
Conversations with Big Rich
Hear conversations with the legacy stars of rockcrawling and off-road. Big Rich interviews the leaders in rock sports.
Conversations with Big Rich
Ryan Maxfield explains all the deets about Delta Classic Rock Crawl on Episode 164
Are you headed to the Delta Classic Rock Crawl this weekend? Listen in to this great interview with Ryan Maxfield to hear all the details. It’s not just about Delta; it’s about life in Utah, building a business, and addictive rockcrawling. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
4:39 – we were definitely skipping out on school to go ride instead of sitting in class
10:50 – I discovered Pirate 4x4; I’ll probably never financially recover from that
18:20 – that was the day, I was like, I need a buggy in my life
24:04 – we underestimated stepping up to pro courses
37:26 – I didn’t have a ton of motivation to make events this year, then I watched the live feed, and I’ve been on the sidelines long enough
51:35 – Delta will always have a special place in my heart; when we got the opportunity to take it over, it was a no-brainer
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
All Automotive with Matt ClawsonAutomotive related topics. Anything from owning an repair facility to racing. Anything...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
[00:00:00.980] -
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.
[00:00:46.150] -
Whether you're crawling the Red Rocks of Moab or hauling your toys to the trail, Maxxis has the tires you can trust for performance and durability. Four wheels or two. Maxxis tires are the choice of champions because they know that whether for work or play, for fun or competition, Maxxis tires deliver. Choose Maxxis. Tread Victoriously.
[00:01:13.000] -
Have you seen 4Low Magazine yet? 4Low Magazine is a high quality, well written, 4WD focused magazine for the enthusiast market. If you still love the idea of a printed magazine, something to save and read at any time, 4Low is the magazine for you. 4Low cannot be found in stores, but you can have it delivered to your home or place of business. Visit 4lowmagazine.com to order your subscription today.
[00:01:39.720] - Big Rich Klein
On today's episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I will be speaking with Ryan Maxfield. Ryan is a rock crawling competitor, owner of Agility Off Road, and now a promoter of Delta Classic Rock Crawl, along with Nate Hurst. You're still using the term Delta, right?
[00:01:59.190] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes, Delta Classic Rock Crawl.
[00:02:01.220] - Big Rich Klein
All right. Well, thank you very much, Ryan, for coming on board and talking about your history and what you got coming up with Delta.
[00:02:08.720] - Ryan Maxfield
Thanks for having me, Rich. I appreciate it. I've listened to a bunch of the podcast, so I'm glad I'm in good company.
[00:02:16.090] - Big Rich Klein
Let's jump right in. I'm guessing that you are a Utah native, is that correct?
[00:02:25.810] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes, I was born in Salt Lake City.
[00:02:28.320] - Big Rich Klein
Salt Lake City. You're pretty much still there in that area, correct?
[00:02:32.610] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. When I was in fourth grade, actually, we moved out to Tooele, Utah, which is about 30 minutes outside of Salt Lake. And yeah, been here ever since.
[00:02:43.910] - Big Rich Klein
Talk about let's talk about those early days, school and all that stuff. Were you a good student?
[00:02:52.490] - Ryan Maxfield
I was a really good student up until about the ninth and 10th grade.
[00:02:59.800] - Big Rich Klein
Was.It skirts?
[00:03:01.660] - Ryan Maxfield
Not really. I mean, yes, it always is. But you just start getting into cars and then you also... That's the point where you start to just not do what you're told. You start to think for yourself, whether it's good thinking or not.
[00:03:20.940] - Big Rich Klein
A little rebellious?
[00:03:22.920] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, a little rebellious. Yeah, a little rebellious. Then you just start messing off with your friends and starting to skip out on class. Just general mischief is really all I never really got in big trouble, but we definitely did our fair share of stuff we shouldn't have done and got away with.
[00:03:40.440] - Big Rich Klein
Well, that's good because one of my goals in life was never to have a mug shot. I never thought of it that way until Shelley mentioned it and said her goal was never to have a mug shot. I thought, I'm the same way because I did some things to make sure I didn't get caught when things went sideways.
[00:04:02.030] - Ryan Maxfield
I say that's a good goal to have.
[00:04:05.510] - Big Rich Klein
So far it's worked. How about you? Any mug shots?
[00:04:10.170] - Ryan Maxfield
No mug shots out there with me, fortunately.
[00:04:12.090] - Big Rich Klein
No mug shots? Okay, there you go. That's good. So then when you're going to school, did you play sports?
[00:04:19.670] - Ryan Maxfield
I played a little League baseball. Once I got into probably eighth grade, I quit playing that and got really heavy into freestyle BMX. That was my thing up.
[00:04:32.810] - Big Rich Klein
Until probably.
[00:04:33.640] - Ryan Maxfield
Until I graduated high school, honestly.
[00:04:37.100] - Big Rich Klein
So was that the rebellious edge?
[00:04:39.500] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes and no. I mean, we were definitely skipping out on school to go ride instead of sitting in class. But no, that was definitely where all of my money went from the time I started working to about the time I was about 18 years old.
[00:04:56.990] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. What did you do for work when you started working?
[00:05:03.890] - Ryan Maxfield
When I was 14, I started just vacuuming classrooms at the local elementary school. And out here in Toelle, nobody but us, essentially, the schools would hire you until you were 16. So that was the only job that was available at the time. And I had stuff I wanted to buy. So that's what we did.
[00:05:29.350] - Big Rich Klein
After.
[00:05:30.510] - Ryan Maxfield
That, I turned 16, worked at a couple of small automotive shops just here locally. And that's where I got my start learning how to turn wrenches.
[00:05:46.660] - Big Rich Klein
No high school classes?
[00:05:50.180] - Ryan Maxfield
No, I never took shop or anything like that in high school. Even if I did sign up for it, I probably wouldn't have went.
[00:05:59.470] - Big Rich Klein
Fair enough. I waited until my junior and senior years, I have to say that I missed a lot of classes. I was on yearbook staff, so I was able to, as a photographer, so I could write passes for me and my friends and just say that we were going out and doing stuff for the yearbook. It worked pretty good.
[00:06:19.940] - Ryan Maxfield
Growing up, my dad always had projects. He's got a '50 Chevy that was always around. After I had moved out, he picked up a '67 Mustang that's just about fully restored and done. There was always projects around, but I never really had much interest in them until I got a little bit older.
[00:06:42.360] - Big Rich Klein
Brothers and sisters?
[00:06:44.130] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes. I am the middle child of five.
[00:06:47.210] - Big Rich Klein
Middle child of five.
[00:06:48.750] - Ryan Maxfield
Okay. Yeah. I got three older brothers, a younger sister, and a younger brother.
