Johnny Campbell, 11-time Baja Champion, Johnny has raced, supported, and managed the American Honda team. A fun listen, Johnny shares stories from around the world. Johnny was inducted in the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018. Johnny is why we say; legends live at ORMHOF.org. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
9:17 – at a local level, I had a couple number one plates. I had a few mentors, I was always following them and watching what they were doing
13:13 – I was 21 when I finally got noticed by American Honda, and a guy who became my absolute hero and mentor
24:26 – Bruce was super humble, super organized, super smart
31:32 – we were professional at pre-running and racing and following ribbons and arrows, but we were novices at trying to navigate off a roadbook
41:57 – I call it 11 time, 17 gives people the illusion I rode it all
53:35 – We’ve built a program around Rancho Santa Maria, the school and orphanage that every year we do an event called the Baja Beach Bash
59:56 – ORMHOF was a really big point in my career; I think as a racer, it’s more than just racing, it’s how have you impacted the sport?
Special thanks to ORMHOF.org for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
Johnny Campbell, 11-time Baja Champion, Johnny has raced, supported, and managed the American Honda team. A fun listen, Johnny shares stories from around the world. Johnny was inducted in the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018. Johnny is why we say; legends live at ORMHOF.org. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
9:17 – at a local level, I had a couple number one plates. I had a few mentors, I was always following them and watching what they were doing
13:13 – I was 21 when I finally got noticed by American Honda, and a guy who became my absolute hero and mentor
24:26 – Bruce was super humble, super organized, super smart
31:32 – we were professional at pre-running and racing and following ribbons and arrows, but we were novices at trying to navigate off a roadbook
41:57 – I call it 11 time, 17 gives people the illusion I rode it all
53:35 – We’ve built a program around Rancho Santa Maria, the school and orphanage that every year we do an event called the Baja Beach Bash
59:56 – ORMHOF was a really big point in my career; I think as a racer, it’s more than just racing, it’s how have you impacted the sport?
Special thanks to ORMHOF.org for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
[00:00:01.000] -
Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road industry. Being involved, like all of my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call off-road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.
[00:00:46.130] -
This episode of Conversations with Big Rich is brought to you by the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. The mission of the Hall of Fame is to educate and inspire present and future generations of the off-road community by celebrating the achievements of those who came before. We invite you to help fulfill the mission of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. Join, partner, or donate today. Legends live at ormhoff. Org.
[00:01:15.400] - Big Rich Klein
On today's episode of Conversations with Big Rich, it is my honor to talk with a man with a record 11 SCORE Baja titles, an amazing 17 Baja 1,000 wins in a row, and he is a 2018 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.
[00:01:32.810] - Big Rich Klein
My guest is none other than Johnny Campbell. Johnny Campbell, it's great to have you on this podcast. I'm really looking forward to this episode, and thank you very much.
[00:01:45.090] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah, it's great to be on with you, Rich. Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure. Being an Inductee in the ORMHOF is a huge accomplishment for myself, and just Just, yeah, easy for me to talk about my story.
[00:02:03.630] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. Well, let's jump right in. The first question is, where were you born and raised?
[00:02:11.870] - Johnny Campbell
I was actually born in Laguna Beach. I was raised in San Clemente, California, South Orange County. I was 150 yards from the Pacific Ocean and grew up in a beach town, surfing and being a beach kid.
[00:02:31.450] - Big Rich Klein
Right. I would imagine that being that close to the ocean. I get it. I grew up in Northern California, near the beach. I was maybe 10 miles away, but then moved to the beach area, Pacifica. The water's a lot colder up here.
[00:02:50.310] - Johnny Campbell
That's for sure. As I got older, then I became more of a chicken of cold water. But it's not the same when we have older joints.
[00:03:01.820] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, and all these people doing this cold plunge anymore. I just can't get myself to do something like that.
[00:03:08.940] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah, I've done them before, but man, it's tough mentally to do that.
[00:03:14.430] - Big Rich Klein
It's brutal from what I understand. But everybody seems to love it afterwards. Once I got warm, I guess. So when you were growing up in those beach communities, what was school like for you? Were you one of those kids that did really well, or were you always looking out the window?
[00:03:35.140] - Johnny Campbell
No, I was a pretty good student. Always tried to get good grades and achieve. I think I had one year in high school where I just fell off the wagon for a while. And like my sophomore year, I had one semester. But my mom and dad were pretty... They said, Hey, if you want to do all these activities and surf and ride and race dirt bikes, it's like you got to toe the line in school. So I was always like that. And my dad was a big dude. And it's like I respected him and didn't want to do anything that caused problems because I wanted to ride and race.
[00:04:23.280] - Big Rich Klein
Right. And was that your primary interest while you were growing up, or did you have other interests, scouting camping or anything like that?
[00:04:32.910] - Johnny Campbell
Well, we grew up... I was always active, but we grew up with, obviously, great weather. So we were always very active outside, riding bicycles, skateboarding, surfing. And then it was always like my dad, this is probably a question for further, but my dad, he rode dirt bikes and raced on an amateur level. And so I always had that passion for dirt bikes since even before I rode them or had my own bike. And so we would go to the desert once a month in camp in the good season. And then my dad would race about once a month and stuff. So I grew up doing that and camping and stuff.
[00:05:19.580] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. And with you saying that before you got your first bike, what was and when was your first bike?
[00:05:29.920] - Johnny Campbell
I was nine years old, and my dad brought home a Honda XR 75, and I was so excited. I mean, I've been wanting a dirt bike since I could remember, so it was a special moment for sure.
[00:05:49.730] - Big Rich Klein
Were you able to avoid injuries at a young age on a motorcycle?
[00:05:56.160] - Johnny Campbell
I think mostly, but then I started riding at nine, started racing at 13. I really didn't get any broken bones or anything until probably 16 when I started heavily racing and pursuing it on a more serious level. And then you're starting to push it. But yeah, I've had my share of bumps and bruises when I was young.
[00:06:28.560] - Big Rich Klein
Right. I guess that comes with two wheels.
