The Thrill of Off-Road: Shannon Campbell's Journey

Episode Summary: Join host Big Rich as he dives into the exhilarating world of off-road sports with the legendary Shannon Campbell. In this episode, Shannon shares his journey from a rural upbringing in Arizona to becoming a renowned figure in the off-road industry. From racing at Top Truck Challenge to making a mark at King of the Hammers, Shannon's stories are as thrilling as they are inspiring.

Key Moments:

• Early Life and Influences: Shannon talks about his upbringing in Gilbert, Arizona, and how his family's involvement in racing influenced his passion for off-road sports.
• Breaking into Off-Road Racing: Hear about Shannon's first major competition at Top Truck Challenge in 1996 and how it set the stage for his future success.
• Innovations and Challenges: Discover the journey of transitioning to independent front suspension and the challenges Shannon faced in desert racing.
• Memorable Moments: Laugh along with tales of close calls, wild races, and the camaraderie of the off-road community, including epic stories with his long-time friend Randy Ellis.
• Future Plans: Shannon shares his aspirations to balance big races with a return to grassroots wheeling adventures and his enthusiasm for upcoming events like Trail Hero and the Rubicon.

Guest Bio: Shannon Campbell is a celebrated figure in the off-road racing world, known for his innovative spirit and competitive drive. As a member of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, Shannon continues to inspire with his dedication to the sport and his passion for life.

Transcript

[00:00:05.300] - 

Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road 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 off-road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.

[00:00:46.470] - 

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[00:01:12.850] - Big Rich Klein

My guest this week really needs no introduction. From top truck to rock crawling, to rock racing, to the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, Shannon Campbell has proven himself a winner at every level. Well, hello, Shannon Campbell. So good to have you on the podcast. You're one of the guys that everybody wants to hear about. So here we are.

[00:01:38.040] - Shannon Campbell

Poor people interested in what I got to say.

[00:01:42.340] - Big Rich Klein

That is exactly what I thought you would say. Well, let's have fun doing this, and I look forward to finding out more about you that I don't know. I'm always amazed at what I find out. So let's start right at the very beginning. And where were you born and raised?

[00:02:05.430] - Shannon Campbell

I was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Yeah, and I grew up in Gilbert pretty much. I mean, I'm Arizona a native. Been here my whole life.

[00:02:17.930] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And Gilbert was pretty rural at that time, not like it is now, where it's just solid houses and it's a bit beyond.

[00:02:29.160] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, when I Well, we moved to Gilbert. I mean, I was just a baby, and we lived on a dirt road in the middle of a bunch of cotton fields, and there was nothing there but my uncle's house and my dad's house. Gilbert Road was dirt. The main downtown was a little bit of pavement downtown. You parked diagonal. It reminded me of just antique town. I mean, it literally grew. I remember being in school, in high school and stuff, and there was three sheriffs, and we knew them all. I knew the judge. I got to visit him quite a bit. It was quite an interesting life. We had a blast.

[00:03:12.340] - Big Rich Klein

So we'll get into the visiting of the judge and learning more about the sheriffs. So growing up back then, what were the things that you guys did as a family? Outdoorsy stuff?

[00:03:30.090] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, I mean, so my mom and my dad, they were total opposites. But mom would get us, she'd make us go to church every Sunday morning. And of course, we went camping and went on vacations and stuff. And dad would take me and my brother fishing. And I remember just all the fishing trips. We'd be there and he'd be like, Whatever happens on this trip, whatever you tell your mom, you're never going with this again. It was pretty awesome, crazy. My dad was a wild child and We had good times as a family and everything. Then, of course, every Sunday morning we go to church and summer vacations. Mom would always take us to these educational trips. We didn't really care for it as kids, but you look back now, and it was pretty awesome.

[00:04:19.450] - Big Rich Klein

So the family, it was your dad, your mom, and you and nick. Any other kids?

[00:04:27.890] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, my sister Melissa. A lot of People don't know my sister, but we all grew up together and still family.

[00:04:38.640] - Big Rich Klein

And are you the oldest?

[00:04:41.200] - Shannon Campbell

My sister was.

[00:04:42.330] - Big Rich Klein

Your sister was. Okay. And then- Yeah, we're all two years apart. Two years apart.

[00:04:47.650] - Shannon Campbell

Okay. She's two years older, and then it was me, and then my brother's two years younger.

[00:04:54.940] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And did you guys grow up pretty rough and tumble?

[00:04:59.960] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, yeah. We were all tough kids, and me and my brother, we'd fist fight on a daily program. Mom would have to break us up. Even my sister. I remember my sister used to pick on us, and One day it turned around. My dad told her, he says, I told you what? Can't pick on them boys forever. But we all got along. But at the same time, we were just siblings.

[00:05:29.540] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And how were you as a student?

[00:05:34.780] - Shannon Campbell

A student?

[00:05:35.920] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. Were you a good student? I was horrible. Or were you looked out the window a lot? You were horrible. Okay, so you looked out the window.

[00:05:41.380] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, I was in my own little world. I just, I don't know. I mean, I guess I've seen the principal quite often, if that's what you mean. I remember there was three paddles up there. One had holes in it and one was flattened and one had nails in it. And it was just the We used to get whipped when we were kids. I remember. Oh, yeah.

[00:06:03.100] - Big Rich Klein

I remember that, too.

[00:06:03.970] - Shannon Campbell

At one point, my mom put us in a private school. It was Christian redeemer. She thought she was going to make us better kids. She paid good money to put us in that school. I think we lasted maybe a half of a year. Me, my brother, and my sister all got kicked out of that school. She was pretty disappointed.

[00:06:28.000] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, God. I could just see that. And then the public schools were like, oh, here come the Campbell kids back.

[00:06:36.350] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, I mean, public schools, we weren't that bad kids, but just I don't... I was a nerdy kid. I remember in school, just not nerdy, but just I was in my own little world, did my own thing. And I just remember a lot of the kids picking on me as I grew up. And then one day, I remember all my his head coach, and we're all still good friends. He's like, Damn it, Campbell, when are you going to quit letting them kids pick on you? He goes, Just hit them back. I remember the day. I think I was seventh grade, and this kid pushed me all the way through the lunch line, and I finally just throttled his ass. And after that, no one ever mess with me again.

[00:07:20.190] - Big Rich Klein

It's amazing what happens when you lay down the law like that.

[00:07:24.090] - Shannon Campbell

I don't know. I was not... I don't know. My kids were just different then, and they thought I was just a pussy, I guess. But it changed after that, and no one messed with me no more.

[00:07:41.320] - Big Rich Klein

So did you participate in any sporting activities, any sports teams?

[00:07:47.130] - Shannon Campbell

I think I did track. My mom had us in Little League as kids. But me and my brother, my dad had a... They raced cars, I had a circle track and stuff back then, and we had two acres where my dad and my uncle lived, and it was just like a playground of junk. I remember dad bringing home this motorcycle when we were little kids. He had a little Honda 70 his boss gave him that didn't run. My cousin had all these little three wheelers and stuff. Between all that junk, I remember me and my brother got it running one day, and my mom freaked out. She called my dad, They got that thing running. They're riding it. He goes, Well, I told them if they got it running, they could ride it. I I mean, after that, we were just... That's all we wanted to do is jump, motor cycles, ride, go-karts. I remember even as we got a little older, my cousin, he was a few years older than us, or probably four or five years older than us. They had old cars out there, and we'd get them running. We'd do donuts in the backyard with them and stuff when mom would leave.

[00:08:51.430] - Shannon Campbell

It was just... We were always into the automotive stuff. I remember getting, breaking in the shop when dad went to work, and we'd get all the heim joints and cool shit and make bicycle trailers, and we'd go hide it before he got home. Who's been in my shop? Just stuff like that.

[00:09:13.540] - Big Rich Klein

As you were growing up, your dad was racing circle track, you said. Dirt track?

[00:09:22.340] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, they raced circle track in the '70s, and then towards the late '70s, early '80s, they got into off-road racing and did Baha and Parker. Parker 400 was a big one. I remember going to all the time, and they did the Mant 400. And they literally took... He had this beautiful stock car that was a Camaro, and they just... I remember they put 32 or 33-inch Ridge runners on it back then, and it had a big block in it. And I remember they raced Class II. And I remember them, my dad and Mickey Thompson and all them were all real good friends and pre-ran together and stuff. And It was pretty crazy cool back then. You look back on it and Walker Evans even. Later on, they got into Class 8 and stuff like that, and Walker Evans and Irvin Stewart. I remember being around them when I was a little kid. All right.

