Larry Minor credits his friends for a great racing career, from Rodney Hall to Herman Booy to Bill Stroppe – they all started at the beginning. It’s always a great time to be in off-road, but the beginning was pure magic. Following a compass or a paper map is very different than what we do today. Congratulations to Larry Minor, a 2005 inductee into ORMHOF, Larry Minor is why we say; legends live at ORMHOF.org. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
6:29 – of all the things I’ve done in life, I think I miss growing potatoes the most
10:18 – my hot rod was just a wood one, couple of 2x4’s and an apple box
14:38 – the three of us together, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t build right
19:07 – we had a banner year driving the Broncos; after that Rod continued to drive the 4x4’s
22:15 – he smoked the tires and hit the guardrail and the other guardrail, it was a mess!
31:56 – I better buckle down and watch the business and quit the driving part
37:17 – I took 18 Girl Scouts and 13 parents to the Winter Nationals!
42:13 – Bill Stroppe taught me the professional part of racing and how to prepare your cars
Special thanks to ORMHOF.org for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
Larry Minor credits his friends for a great racing career, from Rodney Hall to Herman Booy to Bill Stroppe – they all started at the beginning. It’s always a great time to be in off-road, but the beginning was pure magic. Following a compass or a paper map is very different than what we do today. Congratulations to Larry Minor, a 2005 inductee into ORMHOF, Larry Minor is why we say; legends live at ORMHOF.org. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
6:29 – of all the things I’ve done in life, I think I miss growing potatoes the most
10:18 – my hot rod was just a wood one, couple of 2x4’s and an apple box
14:38 – the three of us together, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t build right
19:07 – we had a banner year driving the Broncos; after that Rod continued to drive the 4x4’s
22:15 – he smoked the tires and hit the guardrail and the other guardrail, it was a mess!
31:56 – I better buckle down and watch the business and quit the driving part
37:17 – I took 18 Girl Scouts and 13 parents to the Winter Nationals!
42:13 – Bill Stroppe taught me the professional part of racing and how to prepare your cars
Special thanks to ORMHOF.org for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
[00:00:05.290] - Big Rich Klein
Welcome to conversations with big rich. This is an interview style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the offroad industry. Being involved, like all of my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call offroad. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active in offroad. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call offroad. This episode of conversations with big rich is brought to you by the offroad motorsports hall of fame. The mission of the hall of fame is to educate and inspire present and future generations of the offroad community by celebrating the achievements of those who came before. We invite you to help fulfill the mission of the offroad motorsports hall of fame. Join, partner or donate today legends live at ORMHOF.org
[00:01:15.290] - Big Rich Klein
On today's episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I'm interviewing larry Minor. Larry started his off road career during a trip to glamis in 1959. Shortly after that, Larry started his racing addiction. Over the years, larry teamed up with other ORMHOF inductees such as Herman Booy, Rod Hall, Bill Stroppe. Between offroad, sand, and drag racing, Larry Minor has made quite a name for himself. So we're going to talk to Larry and find out all about his career. Larry, thank you so much for coming on board and spending some time.
[00:01:53.890] - Larry Minor
Thank you, rich.
[00:01:55.370] - Big Rich Klein
So let's get started right away with the easiest question in the world. Where were you born and raised?
[00:02:03.030] - Larry Minor
I was born and raised in Hemit, sansino valley. I'd lived there my whole life, all 83 years.
[00:02:08.650] - Big Rich Klein
Wow. All the time in hemet?
[00:02:11.450] - Larry Minor
That's correct.
[00:02:12.560] - Big Rich Klein
And back when you were born, Hemet was pretty rural. I mean, it's still kind of rural, but it's getting that spread from La. But back then, there must have been quite a bit of room out there.
[00:02:29.310] - Larry Minor
It was. It was mostly a farming community. As you know, my dad was a farmer and I was a farmer, and it was a real rural farming area, not heavily populated. I know. When I graduated from high school in 59, we had one high school and there was 80 graduates there. Now we have four high schools and about 800 in each high school graduate every year. And our population back then for the him at sunset valley was only about 7000. So it has really changed.
[00:03:00.150] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I would imagine it has. Now. That's quite a difference from one class of 80 to four classes of like, 800. That's huge.
[00:03:12.910] - Larry Minor
Yes, it is.
[00:03:13.890] - Big Rich Klein
So let's talk about those early years you're working on the farm. What kind of farming was done back then for you guys?
[00:03:23.170] - Larry Minor
Well, mainly we were potato farmers, and my dad liked the Southern California area, and I capitalized on that because we have so many different climatic conditions here in Southern California. We have the beach area where it's cool, the mountains and the desert. So we bought ranches in four different counties here in Southern California and we farm potatoes twelve months out of the year. We were either planting or harvesting. Twelve months out of the year?
[00:03:53.770] - Big Rich Klein
That's amazing because I've spent some time in Idaho and the seasons aren't quite that accommodating.
[00:04:03.070] - Larry Minor
Yes. And all our potatoes were fresh packed. Whatever we harvested that day was sold. We harvest according to the sales. And of course we were complete organization. We did all our own sales and had our own staff and we shipped all over the United States and even overseas, the Taiwan, the world.
[00:04:21.170] - Big Rich Klein
Wow. So are the rumors true that you guys used to sell to McDonald's?
[00:04:27.030] - Larry Minor
No, they are not true. I never sold one potato to McDonald's.
[00:04:30.650] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, so you've heard it here, everyone. I was reading online and your name came up and it was somebody was saying, oh yeah, potatoes and McDonald's. That's Larry. And I'm like, I thought all those came out of Idaho, but I didn't know for sure.
[00:04:47.950] - Larry Minor
Yeah, that's right. It's a completely different variety.
[00:04:51.230] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Knowing a little bit about I'm not a potato snob by any means. I do like a good russet baker, a nice big one. But what kind of potatoes did you guys grow primarily?