[00:06:53.600] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. So the one sister got wedged in there, huh? Yeah. Then when you were starting your BMX phase, you were working to ride, so that you could ride, basically buy bikes and upgrade and all that stuff?
[00:07:14.440] - Ryan Maxfield
Correct.
[00:07:15.690] - Big Rich Klein
What was your favorite bike?
[00:07:18.460] - Ryan Maxfield
Oh, man. The last one I had was a volume flat line. Of course, you build it all out with just the same way to do with buggies. You pick and choose the parts that you want and then build something out of it. It was definitely a hodgepodge of all the best parts.
[00:07:40.150] - Big Rich Klein
Were you just like free style stuff or did you race?
[00:07:45.100] - Ryan Maxfield
Never raced. It was all free style stuff. Most of the time when we were riding, being out in Toelle, small town, we had open fields everywhere. So we built a fairly awesome set of just dirt jumps up below the dam and spent a lot of time up there. And then all the various skate parks and stuff we'd ride around to. So spent a lot of time there.
[00:08:10.520] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. And what was the first car that you got to drive or owned?
[00:08:17.210] - Ryan Maxfield
My first car was a 1986 Camaro.
[00:08:21.460] - Big Rich Klein
Did you have the mullet going?
[00:08:25.330] - Ryan Maxfield
No, I probably shaved the mullet off when I was 10. I had a mullet from the time I was little until, I don't know, maybe it was earlier in 10, but yes, I definitely rocked the mullet for the fair bit of my life.
[00:08:37.530] - Big Rich Klein
And the Camaro didn't bring it back out in you?
[00:08:40.050] - Ryan Maxfield
No, never did.
[00:08:44.980] - Big Rich Klein
And what did you do to the Camaro?
[00:08:47.530] - Ryan Maxfield
So I bought it from just a neighbor. It was like two houses down. It sat on the side of his house forever. And I think I bought it when I was 15 for like 800 bucks. And then me and my dad ended up buying it. building an engine for it. Generally, with a car like that, we built an engine for it. I got in lots of trouble with it. My parents did end up picking me up from the police station once because of it.
[00:09:14.800] - Big Rich Klein
But without a mug shot?
[00:09:17.410] - Ryan Maxfield
There's no mug shot. The police officer was actually really cool. He pulled me over. I was going double the speed limit out on the highway, and he didn't impound the car. Not that he let my buddy drive the car home. He took me back to the police station and pretty much just called my parents. Wow. You got home from the easy. Yeah. No, I was going to say, I was like, Yeah, it sucked. I got pulled over. But as far as police officers go, I got pretty lucky there.
[00:09:43.360] - Big Rich Klein
So how did the parents take that?
[00:09:45.920] - Ryan Maxfield
Oh, man. They were fine with it. Ultimately, they're not thrilled, but at the same time, my dad looks me and was like, Well, we did the same crap when we were younger.
[00:10:01.370] - Big Rich Klein
Did he give you the talk? You can't get away with stuff that I got away with?
[00:10:05.280] - Ryan Maxfield
Not really.
[00:10:07.240] - Big Rich Klein
Really? I used to use that word, Little Rich, all the time.
[00:10:09.910] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, I was going to say they were really good sports about it. Overall, they were pretty stoked. Plus, he built the engine for the car, so he was well aware of what we were going to do with it.
[00:10:25.850] - Big Rich Klein
Nice. What was the next step?
[00:10:30.770] - Ryan Maxfield
While I still owned that, and while I still own that car, I bought an XJ, actually.
[00:10:37.900] - Big Rich Klein
Good.
[00:10:39.280] - Ryan Maxfield
That was when I started down the offroad route. I see.
[00:10:46.790] - Big Rich Klein
A lot of us have that XJ thing going.
[00:10:50.880] - Ryan Maxfield
Right. I bought that three inch lift 31s, the normal first step. And then shortly after that, I broke a Dana 35 just out, goofy off with buddies and whatnot. And then it snowballed. That's also about the time that I discovered pirate 4x4.
[00:11:14.680] - Big Rich Klein
There you go.
[00:11:16.410] - Ryan Maxfield
Then I'll probably never financially recover from that.
[00:11:23.840] - Big Rich Klein
From finding pirate today.
[00:11:28.650] - Ryan Maxfield
Shortly after that, I read a ton, did a ton of research. This is my senior year in high school. I decided that I'm going to swap Dana 44s underneath it and build my own radius arms for the front. And that was my first big project. My dad always had welders around, so I pretty much just taught myself how to weld. Definitely had a few fail on that project.
[00:11:59.470] - Big Rich Klein
While you were driving?
[00:12:01.690] - Ryan Maxfield
While we were offroading. I had a track bar bracket rip off once that was pretty inconvenient. But other than that, that's where it all started. I owned that and beat the crap out of that thing for a couple of years. Then all my buddies that I used to go out wheeling with got into four wheelers and dirt bikes in the sand dunes. I sold off the XJ and started going to the sand dunes every weekend.
[00:12:32.090] - Big Rich Klein
With what? Not the Camaro?
[00:12:34.500] - Ryan Maxfield
No, not a Camaro. Yeah, man.
[00:12:37.170] - Big Rich Klein
Let's see. Put paddls on the Camaro.
[00:12:39.350] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. I bought a 4 Wheeler and I had a little Chevy Colorado at the time, actually. Okay.
[00:12:48.160] - Big Rich Klein
This.
[00:12:49.150] - Ryan Maxfield
Was 2007. I bought a brand new 2007 Chevy Colorado that was hauling my four wheelers and dirt bikes around with.
[00:13:02.110] - Big Rich Klein
That puts you at about what age?
[00:13:09.170] - Ryan Maxfield
2007, I would have been 18, 19 years old.
[00:13:14.030] - Big Rich Klein
Wow, you're still a youngster.
[00:13:16.020] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, I just turned 35.
[00:13:17.610] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, good for you.
[00:13:20.540] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah.
[00:13:21.630] - Big Rich Klein
So then going to the sand dunes, no more four wheel drive?
[00:13:28.600] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, no more four wheel drive, got that out of my system and we did that, man, just about... Little Sahara Sand Dunes is probably 45 minutes from us. It was really easy for us to just shoot down there for the day or the weekend or whatever. Then and that's around the time that I started dating my wife.
[00:13:52.260] - Big Rich Klein
How did you meet?
[00:13:53.940] - Ryan Maxfield
We had actually went to school together, small town stuff. And then I'm hanging out at my buddy's house one night, and his wife... Do you remember MSN Messenger? Do you ever mess around with that, Rich?
[00:14:08.330] - Big Rich Klein
No, I never messed around with it, but I know of it.