[00:06:32.230] - Johnny Campbell
Comes with skating and two wheels for sure.
[00:06:36.850] - Big Rich Klein
Skating, for sure. Skating, for sure. So you grew up skating, snowboarding, motor all balanced sports. I find that that's a key to any of those... Well, pretty much any of the individual sports. Team sports, it doesn't... Balanced doesn't... I mean, it's great to have it, but it doesn't seem to be key. Do you think that's a fair assessment?
[00:07:09.420] - Johnny Campbell
I would actually say that balance is very important in most all sports, whether you're playing baseball and you're pitching or things like that. I was never a really great pitcher, but I played catcher most of the time. But I'd say balance was important. But yeah, skateboarding and surfing for sure. And that also translates to two wheels. And it's very important. I feel like I've always been an average balance guy, really, because I was never really good. I love to skate and surf, but I wasn't really good at it. I just had to had fun with it. But it wasn't until I really pursued motorcycle racing and stuff that I achieved that, I would say, that balance that really was required.
[00:08:08.720] - Big Rich Klein
Then you're getting into racing, and was the first thing motocross?
[00:08:17.040] - Johnny Campbell
We raced Grand Prix, and Grand Prix in California is a good mix of motocross and off-road racing. So you can define Grand Prix racing in the United States by it's a motocross race that is a longer course that incorporates some enduro or off-road or desert element to it That's not like two motos, but it might be 45 minutes to 2 hours long. It might incorporate some different disciplines, like a paved road or a sandwash with lots of and different types of obstacles than you just find, say, on a hard motor cross track.
[00:09:09.460] - Big Rich Klein
Did you find success early on?
[00:09:17.620] - Johnny Campbell
At a local level, I had a couple number one plates in a local organization called SRA, Southline Racing Association. I was like, 17, 18, 19. I think I had some number one plates. I had a few guys that were my mentors at that. I was always following them and watching what they were doing and chased up to them. Then, fortunately, I was able to surpass them at one point.
[00:09:54.790] - Big Rich Klein
That always feels good. Who were some of those early riders that you looked up to?
[00:10:02.090] - Johnny Campbell
At the local level, there was one guy named Craig Adams, and he was from San Clemente. He was a friend of my dad's, and they drove dump trucks and work construction together. But he was like the local hot shoe in that arena. And so he had a bunch of number one plates, and he was always somebody I looked up to. He was real nonchalant and humble and stuff. And he was my mentor. Actually, a big piece of the puzzle when I was a teenager is that my dad passed away when I was 16. And so he was like, I respected him and he was my mentor and my dad and everything. And so it was a real challenging time for me because it was right when I really started racing a lot. And so not having your dad there when you're that young is difficult for that direction and to the next step of manhood and stuff. But even on a sport level, it was a challenging time. But it was like I was so dedicated to the racing, though, and I just loved it and had big passion. And so guys like Craig and Danny Sanchez and those guys came along alongside me at that time.
[00:11:24.230] - Johnny Campbell
And so I just followed them around and they taught me a lot about riding, racing, and how to work on bikes and being prepared to do battle.
[00:11:35.130] - Big Rich Klein
Did you have any employment early on? Did you have to work in a bike shop or something like that to help fund your racing?
[00:11:48.060] - Johnny Campbell
Oh, yeah. My mom was on a single income at that time when my dad passed away. So fortunately, she ran my grandfather's business. It was a godsend that we had that just because my dad was a grading contractor, self-employed, and so everything went through that, but that all dissolved. But my mom, she helped my brother and I, but I always worked. My dad even took me out of school to help the grading business and stuff at times when he was short on help and whatever. So it's one thing he taught me was a good work ethic, and my brother also. And so when he passed away, I actually had a job at a local automotive repair shop called Shetree Automotive. And another racer guy that had owned that, his name was Paul Huffman. He really impacted me as a teenager and stuff. And he ran the business and stuff. And we worked on, he taught me a lot about mechanics and cars and motors and four and things like that. And so when I was 16 to 18, I think after I graduated, then I went and worked for a general contractor for a while and we did remodels and stuff.
[00:13:13.530] - Johnny Campbell
I learned the construction trade as well and did a little schooling for that, and thought I was on my way to do some contracting and stuff. But then that led into, No, I'm going to try the fire service. Then I'm going to I started going to school for fire science classes. And all that time that I was working to help fund my racing. And I was still living at home in my young '20s, 2021. And then about, yeah, it was '21 is when I finally got noticed by American Honda, who And a guy who became my absolute hero and mentor, his name is Bruce Sogelby, and he has a long, long history with the Honda brand and stuff. And so at 21, he started helping me through the back door at American Honda to start racing. And I was introduced to Baha and Baha racing around that time. And so I always looked up to the Honda because that's what I rode and raced locally. And so this all converged. And so I got some backdoor support, but I was still working full-time. And I went back to work for the auto shop, actually, after my construction period.
[00:14:50.220] - Johnny Campbell
And so worked there for a couple of years. And then right at about 24 years old, Ogilvie said, Hey, he goes, Our program is small. We have a small budget, but I need your help in a shop, and I need you to start building race bikes and be in the workhorse of the off-road program at American Honda. And I said, Okay. And I thought I had a steady paying job and stuff doing what I was doing. But it's like, oh, man, this is my dream. I get to be immersed into dirt bikes and off-road racing on a 24/7 basis. So At 24 years old, I went to work at American Honda in the off-road department and started building race bikes, ordering parts, and learned how to talk to sponsors. Before that, I had no idea that you could actually make a living being an off-road racer.
[00:15:54.290] - Big Rich Klein
It's not an easy job, though.
[00:15:57.700] - Johnny Campbell
No, it's full-time. It's full-on To this day, 32 years later, is I'm still immersed 24/7. It's full-time, it's full focus, and we love it. It's our passion, but sometimes you got to step out of it to keep on enjoying it.
