TV Personality, Brendon Thompson, enlightens on us on the finer points of being on American Chopper – the builds, the craziness; but that’s not all, we get insight into his early life and his parenting, throw in a little 5150 racing and you’ve got the full meal deal. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
3:24 – my older brother was always the helping hand for me, picking me back up when I was doing wrong; he kept me on track
8:47 – I almost got fired because I didn’t know fractions, couldn’t read a tape measure
18:47 – My boss wanted to semi-retire so he passed off the gas tanks to me, I just started doing my own thing.
22:19 – in 2010, that’s when I got that phone call to see if I wanted to come build a bike with Paul Jr. on television
36:13 – you don’t need to create the drama, the drama was there, it was craziness.
48:41 – We did a lot of cool stuff, I’ve had a lot of cool experiences with the show, with Paul.
51:47 – it was a big deal because we parked in Tracy Jordan’s spot, they’re like, you gotta move, Tracy’s here – we were like, okay, whatever.
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
TV Personality, Brendon Thompson, enlightens on us on the finer points of being on American Chopper – the builds, the craziness; but that’s not all, we get insight into his early life and his parenting, throw in a little 5150 racing and you’ve got the full meal deal. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
3:24 – my older brother was always the helping hand for me, picking me back up when I was doing wrong; he kept me on track
8:47 – I almost got fired because I didn’t know fractions, couldn’t read a tape measure
18:47 – My boss wanted to semi-retire so he passed off the gas tanks to me, I just started doing my own thing.
22:19 – in 2010, that’s when I got that phone call to see if I wanted to come build a bike with Paul Jr. on television
36:13 – you don’t need to create the drama, the drama was there, it was craziness.
48:41 – We did a lot of cool stuff, I’ve had a lot of cool experiences with the show, with Paul.
51:47 – it was a big deal because we parked in Tracy Jordan’s spot, they’re like, you gotta move, Tracy’s here – we were like, okay, whatever.
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
[00:00:01.060] -
Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road industry. Being involved, like all of my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call off-road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.
[00:00:45.280] -
Whether you're crawling the Red Rocks of Moab or hauling your toys to the trail, Maxxis has the tires you can trust for performance and durability. Four wheels or two, Maxxis tires are the choice of champions because they know that whether for work or play, for fun or competition, Maxxis tires deliver. Choose Maxxis. Tread victoriously.
[00:01:13.020] -
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.
[00:01:39.530] - Big Rich Klein
On today's episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I'll be talking with Fabricator, Racer, parent, and TV personality, Brendon Thompson, all about his life and how he got to where he is today. All right, Brendon, it's good to talk to you today and talk about your life. We've talked a few times on the phone, but This will be a little more in-depth.
[00:02:02.370] - Brendon Thompson
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. How's it going?
[00:02:04.540] - Big Rich Klein
It's going good. It's going good. So let's start right at the beginning. I'm assuming that since I've already interviewed your brother, that you guys probably grew up at the same time, near the same time and at the same place. But let's hear your side of the story. Where were you born and raised?
[00:02:23.120] - Brendon Thompson
I was born and raised in Sacramento.
[00:02:25.120] - Big Rich Klein
Okay.
[00:02:26.310] - Brendon Thompson
So I grew up with my dad, which Joe and I have the same dad. We have different moms.
[00:02:32.510] - Big Rich Klein
All right.
[00:02:34.140] - Brendon Thompson
Joe is obviously my older brother. And we lived together for short periods of time as I was growing up, and he was always with his mom. I was with my dad. I was never really around my mom at an early age, to be honest with you. But I grew up in the heart of Sacramento, which was a terrible place.
[00:03:06.930] - Big Rich Klein
A terrible place to grow up. South of- Is that- Norsec. Oh, Norsec. So north of '80?
[00:03:14.760] - Brendon Thompson
Yes. So I was in like, Rio Linda, Del Paso Heights, North Highlands.
[00:03:20.450] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, you grew up in a rough area.
[00:03:24.720] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, it was a rough area. And that's where I was from 12 years old to 18, I was that typical troubled kid. I was in and out of trouble, running away, in and out of juvenile hall. Then when I hit 18, I went to jail. It was crazy. But the saving factor, it was weird. Every time I lived in Sacramento and grew up with my dad, I was there. I was just being the rebellious kid hanging out with all the same old friends or so-called friends down there and just in and out of trouble. Then my brother would come and save me and take me with him. I'd get back on track. Then I'd go to the Bay Area with him, and I would get back in on track. Then I'd be like, I'm good. I'm going to go back down to Sacramento and hang out with the same friends. Then I'd go back and with my dad, and I'd get back in trouble again. But it was always... My older brother was always the helping hand for me, picking me back up when I was just doing wrong. Because when I was with him, he kept me on track, and we did everything together.
[00:04:48.620] - Brendon Thompson
It's like we rode bikes, we raced bikes. He got me into that with all of his older friends. He was like a second father to me. But he was like when I was 14 years old, I think. Okay.
[00:05:02.710] - Big Rich Klein
That's what I was going to ask next is, what was the age difference?
[00:05:06.110] - Brendon Thompson
He's nine years older than me. So I was 14. He was young. He was just in his 20s. And he was managing a bike shop, and he brought me in to live with him. He took care of me. So I'm grateful for Joe because he was always there. And we've had our ups and downs, but he's always been there for me. I can't If I didn't have him, I would probably still be doing... I would have still been in that environment because I wouldn't have known any better.
[00:05:39.620] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Well, I'm glad that worked out that way.
[00:05:43.450] - Brendon Thompson
It was awesome. A lot of people that know me now, they're like, You've never been in trouble. I'm like, Oh, yeah. I was that troubled kid. But me getting in trouble in my early days was It was pinnacle for me because it was huge. It was a huge learning step. When I remember when I… It was all these chain reaction effects that came down At the end, that got me to where I'm at now. It was a huge stepping stone for me. But yeah, it was crazy. When I was 18, just turned 18, I got in trouble, and then I went to jail. I spent a year in Sacramento Jail, which is the worst experience. I remember Joe picking me up. Even those days, he still picked me up, and he brought me up to Grass Valley. Once I moved up to Grass Valley with him, I never looked back, and I was on a path that I am now. It was all downhill from there. It was good things from there on out.
[00:06:59.840] - Big Rich Klein
So 18, you had to wait until you became an adult to get in trouble. So you couldn't have done it while you were 17, right?
