Conversations with Big Rich
Hear conversations with the legacy stars of rockcrawling and off-road. Big Rich interviews the leaders in rock sports.
Conversations with Big Rich
Mega-Rock Sports Supporter, Stan Haynes of Branik Motorsports on Episode 195.
Stan Haynes has rock sports under his skin; a long-time supporter of both series and competitors, Stan shares life in a family-run business with us. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
6:07 – I thought I was getting drafted to go die in Vietnam
11:24 – 57’ Chevy, I hot-rodded the heck out of it
15:52 – we still continue with Branik doing foundry work and ceating master tooling, molds, and dies making thousands of parts and a foundry and castings
19:50 – in starting a business you’re going to go through hard times, but be prepared and try to always have the attitude of don’t give up
28:49 – I started going to King of the Hammers in ’09 and two years later we’re racing
32:17 – I love free market, I love capitalism, it really enhances a business to be better.
41:52 – What a beautiful place of God’s Green Earth, everyone needs to experience the Rubicon, am I right?
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
All Automotive with Matt ClawsonAutomotive related topics. Anything from owning an repair facility to racing. Anything...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
[00:00:01.000] - Stan Haynes
Welcome To Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the offroad 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 Offroad. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active in Offroad. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call Offroad.
[00:00:46.150] - Stan Haynes
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.
[00:01:13.000] - Big Rich Klein
Have you seen 4-Low magazine yet? 4-low 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.
[00:01:39.780] - Big Rich Klein
On this week's episode, I have the pleasure to be talking with Stan Haynes. Stan owns and operates Branik Motorports, which is in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Branik Motor Sports specializes in race parts. They are a machine shop, fabrication shop, and they're Ultra Four racers. Stan, it's great to be talking to you today. I just want to say thank you for everything that you've done for the sport.
[00:02:10.200] - Stan Haynes
Rich, I sure do appreciate it. Thank you very much. I want to say Merry Christmas to you and everybody's going to listen to us. I'm looking forward to this.
[00:02:18.590] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, it's going to be fun. So first question I have for you, it's the easiest one for most people to answer, where were you born and raised?
[00:02:28.060] - Stan Haynes
I was born in a little town in Western Kentucky called Wickcliffe, Kentucky. I was raised the first seven, eight years of my life there. My dad left farming and headed north to Indiana and landed in Fort Wayne. And that's pretty much where I've been ever since as far as being raised there. And now that's where we're at. And throwing down some pretty deep roots here in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
[00:02:57.330] - Big Rich Klein
Right. And he left farming and he went to Fort Wayne. And what did your dad do in Fort Wayne?
[00:03:04.480] - Stan Haynes
He ended up working at that time, International Harvester, started in a factory and worked his way through school there and ended up an engineer at Harvester and retired from there.
[00:03:18.250] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, excellent. Okay. What were those early years like for you? I don't know if you remember a whole lot of Kentucky. That's about the time I think I can start remembering things. It was about six or seven. Was it a tough move for you personally? Do you remember?
[00:03:35.380] - Stan Haynes
Oh, yeah, I remember a lot of that. Of course, my mom and dad being from Kentucky, we were back several times a year visiting relatives. All of my mom and dad's side of the family are from there. We still go back and see relatives there and really have a real good bond with Western Kentucky and call that second home. But yeah, I remember quite a bit about it. I had a little bit of a transition coming up here as far as meeting new friends, but that didn't take long. We're good old Hoosiers now with a little bit of wild cat blood.
[00:04:19.190] - Big Rich Klein
There you go. Excellent. Those early years in school, would you consider yourself a good student? Or were you one of those guys that looked out the window just wanting to get outside?
[00:04:33.700] - Stan Haynes
I would say the latter there, for sure. School-wise, I was always focused on shop classes and took my first shop class in seventh grade as a foundry class. And ironically, that's where I ended up most of my professional life in foundries and pattern making. And it was a weird coincidence in that being where we went. But school-wise, I'm an average student. Probably up now wish I paid a lot more attention in some of the things that would benefit what I do now. But I don't have any regrets at all that way.
