The youngest of a family of legacy desert racers, Shelby Hall, granddaughter of Rod Hall, joins us for this episode. While that is a title befitting royalty in the Baja scene, Shelby has skills of her own. Check out this desert racer and see what she’s learned and accomplished.
3:54 – Faster, daddy, faster
10:15 – Inspired to do the Rebelle Rally, getting out of my comfort zone
17:39 – Stockish vehicles on the Rubicon
19:49 – Getting coached by grandpa
23:41 – Learning from your mistakes
25:56 – UTV’s are where it’s at!
28:19 – Virtual reality
32:41 – New experiences
37:05 – Racing the Bronco R
45:04 – Making memories in Baja
55:17 – Anybody need a driver?
We want to thank our sponsors Maxxis Tires and 4Low Magazine.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
The youngest of a family of legacy desert racers, Shelby Hall, granddaughter of Rod Hall, joins us for this episode. While that is a title befitting royalty in the Baja scene, Shelby has skills of her own. Check out this desert racer and see what she’s learned and accomplished.
3:54 – Faster, daddy, faster
10:15 – Inspired to do the Rebelle Rally, getting out of my comfort zone
17:39 – Stockish vehicles on the Rubicon
19:49 – Getting coached by grandpa
23:41 – Learning from your mistakes
25:56 – UTV’s are where it’s at!
28:19 – Virtual reality
32:41 – New experiences
37:05 – Racing the Bronco R
45:04 – Making memories in Baja
55:17 – Anybody need a driver?
We want to thank our sponsors Maxxis Tires and 4Low Magazine.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
[00:00:01.080] - Big Rich Klein
Welcome to the Big Rich show, this podcast will focus on conversations with friends and acquaintances within the four wheel drive industry. Many of the people that I will be interviewing, you may know the name, you may know some of the history, but let's get in depth with these people and find out what truly makes them a four wheel drive enthusiast. So now's the time to sit back, grab a cold one and enjoy our conversation.
[00:00:29.660] - Maxxis Advertisement
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[00:00:56.220] - 4Low Advertisement
Why should you read 4Low magazine? Because 4Low magazine is about your lifestyle, the Four-Wheel Drive adventure lifestyle that we all enjoy, rock crawling, trail riding, event coverage, vehicle builds and do it yourself tech all in a beautifully presented package. You won't find 4Low on a newsstand rack. So subscribe today and have it delivered to you.
[00:01:21.790] - Big Rich Klein
Well, today featured on Conversations with Big Rich, we have none other than Shelby Hall, Shelby is the granddaughter of legendary racer Rod Hall. We're going to delve into Shelby's life, learning the ropes from one of the greatest and her life growing up in a racing family. Shelby, how are you doing?
[00:01:43.330] - Shelby Hall
Hi. I am doing awesome.
[00:01:47.190] - Big Rich Klein
I first met you that I can remember, I believe it was that one of the Offroad Hall of Fame dinners and then we got together, we started Shelley and I staffed the Rebelle Rally and you participated in it. But I know I've known your grandfather for a long time. Back in the early two thousands, I ran Valley off Road Racing Association Vorra, and the family came out and raced with us with the Hummers.
[00:02:17.630]
And I think that's when I first met Emily Miller as well, although I can't specifically say I remember her being at the race. But anyway, it's great to have you here. I would really like to hear your history, some of the family history and how you got to being where you're at now.
[00:02:36.980] - Shelby Hall
Well, thank you. I am so excited to talk to you and kind of relive some of the memories. It's been an interesting time in quarantine. So it's nice to talk about offroad and something to to look back on, to give us something to look forward to. I can't wait to get back out and get in the dirt and have some fun. I agree. Yeah, but you you are right. So I am a third generation Hall and Rod Hall is my grandfather.
[00:03:17.510]
He had two boys, Josh Hall and Chad Hall. Josh is my dad. So, of course, Chad is my uncle. And, you know, I. Feel like, honestly, I don't know anything different other than offroad, I can remember way back before school age, so prior to five years old, my dad and my mom ran the Rod Hall Off road Racing Driving School. And that was here in Reno, which is where I live.
[00:03:54.180]
And I remember my sister and I would hang out in the motor home during the day while they would be teaching class and then and of course, we'd be playing and whatnot. But then in the evenings when class had come to an end, I would beg my dad to take us for hot laps in the race truck so he would strap us in. I mean, we I wasn't even big enough to see over the dashboard, but he would strap us in and he would just take us out and go fast.
[00:04:30.090]
And I would just beg him, please go faster, go faster. And so I really feel like that was the beginning of it for me. And I just became fully immersed in it, whereas my older sister, it wasn't really her thing. So, you know, I feel pretty fortunate that I loved it and that I had the opportunity to join in with everything that they were doing. So then as I got older, I was able to work with Rod in his different businesses.