[00:16:21.190] - Big Rich Klein
Right. It's one of the things, being an event promoter, I get questions a lot from people coming to Rock Crawl for the first time or like when we had the desert racing as well, that they were like, well, how do I approach a sponsor? What do I get? What do I need to do? And it's like, okay, first of all, You have to look at it as a relationship. So instead of calling it a sponsor, call it a marketing partnership, because it's a partnership between you and the company or the person that's laying out the dough for or even parts. So now you have a responsibility to that person. So you have to think of it like a job. They're not giving you money just to go out and play or parts. They are giving you parts and money to help them succeed by helping you succeed. And I think people are pretty shocked when they find out the responsibilities to keep those partnerships going.
[00:17:29.060] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah, and today, and obviously we'll get into it, but the atmosphere has changed a lot, too, just with technology and social media and all the stuff that goes along with sports now and marketing. The landscape has changed for sure in this business.
[00:17:51.480] - Big Rich Klein
Absolutely. What was the first year that you raced Baja, and what was the first race?
[00:18:01.860] - Johnny Campbell
Well, I'll step back just a bit. And this gentleman, Craig Adams, who was, at the time, my girlfriend's uncle, he And now she's my wife. But he introduced me to Baha. He was a Baha racer. He rode local Grand Prix, and then he also raced a thousand and some school races and stuff. And so he took me down there when I was 17 to go pre-run with him, pre-run a section of a thousand. And I was like, when we rode, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I got to do this. This is what I want to do with all the logistics and the maps and the speed and the terrain. I was like, wow, I want to do this. So that was when I was about 17. And then around that time, I did some local little Grand Prix down in like, Rosarito area in Baja. And then finally, in 1990, which I would have been '19, I signed up for the San Felipe 250. So that would be 1990. Yeah, 1990 was my very first score race in San Felipe.
[00:19:23.070] - Big Rich Klein
How did you do in that 250?
[00:19:25.980] - Johnny Campbell
I raced the 250 CC class Class 21, it was called. I think we were, I don't know, either 10th or 11th overall in the bike category. We were probably fifth, 250, something like that. We did okay, but we made stupid mistakes, got a flat tire, crashed, did some dumb things. I just didn't know. Even with my My friends that been racing down there, I still didn't know, well, what tires did I use? What tubes? I was just scrapping. We were scrapping anything we could just to make it happen. We thought a $500 entry fee was a big deal back then. It was back then, but now $500 is nothing. Anyway, we just made some stupid rookie errors, and But we had a good time, and I was like, Yeah, I want to gear up to try to do this. Then I didn't start racing score full-time until '91. Then '91 on a private-tier Honda, we did I think that year in '91, it was actually SCOR was team with HDRA. I think there was five races because we did Parker 400, we did San Felipe 250, the Nevada 500, gentleman, I think his name, Danny Co ran that under HDRA, but it was part of the score championship.
[00:21:12.150] - Johnny Campbell
Then we did the 500, Bob 500 and Bob And so we somehow pulled it all together at 20 years old. And my brother wrote, and he was like 16. And then one of my friends from SRA, Dave Donatoni. So we rode all the score races, learned a bunch. And by the thousand in '91, we were in the... We were pretty much in the hunt for the 250 class wins. It's like, okay, I think we're almost about being able to win that class by then with that experience. But we still made some errors and it's up at a thousand and ended up third 250, I think, six overall bike. And so we did pretty good. And The key to that race was I had… American Honda had a pit support program going for their four-stroke motor cycles, the XRs. And then I was... But we were racing a two-stroke 250, a CR 250. But a couple of their pits were Hill Topper Motorcycle pits, or Hill Topper Motorcycle Club pits. I knew those guys, and they pitted me down by Matomi in those remote areas. The rest of the time, we pitted out the back of my mom's pickup truck with my friends and stuff.
[00:22:34.680] - Johnny Campbell
But American Honda, Bruce Ogleby, he noticed, he goes, Hey, this 250s ran real well at the thousand. Who are these guys? And so the Hilltoppers said, Well, this is Johnny Campbell. This is what he does. So then I finally talked to Bruce at the very end of '91. And he said, Well, he goes, Maybe we can start doing some pit support for you next year and this and that. And then so, fast forward to January of '92, which was the Parker 400. I was planned to go out there, but I broke my ankle. So I didn't I ended up not racing. I was in a motocross race and broke my ankle, and I was super bummed I couldn't race Parker. But I went out there with Craig Adams to just help him whenever I was on crudges. And that's where I I first had interface with Mr. Bruce Oldenby from American Honda. And so at that point, he's like, Hey, he goes, Okay, you guys are going to San Felipe? I said, Yeah. He goes, Okay, we'll We will get you there. I said, Oh, okay. You're going to pit a two-stroke? He said, Yeah, we will pit you there.
[00:23:50.440] - Johnny Campbell
Okay. So we went to San Felipe in '92, and we decimated the 250 class. We were a third overall bike, and won the 250 class. And then the week after that, Bruce called me and he goes, Hey, I want to talk to you about racing for American Honda. So then we met up with him, my friend Dave Donatoni and myself. We met up with Bruce, and then that's where my relationship with American Honda started.
[00:24:21.940] - Big Rich Klein
Bruce, from that point, became the mentor?
[00:24:26.360] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. He was my boss. Because Because Braze was an interesting guy. He was super, super humble and super organized, super smart. And he he'd been racing in Mexico since '74. And he raced district '87, ' forever. And then he got into racing a thousand and ISD and this stuff. And then he had worked his way to a job through his racing at American Honda. So I was like, oh, that's That's awesome. This is what I want to do. And so Bruce, his main position there was actually a senior product evaluator and worked in the press department as well. So we worked with Honda R&D on new product, but he also did media relations. And part of his job, because at that time, American Honda allowed employees, if they had a passion, to pursue those passions. And so he Because their off-road team was like a backdoor program, they gave Bruce a little bit of budget to continue racing in Baja. And then at that point, Bruce knew that I needed to start getting some younger blood into this off-road program in order to build it because it was him, Dan Ashcraft, Chuck Miller, and they were all plus 30, late in the '30s at that time.