[00:05:25.630] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Okay. Did you have time to play sports or anything like that?
[00:05:31.100] - Stan Haynes
Oh, yeah. I played a lot of baseball, football, and played all the way into high school. And then right out of high school, I got pretty much three months out of high school. I was drafted into the army. So I didn't have a good chance to go any farther with any sports there. But yeah, I played more baseball than anything.
[00:05:57.870] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. And you said that you got drafted. So that was pre-'72, '71?
[00:06:07.710] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, I got drafted in '71, three months out of high school. It was a shocking time there. I thought I was getting drafted to go die in Vietnam, and that didn't happen. But thank God, and probably one of the most maturing things that I went through right out of high school and pretty much establishing work ethic. And it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot of stuff, some good, some bad.
[00:06:43.710] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Well, I think that any worthwhile experiences teach you both.
[00:06:49.990] - Stan Haynes
That's right.
[00:06:51.280] - Big Rich Klein
So when you were still in high school, did you work back then or was it mostly school?
[00:06:57.230] - Stan Haynes
I don't know. I've worked since I was about twelve years old in paper routes, selling tomatoes out of our garden. Pretty much Paper Routes went into park department, working for the park department. I loved outside, so all summer long I was working outside in the park department. Towards the end of high school, I was working in a parts department and a Dodge dealer. And about that time, I'm starting to get hooked on engines, cars, anything with wheels. And that's pretty much right about when I started really paying attention to motorsports and anything with a motor.
[00:07:45.720] - Big Rich Klein
And you mentioned shop classes. Besides the foundry class that you took, what other shop classes did you take?
[00:07:54.110] - Stan Haynes
Any they offered. Auto shop, metal shop, welding shop, machine shop, drafting. I majored in shop class.
[00:08:11.900] - Big Rich Klein
right. That's nothing wrong with that. I wish that curriculum would come back into the high schools.
[00:08:19.180] - Stan Haynes
Isn't that the truth? It's hard to find high schools teaching any skilled labor class.
[00:08:26.260] - Big Rich Klein
So true. And they don't... And it seems like they don't want to. They want to force the kids into technology, which technology is all fine and dandy, but the infrastructure of America still has to run.
[00:08:44.080] - Stan Haynes
It's one of the worrying things about today in school and education and especially in higher education, what's getting taught there is mostly an indoctrination, in my opinion. And skilled labor is suffering more and more every year, in my opinion.
[00:09:04.860] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I agree. So you get out of high school, spend three months working, I suppose, and then you get drafted. That was near the end of the draft because what they ended the draft in '73.
[00:09:20.400] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, I was one of the last.
[00:09:23.640] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:09:24.610] - Stan Haynes
Yeah.
[00:09:25.620] - Big Rich Klein
Because I was watching it. I graduated high school in '76, so I had older friends and people I was in scouts with and stuff like that that were getting drafted. I was really paying attention to what was going on. But you didn't have to go to Vietnam. Where were you stationed?
[00:09:45.730] - Stan Haynes
I had orders to go to Vietnam. The only thing I volunteered in the army was to go airborne, and I went to the 82nd airborne to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I still consider it Fort Bragg. But my MOS was 95 Bravo MP. That was MP in the 82nd Airborne. I spent all of my time really at Fort Bragg.
[00:10:22.780] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. All right. That's a lot safer. Although being an MP doesn't necessarily mean it's a safe job either.
[00:10:33.240] - Stan Haynes
Well, it worked out all good.
[00:10:39.420] - Big Rich Klein
And you spent four years and then did you re-up or did you just spend the four years?
[00:10:44.660] - Stan Haynes
No, it wasn't suited for me. I got out. And then when I did get out, I was able to use GI Bill and started my apprenticeship in being a pattern maker and really taught where I've been ever since and developing my skills in a machine shop and foundries and eventually starting Branik Motorsports.