[00:05:10.920]
So I was an instructor for the Rod Hall Lite Truck tire seminars where we worked in partnership with B.F. Goodrich and Michelin. And that was such a fun experience. We got to work with people from all over the United States, people that work for different tire distribution companies, Costco, Sam's Club, discount tire, you know, companies like that. And they would get to come through our course and just be fully immersed in learning everything they could about the light truck tires.
[00:05:53.790]
And it was so fun. I mean, we would have some people come through who had never been to the desert before, people that had never seen snow before. And so it was a really cool, cool opportunity to get to share with so many people what we love to do and then also to share our area with them. And from there, I worked with Rod with the Offroad Motorsports Hall of Fame. Man, that was a really special time for me.
[00:06:28.590]
Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing to say this, I guess, but I feel like I learned so much more about my own family and my grandfather during that time. I worked for the Hall of Fame for eight years and it was my job to know about all of the inductees. So I was just constantly doing research and learning about really so many of the guys who were the original dudes, the original guys that set up what we know today. And I guess I always kind of felt like my grandpa was pretty humble and he didn't talk.
[00:07:11.250]
I mean, he had his moments, his proud moments. But for the most part, he wasn't the person that just read off his list of accomplishments to you. And so really, during those eight years at the Hall of Fame was when I learned all of the amazing things that he did that was really cool for me. I then worked with him. We opened up another business together. And this was kind of the last years of his life.
[00:07:44.130]
So he had retired and then needed something to do. So he decided he wanted to start up another business. So we opened up Rod Hall Drive. What we did there was we worked with destination management companies and the casinos here in our local area. And we offered tours. We had a fleet of Jeep Wranglers and a fleet of Arctic Cat side by sides. So we were able to once again just show so many people about our area and about our passion of four wheeling and the beauty that lies within being outside. That's something.
[00:08:28.530]
That, I think, is a common thread for my family. We quite love being outdoors, so that was something that was really fun and special. And we also did some off road driver training, which was really my first experience in teaching others. And it was so, so rad. I loved it. We worked actually pretty hand-in-hand with the Rebelle Rally, and quite a few of the women who competed came through our course and I have never felt so inspired before.
[00:09:09.480]
So that was a really a really cool experience for me.
[00:09:13.850] - Big Rich Klein
That's one of the things with the Rebelle that always amazes me is that many, if not all of these women that get together to do the Rebelle, they may be super strong in their individual skills, in whatever business they are running or own or involved in, outside of off road and driving. And then they get into the Rebelle and it really throws them out of their comfort zone. You know, you always have the Cora Jokinen's or Nena Barlow's or Emme Hall's that are used to off road.
[00:09:49.680]
Right. Most of them, even if they've got a Toyota and they go wheeling every weekend, it's completely different when they get into the rally type situation. Even watching those women expand their horizons and basically just come alive during the event is it's the reason I like the event more than any other event that I am part of, even including the ones I put on.
[00:10:15.360] - Shelby Hall
You are so right. And I will honestly say I the first year of the rally, I, I had never done anything like that before. I have been desert racing for a really long time, but had never I didn't even really know that much about it. And my grandpa Rod kept saying, well, don't you want to do it?
[00:10:41.130]
Don't you want to do the Rebelle? No, I don't. I don't know. I like desert racing. And he said, well, I don't know. I think I think you should give it a try.
[00:10:51.120]
And I still was kind of on the fence about it. And we hosted our first Rebelle driving course. And when I met those women. It was a group of women who I mean, one of them had been a mom for the last 18 years, and she just wanted to do something different. She wanted to prove to herself that she was still a badass. And there was other women who didn't even know when to put it into four wheel drive or how to fill a tire up.
[00:11:22.400]
And they didn't let any of those things be a roadblock for them. And then here was me who has all this experience. And yet I was like, oh, I don't know.
[00:11:33.410]
I don't know what I'm doing. And I couldn't believe that I would let myself get in my own way like that. And so I immediately said, yep, let's do it. And my teammate and I got ready for the Rebelle in five weeks, which was insane. But we did it. And I agree with you, it was like nothing I had ever experienced. I have been down the Baja Peninsula. I have raced in the Baja 1000 I have, which takes us thirty two hours.
[00:12:03.620]
I've done all these pretty incredible things and yet every day I was like, this is crazy. I don't this is I'm totally out of my comfort zone. This is we're having to use all different skills, all new skills. We're having to learn new things. Oh my gosh. Communication. You know, there was just it's really a multifaceted event. I will say this is not something I tell a lot of people. But I cried when we crossed the finish line and I've never cried.
[00:12:36.950]
And it was tears of joy. I just I was so proud of myself. I was so proud of my team that we did it, that we made it ten days and thirteen hundred miles and through Glamis, which I'd never even seen Glamis before. And I was terrified and and we did it, you know, and it was that was a really cool experience for me.
