The Factory Racing

The Factory Racing traveled to San Felipe March 7-10 to compete in the 27^th Annual Mastercraft San Felipe 250.  The beautiful little fishing village came alive with 255 teams there to compete on the 254 mile course.  We had a new course this year with new challenges and scenery.

Eight time Class 7 champion Dan Chamlee drove the entire race with Co-drivers Dan of Martin Roofing and Amy Tate.  Chamlee led the first 45 miles, running 3 ½ minutes ahead of 2nd.  Dan clipped a huge rock up a tight twisty canyon puncturing a tire. Chamlee got stuck in the silt while passing a class 16 car by choosing a bad line.  Because of the soft sand and deep silt the truck was getting worse gas mileage than expected running out of gas 10 miles short of the Pit at mile 148.  A fan along the course syphoned fuel from their bronco and a splash of fuel from the team near a road crossing got them to the pit.  The team had dropped to 3^rd place but after the pit Dan began making up time on 2^nd place.  He was within a mile of getting back in 2^nd near race mile 200 when the radiator fan broke.  The chase team was an hour drive away with the spare part.  While Dan and Amy were waiting they took some epoxy and sheet metal and repaired it.   He continued on but got stuck on a sand hill that many competitors were stuck on so he radio’d the team to see how far away they were and found they were close so he decided to wait for them with the replacement fan and to get his upper light bar to finish the race now that is was dark. Dan ran the last 50 miles at a fast pace and it was a huge relief to get a finish under their belt, finishing in 3^rd place in 9:11:12.

Without sponsors like The Factory Appliance, Inc, BF Goodrich, Pure Power, Rod End Supply’s, Rigid Lighting, King Shocks, Martin Roofing, Slime we couldn’t have the success we enjoy.

The 45^th Annual Baja 1000 on November 14-17 was a huge disappointment for the Factory Racing.  The 1120 miles race from Ensenada to La Paz took months of preparation, a large support team and support vehicles to only go 18 miles before the crank shaft broke, a repair that could not be done on the course.  The team was forced to return home early and watch the race from the computer until they were sure of others in their class and to determine the season Points Championship. However the team was able to retain the season championship in spite of the poor results due to having such a large lead going into the race. There were 7 starters in Class 7 and 4 finishers.

 

The team traveled to Lucerne Valley on May 19^th to compete in the MORE California 500.  Thomas Chamlee is driver of record for the 1400 class in the Mojave Off Road Enthusiast (M.O.R.E.) series.  The team finished in 6^th place putting him 3^rd for the season points championship.  Thomas and Dan shared the driving duties and co-drivers where Tiffany Thomas, Brady Melin, Nick Tonelli. The truck is still in the testing phase and the team is really happy with how competitive it is. They feel that they’ve been able to work out most of the issues with the new truck. Thanks to those who helped: Heather Chamlee, Laurie Chamlee, Stephanie Chamlee, Nolan & Michael Chamlee, Valerie Chamlee, Amy Tate, Riley Finch and Team Tonelli.

 

The weekend of June 1^st the team traveled to Ensenada to compete in the Baja 500, a grueling 450 mile course.  Dan Chamlee drove the entire race with John Lund and Amy Tate sharing co-driving duties.  The team led the race in class 7 until the sway bar broke at race mile 380. They limped the truck to the BF Goodrich pit at race mile 398 where they were able to fix it and get moving again. But this put them into 2^nd Place.  They only needed 16:23:55 to complete the 450 mile course. This finish puts the team back in the lead for the seasons points championship.  The support team included: Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Scott Brady, Kurt Kimball, Carter Kimball, Matt Tindell, Chris Kiesendahl, Will Ochoa and Jacob Ochoa

 

Dan Chamlee was invited to participate in the Lucas Oil Regional, Beehive Classic short course race in Lake Elsinore on June 9^th.  The Factory’s class 7 competed in an open sportsman class & was limited in horsepower compared to the other trucks competing but the trucks amazing suspension and Dan’s experience as a driver placed the team 3^rd out of a field of 22.  Those supporting this race were: Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Heather Chamlee, Riley Finch, Matt Tindell, Robert Tindell, Chirs Kiesendahl and the entire Tonelli Team.

