Matt Adair on Episode 327: A Life of Off-Road Adventures and Unlikely Friendships

Matt Adair sits down with Big Rich Klein to discuss a life shaped by cars, languages, and the off-road community. Beginning as an exchange student in Germany at 16, Matt's fluency in automotive passion led him to abandon an Air Force Academy appointment for car sales. What started as a snowy day test drive of a Jeep Cherokee evolved into decades of off-roading, racing, and journalism—including pivotal roles at King of the Hammers and Crawl Magazine.

Matt shares stories of serendipitous friendships forged at lakebed campfires, a memorable medical emergency at KOH, and the profound impact of community members like Camo and Jesse Combs. Today, he runs a boutique Porsche dealership while still racing a home-built Cherokee at 24-hour endurance events.

Throughout the conversation, Matt emphasizes that the true reward isn't trophies or milestones—it's the remarkable people encountered along the way. As he prepares to write a book about his improbable adventures, Matt reflects on how following passions and embracing the unexpected leads to a life rich with meaningful human connection.

Transcript

[00:00:05.320] 

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 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 their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active in 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.

[00:00:46.560] 

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[00:01:13.310] - Big Rich Klein

My guest this week has been around 4x4s most of his life, but spent most of his working career selling cars, then racing them, including a road course-worthy V8 XJ he built He has worked as a journalist, which led him to the King of the Hammers as staff. Now he enjoys his love of German sports cars with those looking for Porsches. My guest is Matt Adair. All right, Matt Adair, it's so good to have you on the podcast. I'm looking forward to finding out more about you. I know that you've done some racing and that you sell Porsches especially, but there's a lot in there that I don't know. So let's find out. Thank you for coming on the, uh, podcast.

[00:02:01.620] - Matt Adair

It's my pleasure. I— when you called me the other day, I was like, well, about damn time. There were 326 people before you called me. Okay, well, I know where I rank now, but okay, let's go.

[00:02:16.050] - Big Rich Klein

Well, you know, there's, uh— I just start hitting the Rolodex And what happens is that all of a sudden I'll get some— what really triggers a lot of them is Facebook reminders that it's people's birthdays, you know, or somebody call, you know, will send me an email saying, hey, how come you haven't interviewed this person yet? And it's like, well, they're on my list, let's bump them up. And so I never really get to run through my list.

[00:02:45.740] - Matt Adair

I've resisted the urge to be that guy who's like, Hey, um, you know, I've got some cool stories. Do you want to hear me?

[00:02:54.030] - Big Rich Klein

Well, we're gonna find out how cool those stories are right now. All right, let's go. Okay, so the first question I have for you: where are you born and raised?

[00:03:02.690] - Matt Adair

I'm from a little tiny town outside of Seattle, Washington. I've lived overseas, I've been to a couple dozen countries in 48 states, and, uh, Every time I come home from one of my crazy adventures, Seattle still just feels like home, and it's, uh, it's been where I've set my roots down.

[00:03:23.550] - Big Rich Klein

Excellent, excellent. And, uh, so you went all through your formative years, through high school, all that kind of stuff in Washington?

[00:03:33.270] - Matt Adair

Uh, yeah, I spent a year in Germany as an exchange student when I was 16. That's cool. Yeah, that was an amazing experience, really. A lot of getting to learn about how the rest of the world operates and preconceived notions that we have in our little, you know, corner of the world and how different it is for other people really made me appreciate that kind of different perspectives. But yeah, for the most part, grew up in the Northwest and we've got some beautiful mountains and that kind of thing. So off-roading came naturally at a point. Right.

[00:04:14.040] - Big Rich Klein

And was it something that, that the family did, or was it something that you got into a little later?

[00:04:21.670] - Matt Adair

That's, uh, yes and yes. Uh, when I was growing up, we had Land Cruisers. Uh, I think the first vehicle I ever drove was on my dad's lap in a 1965 Toyota Land Cruiser LV45 wagon. 3-speed column shift. And, uh, you know, that— there was always a 4-wheel drive in our family. And then we had a '60 and a '62 and then an '80. And I've always just had a 4-wheel drive vehicle of some capacity in order— just in case snowstorm or the power's out or trees are down. We were always the family on the block with, uh, Coleman stove and lanterns and a Toyota Land Cruiser to go to the store if it came to that.

[00:05:09.570] - Big Rich Klein

So So I'm taking that as that you guys went camping and stuff as well? Yep, yep. Hunting and fishing, or just camping and hiking?

[00:05:22.360] - Matt Adair

I, I've enjoyed the outdoors in various different capacities, and, uh, I, I enjoy a good stroll in the woods, but a friend of mine was asking me why don't I do more hiking, and, um It's because I don't need to hike 8 miles to get to a beautiful lake. I can take my Jeep, my Land Cruiser, my whatever to get most of the way there, and I get to see and enjoy nature without having to die on the way there.

[00:05:56.820] - Big Rich Klein

Right, yeah, see, I spent my early years in scouting and did a lot of backpacking and, you know, 2-week-long treks through the Sierras. But when I was out of college, 1982, graduated in '81, '82, I went on the Rubicon for the first time. Well, first Barrett Lake Trail and then the Rubicon. And after that, those 2 weekends back to back, I threw away my backpack. I was like, all right, yeah, we're, you know, Now I get to carry beer and steaks, you know.

[00:06:34.770] - Matt Adair

So yeah, well, for me, like, cars in general, auto, you know, internal combustion things have been such a huge part of my life since basically the beginning. I go to sleep thinking about cars, I wake up thinking about cars. And so to combine being able to mechanically be challenged and skill-based and also get to go enjoy nature while participating in my favorite genre of things. That's kind of the, the winning ticket. Also, this is kind of funny, um, but, uh, Dave Cole just called me.

[00:07:15.480] - Big Rich Klein

Really? While we're sitting here?

[00:07:17.190] - Matt Adair

Literally just seconds ago. Uh, I let it go to voicemail.

[00:07:23.400] - Big Rich Klein

So awesome. When you, when you call him back, tell him, sorry, I couldn't answer, I was talking to Rich.

[00:07:28.810] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I was, I was gonna get a little flex, like, I, I've I'm with Big Rich right now, so I'll get back to you when I can.

[00:07:38.430] - Big Rich Klein

So those— when growing up, going to school, were you a good student? I would imagine you were. You seem like the guy that has his shit together.