[00:13:01.550] - Big Rich Klein
I can tell you, we were sitting Shelley and I were sitting doing our thing. We had done a checkpoint and then we started sweeping down and we were getting close to Tonopah. And you were in a red jeep? I was like I could we were sitting up high above, you know, where we could see down into the valley and I could see dust trails going all different directions. You know, different teams are going after different checkpoints. And there was one dust trail that I kept seeing zipping across it and it would stop and then it would zip back the other way, traveling a little bit faster speed than most of the girls were going, ladies were driving at. And I looked at Shelley, and I'm going, OK, that's one of two people. It's either going to be Shelby or it's going to be Emme one of those two is the one that's that's ripping around out there. You guys came up and got a, We had been sitting above a blue checkpoint. We went past it. And you went flying by us, stopped, right where the blue was at I don't remember if it was you or the you know, your navigator got out, ran to the checkpoint, jumped back in and Zoom, took off again.
[00:14:18.690]
And it was it was quite amazing because we sat there and watched like five or six other teams go after that same blue. And you guys were on a mission where it looked like you knew exactly where it was at before you even got there. And because the other teams would drive past it and back up. You know, they were looking like right around the road and not thinking about where, you know, where they really needed to be. It was interesting watching that.
[00:14:47.040]
But then I remember the next day
[00:14:49.050] - Shelby Hall
I was going to say not every day was like that, that's for sure.
[00:14:53.430]
Oh, my gosh.
[00:14:55.800] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, going starting off and making a wrong turn can be can be frustrating. And that was what happened in Mexico, too. But
[00:15:07.000] - Shelby Hall
that is very true. Yes. I have found myself in some interesting predicaments in Mexico as well. But, you know, that's it's just part of the deal. And, you know, thankfully, you can laugh about it later on. And my teammate, Amy Lerner, she is phenomenal. She competed in the Gazelle Rally a few times, but she was always the driver.
[00:15:32.130]
So this was her first experience as a navigator and man. You know, I really hand I mean, it is so I applaud I applaud all of the navigators because they're really the stars of the show in this type of event. It is. Wow. It's so much to take in. There is strategy and mapping and triangulating and reading a topography map. And so it's not just following the line on the GPS. You know, it really is what we were having to do.
[00:16:09.690]
Math equations, first TSD sections. So it was really and I found that this competition is not about speed, whereas a desert race is about speed. And I found out very quickly on day one, it is not about speed because that's when you miss little roads and you miss things that you need to be looking for.
[00:16:34.530]
So it was definitely it was it was a great experience and I would love to do it again.
[00:16:41.680] - Big Rich Klein
So your family is racing predominantly in four wheel drive classes? Yes. Did you ever have the opportunity to do any slower type wheeling, like doing the Rubicon Trail or any of those?
[00:16:56.400] - Shelby Hall
A little bit. We definitely have spent some time on the Rubicon Trail, but for the most part and of course, you know, going out and just having fun with friends and whatnot, but really and I know my grandpa was a Jeeper in his earlier days, but for the most part, we really love going fast in the desert. Nothing wrong with that. Yes, I do love Rubicon, though. Rod is one of the original 13 owners. And so it does play a very has a very special place.
[00:17:39.210]
And in my heart and I have had some pretty interesting experiences because we have never been a people to have very modified vehicles that something that we pride ourselves on and something that is pretty cool for us to be able to share with other people that you don't have to have a super built rig to still go and have fun and enjoy yourself. And it's really about learning technique and patience and having a few good extra tools like your tires, like having, you know, being able to air up and air down and then, you know, some things like that that definitely help you.
[00:18:29.490]
But I drive an H3 Hummer that has been a little bit modified, but for pre running down in Mexico, not for creeping through the Rubicon Trail. But I will say that Hummer has made it multiple times through the Rubicon Trail. It definitely has some rock rash, and it definitely has, you know, like the mufflers probably bent and the gas tank definitely is not quite the same shape that it used to be. But but we've made it.
[00:19:07.260]
And even that Jeep that we took on the Rebelle, I have taken that multiple times through the Rubicon and same thing. It has a very minimal lift and a little bigger tire. And that's it.
[00:19:20.730]
That's been that's I always get really nervous before we go do some sort of like a rock crawling trip because it's like who having to scrape metal on rocks.
[00:19:31.440]
And, you know, I'm not a huge fan of that, but we always have an awesome time. Excellent.
[00:19:40.470] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. So what was the first race that you that you drove in or were the driver of record? You remember your first race?
[00:19:49.780] - Shelby Hall
Yeah, well, my first first race was actually riding with Rod and it was a VORRA race, I believe it was the USA five hundred, OK? And we were in his blue H3 Hummer. And man, I was feeling every emotion. I was like, oh my gosh, I get to ride with my grandpa.
[00:20:15.880]
Oh my gosh. I have to ride with my grandpa. What if I say something wrong? What if I say left when I mean right? What if I you know, all the what ifs? I had no idea what to expect. And then the other thing going through my mind was how do you tell Rod Hall what to do? He knows what he's doing. So do I say anything? Do I just you know, I was totally overthinking.
