SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/618747
said. "The race vehicle and team can be managed at a reasonable cost and there is still a nice pool of competition." From Broughton's perspective, "It all depends on what you are looking for. If you want to build a truck yourself then yes, Class 7 is perfect," he said. "You can start with a production based truck, so you can go as crazy on the build as you want. You may not be competitive, but you can have a race truck you built. I personally feel like Class 3000 is the way to get involved with four-wheel desert racing. You can find used trucks on the classifieds all day at reasonable prices. The trucks run a cheap and reliable four cylinder Ecotec motor that you can buy from a junk yard. The trucks are super easy to prep in your garage and some, like the BajaLite, are pretty much indestructible." Prep cost between races is another factor to be considered. Depending upon whether you have to replace components or not, prep costs run about $3,000 to $7,000 + to keep your 7 truck in shape. "We have always done nearly all of our own design, fabrication, and prep which keeps our cost relatively low, unless we have broken something expensive," Chamlee said. "We built our first truck about 13 years ago. It ran pretty well but we learned a lot about chassis flex and metal fatigue. Our current truck we built about seven years ago. It was about as good as you could do with the rules at the time and a reasonable budget, but the rules have changed and she is getting pretty tired." "My number one sponsor is my Dad," Sohren said. "Therefore Baja Racing Adventures builds, preps, and manages the race truck/team. As soon as I started racing, I began spending more and more time in the shop. I'm mostly the one hanging out and cracking jokes, but I have learned a lot along the way. I definitely have a lot more to learn and I really can't wait for what the future holds." Whether you get your start in Class 7, work up to it, or learn desert racing from a different approach, all of our racers have some solid advice for finding your way into race trucks and race cars. "Volunteer to help another team and learn what it takes to complete a race," Chamlee said. "Make sure you have a great group of friends who are fanatical as you are." Working your way into Class 7 or any of the four-wheeled vehicle race classes may not start out in a buggy or truck. "My advice for getting into off road racing is to start on a dirt bike," Broughton said. "When you are on a dirt bike you can't just run wide open. You need to have some racing intelligence and be able to pick your way through the gnarly sections and miss the big rocks. The best thing a dirt bike can teach GETSOMEPHOTO.COM 062 SCORE JOURNAL CLASS 7 SUSPENSIONS CAN HAVE SECONDARY SYSTEMS SUCH AS KING SHOCKS. WITH A STRENGTHENED CHASSIS, THESE TRUCKS CAN SURVIVE DIFFICULT TERRAIN.