[00:05:06.940] - Larry Minor
Well, I always call the russet potatoes because they came out of storage and they got the big old brown skin on them. I call them wooden potatoes. But we farmed three different varieties. We framed the white rose potato and then we farmed the yellow called Yukon Golds, and then we farmed a red potato. So we had all three varieties that we packed.
[00:05:30.850] - Big Rich Klein
Okay.
[00:05:31.200] - Larry Minor
They were all fresh.
[00:05:32.400] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. And how long did that carry on?
[00:05:37.050] - Larry Minor
Well, my dad started the business in 1943 and I carried on he passed in 88. I carried on up to just a couple of years ago. And I'm getting older and it's hard to work. And nobody wanted to run the big business. None of my kids that I have now wanted to do anything that large. So we quit growing and we turned our company more into a land leasing and land management business. We still own all our ranches, but we lease them out to other farmers. And all because all our ranches have water on it.
[00:06:09.530] - Big Rich Klein
Oh yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, that's excellent. Because then you get make money off the property and not have to do any digging. Yes, I understand that part. As you get older, the physical labor is not so appealing anymore.
[00:06:29.610] - Larry Minor
And of all the things I've done in my life, rich, the racing people ask me, do you miss the racing? Do you miss this? I think I miss growing the potatoes more than anything else.
[00:06:41.220] - Big Rich Klein
Wow. Okay. Awesome. Excellent. That's the kind of stuff we want to hear. What is it that was so appealing about and what you miss about doing that? Is it just getting out there and doing the hard work?
[00:06:56.450] - Larry Minor
Yeah. Getting up in the morning, go out in the fields, digging in, dig down with my hands and look at the tubers and how they were setting everything and the crops we were harvesting. I'd go out where we were harvesting, I'd see them harvesting and I'd go back to our packing shed and see them packing in the packing shed. Just the whole operation, the farming part.
[00:07:16.330] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. So did you go to school beyond high school for agriculture or did you just pick it up from the family business and go gung ho?
[00:07:32.690] - Larry Minor
I went to one year of college and of course it wasn't for me, and my dad need me in the business and so I went to work right away out of high school. I always worked on the farm. My dad put me on the field when I was twelve years old and I was picking potatoes and making $15 a week.
[00:07:54.890] - Big Rich Klein
Nice. Not quite as much as back then as the racing career became later, but although I don't know about racing careers making a whole lot of money either, unless like nowadays it's NASCAR or something. So let's talk about the racing. And I know that your first trip to Glamis is what got you bit, is that true?
[00:08:24.450] - Larry Minor
Not really. For some reason it was just built into me that I loved things with motors and to build them, I think my first little hot rod I built. Well, no, I'll go back further than that. We lived in the rural country. We had a horse and my mom would send me to the grocery store to get groceries on my horse while I was coming back. And I got home and my little dog Spotty usually goes with me and he wasn't there. So I rode back to find him and he got run over by a car. So I brought him home and it broke his back. We nursed him back to health, but he couldn't walk and he's back half. So I took some wheels off of a tricycle I had and I made him a little carrier so you could put the back into the dog in this thing and he could still walk with his front feet. So that was probably the first mechanical thing that I ever built my life. And I was probably only about eight years old when I did that.
[00:09:22.480] - Big Rich Klein
Well, that's awesome. I would imagine your pup really appreciated being able to get around and you guys saving him like that.
[00:09:32.630] - Larry Minor
Well, your dogs are just like your kids. They're part of your life. And I've always had a dog and I always will. They're just part of you. And everybody has a dog, knows how you feel about them. Of course, as I got a little older, not much older, my dad had a gas lawnmower and I took the engine off of it and made my first little soapbox car to run around the yard. And I don't even know how I did it at that age, but it would start running, I could go around the yard in this little hot rod I made.
[00:10:11.490] - Big Rich Klein
Awesome. And was it a lot of welding involved? Were you welding at that point?
[00:10:18.150] - Larry Minor
No, no welding involved at all. It was just drilling holes and it was a wooden couple of tuba fours and an apple box and then I took the sprockets off of the lawnmower and then I don't even know how I've got them all adapted up, but I made the thing work.
[00:10:33.020] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. And of course you still don't have that, do you? Oh, no, that would be quite the archive item there. So then what happened after the go cart? What was next?
[00:10:48.750] - Larry Minor
Well, let's see, I really got started racing. My first car was a 1956 Ford and I loved racing that car. And at the same time my parents bought a Jeep and I loved four wheeling and I loved us. I joined the Him at Jeep Club and I'd go four wheeling with a Himat Jeep Club and I was only 1617 years old then and I just got hooked on it and eventually put a V eight in it and started doing the club events and racing in the club events and things like that.
[00:11:31.550] - Big Rich Klein
And that was primarily like Sandrags, Sandrags and hill climbs.
[00:11:38.750] - Larry Minor
Even though it wasn't official, we'd go out on a trip and we'd see who could make it up furthest on the hill or get up at the fastest or something and then that was before any real professional racing events were around.
[00:11:54.490] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, and then after I know the Jeep you written in history at least, is that you took the Jeep out to Glamis and on the way home you blew the motor and then you put a V eight in it, is that correct?
[00:12:13.290] - Larry Minor
I had a hard time keeping the stock four cylinder running and I did put a V eight in it. And I took an old engine out of a truck that we had in the yard, a bowl broken down truck, a Chevy motor, and I'll go over the kind of the whole thing with this Jeep and it was pretty faster having a Jeep, but I tell you, I wanted to be faster. So my brother a little younger than me, he started college and he brought a brand new 63 409 and he says he didn't want to take it to school, so he left it in my garage. I kept looking at the engine in my Jeep and that engine is his 409 and I took them out and I swapped those engines. Actually, I didn't even put one back in his yet. I took the engine out put it in my Jeep. They went to Butter. That's when I surprised everybody. I went to Buttercup for the racing at Glamus, and they had the hill climbs there, and I had that 409. And I beat the buggies. I beat everything that was there. Four Wheeler Magazine did a big story on it.