[00:20:40.570]
So we get in the car and we're racing along. And he was so calm, he was having a blast. He talked his way through it. And I think that was his way of training me. So we hit a rise a little bit too fast, and that's exactly what he said. I think the next one will just go one mile an hour slower. And that was how he coached me through it. And the whole time I just had this huge smile on my face and I kept trying to tell myself, OK, this, you're in a race.
[00:21:16.390]
You need to be kind of serious. You need to be focused. And I would just get this huge smile and think, this is just so much fun. I just love this. And and that was it. And then the next race, he said, OK, Shelby, you get to drive. And I said, Oh, I don't oh, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet. And he said, well, now's as good a time as any.
[00:21:38.560]
So that was I got one one ride and then and actually I think the Baja 1000 was the next race.
[00:21:46.120]
So nothing like throwing me to the wolves right in the fire, which was totally his style for sure. Anything that made me nervous, he would make me do it.
[00:22:00.500] - Big Rich Klein
Besides racing with Rod, what is the memory that sticks out the most in for you any time you're racing when you're talking racing or you're thinking about it? What is there an aha moment or something that happened out on the racecourse or something that just made it all worthwhile for you besides Rod.
[00:22:27.290] - Shelby Hall
Yeah. So and I would say this and in every race being a third generation and being a female, I feel like I have pretty big shoes to fill. And I feel like there are a lot of expectations. And not only do I feel like other people have expectations, I put some pretty hard expectations on myself. And so I am pretty nervous when it is leading up to the race because I don't want to make a mistake. I don't want to let the team down.
[00:23:01.310]
I don't want to let anybody down. And which is not really the best frame of mind, I don't think, to have. So I have been trying to to change that. But, you know, I just go into every race and try to remember that A. I am out there really to have fun and that B. I am really capable that I do know the skills that it takes and I do know how to read terrain and I do know how to diagnose the vehicle and I do know how to make it through my stint.
[00:23:41.210]
And I will say I think it was my second Baja 1000. I tipped the car over and I was not pumped. I was really I was the end of my stint. I had been driving all night. We got stuck in silt for hours. We were exhausted and I was like a mile from where I was getting out of the car. And I made a really, really, really stupid mistake. I turned uphill on a downhill slope and gravity wins every time.
[00:24:12.620]
And so I just laid it over on its side. But I mean, as shitty as it was in the moment, we still finished and everything was fine there. I learned right. I learned from my mistake. And unfortunately, we have to make mistakes to learn so that that moment for me was pivotal, that everybody does it. It's just part of the deal. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and learn from it. And every time I get done with a race and I get out of the race car, I think, man, I think I drove one hundred and ten percent.
[00:24:53.210]
I really don't think I could have gone any faster. I really feel like I pushed my limits. I scared myself a couple of times, but nothing I feel like I'm a better driver at the end of this race and I just think that's cool. I think that's a really, which is partly one of the reasons I love racing so much is that you're constantly pushing yourself and we are capable of so much more than we think we are.
[00:25:20.440] - Big Rich Klein
So what series have you been racing in over the last couple of years?
[00:25:25.550] - Shelby Hall
So last year was really cool for me, actually, I had been wanting to transition into a side by side and the we had been my family's been racing kind of a stock production class for ever. And it's not really a class anymore. You know, you go out and there's there's a couple of cars in your class, but it's not super competitive. And I had felt like I was ready to bump up into a little more competitive class and a vehicle with a little more capability.
[00:25:58.610]
And a UTV is where it's at. It's the largest class. It's the largest growing class, their super fun to drive. So anyway, so I had been thinking about how I could transition into getting into a side by side and ended up meeting some mutual friends who were interested in having another driver on board. So they invited me to come and race with them. So we did the SCORE series, which was really fun. It was my first time of actually racing the five hundred, the Baja 500 and of course the Baja 400.
[00:26:41.090]
It was its first year last year. So that was really fun. And but then I was very, very lucky to be given the opportunity to race the new Bronco R at the thousand. So I didn't get to finish up the season in the UTV, but it was it was a blast. And so this year it's like everything is a little bit up in the air. But I'll be back in a UTV, but racing with a different team and we're going to be kind of jumping around a little bit.
[00:27:16.790]
We're not going for a series. We're just going to have some fun. So we'll definitely be racing some VORRA and Best in the Desert and hopefully I'll be back in Mexico for the thousand.
[00:27:34.440] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent.
[00:27:36.980]
Let's talk about the Bronco R. Let's talk about it, we have let's talk about it. When did it all come about for you guys to to jump into that vehicle and get that thing ready to race? Or when did you get involved with the program?
[00:27:53.430] - Shelby Hall
It's a pretty crazy story, actually. And so many times throughout this experience, I would pinch myself and say, oh, my gosh, is this is this really happening?
[00:28:08.100]
I can't believe I'm getting this amazing opportunity. So early in 2019, I would say maybe March or April.