[00:26:01.320] - Johnny Campbell
And so it was like, Okay, if we're going to do this, we need to get somebody in. So just that timing and positioning that I had a desire to race Mexico, and I was racing a Honda already and love the brand. And we were doing really good on the 250, they're like, okay, let's get this kid in here and let's start training them up. And so Bruce, he taught me four strokes XRs and desert racing and logistics and racecraft and preparation, preparation, preparation for races like the thousand, which that's 45% of the deals is just lead in preparation before you go and do the race. So I had to learn all that. And when I was young, of course, we didn't really have all the tools to do it right or the money or anything. Bruce showed me how to do it frugally and on a budget, but still do it at the highest level.
[00:27:11.330] - Big Rich Klein
That's important. You carried that on through your whole career, from what I could tell.
[00:27:22.280] - Johnny Campbell
We never had a budget with a bunch of zeros behind it. It was always, Here's what we get, and let's make this work. And so we did that along with our Baja Pit support program for privateer riders. And we gained some sponsorships and things like that to help us facilitate everything. But it was... Then in 94 is when Bruce had me start working up there full-time in the program. And so I would start running, helping him run and navigate the pay for pit program we had for Honda privateers. Started my full-time racing career, and then I was really immersed into it full-time.
[00:28:17.200] - Big Rich Klein
At that point, you're doing it full-time. Like you said, you're totally immersed. What were the races besides SCOR, the SCOR races? What races were you doing, nationally and internationally?
[00:28:34.360] - Johnny Campbell
Yes. At that point in time, I was just concentrating on district 37, Desert Racing and Grand Prix Racing at a local level. I think we followed the AMA National Heron/hound Desert Racing for a couple of years. Then at that point in time, KC Foke started ramping up BITD. It started expanding it from just a bike organization to car and truck organization. We started racing some BITD soon after that.
[00:29:11.890] - Big Rich Klein
When did you get a chance to race internationally, outside of Mexico or the US?
[00:29:21.350] - Johnny Campbell
I think my first race in Europe was the international 6 Days Enduro, which would have been 1997. And Bruce was a big fan of that event. It was the oldest form of Enduro racing competition in pretty much the Olympics of off-road motorcycle racing, where all the countries the country's similar best riders. And we had to qualify to go to that and stuff. And so that Bruce was a fan because he knew once I went and rode in the mountains in Italy that year and rode rain and mud every year, we would come back to racing in the desert, and it would be if it rained or there was any mud in Baja or whatever, I had that experience, and I'd be a better asset to American Honda.
[00:30:12.850] - Big Rich Klein
How did you do in the six days?
[00:30:15.120] - Johnny Campbell
I didn't do that great. I finished it. I got a silver medal, but I wasn't very fast at it. I wasn't a mud rider and stuff. And so it was difficult for me. But just gaining the experience was really the reward for Honda for myself and gaining the toughness and what it took. And so I came back a stronger, better rider in person for that. And then the second time I raced outside of the Mexico or United States It would have been the 2001 Paris to Dakar rally that actually was Paris to Dakar, went through Europe and into Africa, and finished in Dakar, Senegal.
[00:31:17.050] - Big Rich Klein
And talk about what experience that was, because that had to be completely different for a young American writer to step into that stage.
[00:31:32.520] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. I guess one thing to just back up a little bit was in 94, '95, there's a gentleman named Franco at Chervy's in guy that builds all the plastics and stuff for dirt bikes. He and Casey Fouls hosted what they call the Nevada Rally. The Nevada Rally was America's first experience with rally navigation and Rally Racing. And so there was a handful of us Americans that went and participated in this event, and we got to read the road book and learn how to navigate off a road your roadbook and your mileage and make decisions without having a... Without pre-running. We were a professional at pre-running and racing and score and following ribbon and arrows. But we were novices is that trying to navigate off a roadbook. And so we did these things. And 94, I finished second, had totally huge difficulty navigating, but I was fast enough to overcome some of my deficiencies in navigating and finished second there to a Frenchman. And then in '95, we practiced a lot, and I came back and I won the race. And so then fast forward to I didn't pursue any Dakar rally racing or anything after I was exposed to that because I was concentrated on my Baja career.
[00:33:07.260] - Johnny Campbell
But then in the year 2000, we obviously had the Baja 2000. We won that. And then the Nevada 2000 as well in the same year. And Franco Chervies came over to spectate the Nevada 2000, which was a six-day stage race around the state of Nevada Much like the Nevada Rally was, but it was a marked course, best in the desert style. Franco came over, and about on the fourth day of that race, I ran into him in the parking lot in Reno after the fourth day, and he said, Hey, he goes... And I was running second in the event. He said, Hey, two more days. He goes, If you win this race, I'm going to take you to the Dakar Rally. I'm like, Oh, man. But I had a big gap to fill because Kalisaki and Destry-Abbott had a pretty good cushion on us at that point. But then that next stage, he crashed, and then I took over the lead, and then the next two days, rode the bike in to win the race. And so Franco came up to me at the end of the race, and this is the Nevada 2000, said, he goes, I'm taking you to Dakar.
[00:34:35.150] - Johnny Campbell
And I'm like, oh, man. So American Honda let me go to do it. That was the next January. We had just won the ball 2000, and in November. And so I went over to Italy, we tested the bike, and then I showed up. And January first, I was underneath the Eiffel Tower at 05:00 AM, raining cats and dogs, riding off the starting line for the Paris to Dakar rally. And that was a huge experience. Going through Europe is one thing, and it was just mostly transfers out of Europe. We had a couple of little special tests. But the real deal is when you jump on that ferry boat, you go across the Strait of Gibraltar, and you wake up and you're in Africa. Everybody, a big alarm goes off on the boat. You grab all your stuff You ride your race vehicle down the ramp, all of a sudden there's a pile of Africans with machine guns and point you need to go to the immigration office and stuff. And I'm just like, oh, my gosh, what did I get myself into? And so then I raced through Africa for the next 18 days and finished my first Dakar in eighth overall.