[00:13:15.650] - Larry Minor
Of course I told him the story. I took the motor out of my brother's car, and when he came home and he was going to get his car, he got it to start it. It wouldn't start. He thought the battery was dead. He picked up the hood. There was no motor. Oh, man, he was really bad. He could have killed me. We still today, my brother and I will have dinner over Thursday and we'll talk about those things that happened then.
[00:13:39.510] - Big Rich Klein
That's pretty awesome. So did you want the motor back after you deraced it, or did you have to come up with something else?
[00:13:47.620] - Larry Minor
No, see, the engine I took out of the truck was an old 348 engine. That's where the 409 came from. They were truck engines originally. And so we put that back in it and painted up, and he traded off and got him a different car.
[00:14:02.030] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, there you go. So was your brother into offroad as well?
[00:14:10.510] - Larry Minor
He got involved a little later on when I started driving for Ford. He wanted to do that. In fact, he won Baja 501 time. I don't remember the year, but he did a little bit of racing, too.
[00:14:23.670] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. So is there anybody back from those Hemet days that maybe helped mentoring or back or you looked up to?
[00:14:38.410] - Larry Minor
I wouldn't have never been able to do it, of course, without my sidekick, Rodney Hall, and of course, Dick Simpson. He was a welder and fabricator in him. And he worked on my Top Fuel cars and my off road cars later on and in Verne Brown. The three of us between he got those three together wasn't anything we couldn't build right.
[00:15:00.350] - Big Rich Klein
I could imagine. I could imagine. And what was Rod like back in those days?
[00:15:06.770] - Larry Minor
Well, Rod and I were just really good friends, and he had a gas station, a richfield gas station. And I was always stopping there, and we'd go to coffee or go have a beer someplace after work. But we just really became good friends.
[00:15:23.270] - Big Rich Klein
And then eventually racing together.
[00:15:26.470] - Larry Minor
Yeah. We, of course, belonged to the Him and Jeep Club. And we started doing the little rallies where we had obstacle courses and hill climbs and drag races. Then they started organizing some races. I remember there was a race in Truth or Consequences to Mexico, and we built a jeep for that, and we ran a jeep there. Then Ed Promo, we read where they were going to have the Mexican 1000. Well, Rodney and I, neither one had ever been past Tijuana, so we said, Heck, let's run that. So we put this little stock jeep together, and that was the first time we really ever did do any real off road racing.
[00:16:08.720] - Big Rich Klein
And how did that first experience go?
[00:16:11.910] - Larry Minor
If I remember right, there wasn't a lot of vehicles. I think we were 7th overall and won our class and it took us 31 hours to do it.
[00:16:21.040] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, that was all the way down to Cabo or was it a loop race?
[00:16:27.220] - Larry Minor
No, it started in Tijuana and then you took the highway down to Ensenada and then they restart you in Ensenada and you went to La Paz. But you know, it's funny, rodney and I, of course, he ran a gas station and I worked for my dad, and neither one of us really had a lot of money, so we sent our girls, our wives to promote us some tires and wheels so we could run that. So they went to Dick CPEC and those two girls went down. Ronnie and I didn't go, and they got us like ten tires and wheels for the race up there and we couldn't believe it didn't cost us anything, so I gave us our tires and wheels to run that race.
[00:17:10.350] - Big Rich Klein
So they were your marketing sponsorship managers then?
[00:17:16.350] - Larry Minor
Yes, they were.
[00:17:20.030] - Big Rich Klein
That's great. And did they support you guys on the race down as well?
[00:17:26.110] - Larry Minor
That's a pretty good story. But anyway, no, we figured we'd never make it down there. Well, we finally got of course in those days things were pretty primitive. We got down and we did call home and says, we made it, we're okay. Oh, that's great. Well, my dad, of course, has his own jet at that time and he didn't say anything. And Rodney and I are down and sitting in the hotel having a beer or something and somebody says, hey, your guys wives are here. Well, my dad flew our wives, rodney's wife Donna and my wife down there, and they surprised us by coming down.
[00:18:01.530] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, that's a nice surprise. That's awesome.
[00:18:04.490] - Larry Minor
Yeah.
[00:18:05.610] - Big Rich Klein
And did you guys get to spend a couple of days down there extra because of that?
[00:18:10.280] - Larry Minor
It was a couple of days and one of the stories was, well, gosh, how are we going to get our jeep home? We're going to have to drive it home or what are we going to do? Then we heard that you can fly them home. So Rodney and I went out the airport and they said, yeah, it cost you $150 to fly it back to Tijuana. So we paid these guys $150 and they put it in a plane and they had a whole lot of help and they bodily picked this CJ five up and put it in the side door of an airplane and flew from Tijuana force.
[00:18:43.990] - Big Rich Klein
Not quite the same nowadays. $150 to fly it up?
[00:18:48.810] - Larry Minor
No, it's not.
[00:18:54.330] - Big Rich Klein
I know you've off road raced almost from that point. I don't know when was the last time you were down racing? Can you tell me that.
[00:19:07.870] - Larry Minor
Gosh, I'm trying to think what the last off road race was. Kind of let me go through maybe a little bit of the history after that race. Well, bill strapp came out to him, and he wanted roddy and I to drive a bronco. Well, roddy did not want to drive a bronco. He liked the jeeps better than the broncos. So at that time, we parted company, and he drove for Brian Chichu, and I started driving for bill strap. Well, I was just lucky and doing everything right. And we had a banner year driving the broncos. First drop that next year won the mint, the start at 711, the 500 to 1000, and that was in 68 and then in 69. And of course, rodney chased me. Him and Carl jackson chased me all year, and they never could beat me when I was in that bronco. So the next year, rodney wanted to drive a bronco, so him and I decided to team up and run the 60, 919, 69, 1000, and that's when we wanted overall in 69. After that, rodney continued driving the four wheel drive vehicles of production, and I moved into the pony that bill strap had built for parnelli, and parnelli built big olive.