[00:11:15.420] - Big Rich Klein
Right. So what was the first car that you had?
[00:11:22.770] - Stan Haynes
'57 Chevy.
[00:11:24.180] - Big Rich Klein
'57 Chevy. Hot-rodded or stalker?
[00:11:28.390] - Stan Haynes
Oh, I hot-rodded the heck out of it. I put a V8 in it, put a 283 at that time in it, and just did everything I knew how to do then. From there, several cars from the army, I got my first taste of off-road in the army and being an MP, our duty vehicle was a flatty Jeep, so a little M15 1A, and that was our duty vehicle. And that's when I first really got my good case of off-road and four-wheel drive.
[00:12:18.610] - Big Rich Klein
Fort Bragg covers a lot of property. So you guys had to... Did you have to patrol all that? Or was it just more around the housing and the barracks, all that stuff?
[00:12:34.800] - Stan Haynes
Like I said, the first case of offroad and four-wheel drive was taking the Jeeps out into drop zones and just going out and patrolling way out. Fort Bragg is the second biggest base in the United States, so hundreds and hundreds of square miles and plenty of area to go get lost. And yeah, quite a bit of area there to go out and play at and then patrol into. Okay.
[00:13:11.820] - Big Rich Klein
And when you got out of the military, the vehicle that you used that you had then, were you in a four-wheel drive then as well after you got out right away? Or did did you spend a few years back in two-wheel drive?
[00:13:34.660] - Stan Haynes
I went right into a 62-Willies wagon and started playing with that, putting bigger tires on it. At that time, the most we would do is suspension as maybe a spring over or something like that. But right out of the army, first year out, I had a 62-Willies that we went out and wheeled and did a lot of woods wheeling, but also had a street car. I've always loved offroads ever since getting out of high school and going to the army.
[00:14:18.100] - Big Rich Klein
Right. And when did you meet your wife?
[00:14:23.680] - Stan Haynes
Five years out of there, out of the army, I met her. She was from a little town outside of Fort Wayne and friends introduced us, and that was all she wrote with that. We've been married 48 years.
[00:14:44.470] - Big Rich Klein
That's awesome. That's awesome to hear. 48 years.
[00:14:49.250] - Stan Haynes
Yeah. Sometimes I can't believe it, neither can she. But we're doing well.
[00:14:59.140] - Big Rich Klein
That's excellent. It's excellent. So out of the military, you're going in, you get your GI Loan, you go to school to be a pattern maker or an apprentice, isn't it?
[00:15:13.130] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, I had a five-year apprenticeship. I finished my apprenticeship about the time I found my wife. And then from there, it's been hopped around to a few shops, to run a shop and running a foundry. And then about 20 years ago, I had enough of that. And we said, I'm going to do this on my own. And that's when we started Branik.
[00:15:36.460] - Big Rich Klein
And those early years of that stuff that got you that training to where you could open up, Branik, what was your favorite part of all that? Was there something in there that you just knew that this is what you wanted to continue to do?
[00:15:52.260] - Stan Haynes
Yeah. And we still continue to this day with Branik and doing the foundry work and creating master tooling, molds and dyes and creating a master pattern that makes thousands of parts and a foundry and castings. And we still do quite a bit of that. We do work for other off-road places that we've been affiliated with in developing their tooling for their products. But really, when it comes down to what we do now, it all really stemmed from going out and breaking stuff in the off-road world and trying to build it better and make it better.
[00:16:42.020] - Big Rich Klein
And you certainly done that.
[00:16:45.780] - Stan Haynes
You've certainly done that. We tried.
[00:16:47.890] - Big Rich Klein
When you first started on your own with Branik Motorsports, well, we should talk about how the name came about when you're Stan Haynes, how did Branik Motorsports come about the name?