[00:28:19.760]
A couple people from Ford came out to Reno and they brought a virtual reality set up and they wanted to show Rod what the new Bronco was going to look like because he had been such a great influence on the brand. Which was so incredible. Rod was in a wheelchair at this point, and he he wasn't able to drive. And so this was a really special thing for us. So it was just my dad, my grandma, my grandpa and myself and the Ford guys.
[00:28:58.020]
And we got to have a little sneak peek of what the new Bronco was going to look like. And it was very special for Rod. I mean, it brought tears to his eyes and the whole virtual reality setup was incredible. I mean, it was like you were sitting in the vehicle, which was pretty cool.
[00:29:17.850]
So from there, I just kept in communication with those men that I had met and had just told them whatever I could do to help. I would love to be a part of it. I thought it was awesome.
[00:29:32.550]
And so we had some communication throughout the the next few months. And then they invited me to come back to Detroit to just meet with them and see what was going on back in Detroit, which I had no idea what was to come.
[00:29:55.960]
I just thought, wow, this is a pretty cool I feel pretty special to be able to experience this.
[00:30:04.140]
And so they had set up a lot of really neat things for us and we got to tour the archives. So we got to see a lot of what the original Broncos looked like, all these really cool old articles that included not just Rod, but just kind of the history of Off-Road Racing.
[00:30:26.370]
And it was really neat to see all of the old advertisements.
[00:30:32.580]
It was just it was really awesome to see the history of the Bronco.
[00:30:37.620]
And, you know, essentially, I think at the end of the day, it was an interview and I just didn't know it. So as I was leaving that day, we were walking out of the the main facility. I still didn't really know why I was there. I mean, no one had actually said anything to me other than I got to meet everyone. Performance side, marketing side everywhere. It was very overwhelming in a wonderful way. So as we're walking out, I ask one of the one of the guys, I said, so what do we do from here?
[00:31:19.690]
What do we what are we doing? And he said, well, you know, we would love to work with you and whatever aspect that may be. So why don't you go home? I know you'll need to rest up and we'll touch base next week. So still, I felt like I had no answer as to what we were doing or what the whole point of this was.
[00:31:41.780]
Yeah. And then from there, I, they invited me to to drive on the team, which was I again, it was one of those moments where I was pinching myself and I thought, oh my gosh, what, you want me to drive the new Bronco? And I didn't know who was on the team yet. Everything was very hush hush. But I had to basically go do a drive test. I had to make sure that. I was not going to wreck the vehicle or what have you.
[00:32:12.640]
Thankfully, I passed that, hoo... that was also a first drive test, that I had to drive in front of people, you know, talk about nerve wracking, kind of qualifying, but not, seriously, which I've never qualified before.
[00:32:29.440]
So it was definitely an experience of all firsts for me, which I loved every minute of it. Oh, my gosh.
[00:32:41.470]
And really, it was kind of the first experience of me doing all of these things by myself. I had to do a bunch of traveling. Everything happens in Southern California to travel back and forth a lot. And I was kind of a solo ranger on it. So that was a new experience for me as well. But so I passed the qualifying sorry, the dog.
[00:33:10.120]
And that was kind of when the schedule started getting put into place. And when I got to learn who else was on the team, I just I knew this was going to be an experience of a lifetime. And, you know, Rod had already passed away by this time, which was really a bummer for me. It would have been such a cool thing for him. He would have been so proud. He would have been so proud.
[00:33:40.510]
But I just knew that I got to be on this star studded team of guys who have been in the industry and racing for so long that they are amazing at what they do. And they all come from a different leg of the sport. And so I went into it thinking, I'm going to pick all these guys brains. I want to learn as much as I can from all of them. And I just want to be in the moment every moment.
[00:34:12.790]
I want to remember everything about this. Yeah, it was it was so much fun. We did a big group pre run. All of us went down and we pre ran the whole race course so that we could get to know each other better. And everyone was so amazing and I was the only girl. So that could have been it could have been hard.
[00:34:38.110]
And everyone made me feel so incredibly welcome and a part of the team and no doubt everyone was there encouraging me at the end of every day. They were actually, I think, a little bit surprised. They were like, Dang, you kind of went through some of that shit better than everyone else, which I think it's just the patience of a woman that sometimes that man doesn't have.
[00:35:06.040]
I don't know that for a fact, but you're probably right.
[00:35:11.980]
Yeah. So we we did our big group, pre run.
[00:35:16.240]
And I really tried very hard to rotate vehicles so that I had an opportunity to ride and drive with everyone else because I definitely wanted to see their driving style. We had, like I said, people from different aspects of desert racing. So we have Curt Leduc, who is a phenomenal short course racer, and we have Jason Scherer, who is a rock crawler, and Cameron Steele who drives a trophy truck. So, I mean, it's just so many different skill sets, all on one team, so many just the tips and the tricks and the stories.
[00:36:00.010]
And it was the most memorable trip I've ever had. I just feel so grateful that I got to be a part of it. So, yeah, I mean, from there we then it was about, I guess. Oh, and actually prior to that we did do a big SEMA reveal, which was the first time that the media got to see the race car. And that was a really special experience. I, I got to drive Rod's original Bronco that he over-alled the Baja one thousand in, and we had the old Bronco and the new Bronco.