[00:10:16.990] - Big Rich Klein

So then when you're growing up, your dad's racing dirt track and off road, when did you start competing in vehicles, or what was it?

[00:10:32.700] - Shannon Campbell

So my very first thing that I ever did, far as competition-wise, was in '96. I went to Top Truck.

[00:10:42.560] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. So it was a little later.

[00:10:44.780] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. My dad got out of racing, probably the mid '80s. He worked for a tours distributorship, and we knew the owners and stuff, and they were real good people. And my dad, they wanted to get into racing, so my dad built these off-road cars. He had one. He had a truck that they paid for and sponsored, you know what I mean? Through Central Truck and Equipment was the name of the business that was part of the distributorship. And I remember they raced and they built a... It was an international dealership also, the courier's distributor. They owned all of it. So they had a Scout, too, that my dad had built for one of the owners. And It had couriers on it and they raced. The Camaro, at one point, my uncle drove it. It had couriers on it. They were sponsored by them. After, they got burned out on the racing after a few years and quit doing it, so they quit sponsoring it. So my dad got out of it. And we were, I think, teenagers or early. Before teenager, he got out of it. I always just had the passion for it. And we got into four wheeling and stuff like that.

[00:12:04.180] - Shannon Campbell

And then evolved back, got me back into racing. And then my dad got involved in that. When I started doing it again, he helped and showed me all kinds of stuff. He taught me how to fabricate. As a kid, we grew up in the shop down there. I mean, that was our weekend. Every weekend we were at the shop playing on equipment and doing dumb stuff. But he'd make us help him do stuff every now and then, and that's how we learned. Right.

[00:12:33.170] - Big Rich Klein

So what was the first car that you drove? I know you drove things in the backyard and that stuff, and probably... But what was the first car you drove as a How did you license a driver?

[00:12:47.130] - Shannon Campbell

So my first car, I was 15. I worked all summer, and I bought this '69 Ford Fairlane. It was the ugliest green color you've ever seen. And I fixed it up and had the interior it were done. I remember getting it running and putting… It had all the new chrome kit on it, the valve covers and everything that matched and the Excel wires or whatever. I just remember this as a kid, fixing it all up. When I turned 16, I remember my mom, they made me pay for my own insurance. They didn't buy me nothing. I had to do everything on my own. I had to pay for my own insurance and everything. I remember the day I turned 16, I got in that car and me and my buddies left. We went up to Pacen and shit, I was gone for a week. Back then, I didn't have cell phones. I come back home and my mom, she was freaking out. I came home, basically, get some more money and change my clothes and head out again. I was going to go have some fun. My dad was at work, and my mom, she chased me all the way in the house, yelling at me, We can't just leave like that.

[00:13:58.290] - Shannon Campbell

I said, Mom, you told me I get my own car, I can pay my own insurance. I said, I can do whatever I want. I said, I got a job, but you're not paying for it. And she lost her shit. And I remember I was taking a shower, and she called my dad. And my dad said, Well, who the coil wire off. So he can't go nowhere. And I was in the shower when he's telling her all this. And she went out there. She didn't know what the coil wire was. She took the hedge trimers to my brand new wires, chopped them all in half, all eight of them. And I was like, What? I came out to leave, and a car wouldn't start. And I came in, What'd you do to my car? And I open the hood, and I was, Man, I lost my shit because I worked all summer to pay for that. And it was pretty crazy.

[00:14:44.720] - Big Rich Klein

Took the hedge trimmer to your wires.

[00:14:48.420] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, yeah. I remember them hedge trimbers. I had to use them when we were kids to trim the hedges, and she just chopped them all right in half, right down the middle.

[00:14:57.440] - Big Rich Klein

So how long did it take you to get those fixed and back on the road? Oh, yeah.

[00:15:03.940] - Shannon Campbell

I mean, I had the old wires. I fixed it, and my dad said, You can't leave because you're only sick. They read me the right act, and I got it going again. But I was grounded a little bit. But good times.

[00:15:25.810] - Big Rich Klein

So did you take any shop classes or anything like that in high school?

[00:15:30.770] - Shannon Campbell

No, I never did. I actually had wood shopping like seventh grade, but that was just like an elective just to get out of real school.

[00:15:39.930] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And so when you were working, what jobs were you doing to earn money to do the Fairlane and everything?

[00:15:48.680] - Shannon Campbell

My first job was, I don't mean my brother as kids, we built this little bicycle trailer, and my cousin, he's the one that... He was also a big part teaching us how to fabricate. He was big into it, and not just my dad, but we built these little bicycle trailers that would haul lawn mowers. We had one that was pretty long. It hauled two lawn moors, and we'd pull them behind our bicycles, and we'd go mow yards when we were 10, 11 years old. And then my first real job was a hot carrier for block layer. My mom and them, one of the guys they knew laid block, and I went work for his company, just stacking block all summer and doing stuff. And yeah, that was my first job.

[00:16:39.030] - Big Rich Klein

That'll put some muscle tone on you.

[00:16:41.350] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, yeah. I was a ripped little kid.

[00:16:45.270] - Big Rich Klein

And so you mentioned knowing all three sheriffs and getting to know the judge. Was it mostly driving incidences that got you in there?

[00:16:58.750] - Shannon Campbell

It just started out like we'd go to parties. We called it desert parties and stuff, and we'd always go out in the desert. I remember the cops would show up, break us up, and chase you and stuff. I don't know how many minor consumptions we got. Just being at house parties and stuff, the sheriffs would come in and bust us. We knew all the sheriffs and stuff. It was crazy. So we'd have to go see the Judge, Judge Scousen. Man, When are you kids going to learn, you can't. You ain't old enough to drink. He'd give us community service or something stupid. But just always... And then running as we got a little older, I remember just, shoot, we just start running from it. It was like the damn Duke's a hazard, and freaking haul ass. I remember one night me and Randy, we left this little Eateria Pub, and I came into his neighborhood sideways in my truck, just Bruce and around and, Oh, shit, there's the cops. You know what I mean? We roll up and he's come over to my window and I roll my window down. Just as he got to the window, I remember just laying it down and we hauled ass.

[00:18:12.610] - Shannon Campbell

I told Randy, We were over to Randy Ellis's house. I said, Randy, open your dad's gate. And he opened the gate and I pulled in there and parked my truck, and I threw my keys up on his roof, and I took off running home. I lived a few miles from there, and I ran home. And man, the next day, I got there to my truck, and his dad wasn't happy. He goes, damn it, Shannon, there's 11 cops at the house or whatever. I can't remember what he said, but he goes, They're all looking, trying to arrest Randy. And I was like, I'm sorry, we were drunk, and I wasn't going to get in trouble. And he wouldn't let him take my truck or nothing because it was in his yard. And he's like, you guys need to learn. I just remember just all kinds of stuff like that. And then one night, I ran a four-way stop. It was like one or two in the morning. There's no one out there. It was like just farm fields and stuff. And there's this little circle K on the corner they just built. And I remember shutting my lights down to run the stop sign.

[00:19:14.090] - Shannon Campbell

And the damn cop, I looked back and the cop was there and I was like, Oh, shit. And I just shut my lights off. It was a full moon out. And I ran that thing home. And I remember pulling down or coming down my street. My truck, it wasn't loud, but out there, it in the country, so you could hear that thing forever. I remember my brother, I rolled into my uncle's driveway next to my dad's because he had a little gate. My brother, he heard me coming the whole way. He's out there, and he opened my uncle's gate, and I pulled in behind the gate and shut the deal. I remember the cop, he missed the street that I turned on because he didn't know. He turned on the one behind our house, and I seen him back there, spotlight and looking around, and me and my brother were laughing. We went to bed, and the next morning, my uncle was like, You have a little run in with the law last night? And I was like, No. He goes, Well, they sure seem to think so. They were spotlighting my windows. You parked your truck in my driveway.

[00:20:11.000] - Shannon Campbell

And I was like, Oh, well. Yeah, I ran a stop sign, and I just didn't want to get in trouble. I didn't want them to know where I lived.

[00:20:19.190] - Big Rich Klein

So what Randy were you riding with if you were headed over to Randy Ellis's house?

[00:20:25.480] - Shannon Campbell

Randy Ellis.

[00:20:26.470] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, okay.