[00:20:27.770] - Larry Minor
So I drove the pony from strap for many years after that and enjoyed it. That parnelli was very tough to beat, and I run the same class as a big ole. I remember he beat me a few times. It was tough to beat him, but I loved the pony. It rode good, and it was fast card. I raced that till, I think, 77, something like that. And then I decided to go drag racing after that.
[00:20:59.250] - Big Rich Klein
Let's talk about the drag racing from dirt to pavement.
[00:21:05.190] - Larry Minor
Okay. I've always had the desire. I like speed and you go fast. I even was doing some pavement racing back in the early 60s. I'd go to colton drag strip. I had a 56 ford, and I got me a 57 chevy after that. And I still got a few trophies from that drag strip in colton. But anyway, I've always had the desire to go for asphalt racing, so I built my first when the ford program pretty well went away from bill strapp, I built me a dragster with my longtime friend that rode with me a lot in the races, jack baer. He was an engine builder, and he was a drag racer. I took jack with me on the off road races because he was an excellent mechanic and always patch things up and get us going again so we wouldn't stay broke down. But anyway, I built my first dragster, and it was in the fall, and I wanted to drive, but I didn't have time to get my driver's license, and I wanted to run the winter nationals that were coming up. Well, anyway, jack bear says, well, I know Larry bowers real well.
[00:22:15.470] - Larry Minor
We'll get Larry bowers to drive your car there. He's driven. He's got a top fuel license. So we went to pomona the weekend before. We went to orange county the weekend before pomona and put Larry Bowers in the car so he'd get a few passes on it. Well, he smoked the tires and stayed in it and then hit the guardrail and then went to the other side of the track and hit the other guardrail. Went upside down, threw him out of the car, broke both arms and leg or two, and it was a mess. And it was at night, and it was fired. Everything well, after that, my family, says Larry, my wife and kids, you'll never drive one of those cars. If you continue this, you'll never drive. But anyway, I wanted to still race, so we rebuilt the car, and that's when I got Larry Dixon to drive. And he drove a couple of years for me. And then we were doing good running division races, but we weren't national event contenders yet. Well, Steve Gibbs, who is the race director for NHRA, says, larry, we've been watching your program, and we like what we see.
[00:23:22.780] - Larry Minor
You do a good job at running your program. We could bring you a guy that could take you to the next level to win national events. They brought Gary beck to me, and I hired Gary Beck to drive my dragster. And then we'd gotten a few laps in a couple of years of racing and no accidents or anything, so I just still had the desire to drive. So I built Gary a new car, and I drove his old car. And then in 83, we won the world championship with Gary driving. That was our first world championship and top fuel, and I enjoyed driving. I didn't really care to win the world championship, but I love driving and making changes on the cars and things like that. I didn't really have any desire to go get major sponsors or anything like that for my racing. But I was walking down Pitt road at orange county at the world finals, and these two guys came up and I said, are you Larry Minor? I said, yes, sir, I am. He said, I'm Dave Gerard. This is Tom Herb. We're from Ozmobile, and we want to get into drag racing.
[00:24:34.110] - Larry Minor
We want to be with you. And I said, gosh, guys, I don't have a driver. I don't have a car. I don't have a transporter. They say, we will give you the resources to do it. Oh, man, really? So anyway, we worked on the hood of my truck, pounded out an agreement, and a few days went by, and I knew, and I said, I got a hold of Ed McCullough, and I heard Ed was looking for a ride. And I said, you want to come and drive for me next year, Ed? Heck, yeah, I'll drive a car. Okay. This means I got to put everything together. Well, word travels in the race world a lot. And so I got a call about a week later from Miller Brewing Company. Chris Moore, who is the president, he says, we hear, Larry, you put a deal with Automobile and Ed McCullough is going to drive your car. We want to be your major sponsor. Valer Beer. We want to sponsor the off road truck that you and Parnelli Jones drives. I was driving an off road truck then and John Nelson was keeping it prepared. He built the truck and everything and he said, we want to sponsor your top field dragster.
[00:25:37.920] - Larry Minor
You drive the top field dragster Gary Beck drives and a funny car that Ed McCullough is going to drive. So I had to get my plane, fly back to, I guess it was Milwaukee and put a deal together with those guys.
[00:25:51.170] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, that's nice when somebody like that calls.
[00:25:54.890] - Larry Minor
Yeah. I was just a lucky guy at the right place at the right time. And I was always dedicated in what I was doing to win races and I was always the kind of guy to hire the best people I could to work around. That's something my dad taught me. He says, Larry, always surround yourself with good people because they'll make you look good.
[00:26:17.450] - Big Rich Klein
Right. And it's interesting. I've done a couple of ormhoff inductees like yourself and John Nelson's name keeps coming up.
[00:26:29.210] - Larry Minor
He was a very good fabricator. I remember I hadn't started driving, I missed a little part of my off road there where he switched to the drag, but I hadn't started driving the top fuel car yet. But I missed racing. So I went to Walker Evans and Walker had his own shop and I had him build me a Chevy truck, I mean, full out. And John Nelson was the fabricator that built that truck. Well, when I took delivery of the truck, I says, you know, Walker, I'm going to need somebody to maintain this thing. What about John? Do you care if I hire John to come to work for me? Walker says, no, take him because this is as high as he ever going to go in my business. So then I hired John Nelson. He came over, of course. He's my off road fabricator and mechanic for years. And even after I quit driving and Parnelli quit driving a truck, we got Steve Kelly to drive force.