[00:07:11.120] - Brendon Thompson
No. I mean, I did it from 14. I was in and out of juvenile hall from 14 to 17. And then 18 came around, then it was like, You're in trouble. And my dad was always... Our dad was always the hard one. He was He just didn't know what I was doing. I was like, I had the friends that I wanted to hang out with. They just weren't the right crowd. Joe was always trying to get me to be with his crowd, which at the end of the day… Because when I was 18, spent a year in jail, and I didn't have a career path or nothing. Didn't know what I wanted to be. I couldn't weld. I didn't know how to do anything. I knew how to work on cars, and I worked at a transmission shop for about a year, year and a half from 17 to 18. But then went to jail, got in trouble, and then moved up to Grass Valley with Joe and went to work with him at his work, building gas tanks. And that was a whole turning point for me right then.
[00:08:28.780] - Big Rich Klein
And what was What was that like, that first day getting out of jail and your brother picking you up? Did he try to talk to you about it, or did he just whip you into shape, or did you guys just drive on up to Grass Valley?
[00:08:47.020] - Brendon Thompson
No, we just drove up to Grass Valley. He goes, Hey, you want to work with me? It was a company called Fat cats. So he's like, You want to work with us? I'm like, Yeah, he's all my boss. And I didn't like Like I said, Joe was the welder. He was the head guy there welding. He would weld gas tanks, run the shop. They're like, Hey, we need you to put tunnels in these gas tanks. I wasn't really forming them. But Joe was like, Hey, the gas tanks are... The job you're going to do is key because you're the last step of the whole thing. Do you want to do it? I'm like, Yeah, I want to do it. I can do this. It was always a good thing. Like I said, Joe and I were always tight. Once I started doing it, I went to work for... The gentleman's name was Don, our boss. He was an older gentleman, and he was showing me how to do the stuff. My first week, I almost got fired because I was laying off the tunnel. Unfortunately, the schools I went to down there, they didn't really work with you on all your fractions with daily needs stuff for people that need it.
[00:10:12.710] - Brendon Thompson
I was like, Yeah, I knew my A to my quarters. I didn't know my six-teenths. I was like, Yeah, we were laying out a tunnel. I'm like, Oh, first line after quarter. I remember Don going, Are you kidding me right now? I'm like, Yeah, I can figure this out. I was just remembering it, winging it. I remember him telling Joe, Joe pulled me aside later that day. He goes, Hey, Don's going to get rid of you if you can't read this stuff. I'm like, They never taught me that stuff. I never had to use it. But he's like, Oh, okay. And then Joe helped me with it. I'm like, I'll learn it. And I learned it. And then it was like, I was better at it doing the decimals and the fractions than Don was. But I was able to get it with Joe's help again. He was there. He was there. He was there like, Hey, this is what you need to do. I remember it was almost like flashcards. I was a little kid, but it was cool. It worked out. He was on me making sure that you're going to get this.
[00:11:14.840] - Brendon Thompson
And then once I got it, then it was... My brain got trained to where I just wanted to learn that whole job. I wanted to build. I wanted to do every job in the shop, from welding to building the gas tank from and learning it. So I was the valuable person there.
[00:11:34.930] - Big Rich Klein
And these were all motorcycle gas tanks, correct?
[00:11:37.440] - Brendon Thompson
Motorcycle gas tanks. Right. And then that's how it got started with me. And it was crazy. It was like, I never thought about doing any of that. Never even had a clue. And I was able to get with Joe and then Don, and Don did a lot of stuff in the sand race or the Basically in the desert world doing some drag racing stuff. He was all about doing metal fabrication, and he was really good. I was able to pick his brain enough and learn everything he was able to teach me. And he's still around, and he's in his late '70s now, and I still talk to him on a daily basis.
[00:12:26.160] - Big Rich Klein
Awesome.
[00:12:27.330] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, it's very cool. It's very cool. So he actually just bought a speed car.
[00:12:34.720] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, really?
[00:12:35.810] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, he just got it last week. So just got his El Diablo, he said. I was like, I'm going to go race it. I'm like, That's awesome. That's cool. Yeah, that's where my challenges started.
[00:12:52.780] - Big Rich Klein
So Rio Linda, that area. Yes. I know that that's not a nice area. I did some HUD housing out there when I was a landscape contractor. And yeah, it was a tough area. The schools down there, you said they didn't teach you much of the fractions and stuff. Were you interested in school at all, or was it just, it's where you had to be, so you were there and just wanted to get out?
[00:13:21.750] - Brendon Thompson
I had to be, just wanted to get out. I mean, like when we walked through the classrooms, it was like we walked through metal detectors.
[00:13:28.520] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:13:29.700] - Brendon Thompson
And That was early. And I was like, That's craziness. You don't want that. I just wanted to get out of there, and I had no interest in it.
[00:13:44.330] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I just How much work did your dad do?
[00:13:47.850] - Brendon Thompson
He did a little bit of everything. He went to law school for a little bit, and then he was a salesman, and he just did a lot of a lot of everything. My dad didn't have a lot of money, and we just grew up around drinking and all that stuff. He would drink a lot, and we just never... That's why, if you notice, Joe and I never drink. I'm not sure if you know that, neither one of us drink.
[00:14:20.220] - Big Rich Klein
That's a good thing.
[00:14:21.550] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, we don't drink. We don't do any of that. We just like to go and have fun. I remember it was crazy. My dad was like... He was He's always tried to do stuff for us, but he was there. But it's just hard to explain.
[00:14:38.330] - Big Rich Klein
He was truly in his own little world.
[00:14:41.530] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, a little bit. And he's no longer with us now, but it was crazy. I remember I was 14 years old, and we moved to our new house, and it was a rental house on 32nd Street. It was right on the border of the Air Force Base, McClellan Air Force Base, the corner of the runway. And we were moving out. It's the Rio Linda area right there. And my dad got a good deal on the house to rent. Well, My bedroom had a square rectangle cut out of it, out of the carpet, because the guy committed suicide there. And that was my bedroom floor. My dad just left it that way. I was like, Are you kidding me right now, dad? It stuck in my brain. It was like, that's how our dad was. And that's why I was just a product of my environment. And then when Joe was around, he would take me back, and I'd be doing great. And then I'd go back to where I was, and I'd fall off and do shitty. Right.
[00:15:49.320] - Big Rich Klein
That product of your environment is a rough one.
[00:15:53.010] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. I remember my dad used to always... My dad used to teach me a lot of stuff, but it was more hands-on. And he'd be like, Oh, change the transmission or change the clutch in my truck over there for me. I'm like 12 years old, and he would sit there watching me do it, but making me do it, which is a learning lesson for me because I was able to work on cars, be able to fend for myself a little bit on that, which is if you look at it that way, it was a good thing.
[00:16:22.610] - Big Rich Klein
Right. A lot better than some of the people that grew up in that neighborhood.