[00:20:27.160] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, it was me and Randy. Yeah, we were together. He's the one that... To tell you the truth, he got me into jeeping and stuff. And at the time, I was trying to build a stock car, or I was building a super stock to go racing with at that time. And then he talked me into building a Jeep instead, and I ended up selling my stock car.

[00:20:51.360] - Big Rich Klein

So how long have you known Randy? I mean, did you guys go to school together?

[00:20:55.740] - Shannon Campbell

We went to high school together, yeah. We were always in to fixing up trucks and cars and just street racing. And I mean, we were just into the automotive stuff. We both painted car. I'd paint cars on the side and stuff like that And after rod carrying, what did you do next to afford to build cars? I started doing... Shoot, I worked at a grease or Grease and go, or whatever. I remember lubing cars for a little bit. Hell, actually, one of my jobs... Actually, my first job wasn't rod carrying. I think I worked at a Burger King or something. Or no, Derry Queen. Downtown Derry Queen for, I don't know, a month or two. That was lame, but I bounced all the time around. I could just see you and Derry Queen wearing the little hat and the apron. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was gay as shit.

[00:22:01.430] - Big Rich Klein

There's no pictures of you from back then, is there?

[00:22:05.630] - Shannon Campbell

No, I didn't have no pictures of that trap. And then actually, one of my good friends, Brandon, his family were farmers. And I also... As kids, before his dad would pay us on the side, I'd drive a damn tractor in the cotton fields. I remember cultivating and doing all kinds of dumb stuff in the summers, driving tractors for him and and irrigating and stuff like that. He was a cotton farmer and what else did they do? Hay and corn. They did corn silage and stuff. Cool.

[00:22:43.700] - Big Rich Klein

So Was nick tagging around with you at that age as well, or was he off with his friends?

[00:22:53.820] - Shannon Campbell

No, he had his own friends and stuff. I mean, as kids, we were always together. But once I turned 16 and stuff, we were still around, but he had his friends and I had mine. And then he ended up going into the military as he got a little older or whatever So he went and did some adult things? Yeah.

[00:23:21.650] - Big Rich Klein

So then you're running around with Randy. Was there any other of the guys, the old rock crawlers that you ran with high school-wise?

[00:23:36.080] - Shannon Campbell

Not really in high school. I mean, well, there was a few people from school, but we'd met a lot of people. Some of the people I met, But as we first got into rock crawling, and this was in, I think '90. I mean, we had been four wheeling since I got my first Jeep. And shoot, I think right out of high school was my first Jeep or whatever, and it was a piece of shit. And then I built my first Jeep, my own in '91, I think I built it. And then Randy and I were hanging around Rick Payway, which owned a local shop here in Tempe, Arizona. And then he got in with the magazines and started doing that and sold his shop. But we hung out with him going four wheeling. Oh, him and Mike Flores and Ned Bacon. That's when I got introduced to all them, and that's when I started traveling, like going to different events. My very first time out of town was going to Moab in 94. And I met Ned Bacon and Sunny Honiger This was back in the beginning, and then we started all meeting up in different places like Sierra Track.

[00:24:53.750] - Shannon Campbell

We went and did that, and that was probably my second trip out of town, going four wheeling. And he just evolved off of that. And when people seen... I'd built this Jeep. So my first Jeep was a piece of shit. It was a 74 CJ5. And I remembered jump. We were actually down here in Rocky Point as kids, and I remember jumping this sand dune and him buckled it in the middle. And on the way home, the exhaust fell off. And it was funny, too, because me and Randy, for some reason, he He rode down here with me that trip. He had his own Jeep, but it wasn't running or something. And we put his 250R on top of my Jeep and drove it down here to Rocky Point. I mean, it was the craziest shit. I don't know if he has any pictures of it, but we partied our asses off down here in Mexico, and I got home and that Jeep was like the exhaust fell off on the way home. I remember one of the rocker arms broke and my dad, he helped me fix it. But he's like, Yeah, these things are pieces of shit.

[00:26:00.280] - Shannon Campbell

He goes, You need to put a Chevy in here. And at the time, I was just a kid. I didn't really have no money or whatever. And I ended up selling that Jeep. And then I found this old Jeep, a guy named Darren Mallet. He was a farmer, and he had it. And I went and got it from him. And it was literally nothing there. And I brought it home, and it didn't run or anything. My dad's like, it was a 64 wheelies Jeep CJ5 or whatever. And my dad's like, What a... This is a piece of shit. And I was like, Well, you told me just to get something to build, and we'll put Chevy running gear in it. And so I ended up buying 10 bolts, a truck, basically. And at the time, I was building '67 to '72 Chevy pickups. I'd done a few of them already and sold them. And so I knew what the trucks were and stuff. So I basically took all the truck stuff, and my dad showed me I got to make my first frame on this little CJ. And once people seen that, it was head full.

[00:27:08.900] - Shannon Campbell

No, we narrow, we cut the axles in half and narrowed them six inches on that. It was funny because my dad, he literally... Most people would cut the knuckles off and stuff, and he showed me. He goes, You just chop six inches out and we'll sleeve the inside and weld it back together. We even chopped the axial shafts in half. And we cut them at a 45-degree angle and beveled them and welded them back together. And I wheeled this thing for a long time. I mean, I ended up breaking one one time, and it was pretty funny. But then after that, I was like, screw that, cutting that actual shit down. Let's just put full width axles under it. And that was my second Jeep I built, which was... I made the body and everything. It was because after that first one, the body was a piece of shit, and I pretty much handmade the floor in it and everything. So I was like, I'll just make my own thing that looks like a flat fender. And I stretched it a little bit, and it was made out of 14 gage in box tubing and stuff.

[00:28:13.330] - Shannon Campbell

And you couldn't tell looking at it if you didn't know that it was homemade. So I completely handmade my second Jeep, the whole frame, body, chassis, everything. And my dad had showed me on the first one, you flange the cage through the body, and and sandwich the body. And then it was like a full structure, almost like a race car. So when people in California on these trips, they've seen this thing, and I remember they've seen it was full with axles, and it looked like a stomper. And people were like, Oh, that thing's going to get wedged in the trail. Don't let him get in front of you. And all this shit. And me and Randy up there at Sierra track, I remember people were stuck and we just mobbed around them. And we were like wild kids. And We didn't have no one telling us what to do. We passed the whole pack and took off and just had so much fun. That's when people seeing this Jeep and how good it went, and then people started, Hey, can you make me one? I'm like, Oh, yeah, shoot. Yeah. So then it became I was doing this stuff on the side, building Jeeps and roll cages.

[00:29:21.280] - Shannon Campbell

And at the time, I went to work for my dad at Central Truck and Equipment, the courier's distributor and stuff. And the owners that owned that place that he was racing with and stuff, I was working on trucks and they found out what I could do. And pretty much I became their little guy that just built their hot rods and anything they wanted to come in there. Hey, Dawn, can Shannon do this for me? And so I was just building stuff. And then I really started learning how to fabricate because that's what I was doing all day long, just building them cool stuff. And after 10 years of working there. I had good benefits and loved my job. And then they decided to sell the distributorship, and they were going to retire or whatever, do something else. And after working there for 10 years, I was like, Man, this is dumb. I'm not going to work. I don't want to work here no more because they weren't going to be there. And I was going to basically have to... Miller came in and bought this distributorship, and I was going to go to work for them.

[00:30:25.310] - Shannon Campbell

And I had already been doing stuff on the side. And my brother My brother got out of the military at this point, and he was actually working there with me and my dad. We were working on trucks and whatever. I told my brother, I said, We were working out of my dad's little lean-to out behind his house, building stuff at night, or I was. I told my brother, I said, Man, I got tons of work. I said, Let's just do our own thing. And we quit. And my dad was pretty bummed. But at the same time, he was proud to see us doing our own thing. And we worked in his backyard, our own business, and restarted up. My dad and my uncle actually started Campbell ENT in the '70s. They were building trailers and stock car chassees. And then they quit it. And I brought the name back in 2000. 2001, I think it was when we started the... No, 2000, Campbell ENT re-ignited it, and that's when that came around.

[00:31:29.680] - Big Rich Klein

So that Jeep that you built, the flat Fender, was that Pinky?

[00:31:35.790] - Shannon Campbell

No, that was the third Jeep that I built, and I built that for my dad.

