Switch to channel 2 with Jim Horne

 "Switch to Channel 2 with Jim Horne: Off-Road Adventures and Racing Stories"

In this exhilarating episode of Go for Donny! host Donny McGuire welcomes off-road racing veteran Jim Horne. Tune in as they Switch to Channel 2, an exclusive segment where Donny asks his guests five random questions, diving deep into their backgrounds and passions.

Jim Horne shares his journey into the world of off-roading, how a familial influence sparked his love for racing, and recounts epic adventures from iconic races such as the King of the Hammers, the Mint 400, and the Baja 500. Discover the thrilling dynamics between him and his co-driver—his wife, Barbara—and the challenges and triumphs they've faced together.

Get ready for a unique peek into the stunning Rubicon Trail, the majestic landscapes of New Zealand, and the vibrant racing culture in Baja, Mexico. Plus, Jim offers Donny a tempting Jeep adventure invitation that sounds too good to pass up.

If you're an off-road enthusiast or someone who loves captivating adventure tales, this episode is a must-listen! Don’t miss out on the fun and inspiring discussions that highlight the passion, dedication, and community spirit of off-road racing.

Keywords: Off-road racing, Jim Horne, Donny McGuire, Rubicon Trail, King of the Hammers, Baja 500, Mint 400, off-roading adventures, Jeep trails, New Zealand, Baja culture, racing dynamics, Channel 2, podcast episode, GoForDonny.

Listen now on Buzzsprout and join us for another exciting journey into the world of off-road racing!

00:00 Grew up around Jeep racing my entire life.

03:45 Effective communication prevents problems and ensures safety.

09:21 Majestic Baja racing culture: thrilling yet intimidating.

10:16 Racing adventure through Mexican villages: unforgettable experience.

15:33 Moab's appealing but living costs are high.

16:12 Still connected to Moab; business in Montrose.

19:51 Cold calls foster relationships; struggling with social media.

22:40 What's their current activity or purpose?

Don’t forget to check out Go for Donny! Switch to Channel 2 where we get to ask our guests some more in depth questions that you the listener want answers too.
“Go for Donny!” & “Switch to Channel 2” can be found on all available podcast platforms.
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Transcript