[00:14:11.110] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. I was logged in on my friend's computer and we were out, I don't know, messing with a four wheeler or something. His wife is messaging Heather, who's now my wife, on MSN Messenger on my account. I had no idea this was happening. S he comes walking out 30 minutes later, she's like, Oh, by the way, you're hanging out with Heather tomorrow night. I was like, What? I didn't sign up for this? So yeah, that's how that all started. All ties back. The funny thing about it, too, is I had a R 6 bullet bike there somewhere in the realm of buying and selling a ton of vehicles. The day I was supposed to hang out with Heather, I was actually supposed to go get my bullet bike out of the impound lot because I had gone through trouble going a little too fast.
[00:15:05.740] - Big Rich Klein
You have a need for speed.
[00:15:07.430] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, I did. The first time me and Heather ever hung out was actually driving from Tooele out to Lehigh to get my R 6 out of the impound and that.
[00:15:19.940] - Big Rich Klein
Was it. Did you ride it home or did you put it in the back of the Colorado? No, I.
[00:15:23.560] - Ryan Maxfield
Put it in the back of the Colorado. We just drove it home.
[00:15:28.250] - Big Rich Klein
Even though you were a bad boy, she stuck it out, huh?
[00:15:34.050] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, she stuck it out. I don't know what compelled her to do so, but I'm glad.
[00:15:40.430] - Big Rich Klein
She did. We never should question those things.
[00:15:44.420] - Ryan Maxfield
Right, exactly.
[00:15:45.960] - Big Rich Klein
Because we wouldn't understand if it was explained. Right. Good. Then you have kids.
[00:15:58.280] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. Let's see. We were going to the sand dunes all the time. We dated for a year and we talked about getting married and never really made any plans for it. But this was 2000 this was 2000. That happened in 2007. We're now in 2008. Housing market crashes, right? Oh, yeah. We were just in a good spot. Housing just crashed, so we bought a house together. Which turned out to be awesome because housing prices had just crashed and it worked out really well in the long term. But at the time, I was working for West Schwab Tires. I'm 19 at this point, maybe 20. I don't it. Then we buy the house, move in. A month later, she gets laid off from her job.
[00:16:53.560] - Big Rich Klein
Ouch.
[00:16:54.650] - Ryan Maxfield
Which, yeah, makes you grow up real quick.
[00:16:58.750] - Big Rich Klein
You start looking at everything you have, what you can sell?
[00:17:01.960] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. Then a month after that, she's pregnant with our first kid.
[00:17:08.150] - Big Rich Klein
A.
[00:17:10.350] - Ryan Maxfield
Lot on your plate at one time.
[00:17:13.970] - Big Rich Klein
At a young age?
[00:17:16.000] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. We would have been 20 because Brooklyn was born when we were 21.
[00:17:21.900] - Big Rich Klein
You had to grow up fast?
[00:17:24.240] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, we did. Obviously, we made it through the other end. Somewhere in the middle of all that, well, we got to the point where going to the sand dunes all the time with a baby is just not fun. You can't hold a kid on your dirt bike while you're blasting through the sand dunes. W e sold all that off and then we bought another Jeep.
[00:17:51.880] - Big Rich Klein
Is that the orange one you still have?
[00:17:57.040] - Ryan Maxfield
No, it was a black white YJ. I knew just enough about fabrication at this point to get myself in trouble. I actually started hanging out with Aaron Clough, which you know.
[00:18:14.690] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, that can get you in trouble too.
[00:18:16.940] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, right? Sorry, Aaron.
[00:18:20.590] - Ryan Maxfield
I actually picked up that YJ, and then Aaron helped me build it over the next six months or so. 14 bolts, 60 links, the whole nine yards over the course of a couple of different builds on the same Jeep. Then wheeled that thing for probably two years. Then I went wheeling down in Sand hollow with Craig Stump and Jared Neff. These guys are all in buggy s and I'm in my YJ. That was the day that I was like, I need a buggy in my life.
[00:19:05.650] - Big Rich Klein
That was the day you stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
[00:19:09.420] - Ryan Maxfield
That was the day. That was, man, I don't even know what year that was. I came home from that wheeling trip. It was just down in Sand hollow. Came home, listed that YJ for sale, and it sold within a couple of weeks. I t took that chunk of cash and me and Aaron started building a ProMod car. I was wheeling with Jared Neff that weekend and fell in love with his car. That was what we set off to build. Aaron taught me most of what I know about fabrication. I can't really thank him enough for where I'm at today. But yeah, it all worked out. That car took me between time and just financially at that point in my life. It took me almost, I think, three years to finish that car.
[00:20:12.590] - Big Rich Klein
That's.
[00:20:14.510] - Ryan Maxfield
The car that I started coming to We Rock in, actually. Well, no, let's back up here a little. I guess my first competition was in our JK, and it was the old school rock crawling Delta in 2013.
[00:20:38.670] - Big Rich Klein
That.
[00:20:39.190] - Ryan Maxfield
Was the first competition I ever went to. We took first, which is the... I can't decide if it's good or bad because if you show up to a rock crawling and you take last place, chances of catching that bug are a lot lower than if you show up and win.
[00:20:57.580] - Big Rich Klein
So true.
[00:20:59.930] - Ryan Maxfield
We won, so right out of the gate it was on more or less. So that was 2013. Later that year, I talked... Well, I was down in Sand hollow, random whaling, and that's when I met Nate Hearst, who has been and still is my spotter since pretty much that day on. He's the only spotter I've ever completed with. So yeah, I was fortunate that trip to come across Nate.
[00:21:35.090] - Big Rich Klein
Right. The milkman.
[00:21:37.460] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, the nine toed Nate, the milkman, hot dog Nate. He's got a few nicknames out there.
[00:21:44.570] - Big Rich Klein
Yes, he does.
[00:21:47.620] - Ryan Maxfield
And then I actually talked to him. I was like, Dude, we just finished up with Delta. You've got to come out next year. You got to come out. So he showed up the next year and did same thing, did really well in stock class. Same rig he still has today that everybody knows. It wasn't any nicer back then, so don't think that it's slowly deteriorated over time. So about the same condition 10 years ago as it is in today. But that's what everybody loves about Nate too.
[00:22:22.980] - Big Rich Klein
And.
[00:22:24.530] - Ryan Maxfield
Then the year after that, we both completed in stock class at Delta. Nate calls me probably a month after the event, and he's like, Hey, do you want a spot for me in range league Colorado? I believe this was 2015. I'm of course like, Hell yeah, let's do it. That was the first W e Rock event we ever went to.
[00:22:55.230] - Big Rich Klein
Did you bring a vehicle to that one too, or did you just spot Nate?