[00:17:02.960] - Stan Haynes
Well, probably about 21 or 22 years ago, with Branik being 20 this year, we started in 2003. A couple of years before that, I was running a foundry and a pattern shop over in Ohio. And I was working through the week, long distance, and then coming home on weekends. And my kids were a lot younger there then, obviously. And I just came up with the idea we're going to start a little club just with my two kids and try to figure out a name for our small little club with my daughter and Brandon. My daughter's name is Nicole, and of course my son's name is Brandon, and came over with the acronym of Branik for Brandon and Nicole.
[00:17:59.690] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:17:59.900] - Stan Haynes
Like that. And Branik Motorsports was initially just a little private club with me and my two kids. Nice. And we would go play on the weekends when I was home. And after that little stint, I came back to Fort Wayne and said I had had enough. So I got to name a business something. So Branik stuck for us.
[00:18:29.220] - Big Rich Klein
And what was it like when you went from working from somebody else and collecting a paycheck to being the one that had to rely on making the money to pay the paychecks to keep the lights on and do all that. What was that initial time like?
[00:18:51.760] - Stan Haynes
In one word, panic.
[00:18:54.160] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:18:56.200] - Stan Haynes
Many times just starting out and we're fine. My wife was still working. Luckily, she had real good insurance so didn't have to worry a whole lot there and had saved up enough to be able to start something. I started with a manual mill, a Bridge port mill at Bridgeport Mill in a small way than a welder and with no clients. And initially, when I started out, I was just going to keep doing what I had been doing in the foundry business, making patterns in molds and dyes. We kept growing a little bit by a little bit. Started in 2003. When it got to about 2007, 2008, when everything hit the fan.
[00:19:49.160] - Big Rich Klein
The economy took a dump, yes.
[00:19:50.960] - Stan Haynes
It took a lot of sleepless nights back then. I had a pretty decent 401(k) for a minute. And that all got absorbed into not giving up. And we struggled through a couple more years. Brandon started for me about a year and a half after I started. I ended up paying the two and keeping him paid, keeping a couple of other guys paid. And there was a time there when I wondered, What the heck did I do? By doing this and leaving a pretty lucrative job and ending up with no retirement and decided we weren't going to give up and didn't. After the big downturn in the economy, we just kept kicking back. And to this day is I wouldn't have done it any other way, really. It taught us a whole lot about perseverance and not giving up and being frugal and not being stupid and spending our money. And it really taught us a lot going through hard times. That's one thing people should try to remind you to remember. And starting a business is you're going to go through hard times, but be prepared for that and try to always have the attitude to don't give up.
[00:21:26.030] - Stan Haynes
You can always find a way to get it done.
[00:21:28.320] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Yeah, I went through a couple of different hardships like that with businesses. At one time, I was a commercial photographer and got married and then realized that instead of... It was great when I was single. Back in the early '80s, if I made $8,000 one month and nothing for the next month or two, it didn't matter. But then all of a sudden, I get married, I've got a kid. It's like, No, I got to have a steady income. I got to know that I can pay that bill next month. I got out of the photography, then ended up becoming a landscaper and had a landscape business, and then we went into Desert Storm. All of a sudden, nobody wanted to spend money. Landscaping, even if you just bought a brand new house, the last thing you need is landscaping. It doesn't matter if you have weeds or lawn, if you don't want to spend your money, the last thing you're going to do is put a land landscape in. That failed. Then I moved on to other things and working for other people, and then finally got tired of everything and just said, I'm going to go start doing this rock-crawling thing.
[00:22:44.530] - Big Rich Klein
Then same thing, 2008, 2009, after the 2008 and the nine seasons, I was pretty beat up. My idea was not to continue after 2009. Luckily, I had met Shelly, and she convinced me to keep doing it because she was retiring, getting ready to retire. She said, Let me help you with this. I'm like, You don't want to get into this nightmare. I know that I've built, struggling onto you. I don't know if I want to continue. But she convinced me, and here it is today, still going. And it's the industry. There have been some tough times in this industry, but I think for overall, Jeep designing the JK really saved the four-wheel drive industry in the long run.