[00:36:00.430] - Johnny Campbell
My first privateer Honda bike. I had a really, really amazing experience there and just gained so much knowledge. And so that was my first experience, my first huge experience racing in Africa and seeing all these weird things. But all within that period, though, even from the Nevada Rally time in '95 till that time, I was following our good friend Jimmy Lewis around. And Bruce Ogilvie encouraged me. He goes, You need to go trail riding with Jimmy. You need to go riding with Jimmy. And so Jimmy and I started riding together at least once a week. We would do these rides that we called basically a half-day ride was I would leave my house in San Clemente. I picked Jimmy up in Costa Mesa. We drive up to Mahavi, and we ride up into the mountains from Mahavi We get back to the truck at 9:00 at night and drive home. We go, Oh, that was a half day. If it was a point where I got up at 4:00 AM, I would return to my house at 4:00 AM, that was a full day with Jimmy. Riding with Jimmy Lewis really was my schooling was really...
[00:37:25.860] - Johnny Campbell
Because Bruce knew Jimmy's grit in his toughness and also his riding skills on trails and stuff that I didn't have. I had high-speed racing skills from Grand Prix and Baja racing, but I didn't have these technical skills riding on the side of mountains and up in the snow and down this hill. Jimmy, he was really encouraging for my career and really elevated it to to the next level of toughness and grit and determination. From the Nevada Rallies, before the Nevada Rallies, through that Dakar, I followed Jimmy around everywhere. Even in that rally, Jimmy was racing for factory BMW, and he had gotten injured, but he was still in the race. It's like I followed him, picked him up off the ground numerous times in the big old boxer. We finished, I think He might have finished sixth or seventh, and I finished eighth in the '01 decar. But that was a huge experience.
[00:38:39.840] - Big Rich Klein
Jimmy said that you babysat him, made sure he made it through the race because he was whining a lot.
[00:38:47.860] - Johnny Campbell
Well, he'd crashed and he was banged up pretty good. I don't know. I forget what he had. He hurt his wrist real bad and maybe some ribs or something. But yeah, that big old bike he was riding, It was super difficult to ride if you didn't have full strength because that thing was a twin-cylinder, 500-pound dirt bike. It was huge and fast. If you didn't have the strength to pick it up, it was tough. I would catch up to him during the stage and then just follow along with him. If he fell over, I'd pick up the bike for him so he can keep going because he was a better navigator than I ever was. So he was fine with me.
[00:39:31.820] - Big Rich Klein
He's a good navigator, that's for sure.
[00:39:34.520] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. My goal was to finish in the top 10. Franco Chervy's goal was for me to finish the rally. I was like, I think I could finish the top 10. Halfway through that race, which was we had a rest day after day 10, I was in the top 10. I'm like, Okay, we can go home now. I'm good. But we had 10 more days to go. That race was so long and grueling. But yeah, so I went along and picked Jimmy up along the way when he fell over.
[00:40:11.250] - Big Rich Klein
He's a riot, that's for sure.
[00:40:14.440] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah, I love that guy.
[00:40:16.560] - Big Rich Klein
So you had a record 11 score Baja titles. When was that first Baja title?
[00:40:27.780] - Johnny Campbell
Do you remember what year? Yeah, my My very first Baja 1000 win was 1997, racing a XR 600, and it had a 628 kit on it. Honda made a power up kit for it.
[00:40:43.400] - Big Rich Klein
Was that '97? Was Was that at the beginning of the 17 straight Baja 1,000 wins?
[00:40:53.990] - Johnny Campbell
Yes, I believe so. Well, yeah, because I won. So we won me on the bike, personally. I won nine in a row with various partners. And then in 2006, we came out with a new 450X. My partners crashed. I ended up second. But at the same time, I had helped develop and put the program together for '06. So if you count that as a win, I think that's what people count as that 17. The 17 includes all the races that I managed, where I didn't race the motorcycle physically.
[00:41:48.410] - Big Rich Klein
Okay, I get it.
[00:41:50.470] - Johnny Campbell
The 11 was me actually racing on the bike.
[00:41:56.190] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, okay. I see.
[00:41:57.510] - Johnny Campbell
When people I don't say you won the race 17 times. There was a supporting role in '06, but from '09 through '13, I managed the team. I didn't physically ride. But that whole string added up to '17. I think that's where number it comes from. I didn't make it up. I call myself Eleven Time.
[00:42:34.900] - Big Rich Klein
Eleven Time. Okay, we'll go with that. Yeah.
[00:42:39.060] - Johnny Campbell
So the 17 gives people an illusion. I wrote it 17 times in one, but part of it was just managing the program. So, yeah, I had a string of nine in a row.
[00:42:51.870] - Big Rich Klein
Just managing. Just managing. I like that. Just managing.
[00:42:56.590] - Johnny Campbell
Coordinating the American Honda effort, yes.
[00:42:59.540] - Big Rich Klein
Yes, that's just managing. Just. That's a lot of work.
[00:43:05.340] - Johnny Campbell
Managing 100 volunteers down the peninsula.
[00:43:09.320] - Big Rich Klein
Right. When did you guys do your documentary?
[00:43:18.100] - Johnny Campbell
The True Champion story was built in I'm reaching back, sorry. No worries. I think it was '08. Yeah, okay. Bruce passed away in '09. We had it come out '09. So we built it from '06. Yeah, we built it from '06 to '08. It took like two years. And then we premiered it in '09.
[00:44:02.080] - Big Rich Klein
Did you get inspiration from 'Dust to Glory to do something like that?
[00:44:12.370] - Johnny Campbell
Not really. I mean, Dust to Glory was an amazing event, our project and stuff. And it really showcased the Baha'1, and the stories, and the people, and a little bit of it. But The documentary was just because of my character and the career and the people that impacted my life. I think it was more of a spiritual journey than it was in wanting to share that with people more than Dust to Glory or some other projects like that. Okay.