[00:31:41.410] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:31:42.830] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, and a lot of the ideas were my dad's like, Oh, let's do this. And so he would tell me what to do, and I would do it. And the first one was crazy because back then, it was all about my articulation and everything. My first Jeep was Chevy Spring and Chevy narrowed axles, cut down and stuff, and it was stiff. It was very badass, though. It was like a street racing Jeep, and it four wheeled good because it had ARB lockers and stuff in it, but it was stiff. It didn't articulate. At the time, I had met Rick Payway and them, and they were into articulation. They would drive up on the wall at his shop, and see how far they could get up there. I was telling my dad all about it, and he goes, Oh, I'll show you how to get some articulation. And we took stock wrangler leaves at the time. I don't know if you guys know what three-quarter liptic is, but basically, we do a shack reversal. We drug, the springs mount was in the front, and then we put on there what I call the buggy leaf, but it was three-quarter liptic.

[00:32:54.360] - Shannon Campbell

So half of it, we'd chop a wrangler leaf in half and put one leaf that bolted to the frame and then it hooked to the shackling. And I had three quarter lift at front and rear, and then a four link in the rear. And back then, no one even knew what a four link was. My dad had showed me, he goes, Yeah, let's link this thing up. And he goes, You just do this And then we double shackled the rear. So it was full. It had two shackles, a four link, and then a goofy leaf, which we called it, which was the three quarter lift. And this thing would just... You It articulated so much, people were just blown away. It was pretty wild.

[00:33:35.790] - Big Rich Klein

So what did you do for a drive shaft in that thing? What stretch was on the... How long were the lines? It didn't need that much.

[00:33:46.630] - Shannon Campbell

It was normal, because just the way the four link was set up, it didn't plunge the drive shaft or anything. You know what I mean? It was still a normal drive shaft. It just regular.

[00:33:59.590] - Big Rich Klein

Wow, Crazy. And is that the one that you that you competed at Top Truck?

[00:34:07.140] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. And originally, I called it the Coors Can. That Jeep was painted. We worked for Coors, and I remember painting rodeo barrels for the rodeos and stuff, and then put these decals on it. And so we had all these Coors rodeo logos laying around. And I remember my hood, because we drank Coors like it was going out of style. But I could take home, shit, a palate of beer if I Them guys would give me whatever I wanted when I worked there when we were kids. And so I put Coors logo on my hood. And when I went to, I got accepted to go to Top Truck Challenge, and they would not let me have the Coors logo on there. So at the time, I had a truck that was... It's called Coral Reef. It was like an Asuzu Amigo color. People thought it was pink. It was like a more of a melon color. So I had a truck that was Coral Reef or whatever. And so I just painted that Jeep, that color before I went to Top Truck.

[00:35:05.130] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. And how did things go at Top Truck?

[00:35:09.860] - Shannon Campbell

It was pretty badass. I ended up winning, and that was the start of my... That was my first event. And after that, then rock crawling evolved and stuff, and it was pretty crazy.

[00:35:24.670] - Big Rich Klein

At the time you were running your shop, you guys started your shop, there was a shop downtown where Randy and a bunch of guys worked.

[00:35:33.920] - Shannon Campbell

Is that correct? Four-wheelers Supply? Yeah. Yeah, Randy. Randy went to work for Four-wheelers Supply when I was working at the courier's distributorship. And him and Ian worked there and a bunch of other people had ran through there. And then they went over to FST and worked at FST for a while. And then Randy even started his own business after that.

[00:36:00.270] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And you guys had quite the community of rock crawlers going out on the weekends.

[00:36:06.360] - Shannon Campbell

Every weekend, we were in the desert wheeling. It was a mecca of off-road where we lived. 20, 30 minutes, you could be in the desert. And it was crazy. I remember when we first started wheeling, there's Santans, which is now a park that all you can do is hike and ride your bike in there. And me and Randy, every night, it was 20 minutes from the house. We'd go up there and four wheel up in the old mines and mountains and shit right there. And we'd sit up there and drink beer. And you could see town. It was just right there. So awesome. And now I go over there and I hike or run up the mountain every now and then. And it just blows me away that we used to drive up them little trails and stuff, and it's crazy.

[00:36:59.470] - Big Rich Klein

So you started with Top Truck, and then you started doing other events. What was the next event you went to?

[00:37:09.140] - Shannon Campbell

So we did a lot of the just like Jeepers, Jambourie, off-roading, and wheeling and stuff. And then the next real event that took place was Arca Ranch Pratt started the Arca Good Year Extreme, whatever. And people came from all over the country. That's where I met Chris Durham, another good friend, and Shupi, and Moose, and Andrew, all the guys from the East Coast, and then John Curry. That's where I met John Curry, was big there, and Walker Evans. I had known him, but he has just retired from short course truck racing and stuff. And he showed up there with a Blazer, I think it was, and such a cool era, just so much people from different genres that came to this event that Ranch had started. I remember being there. I mean, there's So many stories. I remember. I roll up there and I had boggers on. At the time, I was wheeling my dad's Jeep that we had made him, Pinky. I remember getting there and Greg Malky, he comes up to me and he says, Man, or no, it wasn't Greg Malky. It was the Good Year guys. Good Year had sponsored this event, and the Good Year guys came up to me and like, I guess I had a big name to, I guess, just because of the magazines or something.

[00:38:49.260] - Shannon Campbell

Good Year was there, and they came and, Hey, can we talk in to put in our tires on that Jeep for the event? I was like, Oh, no. Like I said, I got these I said, these tires, I knew that the boggers were tough, and they would take punishment. And I said, You can't. What the heck was it? I said, I didn't have beat locks or whatever. I didn't want to put Good Year's on there because I didn't have beat locks. And they're like, well, if we can get this guy over here, MRT was there, it was Greg Mulky, to put some wheels on there or use our tires. And I'm like, no. I said, I ain't doing all that work. And at the time, all we wanted to do is drink and four wheel. We're here to have fun. And I know I'm about to go start mountain tires and stuff. And they're like, well, if we get him to do the work and give you the wheels and we give you the tires. They said, would you put them on there? And I'm like, you guys do all that work, I'll put them on there.

[00:39:50.970] - Shannon Campbell

And we just sat there and drank and watched them. I mean, there's a lot more to it, but I just remember sitting there. We were partying, and they mounted these MRT wheels up and put the Goodyear tires on them. We sucked at this event because we didn't know really what the rules and all the stuff was. The rules, yeah. We didn't understand the rules. The way we were raised in our wheeling days is you don't put a winch on nothing. If you can't make it, you fucking just give it more gas. So we sucked the first day, and then we find out curries are winching up stuff and people are winching and stuff, and we're like, What the hell? And that was another thing. The first day was just pussy stuff. Well, then, and you had the second day of the event, they called it the Dirty Dozen. I mean, there might be a little bit of variation of the story. This is just how I remember it. We were stuck, and I think We were 12th place, and they only took 12 people into the final day. They called it the Dirty Dozen. We were in 12th.

[00:41:10.060] - Shannon Campbell

Me and Flores, we get into this second day, and the second day got extreme. It was harder. That's when old Pinky shined, man. That thing was badass. Flores, he was a good of a driver as he was a spotter. But me and him, he was my very first spotter. Man, we freaking killed it that day, and we ended up winning the event. And that was, Good Year, free. Everybody was... I didn't even know. I wasn't into social media or anything. I don't even know what it was back then, magazines or whatever. But I remember Good Year doing this press release, and I didn't even know they did. People told me, I found out through the great vine and stuff just started evolving off of that. So Good Year became my first sponsor, them and Greg Mulky and from MRT. Such a small little world that it's grown into so much now. It's crazy.

[00:42:08.840] - Big Rich Klein

Right. So was that Farmington?

[00:42:12.690] - Shannon Campbell

That was Farmington, yeah. Okay. Cool. Yeah. And then the second event was down, I can't, Bob Hazel down at Los Cruises, the Chilly Challenge or something like that. Right. No, no, I can't remember what it was called, but I do remember going to the Chilly Challenge was just an off-road event. It wasn't a competition.

[00:42:39.230] - Big Rich Klein

Right. I think that was when the next competition that would have been on the schedule, I think may have been the event at the Hammers that Bob Hazel did?

