52, much slower then expected and the only finisher in his class. Though he bent a wheel, the BFG tires took the terrain without a problem. King Shocks absorbed the punishing terrain. Full Throttle Batteries made sure all our vehicles had the power for high powered lights, fans and winch. sPOD supplied them with 2 new electrical distribution panels just days before the race. The team is back in the shop with only 2 months to prepare to defend their points champsionship for the finale of the season the Baja 1000 in November, this race promises to be exciting since it will be approximately 1300 miles starting in La Paz and ending in Ensenada. Special thanks to the team, co-drivers: Kurt Kimball (Granny), Amy Tate and Todd Craven and Chase support: Laurie Chamlee, David Owens, Sarah Owens, and Jennifer Craven. Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires, King Shocks, Full Throttle Battery, Rod End Supply, Terri Memo Rodriguez Torco Race Fuel, sPOD, Garmin, Off Road Warehouse and SLIME

The event was moved from the traditional downtown area of Ensenada to the beautiful resort of Estero Beach who hosted Contingency, Technical Inspection, Drivers Meeting, Awards and Start/Final Line. In the grand stand the fans were able to enjoy watching the vehicles start and finish. This change brought new challenges, mainly, they needed to build a new road out of Estero Beach into the desert. This road hadn’t had enough time to compact causing major silt beds and many stuck race trucks, ending many racers day. Chamlee was able to pre-run most of the race course several days preceding the race which gave him a chance to scout difficult areas and plan accordingly. Chamlee was one of the many stuck in the silt, fortunately not ending his day. He had come around a corner to find another competitor stuck in the road and as he tried to pass him, he got stuck. However, by race mile 186 he had passed all in his class. Chamlee lost a significant lead after getting some water on the engine. The truck then began going into limp mode causing him to stop, turn off the truck then restart it many times during the second half of the race. He was passed 10 miles from the finish while resetting the motor then he slid off the road into a creek bed. Disappointedly, Chamlee said: “I should be happy with a 2nd place finish and a lead in the Points Championship but it was heartbreaking to see the lead slip away.” He completed the 489-mile race in 16 hours 23 minutes. Since he’s the only Class 7 racer who has completed both the 2019 San Felipe 250 and Baja 500 it gives him a substantial lead in the season points championship. The next race is a new venue, the Baja 400 will be held September 18-22 in Ensenada. He’s looking forward to seeing what the next challenge will be. Chamlee’s co-drivers were Kurt Kimball (Granny) and Amy Tate. Chase crew included: Laurie Chamlee, John Lund, Taylor Lund, Jacob Beifuss, Ryan Kimball, Cassidy Harrison and Daniel Harrison. The Factory Racing teamed up with Scott Brady’s team, BB Racing and added the support of Jessy Van Hoy, David Owen, AJ Denuzio, Antionio, Kelly Brady and Karson Brady. This isn’t possible without the help of wonderful sponsors and great products: The Factory Appliance, Inc., BF Goodrich, Lucas Oil, Rod End Supplies, King Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Full Throttle Batteries, and sPODS.

April 2, 2017

Let me tell you about this race. As soon as we finished the Baja 1000 in November, Dan Chamlee started building a new race truck. He’s been working until between midnight and 1am every day after putting in regular hours at the job that pays the bills. It’s been a big job, at times he was afraid it wouldn’t be ready in time but with the list short enough to put it in the trailer, we got some incredible winds at home blowing one of the fenders over a cliff by our house. I’m not sure we’ll ever find it, so we ran without a fender. We discovered a miss that would shut the motor off, still trying to diagnose that one. After tuning the shocks, we discovered cracks in the back half of the cage of the bed, after spending late into the night the day before the race welding it and reinforcing it, we felt confident the wasn’t going to break in half. However, this reinforcing appears to contradict the shock tuning, making the race a very rough course. By race mile 8, the engine shut off several times but Dan’s not a quitter and just kept going. Race mile 190, a Bolt came off the trailing arm but was able to be repaired. We are so grateful for those who helped make this happen. Kurt Kimball, Amy Tate Matthew Tindell, BFGoodrich Tires, Sunoco, The Factory Racing, Scott Patrick Brady, Karl Funk, Barry Brand, Danzio Performance Engineering, King Shocks. I’m really proud of this team.

December 5, 2017

It’s awesome to see the results posted. Dan has won his 13th Class 7 points championship with SCORE International. Thanks to those who’ve made it possible BFGoodrich Tires Sunoco Racing The Factory Appliance King Shocks @RodEndSupply @Dan Chamlee

November 21, 2016

We are so excited to report that we won our 12th Class 7 Points Championship by completely the Baja 1000 with a poduim finish.

We are grateful to those who make it happen! BFGoodrich Tires Sunoco Racing, King ShocksThe Factory Appliance SLIME Rod End Supply G-Force OPTIMA Batteries K&N Filters MSD Performance AutoMeter Products, Inc. PCI Race Radios

Thanks to the Crew: Dan ChamleeLaurie ChamleeAmy TateKurt Kimball, John LundTiffany ThomasChris KiesendahlMatthew TindellKevin DownsChris Kelly,

June 6, 2016

The Team had the race they’d prepped for and always dream of: Dan never got out of the truck! The truck’s only problems were a switch and circuit breaker so he ran some of the race without all the lights. They had to wait their turn to go up a silt hill in a bottle neck, but otherwise cruised to a 3rd place finishing the 470 mile course in 14:51:42. We’d like to thank: BFGoodrich Tires Sunoco King Off-Road Racing ShocksRigid Industries – LED Lighting SLIME Rod End Supply Weddle Industries G-Force Transmissions
We had an amazing group of helpers who braved the heat to help us. Our co-drivers were: Kurt Kimball, Taylor Lund, Tyler Kimball, Amy Tate.