[00:07:52.390] - Matt Adair

Well, I wouldn't put it— I wouldn't get— let's not get carried away now. But, you know, I was— I had a full ride. I was going to actually go to the Air Force Academy. Had an appointment. And yeah, I— there are various things I'm really good at and some things I'm really bad at. I can barely tell you what 2 2 is, but I can— I was very linguistically skilled, so I ended up with a— going for an English major and with a minor in military history and another minor in German. And none of which came to fruition. I ended up getting bored and decided that— yeah, I, I spent a summer selling cars when I was 18, and all of a sudden I was making more money than my parents, and I enjoyed what I was doing, which is talking to people and being enthusiastic about cars. So I ended up with my full scholarship bailing on that and I know, I know, right? Uh, yeah, that was— I was an idiot. But I have had 3 goals in my life. One, to be a fighter pilot. One, to be a race car driver.

[00:09:06.320] - Matt Adair

Another, to be an automotive journalist. And I've got 2 and a half out of 3, so nice, nice.

[00:09:12.100] - Big Rich Klein

So you're a pilot, not a fighter pilot?

[00:09:15.060] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I mean, let's not mince— I mean, let's stop. Come on, let's not get too technical. But yeah, no, I've, uh It's— I've decided that that is one of those either way too expensive of a hobby or way too involving of a career to allow me to do the other stuff I enjoy and having the freedom and to at the drop of a hat fly to wherever to go on an off-roading event or a, you know, insert crazy shenanigans story event.

[00:09:46.080] - Big Rich Klein

So So how did the whole exchange student come about?

[00:09:53.130] - Matt Adair

I was really good at German. Like, foreign languages have always been really, like, intuitive and easy for me to, to master and pick up.

[00:10:02.180] - Big Rich Klein

And, oh, that makes me mad because I, I suck at it.

[00:10:06.210] - Matt Adair

Well, I mean, I suck at the English language too. There are lots of things I'm really not good at, and, uh, you know, you just sort of roll with what you're Right. The things you are good with, you like latch on to and ride out as much as you can. But yeah, my German teacher in high school said, Matt, you're really good at this. You should spend a year in Germany. It was this exchange program sponsored by the German and US government called the Congress Bundesstag. And it was an exchange program, not a literal one where people weren't, you know, nobody was staying with my parents, vice versa. But yeah, it was like all paid for and a genuinely amazing experience. Also terrifying because, you know, 2 years of high school German when you're in Germany all of a sudden trying to catch a train, it's like, Hallo, ich heiße Matthew, ich möchte ein Wurst bitte. You know, like you could introduce yourself and say, Ich wohne in Issaquah, Washington, ja. But when you have to like rapid-fire German when you're at a train station to not miss your train to Berlin by yourself at 16 years old, it was pretty intimidating, but also built a lot of, you know, no matter what, you can figure this out.

[00:11:30.610] - Matt Adair

Right.

[00:11:31.670] - Big Rich Klein

That's awesome. And so were you there in one family, or did you move, you know, to a couple of different houses? I was there with one, with one family.

[00:11:42.710] - Matt Adair

Well, there was like a month when I first got there in the summer to do like a crash course in German and like how to go to McDonald's and, uh, you know, like how to ask for no special sauce on your Big Mac and Seriously, I was cut loose into the universe, into the, you know, Germany, with the expectation of every 16-year-old can go to the store and can do all these things and attend German high school. So there was a month-long crash course, and that was in Thüringen, which is in East Germany, or what was East Germany. And then I ended up for the rest of the year near Hamburg, so north northwest Germany, and it was a hell of an experience. One of the things— and it's funny, I was asked a ways back why I chose German as a language, and it was because of cars. Like, no joke, because, I mean, Germany makes amazing cars, right? And so that was kind of the reason that I decided to study German. And I got to drive, when I was in what was East Germany, a Trabant. Which is the East German people's car, and it's made like out of soybean extract.

[00:12:58.780] - Matt Adair

It has a two-stroke air-cooled rear engine with a 4-speed column shift, and it is like the worst car ever conceived by mankind. Even worse than a Yugo? Way worse. Like, seriously, it predates Yugo, and that was, you know, Yugoslavia's version of this. Okay. And this dates back to the late '50s. And they continued to build them until 1989, and there was a 10-year waiting list for them, and they were just appallingly bad. But I have a— they knew I was into cars, and that friend of theirs still had a running Trabi, and I got to drive one. And I don't know, it's— yeah, that's awesome.

[00:13:38.090] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty cool. Yeah, I, I had a friend of mine, their family brought in two guys from Germany during high school and awesome, awesome kids. And they did backpacking with us and ski trips and all that kind of stuff. And it was, uh, never, never connected with them afterwards. But the only thing from 2 years of German and 2 years of Spanish that I can do is find the bathroom and order beer.

[00:14:14.330] - Matt Adair

It's funny you say that because I was— I did— I ran— I was part of a chase crew for a trophy truck team at the Baja 1000, I don't know, 7, 8 years ago, 10 years ago. And, uh, we were driving— I was driving a Raptor as a, you know, chase rig. And my brain is so connected to German that I have to translate my restaurant Spanish. "¿Dónde está la biblioteca?" And "Ich möchte ein Bier, bitte." I have to go through German to get to Spanish. And so for the entire week we were there, I would say, "A beer, por favor," or whatever, and forgetting that in every language in the world, beer is beer. Like B-E-E-R, B-I-E-R. B-I-R-R-E. It's pronounced beer, close-ish. And it was like on the last day I was— we were heading back, I'm like, it's cerveza, you idiot. Like, for a week I had been asking half German, half Spanish for— and I like, I, I know, yeah, it was a bit of a facepalm moment.

[00:15:30.860] - Big Rich Klein

Were you with the, like, Armin Schwartz's, uh, All German team?

[00:15:35.360] - Matt Adair

No, it was a team out of Colorado. Long, long story, but it was— that was one of the funnest weeks of my life. And one of the best parts was, you know, with the no arresting tourists program that the Baja Peninsula has, like, don't try and shake people down for cash kind of thing, you know, otherwise people won't come.

[00:16:00.100] - Big Rich Klein

I've had that experience.

[00:16:01.700] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I was, uh, happily able to avoid that. But what I found out is that the speed limits in kilometers is about what a lifted Raptor can do in miles per hour. And so that was my— I felt it was like driving in Grand Theft Auto or Forza Horizon or something, that it was— yeah, it was just go, go, go. And, you know, don't be a asshole, and everybody was thrilled to see us there. And I really enjoyed that, that time. I've done it a couple times, but yeah, that was an amazing part of the country.

[00:16:40.100] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I had, uh, I had some special trips down there in, in Baja. We'll, we'll get in, get into that. So at 16, spend a year as an exchange student you come back, finish high school here in the, in the States. You were there, what is it, a 6-month program?

[00:17:01.870] - Matt Adair

I was there for a year. A year, okay.

[00:17:03.650] - Big Rich Klein

And then, um, so that means you jumped into your senior year, junior year when you came back?

