Stuntman extraordinaire, Rich Minga, shares life lessons and opportunities on Episode 216

Rich Minga got his start in off-road racing, then turned it into a career in the movie business.  Stuntman to the stars, winners do daily what losers do occasionally. Rich is a winner. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.

9:57 – I thought I’d learn from the school of hard knocks. I was a better student of the universe than the school system 

12:43 – It’s not O-N-E, it’s W-O-N; it means WE won the race!             

17:24 – he got me across Diablo Dry Lake by Morse Code with a horn, it was crazy

25:10 – It was life-changing; I ran out of gas and had to walk out of Baja, it was horrific 

36:28 – The people, the culture, there’s something magical about the people of Baja; I think we’re always celebrated, never tolerated

48:05 – I’ve been k*lled a bunch and k*lled a few people as well. That’s what I do; I work as a stuntman in the movie business

52:53 – I was the stunt coordinator for a TV show with no stunts – it makes me a lifeguard at the car wash

1:02:26 – You got to be in the FBI – friends, brothers, or in-laws! It’s the way it works

Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.

Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.

Transcript

[00:00:03.680] 

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 competitive teams, racers, rock crawlers, business owners, employees, media, and private park owners, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle. 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 we live and love and call off-road.

[00:00:53.080] 

Whether you're crawling the red rocks of Moab or hauling your toys to the trail, Maxxis has the tires you can trust for performance and durability. Four wheels or two, Maxxis tires are the choice of champions because they know that whether for work or play, for fun or competition, Maxxis tires deliver. Choose Maxxis, Tread victoriously.

[00:01:20.450] 

Have you seen 4LOW magazine yet? 4low magazine is a high-quality, well-written, four-wheel drive-focused magazine for the enthusiast market. If you still love the idea of a printed magazine, something to save and read at any time? 4low is the magazine for you. 4low cannot be found in stores, but you can have it delivered to your home or place of business. Visit 4Lowmagazine.com to order your subscription today.

[00:01:46.780] - Big Rich Klein

On this episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I'll be interviewing Rich Minga. Rich got his start when his brother bought him a Volkswagen Bug. From racing, to prep, to building, to Hollywood as a car expert, and then a stuntman, and then back to Racing NORRA. Hello, Rich Minga. How are you doing?

[00:02:07.470] - Rich Minga

Hey, I'm just right, Rich. How are you?

[00:02:09.320] - Big Rich Klein

Good, good. It's great to have you on the podcast this week, and I just want to say that I've been a big fan of yours, but I don't know a lot of your past history and how you got to where you are. So let's find all that out.

[00:02:26.260] - Rich Minga

Wow. Well, thank you for having me, Rich. I'm honored to tell my story, I guess.

[00:02:34.740] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, here we go. First question, and it's a hard one, where were you born and raised?

[00:02:41.210] - Rich Minga

Wow. I'm a third-generation San Diego kid. My grandmother was born in 1897, and my mom in 1927, and my dad in '25, and we're all San Diegans. I'm a third-generation San Diego, La Mesa, San Carlos, right on the edge of El Cajon and the hot bed of it all.

[00:03:02.740] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. There you go. You grew up in that absolutely tropical area of San Diego.

[00:03:14.220] - Rich Minga

Yeah. I grew up with two older brothers. One is seven years older than me and one's 10 years older. Tommy is still alive. He was the one that introduced me to the sport in 1975. He took me to the damn 400, which became the Parker 400. Later. But the damn 400 was my first race. Him and Pete Alisi were the inspirations to me going off-road racing. They had me work on their stuff and taught me a few little things, and I got in the way and swept the floor.

[00:03:47.100] - Big Rich Klein

Everybody's got to start somewhere. Let's start even farther back. What was school like and what was family life like back in those days?

[00:03:59.390] - Rich Minga

Wow. I'm a pretty small man. I got a pretty small stature, but I was a teeny, teeny kid in junior high and high school. I played basketball and soccer, and I was fast and quick and loved it. I was into bass fishing and did really well at bass fishing. My best friend Ralph and I, we joined the San Diego Bassmasters Club, and I just had all this energy, and I would just go fishing all the time and learned how to bass fish with some of the top guys in the in this city. Man, a little bit of sports and a little bit of bass fishing and hanging out with my grandfather and my dad teaching me how to do woodworking. My grandfather teaching me how to build things out of metal and use a lathe and a mill. He was like this engineer guy, an imagineer, so to speak.

[00:04:52.660] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And your dad, what did he do for a living?

[00:04:57.370] - Rich Minga

My dad worked for the County Road Department. Okay. He was Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and got out of World War II and fought in the Philippines and has really unbelievable stories. Let's see. Gosh. He also taught Sunday school at church, and he was a great father. He always played basketball with me and inspired me. He was the Cub Scout leader of our Cub Scout group. Then I became a Boy Scout Scout, and I disappointed him because I never made it to to Eagle, but I made it to Life, which was a category of the Boy Scouts, which later on inspired me to make it through a really wild trip I had. So I was able to survive through a lot of things because of those trainings.

[00:05:51.660] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Scouting is, at least back in the day, I can't say what it is nowadays, but it was a great a great way to shape and mold you for the future of things that could happen. Getting yourself prepared, always being ready, the motto, all that stuff. It just felt you fell right in line with that. I was able to get an Eagle Scout level, and I know that it's helped me along the way, especially leadership skills, survival skills, and just being able to think processes through.

[00:06:33.040] - Rich Minga

I agree, Rich. I think it takes a boy and makes him a man, like the military does for a lot of people as well. We lack that in today's society, I think. We don't want to raise bedwetters, and we have a lot of them out there, and excuse makers and everything else. I'm a fan. I'm a fan of the old Boy Scouts and our older generation for sure.

[00:06:59.460] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, man, Man buns and safe places.

[00:07:02.050] - Rich Minga

Oh, yeah. That's it now. Yeah.

[00:07:05.340] - Big Rich Klein

Not saying everybody with a man bun needs a safe space, but everybody with a safe space typically has a man bun.

[00:07:12.630] - Rich Minga

Yeah, I'm still guilty. I still identify as a 40-year-old, but that's about it.

[00:07:18.140] - Big Rich Klein

At times, I'm more like a 15 or 16-year-old, at least mentally.

[00:07:22.460] - Rich Minga

Well, I can relate.

[00:07:23.590] - Big Rich Klein

The body doesn't think so. So when you were going school, what student were you? Were you a good student or were you one of those kids that looked out the window always wanting to be outside?

[00:07:39.830] - Rich Minga

Oh, I was with my pencil and daydreaming and planning on being somewhere else the minute I got out of school. I was always pretty ADD as diagnosed now. I was called hyper back then, and I still am. Although when faced with an opportunity to have my insurance paid for when I was 15, I started building a Baja bug with my grandfather and my dad that my brother helped me get because I was helping him on a car. Then he gave me a car when I was 14, and I started working on this car. Well, that inspired me to be a better student because my mom said, Well, you won't be able to get your license until you have a B average. Well, instantly, I went from Ds and Cs to a B.