[00:23:44.240] - Stan Haynes
I've thought a lot about that myself. And really, I believe the whole industry made a giant leap with the TJ.
[00:23:53.280] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, absolutely.
[00:23:54.370] - Stan Haynes
And getting rid of the leaf springs and that changed everything. If you look at every… From that point on, it was like, boom, and Buggie start being developed back in '95. But got rid of the Lee Springs and the outlands coil springs, but at least we were looking at more flexed out suspensions. Not that I'm a big Jeep fan by any means, but they did change change the world in off-roads.
[00:24:32.240] - Big Rich Klein
Oh, I agree. The TJ was the first, I'd say, revolution that really stuck. And then when they created the four-door with the JK, it took people away from no longer was it just an off-road vehicle, something to use hunting and fishing and that stuff. It became a daily driver and the market opened up and people all of a sudden, the people that would never own a Jeep were buying Jeeps.
[00:25:03.870] - Stan Haynes
Yeah.
[00:25:04.710] - Big Rich Klein
And it became more of a, instead of it being a niche, it became a lifestyle. Everybody wanted that look. And I think the timing hit well because we were trying to recover from that economic turn down.
[00:25:19.750] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, it's exactly right. Yeah.
[00:25:23.190] - Big Rich Klein
So then you get through the turn down and you're... Well, up to that point, what products were you doing? The racing, there was no rock racing going on before then. There was a little bit with very... There was the rock crawling, and then there was a lot of rock crawling, and then there was just us with WeRock, and then Weavers. We're putting on XRRA. But besides desert racing, there was really nothing else going on in the rock sports up to that point. So what were you specializing in? Or what were your products?
[00:26:16.260] - Stan Haynes
Well, before the turn down in '08, '09, we were still struggling along in trying to be a pattern shop and cater to foundries. And all the off-road part of it was just part-time and hobbies. And what we did do with that, we were just trying to do our own parts, finding parts that were breaking and working that way. Then we've always followed all the way back to URoc and R-Rock and WeRock, eCor, always followed rock crawling, and we still do. I still love that technical part of wheeling and being able to navigate obstacles and do it for points. I just enjoy that a lot. The rock racing part of it, really, when we would go wheel, we frequency Badlands quite a bit, and we would always private race. We had run Orange Trail for time, and and wheel as fast as we can and just goofing off. But I really got serious about the racing part of it with XRA and the Weavers and really, really enjoyed that type of racing and got into dirt riot with you guys and really enjoyed that too. We're a mixed bag, really. And I still really enjoy rock crawling, but obviously we like going fast too.
[00:28:01.720] - Stan Haynes
We cater to both pretty much with our business. That's helped us out a lot along with what we make and doing a lot of axle work and suspension work. We cater to a lot of truck pullers, diesel truck pullers a lot. And so it evolved and then stayed the same, so to speak, with rock crawling and racing from really took off with XRRA and dirt rioting.
[00:28:36.760] - Big Rich Klein
Right. And what was the turning point for you to jump into the Ultra 4 racing, K-O-H?
[00:28:49.320] - Stan Haynes
Well, just going. I might just be in there. I mean, I started going to King of the Hammers in '09, and two years later, we're racing, and raced ever since until my last race was '22 at the Hammers with my grandson as my co- driver, and he's chomping at the bit to do it again and we're working on making that happen. But about a year and a half, well, two years now, I had back surgery and it knocked me out of the racing. But still 100 % involved in it, have countless friends that are racing still. And we support quite a few people and sponsor the sport, sponsor Rock Crawling. And it put us on the map and being in the racing and then proven that our parts are working because we run our parts.
[00:30:02.980] - Big Rich Klein
Right. And then you've also on the rock crawling side, you got a couple of guys that really good spokesmen because they were heavy hitters with Jesse and-.