[00:16:26.670] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. You can fend for yourself. You can figure it out if you make it happen. But yeah, there's just been a lot of ups and downs like that. But other than that, it was always a good thing for me. And then once I did... And then once I moved out with Joe, we would race bikes and do all that stuff. And it was super fun down in the Bay Area.
[00:16:59.070] - Big Rich Klein
So once you got up You're in Grass Valley and you're working in the shop, Fat Catz. How long did it take you to master the fractions and getting the tanks shaped right until you jumped into the full welding and everything else?
[00:17:19.110] - Brendon Thompson
Well, it was a few years before I got... Because it was a big process. We were doing a lot of gas tanks. We were trying to average eight gas tanks a day for people. And this is all hand-formed.
[00:17:35.090] - Big Rich Klein
So there was- And all custom sizes and stuff, right?
[00:17:38.430] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, six of us. We had full production lines. And it was to the point where we were doing stuff for everyone, and everyone for all these biker build-offs, and everyone in the motorcycle world that you can think of that is out there, we would build parts for. And we were just making parts. And then I started learning I remember coming in, I would do on my breaks, I'd go and practice welding. I'd pick Joe's brain and Joe would send me, give me tips and help me do it. Then I would say, I'd go and be like, How's this? How's this? I'd do weld tests and come back and just practice well. Then I want to do the sides and start forming the metal. Unfortunately, we never had a whole lot of time throughout the day, so I had to come in on the weekends if I wanted to learn how to do that. And that's what I started doing. And just because I needed the time to do it. Because I'm a hands-on guy. You could show me so many different things, and then I'll look at you like the dog you're trying to teach to sit.
[00:18:47.070] - Brendon Thompson
I'm just like, huh? Until I put my hands on and I start doing it myself, then I can pick it up quick. Because I'm more of a hands-on learner and just let's get Done. And then I just... So I got that. It was a couple of years. And then I worked for Fat Catz for probably 12 years before I started there in 1997 and worked there. And then when the economy took a crap, was it 2008, 2009? Yeah. Joe has already moved on to his stuff. I was still there. And then our old boss was like, Hey, I'm going to semi-retire. And if you want to do the gas tanks, I'll pass all the gas tanks off to you if you want to do your own thing. And I'm going to keep doing fenders. And it's like, Okay. So then we all just... He shut his shop down and he went back to his house, and where he was doing... He had his own home shop. And then I went to my house, and I had a shop at my house. I just started doing my own thing. I'm the type of person I like to just jump in hands-on and see if I can get it done and make it happen.
[00:20:12.160] - Brendon Thompson
I had the house that had a shop at it that I was able to... By this time, I was already married and had one of my kids and just started doing... I was gathering tools throughout the years also as I was going around picking up old tools, buying them while I can. And I was always doing side stuff.
[00:20:40.450] - Big Rich Klein
So the forming of tanks and that stuff, was that done on an English wheel, or was it piecing?
[00:20:49.070] - Brendon Thompson
No, it was done. English wheel came into play towards the tail end of it, but it was more power hammer and air hammer. Okay. And a lead-filled mallet into a lead bag, just forming. We had patterns, and we would make the gas tank shapes. And then towards the end, we got to the point where we had big power hammers, and we were just forming hammers. I was learning, I did all that with creating all the crazy shapes that you'd see like Jesse James doing when he was doing Monster Garage and all that. Motorcycle Mania and stuff like that. We used to do stuff at Fat Catz for Jesse, and it was always cool because it was always cool to see your stuff get broadcasted. Then obviously, there was the Tuttles out there because that was the main time when the motorcycle scene became hot. We were doing a lot of... When they went on... When the Paul Jr. And Paul Senior and all those guys were in County Choppers, came on TV on scene, we did the Statute of Liberty Gas Tank Forum for one of their episodes. They were like, Hey, our guy Rick can't do it because it's getting copper-coated.
[00:22:19.930] - Brendon Thompson
Can you guys make this? We made one. The first one was wrong to their specs. Then that was part of the drama of the television scene. It was, Our gas tanks aren't coming back now. What do we need to do? We need this. We had to build them a new one. We built it, got it done. It was just cool. We did stuff for Arlen Ness. We did them for all those guys. It was like, we used to always, when we were watching, if we would watch that TV show, we'd be like, These guys are idiots. What the hell are they doing? As the guy's building stuff, that's how we looked at it. And it was always funny because once I started doing my own stuff, and then now we're in the early, late or mid 2000s, what, 2010, I think, is when I got that phone call to see if I wanted to come build a bike with Paul Jr. On television.
[00:23:24.230] - Big Rich Klein
So that was after him and his dad split, right?
[00:23:27.710] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. So I was doing my own thing. I was just plugging away, and I was content. And just starting a family. My wife and I are married, and it's like we got my kid, had my son, and I get a phone call. My wife was pregnant with my daughter, and I get the phone call from my old boss because Paul Jr. Reached out to my old boss, reached out to my old boss, It was like, Hey, we got... This is Paul Jr. Because they talked on the phone every so often. I remember the day because it was crazy. It was a Friday. So he asked My old boss, Hey, you know any good sheet metal guys? I'm in a predicament. He goes, I got one guy, but he probably won't move out. He goes, I don't need him to move out here. I just need him to come work with us and help us out. He goes, Can I get his number? He's like, Sure. I'll give you his number. No problem. So my old boss calls me and goes, Hey, he's going to probably call you. What do you think? I was like, I don't know.
[00:24:33.830] - Brendon Thompson
I'll see what happens. He calls me and he goes, Hey, this is Pauley Junior from Pauley Junior Designs. I'm like, Hey, what's going on? And he goes, Hey, can you come out and help me? I got 30 days to get two bikes done for Sturgis. And I'm like, Okay. He's all, I need you to come out your Sunday. And this is on a Friday. And I was like, Well, I'll call you back. I got to talk to my wife. She's pregnant. And he goes, Okay.
[00:25:10.650] - Big Rich Klein
How far along was she?
[00:25:12.470] - Brendon Thompson
Six months.
[00:25:13.070] - Big Rich Klein
Okay.
[00:25:14.390] - Brendon Thompson
So I called my wife, and she's like, Yeah, that'd be awesome. That's cool. I'm like, So I call him back. I said, Yeah. He goes, When can you come out? I was like, We'll come out Sunday because I'm going four wheeling tonight. I was going to Fort Ice to go I go wheeling with my brother-in-law and my buddy and some of my friends. And so it was cool because I was like, Yeah, I'm flying out to New York on Sunday. I was like, So I got to leave early. So I left early from wheeling just to get back on Sunday. And we didn't talk about money or nothing. It was a weird scenario.
[00:25:51.270] - Big Rich Klein
You just showed up.