[00:08:36.420] - Big Rich Klein

Right. You had motivation.

[00:08:37.530] - Rich Minga

And then she looked at me and says, Well, that's good, but you won't be able to pay your insurance unless you can come up with this money. And the insurance was, I don't know, $100 every six months back then, $150 every six months. I don't remember. And she said, But if you get a B plus, or in any A's, I'll pay for your insurance. Well, God dang hot diggity dog. I made it right up into the B plus category because it was just a challenge, right? I just didn't have any motive. And I did love the shop classes and the physical fitness side of it. I worked with my gym coach, and I ran track and field, and I just did the physical activities. And oh, my gosh, I just loved everything to do with the shop classes and everything else. I wasn't the best at math, but I was decent at science and other aspects of school. So it worked out pretty good with the motivation from my mom.

[00:09:46.410] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Yeah. And did you go on and get any college time?

[00:09:53.030] - Rich Minga

Well, I did. So I actually graduated high school in 1979. And By then, I was already working for Mark Stahl and met the Robertson brothers and all these famous people in my book. I even wrote in a 5, 1,600 at the Mexicali 250. But the college years, I started in 1980, and I went to college, and I got a call from Mexico City from some friends of mine down there that I knew from working with Mark Stahl. And they offered me a job. So I made it one semester and took off to Mexico City. And I thought, well, I'll learn from the school Hard Knocks. I think learning from... For me, for most people, it might not be this way, but for me, I was a better student of the universe than the school system. It just didn't work for me.

[00:10:55.710] - Big Rich Klein

Right, I understand. Especially if you were, as as you termed it, hyper ADD, that would have been... That's a challenge.

[00:11:07.550] - Rich Minga

Yeah, it is, especially for the other... It wasn't a challenge for me, but it's a challenge for everybody around me, I think.

[00:11:14.950] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:11:15.300] - Rich Minga

I can see that.

[00:11:17.340] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah.

[00:11:18.860] - Rich Minga

You know how that works.

[00:11:20.280] - Big Rich Klein

Because you didn't know any different.

[00:11:21.400] - Rich Minga

Yeah.

[00:11:23.070] - Big Rich Klein

So then your first car or your first experience going off road? Maybe not racing, but just being off road. Do you remember that? How old were you? Was it a family trip or something?

[00:11:38.700] - Rich Minga

Yeah, I was like 15. I got that Baha'Bug from my brother and my grandfather and my dad bought me a book called How to Build a VW for the Complete Idiot or something about- I had that book. You know what I'm talking about? Oh, yeah. Okay. It honestly said that, and it said, Really Large Print for the Complete Idiot. It was a VW book. I read that book, and I learned to get that car together. With the help of my dad and my grandfather and my dad's friends and stuff, and odd jobs, mowing the lawns and doing all that, I had a car to drive by the time I was 14 or 15. Well, my parents had the luxury of having a motorhome, and we would take off on the weekends and go out to Brego Springs. I took that Baha bug out and drove it around until I went off the edge of the road and tried to steer it and hit a burn and bent the tie rod, and I thought I broke my car in half. All I did was bend a tie rod. My grandfather fixed it and pounded it back, towed me back.

[00:12:43.740] - Rich Minga

I had my tail between my legs. That just was the beginning of an addiction I had for off-roading. That was amazing. That Baha bug, I started shocking it in high school, just saving all my money and just working on the car and learning to weld and fabricate. I met all these great neighbors and friends, Gary Cogbill, whose nephew was John Marking. We became friends in high school, and that was back right before he was diagnosed with his first battle with cancer and all that stuff. Anyways, we go way back to our teens, and we inspired each other The Mcmillons had some people that worked for them called the Sheilies and the Chalfas, and they were really good friends of mine. The Mcmillons, I met through Mark Stahl, and just all these people inspired me. It isn't about when you win a race, it's not when I won a race. It's not O-N-E, it's W-O-N. It means all you guys. It means us. It means we won the race. It doesn't mean I won the race. Or when we finish a race, we finish the race because it takes a team. It takes such a huge impact of friends, family, motivation, encouragement.

[00:14:13.560] - Rich Minga

It's just an exciting thing. It's just this cool, cool, Western thing. It's like riding a horse. I'm not a cowboy, but man, do I love off-road racing? It's my horse.

[00:14:27.250] - Big Rich Klein

Let's go to that first time that you put a helmet on and you saw a green flag.

[00:14:35.590] - Rich Minga

Oh, my. Yeah. Wow. Well, so in 1980, I had been working for Mark Stahl and been around all these awesome people and learning from other people because I started down in El Cajon, started sweeping floors and cleaning up nut and bolt bends and organizing a called Fun Buggies, and they were prepping all these off-road cars. I found them in Hot VW's magazine, by the way, when I was a kid. I took the bus down to El Cajon and got a job with this guy. Then my brother got me a job with Mark Stahl, and that really blossomed my career. He gave me so much confidence and taught me so much. I worked with one of his best friends. At night, I would go over to his house. His name was Tom Ferguson. It's all his fault. It's all his fault. I raced with Tom Ferguson in the 1980 Baja 1000. We worked for a year. My last year of high school, most people were partying and getting ready for prom, and I was getting ready for the ball at 1,000. And we ended up getting the car finished, testing it a little bit, and racing it at the ball at 1,000.

[00:15:56.910] - Rich Minga

So back in the day, there was Class I, 1, 1,600, and Class II, 1,600. There was basically 50 cars in each class, so they separated the classes, just like Class I and Class II back in the day. Class I was single-seater, Class II was two-seater. That's it. It was simple. It was fun. It was a lot of competition, and it was more blue collar people, more grassroots. Now, it's a very, very wealthy money It was a money-driven sport, but it wasn't that way back in the earlier days. Your average plumber, contractor, drywaller, tire and wheel shop, your average small business guy could afford a car and go racing with his family. But nowadays, it's not quite that way. But anyways, I took the 1980 Model 1,000 to the finish line, and we ended up, I don't know, 15th or 13th or something. We got 20. It was a 23-hour race. A guy named Jeff McPherson, who ended up being an Indy car guy and a really amazing driver in Class I. And he was sponsored by his father, Joe McPherson, who became the big factory Chevy team. Well, his pit crew got me through with my Boy Scout stuff.

[00:17:24.410] - Rich Minga

I was going through Diablo, Dry Lake on my first loop. It was two loops of Diablo, Dry Lake at San Felipe in this upper northern ball, 1,000 course. I was lost. I couldn't figure out which way to go. And there was no wind, and the dust was 8, 10 feet tall. I know that because I stood on top of the car in the middle of Diablo Dry Lake, trying to listen for a noise to know which direction to go. I got back in the car and I honk the horn three times. And then I heard somebody else honk the horn three times. So I honk the horn twice. Then they honk the horn twice. So then I started the car and I drove towards it, got out and did the same thing again. And by the noise of the horn, I got a Diablo, Dry Lake, and it was a big, big guy. And I swear I'll never forget this story because he got me across Diablo, Dry Lake by Morris Code with a horn. Nice. Yeah. It was crazy. Anyways, it was the McPherson Chevrolet guys. Then I became a little bit associated with some of these other legendary off-road guys.