[00:42:54.340] - Shannon Campbell

Man, I don't remember. I feel like the first one I did of his was Los Cruises. Okay. And man, there's so many freaking wild stories. I remember being down at this event in Los Cruises, and Randy and I, we all went to this bar called the Blue Moon, and Man, there was a slew of us, and they couldn't keep up. They only had a couple of people working there. I remember Randy was in the back cooking burgers, and we were serving beers and everything. We were collecting money at the same time for people. We didn't know how to run the cash flow. So we'd be like, Yeah, we'll make you a burger and just put your money right in this bucket here, whatever. And I remember making our own drinks, and then the owner shows up. And man, he was so mad at the lady that was working there. And we had tore the place up. We had gotten a food fight and made a mess of it. And I remember the owner freaking out, but we had collected all this money from everyone and didn't give them no change. And the owner started going through the money.

[00:44:06.280] - Shannon Campbell

He's like, oh, my God, you guys can come here any time, man. And we made him a lot of money. And I remember we were cleaning it. We had a wheelbarrow in this place hauling trash out because we screwed it up. It was pretty wild. And then Randy, we got back to the parking lot at the hotel, and Randy jumped his Jeep from the upper parking lot to this lower parking lot and broke the front axel in half. And I remember over there trying to drag it on the trailer, and the cops showed up, and it was pretty crazy.

[00:44:36.670] - Big Rich Klein

So the first time I remember meeting you was at the Cedar City event for Arca.

[00:44:48.110] - Shannon Campbell

Okay. Yeah.

[00:44:49.710] - Big Rich Klein

Because I was the club president in Cedar City at that time and helped Ranch with a lot of the judges and all that stuff. But Phoenix was the first event of ranches that I went to because it was the one before Cedar City. Yeah. You were there, of course, at the Phoenix event. It was on Upper and Lower Woodpecker?

[00:45:13.810] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, I remember it.

[00:45:16.720] - Big Rich Klein

And then we did Cal Rocks. As Cal Rocks, I did an event down there, and you were there. But you got a helicopter ride out.

[00:45:27.580] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. So we were all partying in that night, and Randy was out in his little Samurai or something, and he'd gone around to... Well, I can't. Adam Dodd wanted to ride in my new Jeep, or I had a new buggy or whatever that I'd built, and everybody hid the keys from me because I was hammered, and I was laughing. I was like, Oh, they don't know. I got more keys or whatever. So me and Adam jump in, and we rip out of there at a camp, and We're seeing it, having a good time. And I come around the corner, and Randy's upside down in his little Samurai. And I literally come sliding up around the corner and almost hit him. And to miss him, I rolled over right next to him. I mean, it slid and biked up and just barely rolled and tipped over. So I'm upside down. He's upside down. And Or no, maybe he wasn't rolled. He thought I was going to hit him, and he ran in front of me. Anyways, there's three of us, and we're flipping the Jeep back over, the buggy back over me and Adam. Another friend of mine comes flying around the corner in his little Toyota pickup, and he teabones the Jeep that we were flipping over and smashed me in between that and the Samurai.

[00:46:54.310] - Shannon Campbell

It fractured my pelvis, tore the ligaments in my arms. I I was pretty messed up. I remember just laying there, and Randy's like, God damn it, Shannon. He thought he was going to die or something. I'm like, Just put me in the back of the truck and take me to the doctor. They're like, I don't want to touch you, man, because I couldn't get up. I was like, I didn't know if I was paralyzed or what, but I couldn't move. Everyone was afraid to pick me up, and they called an ambulance, and they drove a damn ambulance out there. I remember riding in that ambulance. I was hurt and buck bored all the way out of there. They took me to the highway and then landed a medevac and put me in a medevac. I know they weren't happy with me because I was drunk. I remember they had me stripped down freaking on that board. I was in my underwear, freezing my ass off in that helicopter all the way to the hospital. They stuck me. I remember being in the hallway in this hospital because I guess because I had alcohol in my system, they couldn't really do much with me or something.

[00:48:02.110] - Shannon Campbell

And I remember just laying in that hallway going, damn it, man, just fix me. And yeah, so I was pretty tore up.

[00:48:11.530] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. So I got that morning because that was Friday night after tech and registration, I get somebody coming up to me. I don't remember who it was going, Hey, so one of your drivers got life-flited out of here last night. I was like, No way. None of my got life-flited out of there that night. And then all of a sudden I find out, No, you did. They said, No, Shannon's in the hospital, and explained what had happened. And I was like, Holy shit. Oh, you guys.

[00:48:48.670] - Shannon Campbell

Good times. Yeah, we live to talk. That was awesome.

[00:48:53.190] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. I don't know how sometimes.

[00:48:55.850] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, yeah. Me and Randy, We used to just be full-blown idiots. I don't know how many vehicles we've rolled. And back then, we didn't believe in wearing seatbelts. We've been thrown out. I know a number of at least three times been thrown completely out of his Jeep or my Jeep. And shit, one time we When I turned, I remember my 21st birthday, I had this... I built some badass '67 to '72 Chevy pickups. I had a lowered one and a four-wheel drive one that matched. And I remember my 21st birthday, me and Randy, we were up in San Carlos fishing and stuff, and his Jeep had ran out of gas. And I was like, oh, jump in my truck. We'll haul ass back, get some fuel. And we were coming back in there hot, and I rolled my truck and we had to It smashed the cab all the way down, down there where you could barely see out of it. And we had five gallons of gas, and we had to run five miles with this gas down this Canyon, down to Black River to get his Jeep to go back up and roll my truck over.

[00:49:59.070] - Shannon Campbell

And I I remember driving at home, and I was afraid to tell my dad that I had rolled this truck. I mean, I'm an adult, 21, but I was just like, my dad was going to be like, You fool. So I remember parking this truck at my house, and I took vacation. This is when I was working for him. I took my vacation time for a week off work, and I took this cab apart in my driveway at home and went and bought a new cab. I did this thing, and that's when I paint. This truck used to be turquoise, and then I painted it that coral reef pink color. That's where that came from. I painted this truck, and my dad, he's like, When are you coming back to work? I said, Oh, next week, dad, I'll come back to work or whatever. I'd actually told him, I said, I'm going to paint my truck. I didn't tell him I'd rolled it. So I replaced the cab at my house, and then I took it out to his shop. But once I got it fit back together and I painted it. He would come home and see me working on it because it was right behind his house, but he didn't realize I'd changed the cab.

[00:51:05.000] - Shannon Campbell

When I went back to work, I showed him the pictures of it, and I literally fixed it in a week and painted it. He was like, You stupid son of a bitch. But just, yeah, we had rolled so many vehicles. And the fact that we can talk about it, me and Randy, we just got together not even a month ago and had a good time just drinking all the good times.

[00:51:31.520] - Big Rich Klein

Right. So then you're rock crawling, and then you did that from '99 till 'king of the hammers Until King of the Hammers started.

[00:51:46.210] - Shannon Campbell

I can't even remember my... We still rock-crawled a little bit after the Hammers, but once we got in Hammers mode, it just became like, man, I just didn't have time for the rock crawling anymore. And it It died off a little bit, I felt. Everybody was going King of the Hammers racing. Then that lit up. Actually, no, I got my kids into rock crawling. Right.

[00:52:12.960] - Big Rich Klein

You wanted to teach them to rock crawl before they raced. Yeah. Right.

[00:52:17.170] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. And yeah, I remember them rock crawling 14 years old or whatever, your first event in Tucson. Absolutely.

[00:52:28.130] - Big Rich Klein

Then Then you brought the kids up to Moab to race when we put on the race there, and you were on the podium with Bayly, and I remember that was pretty emotional.

[00:52:46.440] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, it was pretty cool. Yeah.

[00:52:48.430] - Big Rich Klein

And then, so let's talk about that first KOH, because not the Dirty Dozen race. I don't know. Did you participate in that one, the invitational?

[00:53:00.090] - Shannon Campbell

No, I did not.

[00:53:01.600] - Big Rich Klein

But the next one, the real official race, you won that one.

[00:53:09.780] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. I remember Dave Cole, he He wanted us to go to that first one, and at the time, we were big into rock and rock racing, the rock cross and all that other stuff. I didn't have time for a king of the hammers crap. But I went that first year. In my first year in '08. I remember I had that little Moon buggy that only had a 10-gallon tank, and it had air shocks. I just remember everybody, Oh, man, no way that freaking piece of crap, one elite car with air shocks is going to ever win this race. He don't have a chance. I remember we got there and we were out just riding around, and they said something. Dave Cole said, There's going to be a driver's meeting at this time, and if you're not here, you're starting in the back or whatever. We were out four wheeling and stuff, and I came in. I had guys that were supposed to be at the driver's meeting for me, and I get to the driver's meeting right at the end of it. And they had their hat that they I drew the numbers out of or whatever, like starting position.