[00:30:18.930] - Stan Haynes
Oh, yeah.
[00:30:20.300] - Big Rich Klein
For sure, Jesse. And then also with...
[00:30:25.590] - Stan Haynes
We've had quite a few. Right. And still they're close friends to this day. Jesse, we still work very close together with his portal product. And then I try to make it to a lot of the events we've been affiliated with a Supercrawl trail hero, all of his WE-rock experience and everything, as well as Ultra Four. He's real good at that too. But we partnered up quite a bit with his Hummer Portal product. We're putting axels in his portals now. And then we go back away with Rusty Bray and Matt Dies and Danny Rohrer and Kenny Blume and Justin Kielman and even Shannon Campbell back in the crawling days. So Brad Stiles, Doug Bigelow. A lot of those guys have moved on into Ultra Four and some have dropped out of Wheeling. But we've been… Derek West. Been around with rock crawling for a long, long time, and a lot of those guys move right and go fast.
[00:31:47.230] - Big Rich Klein
Yep, absolutely. You've got a good, steady business. You've come up with a lot of cool products, not just making things stronger, but actually developing things that work better. Every time I turn around, it seems like you got a bigger and better axel or joint assembly. Talk about how that stuff develops.
[00:32:17.250] - Stan Haynes
Really, out of necessity, we have really good competitors that I respect a lot. I really respect our competitors. They help make us better. I love the free market. I love capitalism.
[00:32:37.600] - Stan Haynes
It really enhances a business to be better, to not just rest on your laurels and think that you've arrived or anything. Our competitors help make us better. And also when the market needs something, we pay attention to that in our sport. And sometimes our competition needs our competition to, I believe, help them. People might get a little bit butt hurt by us being something similar or doing something. But also when the market is lacking a little bit, for instance, universal joints, we really worked hard on U-Joints and in developing the new 1550 stuff, enhancing the 1480 U-Joints. We're looking at 1350 stuff with the new JKs. Really don't have a lot of people working a lot with making aftermarket parts for the stuff for the JKs and the 1350 style axels. We're working on that now for U-Joints and axel shafts. But always looking to improve what need improvement and also look into what maybe people aren't really developing for the market.
[00:34:13.110] - Big Rich Klein
Okay. Just trying to keep up with the innovation.
[00:34:19.020] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, innovation. One thing we've done a lot with is 70.75 aluminum and trailing arms, leading arms, suspension links, and really trying to think outside the box is how products are developed and making them stronger. We do that a lot by just going through our own test bed and racing with the people that are helping us test our parts.
[00:34:55.350] - Big Rich Klein
One of the things I want to touch on is you guys have created a pretty good little family lifestyle racing group there in Indiana, team Indiana.
[00:35:08.470] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, there's 219 members in team Indiana right now.
[00:35:13.320] - Big Rich Klein
I didn't know you guys kept track of it.
[00:35:16.660] - Stan Haynes
Oh, yeah. It's our own little private group on Facebook, but it's phenomenal about how pretty tight, and it's a lot of people that aren't from Indiana either, but they seem to rally around us and we around them. And pretty well known for as far as a pretty good group of people to have a beer with or eat a chicken wing with or need pit help.
[00:35:54.570] - Big Rich Klein
Right. I always enjoyed when I still attended K-O-H's, always made sure I came over to Team Indiana Camp, which seemed to be a whole block in all directions, and to hang out with you guys because it was always fun.
[00:36:12.080] - Stan Haynes
Yeah. John Terhune, John Dawes, Jody Ford, Nate Gussy, they're always there and willing to help anybody that needs help. And really, that goes for all of Hammertown or wherever we might be. Pretty well known as far as being a pretty good friendly group of guys.
[00:36:34.940] - Big Rich Klein
And gals. Absolutely. So what are you guys working on for the future without giving away trade secrets? Is there any hotbed stuff? Is it the K-O-H parts or, like you said, the J-K, J-L, J-T stuff?