[00:44:55.180] - Big Rich Klein
And what was the... Let's talk about Dust & to glory a little bit. That was the first year I went to Baha. I was working with BFG Pits. And we had a camera crew in our pits the whole time. I think there was one 10-second shot from our pit in the whole movie, but it was still cool knowing that that was happening and that everybody It was just a vibe that race in 2003 with everybody knowing that they were putting together this epic film about Baja. What was it like working on it?
[00:45:44.790] - Johnny Campbell
I mean, wow, it was super cool. I relate it to a little bit of how Malcolm Smith was to On Any Sunday, and the fact that Anjabelle and I were the premier team. We were the guys to beat, and we raced for the factory and that. And so we were obviously showcased in that movie a lot. But yeah, it was fun. It was And it exploded score racing, and it exploded Baha as far as the reach. When that thing came out in '05, the entries from '06 '06 and '07 were just astonishing, like double the entries and stuff, because people go, I want to do that. That is the coolest thing in the world. So it was a big impact for sure on our sport.
[00:46:46.980] - Big Rich Klein
I remember those because by that time, I had hooked up with Pistle Pete's crew and was helping that team. And we just, the amount of Like you said, the explosion of people had no idea what was happening in Baja coming down to race.
[00:47:09.700] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. And I'm always very like... I mean, Obviously, I got hit up by a lot of people wanting to come do this race. How do we do this race? And it's like, Whoa, you need to slow down here. It's like you're from Tennessee and you've never Have been to the desert, nor less than in Mexico. And there's things that people just thought, oh, I can do this. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a little bit. This is racing in Baja, riding a motorcycle in Baja, it's quite possibly one of the most dangerous things you can ever do because of the risk, because of the remoteness. And people don't realize that. And they watch the movie and they go, How cool I want I'm not going to do this. But it's like, wait a minute. You're not going to Glen Helen Raceway where there's everybody can see you. It's like you're going to be in a remote area where there's not a road for you can't get to the pavement for 50 or 100 miles. And if you go down out there, what happens? Well, you're on your own. Nobody's coming to get you. Score is not going to get you.
[00:48:26.670] - Johnny Campbell
So I've had to explain that to quite a few people and just educate them to make sure they know before they go and participate. It's like, you need to have your own plan because guess what? There's no ambulance, there's no air support, there's no hospital. Nobody's coming to You know what I'm saying? I'm not going to get you. This is Baha, and it's the rawest type of racing you can do.
[00:48:52.140] - Big Rich Klein
In 2007, the team was up at Mike's Sky Ranch, and we had a some Canadians show up that were on quads, and they were pre-running as we were. And they were talking about how, Oh, this is easy. They'd only pre-run to that point. And it was a point-to-point race. And they were convinced that this was going to be an easy race for them, the 1,000. And I told them, I said, Well, in the middle of the night, When those headlights, it looks like a city is approaching you from behind. And at that point, you know the trophy trucks have caught you. You need to get off the track. Don't try to race amongst the trophy trucks. And these guys were going, Oh, the trophy trucks aren't going to catch us. We're taking off this many hours ahead of them. And I'm like, no. When the city lights show up behind you, you need to get off the race course. And they had no idea what the speed of a trophy truck could drive the terrain that they thought they could easily smoke a vehicle on. And B. J. Baldwin was there, and he had his luxury pre-runner.
[00:50:24.990] - Big Rich Klein
And I asked B. J. I said, Hey, explain to these guys What speeds you're doing? And so he took him on the road, the access road, into Mike's and said, Let's go for a ride. So he took him out and then came back into Mike's. And at that point, they came up to me and said, Okay, the lights look like a city coming up on you? And I said, Yes. At that point, they realized they were going to get caught. Because he explained, My pre-runner is only 75 % of the race truck, and I'm coming. And so they learned a lesson that night.
[00:51:07.460] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah, that's good. I know we got off-subject, but that's where All that leads to. It's like, Man, all these people that see it and they want to come do it, but it behooves them to ask some people that have been there before and to get a lesson.
[00:51:30.220] - Big Rich Klein
I suggest that people go and volunteer for a team, whether it's a bike team or a car team or a truck team, whatever. Just volunteer and get down there and see what it's all about first, instead of just showing up like that kid from Australia this year who did phenomenal, buying a used bike, or even if it was a new bike in San Diego, riding it down to La Paz and then racing back. That's a once in a lifetime thing, but it doesn't mean that everybody that goes down there is going to do that and be able to finish.
[00:52:12.500] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. On that subject, I've learned from all the Australians that I've come across in my career and stuff. Those guys are gritty, they're tough, and a lot of them have good riding skills. They have some pretty gnarly races over there. I've never been there, but only hearing about them and seeing images and videos and stuff. For me, I don't ever really worry about the Australians. Those guys are Bushmen. They're tough. Right. You're a guy like Tobi Price and Shane Watts and guys like that. It's like, they sleep in the dirt and wrestle with Cobras. I definitely don't worry about the Australians.
[00:52:55.060] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Well, you when you figure their mice are nearly 200 pounds, damn kangaroos.
[00:53:04.930] - Johnny Campbell
True story.
[00:53:06.260] - Big Rich Klein
So let's talk a little bit about your giving back to Baja.
[00:53:14.540] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. In which ways? Which one? Which subject?
[00:53:20.120] - Big Rich Klein
Any of them that you want to touch on? I know that there's a lot of racers that have programs where they raise funds for various organizations. What's your passion?
[00:53:35.300] - Johnny Campbell
Well, I have a couple of different subjects on this, or two categories. One is, obviously, the work that Cameron Steele and myself and a few others, Ken and Jean from Bulletproof Diesel. We've built a program around Rancho Santa Mart, our to school and Orphanage that every year, every July, we go down and we we do an event called the Baha Beach bash. And the Baha Beach bash is a trail ride. It's a dirt bike, motorcycle ride. But the main premises of it is raising awareness and raising funds for that school and orphanage. And we've been doing that, I think, It's been 15 years now. And, yeah, we've seen just impacting lives. We've seen this place grow to where It's become one of the most desired schools to attend in all of Baja, maybe even Mexico. The folks, Rod and Tina, and Bill and Kay, the founders, Rod and Tina, the directors now, the son and daughter of Bill and Kay, but they built this thing a long time ago. And so Cameron and his dad had been going down and they built a relationship with them a long time ago. But then when we started, this all started like when Mexico, Baja in general, had a bad rap.