[00:54:34.310] - Shannon Campbell

I think there was only 45 guys or something like that. I got there and Dave goes, oh, yeah. Shannon Campbell, you're starting last I was like, What? I was here. I had my guys at the driver's meeting. I remember I was mad. I'm like, Why do I start last or whatever? And he says, Because you weren't at the driver's meeting. I can't remember how it went down. But anyways, I had to start 45th or whatever. I remember just driving like a madman, passing all these people. And it was almost like they were on a trail ride. I'm like, Fuck, it's a race, man. Get out of the way. I remember driving over people's tires and dropping off this, I think it was Sunbawn, and I dropped off this ledge, and people were like, What the fuck? And we ended up winning. And so it was cool that all the odds were against me. I started last and all this stuff. And to win, it was pretty awesome. And all the naysayers, you can't win on air shocks or 10-gallon tank and all this stuff. Then the funniest part of the story is years later, Dave Cole, we're on a plane going to Europe to King of the Hammers in Europe, over in England.

[00:55:55.180] - Shannon Campbell

And he goes, Hey, I got something. I got to get off my chest. And he goes, I'm I'm going to tell you something. He goes, Don't be mad at me. I'm like, What? And he goes, You remember that time when you had to start last? Because you weren't at the driver's meeting or whatever. I was like, Yeah. He goes, Well, He goes, It really wasn't that you were drawn last? He goes, I forgot to put your name in the hat. When you walked up to the driver's meeting, I realized I hadn't called your name. He goes, So you were last? I was like, Motherfucker. I was like, What an man. He goes, But it turned out to be a good story, didn't it? And I was like, I guess, you son of a bitch. So that was pretty funny to hear that years later.

[00:56:42.190] - Big Rich Klein

Too wild. So what was it like going to race in Europe?

[00:56:46.600] - Shannon Campbell

So I never did race over there. I just went to go be a part, help and hang out and check it out. But I did get... That's where I met Jim Marsden, and he let me and Dave take his His British wagon or whatever the hell you call that damn thing around the course, which was absolutely insane. I've never seen so much mud in my life. Me and Dave Cole actually had a good time. I had never drove such a piece of shit in my life. It was his, whatever the hell you call it, Landrover. I just remember the steering wheel went around and around and around before the wheel would turn. It was so crazy. I was like, Man, you need some steering on this pile. But we had such a good time driving it. And then it was backwards. It was-Right-hand drive? You sit on the other side. Yeah, I'm like, What the fuck is this crazy shit? And then I remember when I first got it in, I told Jim, because he's like, Oh, you got to go drive it, man. Take it a lap. And I'm like, I don't want to ruin your junk.

[00:57:52.100] - Shannon Campbell

He goes, You can't hurt it. And I was like, Well, how do you drive it? And he goes, You put it in D for do it. That's stuck with me forever. So I've always told everybody that, just put it in D for do it. Can I learn that one from the old Jim Marson? So you're- It was definitely a good time meeting all them people over there. And it was definitely different. And the food sucks over there. Don't ever eat the food. It was horrible. I remember being there for a week or whatever, and I was like, Man, just take me to McDonald's because their food was just so bland. You know what I mean? I remember I remember we were at the event and I'm like, Oh, my God, there's a hot dog stand. I'm going to go get a hot dog. And I went over there. That was a big mistake. Their hot dogs are not the same as ours. It was the worst tasting trap I've ever put in my mouth.

[00:58:45.250] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, Lord. So I remember down at Jellico, Tennessee. We were going into the shootout. Nick was spotting for you. It was getting ready to rain, and you guys were up. And I think Derek West may have been leading at the time. But we were trying to get the action going because we wanted to try to beat the rain, because it was just going to mess up the course.

[00:59:22.670] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah.

[00:59:22.990] - Big Rich Klein

And nick got you. You got all lined up. You started and you hit a start cone.

[00:59:30.330] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah.

[00:59:31.230] - Big Rich Klein

And you started yelling at nick. Nick is yelling back at you. And then you spent 10 minutes trying to run him over.

[00:59:42.030] - Shannon Campbell

Hey, I remember that.

[00:59:43.440] - Big Rich Klein

It was the funniest Shit I ever saw. The only thing that stopped you is you rolled over, finally, to where you couldn't upright it. I think you rolled over two or three times. You couldn't upright it.

[00:59:53.800] - Shannon Campbell

And landed on my wheels. Yeah, I kept landing on my wheels. Yeah.

[00:59:57.310] - Big Rich Klein

But then you ended up smoking the motor.

[00:59:59.030] - Shannon Campbell

He's like, Come on, he's up there. Come on, try and hit me. Come up here. Come on. I'm like, I'm going to run your ass over. Yeah, I remember that. Like I said, we used to fight quite a bit.

[01:00:08.730] - Big Rich Klein

That was better entertainment than watching you guys run the course. I remember.

[01:00:14.870] - Shannon Campbell

It was pretty wild. Everybody's like, Man, I just remember you kept rolling over and you'd land on your wheels and you'd go again. Actually, I think, I don't remember, but I thought I was killing it, leading. And then I didn't make... I don't think I made that. And then I ended up getting second behind Derek.

[01:00:36.080] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Yep.

[01:00:37.200] - Shannon Campbell

I think. I can't remember. I believe so. I couldn't make it up. I was so bummed. I was like, Yeah, piece of shit. But literally, yeah, it poured on my... Everybody had made it up before it just started pouring, and then on my run, it poured, and I could not make it up or something. That's what I remember.

[01:00:55.960] - Big Rich Klein

Right. So any So, K-O-H, you're running a single-seater, almost exclusively until just recently, correct?

[01:01:10.200] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, last year was my first two-seat year.

[01:01:13.720] - Big Rich Klein

And What made you go to the decision to go to a two-seater?

[01:01:22.030] - Shannon Campbell

Well, the reason I liked the one-seater is because when we desert raced, my brother co-drove with me, and Man, he would scream and yell like a little bitch. I'd be like, God damn it. Every time he would just say something, I would think, Oh, I got to slow down. So I'd check up. I just like being by myself. It was like I was at peace or whatever and just doing my own dumb thing. But after getting into the UTV racing, riding with Jason Berger, man, it was like just going wheeling again, everything without the alcohol, though. We had a good time just bullshitting about life and the The whole time we raced, it was just chatting it up. We didn't even really talk about the race. That was natural. But just hanging out with him in that car for the day, you know what I mean? So I was like, I want a two-seater just so I can have some more fun. It Just get back to fun and that. I was very bad with direction. And the courses were getting a lot more technical where you got to freaking zig and zag and go on the wrong way.

[01:02:26.530] - Shannon Campbell

I don't know how many times I've gone the wrong way on the course and cost me a bunch of time. I remember one year, I was leading by a large margin, and I got turned around in my own desk looking at my GPS and went backwards down wrecking ball. And I ran into Kevin Kalish, which was in second. And I'm like, What in the hell is you doing, you stupid son of a bitch, you're going the wrong way. And I'm throwing my hands up at him and I went past him, doing what I thought was the right way. Well, I was going backwards on course, watching my line on my GPS, and then I ran into another guy that was coming at me. And I'm like, damn it, I'm going the wrong way. I went back up that son of a bitch and passed him back. I mean, it was crazy. I was just doing all kinds. So at this point, I'm like, yeah, I could probably use a good freaking co-driving. That would be the shit.

[01:03:19.540] - Big Rich Klein

And so you picked Chris Ray?

[01:03:22.660] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, you know what? Yeah. He knows the course. He's been in every car out there. He knows how to do all the electronics. And not to mention, he's a freaking go-getter. You know what I mean? He sitting in that passenger seat. He wants to win as bad as I do. So I was like, I can't go wrong with this. You know what I mean? At At first I was thinking, Oh, my God, he's going to be too much. But he was exactly the opposite. I needed what he has to freaking... You know what I mean? It's like he knows where I'm going. He's telling me before it gets there. You know what I mean? It was so awesome. And then he's just got a good personality. We clicked and it was freaking awesome.

[01:04:09.920] - Big Rich Klein

Do you remember when Chris was one of our judges and had the loudest voice on course? Oh, yeah.

[01:04:15.690] - Shannon Campbell

We used to have a nickname for him. I can't remember what it was, though. Something like the drill sergeant or something. I can't remember what it was. But, yeah, he was serious. And it was so funny because We were there to party. You know what I mean? He's dead serious. He takes everything to the T, which is good for me for this. You know what I mean? It's like, he's responsible. I'm the squirrel.