0:00

Have you heard of the new addition to the Go for Donny! podcast? I haven't either, but it's called Switch to channel two. That is where Donny will get to ask his guests some questions. So you, the listener, get to know them better. And remember,#HTFU. Hey guys, welcome to Go for Donny! Switch to Channel 2.. Jim is back. Thanks for being on Jim. Jim. We have five random questions. So switch to channel two is whenever you're on set. You know when you had some chatter, you'd always reach back and you'd switch that D channel too. You'd have your little chatter, everyone else was listening. And then you go back to respect the channel. So okay, that's what we're doing right now. So I got just five random questions. First one, what got you into off roading? You know what, man, When I was a kid my, my dad raced Jeeps. My, my two of my great uncles race Jeeps. So I, I kind of grew up with being surrounded by the off road industry and racing and just so it's literally. I have a picture, I was like three or four months old sitting on my dad's 1971 CJ5 Jeep hood. You know, so I've been around it my entire life and I've always been luckily to be mechanically inclined. But you know when you're 5 years old in the 70s and your dad's yelling at you to hand you 9, 16, you hand him a 5, 8 and he's like, you're just like, oh man. So yeah, yeah, I've been really lucky to be around at my whole and literally my entire life. I so lucky. I wish, I mean we've been around not racing and stuff. We always had sleds and motorcycles and boats and stuff to screw around with, but never really had it like prevalent racing. I mean that would be cool. Yeah. And you know, probably my late teens I took a step away, just not as far as the off road, but went into the military and then Barbara and I moved. Right. Yeah, Barbara and I moved to the Northern California. We got stationed at Travis Air Force Base and then we ended up buying another four wheel drive and then we started wheeling again. And it, yeah, it's just, it's always, it's always been a part of my life and it's been a part of our kids life and then, you know, Barb's my co driver now and so it's just, it's been a, it's been a good ride. It's definitely been a good ride for, for what we've been able to do. And what races do you guys do? Notable ones that. Is there one at State Line in Nevada? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, usually. Well, at State Line, that's usually the Mint right there between Nevada and California. But yeah, we race King of the Hammers. We raced the Mint, we raced the Baja 500. We race Vegas to Reno, Silver State 300. You name, you name all the big races, that's what we race. We've been super lucky with. And our sponsors are like, man, we love what you're doing and those are the races we want you to see. So this year in 2024, we won our class at King of the hammers in 2024. Wow, that's awesome. And then we were the only truck in our class to Finish the Baja 500. Holy crap. Congrats. That's so cool. And it's, it's awesome. You know, Barb, it's been great because we've been married for 33 years. She's a two time breast cancer survivor. She's tougher than I am, but I've had a lot of different co drivers. But we've been married long enough. She knows my body language and I know her body language. And we both know when to shut the fuck up in the truck and just race. So the closer we get to the finish, Donnie, there is no talking. There's the only talking there ever is. If, if I'm getting, if I'm driving too fast and I'm going to wreck the truck sooner or later. And she'll be like, dude, because this channel too. But if she's like, slow this motherfucker down because we're not going to cross the finish line, we're going to wreck this thing. And I'm like, okay. Because I just know, dude, I know when she needs to say what she needs to say. I'm like, she's totally right. So it's been really cool. If I could just learn that in an argument, I think I'd be way better off, dude. But I haven't figured that out after 33 years of marriage. Dude, I'm just. Because you're going through an argument, you got to be going like, I don't know, 80 plus miles an hour in your argument. And then maybe you can think better. Yeah. You know, and that's when we, we finished Baja this year. We were in the truck for 26 hours and we, we've, we finished Vegas, Torino and that was 17 hours. But you literally go through every emotion that you possibly can. And I don't care if you're a husband or wife, but it makes it easier when you're driver and co driver, but you're questioning your existence on this earth. Like, why would we even do this? This is the dumbest shit. Just getting the shit beat out of you for, like, 18 hours. Like, that's got to. Like, halfway through, you got to be like, what the fuck am I doing? Like, why am I doing this? 100% blow a tire. Because you're out there by yourself. You have to do everything yourself. That's it. Yeah, you're just relying on, you know, the driver and the co driver. You're relying on each other. And that's. That's what. That's the way it works out. So. But it's. It's. It's been really cool. And what's even been more awesome is obviously because I've never got to race with Barb before. Now I get to race with her so when I come home, I don't have to tell the stories to her. She's like, oh, that sounds cool. She's in the stories, and she's like. And that's. I have a saying, dude. Racing for us, it's not something we want to do. It's something we have to do. It's. It's in you. Because people will