[00:23:00.520] - Ryan Maxfield
No, I just spotted Nate at that event. Okay.
[00:23:03.780] - Big Rich Klein
And how did you guys do on that one?
[00:23:06.090] - Ryan Maxfield
I believe we won that event.
[00:23:08.120] - Big Rich Klein
It makes sense.
[00:23:09.210] - Ryan Maxfield
In stock class, yeah. There was, oh man, trying to think of his name, Brice Santist, Little Blue Samurai? Yes.
[00:23:21.730] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah. Brice Santee.
[00:23:23.080] - Ryan Maxfield
He was there. It was a pretty good turnout for stock. I think there were seven or eight rigs, but I remember going, we were neck and neck with Brice there for a minute. I don't know. That event was really the one that sealed the deal for us. After that, we went to every W e Rock event, every Idaho X Rocks event. We didn't miss an event. You got.
[00:23:46.500] - Big Rich Klein
Hooked hard.
[00:23:48.450] - Ryan Maxfield
When.
[00:23:49.470] - Big Rich Klein
Did you start competing in the buggy that you built?
[00:23:52.340] - Ryan Maxfield
That would have probably been 2000, probably like 2017 or '18.
[00:24:02.520] - Big Rich Klein
And.
[00:24:04.960] - Ryan Maxfield
I completed in that car for, I believe, two full seasons. The first season was... Oh, man. A shit show would be probably the only way to really sum that up into words. We definitely underestimated stepping up to pro courses. We had tons of success in sportsman class and then finally step up to a pro class, and it slapped us in the face pretty good, the first couple of events.
[00:24:42.420] - Big Rich Klein
The game is different.
[00:24:47.070] - Ryan Maxfield
Totally different.
[00:24:49.820] - Big Rich Klein
It's still crawling, but the game is played differently.
[00:24:53.100] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. So that first year was pretty rough. And then the second year in that car, we were starting to get on the podium pretty regularly. I think we even took second at Nationals that year, right behind, I believe, let's see. I think it was the year Jake Allen Beck was still competing in his car.
[00:25:22.850] - Big Rich Klein
Okay.
[00:25:25.240] - Ryan Maxfield
So I had good success that season. And then it's also, I believe, the first year that Cody's new car, Pretty Penny, came out.
[00:25:35.520] - Big Rich Klein
I.
[00:25:38.170] - Ryan Maxfield
Drove Pretty Penny. And then, of course, same thing. It's like, Oh, yes. I need a Moon buggy. I ran that first ProMod car for two seasons, drove Pretty Penny, and then listed that car for sale.
[00:25:58.090] - Big Rich Klein
James Dunham bought that car, right?
[00:26:00.940] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, James Dunham currently has it.
[00:26:04.180] - Big Rich Klein
He had a Chase that you guys... Is that when he traded the Chase?
[00:26:09.260] - Ryan Maxfield
No. That was one car after my first ProMod. I sold that ProMod and it sold so late because the season ends in September. I listed for sale and the car didn't sell till that following February. I didn't want to take a full season off of competing to build a car. So I took the cash from my ProMod sale and turned around and bought Kevin Reimers ProMod car.
[00:26:43.110] - Big Rich Klein
That's right. Okay.
[00:26:45.470] - Ryan Maxfield
So I turned around, bought Kevin Reimers' car, and then completed that whole season in Reimers' car and had a lot of success with that car. I don't think we pulled off a single first place. We were chasing Craig Allen and Jake Allen back, I think, again that season and just couldn't seem to beat either of those guys in a pro mod car.
[00:27:12.510] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:27:15.690] - Ryan Maxfield
So, yeah, ran that car that whole season and then I listed that car for sale. And that's when James Dunham bought my pro mod and I took that Jesse Haynes Moon Buggy Chassi in trade from him as part of the payment for that car.
[00:27:34.440] - Big Rich Klein
Did you hear the story that that car almost burned down?
[00:27:38.080] - Ryan Maxfield
It did burn down in his garage.
[00:27:40.560] - Big Rich Klein
Well, it partially melt down. It didn't completely go up. But yeah, his garage fire, his garage door opener, it's a garage door opener, it all functioned and caught on fire.
[00:27:51.390] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah.
[00:27:52.110] - Big Rich Klein
Wow.
[00:27:52.640] - Ryan Maxfield
Talk about bad luck.
[00:27:55.150] - Big Rich Klein
Really.
[00:27:56.180] - Ryan Maxfield
But it's funny because, yeah, James Dunham just barely sold that car and bought pretty penny. Yes. It's funny how all these cars will move all over the country, but it's still a very small group of people.
[00:28:10.810] - Big Rich Klein
Especially the guys that buy them to compete in. Oh, for sure. It drives me nuts though when people buy comp cars and then all they do is trail wheel them. That's taking a racehorse that's running the Kentucky Derby and then putting it in the rental lane and letting anything from six year olds to grannies ride around the circle. For sure. Why?
[00:28:41.130] - Ryan Maxfield
Well, it's funny, too. I was talking to James just the other day about pretty Penny, and he's like, Man, I got to find somewhere to mount a cooler on this thing. I was like, There's not really anywhere to do it. That makes sense. Not really what it was built for.
[00:28:57.310] - Big Rich Klein
No, he's trying to get it just so he could trail wheel down there in Texas. When you stepped up into Unlimited, I thought you guys stepped up very well. I don't know if it was that having that more competitive ProMod that got you there or if it was just the car you guys fit with the car well.
[00:29:29.420] - Ryan Maxfield
Well, you can't argue that a Jesse Haynes Moon buggy is the best car on the rocks. So now we're at least on a somewhat level playing field. I couldn't blame it on the car anymore if I sucked. Okay. So if you're not doing well and you're in the Jesse Haynes Moon buggy, well, guess what? The problem's you.
[00:29:56.210] - Big Rich Klein
More than likely is. This is what it is.
[00:29:59.290] - Ryan Maxfield
I don't know what it was either. I don't know if it was the fact that we ran ProMod for a couple of seasons and really learned how to make a car work without rear steer. So then as soon as you get into a rear steer car and you're so used to driving and making a car do what you want without it, it's just that much more of an advantage. But as soon as we got into a limited class, that very first event in that car, we took fourth place in Cedar City. Then I think we were on the podium just about every event that we've been to since our debut in Unlimited. There was one in Goldendale that we actually broke a CV and didn't podium, but very few and far between it. We definitely saw a ton of success in Unlimited class.
[00:30:58.200] - Big Rich Klein
And then you sold that car, correct?
[00:31:01.040] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes, I sold that car not the end of last season, but the season before. So that would have been the end of the 2021 season. Right.