[00:36:43.060]
And that was a special experience. It was a very limited group of people that were there. And I got to tell my story and. Give some highlights and, you know, everything that makes me so proud of my grandfather and proud to be a Hall, I got to share that and be a part of it. So that was really special.
[00:37:05.610]
And then it came race time and man, it was wild is like the first time. And I don't know how long that the race itself was postponed because the rain was just torrential. It the the truck definitely. We were grateful for the extra day. The race truck needed a little bit of attention, but the guys worked tirelessly. Oh, my gosh. The whole crew, the Ford performance guys, Cameron's team, everyone worked together so well and so many smart guys that were putting their brains together to to put this brand new race truck together, you know, and that's kind of the the thing of it is nobody knew what to expect and nobody knew what the outcome would be.
[00:38:00.360]
We just knew that we would go out and do our best and hopefully make it to the finish. And we had a rough, rough race.
[00:38:10.910] - Big Rich Klein
Baja is that way for a lot of people.
[00:38:13.290]
It sure is. And I don't think anybody can ever say that they that they've raced Baja without ever having challenges along the way. Even guys that have raced for 30, 40 years or like Rod, 50 years. There's always they can always look back and say, wow, there was there was a couple of races, or many races where challenges were thrown out there. And you just never know how it's going to work out down there. It's you do you you sure don't.
[00:38:42.990] - Shelby Hall
And if you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to prerun, which I will say with Rod, it's not something that we did very often. The course is nothing like it was when you pre ran it, I mean, and that's that's part of the challenge, is it rains and things happen and the natural environment changes. And so you got to roll with the punches. And, you know, it's you've got to have luck on your side, too, I think.
[00:39:13.890]
And that's the fun of it is it's man, it's, you know, machine versus the desert. That's man versus the desert.
[00:39:23.110] - Big Rich Klein
So what's what's next for for you, but where do you think, besides racing with the UTV's, what do you do this year? What do you see for the future?
[00:39:35.360] - Shelby Hall
Well, that's a great question. I am I would love to be involved with the Bronco project. I was very fortunate to get to learn a lot about the brand. And like I said, I got to meet so many people that have worked on the project. And it's incredible. I really can't wait for everyone to get to see the new Bronco. And I'm really, really impressed. They have thought so many things through this vehicle is going to be perfect for anyone who wants to live the spontaneous life, who wants to be able to just load up, grab the cooler and go for a day ride.
[00:40:28.610]
I think it's it's a badass vehicle. And I want to be a part of something that I believe in. So I am hopeful that we get to continue to work together going forward.
[00:40:40.550]
And, you know, I, I have to I live a regular life, too.
[00:40:45.740]
I have a regular job and I race when I can. You know, some people are able to make racing their their whole life and make a living from it. And that isn't me at this point. So I just want to be able to race as much as I can be it as many, be at as many races as I can and just be involved. I just it is it's a piece of me and it's a very important thing to me.
[00:41:17.390]
And it's a it's a strong hobby and I love it. So I will be at every race I can.
[00:41:25.670] - Big Rich Klein
Awesome. Any plans on trying to do the Rebelle again?
[00:41:30.110] - Shelby Hall
Oh, I think maybe maybe with the blue oval, maybe it would be fun.
[00:41:40.250] - Big Rich Klein
Yes, it would be great.
[00:41:43.190]
So let's talk about the experiences that you've had outside of of racing, which was the family that may have helped you get to where you're at right now. Anything besides racing that that you participated in organizations or sports or anything like that?
[00:42:05.330] - Shelby Hall
I mean, I would say that primarily. I mean, racing has been our my number one sport.
[00:42:14.810]
I, I am pretty big into fitness. I love it. It's my day revolves around that. That's the first thing that gets done in the morning. And what I love so much about that, that I really take into racing with me and vice versa is that we can do hard things. There is a lot of times. You know, a lot of people don't have time to work out or they don't they don't choose that as a priority. So just like racing, it takes so much time.
[00:42:45.510]
It's not just showing up at the race. It's all the prep time. It's all the logistics. It's booking all the hotel rooms. It's figuring out who your crew is going to be. It's figuring out how far each vehicle can go on fuel. It's ordering the fuel. It's the tool bags. It's like a million pieces. So it's finding the time and making things a priority to be successful. And I feel that that working out is very similar to that.
[00:43:15.780]
It's finding the dedication, the motivation, prioritizing. And I don't there's been so many times in the race truck, it's the middle of the night and I'm tired. I'm hungry. And I think, oh, my God, whose idea was this?
[00:43:38.590]
This sucks right now. This sucks. And then I think. That feeling, when you hand the truck off or that feeling when you cross the finish line of yeah, it sucked for a little bit, but you pushed through, you're a badass.
[00:43:56.570]
And it's that that feeling of overcoming something that you kind of feel like maybe you won't the that pushes you and propels you to to continue to move forward.