race, like, ah, it's okay. But when you will sell off your firstborn to make sure you have enough money to build your race truck, that's what you'll do. You know, you're legit. Legit. Yeah. You're really. Now, what about the Rubicon Trail? Appalachian. I know you said you went to New Zealand. Can you share any of those stories? Because that's, like, freaking amazing that you're. I mean, one, it's amazing to go and do these things. Two, you're doing these things, and you probably getting paid money to do these things. Yeah. You know, unfortunately, yeah, we get paid to do this stupid cool stuff. Okay. The Rubicon Trail is probably one of the most. We live in Moab. You know how beautiful it is here. But hands down, Rubicon is not, like the hardest trail you're ever going to do, but it's going to be the most beautiful, and it's going to be super difficult. If you're an experienced wheeler and your rig's built really well and you've got some stuff on your side, it's cool. But if you're not experienced and you have minimally built rig, it's a hard trail. Because once you get in the middle of It. You're talking boulders this big around Rolly Rock, but it is just. It's gorgeous out there, and you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. And it's. Sierra Nevada is Northern California. You get to Spider Lake, you get to. You leave from Loon on Hot Rock, and then, you know, you cruise the Spider and then Buck island, and then once you get to the springs with the Slabs. I know. I don't know if you're familiar with the Slabs, but it's where the Rubicon river runs through it, and it's just slabs of huge granite and just water cascades across it. And it's only this deep, dude. You can wait out there when it's 85 degrees, because 85 degrees is 7,600ft. It's hot. Yeah. Just lay out there all day and have some cocktails and it's. You can't explain it, dude. You have to do it. You have to do it. It's beautiful. I've not done the Rubicon yet, dude. So I know you got a friend that has some Jeeps. This is no bullshit, Donnie. If you and your wife or anybody would ever want to come out, bro, we'll trailer a couple Jeeps, and if you want to shoot it or do podcasts, whatever, and we could have some. Oh, what's Elon Musk's WI Fi? That's what we have. Oh, the starlink. Oh, yeah. Starlink. Yeah. Yeah, dude. So we have starlink. If you'd want to ever. And I really fucking mean this, bro. If you ever want to come out and do that, you are more than welcome anytime. July and August. Oh, right. No, no, it's not hot. It's really cool. It's not moab. You guys. You all, you bastards with your Top Gear shoots. That was funny. July or August, you're like, yeah. But no, no, no. July and August. It's the best time in the Rubicon, for sure, because sometimes the trail won't open till early June. Oh. Just because of the elevation. But if you ever want to come out, man, I really mean this, let me know. Barb and I will drop everything and. And run through the Rubicon. I've probably done it probably 300 times. And by hands down, it's one of my most favorite trails in the world. Wow. By far. We'll have to take you up. Then we'll set up something that'd be fun to shoot. And then obviously, New Zealand. I've never been to New Zealand before until 2018, when we did the JL launch and then 2019 for the JT launch. But probably I was lucky. I was in the Air Force, so I got to travel. By the time I was 22, I'd been around the world five times. Wow. But I'd never been to New Zealand. And what a. The culture and the people and just the land is some of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my entire life. By far, majestic. Yes, sir, definitely majestic. And same thing with the Baja racing culture. Everybody gets scared, you know, like, oh, you're going to Ensenada, you're going to drive across the border in Tijuana. I've been through Tijuana a million times. I picked up my friends in the Tijuana airport and Ensenada and, you know, we pre run it. So the first time I had a hard time talking Barb. Barb's race for a number of years now, but I had a hard time talking to her down there. And all my good friends are like, dude, you need to go race Baja. You need to go. And obviously, we've raced for a. I've raced for a long time. Time and Baja. Five hundred, a thousand, that's kind of your. That's your crown jewel right there. And I kept trying to talk her into it because we had our desert truck and I was like, let's go down. So I made her watch this movie. I didn't make her. I was like, hey, I actually make her. I made her watch this movie called. It's called dust to glory 2. And it's all about the Baja scene. I was like, just watch this. If you don't want to go, I'll drop it. Which I wouldn't drop that. I so would have said, we're fucking going to race. And she watched and she's like, let's go. So I, you know, we, you know, everybody, we vacation in Mexico a million times, down south of Cancun, safe and this and that. Anyway, I got her down there, we crossed the border. And then you go to these little dirt towns that literally have no pavement, just villages. You're eating the best food, you're drinking the best beer, and you're really, you know, you're infused with these. Just culture and it's. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever done in my entire life. I would rather race anywhere in Mexico. Compared the States have great races, but just the culture and how you feel and how they make you feel, I will. We've never felt unsafe ever down there. And we've raced down There for almost three years now. And it's just great. But the courses are awesome. The people are even better. And just the food. And it's real Mexico for us. Like, we've been down to the resorts and that's great. I love it. But, man, you go to real Mexico where you're 200 miles in the middle of the desert, where you're like, there's a nut. Oh, shit. It's really cool. Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to go on, man. But. No, no, I love that. Yeah, man. If you. If anybody ever has a chance to go race Mexico or be involved with a pit crew or anything like that, I highly, highly suggest it for Score or nora on their 500s or 1000s. If you can race from the San Felipe side to Ensenada down to. What the hell, Far south Baja. Big, big vacation town, Cabo. Yes, thank you, sir. Cabo. Yeah, yeah. Where the 1000 is. Yeah. You race everywhere in between, through the desert. Okay, I'll stop talking about it. That's not. I love experience, dude. I love Mexico. I have not raced down there. But you don't have Mexico. Just go down there and just feel happy and don't worry about anything. You can always be at the wrong place at the wrong time anytime you want. Yeah, I was down in Chateamal, dude. Where the hell is that? That's on the border of Belize and Mexico. I bet that was so beautiful. It was amazing. I was there for two months shooting Naked and Afraid. We were in the jungle out there. I didn't know you were involved with Naked and Afraid. Yeah, I did a few episodes of Naked and Afraid. Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah. Mexico, Belize, Guyana and what else? One other place somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Years ago. It's crazy because, I mean, we religiously watch that show and I don't know if I would want to just because of the bugs. When you get down into the jungle. That looks miserable, dude. Oh, my. So it's miserable being clothed, Right? Just being clothed is miserable, let alone not having any clothes on. Right. The ticks get in places that, you know, nooks and crannies, you know, it's just. I don't know, dude. Just so you know, I love you, brother, and we're tight. I would check you for ticks. Thanks. That's what we were doing in the desert that night with our shirts off. We were checking. Tick checked. Yeah. That's funny. No. Yeah. That's a crazy show. I mean, I haven't. We haven't had anyone on or talked about my Time or some stories on that. But hopefully in the future I'll have a few guests to talk about Nick, because. So cool. It's such. It's crazy. I mean, just being in the jungle is just crazy enough. And having to be clothed in the jungle. I just don't understand how people, you know, do that show without clothes because like you said, there's, there's, there's bugs everywhere and they get knackered and bit up in their feet. And I'm like, oh, oh, no. You know, you see hundreds of like mosquito bites and all that. Oh. I was like, oh, I'm a man among men. But we watch. I'm like, I don't think I could do that. That'd be miserable. Probably where it's a little cold and some other shit. But maybe not. I have no idea. You're, you know, the show. So you're more desert dweller. So you're in Moab. You're back in Moab. What draws you to Moab? You know, I think, you know, obviously our daughter and our son in law is here and we have two grandkids now. I'm a fucking grandpa. 53. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you, man. It's literally the best in the entire world because there's no stress or pressure. Like, well, we really can't mess the kids up because they're grandkids. But just to be involved with them growing up and just, you know, they're obviously, we're grandparents. We think we have the most beautiful grandkids, like every grandparent does, but they're super smart. And then I think the draw from Moab is obvious. Obviously that. But this is where we kind of started what we're doing now. I'm a little older and I don't want to live in Moab full time anymore. So we're full time RVers now. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah. So we started that February of last year. So we're coming up on a year of being full time motorhome. So we opened a new Jeep rental store in Silverton, Colorado, which we had a Jeep rental store there before back in 2013 and 14. And we're kind of going back to some of our roots. But. But getting back to Moab, there's a draw here because this is where we built what we're doing now. And we have sponsors and then we just meet a lot of people and, you know, we moved back, we've been here. We lived here for almost two and a half years and decided, ah, Moab's changed a lot. Super Expensive. I mean, we could afford to live here and be house poor. And we make a decent living. We're not rich by any means. We're not poor. We just work every day, all day long. But trying to afford to live here now and then. The people here are completely different than what we're used to. So I think we're going to end up in Montrose, Colorado. Oh, Montrose. That's not too far. Which we'll still have roots in Moab, because we need to come here for work and business and. And to see our friends and sponsors that come in and still do our runs and everything like that. But Montrose, after we. We went up there for the summer in our motorhome and lived in Silverton. We started a Jeep rental store up there. And then so Barb and I, we would actually cruise into Montrose because that's like the big city. Close to. To Montrose. You have Durango or Montrose. We preferred Montrose. It's a little blue collar, a little