[00:27:25.070] - Big Rich Klein
Nice little tight group.
[00:27:29.470] - Larry Minor
Yeah. And John was a heck. He built my pre runners and everything for us. He's a heck of a fabricator.
[00:27:35.880] - Big Rich Klein
Yes, he is. I just got his phone number and talked to him about talk to him about being on one of the episodes. So I'm looking forward to that. He's got quite a history as yourself. Now, when you got into the Miller program and Ozmobile Drag racing, how did that turn out for you guys?
[00:28:00.330] - Larry Minor
It turned out really good. Well, I mean, Ozmobile stuck with me for the 14 or the 14 years that I raced my cars. The ozmobile stayed right with me. I had Miller for nine years, and that went away. And then I had otter pops. I knew Paul pope owned the otter pops or little sugar flavored water popsicles. He sponsored my cars for a while, and then I heard McDonald's wanted to get into drag racing, so I put a deal together with McDonald's.
[00:28:36.870] - Big Rich Klein
So no french fries, but go fast.
[00:28:42.230] - Larry Minor
With a lot of help from Jim Williams owned golden state foods, and they were a big supplier of McDonald's. They supplied all of the food and stuff for the McDonald's restaurants with his help and all that. I put that deal together with McDonald's with ed renzi.
[00:29:04.250] - Big Rich Klein
Nice. I can remember watching drag racing on wild water sports and watching the McDonald's car. That's the one I do remember.
[00:29:19.650] - Larry Minor
We had a banner year with the first year with McDonald's in 92. Gosh, I think we won five races that year with both cars at the same race, the dragster and the funny car, plus other races. And we won a world championship with a cruise as a rookie.
[00:29:41.210] - Big Rich Klein
Pendergon right. And talk about that association and how that came about.
[00:29:47.450] - Larry Minor
Actually, Joe pisano says, I have this guy that really be a good driver, Larry. He really wants to drive a top fuel car. He's driven alcohol cars and things like that. Crew showed up at my shop door one day and says, I hear you're looking for a driver. I want to drive one of your cars. He says, I'll work for nothing. I don't have nothing to hold me back. And I got a class one license. I can drive your diesel rigs and everything. So I went and put a deal together with cruise, and we became really good friends and won a lot of races.
[00:30:21.510] - Big Rich Klein
That's awesome. And he drove the transporter, too?
[00:30:26.310] - Larry Minor
No, I think most of my guys all had a class one license, but when we did travel, we traveled 24 hours a day. Like if we're going to go to California or Gainesville, they had it down in hours how many hours it was going to take them. And in the transporter, I had a little living quarters back there, so some of the guys that were traveling could rest and sleep, and then they'd swap drivers over so many hours.
[00:30:49.700] - Big Rich Klein
Right, that makes sense, especially when you're trying to get from race to race, weekend to weekend.
[00:30:55.010] - Larry Minor
Yes.
[00:30:56.610] - Big Rich Klein
And did you ever drive the top fuel down the course yourself? Did you take that quarter mile run?
[00:31:05.220] - Larry Minor
Oh, yeah. I started driving in 81 or 82. Okay. We called them the two blue cars that Gary beck and I. And I drove that. And actually I won a couple of races, national events. I won baton rouge one year, and I won the mile high nationals one year.
[00:31:21.310] - Big Rich Klein
Very good.
[00:31:22.190] - Larry Minor
Awesome. In those days, they call me. A blocker a lot of times. But if I had to come and race gary, I would either leave the car in the pits or be late on the light or do something so gary could win.
[00:31:42.510] - Big Rich Klein
Well, that makes sense. If you guys are teaming up together and he's running all the time, I guess, or popping off more wins. And if you face him, it could hurt the standings.
[00:31:56.150] - Larry Minor
I drove a top fuel car from I think it was 81 to 88 those last year. I drove I drove the miller car, and then I drove one of the miller dragsters 88. I quit driving. My dad passed away. Then I said, you know, I better not. I'm the guy that's in charge. I better really buckle down and watch the business a little better and quit the driving part of it.
[00:32:24.580] - Big Rich Klein
Well, that makes sense. Heard that from a couple of others as well that had businesses that depended on them. So then becoming just the team owner at that point, it was larry minor motorsports. You guys produced product as well for other racers?
[00:32:47.270] - Larry Minor
Not really the top fuel stuff. We came up with some things that were like the p jackson barrel valve. We were one of the first ones to do that on our cars. I know bernie federally came to me one day. I'd go down the shop, and bernie says, larry, there's some new products out there we need to look at. And he says this pete jackson makes a barrel valve. I says, well, good. Go buy a couple. Well, larry, you just don't go buy a couple of his barrel valves. He takes you, and he wants the whole class. So we all got in a car, we drove down to pete jackson, and this barrel valve was $7,500 for one barrel valve, because then you could buy a whole innerly injector for probably 600, something like that. But anyway, we went through and put that barrel valve on, and then the quick change rear ends. Not the quick change, but the live axle rear ends that are in the dragsters now.
[00:33:39.860] - Big Rich Klein
Right?
[00:33:40.280] - Larry Minor
I got that idea. We had a lot of tire shake before they had those live axle rear ends. And when it starts multiplying, when you have four different splines working against each other, when they go start a tire shake, it multiplies itself. Well, I can remember when we were off road racing, and parnelli built the big oli car. We had problems out there with losing the rear end. Because of the ford rear end, the housing would move a little bit, and the gasket would come out. We'd lose all the oil and burn up the ring and pinion. Well, parnelli went to henry's machine works and designed a live axle rear end that was aluminum and everything. And I remembered that, and I called parnelli, and he put me in touch with henry's, and they released all the patterns for that stuff. And I took them to Steve Crisman, and that's when he built the first live axle rear end for a top fuel car. I know Joel motto, want them, everybody want them, but I wouldn't let anybody have any. We kept the Christmas, just built them for our cars.