[00:25:52.030] - Brendon Thompson
It was super weird. I didn't talk about any of it. And I remember, I was like, you got all the tools we need? I was prepping them I get out there. And he goes, Yeah, I got everything you need, everything you can imagine. I'm like, Okay, cool. This is going to be cool. So I get out there or I'm getting back from wheeling and my wife's like, Have you even figured out how much money you're going to make? I was like, no. And she I was like, What are you going to do if you guys don't hit it off? I was like, I jump back on a plane and I fly back. I was like, What do I have to lose? And she's like, Yeah, I guess if you look at it that way, it is what it is. It's an experience for me. That's how I was looking at it. I went in there with it. I got there on Sunday, and Monday morning, I show up to the shop, and I remember the guy pulls... There was a main foreman in the shop. His name was Joe. He picks me up from the hotel and takes me to this pizza parlor.
[00:26:50.760] - Brendon Thompson
It's weird because the whole TV set thing was funky. We have no pictures of projects we're doing. People can't see what we're doing. We got to be real top secret. At that time, it was 100 times worse than it was later on because him and his dad were having lawsuits. It was absolutely crazy. They had me sit in a pizza parlor down the street from the shop. Paul comes in and he goes, Where's the guy? He goes, Oh, he's down at Johnny's Pizza place. He goes, Why is he down there? He goes, Why we wanted to have an introduction? Why don't you leave him in the damn front office? He's like, I don't know. It was this weird scenario. So we came in. He brought me down. He goes, Hey, I'm such and such. And he goes, Here's... Because what happened was Paul's dad paid this guy named Lee Stamper that was working with him or something to just leave, leave them hanging on this build, apparently.
[00:28:05.930] - Big Rich Klein
Nice. Yeah.
[00:28:07.470] - Brendon Thompson
Which what you see on TV is what is real. It's not made up. A lot of people ask me the same question, Is that real? I'm like, It sucks, but yes, it's real. So did that, and Vinnie was there, and it was cool. I was like, Oh, this is pretty cool. And he comes in, and he goes, Here's the gas tank that the other guy started. I looked at him and said, I am not putting my name on that. And he goes, Huh? I was like, I'll start from scratch. He goes, Really? I'm like, 100%. I'm not putting my... He's like, But we only got... I was like, I'm not putting my name on it. Because it was... Honestly, it was a pile of crap. So I was like... So he goes, Here's a picture. And it was the only picture I ever got from him. He goes, Here's what we got for a picture. Build the Geico bike. And he goes, Had some big lizard tail and a Geico I was like, I did it in 10 days, did all the fabrication for him. And he was like, got him to the point where he can get it all done.
[00:29:11.880] - Brendon Thompson
And we talked. He was super respectful and all that stuff and super cool guy to work with. Then we were going to dinner before I was going to leave, and I was talking to one of his other foremen, Joe, and I was like, Yeah, we wish you lived closer. I was He's like, Well, if we can make everything work out, I'll just shoot back and forth on an airplane back if we can arrange everything. He's like, Are you serious? You can do that? I was like, Yep. If we can coordinate, that's what I'll do if it makes sense. And he goes, and it was all downhill from there. Nice. And I did that for 12 years.
[00:29:53.460] - Big Rich Klein
Wow.
[00:29:55.100] - Brendon Thompson
Every two weeks, I was flying back and forth from New York to California. And I was able to do a lot of cool projects.
[00:30:05.160] - Big Rich Klein
So I was reading, when we decided we were going to do this interview, I know a little bit about you, but I figured I better do as much research as I can. I try to find things on people. And I came across a blog where the guy was talking about the show and you coming on and about how boring you were. Did that stuff bug you? No. No, I wouldn't think so. Okay, good.
[00:30:40.960] - Brendon Thompson
I've seen that blog, and I've come to learn, you could be boring. It's all how discovery plays it.
[00:30:52.940] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:30:53.630] - Brendon Thompson
So we had hundreds of hours of footage in there, and we would do stuff, and It's the way they chopped it up. You would see me come in, I would be there for the first two weeks, and then you would never see me for the next two weeks. People didn't understand. People thought I lived in the area. It was just crazy. People, they always say stuff, and that was I lived with Paul, basically, when I was back there. I was at his house, and we became good friends. Vinnie and all these guys, Vinnie, Tony, they were all super cool. Mikey, they're all super cool to work with, and we were all friends. But I spent most of my time with Paul. I had a room at his house, and I was there for every two weeks. And it was just craziness to... And believe me, I've never been on television before, but I didn't know what to do. And it was weird.
[00:32:06.700] - Big Rich Klein
All of a sudden, there's cameras watching everything you do for two weeks.
[00:32:10.440] - Brendon Thompson
100 %. There was cameras I had, and it was like, I was getting told when to do stuff and when not to do stuff. Let me see that. We need to get that on film. Okay, no problem. And wearing a mic, it's like whatever you say is always being recorded. And it was It was odd. And then it was one of those things. I just learned to tune everything out, and I don't really comment on my social media stuff that much because people can have their outlook on it. It was just like how I had my outlook with those guys. I'm like, These guys are idiots. They don't know what the hell they're doing. But it's just an looking in until you really get put in that situation. Then I can care less what people say now. I was like, Okay, you don't know what you're talking about, so I understand it. I'm good with it. I've seen that blog, and I don't know where that blog was coming from. That was a weird blog. You don't really find a lot on me anyway.
[00:33:23.190] - Big Rich Klein
No, I found that out.
[00:33:25.490] - Brendon Thompson
Just because I don't, it's weird. Then we were doing the show, and then the family feuds created the show to get canceled again. Then we did the Asroth Choppers. I did that with Paul. I was a team leader, and it was me against Cody. I I was able to pick who I wanted outside people to come help me. I actually had my brother come and help me. We did that for... It was a company called Blizzard for World of Warcraft, I guess, the video games. We made those... We made the bikes. I was the alliance, and Joe was on my team, so we were a team alliance, and Cody was the team Horde because that's what the two different teams on World of Warcraft. And we made a big old polished machine track vehicle that they put in the video game, and then he did a trike, which it was super cool. It was a really cool event, and we let the fans vote. And I think it's been so long. I don't think I won because the hoard had more of a following, and it's weird how that stuff happens. It's crazy. But it was cool stuff like that.
[00:35:12.670] - Brendon Thompson
And then obviously, I've done two build-offs with Paul Jr. Against Jesse James twice.
[00:35:23.830] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, you were involved in those, the build-offs, huh?
[00:35:26.690] - Brendon Thompson
Oh, yeah. I did all those. Okay. So So pretty much whenever Paul went on his own, after that first two weeks, I was his guy at all his bikes that he's done. For on his own. I did all those with him.