Here are our new wheel:

17 ” x 9 6.25 back spacing 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern, 6 on 5.5 available soon.

Forged Aluminum, stronger and lighter.

Call for pricing

 

The factory racing has devolped a new race wheel that is stronger and lighter than most race wheels.  Contact Dan or Thomas for more info 805-566-2222.

On January 21, 2012 The Factory Racing Team traveled to Barstow, CA for the M.O.R.E series opener, The New Years 200. Thomas Chamlee (Driver of Record) along with co-driver, Dan Chamlee competed in Class1400, completing six 28 mile loops, covering approximately 168 miles of some of the roughest desert terrain in California. Out of 18 starters, only 11 finished within the 6.5 hour time limit. Thomas started at the back of the pack due to some fuel pressure issues and worked his way up to a 2nd place finish. It took Thomas and Dan 5:12:57 finish the race with an average speed of 32.6mph. This is the first time the team is planning to run the entire M.O.R.E. series and have built a new race truck to fit Class 1400’s set of rules. Unfortunately, that truck was unable to run this race, so the team took Thomas’ personal prerunner. The truck is not meant to be a race truck, but is still rather competitive in this class. The race started with a fuel pressure issue which began just after lining up for the start. Thomas had to pull back into our pits and after about 5 minutes of working on the truck, the issues had miraculously vanished. Thomas and Dan took off and started about 5 minutes behind their competition among a class of slower vehicles. After the first lap, they had passed over half their competition. The truck stopped to refuel and pit at the end of it’s third lap. During the third lap, Thomas had run over a large boulder that was buried in a washout and as a result the suspension had been bent and pushed back to the point that the front suspension pieces were rubbing together. While Dan worked on the front suspension, Thomas noticed that there was gear oil leaking past the rear passenger’s hub seal. After inspecting the hub and axle, they topped off the fluid and were back on the course. The team continued to pick up positions during the last three laps, only stopping once in the pits to top off the rear end oil and once on the course to change a flat tire. The winds were extremely high during the race, which made changing a flat a difficult task. The truck also lost a rear fender during a close pass of another vehicle. Regardless of problems, the team is very proud of Driver, Thomas Chamlee and his second place finish in the first race of the M.O.R.E. series. Thomas finished the race saying, “We are very pleased with the way the truck ran this race. We came into this race just hoping for a finish and are very happy with the position this will put us in for this year’s point championship. I am very proud of the whole team.” Team Members included: Thomas Chamlee, Dan Chamlee, Heather Chamlee, Laurie Chamlee, Brent Thompson, Amy Tate, Matt Tindell, Connie Strieff and the entire Dormack Racing Team. Thank you guys!

The Factory Racing traveled to Laughlin, NV to compete in the 18^th Annual Laughlin Desert Challenge on Jan 13-15th.  This event included two separate races one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  The course was a 6.25 mile course and each day we were given the challenge of completing 6 laps within 80 minutes.  Though this is a shorter course it’s very rough and a big challenge to complete with very little time to repair anything if you have break downs.

Saturday started with a bang, literally.  The truck has a glitch an occasionally when starting the engine it will back fire.  Those really familiar with the truck know to press the gas down when starting but someone didn’t know this trick and started the truck to head over to stage for the race a large explosion caused the intake manifold to shatter into many small pieces.  Everyone’s hearts stopped until we were certain we only damaged the intake manifold and had a spare.  It was quickly changed and Dan Chamlee with Co-driver Thomas Chamlee headed to the start line.  Saturday’s race was flawless.  Dan started in the lead and quickly gained time on those in our class, he then backed off a little to make sure he didn’t break anything.  He completed his 37.50 miles in 48:48 minutes with an average speed of 46.11 mph and winning the first race of the season.  Brandon Walsh placed second in 52:36 minutes.