[00:34:49.290] - Big Rich Klein
No reason giving away the farm on that one, so to speak.
[00:34:54.030] - Larry Minor
No. And then eventually, Strange copied it because there was a patent on it. They have to change it 15%. And whatever they did, they made it a top loader live axle. So strange. Builds one too. But Chrisman still builds that rear end for the Funny cars and the top fuel cars.
[00:35:11.990] - Big Rich Klein
And now more than one team has it.
[00:35:14.950] - Larry Minor
Yeah.
[00:35:15.740] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, so what do you think was the most defining moment in your racing career? Whether it was off road, sand, pavement. Is there one moment where you just went, wow, we made it?
[00:35:35.530] - Larry Minor
No, you work so hard at it. It was all about winning and making your car better and faster than anybody else, and your offroad car faster. I'm a freak about weight to horsepower, racial. And so I always built really good motors for my offroad cars, all aluminum motors, and put out like 800, 900 HP, which was a lot of horsepower back in those days. All my equipment, we built just like that. And then, of course, later on, the only stuff I ever put out on the market that I'd already quit racing was the Glamis sand jeeps. When I quit racing, my kids wanted to go to Glamis, and they were very young and 1214 years old, and Sandy and I, my wife and I had a Jeep. And later on, my boys, it's time you get off your quad and I'll build you a jeep like mine, or you can have mine. My son Andy says, dad, I don't want a Jeep unless you can make it long travel with king shocks on it. So I sent out my desk with a graph by graph paper, and I designed this Jeep. I took all the knowledge I had in drag racing and all the knowledge that I got in off road racing, designed this Jeep, and I built my kids one, I built myself one.
[00:36:57.910] - Larry Minor
So just my family had them. And everybody says, oh, we want one of those Jeeps, one of those Jeeps. I ended up building 40 of those darn things.
[00:37:05.350] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, that's awesome. And do you still follow all of the racing, the different types?
[00:37:17.610] - Larry Minor
Yeah, I'd say pretty much. I talk to Tony and Cruz all the time. In fact, my son's wife Sarah, she's a girl scout leader. She has eight, nine year old Girl Scouts. And she called me up and says, larry, do you think you can get us to we're doing auto mechanics and we're making these pinewood derbies. Do you think you can get us some tickets to the NHRA Winter Nationals out here? I said, well, yeah, I think so. So I call up NHRA and they says, larry, I think you can qualify for our yes program. It's youth Educational Services. So I ended up and I fit in. I ended up taking a party bus. I took 18 Girl Scouts and 13 parents to the Winter National this year.
[00:38:00.830] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, that must have been quite the show for those young girls.
[00:38:05.530] - Larry Minor
And Cruise was so good to him. They set him down in his pit area and give him a little talking. And they wanted to meet Leah Pruitt because my daughter in law's mother taught Leah Pruitt in fourth grade. She was a school teacher. And so we went over and introduced ourselves to Leah. And Leah came out and talked to all the girls and all that. I tell you, they had a great time. And then Tony Pedrogon came down. He took all the girls up in the announcing tower and everything. It was really a good weekend for him.
[00:38:35.760] - Big Rich Klein
Well, they got the full treatment.
[00:38:38.800] - Larry Minor
Yes. And that program that NHRA does, youth Educational Service. That's a great program. I didn't realize it was such a great program. Because when you enter at the back of the track and they got a huge tent set up and there's about 200 chairs in there and they set the kids down there and then they have a businessman, a marketing man, mechanic and a driver. They had Bob Tasker there as a driver. And they tell these kids, you got to start out the bottom. You can't start the top. How you have to work your way up in any kind of business or racing.
[00:39:10.910] - Big Rich Klein
I think that's something that's lost on most of our youth nowadays. I get the impression that so many kids look at what their parents have and expect that when they start off with their first job that that's what they're going to have. And they don't understand that it's a latter process.
[00:39:33.670] - Larry Minor
They don't really realize how much their parents put into getting where they are today. You just don't start the top. It's a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment.
[00:39:44.670] - Big Rich Klein
Yes. And I just wish we could instill that more so in our youth today. Hopefully the pendulum will swing back toward that kind of philosophy being taught.
[00:40:00.830] - Larry Minor
Well, we'll see. I was raised by my dad when I was a little kid. He loved to take his camping. So we learned how to start a campfire and all that. I go to Glamisand, but I was really shocked how many people did not know how to start a campfire.
[00:40:17.430] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:40:18.870] - Larry Minor
Unless they have a can of gasoline, they can't start it.
[00:40:22.230] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah. And then they light the dune on fire.
[00:40:24.970] - Larry Minor
Yes.
[00:40:27.770] - Big Rich Klein
So many people and one good friend of mine that he did the whole gas can on the fire thing and tried to light his backyard on fire along with furniture and everything else. So when he listens to this, he'll understand who I'm talking about. But anyway, it does amaze me. I went through Scouts, so building a campfire was second nature after doing it the first time and doing it over and over and over again. And I tried to instill that in my kids, and hopefully that happened. But everybody grows up differently.
[00:41:08.710] - Larry Minor
I'm glad you mentioned scouts. I wished every kid, boys and girls, would go through Scouting because they teach you so much at a young age. And there's one thing, and I always remembered that one of our mottos and Boy Scouts is be prepared. That always stuck with me, and I've always tried to keep myself prepared for anything.
[00:41:30.910] - Big Rich Klein
True. Very true. Yes. Scouting has definitely changed and become less important in young kids life, whether it's Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. And it's kind of a shame, it really is. But enough of that. So let's talk more about your relationship with some of the racers, and let's talk about off road and who, besides those that you talked about, like Rodhall and Strap, were instrumental in developing your off road career.