February 28, 2016

It was a long day but we finished! We were leading our class until race mile 142 when we ran out of gas. We managed to get gas and broke the transmission. We got to the BFG pit and replaced: transmission, drive shaft, gears. We got it all back together but the clutch wouldn’t engage. We had to take the transmission back out and found the clutch and pilot bearing also needed replacing. We got going again but at race mile 232 lost brakes and missed a corner and hit a rock the size of a small car, then high centered on it. It took about an hour to get going again. We can’t thank @BFG enough for their help today. The pit guys were awesome, and relay followed us in. Thanks!

February 25, 2016

We are celebrating the life of one of our chase crew, Gene Bantilan, at the San Felipe 250 and dedicate this race to his memory. We’re hoping for a win in his honor. He will be missed. We hope he’s found the whoops in Heaven.

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In spite of a very challenging race season, Dan Chamlee with the Factory Racing earned their 11^th Class 7 Score International points championship by winning the last race of the 2015 season, the Baja 1000.

The 2015 race season began in February in San Felipe, Mexico with a 250-mile race. The team suffered its first DNF (did not finish) after leading the race and only 60 miles to the finish when the crankshaft broke in the engine.

Back at the shop he put in a new Ford V6 eco boost engine and G-force transmission. With excitement to see how the new truck would work with 150 more horse power the team traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for the augural Cabo to Loreto 500, a really beautiful race that ran from Cabo, to La Paz, up to Loreto. Even though the turbo chargers weren’t working correctly the team won Class 7.

With more time in the shop and the turbos now working correctly the team, in June, traveled to Ensenada where the team suffered its next DNF at the Baja 500 where, reverse gear broke at race mile 30. The team replaced the transmission but by the time parts were delivered to the truck and fixed, the check point at race mile 105 was closed, ending their day.

September brought another disappointment when they traveled to Imperial Valley and suffered in the unbelievable heat. The teams were only given 8 hours to complete a 300-mile race, which wasn’t enough time for most of the teams to finish. The Factory racing was devastated by its 3^rd DNF of the season. Even though they crossed the finish in first place they had exceeded the time limit.

As the team went into the last race of the season, November 18-21, for the 48^th annual Baja 1000, they were unsure about another championship. The current leader of the points championship, needed only to finish to take the title, the Factory Racing was in second. This year’s race was an 840-mile loop that traveled from Ensenada down the Pacific Ocean then traveled over to the sea of Cortez back into Ensenada, one of the roughest courses yet. The team had many challenges but their never quit attitude helped them finish the race and win. Some of the problems they encountered were: Air leaking into the fuel line causing loss of fuel pressure, losing reverse gear, requiring a complete rebuild of the transmission at a pit, dirt packing into the clutch so it wouldn’t disengage the last 500 miles, the starter quit working while stuck in the silt. With the finish in their sites, the steering arm broke. Fortunately, the chase team was close with all the parts they needed to make the repairs. They were able to make it to the finish line in 31:31:35. The points leader going into the race suffered an engine failure leaving the door open allowing, Chamlee and the Factory Racing to clench the race win and the season points championship.

Chamlee acknowledges his accomplishment are due to the support of his team and sponsors. BFGoodrich, Rigid Industries, King Shocks, Sunoco, Rod-End Supply.

 

Dan Chamlee and The Factory Racing conquer grueling 883 mile course of the 45^th Annaul Baja 1000 in the Baja desert from Nov 14-17.  The team took first in Class 7 completing it in 35:23:27.  There were 251 teams that started and only 116 were able to finish in the allotted 36 hours, a 46% finishing rate. This year’s course started in Ensenada travel south through Ojos Negros, through San Felipe on down to Puerocitos and Coco’s Corner, then crossed to the pacific ocean up to Catavina, over Mike’s sky ranch, through Valle de Trinada, back to Ojos then down into Ensenada.

When the team was starting to think they were going to make it to the finish line on time Dan hit a rock under the silt pushing the skid plate into some of the steering components making it impossible to steer.  He met the team at race mile 850, after cutting the skid plate and adjusting the tie rods he was able to continue on. His clutch had been getting packed with dust and dirt throughout the race and would stop working.  After blowing it out it would work again for a while but that last 30 miles wasn’t so fortunate. Dan was having problems shifting gears making it difficult to stop.  Finally he took the top of the transmission off to take it out of gear finding a throw out bearing broke but freeing it to work the rest of the race. The GPS decided to stop working and at this stage most of the course markers were taken off the course allowing him to get lost easily.  Taking much longer than expected to get to the finish but grateful to finish within the allotted time.

Sponsors: BFGoodrich, The Factory Appliance, Inc, MR Sheet Metal, Rigid Industries, Pure Power, King Shocks, Dezertwife Photograhpy,

Thanks goes to those of the team assisting: Laurie Chamlee, Amy Tate, Kurt Kimball, Tyler Kimball, Matt Tinsdell, Chris Kisendahl, Jacob Ochoa, Dave Owens, Maddy Owens, Jean Bantilan, Cory Bantilan, Rene Kranzler, Paul Kranzler, Tiffany Thomas, Martin  Anguiano, Chava Anguiano, Issac Anguiano