SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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Record-Setting Win Dan Chamlee Takes The Class 7 Championship For A Record 18th Time In His Career By Larry Saavedra Photos by Get Some Photo Portrait photo by Jack Wright Nmedia3 Class 7 racer Dan Chamlee took the winning edge from competitor Scott Brady by a narrow two points, earning the much sought-after Class Championship for the 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship season. With his third-place finish at the 55th BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000 Presented by 4 Wheel Parts, Chamlee claimed his 18th championship title in Class 7. Chamlee, who raced each event solo, ended the season with 441 total points to Brady’s 439. It was also Chamlee’s 20th year of competing in SCORE and the 17th “consecutive time” he’s been honored with the title. “I just missed one year,” he laughed. “I go into each season trying to win the class championship. It’s a goal that I must first finish, and hopefully, I get a podium, too.” Looking back, here’s how Chamlee’s season played out across four events. Issues at San Felipe 250 At the SCORE San Felipe 250, Chamlee battled suspension issues throughout the race. Chamlee in the No. 700 Ford was out in front early, but Brady in the No. 703 Ford and Randy Bluth in the No. 720 Ford blew by Chamlee after he got stuck in a wash. “It took me a half hour to free the truck,” Chamlee said. “Brady and I are best friends, but he and I have been competing for years and both of us want to win,” he said. “His perfect race is when he’s first and I’m second, and my perfect race is when he’s second and I’m first.” The San Felipe 250 had five starters in Class 7. Brady captured first place, followed by Bluth in second place, and then Chamlee in third place. Rolled It in BaJa 500 At the 54th SCORE Baja 500, Chamlee looked intense on course and never let up, ultimately finishing first. But his day almost ended early when he rolled the truck on a steep hill. “Other than that single incident, it was a smooth and somewhat comfortable race,” he said. With his suspension troubles in San Felipe far behind him, Chamlee said he put it on auto-pilot after the crash and never looked back. “Everything was working perfectly,” he said. “We had zero mechanical failures at the Baja 500. It was supposed to be a nasty course, but I didn’t think it was that bad aside from that driver error situation.” Again, there were five starters in Class 7. Chamlee took first place. Gaspar N. Espindola in the No. 716 Ford took second place, and Brady took third place. The race for championship points was getting tight. Going into the 3rd Annual SCORE Baja 400, Chamlee and Brady were both tied at 200 points each. Neck and Neck at BaJa 400 “The Baja 400 was an extremely close race between Brady and myself,” Chamlee said. “Brady had some trouble toward the end of the race and that’s how he lost position.” There were only two Class 7 starters in the Baja 400. Chamlee again took first place and Brady second, giving Chamlee a six-point lead over Brady going into the SCORE Baja 1000. “The championship was still up for grabs,” he added. Scramble at BaJa 1000 At the SCORE Baja 1000, six teams started, but only two were in contention for the championship– Brady and Chamlee. But Chamlee had done the math. He knew that if Brady won the Baja 1000 and he took second place, then Brady would officially take the Class 7 Championship because the Baja 1000 is a tie-breaker event. Chamlee’s only hope was that Brady didn’t get a first-place podium and that he could stay within one position of Brady on the leaderboard. “I owe that entire SCORE Baja 1000 to my race team,” he said. “Scott and I were seconds apart at race mile 100, but going through the mountains at race mile 300, I hit a huge rock and broke my passenger side lower A-arm off.” Chamlee was able to pull off the course and made a satellite call to his chase team. “My chase team came to the rescue and I was out in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “They were absolutely amazing. My wife Laurie and Ryan Kimball were in the chase vehicle and I don’t know how they were able to get to me because the terrain was brutal and they were in a nearly-stock Ford Super Duty.” With a welder onboard the chase truck, Chamlee knew he could weld the A-arm to finish the race, but by the time the repair was completed, he had lost four hours. In another part of the course, Brady was suffering from his own set of problems. Brady’s truck had developed serious power steering issues, and that allowed Chamlee to close the gap. “I nearly caught up with him,” Chamlee said. He figured he had most likely lost the championship, but in racing, he knew better than to give up– so he preserved. After the dust settled, Jeff Proctor in the factory-backed No. 709 Honda Ridgeline took first place, Brady snatched second, and Chamlee nabbed third. The rest of the field DNF’d. Third place was enough for Chamlee to win the points championship. But he remained humble after the race. “Brady is a great friend and driver. We both finished every mile of every race,” he said. “We went from him being in the lead, to being tied in points, to me finally battling it out and taking home the championship. He’s a great competitor.” SJ