[00:18:40.820] - Rich Minga

The story begins.

[00:18:44.180] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty good seeing the finish for your first 1,000. There's not a lot of people that can actually say that.

[00:18:52.560] - Rich Minga

Yeah, we did. It was amazing. I drove the middle section, and Tom started and finished the race, and he was the owner of the car.

[00:19:01.480] - Big Rich Klein

Very good. After that, you were hooked.

[00:19:06.070] - Rich Minga

Oh, yeah. That was the first time I traded my welding helmet for a racing helmet. Then it just started from then on because that's what I did. If I worked on your car, then I need an opportunity to drive it. If you wanted a deal, if you wanted a deal. If you didn't, you pay the money and I'll eventually buy more tools and go racing. That was the addiction.

[00:19:32.510] - Big Rich Klein

And your first race that you had your own car?

[00:19:38.710] - Rich Minga

Oh, well, that would have been many years later. I was inspired by all these trips to Mexico City and this big thing I had going on. My friends in Mexico City that I met had me go represent them to score and ask for our own class because we built about 25 Chenith 1,000 copies. This was a car in the '80s. We invited Walker Evans and Mickey Thompson and Clark West and a few top guys back in the day to drive these cars. I think they went down to Mexico City and did a short course race. And then we ended up bringing all of them up to Encinada and raced the Baja 1000. So that was a very labor-intensive year of building the first I-ROX. So it was the first absolute competition behind the wheel, not the pocketbook. These cars were all absolutely identical. Same shots, same valves, same motor, same transmissions, same everything built by the same person. It was the first time that had ever been done before in off-road racing.

[00:20:57.570] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Talk more about that program and what your involvement was and how that affected you.

[00:21:10.030] - Rich Minga

Well, I was just a long-haired, snot-nosed kid. I was maybe 20, 21 at the time, 1981, maybe 20. I had been going down to Mexico City working on these cars and prepping them. I saw, sometimes God shows you the problem or the answer before the problem starts. I I would look at the steering shaft and went, Uh-oh, we got issues here. This isn't robust enough for this type of racing. The firewalls, I don't think this is going to pass tech. So let's get some pictures and let's talk about tech, and let's send one of these cars up to the States, and let's see if we can find out what we need to do. So we just started plugging away at meeting the rule requirements and being safe and also getting the cars prepped because one thing I learned early in my career and early with all these wonderful people that taught me all this stuff is that prep is everything. It's all about preparation and planning. So we did that, and we brought a bunch of cars up here, and we raced them, I think in the '81 or '82, 1,000. And Mickey Thompson, who who I became quite good friends with, he ended up...

[00:22:34.350] - Rich Minga

I think he was in the top 10 or 15 overall at Camelou. Then the car expired. So the shock started going and the transmission started going. We never had a good enough transmission. That's what ended up failing in all the cars was the transmissions.

[00:22:57.250] - Big Rich Klein

Using more of a stock with your Volkswagen power plant and Volkswagen transitions?

[00:23:04.390] - Rich Minga

Yeah, they were 1835s and Volkswagen swing axles, but they weren't robust enough for the speeds we were going and whatnot. I know it doesn't sound like much, but in 1981, with that swing axle and the way this car was built, we had a pretty competitive little unit. It was pretty quick for what it was. It was right at the transition where IRS cars just started in '78, '79, so they weren't real dialed in yet. Okay.

[00:23:40.270] - Big Rich Klein

You have a life-changing story from back then?

[00:23:47.330] - Rich Minga

Yeah. We did. We brought all those cars up from Mexico City, and we raced 18 of them in the bottom 1,000. We had two spare cars, so we brought 20 cars up We got finished with the race, and it was Sunday, and everybody's getting ready to go home, and a car is missing. They start talking to everybody about their cars and which car it is. All of a sudden, they find out whose car was missing and what happened. The guy had broken down in a silt bed in Punta Blanca, which is down below Rancho Sante Ines, out on the western side. It was a very, very remote piece of Baja. He broke down in the silt beds and caught a ride out and left the car. Well, I volunteered to go get the car. I had the background and the knowledge and whatever I thought I did. And my brother Tommy, who I helped get a ride in that race, too, he volunteered me to take his Bronco. So I took his... First, we had to locate car. So we came back to San Diego. We rented a private plane. We flew down and found the car.

[00:25:10.580] - Rich Minga

We found where the car was. So we were told where the car was. And I went down to get the car. And the silt beds were, I don't know, I'm going to exaggerate, they were five miles wide. It was incredible. There was more lines and more trails and more silt beds And I zigzagged up and down, up in canyons, walked up to top of hills, looked down the way, could not find the car, and eventually ran out of gas trying to find the car where my mind was, I have to find the car to drain the gas out to get back out because I had zigzagged all up and down these silt beds for 10 miles trying to find the car. And now I'm out of gas and I'm not going to make it out. So eventually, I ran out of gas I never found the car, and I had to walk out of Baja. And that was what happened. And it took me three days of walking. I think it was two and a half or three days of walking, and it was right at 50 miles of walking, and it was horrific. I tried to sleep at night, and the cattle that don't even exist, all of a sudden they're trampling along in the bushes and sounds like they're going to run you over and kill you.

[00:26:35.810] - Rich Minga

The coyotes. And then in the daytime and in the morning, we had buzzards following me, and That's a a nightmare when buzzards are following you. Yeah, because they're waiting. It makes it really tough on the psyche. Really, really tough. All the trying to Trying to shed weight, take things. It was rough. It was rough. So I made it out, got to the highway, trying to catch a ride where nobody would stop because I probably looked like death warmed over. And then somebody, a trucker, stopped and got me to the hotel, and they had a ship to shore radio, and I made a call, and it was pretty emotional, very, very emotional. And I made it Then we had a rescue mission with a bunch of people and I, and we went back, found the car, and found the Bronco, and they weren't more than five miles apart. There's a lot of things I'm leaving out, but that's all I got for you right now.

[00:27:52.570] - Big Rich Klein

Understood. But it was life-changing.

[00:27:56.720] - Rich Minga

Very much so.

[00:27:58.120] - Big Rich Klein

But you were able to keep your love of Baha?

[00:28:02.220] - Rich Minga

Absolutely.

[00:28:06.100] - Big Rich Klein

Is Baha a love-hate relationship or just a love relationship?

[00:28:10.660] - Rich Minga

Well, that part of Baha, That part of Baja definitely has some scars and memories, but it's nothing but love. The worst time I ever had in Baja was really good, and that was one of them. It was life-changing for sure, Rich, but it was what needed to happen, I think, to build the relationship I have with that culture, the people, but most of all the country. I love Baja, and it's treated me so well, and I can't get enough of it. I go down all the time. I started riding motorcycles when I was 40 years old, and now I do these trips with Tim Morton, which is the best motorcycle tour company around by far and the oldest one. I just have had so much wonderful experience to share. I could talk for hours about that place.