[00:17:11.090] - Matt Adair

Came back, um, and that was, it was a challenge because I was, you know, I had an Air Force Academy appointment and I was in Civil Air Patrol, which is an Air Force auxiliary thing. And so, you know, uniform, right rifle guard on a flag detail, and had dedicated my life more or less to going to either the Air Force Academy or AFROTC. I ended up doing AFROTC at University of Washington, but it was really difficult— not difficult, but it was tough getting my credits to transfer from Germany to the US. So I had to do like summer school because I couldn't do a math class in German because that was just asking too much for my brain. So I had to do like a remedial math, you know, College 101 math class at a community high school or college nearby. But, you know, one of those decisions I do not regret in the slightest, even though it was terrifying at times, there were just some amazing experiences. And actually one of my favorite King of the Hammer stories— okay, I don't know if it's too jumping far ahead or— no, no, no, no, we can jump, we can bounce all over.

[00:18:26.170] - Matt Adair

Okay, excellent, because that's how my brain operates. I was, uh, shoot, this was, I don't know, 5, 8, 10 years ago. I was at KOH and for the first time ever not as staff And we'll circle back to that. That's, you know, for getting ahead of ourselves here. But I was walking around just enjoying Hammertown at night without idiots. And this guy drove up in an FJ80 Land Cruiser and, you know, it's kitted out, it's got, you know, 33s or something like that. And it's been got battle scars. And this, I would just sort of like said hello and the guy's like, "Hello, I am searching for the pits for Team 176," or I forget what the hell it was. I'm like, "Oh, wirklich? Ich kann das. Müssen Sie mitkommen? Und ich kann dir zeigen und wir können—" Anyway. We ended up doing like a quick video. He's still a friend of mine today, Peter Sadler, and he's a guy who's German, but he loves the West Coast, and he has a Land Cruiser stationed here in California so that he can fly in every year and do an adventure, whether it's Rubicon or Fordyce or whatever, Moab.

[00:19:57.300] - Matt Adair

And so we did a little quick video, and he said, I cannot believe it. Here I am, first time at King of the Hammers, and the first person I meet speaks Deutsch! He speaks German! What the fuck? Anyway, so I met this guy and we ended up being friends for, yeah, shit, come on, 10 years now. I just love that kind of stuff, you know, the things you don't anticipate when you're 16 learning how to order a Big Mac in German, that you'd be on the lake bed at King of the Hammers and be the first person that this German meets to show him where his, uh, team's pits are. Like, I love that kind of serendipitous nonsense. It's fantastic.

[00:20:40.870] - Big Rich Klein

That's awesome. So let's get into— you said you, you sold cars instead of going to Air Force Academy.

[00:20:51.680] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I realized that I was really good at it because I enjoy talking to people and I like cars, and so it's an easy combo. And I— yeah, I just— it was fun and easy. And all of a sudden, I'm 19 years old and I bought a brand new WRX, and then I bought a brand new WRX STI, and then I was able to indulge myself in car cane, I call it. It's like just this addictive need for cars and This dovetails nicely into how I got into off-roading as an adult. I was at the— my dealership that I was working at. I was the used car sales manager at age 22, which is absurd. And I— it started snowing a little bit. We're in the Seattle area, which it rarely snows here. And then it started snowing, and I had a BMW M3, and I tried to get out of my parking place And literally just the rear tires just spun in my parking place. And then it occurred to me, oh, earlier that day I had taken in trade a 1994 Jeep Cherokee XJ, 2-door, 5-speed, uh, 4-liter manual, uh, 8-point or 8.25 rear axle, 231 transfer case.

[00:22:16.670] - Matt Adair

None of these words I had any earthly clue what it meant at the time. I was like, I need something with a four-wheel drive to get home. And so I took that car, and it was like $1,400 or something like that. I drove it home, and on the way home I was like, wow, this thing's kind of sporty. It's, you know, handles okay, it's got power. And I started going down that rabbit hole. I bought it the next day, and then I got on the internet and like how to make them go better off-road. And oh, you can put lockers in them, you can lift them, you can put big tires on them, and, and, and, and, and. So yeah, that, uh, that's how I, you know, as a grown-up, my own off-road rig. And then what happened really is, what occurred to me is that I can do 130 miles an hour in my M3. Or I can do 1.3 miles an hour in my Cherokee and get the same adrenaline rush, right? And fewer tickets.

[00:23:26.630] - Big Rich Klein

You're obstructing the flow of traffic. You're going too slow.

[00:23:30.530] - Matt Adair

The worst thing that happens is you flop on your side and you buy a new quarter window or whatever, rather than the, the downsides of getting that same rush in a street car on the streets rather than on a track or off-road. It just— the math made sense at that point. So that was the beginning of my career in off-road.

[00:23:54.130] - Big Rich Klein

And how did you take that to the next level?

[00:24:01.460] - Matt Adair

Uh, so there's back when forums were a thing, there was a Cherokee-focused one called NAXJA, North American XJ Association, which, you know, you're an enthusiast of those cars in general, so you know about them. Yep. And I started like goofing around and like, hey, what can I do to it? And where can we go wheeling? And gradually that turned into more and more things and more and more trips. And as a, English major who can string a sentence together and somebody who enjoys photography, I would start doing trip reports, you know, write-ups on our trip to XYZ. And people started noticing it. And I got a gig with an online magazine called Jeep Freak and started doing more and more stuff with them. I became the tech writer and Then I got noticed by Crawl Magazine. Okay. That turned into the whole next chapter of my, my life.

[00:25:03.040] - Big Rich Klein

That was John Herrick? Before John. Oh, it was before John.

[00:25:06.740] - Matt Adair

Okay. Yeah, I actually brought John in.

[00:25:09.330] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, okay. Yeah, because the— when Crawl started, it started as XOM. Yep, Extreme Off-Road. Yep. And that was my idea. And I got a call one time when I was heading across country, goes, hey, um, I'm so-and-so, I'm getting ready to do— I want to do a magazine, and I heard that you've, you know, you haven't started it yet, but you've, you got the idea for one, and I wanted to talk to you and pick your mind. And after about 6 hours of talking, I said, you know what, I don't have the time to do this because It was the beginning of CalRocks. You know, I was trying to grow that and too many, you know, too many fires putting out. And I said, here, why don't you just do it and just give us some— give me some love along the way. And so it was Dave. What's his name? Dave. Dave and Tim. Yeah. Yeah. And so they, of course, after 3 issues of XOM, screwed that up. And then they changed it to Crawl and then eventually screwed that up.