[00:31:10.580] - Big Rich Klein
And were you building another? Are you just waiting for Nate to finish.
[00:31:15.140] - Ryan Maxfield
His 10 year project? No. I sold that car and instantly started building a new one. A couple of things have knocked us back on timelines for that build. But the end of 2021, the way that supply chains and stuff were at that time, I knew there was no way the new car was going to be done for the beginning of the 2022 season. So I didn't even try. Pretty much told Jesse I want one, let me know when I can have one, and it is what it is. So I actually picked up the start of the new car from Jesse March of 2022.
[00:32:05.280] - Big Rich Klein
And.
[00:32:07.120] - Ryan Maxfield
Then slowly been building it over the last year. And actually just yesterday, we just finished all the engine tuning on that car.
[00:32:17.270] - Big Rich Klein
Nice.
[00:32:17.950] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, we put in a 14 hours day yesterday and just engine tuning and got it dialed.
[00:32:23.450] - Big Rich Klein
And what engine are you running?
[00:32:25.850] - Ryan Maxfield
So it is a 1.5 that's supercharged, just like Jesse's car. In fact, this car is a carbon copy of Jesse's car.
[00:32:35.430] - Big Rich Klein
Does it have the fancy reaching shocks?
[00:32:38.720] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes, it's got the cheater shocks that we like to call.
[00:32:41.190] - Big Rich Klein
Are they chairs now that you own a set?
[00:32:43.780] - Ryan Maxfield
No, it's totally fine now that I own a set. It was only cheating before.
[00:32:49.410] - Big Rich Klein
I like how he had it out there and didn't say anything to anybody.
[00:32:53.350] - Ryan Maxfield
I remember walking past this car and I was like, Man, those bypasses are cool. It wasn't until the next event that I realized what the whole shock package was doing. There was numerous cone s that season that everybody was hitting because you'd get up on your belly, whatever. Once you're on your belly, you don't have a whole lot of control of where the car wants to slide. Man, just you'd get up there, jack your shocks up, and just cruise right through it. You're like, Gosh, dang it. That's not even fair. It must.
[00:33:29.320] - Big Rich Klein
Have been just before he put those shocks on, there was Nationals in Farmington, and there was the course that Borden drove off the backside of.
[00:33:42.470] - Ryan Maxfield
Where.
[00:33:43.660] - Big Rich Klein
There was a rock there where the cone were. It was a breakover. And where the cone s were sitting, when I set it up, I was like, If I do this right here and here... I spent a lot of time looking at what could possibly happen on each side of gates.
[00:34:01.280] - Ryan Maxfield
I.
[00:34:03.030] - Big Rich Klein
Put the codes where I did, thinking, somebody is going to hit at least one of these codes, and somebody's going to hit both of these codes in Unlimited when they belly up, or even maybe in ProMod. And sure enough, the guy that hit both of those cone s on that breakover was Jesse. And he was so mad, which is understandable.
[00:34:31.320] - Ryan Maxfield
Oh, for sure. Yeah. Well, it's funny, too, man. You can have every plan in the world and you can have every tool out there to make your car do what you need it to do. And there's still sometimes it just doesn't work out for whatever reason. It just wasn't meant to be.
[00:34:48.140] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, true enough. And then, like I said, I told Kevin, I said, do not put your daughter through that bonus cone. That is not for you guys.
[00:34:59.700] - Ryan Maxfield
That is not an XJ line.
[00:35:01.610] - Big Rich Klein
No. He goes, Well, as we were down in that hole before it, we got turned and all of a sudden we're lined up for it. I said, No, you weren't. You may have thought you were, but you were not.
[00:35:15.420] - Ryan Maxfield
That.
[00:35:16.450] - Big Rich Klein
Was a rough one.
[00:35:18.560] - Ryan Maxfield
That was scary. I remember being clear up on top, up by the sportsman courses because I was running unlimited and still spotting for.
[00:35:29.080] - Big Rich Klein
Nate. and.
[00:35:30.010] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, I remember, Oh, yeah. Kaitlyn rolled off a cliff down there. And people say cliff, but it's usually like an eight foot ledge, right? It's never actually a cliff. And then we got down there later that night. I think it was the night of the Nationals awards where you guys order pizza and everything for everybody. And we went over there and looked at it and I was like, no, that is legitimately a cliff. Yeah, that's.
[00:35:57.640] - Big Rich Klein
A 20 footer at least.
[00:36:00.270] - Ryan Maxfield
I remember looking over the edge and I was like, If I just rolled off this, I'd never get in the car again.
[00:36:05.660] - Big Rich Klein
She jumped up there and yelled, Somebody better have gotten that on video.
[00:36:13.710] - Ryan Maxfield
Young.
[00:36:14.660] - Big Rich Klein
And limber, that's what that is. I was going to.
[00:36:16.880] - Ryan Maxfield
Say I realized that I'm only 35, but I feel like if I fell off that, there's no way I'd feel that for a month.
[00:36:27.340] - Big Rich Klein
When do you think you'll have the new car done? Or you just said you just had it. I was going to.
[00:36:33.000] - Ryan Maxfield
Say engine tuning got finished up yesterday. I need to charge the shocks and run airlines for the lockers and it's done. So another two hours of work and that car is done. So we'll see you.
[00:36:43.880] - Big Rich Klein
In Vernal? That's.
[00:36:44.880] - Ryan Maxfield
The whole of my plan with Cedar City. So I'm really hoping to make Vernal. Excellent.
[00:36:52.300] - Big Rich Klein
Good to hear that. I just talked to one of the locals up there and he's got a group of guys that wheel and run ATVs and all that stuff. He's going to get put together all the judges for us. Looks like we're going to have a good showing of judges. I think it's going to be fun being out on those rocks again. I haven't been there quite a few years myself. I know they did a Super Crawl there but I was going.
[00:37:17.040] - Ryan Maxfield
To say, yeah, we ran the Super Crawl event that was up in Vermolyn. There's a lot of cool stuff up there. It'll be good to.
[00:37:23.980] - Big Rich Klein
See what Jake's take is on it.
[00:37:26.700] - Ryan Maxfield
For sure. And especially, I took all last season off. And honestly, I didn't have a ton of motivation to make events this year. I don't know what it has. I don't know if it's motivation. I don't know what it was. But my car has been getting closer to being done. And then I watched the live feed and stuff that was going on at the Cedar City event. And that day I was like, Yep, I'm ready. I've been on the sidelines long enough. I don't know if that gave me the last little bit of motivation to push through the build or what. Sounds like it.
[00:38:08.040] - Big Rich Klein
That's good.
[00:38:08.430] - Ryan Maxfield
It definitely got it done.