[00:29:17.590] - Big Rich Klein

Your racing career from the IROC days, how long did that program last?

[00:29:28.390] - Rich Minga

That only lasted one year. Okay. It only lasted one year. Then I went down to Mexico City and raced a couple of times in the mountains down there. Then in 1983 or so, I ended up buying a house from my mentor, Johnny Johnson, and started Baja Concepts Race Prep, and started running teams and doing stuff. And oh, man, and learning from all these pros. Jim Jolson, who started GEMCO, Mike's dad, Ed Frisk, Mark Stahl, Johnny Johnson, nick Nicholson. There's a lot of really amazing people that inspired me. I I can do any of it. People just... I try to learn from their mistakes, not mine. You ask the right questions, you can be a sponge and you hang out with Judy Smith at the finish line, and then you can learn a a lot at the finish line.

[00:30:32.450] - Big Rich Klein

Right. She asked a lot of good questions.

[00:30:37.290] - Rich Minga

She did. There's so much... There's not a lot. There's so many people that I'm going to teach you and tell you what to do and help you. I don't remember who it was, but one of these iconic guys in my life told me, You got to You can't afford to build one of these cars. You'll never be able to afford one of these cars. You'll never be able to do this. And I think they told it to me to encourage me, but at the same time, somebody else had mentioned to me that I should probably learn from their mistakes, not mine. And that made me go to the finish line and just listen and look at all the parts on the car. And when somebody's trying to sell you something, you got to look at the stuff that made it to the finish line consistently over a period of years. That's what you run. You don't try to reinvent the wheel. You could be an innovator, but It costs a lot of money to be on the forefront of technology. And I was always on the backside, just doing what everybody else did. I was just a puppet doing what everybody else did.

[00:31:57.310] - Rich Minga

I never was the guy that was the I was never the guy that had the best ideas. I just took a lot of ideas that were at the finish line and copied them and used those to my benefit because they were the parts that made it to the finish line constantly and consistently.

[00:32:18.090] - Big Rich Klein

That's not a bad way to do it.

[00:32:21.730] - Rich Minga

I couldn't afford to be the R&D guy. Being the R&D guy is pretty expensive.

[00:32:29.340] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I'd say so. I'd say so.

[00:32:32.890] - Rich Minga

I was just that guy that was trying to make my house payment to Johnny, who was like, That guy taught me so much you can't imagine. What was it like working or having him as a mentor? Well, he was just 10 o'clock in the morning, he'd pop a beer and start talking. His stories were so... There was so much behind his stories. His story was, in a way, it was me, me, me, but it wasn't. It was education. He was this amazing teacher, and he taught you the logic and the common sense. I think that's what I learned most from Johnny was just logic and common sense, and he was so clever. He was so clever. I think he learned a lot of that from Len with and some other people that I've become friends with over the later years in my life, but they weren't real impactful early. But Johnny was. And Doug Fortin, oh, my gosh. Doug Fortin senior, that guy was such a big impact to me. Oh, my gosh. So many of these guys, Corky McMillon, just so many people. I love Corky's philosophies, and I love his prep and his ability to plan and prep.

[00:34:07.210] - Rich Minga

It was amazing. The way he raised those kids and the way he ran his business, man. Camped out in the desert. We just camped. And then they invited me to... Those guys invited me to pit with them. And when I started to do good and started to build my own cars and raced for myself, they taught me and they invited me to... I couldn't have done any of this without their help. I mean, they pitted for me. It was a big deal. It was a huge, huge savings for me and education for my team.

[00:34:50.800] - Big Rich Klein

They saw something in you, otherwise they wouldn't have done that. Well, I guess. There's a lot of goodwill and There's a lot of graciousness out there. But if you're just a Yahoo, people are going to ignore you. So you're not a Yahoo. You know what I mean?

[00:35:09.320] - Rich Minga

Well, thank you. Yeah, I was pretty honored by some of those guys, man. They've helped me so much.

[00:35:18.250] - Big Rich Klein

So you were talking about Corky's planning and all. Found out that Mark MacMillan still has all his race notes, pre-race and after-race notes from every race that he's ever done.

[00:35:34.140] - Rich Minga

Wow, that's impressive.

[00:35:37.230] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. I can't even keep the notes that I had last week for my last interview. I know they're here somewhere.

[00:35:47.400] - Rich Minga

Well, I can't remember all the stories you're asking me about. I'm foggy on so much of this because I haven't opened this door in so many years to talk about the '70s and '80s. I just, to be honest, I haven't. I haven't visited this chapter of my life in a long, long time.

[00:36:08.730] - Big Rich Klein

But it's fun to do.

[00:36:10.360] - Rich Minga

Oh, thank you. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:13.650] - Big Rich Klein

So what is What is it that you think that that drove you to continue to do this for, what is it now, 44 years?

[00:36:28.930] - Rich Minga

Yeah. Well, I always say that we have the best neighbors in the world. We have Canada on one side, and we have Mexico on the other. There's not very many countries that have that. I'm going to tell you right now, when you're in Mexico, you're celebrated, never tolerated, unless you're an asshole. Man, that place is the best. The people, the culture, there's something magical about the people of Baja and the Mexican people. I think that we're always celebrated, never tolerated. That is a huge thing for me to go somewhere where you're always welcome, and they always will give you the shirt off their back. That started in the '70s, and it's still there today. They will do anything for you. They're and loving unless you prove them wrong and try to act wrong. They will always look favorable first. Everybody else, you have to prove to them something first. True. I think the mechanical aspect of the vehicles, the driving, expecting the unexpected, really trying to get these things to the finish line. Now, remember, I raced when there was no speed limits. We left town and we were sliding next to people and people running out of the way.

[00:38:15.010] - Rich Minga

It was pretty Western. When we raced in the '70s and '80s, there was definitely a few teams were just starting to use radios, and there was no GPS, and there was not much pre-running. Only a few people pre-ran back then, and that was the secret. But the course notes were much different. It was all mental. I think that's what inspired me to do good. I still try to look out the windshield, not the rear view mirror. I think that that little screen, that little screen, that little GPS screen is something to look at, to glance at for confirmation. But the windshield will tell you everything you need to learn. You got to ride like a motorcycle and drive out that windshield. You just don't want to overdrive the car. It will bite.

[00:39:18.470] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, and it's amazing. I see so many in-car videos. Well, for instance, when Pistol Pete was still alive, my son navigated for him, and I can remember seeing an in-car camera of them, and it was down Zou Road. I'm not sure where it, Zou Road, but it was really dusty. There was lots of people, and they were doing... I mean, I think that in the video, it shows it like 90 some miles an hour, and they're not seeing anything. They're driving the pink line. And that's just... To me, that was insane. But it's something that happens all the time.