[00:42:13.290] - Larry Minor
Of course, like I mentioned before, actually, Bill Strarup probably had more to do with it than anything. He taught me the professional part of racing and how to prepare your cars. I tell you, remember, I would go down to Signal Hill and see Bill on the weekends and he would be in the back steam cleaning these broncos. I says, Bill, you got guys that work for you. Why can't they be doing that after the race? He says, Larry, I do this because I can look and see where the weak point or if they're breaking any place in it. So he was a hands on guy, and he taught me a lot about the off road racing. Of course, there's Rodney and John Nelson and Dickie Simpson and Vern Brown. They were all part of my life in the off road racing.
[00:43:00.970] - Big Rich Klein
Is there a special place in Baja for you? Meaning some people will tell me, oh, it's the Bay of La or this or that. Myself, I like the little spit at Buena Ventura. Is there a place like that that you enjoy?
[00:43:22.050] - Larry Minor
No, not really. There's some beautiful spots down there and all, but there's nothing that attracts me to worse. I'd say I won't have a place down there or anything like that. I enjoyed racing down there, enjoyed meeting a lot of people on the road and everything, but I would not want to live any place there.
[00:43:43.830] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, fair enough. And what did you think when you got inducted into Ormhoff?
[00:43:56.090] - Larry Minor
The off road?
[00:43:57.080] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah. The Offroad Motorsports Hall of Fame.
[00:43:59.440] - Larry Minor
Oh, God, it was such an honor. And Rodney and I were inducted at the same time. It's great. And I know Rodney was very instrumental in putting that off road motorsports hall of Fame program together, and that's when he asked. And I actually donated some money, so he could get started doing that and it was just such a great honor and seeing all the people there. I know I sponsored Herman Buoy, getting him inducted into it. That's what one guy forgot to mention is how much a part of off road racing Herman Buoy was. I remember I built a sprint car, one time single seater to race in Mexico and off road racing and I was a freak about keeping it light. So I carried a charter helicopter and I had Herman booy because he's a good mechanic as my mechanic and he would fly in the helicopter with a spare tire and all the tool if we broke down. And Roger mears and I drove the we took turns driving that thing and it was really a fast car and fun to drive, but we didn't win any races with it, but we had fun driving.
[00:45:08.770] - Big Rich Klein
Were there any races out there because you were racing before GPS? Was it just the signage on the road or on the track or did you guys have a map drawn out? What was the process of getting from point A to point B?
[00:45:28.620] - Larry Minor
Well, the first race Rodney, go back and start when you first race. We'd never been beyond tier one and never pre run or anything, so we took a compass and we just kept going south till we hit water. And I remember we pulled into L Arco and it was about midnight and the pit crew says well Strap and Harvick is about 2 hours ahead of you. So Rodney and I all at that time said rodney, we're tired of this survival mode, we're going to go into the race mode. So we unloaded spare tires, tools, everything out of that jeep, let the air pressure down and we just drove it with everything we could. And it was just about daybreak. And here we met Strop coming the opposite way. And so we stopped and talked to him and Strap says you guys are going the wrong way. And I says well my compass is south, we're going south. There's a magnetic interference here and it's messing up your compass. I said well I don't think so, but that's what you believe. We're going on. So anyway, Ronnie and I took off. We didn't know it when Strap and Harvard went to take off, they were high centered in some ruts and they were stuck.
[00:46:38.850] - Larry Minor
Strap always accuses of leaving them there stuck, but we didn't know he was stuck. Anyway, that's the only thing we had was a compass and kept going south till we got to the Villa constitution and it was paved road from there to La Paz. We knew that.
[00:46:54.310] - Big Rich Klein
That's interesting. I heard a story one time listening to Ivan Stewart and he was talking about racing in Baja pre GPS, and it was him and Walker. The story was about him and Walker, and he had seen lights and Walker saw lights. Well, they were looking at each other's lights across the valley and I guess they were up on either mountainside and so they kind of started heading toward each other. And when they met up neither one of them knew which direction they were supposed to go.
[00:47:33.250] - Larry Minor
After that, when I started driving for him we went down and did a lot of pre running and pre run from one end to the other and do it backwards. And then he made these maps of the thing and the co driver would scroll it. They were on a scroll and you scroll this map along all the way. And I remember Jack Barron, I were flying for the finish line in the 1000 going into La Paz and there was nobody, only one that was ahead of us with a motorcycle Burquest and Preston and I looked and it's like three in the morning and there's cows crossing the road. Holy cow, what am I going to do? So anyway, I tried centering myself and hitting the rear end of one of them and the front of the other one. And I managed to keep the broncos straight when I hit them at the same time. And it spun them cows. I don't know what I killed them or what but it spun them around and we went straight through them and I slapped Obara. I says, Bear, help me watch out for these cows on the road.
[00:48:34.870] - Larry Minor
And he said, look, there are no cows on this map.
[00:48:42.150] - Big Rich Klein
No cows on the map.
[00:48:46.390] - Larry Minor
But that map really helped us a lot. Of course, going down and pre running after that we got to know the country pretty good.
[00:48:53.100] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, pre running nowadays especially seems to be very important nowadays. It's not just get down there and kind of follow the compass. I mean, with the electronics and everything they pretty much want you to stay on track or you get penalized. And I think that's a big change. But it also probably helps the locals and stuff because there's a lot more people down there now.
[00:49:26.230] - Larry Minor
Yes, I know. We had a lot of fun pre running. Of course, it was AK. Miller and Ray Brock, the whole strap team. And Jim Garner got to know Jim real well. There was Walker along with all the whole four team. We'd all pre run. I can remember one time we were AK. Miller and Ray Brock they were driving a truck with a welder in it and they were supposed to set up the pit for stromp at l Arco. And anyway, we were at Santa, and I tell you, but anyway, Ray Brock and AK. Miller would have to leave way early in the morning to get to the next place where we're going to spend the night. I think Jack Bear was with me. So we drove like heck and caught up to him one day and waved them down. They were about 20 miles ahead of everybody else and I says, hey, Strap wants you to go back. Loomis broke his front end in half, and he's Bronco, and they need you to well, they need to welder to fix it. Oh, man. Really? Yes. Anyway, he turned around, went back, which this was all a joke.