[00:26:20.570] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I was there. Uh, I actually was the co— well, there's legal nonsense, but, uh, yeah, I went to— well, okay, let's re— let's rewind. Okay, so I was in Moab, uh, as representing Jeep Freak magazine, and one night I was at, uh, What's that bar downtown? Woody's. Woody's, thank you. Woody's Tavern. It was like, you know, my buddies were going back to the condo to go to bed and I was like, I'm gonna have one last beer and then I'll hit the road. And then this group of people came in and they were all wearing like Mopar or Jeep jackets, like leather bomber jacket kind of things. And I had a little bit of Dutch courage in me and decided to say, "Hey, I'm Matt. I'm with an independent webzine that's Jeep-focused. I saw your jackets. Just wanted to give you my card and introduce myself," and blah, blah, blah. And they're like, "What are you doing tomorrow morning at dawn?" I said, "Ah, you tell me." So we got the scoop on the JT concept, the Sarge, Egyptian J8 concept and a bunch of other stuff. And I got a relationship with the Mopar Underground guys, Mark Allen, etc.

[00:27:43.950] - Matt Adair

And when Kroll, who was sharing the condo with us, Tim in particular, and then Brandon Foster, of course, who was a sweetheart, great guy. Brandon's just an absolute fantastic human being, uh, was like, well, hey, can we send Tim the other Tim McGee, their awesome shooter, with you in the morning? I was like, yeah, sure, but I gotta have a byline and I want to write the article. And so that's why I first published like in print, actual big boy article. And then it went from that to feature editor and then on and on and on and senior editor ultimately before everything went sideways. I went to work one day and the doors were locked and nobody had any idea what happened. It was bananas. Um, and I, I suggested John Herrick as like the business side to come on, and John and I are still good friends to this day. Um, but yeah, he and I were both sort of gobsmacked at how that all went down. But anyway, yep.

[00:28:51.370] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, so then, um, so you're, you're doing Crawl with John. How long did that last?

[00:29:00.020] - Matt Adair

A few years. And this ties in nicely to the KOH part. Right after Carl went sideways, John and I were talking, and he— John said, hey, I've got this invite for the launch of the Goodyear MTR. They don't know that we're not a magazine anymore. Do you still wanna go? It's all paid. You know, you go down to Palm Springs, they're gonna have a fleet of rental Jeeps, and they're gonna give you the press tour launch thing of the new MTR, the Kevlar thingy. And I'm like, "Sure, I'm down." And then I looked at the calendar and it was one week before King of the Hammers. And this is in 2008. Okay. And so I called, I was like, "Yeah." I called Goodyear and I said, "Yeah, I'm looking forward to the event. There happens to be an off-road event the weekend after. Do you mind if my return flight that you're paying for is a week later?" And they're like, "No, we don't care." I'm like, "Okay." So that's my first trip to KOH paid for by Goodyear Tire.

[00:30:11.590] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. Nice. Yeah, to get it, to get that taken care of is a, is a relief. So then you're, uh, let's, let's jump into that then, that first trip to, to KOH. Had you done any racing before KOH? Had you done any racing to that point?

[00:30:33.590] - Matt Adair

Uh, actually no. Okay. Except as a spotter once in a CalRocks event. Uh, at Goldendale? Uh, no, actually, um, uh, Donner. Oh, at Donner. Okay, long story, but yeah, at 8,000 feet. Yeah, as somebody from sea level, I, um, gassed out. Yes. Yeah, just a little tiny bit. Um, we finished second though, in fairness. Uh, but yeah, so I, I had not done any like formal racing at all, uh, and then so yeah, I get a ride from a buddy of mine who lived near Palm Springs to go to the lakebed, and I had zero connections, zero contacts, nobody there that I knew except for Richard Gautier, uh, still a dear friend, and he was like gonna show up there in a few days, but I had basically I needed a place to sleep and food to eat, and I had nothing other than my camera, a backpack, and a handle of Maker's Mark. Well, that'll get you somewhere. I showed up on the, you know, start-finish line at the lakebed. My friend bounced, and there's Jeff and Dave, and they've got a scissor lift, and they're trying to hang a banner on the— this is back when it was still on the you know, the bomb crater central front strip, right?

[00:32:02.410] - Matt Adair

And, you know, I'm just sort of wander, wander over there, and I think it was Dave probably said, hey, you hop in this, this bucket, the scissor lift thing. And, you know, at 30 feet high on a teeny tiny thing that's designed for a Costco warehouse, I was swinging like 6 feet at the top in either direction. And I like, I zip-tied the start/finish banner to the, you know, the apparatus, the archway there. There we go. And I got down on my hand for shaking. It was terrifying. And I said, "Hi, I'm Matt with Carolla Magazine." And then, "Thanks for your help, bye." Okay, whatever. And just wandered around until I found some people who I could trade a handle of makers for food and lodging for the next 2 nights. And those turned out to be Darren and Darlene Hankey. Okay. Uh, 4441. Uh, and it was their first time there. They were running, uh, Crane back then. And, uh, they're still dear friends to this day, you know, 20 years later. Man, what a weird, weird life, right?

[00:33:16.350] - Big Rich Klein

So you spent a couple days with them, and then Richard got there?

[00:33:19.570] - Matt Adair

Yep. And then I crashed with him, and he was racing that year, finished 7th in a Cherokee truggy, which on ORIs and used up 40-inch creepies. And it was fun to be there in the very beginning-ish, you know, real close to the beginning, to see the evolution and It's really humbling in a lot of ways, like to have experienced it from the beginning to the end, as it— to today, I should say. And yeah, we didn't— I was the chief, I was chief of tech for 2 years. And man, there's not a job I've not done there. I was doing the math earlier. I think I've spent a year and a half of my life cumulatively on the lakebed.

[00:34:15.500] - Big Rich Klein

That's awesome. That's awesome. And so what was the— what's, what's your favorite memory of KOH?

[00:34:29.840] - Matt Adair

There are two that stick out. Okay. One that is kind of a dead horse that you and I have both beaten, but It's when we were doing our very first LCQ at, uh, Chocolate Thunder, and all of a sudden, with 20 minutes before the first car goes, Dave says, hey, we need to do time. You're doing timing and scoring. Here's a clipboard, and we need to— you're gonna be up on the bluff with Chris Ray, I think it was at the time, and, uh It's like, good luck. I'm like, well, what? What do you mean? It's like, yeah, you figure it out. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. So I had like a wristwatch and I was trying, I was just, you know, how can scrounger mode, like what can I do to get some sort of accurate timing device? And I ended up running over to you in your semi-truck. Like, who would have stopwatches on the lake bed? And I was like, Rich, can I borrow a half dozen stopwatches? And you looked at me not very impressed. You were pretty, um, like, wow, what an amateur.

[00:35:52.570] - Big Rich Klein

No, those, those, those days back then, I thought a lot of those thoughts, and it wasn't specifically about you or anybody else that came over and asked me questions. It was more about the event itself. But being an event organizer and promoter, I completely understood, because nobody knows— needs to know it's a shit show if you can keep it all behind the curtains. You know, it's kind of like the, the Wizard of Oz.