[00:40:06.100] - Rich Minga

I don't like it. I don't like it. So I learned a long time ago, inside every dust cloud is something hard and crunchy, and you got to be so careful. You have to expect the unexpected. Every straight away has a 90-degree turn. Every beautiful, winding, smooth road has this big cross-ditch, and The motorcycle riders were always the fastest best guys. They were just the amazing, amazing talent right out of the gate. They'd get behind the steering wheel of a car, they'd never done it before, and all of a sudden, I'm like, Hey, how did you get in front of me? What's going on? How's this? How's that? I've been doing this for about four or five years. They're like, They beat you by five minutes, or they're five minutes behind you, and you're just going, How did you do this? Seriously, you've never done this before? It was always a motorcycle guy. Always the most impressive people of the week were always some motorcycle guy. Eventually, I had health insurance. I'd gotten in the movie business. I'd made a career. I had my family together, and I had insurance. I'm like, Okay, it's time to ride a bike.

[00:41:24.940] - Rich Minga

Time to learn. At 40, I got a bike, and I started racing all kinds of motorcycle races and having fun doing these Grand Prix and going down to Baja. Now I just can't get off a bike. I love it. I went backwards because they say the luxury of age is the roll cage. Well, I went the other way.

[00:41:46.490] - Big Rich Klein

With age comes cage. That was my belief.

[00:41:50.260] - Rich Minga

I went the other way.

[00:41:55.000] - Big Rich Klein

That's an interesting route to take.

[00:42:00.160] - Rich Minga

It was, but I have a lot of self-preservation. I really don't hit the ground very often. I have a lot of fun, and it's calculative, and it keeps me in good shape, and I really enjoy it. I'm not very fast, but I'm really consistent.

[00:42:21.760] - Big Rich Klein

Let's talk about the Porsche that you built. Let's talk more about that.

[00:42:27.420] - Rich Minga

Okay, well, in '86, I I barely missed the overall points championship. And in '87, I won the points championship. And my whole goal was to follow the concept of building a Porsche, that Ed Frisk's dad, Leo Frisk, was building one in the backyard of a house I was at in 1982. So I always looked at that Porsche and got inspired. It never got finished, but in '87, when I won the points overall points Championship for SCOR-HDRA, I was so blessed with sponsorship and help that I built a Porsche with the help of my sponsors and got out of my arena because the car was so expensive. But I built that car in '88, raced it a little bit in '88 and '89, and I raced it in '90. And then in '91, I took the year off, and in '92, I came back with full sponsorship from BF Goodrich. Then I retired the car. That car put me on the map.

[00:43:37.900] - Big Rich Klein

What was it about that car that was special?

[00:43:43.070] - Rich Minga

I had the endorsement from Porsche North America with Al Holbert. As I started to build the car in the beginning of '88, he was killed in a very tragic accident. He was Director of Motorsports for Porsche North America. My dreams and aspirations fell down with that. But there was still some other sponsorship that came along with the car, and I was able to get a good endorsement. The car was so unique. It was a Class 5 unlimited car, but it was super unique, and it garnered a lot of exposure. That's what it took to get sponsors. They don't really care if you got pistons in your engine. They care what you're going to do to sell their product.

[00:44:31.440] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Yeah. It's all about return. Somebody that just gives you some money and then slaps a sticker on your car is really... You're thankful for that, but it's not really There's got to be something behind it.

[00:44:48.540] - Rich Minga

Yeah, you're right, Rich. Life is the same way, right? When we do business together, it's win-win. When you do sponsorship together, it's win-win. You can't just take their money and take something and not return more than you promised. It's got to be a good investment. Win-win.

[00:45:06.140] - Big Rich Klein

The Porsche, obviously, six-cylinder air-cooled. Was it a 911?

[00:45:16.830] - Rich Minga

Yes, it was. It was a 911 car. Then they outlawed my engine after a few years. They outlawed my motor, and I put a Type 4 in it, and the car actually got faster. Because my Type 4 was a race motor, and it was quicker. It was quicker between ditches because we raced between ditches, right? It's just... At the time, you're racing between big whops and ditches and corners and things. And the Porsche had a lot of grunt, and it was like a diesel. It was a very powerful motor. But with a short wheelbase Class 5 car, I had to choke up on some of the big holes, and then I couldn't get back on the throttle enough. But the Type 4 was snappier and quicker and quicker to respond. And Bob Gordon and I worked together, and he told me this was going to be the case. And then I ended up with his motor after helping him through Baha Brokers one of my companies, selling his car to a guy in Spain. Anyways, I ended up buying his motor, his old Type 4 motor out of his class, 210 S. All right. That's a funny story, but I remember that part.

[00:46:29.740] - Rich Minga

Well, you are really opening up some windows and some closets here that haven't been opened in a long time.

[00:46:36.440] - Big Rich Klein

Well, what happened after the Porsche then?

[00:46:41.360] - Rich Minga

Gosh, in 1992, I sold the Porsche. It was the last year of my Porsche. And in '93, I think it was, or maybe '92, I don't remember the exact years, I was asked. It was right before I started I was looking for a Vildocia. I remember that. I ended up getting a call from a production company and doing some car commercials and doing a few things with a company I started years ago called Baha Brokers, which I would test cars for people and then buy cars for these guys out of Mexico City with those relationships. And then it segued into representing cars for sale here. So then I tried to represent them and represent the buyer, represent the seller and the buyer. Well, that got ugly. So then I decided, I'm just going to represent the seller. And I started a company called Baha Brokers. And over a period of 10 or 15 years, I ended up selling over 500 cars, and I make like 5 or 10 % or whatever they want to pay me. And I made a commission selling cars and testing cars for people. Well, The movie business called me up and needed some cars and promised me the world.

[00:48:05.820] - Rich Minga

Well, that happened two or three times. Then they needed a couple of cars, and Sal Fish called me up and I think it was either De Colgate or one of those PR guys that worked for Sal. They called me up and they needed vehicles for Baywatch episode. I went to work getting a bunch of cars together and finding a bunch of vehicles for an episode of Baywatch. I became the stunt driver for Baywatch because there was a guy named Steve Hollerday and another guy named Gary Himes that raced Class I cars back in the day. They were big-time Hollywood guys. They had told me that they needed these cars as well. Anyways, it was a long story, but I ended up getting involved, and I got into the film business through Stunt Unlimited, Ronny Rondell, and these two guys, and they got me in the business. Then I started working on Steven Segal movies, and I ended up on Jurassic Park, and this and that. I started doing driving scenes, and then I started getting caught on fire and thrown out of buildings and did a few fight scenes and got shot a lot of times.

[00:49:23.000] - Rich Minga

I've been killed a bunch and killed a few people as well. That's what I do. I work as a stuntman in the movie business, and I've been doing that now for over 30 years.

[00:49:34.810] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. Okay.

[00:49:36.850] - Rich Minga

Yeah. But it all became something from off-road racing.

[00:49:41.000] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And selling cars.

[00:49:43.810] - Rich Minga

Interesting. Yeah. That's how I started with cars. Then they had me grab a weapon and run along top of a train and fallen off of things. Oh, my gosh. It was crazy. I learned from the best. You know I learned off-road racing by getting involved with the right people? Because our daily routine dictates our future. If you hang around with the right people, your future is destined to be pretty good. Well, I got involved with the right people in the movie business, and they taught me the right way to do things and the right way to act and the right way to make my career continue to blossom. It was a real blessing with health insurance and retirement, just everything. It's just been wonderful.