After taking time to inspect the truck and fixing a few minor things the team felt the truck was ready for Sunday’s competition.  Dan and his co-driver Whitney Chamlee-Saito was first off of the line for Class 7.  But half way through the first lap the tie rod end bent in half making it very difficult to steer.  Fortunately the team keeps a spare on the truck.  Dan and Whitney were able to replace it and continue on.  But this dropped them to third place and taking 24 minutes to complete the lap (average just over 8 minutes on Saturday) at this point the team wanted to just finish the race to keep their dream of the “every mile of every race” without a DNF still alive.  When Dan and Whitney where finishing their 4^th lap the message came across the radio that the other competitors in his class where stopped on the course and he’d pulled back in first position.  The team quickly did the math to see if he could back off a little and make the time limit. He had plenty of time and finished in 1:06:40 with an average speed of 33.75 mph.

The team had a lot of support for this race: Dan Chamlee, Laurie Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Heather Chamlee, Stacy Jacobsen, Larry Jacobsen, Anne, Amanda & Ashley Jacobsen, Whitney Saito, Michael Buchmiller Amy Tate, Donald Taff, Danielle Taff, Stephan Taff, Dylan Taff, Sean Taff, Kathrine Taff, Brent Thompson, Kurt Kimball, Carter Kimball and CassidyKimball, Chase Kimball, Brian Webb, Jill Webb.

Each year there is great anticipation and preparation for the longest race and the finale to the Score International season, the Baja 1000. This year was no exception. The race was a grueling 705 miles of rocks, silt, fog, ruts, river beds, whoops, steep hills, dust, spectators, and cold. It only took The Factory Racing with Dan Chamlee driving, 25:18:39 to place first in Class 7, averaging 27:85 mph. But it didn’t come without challenges and a great team of help. The course included some sections of highway and all roads are open to the public with this brings unique challenges, like a 2 ½ hour start delay due to a semi-truck that jack knifed on the course. The race was held Nov 17-19, 2011 starting in Ensenada traveling down to San Felipe, over to the Pacific Coast and then back into Ensenada. There were 278 teams who started the race and only 155 teams that were able to complete the course in the 32 hour time limit.
Dan drove the entire race, His first co-driver was his son, Daniel, until the BFGoodrich Pit 2 at race mile 198, during this section the gps stopped working, though the course is marked with flags it’s hard to rely on them since spectators like to remove them. At the pits they discovered that if you turn the lights off and on the gps would start working again. The amazing Rigid Industry Lights was warming up the gps antenna. Kurt Kimball also known as Granny took over co-driver duties until BFG Pit 4 at race mile 449. This section was 250 miles of the famous San Felipe whoops but the team was able to put a lot of distance on their competitors through this section of really nasty terrain. But not without some problems, such as a hole in the exhaust manifold which they put a rock in and hose clamped it on until they could get to the next BFG Pit 3 and weld a patch on it. The temperature began rising and found a wire to the cooling fan melted. They also changed a flat tire. Amy Tate hopped in the truck at race mile 449 to take over co-driver responsibilities. At the famous Mike’s Sky ranch the engine began to cut out and was running lean, they fiddled with it for a while and it started working, no idea why. Dave Owen as co-driver got in at race mile 587 to take it to the finish.
At race mile 630 the team knew there was only 60 miles left but painfully aware this is a really rough section and they have had problems there before. But leading by 200 miles and plenty of time to finish the teams was really hopeful. When the truck gets to race mile 635 the third member breaks. Fortunately the team has prepared for this section by having Thomas Chamlee’s pre-runner already on its way to this section knowing in the past he has needed to take his pre-runner in the course, which is set up similar to the race truck but a V8 and four wheel drive. Thomas takes off with Dean Teague and parts to fix the race truck. He radios out that he’s got a flat at race mile 630 and would need to change it. Once he gets to the truck they find the easiest way to fix the race truck is to take the third member from Thomas’ truck and put it on the race truck which will make Thomas’s truck only front wheel drive but he should only have to go 10 miles to get to the truck waiting for him with a trailer. Dan continues on the race and needs to change a flat tire but makes it to the finish. Meanwhile, Scott Brady is waiting for Thomas with the trailer and Thomas never shows up. We have rented satellite phones and have two way radios but no one can talk to each other, very frustrating. It turns out that Thomas broke a u-joint going up a steep hill in front wheel drive. After Thomas finally gets a hold of someone a rescue team is put together to go in and get him. But that took hours since the terrain was so rough. Though the race truck was finished around 2 pm, it wasn’t until 1 am that all were safely back to camp.
With this win the team now has 5 Baja 1000 wins, 3 races wins this season and their 7th Season Points Championships and the icing on the cake, the 2011 Milestone award, which is given to those who completed every mile of every race within the time limit.
This year’s Baja 1000 teamed included: Dan & Laurie Chamlee, Daniel & Stephanie Chamlee, their two kids, Nolan and Michael Chamlee, Thomas Chamlee, Scott and Wendy Brady and their Children, Kelly, Kylie and Karson, Amy Tate, Brent Thompson, Dean Teague, John Lund, Taylor Lund, Kurt Kimball, Cassidy Kimball, Carter Kimball, Ryan Kimball, Dave Owens, and Gino Bantilan.

