Danny Beauchamp poses on his truck at Crandon, Wis.

ESCANABA — It has everything you could want in a Hollywood script: a passion, that passion needing to be discarded because of responsibility, serendipitous happenstance that rekindles that passion and a happy ending.

Recently, Escanaba’s Danny Beauchamp became the 2020 Formula 4×4 Offroad points champion, won eight out of ten races for the season while wrapping up the world title at Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, Wis and earning his fourth championship ring.

However, his recent success was as much a surprise to him as everyone else.

After spending nearly a decade of his life dedicated to racing, Beauchamp had to put his passion on hold as his parents fell ill, and it wasn’t until another half a decade had passed that he would be given the chance to pursue it again.

“I quit racing five years ago,” Beauchamp said. “I’ve worked with my dad my whole life, and he got sick. I basically had to take over our family business and get out of racing. Same time my dad got sick, my mom got cancer.

“Before, when I did race, I won three championships in a different class — the superstock class. We’ve had a lot of success in the past, but because of family situations, I had to get out of it. I couldn’t go to an off-road race after that. It was what I did from when I was 20 years old to when I was 30, and it was hard for me to go.”

It was a change in situation that led Beauchamp back to the track. His parents had stabilized and recovered from their medical issues, so he decided to visit the Bark River International Raceway in 2019. It was that choice that would reignite his racing career.

“I went to Bark River last summer (2019) just for something to do, and a guy came up to me — somehow recognizing who I was,” he said.” He was just like: ‘Hey, you want to race my truck tomorrow?’. And, I was like, ‘what? Are you kidding me?’

“He asked me to race the next day, and I said ‘heck yeah’. Just being the racer I am, I knew he had nicer equipment than I ever had, (so I agreed). Then, I won the next morning. I had to start last because I registered late, so I passed everybody and won my first race in the truck after not being in a truck for five years.”

It wasn’t long after that the owner of the truck — and the man who recognized him, Ben Passa — got back into contact.

“Then the guy (Passa) calls me up in October (2019) and asked me if I wanted to race the truck for the whole season,” Beauchamp said. “It was basically a dream come true for a guy like me who couldn’t afford buying this truck I drive or let alone servicing it or maintaining it.”

By January, Beauchamp had the truck — and a trailer to pull it — in his hands, but despite the unexpected windfall, there was still work to do before the season began in June.

“Even though I’d gotten the truck, we had to get it ready because the trucks take a lot of abuse,” he said. “So, basically from January to June we were getting it ready for the season, and in the past, when I raced for those 10 years, I always had a group of guys who helped me out. “Obviously, times have changed. With COVID-19, racing isn’t high on anyone’s priority list, so the guy who always used to build just the transmissions for my old truck, he was the only one who stepped up (Brian Werner). So, it was basically just me and the one other guy (Werner) for the entire season.”

Even with how fortunate his re-entry into racing was, Beauchamp’s luck wasn’t quite used up yet. Despite having a truck, there were still expenses he’d have to cover if he wanted to race in it, and it was a family friend who would be able to help him out.

“It’s crazy that this guy who just saw me walking through the crowd at Bark River asked me to drive his truck, but the other crazy part is that I needed money to go and travel — the guy that owns the truck wasn’t paying for any of that,” Beauchamp said. “He just gave me the truck and a trailer to pull it. So, it’s still thousands of dollars to maintain and travel to the races and all of that.

My sponsor is on the show (Gold Rush), and he’s a gold miner. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to do it this year. Rick Ness, and his company — Rally, Inc. — that was my sponsor, and he’s the one who helped me to get to all the races and compete.”

With his performance on the track, it’s no surprise that Beauchamp will still be in the driver’s seat next year.

“All year I had pressure to do well because I’m driving other people’s stuff, and people are paying me to go there,” he said. “We had won eight out of eight races, and I’m leading in the ninth. We had a mud race, and the truck was weighed down so much that it started taking out parts of the truck. I lost my brakes, I lost my steering and I also lost the transmission. I only had a single gear finishing the race. I finished second.

“We had one more race the next day, and we went out and were leading that one too. We were three laps into the eight-lap race, and the alternator belt came off. It cut all power to the truck, and it was a fluke. We’ve had good luck all year though, and some of racing is luck. A lot of things have to line up. It is what it is.

“Then, we won the big race at Crandon, the World Championship race. That’s actually my fourth World Championship win. I’m fortunate. I can’t believe I’ve had the luck I’ve had.”

Beauchamp couldn’t help but reiterate his excitement.

“I’ve been away from it for five years, and I’m super stoked to be back in it,” he said. “It feels like I’m meant to be doing this, and it’s pulling me along. It’s hard to explain. I’m just excited. Everything lined up.”

Next year, Beauchamp will be facing more competition from a familiar corner — Passa. Passa is looking at building a second truck that he will helm himself to race against Beauchamp in the 2021 season.