[00:50:32.100] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I was going to ask you, what was the health insurance like being a stuntman?

[00:50:36.950] - Rich Minga

It's wonderful. Yeah, it's absolutely wonderful. I had a pretty big setback a couple of years ago, and I don't think it cost Not really much at all. A couple of thousand dollars, and I was in the hospital for 30 days.

[00:50:50.930] - Big Rich Klein

Wow.

[00:50:52.440] - Rich Minga

Yeah, it was a toughy. But health insurance, life insurance, it provided everything for my family. I've had a wonderful life because of the associations I made from off-road racing in the movie business. I'm still there, and I just went and worked a couple of weeks ago on a huge, huge scene with Black Hawk helicopters and flipping cars over and doing all kinds of cool stuff on an episode of Seal Team, which was the last episode they have. We shot the very last episode after, I think, six or seven seasons. That was a good one. My career has been pretty good with the Discovery channel. I ran about five of their TV shows. One of the most famous automotive shows is a reality show called Street Outlaws. I've been the supervising stunt coordinator or the voice of reason. They don't always behave well, and I'm the one that's about the smallest one on set, but I'm the one that has to point my finger and say, No, this is what we have to do. This is the only way we can do it. This is the only way we can be safe at it. These street racers have a lot of respect for me and I them.

[00:52:30.910] - Rich Minga

They're amazing. I ran that show for 13 years.

[00:52:35.130] - Big Rich Klein

Wow.

[00:52:36.240] - Rich Minga

That show was a big show for me.

[00:52:40.180] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty cool. I've had a couple of friends that were guys that had raced in our Dirt Riott series, that race that have appeared on street outlaws.

[00:52:53.820] - Rich Minga

Oh, okay. I'm behind the scenes, but I've been on camera a few times when I've had to pull people out of cars and bring helicopters in and do extractions when there's been bad accidents. But we've persevered through a very challenging show with a lot of risk. I'm been the stunt coordinator of a TV show with no stunts, so that makes me a lifeguard at the car wash. A lifeguard at the car wash. I'm embarrassed about it, but I'm also very proud of it.

[00:53:35.300] - Big Rich Klein

That's a great line, lifeguard at the car wash.

[00:53:38.810] - Rich Minga

Well, what else can you say? There's no stunts. I mean...

[00:53:43.840] - Big Rich Klein

No, they're just a bunch of guys that are hard chargers, guys and girls that just put it on the line and want to have a good time. And if they put a camera in front of them, they They get even crazier.

[00:54:02.310] - Rich Minga

I'm going to tell you a funny story. A few years ago, about four years ago or so, we went through that COVID thing, and my phone rings, and it's P. J. Jones. Carnelly and P. J. Were talking, and somehow they knew my name. I'm like, What? They called me up and they go, Hey, would you like to race Nora? I said, I said, Oh, it's a dream. But I went through a divorce. I've had a really tough time, and just there's no way to do it. I've been trying to. They're like, Well, we got an option for you. Would you race with our friend Dawn? He's a little older, and he wants to race Nora, and we want you to race with him. We think you're the best fit. And I'm like, Wow. Okay. Well, what are you doing later on today? And I go, Nothing. He goes, Okay, well, go meet Dawn. Let's see if you guys can get along. I drive down to Vista. I live in Fallbrook. I drive down to Vista. I drive into this industrial park, and it says Dawn Perdome Racing. Oh, my God.

[00:55:10.110] - Big Rich Klein

I had his matchbox cars.

[00:55:13.410] - Rich Minga

I was an eight-year-old kid. He's driving his cars around. So I walk inside and I meet Don Perdone, and that guy is about as cool as can be. He could settle a room down. He walks in the room, and his presence, he's a kind, educated, just an articulate man, and he's just got a presence. He's just the coolest guy in the room. No matter where you go, I think he's the coolest guy in the room, and he stands around, and there's just something about him. He's just presidential, right? So I talked to him. We got along great, and I got hired, and I made a little money, and I raced the Nora 1,000 with him, and we won. He was 80 years old. Pj put together a team, Prep, a car. I basically showed up with my helmet, drove the car, rode with him, helped him co-drive, and we raced the Nora 1,000 together, and we won the pro-turbo class. It was epic. I'm hooked, and I probably needed to go to the Betty Ford Center right away because it's cost me a lot of money since then. But I didn't, so I'm still addicted, and I'm a Nora fan.

[00:56:41.260] - Rich Minga

I'm a super, super Nora fan, and I've been doing it ever since. Two weeks ago, I won my... Not my proudest win, for sure, because this one was more like a... I won by default. But basically, I won my fourth 1,000 in a row, fourth Nora 1,000 in a row. Nice. At the thousand, yeah. Just a couple of weeks ago. But anyways, it all started with Dawn Prodome, and Then I drove the Rod Hall Dodge Ram for a friend of Kurt Leducs right after my mishap. Then we won that one. Then last year, I won in a single seat Volkswagen mid-engine swing axel from 1972, probably one of the oldest cars in the race. And the Shox were also 42 years old as well. And this year, I built a little faster car. And this year, we had a lot of problems, but the car was not the problem. We just had some engine problems for a few days. So we're getting that resolved now so we can have It's a good showing at the next one.

[00:58:01.480] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. Well, Don Perdome, him and the snake and the mongoose, back from the funny car days. Tom McEwen and Don Perdome. Yeah. That's amazing. I would have been star struck. I wouldn't have been able to talk.

[00:58:23.260] - Rich Minga

I know. And guess what? It was the year after COVID, so we just, Don and I just stayed in his motorhome. We hired a driver to drive us everywhere. And every night we'd get out of the car and we would just go to the motorhome, him and I, and just him and I in the motorhome. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Wow. It was amazing. It was just like It was just an unbelievable opportunity. Then it's like, I'm thinking, why does drag racing follow me? I don't know anything about drag racing.

[00:58:55.010] - Big Rich Klein

But you were right there with Don Perdone. I mean, the man, the myth, the legend.

[00:59:01.630] - Rich Minga

He hates street outlaws. He thinks it's the worst thing. It was super funny to talk about what I understood street outlaws to be and what he understood street outlaws to be. There's dialog there that was a conflict.

[00:59:20.050] - Big Rich Klein

To be a fly on the wall during those conversations would have been awesome.

[00:59:25.490] - Rich Minga

You want to know something? What was the coolest thing in the world? Absolutely. Also, we were in Bay of LA, one morning, and we're in the motorhome, and it's about seven o'clock in the morning. I think our start time was at nine o'clock or something. And I'm sitting in the motorhome, and we're cooking some food, sitting at the sitting at the edge at the table and the door knocks. And we think it's PJ or somebody coming in to say something. And it's Walker Evans. Hey, what are you doing? I guess Walker Evans and him are really good friends. Walker came in and they started shooting the shit. It was so great. I can tell you, I have just had such a blessed career racing with Patrick Dempsey and Rod Millen, riding with Rod Millen on a pre-run, spending a couple of days with him. All these amazing opportunities, I learned from every one of them. These are great people, and they treat you good, and you can learn so much from these guys. It was just iconic. And I pinch myself and think, How did this happen?