[00:36:27.630] - Matt Adair

Yeah, pay no attention to them. I mean, if nobody, if nobody else knows that you're scrambling and like your hair is falling out because the thing you didn't think of, and so you've got Plan A, B, and C, and you're at Plan X, uh, but as long as it all goes to plan. One of my favorite pictures, which is, it's sort of a joke, but I literally took the clock off the wall of the RV that we were staying in. And it's just like, you know, 8-inch diameter thing. Gold festooned thing. And so there's a picture of me at the start/finish at Chocolate Thunder with the clipboard, and I have the giant wall clock there just for shtick. We actually did accurate timing with the stopwatches.

[00:37:18.270] - Big Rich Klein

Right. But it was too good of a photo op not to take.

[00:37:22.360] - Matt Adair

But yeah, that was, uh, man, back then we didn't know what we were like. We didn't know what we didn't know. And for you having run a race series and done that promotion stuff, we were in the dark, you know, just sort of feeling our way through it for a lot of it. And in fairness, I mean, given the challenges kind of hard to apologize for the balls to just go for it. This in every aspect, like, it's just to see it grow, of course, is both rewarding and also like, I don't know that I, I don't feel like it's the same event. And that's both good and bad. It's like watching your kid go off to college or something, right, where you're proud of it, but it's also no longer going to be what it once was. And that's just sort of the nature of everything, I think. Yeah, exactly.

[00:38:32.330] - Big Rich Klein

It— I mean, it's turned into— it's turned into just a monster of an event. And those early days when you could hang out at the fire. Everybody hung out at the fire. And it was— there was something about those early days of everybody hanging out and everybody helping each other. And, you know, everybody was racing each other, but everybody wanted to beat each other on the rocks.

[00:39:02.580] - Matt Adair

It wasn't, you know, not in the pits, not in the— yeah, not in their You're not, for lack of a 35-spline shaft, you're gonna beat the guy. 'Cause if, you know, you're gonna give him that if you have a spare and you don't, you know, you don't wanna beat him because of not being prepared. You wanna beat him because of talent and skill and racecraft. Exactly.

[00:39:29.820] - Big Rich Klein

And nowadays, I don't know if that's still the case because I don't go any longer.

[00:39:35.690] - Matt Adair

So I'm, uh, I will say I do think there is a lot of under— there's a lot of that camaraderie still. Like, I know for a fact that I could go to Shannon's Pit, and I mean, it used to be a lot smaller, obviously, but I do believe that that You know, a lot of the people are still really good folks. Like, you know, Lauren and— Von. Yeah, I mean, there's like genuinely good folks. And what's— yeah, you know, it's amazing to see that that has endured, but it speaks to their character as people in general. So. I do, you know, the old days. One of my funnier stories is, you know, I road race as well, road course racing. And I got my very first big boy sponsor around the fire pit. I was, you know, this is my first year, right? And I met JT Taylor for the first time that evening and just, you know, he was racing old number 13. And just ended up BSing around the fire, and I was telling him about this race car I was building, a Jeep Cherokee designed for road racing, which is the dumbest thing you could ever imagine.

[00:41:10.120] - Matt Adair

Except it wasn't. And Andrew Hoyt of Falken Tire happened to be standing within earshot. And we ended up chatting and became pals. And Falken has been my sponsor for the road course stuff ever since. And once we did our 46.43 EMC car, they were our sponsor. And then recently, you know, Andrew went to Milestar, and I've been running Milestar tires on all my, you know, civilian vehicles. And I guess he's actually leaving there soon, going to a non-tire brand, but I will certainly miss having the guy I can call and say, "Hey, I'm in Willows, California, and I need some tires airlifted to me, like, right stat now." And, uh, I'll say Nick Fousekis and a bunch of other folks who, you know, I met through the Falcon family have been really great supporters of my racing endeavors over the years.

[00:42:24.140] - Big Rich Klein

And when you, just jump back real quick, when you were selling cars, it was just a used car lot or was it like a new car lot with used cars? And you weren't brand specific or what? I not—

[00:42:40.700] - Matt Adair

I started with GM products and I kind of got looped into that just because I knew them and thought they were a really good product. And that was my only loyalty to them. But I can sell ice to Eskimos. So I enjoy variety. Case in point, 7 years ago, I was asked to fill in for a buddy of mine who hurt his shoulder falling off a motorcycle, and I got looped into the Porsche world. And 7 years later, that's what I'm now known for. Is very— speaking of which, I sold Andrew Hoyt from Vulcan my personal Porsche 911 that he saw me posting pictures of, and he's like, I need this car. I'm like, okay. Uh, so he, uh, flew up and drove drove back to Southern California. This is a couple years ago now, but yeah, nice small world.

[00:43:40.080] - Big Rich Klein

And so the Porsches is, is your primary thing now, right?

[00:43:45.720] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I still dabble in anything that's fun. For instance, we just got a— I'm representing a 1995 Land Rover Defender 90, uh, manual transmission, North American, uh version. And that's, you know, that's a six-figure car. And I mean, I'll sell my shoes for the right amount of money. I don't— it's right, it's nice to enjoy them, but, uh, I have a broad appreciation for pretty much any car.

[00:44:13.800] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. I've had a friend, um, whose dad had a— in fact, he was my Scoutmaster— had an an old, uh, 3— is that 396? 390? It was the, uh, the Boxer 356. 356, yeah, 1950s something. And he wanted a Corvette, and my dad had built the, the motor for him in this Porsche. And I mean, it was all blueprinted and balanced and We did it in our garage, and my dad was an engine builder, built dragsters and stuff, so it didn't matter what kind of engine it was. You know, he could— he was a tool and die maker, machinist. You know, he could fabricate anything if he had a bridge port. And so he, uh, this, this Porsche was really pretty badass. And so he shows up one time in this Corvette, and it's like a '63 convertible, '62-'63 convertible. And he goes, hey, come on in, you know, you know, to my dad, let's, let's take this for a ride. My dad goes, what the hell is this thing? What are you doing with this? And he goes, well, this guy wants to trade me for my Porsche. And my dad goes, you're an idiot, don't do it.

[00:45:40.370] - Big Rich Klein

He didn't do it, but man, he had that Corvette for 2 days Holy Christ, we left a whole bunch of tire marks everywhere. Just remember that thing.

[00:45:53.250] - Matt Adair

Yeah, they say, uh, well, and you know, in the twisties, the Porsche would eat the Corvette's lunch. And that's— you can, you know that because at that time period, SCCA was running, uh, The invasion of European sports cars, Porsche in particular, during that time made everybody really reevaluate power to weight and, uh, you know, RPMs versus torque. And it's a fascinating time period. Like, I'm obsessed with that vintage of racing. It's the golden age of American sports car racing in my mind. Absolutely.