[01:04:44.100] - Big Rich Klein

So you're racing a two-seater again this year, coming up? Oh, yeah.

[01:04:52.280] - Shannon Campbell

I told him as long as I'm racing, he's my co-driving unless he just gets where he don't want to ride.

[01:04:59.740] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. Perfect. And he's not one of those that is going to scream like a little bitch, as you said.

[01:05:05.810] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, no. He's freaking solid. Yeah, he's good. I love it. I mean, he's got balls to ride with a blind guy.

[01:05:12.880] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Well, did you have some surgery on your eyes?

[01:05:17.280] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, yeah. But you know how it is. I couldn't see far or near. You know what I mean? They did one eye one way and one the other. So my depth perception ain't what it used to be. I I mean, I can still haul them. Short course is my favorite just because I know where I'm going. Once I get the track down, the woods and the desert are hard for me just because I just don't have that edge no more. And I can tell, you know what I mean? As I pre-run with my kids, they were never faster. But now it's like I hesitate, and they can see better and shit. But short course comes around, I'll mow them all down. Using for traction.

[01:06:03.610] - Big Rich Klein

So what's the future hold for Shannon? Well, let's first, before we get into that, you got inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. You were the first, what I'm going to say, rock sports guy to get in. And you made us all proud then. And what did you think of that night?

[01:06:30.150] - Shannon Campbell

I told Dave, I said, I haven't done anything. You know what I mean? I don't consider my... You know what I mean? Any of that or whatever. I've just been doing what I love. I've been very fortunate and lucky to win a lot of stuff and be a part of a lot of stuff. At the time, I didn't really see what did I do to deserve an Off-Road Hall of Fame or whatever. But it's cool. I don't know. I just enjoy my friends and hanging out. I don't know. Love life.

[01:07:11.260] - Big Rich Klein

There you go. So one of the things that I want to touch on, and I'd forgotten about it until just now, was that when you took your car out to race desert racing again.

[01:07:26.840] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, yeah, that was a good time.

[01:07:28.650] - Big Rich Klein

And They were like the whole rock donkey thing. The desert racers were like, Oh, you're not going to be fast. And, hell, you qualified one of the top guys, didn't you?

[01:07:42.080] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah.

[01:07:42.760] - Big Rich Klein

That first race?

[01:07:45.000] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. I can't remember shit where I finished, but yeah, it was definitely not a car to be playing in the desert with, but I remember driving that thing on one wheel, two wheels, freaking bucking, snorting. It was like riding a damn bull for freaking the whole time. But I was so stupid and didn't give a shit. I wanted to win. At the time, that's when I was in my prime. You know what I mean? I could dance that thing and drive the wheels off of it. And then I ended up building something to do it with. Yeah, that desert race, that was probably one of my favorite memories, rolling up there and chasing it, passing I remember being down at Parker, Sam Berry, and what's his name? God damn it, the guy that drives the beef truck or a fox truck. He's into the cattle company. I can't remember his name, but I remember passing him. He was pissed. God damn it. But good times, man. I mean, my car, the ass ends up in the air as high as the front, passing me. Just barely. I don't even know I kept it on the wheels.

[01:09:01.430] - Shannon Campbell

You know what I mean? I remember that helicopter following me, and I was like, I'm winning this shit. Good times.

[01:09:09.550] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, you proved those guys wrong. And then going to IFS, from the straight axel to IFS. That was a big leap.

[01:09:20.500] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. So Randy Ellis back in, I don't even remember when it was, he built a complete independent rig to rock rock crawl with. And at the time, me and him, we would like back and forth. You know what I mean? He'd build something. I'd try and build something better. You know what I mean? I would see the flaws in his or whatever and try and make it better. I didn't think fully independent. I didn't like that. But after seeing his, I built my very first rock Crawler, which was the... We called it the Psycho Billy Cadillac. It had a North Star motor in it, and it was a one-seat car, and it absolutely sucked for rock crawling. But I built it for that, and I remember taking it to to Glamis, to the dunes, and I rolled up there in that thing, had my six-pack rack right next to me in it and everything. It was just a one-seater, so I couldn't really take no one in it, but I had so much fun. That thing would just eat the bumps up, man. It was so fast. I remember people in sandrails out there like, What the hell is that thing?

[01:10:25.800] - Shannon Campbell

I was like, It's a rock trawler. They're like, No, that ain't no rock trawler. But that thing hauled ass and it eat the bumps up. We'd go to the sandrags and I'd just eat because it was all wheel drive. I'd smoked them sandrails and shit, and it jumped like a dream. You know what I mean? It was badass. It was a bunch of homemade junk. So after being the hammers that first year that I went that I won, I was like, Man, I need to freaking build that independent car because we're not really rock crawling. We're just trail riding speed. And I said, this would be the shit. And I remember building that car. I built it in 30 days. I remember started on it. Shit, I think it was mid-December. And I had Roy from Proam and Matt Taylor worked for him at the time. He drew cars, and I didn't even know nothing about that shit. But they basically gave me a paper with some dots on it and said, here's where these CVs and this. And I built all my own A arms. Actually, they made the lower A arms and told me where to put the pivots, and everything else was handmade.

[01:11:37.570] - Shannon Campbell

And I did that in 30 days and took it there. And I just knew it was going to kill everyone. And I smoked a damn transmission freaking five miles in, and I was bummed. Is that when you got- I actually changed the transmission. Took me two hours to put a tranny in it, and I ended up finishing ninth after putting a two-hour tranny change in it. I was on a mission. That's when I drove over that wheel, Carter, and used him for traction, and he cried like a little girl. But it was funny because he dragged race me into that Canyon And I was like, All right, you can go first. And then he rolled over and I was like, Oh, there you go. I used him and jumped up sledge and took off. I remember, man, them guys were Dave and Jeff were so pissed at me. You're not even in the race. And I'm like, the hell I'm not. They're like, Well, you're disqualified because you got outside assistance. Jeff Howe drug me in to change my tranny. And I'm like, Whatever. I don't care. I had fun. But it was freaking awesome.

[01:12:44.910] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah. And then and that was another thing. People are like, that independent shit will never work. And I'm like, oh, yeah, you just wait. And after I drove it, I knew it was the shit. And then look at everybody. Just everybody's got it. I mean, now that it's even evolved past my mind, all this portal crap, which I still don't think is the way to go. But I mean, the vehicles are just it's evolved so much. It's worked our sport into a corner where people can't afford it. It's crazy.

[01:13:15.620] - Big Rich Klein

Right. That's one of the things that I noticed in the rock crawling, as we moved through the years, we borrowed a lot of the go fast desert racing technology to make it better to go slow. Yeah. And then we helped the desert racers because before your car, the land shark was the only thing out there that was a custom four-wheel drive that performed worth a shit. Everything else was the stock Broncos or whatever using the... It wasn't It wasn't real. It was four-wheel drive, but there was no IFS.

[01:14:03.390] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, no independent. Yeah. I remember after driving my Hammers car in '09, that's when I built my desert car to go race Class I with. And everybody's like, Herb's tried it and it didn't work. I'm like, Well, they just didn't do it. Maybe it needs to be simplified. I did my version of it, which still wasn't the best, but I still knew that all wheel drive is the way to go. And one of the reasons I knew that all wheel drive is I drove... Bfg put me in Craig Donohoe's Toyota, stopped Toyota at Baja 1000 one year. And me and Mike Palmer drove that thing. And I was like, Holy shit. For a stop truck, this thing is this is badass. I would do this all day long. And that was another little thing that made me want to go independent after driving that truck in '06 in Baja. I was like, for this, for racing, you definitely need IFS in the front. And then when I started getting into the desert racing, I was like, it's got to be four wheel drive, and And then the Mason's trucks came out. People started with more money that had more technology put to it.

[01:15:25.380] - Shannon Campbell

I was just doing red neck shit.

[01:15:27.500] - Big Rich Klein

But what it did is it It took them down to the next level. So it was they helped us, their technology helped us, and then what you proved forwarded what they're doing now. Yeah, And the technology that's happening at KOH nowadays. I mean, the stuff is pretty insane.