[01:00:42.080] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, just the couple of names that you've listed that you've had an opportunity to race with or ride with. Pre-running is amazing. Oh, my gosh. I would imagine the list goes on and on and on.

[01:01:00.580] - Rich Minga

It does. It does. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

[01:01:06.690] - Big Rich Klein

I got to ask, what was it like being on Baywatch?

[01:01:10.920] - Rich Minga

Oh, that was something else. I worked so hard that day. I changed wardrobe four or five times. I doubled three or four different people. I learned a lot about the business, didn't know anything about it, and was I was thrown to the wolves right away. I was able to do what I did only because it was off-road race cars right in the middle of it. I had a knowledge, and I just asked what they needed, and I did what they needed, and nothing more. Somebody grabbed me to the side and said, Listen, you're not working, you're not racing, you're not sliding the car the way it needs to be slibbed. All you need to do is talk to the director or the first AD and see what he wants. All you do is listen to one person, and he's going to tell you how you need to come in and stop. Whether it looks corny, whether it makes any sense, it does not matter. It only matters what the camera sees. So get rid of everything in your head and only do what the camera asks you to do. Okay. That makes sense. Somebody is going to tell you what they want to see.

[01:02:26.290] - Rich Minga

Here's what we want. Here's where your end mark is. Here's where your start mark is. And here's what we want to see. That's it. Because the camera is pointing a certain way, and that's it. So that's what I tried to do, and I learned a lot. And Steve Hollerday was there guiding me along. And we went on to work on Fast and the Furious movies and other stuff. It's just been a heck of a career, from episodic TVs to car commercials to movies. I I'm on the B team, but at least I'm on the team. You got to be in the FBI to really work in Hollywood. You got to be in the FBI. Friends, brothers, and in-laws. It's the way it works.

[01:03:19.170] - Big Rich Klein

Friends, brothers, and in-laws. You've got some great lines.

[01:03:23.570] - Rich Minga

But I've had some fun, and I'm very, very blessed. God is so good. I'm telling you, I've had the best parents and just the best people in my life helping me. You don't do this by yourself. You only do it with the help of good people.

[01:03:42.090] - Big Rich Klein

It all started with a Volkswagen Bug from your brother.

[01:03:48.500] - Rich Minga

Yeah, sure did. It all started with that. He was off-road racing, so I just wanted to be him. I wanted to hang out with him. I wanted to He called me Little Punk. Hey, Little Punk, and he still does. It's so fun because I just wanted to impress him and wanted to get his attention and wanted to be like him. He was racing and hanging out with all these guys. He knew all these guys long before I did. It was pretty impressive that we grew up in San Diego with an opportunity community like this to meet all these wonderful people.

[01:04:34.720] - Big Rich Klein

So what would you tell somebody, say, a young, older teenager or young 20s guy, walked up to you and said, You've had an amazing life. I'd love to live your type of lifestyle. What do I need to do?

[01:04:49.480] - Rich Minga

Learn mechanical and learn skills, right? Be a problem solver, right? Money is just the reward for the problem you solve. You got to be a businessman, but you got to be a problem solver. You got to find good people and take their problem, turn it into a solution. Find solutions Solutions. Be a problem solver. You got to hang out with good people and learn from their mistakes. Don't try to figure it all out. Just hang out with the right people that make good decisions learn from their mistakes and learn the way they do things. It's not that hard. It's not that hard. Yeah. Awesome. Learn to well, learn a few things, learn what you don't know. Just ask questions. Be a sponge. Rich, I think, Winners do daily what losers do occasionally. We got to hang out with good people. We got to make good choices, and we have to have a good attitude because attitude controls altitude.

[01:06:03.910] - Big Rich Klein

That's a great quote. That is one of the best I've heard.

[01:06:09.120] - Rich Minga

Now, it's not mine, but I use it all the time. I've heard it from one of my stuntman friends that is just an amazing man, and I've learned so much from him.

[01:06:19.490] - Big Rich Klein

How did you end up racing all these different countries?

[01:06:24.640] - Rich Minga

Just relationships that I built through Baha Brokers and helping people find cars, and people would call me about cars. I think the Porsche opened up a lot of windows and doors, and I was able to parlay that into an opportunity to race. I got invited to race down in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Mexico City, of course, a couple of times. Then I had just, like I said, this is an unbelievable business of opportunity when you meet great people. So When you hang around with good people, Vildoce, all these great people, all of a sudden things start opening up. You just take those opportunities and you make something out of them.

[01:07:12.780] - Big Rich Klein

That's Gus, Vildoce?

[01:07:15.510] - Rich Minga

Oh, yeah. Gustavo, when Tavo was just a kid, we got him a 12, 1,600, but we built Tavo a 5,600. He went from racing Class I cars with a Ferrari motor down to racing a 5,600 because I told them, We got to start from the beginning. You got to get the respect and start from the beginning and learn to drive. All the best drivers learn in one, two, 1,600, 5,600. The limited class cars teach you all the things that you don't want to do. More importantly, it teaches you the things you do want to do. You want to find traction, control your control, wheel speed, and and always get forward momentum, breaking points. Everything is learned with the limited cars.

[01:08:07.960] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it amazes me nowadays when you see somebody jump in to one of the unlimited classes, whether it's one or trophy trucks. It's just they have the bank account. Oh, yeah. It's not always pretty.

[01:08:30.030] - Rich Minga

No, it's not. And racing around the world with the opportunities I have, and I've done a little bit of it, not nearly as much as some of the others, but the things you learn when you go to these other countries is awesome because to race, let's say in New Zealand, you got to volunteer your time with one of the pitting organizations. And those organizations put on a race per year. So then you're basically like a promoter and you're a checkpoint guy, and you learn to run a checkpoint and timing and scoring and start line and finish line. And then you graduate into pitting, and then you get to pit for guys. Then you can submit a request that you can race a car. So after you've been a sponge, you've learned, you've been around the sport, you've met the people, then you get an opportunity to race. Well, wouldn't that be wonderful if you had some qualifications here? I've always thought this would be a magnificent way to build the sport by having a journeyman program where you can't just join. You got to learn the ropes a little bit. And volunteer your time because the pit organizations always suffer with enough people.

[01:09:56.450] - Big Rich Klein

True.

[01:09:57.530] - Rich Minga

So if you had to qualify by yourself by being involved and then get a letter of recommendation by those guys and then move on to the next step and the next step, that's how it is. And the same thing in the film business, the stunt business is the same way. In Europe, that's what they do. You can't just become a stuntman in Europe. You have to work your way up the ladder.

[01:10:18.980] - Big Rich Klein

I recommend that with our rock crawls, that before anybody actually comes out to rock crawl, they come out and judge one of the events or a couple of events Absolutely. Just so that they can see.