[00:46:32.330] - Big Rich Klein

Yep. And the modern day, we just did, um Emily Miller, who puts on the Rebelle. I know Emily well. Yep. Okay. Yep. Because we worked together at KOH when she raced for Rod Hall. She raced— they came over and raced at VORA, which I owned at the time, Valley Off-Road Racing. And that's where I first met her and Rod Hall as well. And then we— she just put on her Trinity Rally with first time doing the Trinity. And it'll be a— I think it'll be a yearly rally like the— but it's a road rally. And we did all the— from San Francisco up to Fort Bragg and all through the Redwood Forest and the, and the Coast Range there. And then ended up—

[00:47:22.710] - Matt Adair

know the roads well. Yeah.

[00:47:24.580] - Big Rich Klein

And then the last day we got a track day at Sonoma Raceway. And I was like, well, when we volunteered to do the— to do it with her, I told Shelley, I said, so, you know, do you want to rent a sports car or do we just take the Raptor or take one of the Jeeps? And she goes, no, let's rent a sports car. So I started looking up Audi R8s, you know, because I'm thinking we're going to rent a sports car and couldn't, couldn't find an R8 available. And so then we ended up with a Porsche Panamera. And I thought it was funny when everybody that we showed up with that was on the rally, that the ones that are rally racers and stuff like that were like, oh, but it's a 4-door. And I said, you guys got to remember, I'm running chase, you know, I'm the last car basically on course. And if somebody breaks down, I've got to move them, so I can't run a 2-door, you know, I got to have 4 seats. And that ended up happening. Brian, Brian Crofts and Bailey, I had to take them and go get them an alternator.

[00:48:38.340] - Big Rich Klein

You know, we had to find an alternator. So for their Mustang. But, you know, it worked out great. But man, that car scooted and handled phenomenally.

[00:48:48.610] - Matt Adair

There is something in the— I used to make fun of people who, like, drank the Kool-Aid. On that stuff. But I'll be damned if there isn't something special. Like, it's— it sounds arrogant and presumptuous and kind of douchey to say, but like, until you've owned one or spent time in one, it is really hard to explain why they're 50% more expensive than a competitive car. Like, they're just— they're obscenely overpriced, but they're actually worth it. I think that's a distinct, you know, distinction that they are worth it. Um, gosh, I'm on my 15th, 20th, 20th one.

[00:49:32.710] - Big Rich Klein

Wow, that's pretty awesome.

[00:49:39.410] - Matt Adair

I'm in a unique position where I have access to, you know, getting good deals on them, and also as a dealer I don't have to pay sales tax or licensing, so I'm able— I'm in a position where I can like easily hop from one to the other without, uh, you know, getting that 10% tax situation.

[00:49:59.960] - Big Rich Klein

But very good. And so you, you turn over quite a few, don't you? But I mean, I— from— I always see you posting you know, this is what I got now. And then, you know, somebody bought it, bought this one and that. So you turn them over fairly often.

[00:50:20.520] - Matt Adair

I mean, we're a, we're a small boutique shop. We've been around for 27 years. I've been there for 7, and I am the entirety of the sales department. We have one service advisor, uh, service writer, you know, he's the president of the company, and we've got 3 technicians and We like our— we like the size of the business. It's just about the right size. I live half a mile from the shop. I get to play with cars and see people light up so completely when it's their first, you know, purchase. That for a lot of these— a lot of folks buying their first car, it is a lifelong— and like the culmination of dreams over their life. And to be the guy who hands them their keys, it sounds hokey, but it's really special. It feels like a privilege to be able to do that.

[00:51:16.290] - Big Rich Klein

That's awesome. So you, do you get to get over to Europe anymore?

[00:51:23.680] - Matt Adair

As much as often. I've been there as much as possible. It's been a few years. You may or may not know anything about this, but as a small business, owner, it is difficult to claw free time for yourself, especially— I wouldn't know anything about that. Yeah, exactly. I've been telling you this for the first time. I'm just, just, just so you know, I better not—

[00:51:47.470] - Big Rich Klein

I better never become a small business owner.

[00:51:49.810] - Matt Adair

Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a lot of work. Gosh, I don't know, man. Uh, but one of the, uh, the fun The beauties of, I think, the Porsches in particular is almost everybody has an appreciation for them as an iconic shape, an iconic brand. The same way you may not be a Jeep guy, but you can respect the history of the company and what it has meant to its individual category. You know, off-road, the Jeep— there wouldn't be off-road vehicles if it weren't for Jeep. In its current status. Yeah, and the Broncos are great, Toyotas are fantastic, but if Jeep hadn't, uh, democratized the ability to own an off-road vehicle, we wouldn't have the aftermarket scene we do today. Likewise, Porsche was mainly aimed at veterans coming home from World War II. They've got a little bit of money, they've got the kid popped out, and now they can have a sports car. We didn't know what sports cars were until MGs, Allards, Porsches, European sports cars. It was GI— or GIs coming back from World War II who had experienced them in Europe who now wanted them in the US. And you can argue that both are from World War II to now.

[00:53:15.020] - Matt Adair

It's, uh, Interesting. I really hadn't thought of that.

[00:53:20.040] - Big Rich Klein

Right now. No, it's true. Very true. I used to work. My first job was working in an auto shop and the guy, the guy's name was Scotty Gordon Wilson. And he actually has claimed he used to race for MG back in, in in England. And then his claim to fame that he always talked about was during some racing series back there, he was, um, a track official, and he black-flagged Graham Hill. And he always talked about that. He goes, yeah, he was so mad at me. But it was, uh, You know, those were those, those early sports car days. And then he migrated to the, to California and, uh, you know, had his kids here and everything else. But, you know, he was, uh, he used to race for MG. That was pretty cool.

[00:54:28.670] - Matt Adair

MG standing, of course, for Morris Garage. Yep. Uh, I wonder, I don't know my own Social Security number or my blood type, but I can tell you the displacement on a 1949 MG TD. Uh, it's weird. And I also don't know anybody's names except for what kind of car they drive, right? Speaking of Sonoma, uh, I was just down there a couple weeks ago for a thing, an event called Velocity, and, um, John Goodby was there with a handful of Ultra 4 cars, uh, 4400 cars, 4800 cars. And I was giving rides to these guys who were there with their half million, million, $2 million collector cars and race cars. And it was an interesting clash of— not clash is the wrong word— melding of cultures because everybody who saw these cars like, oh my God, that's so amazing. And then they would look at the tech on them and a handful of guys I know, I walked around like, oh yeah, so that's a giant anti-rock there. That's basically a sway bar, but you see the length of the arms and then that affects the rate. And that's a triple bypass remote reservoir. And they were kind of gobsmacked that these things that look like are just shelving material welded together have such really careful engineering behind them that is hard-won knowledge.