[00:38:10.970] - Big Rich Klein
I think Nate.
[00:38:12.100] - Ryan Maxfield
And I did two events last year just in my stock class CJ7. We ran Rangeley last year. And then we did I think it was Nationals. Oh, no.
[00:38:24.240] - Big Rich Klein
Nationals? Okay. I think it.
[00:38:25.590] - Ryan Maxfield
Was Nationals. I don't remember. That was a year ago.
[00:38:29.140] - Big Rich Klein
Right. that's.
[00:38:30.380] - Ryan Maxfield
Crazy. You go to so many events and I don't want to say they all blend together, but trying to pick and choose which one was this year and which event was last year, it's like...
[00:38:39.740] - Big Rich Klein
Wait until you get my age at 65. You think things are cooler. I call it years and beers.
[00:38:47.330] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah.
[00:38:48.020] - Big Rich Klein
We had.
[00:38:49.080] - Ryan Maxfield
So much fun going back to the stock class last year in the CJ that I was even like, Man, maybe we won't even finish a bug and we'll just keep running the CJ. There's no stress in the sportsman class. Now, it seems like there's no drama. The only problem with it is there's been no turnout for the stock class lately. True. But yeah.
[00:39:18.970] - Big Rich Klein
Let's talk about agility off road, your business.
[00:39:22.640] - Ryan Maxfield
When did that get started?
[00:39:24.380] - Big Rich Klein
I.
[00:39:25.370] - Ryan Maxfield
Started Agility Customs almost seven years ago now. Started in just a small little three bay shop. We were there for a year. We just signed a one year lease. The lease was up on that building and we had outgrown it in a year. So we moved into a place that was probably almost double the space, but it was a was a range different, it was more usable. We were there for probably three years, two years. I'm terrible with timelines, I apologize. No, don't.
[00:40:11.450] - Big Rich Klein
Worry about it.
[00:40:12.990] - Ryan Maxfield
There for a couple of years and then COVID happened. Right when COVID kicks off, of course, they're shutting down businesses and all this other bullshit.
[00:40:24.420] - Big Rich Klein
Total bullshit. Now we're finding out.
[00:40:28.660] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. And as a business owner, you don't know what's going to happen, essentially. And man, I tell you what, COVID was the best thing that ever happened to us. I don't want to sound insensitive. I know a lot of people had not that experience with COVID, but.
[00:40:47.250] - Big Rich Klein
From a.
[00:40:48.200] - Ryan Maxfield
Business standpoint, COVID was the best thing that ever happened to us. Covid started and then our lease was up on that building within six or nine months of COVID starting. And then we moved from that shop, which was probably 4,000 square feet into the shop we're in today, out just in the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. We moved into a 15,000 square foot shop that we're currently in now.
[00:41:19.700] - Big Rich Klein
Lots of room.
[00:41:23.140] - Ryan Maxfield
You think you're going to have tons of room until a year in, and same thing, you're bursting up the seams.
[00:41:31.400] - Big Rich Klein
Your shop's not expandable, is it? There's another business behind you guys?
[00:41:36.890] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, there's another business behind us. We would still need a lot more growth before we outgrow the space we're in. So I'm not too worried about it now. But there's definitely days... A couple of weeks ago, we had the shop packed as full as we could. Over the weekend, we like to pull everything inside. So you don't have to worry about stuff getting broken into and stuff. We had 54 vehicles in the shop. Holy shit.
[00:42:04.030] - Big Rich Klein
And then.
[00:42:04.850] - Ryan Maxfield
You start looking at work orders and deadlines, and it starts to weigh on you a little bit. It's like, Good Lord. It's a good problem to have, but it's a lot. Another reason.
[00:42:17.530] - Big Rich Klein
That makes you grow up.
[00:42:19.620] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah, exactly. When you start being responsible for other people's paychecks and stuff like that, it's a lot of fun. It's the American dream, but man, there's days, there's at least one day a week where I'm just like, F this, I'm getting a real job. You know what?
[00:42:42.060] - Big Rich Klein
You would suck at a real job. Oh, I know. You've done your own thing long enough to where unless you got into a job where they just gave you the absolute freedom to do what you wanted to do and still gave you a paycheck, that's the only way it'd work. That's how I am. I could never go to work for somebody right now. For sure. I'd get fired in the first week telling them they're an idiot. I was going to.
[00:43:07.540] - Ryan Maxfield
Say I talked to friends and stuff that work corporate jobs, and you hear of just all the games, essentially, that you have to play just to make it through a corporate world. I don't know how I'd survive in that environment, honestly.
[00:43:23.770] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I couldn't. I quit my corporate job to get into doing rock crawling events. As soon as I put the first one on, I said, Okay, I found out what I'm going to do now. Up until then, I never had a business of my own or a job that lasted more than five years. I would just get burned out on it, get disgusted with it, whatever, and shut it down, go to work for somebody, realize that wasn't it, try something else. Yeah, try doing it. How long.
[00:43:55.440] - Ryan Maxfield
Have you been doing rock crawling events now?
[00:43:58.220] - Big Rich Klein
In 2000 is when I got started putting together the first event series that I was going to do, putting the first event I was going to do, which was called Cow Rocks. It was a put up or shut up shoot out in Amador County in Northern California. I already had a location picked out and everything before I went back to California and got things started. It's 23 solid years.
[00:44:30.640] - Ryan Maxfield
That's.
[00:44:31.570] - Big Rich Klein
A long time. Yeah, it is. That's why at 64 is when I finally convinced Jake Good to step up and become a partner so that eventually he could take over the whole thing because I just physically wasn't able to do it all anymore. I didn't want to shut it down, but we were close.
[00:44:57.010] - Ryan Maxfield
I would have.
[00:44:58.330] - Big Rich Klein
Hated to I remember when ARCA and UROC combined and then UROC finally threw in the towel and stopped putting on events, I got a call from first Jeff Mellow that said, Hey, Rich, you won. And I'm like, What are you talking about? They said, Well, everybody just got an email that said the event is canceled, the next event. And the season's over. They're not going to be in business any longer. And I was like, Holy shit. Okay. Then Justin Webster calls me and says, Okay, now you can't quit, Rich. I'm like, What do you mean I can't quit? He goes, No, all these people that these fab shops and everybody that's building parts and everybody that's got buggies, you can't quit because what are they going to do? I was like, Man, don't put all that on me.
[00:45:52.990] - Ryan Maxfield
Well, circling back to that, I remember when you and Shelly were first talking about trying to find somebody to take over W ee Rock. And it was when I was building my first Moon buggy. And I was like, man, this Moon buggy right now is worth a ton of money. But if Rich and Shelly shut down Wee Rock and there's no competition circuit anymore, then this Moon buggy is not worth anything. And I remember talking to a couple of other competitors about it. And it's like... And yeah, obviously we're all happy that you guys kept it going and got Jake to take it over. But even from a competitor standpoint, it was just heading into the unknown a little bit is just always fun when you've got that money wrapped up into a rock crawling.