[00:35:49.700] - Big Rich Klein
So when you were doing that, were they trying to... Was Discovery or whoever the group you were working with, were they trying to create more drama outside of that, or was it more of focusing on between Paul and senior and all the shit that was happening on the outside?
[00:36:13.880] - Brendon Thompson
No, you didn't need to create the drama. The drama was there. It was craziness. I can't even understand how their interactions were. We literally had blacked out windows in our shop because we could not have people from OCC looking in our shop. It was real. It wasn't made up just for everyone's like, Oh, that's a made up show. You had a script. I was like, No, it's not. It's 100 %... It was a weird situation to be in. Weird.
[00:36:54.300] - Big Rich Klein
See, back in that day when OCC got started and and their conflict and stuff. We were approached by some producers with Discovery that wanted... Because we had that dynamic with my son, Little Rich and myself, with the We Rock events. And they were like, oh, with all this, with the racing and stuff and what you guys are doing. We could do the same thing like American Choppers. And I'm like, but we don't act that way. We We don't have that. Well, we can make all that happen. And it was like, well, no, that's not us.
[00:37:38.860] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah.
[00:37:39.680] - Big Rich Klein
And then every time we got approached by producers, everybody wanted that They wanted to create fakerity, what I started calling fakerity TV. And I remember one time with a producer, I told them, I said, well, here's how it's going to work. You can come out and show what we do. There's enough drama at the events themselves that you don't have to create it. So if you're going to try to pit the drivers, or you're going to try to make the drivers or the teams or the judges or the staff look like idiots, I'm going to have a problem because I'm going to walk into your office and we're going to discuss it. And the lady goes, What do you mean we're going to discuss it? And I said, Well, if you make us look like idiots, I'm going to defend. I'll go to jail for my business, for my sport. I will walk in there and I will thrash somebody in the office. And she goes, You would hit a woman? And I said, No, but there's got to be a guy in your office going to take one for the team. That was the last phone call I had from her.
[00:38:40.250] - Big Rich Klein
And this went on for like a month.
[00:38:42.530] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, it was It was really like… We never really had… When I was obviously talking with Paul, and he was explaining to me how the show happened. When they got the call, they were doing their bike builds, and they were just doing mediocre bike builds, I should say. Then they got the phone call from Discovery or from Pilgrim Films. It was Christo, I believe, Doyle, that was the producer at the time. They were like, Hey, we're going to do a motorcycle reality show. I was like, All right, cool. They were able to do it, and they were starting to film it. Then him and his dad started fighting. The production company was like, Shit, what do we do? They said, Well, just keep filming. This is going to be reality. It was real fights. They were getting mad. Then they thought they were pretty much done, I guess. Then once they air it, people loved it, the family dynamic. That's how it was. I've never really worked with Paul senior hand in hand. I have later on, but I worked next to him, and I legitimately saw how it was. It was absolutely crazy. They had an old shop at the Iron Works place, and Paul called me after the show was canceled.
[00:40:26.370] - Brendon Thompson
Discovery wanted to come back and do a special because they were going to tear down the old shop. And they're like, Hey, we want to come build a… He's going to bring his fabricator. My dad's going to bring his fabricator. I'm going to bring you as my fabricator. He's like, Are you in? I'm like, Yeah, I'm in. No problem. So I was like, Let's do it. Because we all had our own shops. So I fly out, I get there. I'm like, What are we doing for a He goes, It was for a company called ABC Supply, and they do roofing supplies. It was senior's client. I remember he's like, Yeah, we have no drawings because they were like... Because every competition that we've done with these guys against senior, he's always lost to us. It's like he wanted to beat us at something because we did We did one for GM for the Cadillac CTSD. It was a build-off against him and his dad. We did that and we went head-to-head at the GM factory in Detroit, and we let the fans vote. We won. It was super cool. Then we did the biker build-offs with Jesse James and Gas Monkey and all those guys.
[00:41:55.000] - Brendon Thompson
We won. Fans voted. His dad was wanting to just try to be on the same page or not lose against his kid. Because sometimes that's hard to do. But at the end of the day, as a dad, you want your kid to be better than you.
[00:42:17.310] - Big Rich Klein
Correct.
[00:42:18.390] - Brendon Thompson
So that should be a goal. So he should be happy, but people don't look at it that way. So we come and we're no drawings. Everyone's on the same page. We're not going to do any drawings. So I remember Paul and myself Rachel, Paul's wife, we walk into the old shop, and it was like an old, wet, dirty metal shop. It's where they originated from, the smallest shop that they had. I was in there with them. I'm like, We're just going to build a bike for fun? He's like, Yeah. I'm like, Cool. That sounds like a great plan to me. Senior walks in, and he's got his whole crew, Jason Pooh, Josh, all these guys, and we're like, What's going on here? And he goes, All right. We're starting to film. And he goes, All right, here's what we're going to do. This is the bike we're building. And he puts down the picture and we're like, Huh? And we look at it, it was like one of their old-school bikes. And Paul's like, I thought we weren't doing any... No, this is what has already been signed off. This is what you guys got.
[00:43:22.620] - Brendon Thompson
And we're like, Okay, this is how it's going to be? And he's like, It was a shit show. This was a collaboration bike that we were building together. I was like, Man. I remember his dad going, Okay, here's what you're going to do, Brenan. You're going to build the handlebars and the pipes because you're a great pipe vendor. I'm like, Huh? I'm looking at Paul and he's like… He goes, I'm going to have my guy build the gas tank and the fenders. We're like, Okay, that's what I do for a living, but this is what you want it done? That's fine. I'll do whatever you ask me to do. I don't care. Then I remember it just became like when we did a board meeting the next day with the client and Paul, he lost himself in the clients' room because he's trying to explain, I thought we were going to just do a collaboration bike out of our heads. No drawings. But you guys give me this picture, and I remember walking up to this old-school bike that was in the background and he goes, But you want this bike? You might as well just repaint this and take this one.
[00:44:40.150] - Brendon Thompson
His dad lost it, and Jason lost it. They were screaming at him, and I was like, Holy crap. Then that's when it all went downhill. Then we had no say on anything. No design say, nothing. We were sitting in front of the frame a few days later, and I I remember Paul going, Hey, what if we do this, dad? And his dad, like veins popping out of his neck, just screaming at him, saying, This is what you do. You're always trying to change it. And he's like, Whoa, dad, I just want to build a bike with you. He's like, At the end of the day, I just want to build a bike with you. And I was sitting on the other side of the bike. I was like, Holy crap, this is not happening right now. I was like, Whoa. And then I I remember Josh, he's like, So what do you think about this? And I remember I couldn't... I was like, Oh, we can't do that. He goes, What do you mean you can't do that? It's like, Per drawing, I can't do it. He's like, Are you kidding me right now? I was like, No, not signed off on that one.