redneck farm country. And obviously looking to me like that's what I like. So land is affordable, homes are affordable. People are so nice there. And it's the culture that draws us there. And we did okay up in Silverton this year. So we'll split some time between Silverton, Montrose, Moab, and then we're heading down to. I've got a big build that we're doing right now. It's called the morphidite. The morphidite, dude. It's the most. It's the most God awful build I've ever done in my entire life. It's literally Donnie at 1976 Bronco with. You're talking motor tranny, T case running gear frame with the CJ7 body sitting on top of it and everything. Yeah. See your eyes right there. Yeah. It's exactly what it sounds like. So. But it's for a guy we built another Jeep for. So Barbara and I dropped off the Jeep we built two years ago and he's like, well, hey, your trailer's empty. You just want to take this back and build? I was like, not really. No, I don't. He's like, just do it. So we did. No. No good deed goes unpunished, brother. And that's where I'm at right now. So as soon as we finish that, we're gonna head to Pahrump, Nevada. So it's just outside of Vegas. Because Barb and I lived in Vegas for five years. Love it. You know, people love Vegas or hate Vegas. It's not the strip that draws it. To us or draws us to it. It's just the culture, I guess. I guess we really like a lot of culture. Montauk, I was talking about Mexico going down there in the desert. We love the desert, so. But I don't. Barb can live in the desert heat year round. I can't. So we found Montrose. I'm like, this is really nice. Maybe seven months in Montrose, a little time in the desert. So she's happy, I'm happy and I. And we're going to try to make a living from there, so that's awesome. And some Montrose. Like only a couple hours from Moab, dude. Montrose is literally 2 hours and 45 minutes away. So it keeps us close to the grandkids about eight months out of the year, so. Which is really nice for us. So we're super excited about it. Yeah, that's awesome. And what about your, your, your team, your race? What's your, what's your race team name, by the way? You know, basically. Well, we're high or high desert racing for sure, but we have a lot of really great sponsors. Yeah, your shirt. Yeah, that's us. That's our logo. That's our whole thing. Hercules tires. They came on really big for us a couple of years ago and without them, our race dream, it wouldn't die. But man, our race dream, it's attainable and we can keep our team together for years to come. So signed a great contract with those guys. We have Armor Light, you know, Teraflex. They. Everybody's been so phenomenal for us, so we really appreciate the support and you know, for what everybody does for us, it's, it's great. How do you go back? I'm just curious, you know, because in podcasting we have to also try to drum up sponsorship. But how do you, how, how do you go about it on your end? When you reach out to us, do you cold call sponsors or. You know, sometimes there are cold calls. We're, we're, we're fostering a relationship right now with somebody that we don't really know. Luckily for us, we've been doing it for a long time and we've been semi successful, obviously with it, not with our social media. Social media media is terrible. If Barbara and I could get on board with that, I think it'd be easier for a sponsor wise. But we'll do some cold calls. But luckily when we started Outlaw back in the day, it kind of just progresses over into what we've done and what we're doing and people want to Be involved with us. Super lucky. And I say that a lot, but man, we've just put a lot of hard work into this. And Barbara and I literally seven days a week, at least 15 hours a day. Wow. So we get to enjoy a little fruits of our labor now with sponsors that do want to be involved and don't mind, like, hey, here's some product and run this and here's the check. But yeah, man, just like you do, dude, it's constant work and everybody's like, you're so lucky. And we are lucky, man. We work our fucking asses off every day, all day to continue to do this. Nothing's given to us, man. It's all been earned. It's drive. It's not luck, it's drive. It's drive. It's 100% drive. Yeah, because either you have or you don't. I find that where some people have great ideas and you don't execute those great ideas, they never happen. So it's that drive to make that happen. You said a mouthful right there, Donnie. The idea is easy. The execution is the hardest part. Yeah, everyone's got an idea. Like, I got a great idea for this. You're like, oh, let's, let's hear it. Really great idea. It's like, unless you can execute it, you know? Yeah, tell me 100%. Cure the world. Well. Well, Jim, I can't thank you enough for coming on and giving us a little chatter on. Switch a channel too. But I think they're calling for us. We better get back to channel one because they're always calling for me. They're always calling for me, Jim. Okay, dude, congratulations. That's awesome, man. Yeah, thanks, dude, I appreciate it. I mean, it's a lot of fun, but. But yeah, it's. It's great catching up with you and I look forward to watching you and Barb do some more racing and then hopefully come out and maybe go on a little jeep to ourselves. Cool. Cool. Awesome. Well, hey, thanks man. I appreciate Jim. Thanks, brother. Love you, man. Love you too, man. Later. Ya. Bye. Production for Donnie. Go for Donnie. Locations for Donnie. Go for Donnie. Go for Donnie. Hey, Donnie. What the hell are they doing?