[00:55:32.500] - Johnny Campbell
There was some shady things going on, and people getting held up, and some different things just locally from the border down to Intanada and stuff like that. And so people were scared in Mexico and stuff. And so between Tim Morton from Baha Bound adventures, Cameron and myself, we decided, you know what? Let's bring some riders down here and take them on a nice ride and show them that Baha is okay. Baha is fine. Baha is safe to a certain point. And so that's how we started it. But the orphanage was always part of that. I think the first year, we went down there, we scrapped together like, Hey, everybody pitch in, and maybe we gave them a couple grand or something. And then it became like, Oh, this is a really cool thing. This is really good. And we've seen kids grow up through their and go to university, and they become a valuable asset to society as a doctor and whatever. And so the funds that we have been able to accumulate over the years is quite amazing. We've been able to donate in this 15 years over $2 million. So in every year, what we tried to do is we tried to double what we gave the before.
[00:57:01.060] - Johnny Campbell
And so as the numbers got bigger, it was like, oh, my gosh, how are we going to do this? But all I have to say is being in it and also just having faith and watching it grow and watching what happens when you rely on God to just say, this is yours, we're here, we're working and have him just put the funds together and everybody pitching in. It's absolutely amazing what has happened there. And so being able to support that program and see what a wonderful program it is and how it's impacting lives, it makes me emotional. And it's awesome. And so we'll keep doing it until we can.
[00:57:55.860] - Big Rich Klein
That's great.
[00:57:56.140] - Johnny Campbell
So that's one of the givebacks on a special level, a spiritual level, too, of giving back to Baha for all the stuff that we go down there and enjoy is off-road racers and spend money down there and have fun and use up their roads and things like that. It's nice to give back to the community. And then on a sporting side of things, it's like I could count on two hands, like how many the young racers that I've been able to mentor and show them, boss, share my experience, share how to do things and watch them grow into positions in the industry and be an asset. And it's like, one of my favorite guys that came through my program was a guy named Timmy Wagon. And Tim Wagon, he was a motocross racer, brought him in, experienced Baja. After he finished his career, he's gone on to now he's KTM Motorcycle's team manager for their off-road team. And a lot of the stuff that he learned along the way, he applies to his team today. And so impacting young racers and showing them what I was shown and refining that, it's It's been awesome for me, myself, personally, to be able to share those experiences and watch these guys grow in life and beyond just the handlebars.
[00:59:40.800] - Johnny Campbell
So this is what we're supposed to do. This is our work, and it's important.
[00:59:48.870] - Big Rich Klein
How about your induction into Ormhoff? What was that like?
[00:59:56.280] - Johnny Campbell
For me, it was a really big point in my career because, obviously, when I started racing and started riding, motorcycling stuff, I could have never imagined where it would take me. But Just by hard work, paying attention, following through. We've been able to accomplish many things, break records, winning races, championships, taking me to Africa and all these places in the world to race and see different things. You do all these things, but it's like I never would have thought this would happen or anything. So when you're in it into a Hall of Fame, that is like one of the biggest honors you can have, I think, as a racer. And I've been on the other end of Ormhoff, too. I've been on the voting committees and stuff. Just knowing that racing isn't the only thing that that group is looking at, it's like, how have you impacted the sport? How have you impacted other people? What is your give back? That's how you get inducted.
[01:01:20.150] - Big Rich Klein
It's not just on wins.
[01:01:22.400] - Johnny Campbell
It's not just wins because I've seen great racers' resumes come through there, and it's like, Well, okay, He's a great racer, but what else? What has he done? Anyway, for me, it's a great honor and the utmost respect for all the inductees and guys and girls that have been in there before me. I have a lot of respect for that and respect for the administrating group that puts it together because it's not easy and it's not for profit. But to be recognized in that group is the talk for me.
[01:02:09.710] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, there's a lot of work behind the scenes going on that people don't realize. Barbara and Jen do a phenomenal job behind the scenes for the day-to-day running and then the gala itself. I'm just amazed at what those two ladies have done. Jen more recently, but Barbara for years now. And it's a great organization to be part of. That's for sure. I'm enjoying it.
[01:02:43.340] - Johnny Campbell
They do a phenomenal job, and I couldn't have more respect or be more pleased to be part of it.
[01:02:53.480] - Big Rich Klein
And I mentioned before we started to record that last I was waiting for this point. The last gala this last year, you were behind the stage, there was a partition, and I could hear somebody back there talking. I didn't know it was you. You were there waiting to go up on stage, and I was there waiting to go up on stage as well. And I took a step back because nobody was behind me. And then all All of a sudden, there you were, and I totally elbowed you, and I was shocked that you had appeared. And I wanted to apologize that. That's my one time getting to rub elbows, you might say, with Johnny Campbell.
[01:03:49.900] - Johnny Campbell
That's awesome. I don't remember.
[01:03:54.540] - Big Rich Klein
I was embarrassed by it. Just standing up there in front of a room of 700 people And here I am. I just elbowed you. It was like, great. Good job, Rich. First time up there. I did have one other run-in with Team Honda back in, I think it was 2007. There was a lot of construction going on on the highway going into San Felipe, and I think it was for the 250 race. And it may have been later. It may have been more like 2010. But you'd go off the main highway there, and it was all dirt roads, not even dirt roads. It was just a dirt path alongside the construction. And I was driving one of the trucks for one of Pistols' personal trucks, and I could see the team Honda van coming up toward me, and it was a box van, and it had really wide mirrors on it. And I'm looking at it and looking at my mirrors going, I don't think there's enough room here. And I tried the Baha Wiggle to try to get the mirrors out of the way, and we didn't. We both smacked mirrors. So I get back to camp and I go, Well, Pete, you're going to need a new mirror on the driver's side.