[00:50:40.230] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, jeez.
[00:50:42.110] - Larry Minor
I remember we all got into maybe it was San Ignacio was the next place we got into, San Ignacio. And we were all asleep in this big dormitory, and I heard Ray Brock coming and acknowledged, where's that damn minor? Where's that minor at? We're going to get because they had to go back. And then when they caught up, Bets dropping him, coming away, where's Loomis? We got to weld up his rent. He says he's okay. That's all that minor.
[00:51:12.950] - Big Rich Klein
That's some great stories.
[00:51:14.970] - Larry Minor
We had a lot of fun, I tell you.
[00:51:19.530] - Big Rich Klein
That's a great story right there. I don't know if the people racing nowadays have those kind of stories. Everybody's got stories, but those are the great ones. Those early days when everything was just new, there wasn't a history to go off of.
[00:51:43.330] - Larry Minor
I know a good friend of mine just ran the old Nora Nostalgia 1000. They just had it here a couple of weeks ago.
[00:51:51.490] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:51:52.000] - Larry Minor
And I think they won their class. His name was Gary Howe, and he drove a Bronco, and he mentioned Ed Perlman, and I don't know what I guess I said, well, look, if you see Ed, go up and give him a big hug and tell him I said hello. It was Ed's son that was running. I'm not sure that Ed himself is still alive. If he is, he's in his 90s someplace, because he's a few years older than I am.
[00:52:14.110] - Big Rich Klein
Right. I think you're right. I'm not sure that he's still alive. That's something that I'll have to look into.
[00:52:21.150] - Larry Minor
Yeah, but he was a great guy to have leading our sport.
[00:52:26.990] - Big Rich Klein
And are you in any other hall of fames? Like maybe drag racing?
[00:52:33.890] - Larry Minor
Yeah. I was inducted into the NHRA Drag Racing Hall of Fame down in Ocala, Florida, with Don Garlett in 2020.
[00:52:44.310] - Big Rich Klein
Very good. And I would imagine that was a pretty heartfelt honor as well.
[00:52:51.350] - Larry Minor
It was a big honor. Of course, it was nice that my whole family came down with me, and I got to see a lot of peace people that I haven't seen in a long time, including Don Garlett. Even though Don and I never raced together, we stayed good friends. And I remember when he started his hall of Fame and the monument he has out in front, he needed money for it, and so I donated the money to buy that. But I did in a deal. I was always involved in community products projects. And there was one they called it the Grand Night. That's where they cook hamburgers and everything for the kids, so they're not out on the street on graduation night. Well, I says, Don I'll donate the money to you if you'll come out and sign autographs at the high school grande reunion thing. So he came out and did that for me.
[00:53:43.300] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, that's awesome. That's great. And your family were your sons, did they get into racing at all?
[00:53:53.930] - Larry Minor
My boys raced a little bit. When I quit racing, I let them have my off road truck and stuff. They did that a little bit, but they found out how much work it was and how expensive it was to keep the thing running and doing all that, and they didn't want to work on it themselves, so that kind of faded away. But my son, he does have my last drag car that I race in the sand. He runs that now, and Corey Mac drives it, who used to drive my Top Fuel car for me. So it's a real fast car. It's tuned by Bob DeVore, who's an NHRA Tuner, and he'd been around for a long time. It's got a Brad Anderson blown alcohol fathead in it, and it's in a Jeep, one of my Sand Jeeps, but it's Lord with no suspension. It's got a crisp rear end in it and a B and J trans, and it runs 100 yards and 3.6 seconds at 135.
[00:54:46.800] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, that's amazing. In the sand because it's not getting the traction.
[00:54:52.350] - Larry Minor
Yeah. So my son Chris, he runs that program.
[00:54:55.730] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. Excellent. And any plans? Have you been to any of the induction ceremonies galas recently?
[00:55:08.130] - Larry Minor
No, I have not.
[00:55:11.010] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. Is there a possibility we may see you someday at one of them?
[00:55:18.710] - Larry Minor
I hope so. Jamie Martinez. Jamie used to ride with me. He worked for Bill Strap. I don't know whether he's getting inducted this year or not, but I'd have to talk to Barbara. But I know I wrote a letter on his behalf and how important these co drivers were to us drivers. US guys. As drivers and guys sit next to us, they're the real stars because they have to fix the car and ride with somebody. They don't know what he's going to do next.
[00:55:52.610] - Big Rich Klein
You're kind of putting your hands into somebody else's life. Into somebody else's hands. Absolutely.
[00:55:58.770] - Larry Minor
Yeah. They're the real heroes in this off road racing.
[00:56:02.390] - Big Rich Klein
Well, I want to say thank you so much for spending the time and talking to us about your history, the family history, the farm, the off road, everything that you've done, the drag racing. It's absolutely amazing that you've encompassed so much, and I want to say thank you for that. And I want to say I hope I get a chance to meet you in person. It would be a great honor for me to do that, and someday, maybe that'll happen. And, Larry, thank you so much for spending the time with us.
[00:56:40.990] - Larry Minor
You're welcome, Rich. Anytime. You call me anytime. You got my number.
[00:56:44.850] - Big Rich Klein
Absolutely. And I really appreciate it. It's been a great conversation. Thank you.
[00:56:49.330] - Larry Minor
Thank you.
[00:56:50.150] - Big Rich Klein
All right, you take care. Bye. Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message and let me know. Any ideas that you have or if there's anybody that you have that you think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.