[00:44:10.320] - Shelby Hall
Is there something on the I hate to use the term bucket list, because that sounds like, you know, it's it's too final. I like the life list. Yeah, there's something on the couple of things or something on the life list that you want to accomplish or or do that you haven't done yet.
[00:44:29.030]
I do. Do you mean kind of off road wise in anything, anything? Well, I do have quite a few. I love traveling, so I would love to continue to travel as much as I can. And I don't have any one particular place that I want to go. I want to see everywhere. I want to experience the United States. I feel like I haven't even done that much traveling within the states.
[00:45:01.640]
Something else that is kind of a funny one.
[00:45:04.400]
And when I tell most people this, they're surprised. But I travel to Mexico sometimes multiple times a year. But I have always gone for a race. So really I go for work and I'm not there to party and have a great time and sightsee and try all the different foods.
[00:45:28.490]
I eat the same places I know so that I don't get sick or I go to the store and buy stuff to make sandwiches. So I'm not really experiencing Baja authentically. And so what I really, really, really want to do is go and take a vacation and rent side-by-side and go with a group of friends and just go tour the peninsula and try fish tacos in the Bay of L.A. and, you know, just see the sights and really experience it and drink tequila and have have a great time.
[00:46:09.140]
That's something that I am very much looking forward to doing someday and not being on a race schedule and not being on a race schedule
[00:46:17.540]
All correct.
[00:46:20.030] - Big Rich Klein
When I when I first started going to Baja, the first time I went down with BFG Jack Seipolt when he had his his BFG pit that he would do down there. And it was the year that they shot Dust to Glory. So I think it was 2003. Yes. And that was the second year that was the first full year that I owned VORRA because I bought VORRA at the end of 2002, went down there. It was nothing against BFG because they're there to do a job and that's to get every single one of their teams across the finish line.
[00:46:57.080]
But I was like, hey, I want to go do this. I want to go do that. And you don't get a chance to do that. So then we we hooked up and I went down. I started going down with Pistol Pete, which was a different probably different than most race teams. I love Pete. I love the guys that were that were going down there with us. And I only went ever for the thousand because it was off season for me, we were already done with our rockcrawling series, so it made sense, but it was it was much more open.
[00:47:28.750]
We got to, we got to party. We got to play around, you know, as long as we got down there and we were ready to race on race morning. Right. Know, we felt we were ready. You never know. But we had a little bit of success down there. I think we got one year we got fourth down there with him. Then we then I helped with Roger Norman when he went off the line in the trophy truck first.
[00:47:52.280]
Oh, wow. And that was that was quite the eve. That was quite the day. But what I really enjoyed about all that race, those racing with any of those guys or helping them with their team efforts, I mean, I never raced. I always wanted to. But then I got to the realizing that I would probably be a detriment to a team, just not in the right kind of shape and having to wear contact lenses, being out in the desert like that.
[00:48:18.010]
It just probably, you know, I didn't want to slow a team down. So I realized, OK, you know, you're going to have to be on a pit crew. And I like to run communications and kind of help organize and get people in the right places, that kind of thing. Kind of like I do, putting out as an event promoter. But the best part of every single one of those races was being able to take as much time as we wanted on the way home.
[00:48:41.320]
Yeah. So if we left Cabo or if we left La Paz or if we were just a loop race and ending in Ensenada, it was always, OK, let's stay, you know, two, three, four or five, seven days later, eight days, ten days, whatever we wanted to, and just take that time and come back slow, sightsee, eat the fish tacos or eat tacos.
[00:49:05.680]
Yeah. I mean like Shelley and I went down, we were racing with Mike Schaffer and it was the race to La Paz. We got done, we're on our way back and we decided to go to Scorpion Bay. So we're camped out there in the morning to leave. We get camp packed up and everything. And the Scorpion Bay, the resort area is closed and there are signs on there, you know, but the bathrooms were still open. So we went and took a shower.
[00:49:34.600]
And as we came out, there was some local Mexicans there that said, hey, you know, twenty dollars. And I'm like, what? Twenty dollars for what? We camped on the beach. Right. While you use the bathroom, it's twenty bucks. Yeah. I'm like, OK, well, forget it. We're not paying twenty bucks. Well, we're going to go to the police, say, OK, fine, go to the police so they follow us down the beach road, they turn and go up the road that I know goes to the police department.
[00:50:03.770]
I go two blocks down, I turn and speed up so I can see if they're actually going to go to the police station. They pull into the police station and I looked at Shelley and I said, OK, do we want to sit and wait for it or do you want to run? And she goes, Let's run.
[00:50:21.860] - Shelby Hall
Yes, Shelley.
[00:50:23.750] - Big Rich Klein
So we we proceeded down. That was from there. It was a highway. It was like 12 or 15, 17 kilometers to the racetrack where it went off cross-country to LA Purisma and then up over the hill. And so we just I knew once I got to the racetrack off road, nobody was going to catch me anyway. And that was probably the one time in Mexico where I felt like a race car driver.
