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Dan Lamey:
History of DASA Racing / Team Racer's Edge
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DASA
Racing's Dan Lamey & his son Brandon |
(Riverside, California) - Dan Lamey
started racing three wheelers (ATC 90’s) when
he was about 14 years old. It was at that time when
his fascination with engine development began. Dan’s
knack for engine building led him to expand his
horizons from the 3-wheeled community and branch
off into watercraft engine development as well.
However, it wasn’t until just recently in
2005 when Pro ATV racer, Joe Byrd, started pulling
Holeshots (something he was not known for) at the
AMA Pro Motocross Nationals that Lamey's engine
work began to be noticed. The following year, Byrd
seized the Pro ATV Championship in 2006, which launched
DASA Racing and Dan Lamey into the spotlight for
some well deserved recognition in the ATV industry.
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Dan Lamey
raced 3-wheelers professionally in the
80's until he crashed into a fence in
1983,which left him paralyzed from the
chest down and ended his racing career
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Dan
Lamey's engine expertise launched the Yamaha
watercraft team into the spotlight in the
90's with Blair Gillespie winning multiple
World Championships |
Dan Lamey’s company, DASA Racing/Team Racer’s
Edge, located in Riverside, CA, builds the engines
for Joe Byrd’s Honda 450R. According to
Lamey, an engine rebuild like Byrd’s will
yield about 60 horsepower and cost somewhere around
$3000.00. Even though that price may seem a little
expensive to some, the benefits of a DASA built
engine are apparently worth it, as DASA also provided
support for factory Yamaha racers, Pat Brown,
Travis Spader and has teamed up with Yamaha of
Troy and will be branching out into supercross.
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Joe Byrd
created a buzz for DASA Racing in 2005
when he grabbed his 1st Pro Holeshot in
over a ten years of racing in the Pro
Class, and in 2007 alone Joe Byrd grabbed
18 of the 24 Possible Holeshots
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Since
DASA Racing's Dan Lamey began building engines
for Joe Byrd in 2005,Joe has wrapped 2 straight
Pro ATV Championship including the first
AMA Pro ATV Championship in 2007 |
Dan Lamey’s reputation as a top engine
builder brings him a lot of business from all
over world and keeps him very busy. In fact, Lamey
has expanded his shop over the past year to accommodate
the increase in clientele he has been getting.
DASA’s customer base isn’t just limited
to the U.S. either. “We get a lot of engines
shipped to us from all over the United States
and as far away as England, Japan and South Africa.”
Dan said. One question that comes to mind when
talking about shipping engines, is how do you
keep the engine safe while in transport? Dan has
a very good answer to that question. When shipping
an engine, he recommends shipping it in an Igloo
cooler (ice chest). “They’re sturdy
and protect the motors when they come in.”
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| DASA
Racing cuts their valve seats with a Serdi
machine, which is one of the most advanced
& precise valve seat cutting machines
available and it comes with a hefty price
tag of over $50,000 |
Once an engine is received, it is disassembled
and inspected to make sure the bearings and crankshaft
are in good condition. After inspection, the head
is taken apart and porting work is done according
to the customers specifications. “We change
all the shapes and valve angles inside the heads.”
Lamey stated. “We change the radius of the
diameter of the intake ports and the shapes and
that’s the secret of how we get all the
power out of our engines. We have precise volumes
we shoot for; we match it to the camshafts we
use.” Lamey and his crew have a strong preference
for Web Cams. “Web Cams has been very helpful
in making us achieve what we have been striving
for all these years…The maximum power and
reliability for our customers.”
Dan Lamey’s dedication to his customers
appears to have him on a never-ending quest researching
and testing new ideas to unlock hidden horsepower.
DASA Racing uses different textures in their porting
depending on what the engine is being used for.
“There’s been some research and there’s
some theories on different textures to help atomize
the fuel but there’s minimal difference.”
Despite the minimal differences texturizing makes,
Dan states, “There are multiple port volumes,
shapes, valve angles and camshaft profiles that
you can always put on an engine. Last year I spent
every spare moment I had on testing for eight
months straight.”
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