[01:15:53.550] - Shannon Campbell

There's so much... I've got so many little dumb tricks up my sleeve with just... I don't know. I envision so much little crap, the way that I build my cars. Most people's cars, in my eyes, don't take punishment. You know what I mean? They're getting better. Let's put it that way. But I make my car to hit shit, to wreck it, to land on its wheels, to be able to keep going. You know what I mean? There's little dumb tricks that just keep you from breaking bolts, keep you from doing things. I'm going to do a video on it on my YouTube deal these days, just all the little dumb things to make things last longer. You know what I mean? Most people don't know that our chassis are completely... The bellies are stuff full of aluminum. My first rock crawling years, you'd have to cut the bottom of the car off to replace it because it was so tacoed. So we started stuffing tubes with aluminum. A lot of people just put 250 wall down there, but got so many little dumb tricks things that make... And desert cars were never built to be...

[01:17:04.620] - Shannon Campbell

They're not. They're hitting whoops, and they're not hitting boulders, and they're not hitting walls and catching shit. They're out there in the desert. They wear out home joints and shit, but They're not made to hit shit to be destroyed. They're more fragile. Yeah, exactly. And that's one of the things I feel like that this rock racing is beefed up a lot of stuff. You know what I mean? People And the heavier the truck is, the better it rides in the desert, too. I feel like it's... But then you also got to have the power to push it. So there's a double-edged sword there. You're wearing out more parts now because their cars are heavier. It's just crazy.

[01:17:50.480] - Big Rich Klein

And so the misluck you guys have had has been more with drivetrain, transmissions, and and engines. Am I correct?

[01:18:03.340] - Shannon Campbell

In the beginning, I felt like it- Is it just because you guys pushed them to the limits? Well, no. I think I was very fortunate most of my life. I had a good engine builder. This isn't big engines, but actually, they were pretty good engines. And my engine builder that worked for Turntkey, unfortunately, he took his life and ruined In my life. After that, I wanted to drag him out of the grave and kick his ass for freaking taking his own life. But I never had engine failure until just recently. And I feel like it's just the effort that people put into it or maybe playing with something new. But in the beginning, it was transmissions. And I come to find out it's just cooling. And once you get the right simple mix, I don't have training failures anymore unless it's a fluke. You know what I mean? And forever, I didn't have engine failures. We went to this big block. It's been a learning curve. Even the big LS motors, I felt it started becoming valve train issues. But I did I have five years with this one builder that we had. My stuff, I'd run it for a season before I'd change anything.

[01:19:23.640] - Shannon Campbell

But the cars were also lighter, simpler. You know what I mean? And then this stuff evolves, you start wearing on things. So it's like there's a fine line, but I feel like the cars are so bulletproof. This year, I felt I had the best freaking car ever. It was an animal. I was driving it to take care of it, and a damn oil pump shaft, broken the which was stupid. And it was because the people that offered this oil pump didn't tell me, and I don't know all the hip little things, but there's a hex drive shaft that goes in it. And I had one that wasn't the best. Why wouldn't you sell me the best? You know what I mean? So something stupid as this oil pump shaft took me out. The motor was working flawlessly, the suspension, and the car was still... It's just... It's such a freaking animal, the piece. And as long as I can keep it on its wheels and keep it moving, I know it's a winning car.

[01:20:20.500] - Big Rich Klein

Great. Awesome. So what's the future hold for Shannon?

[01:20:27.980] - Shannon Campbell

I I feel like this racing trap, I enjoy it and I'll never quit racing until I absolutely can't do it. The hammers, you know what I mean? It's a big race. And I know a lot of people are torn about. There was no purse this year. I thought that was very screwed up, and none of my business. I didn't win, so I don't give a shit. But at the same time, it's gotten so expensive. It's all these little races, They've made so many races. I think it's taken the... You don't have the best of the best. And that's one of the reasons I quit rock crawling was if there ain't the best of the best, if everybody's not here in one group to compete against each other, it's not fun. It's not a race. It's not a real deal. So when you only get 10 people that show up, to me, these cars are so expensive and so much money to move. And the cost of money we put into it, it's retarded. So my goal is to do the big races. And then I want to get back to doing a lot of the shit that got me into racing, going back where we go to these events and just bullshit LSFest.

[01:21:44.940] - Shannon Campbell

We used to do things, something similar to it over where we lived. It was tough truck challenges and shit like that. It was so fun and it drew crowds. You know what I mean? Different people. And it was a blast. I want get back into wheeling and just having a good time with my friends. But still, we're still doing things that are awesome. I don't know. It's like racing, but we're in the woods or just different things. I want to get back to... Right now, I'm working on building this badass Jeep that's going to go overlanding, trail wheeling. It's going to rock, crawl. It's going to do whatever the hell I want it to do. I'll pre-run in it and Drive it down the street. It'd be a daily driver. Nice. And just things like that. I love fabricating and building things for people. And so I'm going to be at the big shit races and then try and get back into the fun stuff. I've never been to Trail Hero. I'm going to Trail Hero this year. I'm going to go and I'm going to have a freaking blast. Rubicon. I plan on having this Jeep ready for Rubicon, and I want to do everything.

[01:23:02.260] - Big Rich Klein

Excellent. That's a great plan. Shannon, I want to say thank you so much for doing the podcast today and sharing your stories. I love hearing the stories. There's a lot of stuff that I knew, but a lot of stuff I didn't know because I wasn't there. But you and Randy had a hell of a good time, and I'm glad I can call you both friends. I don't see you a lot, but it's always good when I do.

[01:23:34.210] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, I love it. That's probably one of my favorite things about life is the people I've met and the places I've been, and I'm going to keep continuing that and hopefully still get me a few more wins left in me.

[01:23:47.440] - Big Rich Klein

Excellent. Well, good luck in '26 when KOH comes around. And if you're going up on Jambury this year, have fun with that. I So that's always a great time on the Rubicon. Hell, yeah.

[01:24:03.440] - Shannon Campbell

You're going to be there?

[01:24:04.830] - Big Rich Klein

My plan was to do it. I was going to take Mark MacMillan in, and they're doing a family RV trip, a bunch of RVs going to Canada or something. So he told me, he goes, Oh, Rich, the Rubicon will always be there. So I'm going to shoot for getting him up there next year. And then we are doing Moon Rocks again this year with We Rock.

[01:24:28.260] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, that's right. During that That's the same event. Yeah.

[01:24:30.990] - Big Rich Klein

So we have our rock crawls are now seeing 60 plus competitors. So it's- That's badass.

[01:24:38.280] - Shannon Campbell

I love it.

[01:24:38.750] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it's good to see it growing again. And I mean, we already have like 25 or 30 trees into the Moon Rocks event that are not regular competitors.

[01:24:50.650] - Shannon Campbell

Who knows, you might see me back in that game again.

[01:24:52.880] - Big Rich Klein

That would be awesome. Come out and teach these kids something.

[01:24:57.100] - Shannon Campbell

Oh, well, shit. I'm going to learn from them. That's the one thing I just... I'm not into, the rear steer, and that's what kept me away from rock crawling, was the rear steer. But I don't know, I'm going to look at the classes and see if I can't... I don't want a stock vehicle, but I want something fun. You know what I mean? Something like Pinky, you know what I mean? Some old-school fucking rock trawler that I can bond on.

[01:25:17.000] - Big Rich Klein

Well, we still have the Pro-Mod class.

[01:25:20.270] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, you know what? I might have to look at that because I feel like that's reasonable, and you don't need rear steer, right?

[01:25:26.380] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, that's correct.

[01:25:28.060] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, I might have. Is that class very big anymore?

[01:25:31.010] - Big Rich Klein

It's growing. I think the last event, we had eight people out or something like that on the west. Yeah. Right.

[01:25:39.060] - Shannon Campbell

I don't know. Maybe I'll have to learn how to drive rear steer. Shit.

[01:25:46.060] - Big Rich Klein

Everybody's doing it now. Yeah. Tracy whined enough about it, so I took the rule out and let everybody go rear steer. But that was great because we were running five guys, and I took the rear steer penalty out, and we glossomed into the teens and 20.

[01:26:06.300] - Shannon Campbell

Yeah, they're definitely badass. I love it. Yeah.

[01:26:09.740] - Big Rich Klein

All right, Shannon, you take care. Have a great day. And again, thank you so much for being a friend and for doing the podcast.

[01:26:17.360] - Shannon Campbell

Right on. Thank you, Rich. You guys have a good one. I'll see you soon.

[01:26:20.190] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Take care. Bye.

[01:26:21.990] - Shannon Campbell

All right. Bye.

[01:26:23.160] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on, or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message, and let me know any ideas that you have or if there's anybody that you have that you would 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.