[00:50:48.680]
Yes. We did not want to get arrested. I was going to say not just a race car driver, but also an outlaw. I wouldn't have been my first time like that in Mexico.
[00:51:01.830] - Shelby Hall
Yes, well, there's a first time for everything.
[00:51:06.290]
Yeah, it was it was a great trip. And also, when we were in Buenaventura on the way back, Shelley stepped on a stingray. I know, but started to hurt really bad. So the guy that ran the restaurant there was like, oh, I know what to do, but it's really going to hurt. You got to put your foot in hot water. And it was I forget what the temperature was, but, you know, he's going.
[00:51:30.740]
I've seen men cry this way and she's just like, give me the hot water, get me the hot water. And she put her foot in the hot water boom, neutralized it and she was fine. But she kept telling me on the way, you know, from where we were camped in the yard there to the bar, she was like and before when she finally told me what she had done, she goes, I don't want to go to a hospital in Mexico, I don't want to go to a hospital in Mexico. And I'm like, well, we're not going to life flight you out for stepping on it. So we're going to have to drive if this doesn't work. So it worked, but experiences down there are just crazy.
[00:52:06.890] - Shelby Hall
They are. And that is the coolest thing I thought. Or one of the coolest things is the man. The story is the memory is, you know, you're you're in the middle of nowhere and. You got to just be able to. Figure it out and, you know, things just life is different down there, so you have to be willing to roll with that. And I just think it's so I think people who are involved with desert racing are a unique group of people who really think outside of the box and are pretty.
[00:52:50.600]
You got to be somewhat laid back because you got to be like, oh, OK, we've stepped on the stingray. So now what are we going to do? The plan has changed a little bit. It's just it's awesome. You know, the the stories, the memories there, they're crazy.
[00:53:09.740] - Big Rich Klein
So is your Uncle Chad or your dad, Josh, still racing?
[00:53:14.570] - Shelby Hall
Yeah, Chad is still racing. He is actually partnered up with Chevy and he has a really cool program going on with them. And I think I think my dad is actually going to be my co-dog this season, which will be so rad. He is a phenomenal driver and I will be nervous with him sitting next to me. But man, everything I'll learn, it will just be priceless and it'll be a really cool. My dad and I are super close and we always have been.
[00:54:00.470]
And but this will be the first time that we've raced together. So it'll be a really cool bonding experience for us.
[00:54:08.300] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. Excellent. So is there anything that we've not touched upon in the life of Shelby Hall that you you think people might be interested in?
[00:54:19.460] - Shelby Hall
Well, I mean, I feel like that really is kind of everything. I mean, I told you secrets about me crying and that I have not actually just gone down to Mexico and had a good time or not not a good time. But I mean, I always have a good time. But I think that I mean, that's me pretty well summed up and my favorite things to talk about and the things that keep me motivated to move forward.
[00:54:47.340] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. So if you thought about Jason Scherer and Brad Lovell and now Cameron Steele have all come through at least King of the Hammers, Leduc ran a rock crawl only once and he won it. Jason's been a national champion. Brad's been a national champion. Cameron's learning the rock crawling portion racing out there. Any any thoughts about trying an Ultra4 or King of the Hammer's race someday?
[00:55:17.580] - Shelby Hall
I would I would never say no to any type of racing. And I love it. And if I got hooked up with a good team because I don't know anything about it, to be honest, you know, I go to the races as a spectator and love watching it, but I don't even know what it's like to be in one of those racetrucks. So I would definitely, like Cameron has done, teamed up with someone who has experience and some success to help teach and guide him.
[00:55:52.920]
So I would be totally down to to jump in and and learn it and see what it's like, because who knows? You know, maybe that's maybe that's where it's at for me. I think it would be fun.
[00:56:05.430] - Shelby Hall
Perfect. Well, this is a great opportunity because a lot of those people are listening to this podcast now. So anybody out there, if you're looking for an experienced young lady to come out and drive and race with you, somebody that comes from a legacy family and knows what she's doing out there, she's driven in the rocks and the Rubicon and it and a pretty much stock vehicles and can get through that way. Might be something to look at, guys.
[00:56:36.420]
Shelby Hall. So call me. Yeah. There you go. Shelby, thank you so much for coming on. Conversations with Big Rich and spending the day with us here and doing this interview. And we really do wish you the best of luck in the future. And we really hope that all your dreams of off road come true.
[00:56:59.910] - Shelby Hall
Thank you.
[00:57:00.900]
This has been so awesome. I appreciate you, including me and thank you. This was a really nice time. Thank you. All right.
[00:57:11.400] - Big Rich Klein
And thank you, Shelby. If you enjoy these podcasts, please give us a rating, share some feedback with us via Facebook or Instagram and share our link among your friends who might be like minded. Well, that brings this episode to an end. OK, you enjoyed it. We'll catch you next week with conversations with Big Rich.
[00:57:30.300]
Thank you very much.