[00:45:46.310] - Brendon Thompson
And we started being difficult a little bit. It was like, whatever. If we're going to just get pushed into doing something we don't want to do, we might as well have fun with it. But it was his dad was just like, Lost I just lost his shit on him. I was like, no way.
[00:46:03.060] - Big Rich Klein
I noticed that he just seemed to be aggro all the time.
[00:46:06.880] - Brendon Thompson
It was 100 %. And I mean, it was just always crazy like that. And then Paul was It was a total opposite.
[00:46:18.090] - Big Rich Klein
I mean- But he knew how to push his dad's buttons.
[00:46:21.340] - Brendon Thompson
I guess. And him and I worked on it. We worked so good together because we're both shooting from the hip. That's something with my older brother. I always refer to it because everyone... Hey, when it comes to racing or anything, I refer to my brother as a... Because my brother is a super smart guy. As a sniper, he always wants to get that kill shot, that one head shot. I was like, and I feel... I'm more the guy that comes in with a six shooters. It's just letting it loose like a cartoon character and say, Sweet, I got one. It drives Joe nuts. But that's the best way for me to look That is, he's a sniper, and he's always trying to... He wants that kill shot.
[00:47:19.400] - Big Rich Klein
And you just want to lay down a lot of fire.
[00:47:22.770] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. If I get something, it's great. I'm here to have fun and enjoy life. T I just want to have fun and be happy with things. I don't need drama. I don't need any of that. Then Paul is the same way. That's how we just work good together. It was always hard for Paul to let things loose, to give the reins to other people if he wasn't there at the moment. Because that's the biggest challenge everyone on social media or in these forums or blogs. They're always talking about how Paul is never there building stuff. It's like Paul's there, but we all have our jobs. That's what we do. He comes up with certain ideas, and then he has people there that when he builds a team to try to execute it. That's what I was there for, because I'd be able to pick things out of his brain. I mean, it would be napkins. We'd doodle on things, and he'd go, I'm thinking like this, and I'm like, Well, I did this bike back here this day for this guy. What about something like this? And he was like, Oh, yeah, that'd be cool.
[00:48:35.190] - Brendon Thompson
And then we'd just be able to run with it.
[00:48:38.280] - Big Rich Klein
Collaborate, come up with- Yeah.
[00:48:41.510] - Brendon Thompson
We did a lot of cool stuff, like Gears of War. We did a Camaro build. I've had a lot of cool experiences with the show, with Paul. Was able to meet a lot of cool people, and it gave me a lot of opportunities to further myself and do things with them. Awesome.
[00:49:04.780] - Big Rich Klein
So your business now is elite metal design?
[00:49:08.020] - Brendon Thompson
Yes.
[00:49:09.400] - Big Rich Klein
And you had that while you were working American Chopper as well?
[00:49:14.710] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. Yeah. I would just do... It was just basically gas tanks. And then once my old boss was like, I'm going to sell fat cats, because I always made it a point not to compete against him because he was doing fenders, and I didn't want to steal his customers. So I never did the Fender side. Then once he started telling me, I'm going to sell fat cats. Do you want to buy it? And I was like, And by this time, I was already a few years in on the show. I was like, I'm not going to buy Fat Cat. It doesn't make sense for me to buy something when my name's out there. And he's like, Yeah, I Yes, but you don't have the tools. And then I started buying the tools. And then I started... Because once he said he's selling it, I was like, I'm going to jump in and start doing finners. I better start prepping myself to do this because that's going to be the next wave. So then I started working with a metal spinner that was making his parts, that started making my parts also. And then I started buying I started buying the tools because they're hard to find the tools.
[00:50:34.150] - Brendon Thompson
So when Centerline went out of business, I bought their big wheel spinning machine, and I brought it up to Nevada City, and I have all the tools to do it, but I ended up still working with the metal spinner to make the spinnings for me. He ended up buying Fat Cat.
[00:50:54.010] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, okay.
[00:50:55.510] - Brendon Thompson
So now he's like, They're my competitor, but they still make my parts. Because we're still good friends. I'm friends with the owner that we work together for years, so it just makes sense. I have him do all the spinnings and stuff, but I have the tooling to do it myself. But it allows me to have, with him doing it, it allows me to have more time to focus on my kids, to go and race, and still make a living. Right.
[00:51:30.470] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. So let's talk about the racing. Yes, sir. So how did you decide to get into the racing end of it?
[00:51:41.950] - Brendon Thompson
I went out there to help Pit for Les Figaroa.
[00:51:46.460] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:51:47.610] - Brendon Thompson
With him and Joe. And there was no real hammer town at the moment. It was crazy. And I remember my brother-in-law I took his Dodge with a cab over, and we took our little rock crop. We have a buggy on 49s. And we took it down there to go hang out and help pit with Joe for Joe and Les. And we get down there, and where we parked, it was a big deal because we parked in Tracy Jordan's spot. They're like, You got to move. Tracy's here. We're like, Who's Tracy? We didn't know who he was. We were like, Okay, whatever. We moved our cab over, and then he shows up. Then it was cool to watch because my old rock Crawler buggy is Kevin Yoder's old 454 buggy, comp buggy that he used to. We put a Toyota in it. It basically made Kevin sick. You quartered the cubic inches. Yeah. We did that, and then it was We liked it. It was fun. Now back to, I think that was when was that? When Joe raced, 2006, 2007, maybe. When that was, and then I think 2010, I was doing the show, and Dave was going to let me have a spot to race Hammers, and I was in a race a Trent Fabb car buggy, and I wasn't able to make it with the schedule and discovery and all that stuff.
[00:53:37.730] - Brendon Thompson
I did a no-show, and I think it made Dave mad at the moment. Oh, come on.
[00:53:44.370] - Big Rich Klein
Dave's never been mad.
[00:53:45.860] - Brendon Thompson
No. He was like, You got a spot? No problem. Just show up. I was like, All right. Well, no show. The next year, I showed up, and I was just watching. No one knew I was there, really, but I was there with my friend Jake Yeoman. He was racing with B. J. Baldwin. B. J. Was driving his car, his Trent car. There was Jake Hollenbeck. He had his bomber chassis there. He was doing all these doing last chance qualifiers to race hammers, and he was killing it. In his last chance qualifier round, or he broke a transfer case, and he was pissed because he was doing awesome runs, but he didn't make it. Dave Snyder had the great idea of, Why don't you just have Brenan try to race your car, Jake, since you're already here, and spend all this time and money and prep and stuff? He's, I'm sure Dave will do it. We had to go and talk to Dave and Dave's like, Sure. He was angry and was like, Sure, no problem. But you're starting from the back. You either start the race or finish the race. All right, okay. So Dave comes back, Snyder, and goes, Hey, you're good to go.