[01:05:11.980] - Big Rich Klein
But the good thing is, team Honda probably has the funds to replace it. And I said, So it's all on you. So anyway, that was my run in with team Honda and you.
[01:05:28.000] - Johnny Campbell
That was probably my driver at the time, and he was pretty aggressive.
[01:05:34.810] - Big Rich Klein
Well, we both were. Neither one of us tried to give up too much ground. Well, there was no ground to give up, though. I mean, they put too many cars in too small of an area. What's the future hold for Johnny Campbell?
[01:05:50.150] - Johnny Campbell
Well, in 2008, at the end of 2007, I was at a little bit of a crossroads. Yeah, so in 2007, I was 38 years old, and I was starting to think about the future of life after racing professionally on the dirt bike. What was I going to do? And there was 24-year-olds coming up and banging on my back door and doing things that I didn't want to do and stuff. So I'm like, okay. I knew there'd come to a point in time in my career when this would happen. And it's like, I don't want to go any faster. I've done it and whatever. So I started trying to think what to do. And at that point in time, Ogilvie, my boss and mentor, he had been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, really aggressive cancer. And so we started working on some things and talked a lot about it and stuff. And I said, I'd like to not commute up here anymore. I think I want to propose that I take the Hamas off-road team satellite. And that way I have more freedom to gain sponsorship and do some different things that I can't do in-house up here.
[01:07:27.170] - Johnny Campbell
And so he's like, okay, go ahead and Call the proposal and let's take a look at it. So we did and it looked good. And so that's when we started a Johnny Campbell Racing & Co. Race name is JCR Honda and proposed the Honda. And in 2008, we fired up JCR Honda, Honda's off-road racing team. So that's right when I took operating this, my boss was sick, and he had always planned on me taking over the team at some point. So I said, this is the right time. And he fought really hard for two years, and then he passed away on April 13th, in 2009. So in 2008, we started, and I raced the thousand that year as my final year to collect my 11th bottle of a thousand win, was the goal because the king, I say the king of all, which is Larry Rossler. He had 10 overall victories on a motorcycle. And so at one point when I was gaining, I said, I'm going to try to go for this record. That's when I went for... Winning 11 was goal so I can eclipse his record with tons of respect to Larry because he's an amazing racer, and he's gone on to win multiple more Bahava thousands in a four wheel and stuff.
[01:09:16.880] - Johnny Campbell
But that was my goal. And once I accomplished that goal, I was satisfied with my racing on the bike full-time. And so I started owning my own business and running the team and managing that and doing all the coordinating in the day-to-day. And I had my own shop in Saint Clemente at the time. And so that led into JCR Honda. So we raced off for a number of years after that, kept the tradition going. And then there were some other opportunities that came along. And so we started racing other faucets of racing, like the Dakar Rally, GNCC, which is a Grand National Cross-Country Series in the East Coast, and a bunch of different things. And so all the time, Honda has backed me and continued to believe in Johnny Campbell and Johnny Campbell racing. And so we still, to this day, we are racing off-road racing and race desert racing. We race things like the Mint 400 and stuff. But I haven't I've gotten back to racing in Mexico since I ran the team in 2013. It was our last year because I've acquired so much responsibility with the Decar Rally team and other faucets that we worked on within Honda, like production development and things like this.
[01:10:52.750] - Johnny Campbell
And so it's been difficult to get back there, and mostly budget-wise, too. But So right now, bringing you up the current is that, yes, JCR has won multiple championships, multiple Baha races, all sorts of different disciplines in off-road racing. And also we have our part of production development. And also one of my most proudest achievements next to 11 Baháʼí thousands, next to Hall of Fame inductions, is helping Honda and Ricky Brabeck to win the Dakar rally. And we, in 2020. And then we back that up this year again by winning on a newly developed motorcycle by myself and our team. Ricky winning his second Dakar Rally, in which in off-road motor sports racing, I don't think there is a higher crown of winning a race than the Dakar Rally. And so those are very, very dear to my heart to be participating and be a part of that. And also with Honda Racing Corporation for the Honda system and even all dirt bike racing, being part of HRC was always a dream of as a kid. And to achieve that has been amazing. So we'll be continuing to help develop the bike, develop riders, and go for some more to car win.
[01:12:46.520] - Big Rich Klein
Most excellent. And what is... Do you have a motto or something that you can share with listeners that might help impact them? Is there something like a never give up or something like that that you live by?
[01:13:07.360] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah, for me, and how I've been successful is that It's hard work. I think the younger folks today, especially, they need to know that it's a grind. If you want something, you pursue it. If you have a passion for it and a dream, go for But guess what? It's not going to be handed to you at all. You have to work your butt off for it. And that's what I did, and that's what I'm continuing to do, because the work's not done.
[01:13:41.700] - Big Rich Klein
Right. The work's never done. Excellent. Well, Johnny, thank you so much for spending the time this morning and talking with me and sharing your life and what you've accomplished in that life. And I'm honored to have rubbed with you. At the next gala, I hope to get a chance to shake your hand and say hello and maybe carry on this conversation personally.
[01:14:12.800] - Johnny Campbell
Yeah. Thank you, Rich, for having me on. I'd just like to part with this is that, for me, it's never been about me, me, me or I, I, I. I've always had a great team, positioned myself on a great team around me, great people, whether it's our Ball Pits support program, the mentors that I've been blessed to have, and especially my number one partner in crime, which is Faye Campbell, my wife for 30 years. Without her and without Bruce and without a number of people and friends and families volunteering and working side by side, all these achievements could not have been achieved without their support. I want to part with that is that it's not just you. It's about a community Maybe.
[01:15:16.840] - Big Rich Klein
Perfect. And with that, thank you so much.
[01:15:21.550] - Johnny Campbell
Awesome. Thanks, Rich. See you at the next one. Okay.
[01:15:24.070] - Big Rich Klein
Sounds great. Bye-bye.
[01:15:26.280] - Johnny Campbell
Bye-bye.
[01:15:27.630] - Big Rich Klein
Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on, or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message, and let me know any ideas that you have, or if there's anybody that you have that you would think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.