The factory Racing takes on the challenge of San Felipe Challenge of Champions Sept 9-11. This was a new venue for our September race and the temperatures forecasted for San Felipe wasn’t looking to good (well over 100 degrees and humid) but the team was ready to take on the challenge of racing in San Felipe in the late summer.  The team arrived a day early to avoid having to work during the middle of the day. They arrived at Contingency as soon as it opened to be done early.  Race day temperatures were not as hot but still a concern.

Dan drove the entire race with Brent Thompson as his
co-driver.  Due to the weekend change many of our regulars where unable to
make the race, leaving us quite shorthanded.  Dan started really well
gaining a lot of time on his competitors by race mile 60.  However at race
mile 97 he lost his first cooling fan.  We had been battling with this
problem the last few races but thought we had it figured out, but we still had put
a spare on the truck.  After changing it quickly the spare cooling fan only lasted until Race mile 122.  Dan radioed to Laurie who was at El Dorado Ranch (approx. 40 miles
away) that he needed the cooling fan in her chase truck.  Laurie and Valerie headed out in the Raptor to take him the part.  They sure had a great time with the raptor but was feeling bad because they didn’t have good directions and took a few wrong turns delaying getting to him.  That cooling fan only last a short time but he was able to limp to race mile 262 losing 1 position, meanwhile while Laurie and Valerie traveled back to San Felipe, Dean and Amy went to a junk yard and found a used one.  Then Laurie and Valerie took the used one in to them.  It didn’t work very well
so they had to slow down to prevent overheating the engine but we knew time was running out.  But we were able to finish with a couple minutes to spare, keeping
our dream of Every mile of Every race still alive.  We placed 2nd behind Arturo Alvarez, in 10:55:22 averaging 23.1 mph.

 

 

The Factory Racing headed to Ensenada Mexico June 2-4 with high hopes of winning their 6^th consecutive 43rd Baja 500 but was denied.The team led class 7 until race mile 260 when the truck slid off a 150 foot cliff, rolling 3 times.No injuries to either Thomas or Dan Chamlee but now the challenge of getting the truck back on the road and the brakes and hub fixed. It took several hours to upright the truck then winch it back up to the road meanwhile losing 2 positions.They were able to regain one to finish in second finishing in 18:00:12 behind Arturo Alvarez who only needed 16:23:25 to complete it.This year’s course was a challenging 452.84 mile race with 254 starters and 160 finishers.