[00:55:18.060] - Brendon Thompson
All right, all right. And this is the day before the race. That morning, I'm walking up there. I had never met Jake before, really, until that night before. I'm like, How do you want to do this? He goes, I don't know. I was going to ask you the same question. I was like, I don't really feel like racing your vehicle because you got a lot of money in this. He goes, I was feeling the same way. I was like, We can either start the race and I pull off and I let you jump in or we just see how it goes. He's like, Let's just see how it goes. I'm like, All right, cool. We started racing and we started back and he was killing it. It was an awesome time for me. I was laughing. It was awesome. Then we just got in and he ended up breaking a lower link at Chocolate Thunder. But that That's how I got hooked. Then when I came back from that, I had an LS motor. I bought an LS motor that weekend and then was talking to Joe. Joe came over to my shop, and we just started building My straight-axle car.
[00:56:33.190] - Brendon Thompson
Then I started teaming up with different partners, and then I got set up with Maxxus tires. It was pretty crazy because Joe was like, If you can get Maxxus, that would be great. I'm like, Yeah, we can. Then I was talking to a fan. I met a fan out in New York that had a Jeep, and And he wanted me to sign his Jeep. And I was like, Yeah, I went out there and signed it. And he would message me every so often. And I was like, Oh, I need to get a tire sponsor. And he goes, Oh, I'm friends with the guys at Maxis. I'm like, Really? Can you set that up? And he goes, Yeah. And then he reached out to Maxx, and they were like, Oh, you don't know that guy. And then they're like, Well, can I give him your number? And they're like, Sure, no problem. And then that's I got set up with Maxis. And I've been with Maxis ever since. And then obviously with FK and all these guys and like Branix, they all been helping me out for a while. Awesome. Yeah, it's been pretty cool.
[00:57:48.930] - Big Rich Klein
And so your son- Yes. Let's talk about your son and what you got going on with him. You guys built a car?
[00:58:00.050] - Brendon Thompson
No, we did. So he's been in... He can tell you more about the King of the Hammers, the drivers, than most people can even... That would even tell you, because he's been in it ever since He was real young, just following everyone's paths, like Shannon Campbell, all those guys. We started him out a Razor 170 at the Norcal Rock Races.
[00:58:34.440] - Big Rich Klein
Okay.
[00:58:35.400] - Brendon Thompson
He was just racing, and him and Braden Judge were always battling it out, the two 170 classes. It was awesome to watch him race, and then he became a decent little driver. Then once he turned 13, he started when he was eight. Then once he turned 13, we got him into a Another class. Joe has always been there, too. We always try to push him not to race like Sam back, not just chase the trophies. If you're not racing anyone faster, you shouldn't be racing. You need to be racing people. Push yourself. He wanted to move up to the 900 class. I had a 1989 Honda Pilot, and I brought it I got to Norc, I had a race in the 1,000 class, and it was pretty awesome. Then my kid wanted to race it. I put him in that thing, and he started killing everyone. It just stomped in all the 900s. He just raced that. Those things were squirly as it was, not four-wheel drive, two-wheel drive. It's like they're just two-wheel drive. It was like you had to have control. You had to have driving skills. He was driving that, and then he's like, I want to race big cars now.
[01:00:07.600] - Brendon Thompson
And he's like, 16 now. And we bought him an RS1, started racing that. And then I was like, I'm going to build a new IFS car with one of Joe's new frames. And so I was like, Let's do it. And I was like, Well, hopefully we can get the rules changed so we can downsize my straight-axle car to a 4,800 car, and you can have that. And that happened, and he jumped in there, and then now he's racing the 4,800 class, and now he wants to build a 4,400 car. Of course. Between him and my brother, they're going to kill me. But it's like, that's all. He watches so many videos, and it was cool for him this year because he went to Hammers and was racing 4,800. His qualifying run, he was able to go out there with He has a two-seat car, but he wanted to run it solo. Well, he's up in line waiting to qualify, and who jumps in the car with him is Shannon Campbell. Nice. He's been growing up watching Shannon, and Shannon's like, You care? I was like, No, I don't care. I was like, Just guide him.
[01:01:34.570] - Brendon Thompson
I was like, I know you can't see, but just guide him on the right path. He goes, I'm just out here to try to get a good lap or run a lap. We're like, Okay. Then I was like, But one thing about my kid is you can tell him. He's a listener. Joe can tell him, I can tell him, we can all tell him where he can improve on something on his driving on the track, and he soaks it up like a sponge. Me? Not so much. I'm like, Yeah, I'm here. I'm going for it. But he soaks it up, and I was like, I just told Shane, I was like, Dude, tell him he'll listen to you. Just tell him what you think he can do better, and he'll take it. And he goes, All right, no problem. And that's how he did that. And he was excited. He qualified, I think, 30th or something like that. It was a good place for him. And then he ended up losing, I believe, a transfer case on a second lap. I was going to co-drive with them, but we ended up putting a friend of mine in there that is all about the rocks and just I need to back off.
[01:02:46.650] - Brendon Thompson
It's too hard for me to be in the car with him because I want to tell him or not tell him what to do. But I want him to find his own way. Sometimes it's easier to do it without your dad in car.
[01:03:00.710] - Big Rich Klein
Right. So I totally agree with that.
[01:03:05.620] - Brendon Thompson
So I'm like, You know what? You want to co-drive with him, Zack? He's like, Yeah. And then he was all about it because he's never raced the hammers. And, Right, go get your use, Zack. You can co-drive with them. They both did well. They can talk, and he was able to take this line, take that line. Because my kid doesn't have the most rock crawling experience, but Because the most rock crawling that he gets to do basically is at the Norcal Rock Races, and it's not even crawling. We're blasting through the rock piles.
[01:03:38.120] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah. That's just hammer down and hoped not to break something.
[01:03:42.860] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah.
[01:03:44.570] - Big Rich Klein
Not a lot of finesse at the way those rocks are set up, but that's understandable on a short course like that.
[01:03:51.710] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, it's fun. I mean, I like it because it's fun, but you're risking to break your stuff. But yeah, that's how... And then we just built him a… We're doing his senior project. He's working with Joe on this one, too, is a 6,100 truck.
[01:04:10.410] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, really?