[00:56:08.360] - Matt Adair

And it was, it was cool to see the appreciation from virtually everybody. And then they turn on and they're like, oh my God, that's the, you know, LSX 454 with a bundle of snakes. Uh, you know, who cannot love that, right?

[00:56:23.020] - Big Rich Klein

Getting that 800 to 1,000 horsepower, right? So what is, besides the Porsche boutique shop or boutique exotic shop, because you also said you did, you know, you've got some other things for sale or have. What else are you doing? Are you still racing or?

[00:56:52.420] - Matt Adair

Yeah, here and there. Like we were talking about being a, you know, small business person, right? It's difficult to carve that kind of time out. I am actually going to take my, my race car that I built in '08, which was a stupid idea that turned out to be not so stupid, but we took a Jeep Cherokee factory two-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee and roll— put a— built a roll cage, cut the front springs, and did a, you know, just quickie, put wheels and tires on it and went racing in an event called the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's actually pronounced lemons because it's for cheap cars, and it's right, but it is real actual door-to-door racing, and we race 15 hours a weekend or full 24 hours. Occasionally, which is an ordeal. And Dave Coles actually raced with me a half dozen times. We did a full 24 in Reno in '11, and I'm headed back to Laguna Seca to defend my fastest Jeep lap time at Laguna Seca. Uh, and it's going to be the car's last race. We're going to retire it after, that event, because I know you know race cars, and a 17-year-old race car is, generally speaking, pretty much aged out, right?

[00:58:29.030] - Matt Adair

And it's got a 6-liter LSX in it now, a T56 Ford 8.8, uh, sprung under with, you know, like the, the amount— oh yeah, Kevin Stearns actually just helped— I bought a car for me not long ago, you know, Pacific Fabrication, Kevin Sterns.

[00:58:48.610] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, I saw that. Yep.

[00:58:50.210] - Matt Adair

Yeah, he, um, he helped me out tuning the engine so that I would know it was not in a plumber's van. And yeah, the, the overlay now, Chris Ridgeway, uh, shoot, actually, and one of the things I was gonna say is we're— I'm going back to Laguna It's not exactly 100% specifically, but very much to remember when Camo Eric came with Dave and Bailey was there. And it was Dave's first time at Laguna and we raced and we finished second overall. And it pissed everybody off because passing a Porsche on the outside of a corner in a Jeep Cherokee. Makes people reconsider life choices. But, uh, Camo came and worked, uh, with us as like crew, helping both people in and out of cars and, you know, just being there. And, you know, I've known Eric since, shit, you know, years and years. The first time I met him, I was intimidated because it was like 'Oh my God, that's the guy. That's the asshole from Pirate. Wow.' And we got to know each other pretty well over the years. And I just remember him pulling me aside after the Laguna event and saying how much it meant to him to have gone to Laguna.

[01:00:21.500] - Matt Adair

And, uh, you know, I mentioned that story to Heather. And later, you know, he and I got to know each other more and more over the years, and That was one of the more heartbreaking things I've heard lately, was when Heather said that he'd passed. Yeah. And it's funny, like, literally an hour before you and I started talking, a good friend of mine, Justin Moore, who worked as core staff for a decade at KOH, he called me out of the blue. Just, he lives in Maryland and he just called me out of the blue saying, that he appreciated what I, you know, talked about Camo and our experiences. And it's impacted a lot of people. Just him in general as a human and his impact in the industry and as a human being and as a friend and a genuinely, genuinely interesting fascinating, thoughtful, intelligent, charismatic, and somebody who really does care about people and other people despite his, you know, gruff attitude. He's— he was, uh, he was— they broke the mold with him. He was one of a kind.

[01:01:45.140] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. I was very fortunate to, to spend a couple of different times where we were together for a week, 10 days, that kind of thing, once in Baja where, uh, he was the passenger in my— the Nissan pickup truck, that two-wheel drive pickup truck that I was driving. And by the time we got that thing back to the States, um, the, the— I guess you'd call them running boards, but tubes, those chrome aftermarket chrome tubes that people put on those stupid things, were held on with rope. And tied around the seat bases, that kind of thing. And we rescued an airplane that had engine troubles and had to land there south of San Felipe. And it was, camo was at its finest. Getting that airplane permission to take that airplane out of the country on a trailer and get it delivered to their house in San Diego. The people that were flying it and Jody Everdeen got involved and Bob Rogge and because it was Bob and I in camo on the way back and we just were taking our time and, you know, spend a night on beaches and You know, drinking a lot of tequila and a lot of cervezas and, you know, eating a lot of shrimp.

[01:03:22.670] - Big Rich Klein

Beer. It's pronounced beer. Come on. Beer. Yes. But we had a hell of a time. It was hilarious. I mean, the stories from that one are pretty priceless. But we, you know, and then of course, when Pirate was up here in Georgetown, California, you know, I'm only like 13 miles away. So I spent a lot of time up there as well when I wasn't on the road putting on the WE Rock events and stuff. But, you know, it was, it was, uh, he was a good guy, really good guy, you know. Helped him get, uh, him and Hendrix get the, uh, the F-Toy chassis going, you know, and because of competitions being able to, you know, those proving them in competition. So it was, it was a fun time.

[01:04:15.720] - Matt Adair

I want to have this one quick story that I think really encapsulates KOH people in general and also Camo and another person who's gone far too soon. 8-ish years ago, I drove down. I was on an extended road trip and ended up that I was going to be in KOH time-ish. And I called Richard Gautier, my savior of places to sleep at KOH, as always. And he said, yeah, sure, you got a bunk, you got a bed. And I was on the road. It was like a 3-week road trip. And I got a cold. And so I was drinking a lot of water and I was taking, what, Sudafed or whatever to get rid of my sniffles. And then of course you're on the lake bed and none of those things are good for you, especially in also a bunch of Red Bull to stay awake on the drive there. So, 3 in the morning, I went down to the aid station at— on the ham— at the lake bed, and my heart rate was 200 and something. Wow. Yeah. And so they basically said, you're going to the hospital, we're getting a helicopter. And I said, no, no, no, I can't afford it.

[01:05:48.200] - Matt Adair

Um, here, give me a Xanax and I'll sleep it off. Woke up the next morning and it was still 200 something, and my Buddy Chris was a, you know, is a medic, and he took my pulse and like his eyes popped out of his skull. Anyway, I was not given the choice. Uh, Richard drove my $300 Saab that I was driving that trip, and Chris was in the back seat as we hauled balls to, uh, Temecula— not Temecula, uh, yeah, 29 Palms-ish. Okay. Yucca Valley. And got there and they— their eyeballs popped out of their heads. And I was, you know, IV'd and all that stuff. I was there for a day and everything seemed to calm down. And the whole time I'm like, come on, I got to go back. I want to go back to the trail. I want to go back to the race. I want to go back. I want to go back. And then they pulled my insurance and it said it wasn't covered. So I was— they said, oh yeah, you'll be fine. And gave me a plastic bag full of my clothing. And yeah, I was unceremoniously dispatched back to the lake bed.