[01:10:31.850] - Rich Minga

Absolutely.

[01:10:32.490] - Big Rich Klein

Just see what they're getting into and understand what the rules are and how the game is played.

[01:10:38.480] - Rich Minga

Absolutely. Like you, your opinions aren't just your opinions. This is something real-world experience that you have, just like me. This is real-world experience I have from racing so many places and being involved in-depth with so many of these sanctioning bodies and so many of these people over many, many years and decades of my life. These relationships have blossomed into these conversations, and we talk about what could be if we change the rules a little bit, things could be fantastic.

[01:11:14.050] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it's hard to go backwards, though, when you've had an open-door policy because every race promoter wants car count. Car count helps drive spectators and spectator help drive the marketing partners or sponsors. So if you cut back and say, Okay, now we've got a school for you to go to first, or you have to qualify, it's really hard to go backwards with us.

[01:11:47.110] - Rich Minga

Well, that's true, but I'm not saying it's easy, Rich. That's for sure. It's not easy, but it's also what we tolerate, we permit. This is the problem, right? If we continue to go down the same path all the time without focusing on the long term plan and the future of better in the sport, then we'll never get there. So we have to, at some point, say, let's take the tough road and let's make these decisions.

[01:12:16.850] - Big Rich Klein

That's true.

[01:12:17.650] - Rich Minga

To make things the best they can be and the safest they can be. And then we all benefit from that. Even the promoter, everybody benefits. It's a win-win, back to win-win.

[01:12:28.220] - Big Rich Klein

So what After your truck store then and doing retail, how long did that last?

[01:12:35.990] - Rich Minga

I opened that store up in '95, and I closed it in 2008, I believe it was. During that time, I was also working with Todd Clement and Tommy Morris at Wideopen Baja, and I started guiding trips. I had had some experiences and some different situations down in Mexico and abroad and everywhere where, unfortunately, death is upon us. We are in a sport where things happen, and it gets rough. I lost my dad My racing partner, my best friend in 1999 and 2000, I was racing with the Foda family, and I lost my best friend and my racing partner to an accident up at Barstow, and it was horrific. We were leading overall points. It would have been in 1999, I think it was, or maybe 2000. It's just blurry right now. Those were tough times. I didn't really race again or do anything until 2005. I came back and started guiding trips with Todd and Tommy at Wideopen Baja. Then I raced with Patrick Dempsey from Grey's Anatomy and different things. And I just had so many amazing partners and amazing opportunities to drive for people that I just drove for other people and had a good time.

[01:14:12.490] - Rich Minga

And then I went to the Dakar Rally in 2007, I think it was. And it was the last year of Africa. And I went there as a support role and drove one of those big trucks in the support class, not the C4 racing class. But in Africa, man, things were Western. It was wild. It was the last year of Africa. The State Department called me right before I left and said, Don't go. If something happens, we are not responsible and we will not be coming to get you. We can't be responsible for your decisions, but we recommend you do not go. All these things were happening. It was the beginning of a very rough time because they were definitely... It It was wild. You can imagine the terrorists and the different things that were happening. And the car shortly thereafter left. It was the last year of Africa, the year I was there. It never went back. And also in 2007, I raced with a guy that I'd done Fast and Furious with and a few other movies and TV shows down in Miami. He asked me to race a car from Orlando to Beverly in a fireball run.

[01:15:32.240] - Rich Minga

So we won. We won overall in the fireball run. We won overall in that 2007. So it was an amazing year, and it gave me the ability to come back and smile a little bit after all the fatalities and things. And then the next year, I closed my store, and I realized retail is for people that hate free time. And man, it just burns you out. If you want If you have purple, black, and blue seatbelts, they want red. If you got purple, black, blue, and red, they want green. Or if you special order something, and then they decide they don't want it. It just is a game of patience. And I didn't have enough to have retail, to be honest. So it was a blessing in disguise, and I closed it down in 2008. And then I just started doing tons of events with BF Goodrich, and just stunts in motor sports were everything to me. Justified, Burn Notice, Movies. Then in 2013, I started Street Outlaws. So that lasted for what, 11 or 12 years or something. We just finished up the last of that, it seems like.

[01:16:44.790] - Big Rich Klein

You mentioned Justified. That's one of my favorite shows.

[01:16:49.790] - Rich Minga

Oh, okay. I doubled the guy named Dicky in that show. Oh, you're right.

[01:16:54.430] - Big Rich Klein

Dickey was a character.

[01:16:55.260] - Rich Minga

I doubled Dickey. Oh, my God. I've been in jail a lot of times and hurt people, been hurt, been kicked, been beat up. Oh, yeah. I've been thrown around and had all kinds of fun in that show. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. Then I don't know. I guess, 2014, '15 was rough because I was going through a divorce. Those were just rough times, 2013, '14, '15. I just really busy with BFG and trying to work in film and TV and then street outlaw. I was busy with a lot of things. Then I took care of my mom for a couple of years. Then I lost my brother and became an orphan. I have one brother left, but no family anymore, really, other than my nieces and nephews in Arizona. It just became challenging and I started getting bummed out. Then just got a total A total shot in the arm when I started doing Nora. In 2021 with PJ Jones, having me raced with Dawn Pridome, and then Kurt Leduc calling me the next year after my big health scare, I got a call from Kurt, and he helped me and connected me with Soul Saltzman.

[01:18:22.270] - Rich Minga

I've won four Nora 1,000s in a row and driven for all these people and had just the most amazing time. I'm totally addicted to Nora, and I recommend it to everybody. It is the happiest race on Earth. I think this sport, I wouldn't do anything differently. If I had to do it all over again, Rich, I don't know that I'd change anything. I just am so lucky to have met the people I've met and learned from the people I've learned from and had the parents and family that I have. I just I don't know. I'm just completely blessed and super, super happy and grateful.

[01:19:07.170] - Big Rich Klein

Rich, I want to say thank you so much for spending the time. This has been a great conversation. Very uplifting. I know you've been through some hardships in your career as well, but the positives totally outweigh those. You're really a breath of fresh air to talk to.

[01:19:30.690] - Rich Minga

Well, thank you so much.

[01:19:32.950] - Big Rich Klein

It's been so enjoyable.

[01:19:35.900] - Rich Minga

Well, I appreciate it, Rich.

[01:19:38.950] - Big Rich Klein

And thank you so much for spending the time. I appreciate it.

[01:19:43.820] - Rich Minga

Absolutely.

[01:19:45.390] - Big Rich Klein

All right. You take care, and I'll see you at the gala, I hope.

[01:19:50.090] - Rich Minga

Absolutely. All right. I go to those all the time. I think that's one of the best organizations that off-road racing's ever had.

[01:20:00.060] - Big Rich Klein

And keep up your work. I'm sure you'll make it in there.

[01:20:05.000] - Rich Minga

Thank you, Rich.

[01:20:06.060] - Big Rich Klein

All right. You take care, Rich. God bless. Okay, you too. Take care. Bye-bye. 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.