[01:04:11.520] - Brendon Thompson
Yes. So it's going to be his first senior project. Slashed along with his other Toyota that we just built. He's got a 6,100 truck, Cassy that we bought with the full body. We got to do some suspension stuff, and he has a LS3 for it we've been gathering parts for. We just came back from Joe's this weekend because Joe was measuring suspension stuff for shocks, and Joe's going to be his mentor on that. We're going to take it out to do some of these smaller desert races and just let them have fun in it. Just nothing super competitive, but it's a cool senior project. And he wants to tow it in with his 2017 Tacoma that he just got done straight axling and did pre-runner fenders, and we're doing transfer case swaps. And it's a learning thing for him because he's trying to figure out how to make stuff work with all the electronics, which is tough on some of these straight-axle vehicles these days, especially with stuff being so new.
[01:05:26.980] - Big Rich Klein
True.
[01:05:29.400] - Brendon Thompson
But, yeah, he's busy right now at the moment because this is his senior year, so we got to get everything done and then hopefully have the 6100 truck done in a few months.
[01:05:44.280] - Big Rich Klein
Well, cool. I'd like to see those projects. So we'll have to hook up, since we're close.
[01:05:50.470] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, we're always tinkering around doing stuff. And just, yeah, just figure out. He doesn't know what he wants to do for school yet, or If he wants to go to college or what he wants to do, I just know he's got to get him graduated, which he does great in class and stuff like that. I think he may be an apprentice at a machine shop, at a local machine shop down here. So that's what he's... He's more of a hands-on guy, too. But wants to... I mean, we still need people to try to learn to build stuff these days.
[01:06:28.980] - Big Rich Klein
Absolutely.
[01:06:30.340] - Brendon Thompson
We're losing that a lot. Yeah.
[01:06:33.670] - Big Rich Klein
So true. So true. Yeah. So talk about your family life with your wife and daughter.
[01:06:41.770] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. Been married for 20 plus years.
[01:06:46.130] - Big Rich Klein
It's crazy. Very good.
[01:06:47.910] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. And we're still going strong. So March is going to be, I think, I don't even want it. It's 20 plus. I'm just going to say it that.
[01:06:58.600] - Big Rich Klein
Wise man.
[01:07:00.080] - Brendon Thompson
I don't want to say days or years. But yeah, my wife works for an eye doctor, and she's been there for almost 20 years or 20 years plus, too, just as long as we've been married. My daughter's 13, and she does a little bit of racing herself in the UTV class, but she's just a stud at volleyball right now. She's been doing a lot of Volleyball traveling for a team called Synergy. She goes all over the place on a national level. She's doing that and then doing school stuff. Then she's just plugging away on that stuff and focusing on that. But she's been saying she wanted to race more. But that's pretty much where my family stuff's at. Then I got my brother-in-law and stuff. He's a huge help on a lot of this stuff with me because like with the racing side, he was out there racing with Jake Yeoman a lot in the 4,400 class. But now he helps us out with the race, doing the racing with the kid, with my son and my daughters. He'll drive the semi and stuff to get it to different races. And he's always been there to help us get the cars ready and stuff like that.
[01:08:29.990] - Brendon Thompson
So he's been a huge help on that. And that's my wife's brother. And it's just been good. Cool. It's been good.
[01:08:38.520] - Big Rich Klein
So what's the future? Get your son into racing Vora or some of the Some of the smaller Norcal races.
[01:08:50.830] - Brendon Thompson
Get him to race whatever we can. I mean, we just love racing. Enjoy it. I think I'm going to sea Otter in April. We're going to probably race some again. He may race bikes. I know I was just talking to Max about going there. I'm like, You want to race? I'm like, Yeah, I'll race. I haven't raced for a while, but Joe was laughing at me about it. Awesome. Yeah, I think he wants to do Vora. He'll do some Vora stuff and whatever stuff will allow us to race. We just like racing. We like to go out there and have fun and enjoy it and then just let things rip and just be out there in general.
[01:09:33.660] - Big Rich Klein
Well, that a direction is a lot better to keeping kids on the straight and narrow than, say, your upbringing where you fell in with the wrong people.
[01:09:48.850] - Brendon Thompson
100 %.
[01:09:50.060] - Big Rich Klein
If they're involved in racing and athletics, there's very little time to get in trouble.
[01:09:56.080] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah. And the cool thing about with my kids is I try to take them places with me. I've taken them to the SEMA. They've been to the SEMA show. They've been able to talk to people. And they've basically... With Maxis, it's like they know all the Maxis people. So they've been on the trailers. They've been raised around them. It's crazy. But I try to keep them involved with all these different style people so they know who they are, but They are also social little butterflies, if that makes sense.
[01:10:34.230] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent.
[01:10:35.110] - Brendon Thompson
Because especially if you want a race and stuff, they're going to have to reach out to people and talk to people for sponsorships, for helping out and figuring out what they need. Because I can't do it all the time because it's hard. Because they need to learn how to speak to people and try to build relationships with them.
[01:11:02.000] - Big Rich Klein
I agree 100 %. It's a good education.
[01:11:06.730] - Brendon Thompson
And we're hoping the 6100 truck thing will do that because we wanted to reach out to them, or I'm going to have my son reach out to different sponsors and talk to them about it. And I'm hoping we'll have some stuff like with WFO, I think doing some videos, hopefully, with Trevor and those guys. So in the with the project. Because I know they help my son out with some parts, and I think they may do some videos and stuff, but just do some videos to show people or kids in general to maybe how to reach out to people so they can see different ways, but see the truck getting built also.
[01:11:51.060] - Big Rich Klein
Perfect.
[01:11:52.310] - Brendon Thompson
Excellent. We'll see how it goes.
[01:11:54.970] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. Well, Brenda, I want to say thank you so much for spending the time this morning and talking about your life and your family and your racing and your television career and all the things that you've done. And I want to say congratulations on turning your life around from those early years Yeah. And providing a good life for your kids.
[01:12:19.220] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, it's enjoyable. I appreciate it.
[01:12:22.840] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. So I will get in touch with you, and I do want to shoot your son's Toyota, the straight Axel. I know we didn't get that done down at the Hammers, but we'll get that taken care of. And maybe we can go do some wheeling this winter or this spring or summer, too.
[01:12:42.320] - Brendon Thompson
Yeah, that's all right. We definitely want to I'll give you some snow wheeling soon, because we just got the driveline and transfer cases, swapped out my kids' Tacoma, so we can go play in that thing. So definitely want to go get it going. All right.
[01:12:57.090] - Big Rich Klein
All right. Brendon, thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to getting the responses on this podcast. I think it was a good one. Thank you.
[01:13:05.160] - Brendon Thompson
That's awesome. Thank you. I appreciate it.
[01:13:07.030] - Big Rich Klein
All right. Talk to you later. All right. Bye. 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 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.