[01:06:54.240] - Big Rich Klein

Hey, you don't have insurance?

[01:06:55.440] - Matt Adair

Get out of here. Yeah, it's serious. Like, well, we keep you for a week, we're gonna do some imaging. Like, no, no, no, no, no. And then like, oh wait, you can't pay for this? Okay, bye. Uh, I get back to the lake bed and I rest for like a full day and just like take care of myself. And then I start like reentering society, and I was walking through Hammertown, and I heard somebody say, "Matt!" And it was Jesse Combs. Ah, yes. And she was signing autographs in one of the booths, or like a trailer, like a side-opening 18-wheeler trailer thing. I forget, Magnaflow or some bullshit. And I just looked up. I was surprised. And she— there was 100 people waiting in line for autographs, and she left the table she was sitting at, walked down the ramps, came over and gave me a hug and said that she heard on the radio that I was at the hospital. And I was like, what? I've known Jesse for a bit. And we were pals, but I was amazed that she gave a shit, A, B, that she would make a point of it, and C, like, just, I was stunned.

[01:08:21.160] - Matt Adair

I was like, wow, okay. And then I found out that, I guess it had been like a broadcast over, well, the emergency net on that KOH staff thing. And then I got a call from Camo saying, Matt, come to my, my office in my trailer immediately. And I'm like, oh shit. So I go over there and he sat me down and said that he'd had heart problems in the past and don't take it lightly and make sure to take care of yourself. And I kind of like, you know, old man explaining to me and I rolled my eyes a little bit and he like put the fear of God into me. And that was the same day within 20 minutes of each other, those two experiences. And knowing that, you know, Camma died from a heart issue, which we all knew was a thing, right? Just reminded me of that particular, uh, interaction with two people who are gone far, far too soon.

[01:09:21.190] - Big Rich Klein

And another one from that time period, Sean Wilson, uh, one of my dearest friends. Yes. Yeah, he was a— when I moved to Cedar City back in the '90s, um, he was in the club, in the club that I became president of.

[01:09:38.730] - Matt Adair

And, uh, there are not many better human beings that I've ever encountered in my life. Yep. Than Sean. Um, he was, you know, he came on to KOH staff and he was the reason we all didn't like— yes, it was like the sanity check where, uh, we could always go see Sean to vent and take a moment. And God, he was just a— just an amazing, amazing person. Oh, there's a whole other story that's probably fit for a better, better podcast, but I get it.

[01:10:24.500] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. Yeah, that one, that was a, that was probably one of the first real hard ones for me. We were pretty close and I think, I think at one time he saved me and I felt like I didn't have a chance to, to reciprocate and that kind of sucked and it wasn't You know, there was times when we'd put on the events out at Cedar and he'd come out and hang out with us and, you know, just kicking it. And it was always good to see him. We'd stage out of his—

[01:10:57.720] - Matt Adair

he just always had his shit together. Yeah, he was, you know, I just—

[01:11:02.090] - Big Rich Klein

he was always just put together and his demeanor was so calming and, man, Yeah, no matter what the storm was around him, which there was a lot of storms.

[01:11:19.410] - Matt Adair

Yeah, lots of storms. But he was the calming influence.

[01:11:25.050] - Big Rich Klein

And so what are your big plans? What's in the future for Matt Adair?

[01:11:32.830] - Matt Adair

Well, I just keep on keeping on, you know, I'm writing a book. I've been told I have to at this point because I have so many improbable stories, like the time Sean Wilson and the crew built a water pump out of Bailey Cole's Suzuki Samurai, right, by welding a 20-foot stick of DOM to the transfer case and welding it to the well— bolting to the wellhead. And I was the first person to drive, air quotes, the water pump Sammy. And we did the math at 4th gear, 2,000 RPM was the same revolutions needed to pump water from the, the wellhead. And we ended up making, uh, like a pinion bushing kind of thing, a Gwibo we call in the Porsche or BMW world, uh, like a pillow block basically out of wood with a hole saw, and we had to grease it every once in a while so that it wouldn't catch fire. And, you know, sitting in a Suzuki Samurai lifted 4 feet off the ground in the back with no wheels or tires— I mean, who can make that shit up, right? And, um, so the title to the book I think is going to be like, Big Things Happening Often, a series of improbable events in my ridiculous life or some bullshit like that.

[01:13:04.200] - Matt Adair

But my goal is to continue doing improbable, weird stuff. And the thing about these things, it's not the events, it's not the particular individual moments of, like, winning a race. It's the people you get to meet along the way. And I don't know a better Like, I would do it all again for free. Or— well, shit, it definitely wasn't free. But to meet the people we've— like, just a tiny fraction of the number of people I've gotten to know, yourself included. And like, who— how could you possibly— in what other universe could you meet such a different group of people who are such good humans.

[01:14:01.020] - Big Rich Klein

It's humbling in a lot of ways. Absolutely. Absolutely. Matt, I want to say thank you so much for coming on the podcast and talking about your life and experiences and some stories. And I think we could probably sit and talk for another 5 hours.

[01:14:21.560] - Matt Adair

But I think people would get more of that myself back from some of the other, like, shenanigans stories. But, um, well, thank you, Rich. Um, I know, like, these things are basically— you're combining two of my favorite topics, me and things I've done. So I can definitely, I can definitely, uh, talk more. But, uh, I just hope that anybody listening enjoyed the, the various, uh, tales, uh, almost all of which are true. You know, never let the truth get in the way of a good story, right? Um, but, uh, yeah, thanks, and I look forward to, uh, hearing more. I mean, how many episodes have you done now?

[01:15:04.410] - Big Rich Klein

325. I think you're 326 or 327.

[01:15:08.830] - Matt Adair

That's, uh, pretty remarkable. And, uh, I know a lot of people Like I said, I was getting ready to jihad you for not having called me yet, so at least we've, uh, we're, uh, we can avoid that. But yeah, I look forward to continuing to see what you do with the channel and, uh, all of your other exploits.

[01:15:29.670] - Big Rich Klein

Well, thank you, and, um, you have a wonderful evening, and, uh, I'll let you know when this is going to air. And, uh, my mom and 3 other people will very excited to listen. Perfect, perfect. I'll be, I'll be happy to have those 4 people listening. All right, all right, you take care, and thank you, my friend.

[01:15:52.120] - Matt Adair

All right, cheers, bye.

[01:15:54.600] - 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 text message or 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.