[00:46:39.580] - Big Rich Klein
I was just hoping that if... Because it came down to a couple of days, I looked at Shelly and I said, So if Jake doesn't decide to do this by this date, can I just shut it down? And that was the beginning of 2022. And she goes, Yeah, we can shut it down. We'll be okay. And I said, All right. And then Jake called me the next day. In my mind, I'd said, Okay, three days because this had gone on for months. And he goes, Okay, I'm ready to do this. I was like, Okay, that was close. Nobody else knew how close it got. Well, then.
[00:47:21.990] - Ryan Maxfield
The Super Crawl series came back for one season, and they put on a lot of fun events, and I really enjoyed it. But they only made it one season and then just never even made an announcement saying they weren't coming back. Just ghosted everybody and just never showed up again.
[00:47:44.910] - Big Rich Klein
I really think that if somebody is going to do this as a promot, which we'll get into with you here in a moment, that you've got to do it because you love the sport. Oh, 100 %. Not because you think you're going to make a million dollars or you're going to build the next monster truck series or whatever. It's got to be you love the sport, you love the people, you love the game. That's why I always did it. I just loved the sport. Everybody else that got into it, they were seeing dollars and everybody aspirated to try to be the next monster truck. When Rich was younger and we were going through that phase with everybody else, with ARCA and then U Rock and Pro Rock and everybody else, we looked at it and said, Okay, how would it be to put a rock crawling in a stadium and even a basketball arena? And what's it going to look like? It's going to look terrible.
[00:49:02.660] - Ryan Maxfield
Oh, for sure.
[00:49:03.640] - Big Rich Klein
You can't see it. That's why monster trucks are so big. Go to a Wwe wrestling when they did the big arenas. You're sitting up 50 rows or whatever, and you're like, Okay, who's in the ring? The announcement's saying it's Hulk Hogan, but you can't tell. So what would it look like having a couple of guys running around on the rocks in a buggy? Right.
[00:49:29.190] - Ryan Maxfield
Well, you can't see if they're half an inch away from a cone or a foot away from a cone. That obviously makes all the difference in the sport. I don't see it working on that big of a scale.
[00:49:42.040] - Big Rich Klein
I think the scale that we're at is good. Is there room for some growth? Absolutely. People are getting back into the flow of doing it. I think it's good for the sport. It's going to be a second round with Jake running it. And talking about that, let's talk about Delta. When we brought Jake in as a partner, it was, Okay, I know I can't put on these events myself anymore. I asked Jake and he goes, It's not part of the series. I don't know if I really want to do it. And the way it was set up with the county and not charging for spectators, there was no way to generate an income from doing it, at least for us because we had to travel so much to get there and everything. So it was like, Okay, for Craig, when he was putting it on as old school, he could have the time, having that one event a year where he could go get the sponsors and to do the local advertising to the local community, which being outside of that community is really hard to do. Right.
[00:50:55.510] - Ryan Maxfield
With Craig just living right there in Delta, it makes the whole thing. Logistically, it's a dream.
[00:51:03.570] - Big Rich Klein
That's why when we decided we were going to step back, you had mentioned it, and there was a couple others had. We looked at each other, Shelly and I, and said, Okay, who do we think that would be the ones to take this over? Who has the network and who has got some proven business savvy, and we went with you. So we approached you because you had mentioned it, and I'm glad you did it. I was going to say, I.
[00:51:35.350] - Ryan Maxfield
Think it was a year before anything happened with Jake. Right when you and Shal way first announced that you guys were like, Okay, we're looking at a retirement strategy more or less. And we were down in Farmington late one night and ran into you and Shelly and pretty much, yeah, I was like, I have no interest in taking over Wee Rock. But if whoever doesn't want the Delta event, I was like, I 100 % want it. It's the first Rock Crawl I ever did. We haven't missed one in 10 years now. And it's just always been our favorite local event. My whole family comes down. Brothers, sisters, parents, my wife and kids love it. As far as Rock Crawling goes, Delta will always have a special place in my heart. When we got the opportunity to take it over, it really was a no brainer.
[00:52:27.810] - Big Rich Klein
You and Nate are doing this together, correct? Yeah. So me.
[00:52:31.740] - Ryan Maxfield
Nate, and then my other best friend, Jeff Forman. Me, Nate, and Jeff are all partners on it. Mostly because, like you said earlier, there's no money to be made if you're not charging for spectators or anything, and we have no interest in charging for spectators.
[00:52:52.550] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:52:53.640] - Ryan Maxfield
And it's a lot putting on an event without being able to essentially split up the responsibilities between a bunch of people. It just really doesn't... That didn't really intrig me. I wanted to put on a rock crawl, but I didn't want to deal with all the bullshit behind the scenes that it takes to put on a rock crawl. Being able to team up with everybody and split that stuff up. Then, of course, you're putting on a rock crawl with your buddies. It all just... It's a lot of work, but at the same time, you're hanging out with your buddies, still having a good time doing it. It just worked out.
[00:53:36.880] - Big Rich Klein
I always enjoyed doing the Delta Classic. The only thing that drove me nuts down there was the weather. Every year, we would get a storm that come through there and screw it up either the night before, the night after, or the day I'm trying to clean up, it'd be 900 mile an hour winds and rain and thunder and everything. How was it for you guys last year?
[00:54:05.670] - Ryan Maxfield
Last year was awesome, actually. We had a little bit of wind, nothing too crazy, and it was pretty well cloudy the whole event, which was nice because I'd much rather be cloudy with a little bit of wind than 100 degrees and go home with heat stroke and sunburns. It was awesome. Had a good turnout last year. Of course, last year was our first year putting it on and you learn a lot that first year. Let's put it that way. What did you.
[00:54:35.560] - Big Rich Klein
Learn most?
[00:54:38.300] - Ryan Maxfield
There was just a ton of stuff that you almost don't think of until that particular thing arises and people are asking you, Hey, what are we doing here? I'm like, Oh, crap. What are we doing there? It's like saying thing, you bullshit your way through it or fake it until you make it or whatever. But it was a good event. Everybody had fun. We had Terraflex, who everybody's heard of, and they're a great local company. They stepped up to be our title sponsor last year. So they made it all possible last year. The people at the county are so amazing to work with down there. I mean, literally whatever you want, they are there to help you do it. And so can't say enough good things about Millard County and the city of Delta for... Heck, even having that stuff take up room down there on the fairgrounds is... I mean, that's a slam dunk as well. So no, it was awesome. We've made a few tweaks here and there, moving forward this week. The event's next weekend. So I actually just got home from Delta. Me and Nate were down there all day today setting courses and banners and all that stuff today.
[00:56:03.100] - Ryan Maxfield
So, yeah, we're about ready to kick it off again. Excellent.
[00:56:06.530] - Big Rich Klein
That's good to hear. What things are going to happen this weekend with that event?
[00:56:13.850] - Ryan Maxfield
Friday, of course, everything starts at 1 o'clock. Just normal rock crawling stuff Friday until everybody's done running their courses. Then Saturday we've got the rock crawl going on. We've got a whole rock section set up just for RC cars. Bring your RC cars out, have fun with the kids, family, whatever. Then after the rock crawl, there's going to be the tote goat races, the lawn mower races, all the normal shenanigans that come along with it.
[00:56:47.420] - Big Rich Klein
Those shenanigans races are just phenomenal.
[00:56:52.920] - Ryan Maxfield
Those shenanigans are going to get somebody killed. You're having them sign.
[00:56:58.390] - Big Rich Klein
Waivers, right?
[00:56:59.850] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes, everybody's signing waivers. Make sure they sign.
[00:57:04.860] - Ryan Maxfield
And the lawn mower.
[00:57:06.440] - Big Rich Klein
Races, the blades have been removed. The blades have.
[00:57:09.680] - Ryan Maxfield
Been removed. So somebody.
[00:57:12.070] - Big Rich Klein
May get run over, which we've had that happen a number of years ago. I was going.
[00:57:16.640] - Ryan Maxfield
To say that's almost guaranteed. But it's funny, you start asking spectators and locals and everything what their favorite part of the whole event is, and they want to see lawn mower races. Yeah, it's that.
[00:57:30.020] - Big Rich Klein
Half an hour of just total mayhem.
[00:57:34.470] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. But everybody's laughing, everybody's having a good time. It gets.
[00:57:40.830] - Big Rich Klein
Everybody to stick around all day Saturday. Exactly.
[00:57:43.820] - Ryan Maxfield
I mean, they love it. If that's what they want to see, that's what we'll keep doing. Well, cool.
[00:57:51.110] - Big Rich Klein
There's still openings for people to come out and compete?
[00:57:54.430] - Ryan Maxfield
Yes, absolutely. Tech and registrations open until noon on Friday. And even if somebody wanted to show up and just run Saturday, we'd let them. Everything at Delta is so relaxed. Clear down, even the actual classes of event, classes of cars. Maybe you really should be in Legends class, but there's a gray area. Honestly, we're going to probably put you where you want to run. And then hopefully that doesn't bite us in the ass later. So the other.
[00:58:34.120] - Big Rich Klein
Competitors don't complain, you mean?
[00:58:36.510] - Ryan Maxfield
Yeah. Delta has always been just a good old boy event. Everybody's out there to just have a good time. Of course, there's payout. We pay out in the same pay scale that you guys use in W e Rock. There's definitely money on the line. We all know how people take it probably a little too seriously when there's money on the line. Myself included. I'll own that. Even if there wasn't money on the line, I'd take it the same amount of serious. I just want to win.
[00:59:09.580] - Big Rich Klein
Sometimes when things don't go right, you're not always in the right mood to talk to people either.
[00:59:20.600] - Ryan Maxfield
Let's back up a lot of years here. Nate's been spotting for me for almost 10 years now. And as I've gotten older, I've mellowed out a little bit. I don't get quite so hot headed anymore. But I remember things... Not that I yelled at Nate a lot, but I definitely yelled at Nate some. And I remember it was after we'd been in Unlimited and our plan on course just did not work out. And I didn't yell at Nate at all. And we pulled off course. And I remember looking at Nate, I'm like, Dude, this whole not yelling at you thing works. I was like, I'm just going to start doing that more often. And he's like, I'd appreciate that. It was just funny.
[01:00:11.170] - Big Rich Klein
But me.
[01:00:13.030] - Ryan Maxfield
And Nate have been working together so long on this stuff that, I mean, Nate knows that I get hot headed and then we don't talk for 10 minutes after we get off course. And then we're fine. Nobody's holding grudges. It just heat of the moment, especially nothing's going your way. You've got 30 seconds on your Timer and you still got two gates to get through. It's a stressful situation. It's just funny. Then, like you said, I roll a car or something and everybody wants to come over and just say, Are you doing okay? He wants to make sure you're okay. The last thing you want to do.
[01:00:54.000] - Big Rich Klein
Is talk to anybody.
[01:00:55.160] - Ryan Maxfield
Just leave me alone, guys. So yeah, definitely guilty of that. I think there was one.
[01:01:03.740] - Big Rich Klein
Time I walked over to you and told you to chill out a little bit. I don't remember if it had been a rollover or you guys ran out of time and you were wedged in on a course or something. But you came off course and you were a little hot headed and I walked over and said, Okay, that's enough. And you looked at me like, Yeah, you're right. Yeah, 100 %.
[01:01:30.110] - Ryan Maxfield
I was like, Oh, I'll admit it. That's awesome.
[01:01:34.710] - Big Rich Klein
So if anybody wants to get involved in this or more information, they should go to... The easiest.
[01:01:42.920] - Ryan Maxfield
Thing is probably just message us on Facebook. You can email us through the website or all the normal things. It's just Delta Classic Rock Crawl. Com. Same thing on Instagram and Facebook, just Delta Classic Rock Crawl. But Nate actually runs all the social media stuff for us. He messages back people on social media right away. So it's probably the best, easiest, fastest way to get a response or get information. Perfect.
[01:02:13.710] - Big Rich Klein
Well, excellent. I want to say thank you so much for spending some time this evening. Even though you worked all day long, getting the event ready for this weekend. I hope people show up in droves and have a great time because it is a good time down there in Delta. Yeah, it's a.
[01:02:31.990] - Ryan Maxfield
Killer time, free for spectators. Really, you've got no reason not to come out and at least check it out for a minute. Exactly.
[01:02:41.370] - Big Rich Klein
All right. Thank you so much, Ryan, for spending the time. Yeah, thanks for.
[01:02:46.890] - Ryan Maxfield
Having me, Rich. And yeah, it was good talking to you. It's been taking a season off. I haven't seen you much lately, so it's good to catch up. Yeah, hope to see you up.
[01:02:54.570] - Big Rich Klein
There in Vernal. We'll see you then.
[01:02:56.480] - Ryan Maxfield
Okay. Bye bye. Well, that's it for that's another.
[01:02:59.520] - Big Rich Klein
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 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.