[00:36:56.160] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, we're working on the aftermarket part of those U-Joints and 1350 stuff axials.
[00:37:05.340] - Big Rich Klein
Like 35-spline, crow-molly, 44 stuff for JT's?
[00:37:11.530] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, right in the middle of developing that stuff. And really, to be quite honest, we're working on processes that we were having a hard time with keeping enough skilled people working with us. And I think we're suffering like everybody else does with keeping good people. It seems that people just don't want to work anymore, the younger guys. And so we've pretty much figured out to keep going and growing. We need to look more and more at automation. I hate saying that, but we're looking at robots to be able to load machines and machine parts and run lights out. We're making new joints right now with the lights out. So more and more just being more efficient. I think that's probably the biggest thing we're working on right now. We're working with all USA materials, making sure that materials are as good as we can get them and suppliers. I'd say most of our focus right now is being more efficient on what we're making. But as far as new product coming, I think the JK and the JT stuff, as far as axel shafts, it seems to be getting to be more and more our forte and making that stuff bigger and better.
[00:38:48.420] - Stan Haynes
So focusing on getting better at doing what we do.
[00:38:55.330] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. With that innovation and automation and that a change also comes with a changing of the guard, you might say at Branik?
[00:39:13.800] - Stan Haynes
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, funny to say that 2024 is going to be a turning point for us as far as changing guard. I'm right in the middle of turning over quite a few of my duties to Brandon, and he's going to take the helm here in 2024 and working on becoming part owner and eventually full owner. And I'm looking at doing a little bit more playing, more of the promo stuff for the business, going out and seeing more. I want to make more WeRock events this year and hopefully, Ultra Four has got things going this year that I can visit and be a representative for Branik at some of these events. So looking forward to that and just taking a different role and being not going to leave the business, I don't think I'll ever full out retire, but be able to breathe a little bit, like you're trying to do with WeRock and live life and enjoy it, and then at the same time be able to hand over a good, healthy business to Brandon.
[00:40:34.770] - Big Rich Klein
Right, exactly. And that's exactly what you said that we're trying to do with Jake Good taking over WeRock, which, like we talked about before I started recording is that I think that the sport of rock crawling is in good hands with Jake, and we would love to see you out at the events.
[00:40:59.100] - Stan Haynes
Absolutely. Yeah, I agree. I've voiced that to Jake already. I've mentioned it to Jesse a few times. I know I have made a few events with Jesse. Back in the day, I would go to the events with him before we were really ever involved or sponsored in the events, but would go with him and help. And that's really worked. With Jesse, Troy Myers, Shupe back in the day, that's where we're where I got hooked on competitive rock sports. And like I said, that evolved into the go-fast stuff. But I'll never leave rock crawling. It's so much fun.
[00:41:44.780] - Big Rich Klein
Are you looking to get more time on the trails? I know that, was it the last two years you've been able to make it out to BooBash on the Rubicon?
[00:41:52.770] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, boo-bash. I don't want to miss that ever again. I'm wondering if we're going to get past 24 and there ever being another boo-bash, but I want to hit Fort Ice. I want to hit Rubicon for the short little distance it is of 20-something miles, I guess it is. What a beautiful place of God's Green Earth. Everybody needs to experience Rubicon, am I right?
[00:42:23.320] - Big Rich Klein
Absolutely. I can tow my Jeep from my front door to Loon Lake in one hour.
[00:42:31.890] - Stan Haynes
Oh, my.
[00:42:32.890] - Big Rich Klein
That's how close I am. When you want to come out here, I'm going to try to get to BooBash this year. Right now, it's scheduled on one of our events, I think, but I'm going to see if that's when I have to be at. I'm hoping to do BooBash because it looks like the last one because it looks like Mike's going to be moving.
[00:42:52.640] - Stan Haynes
Mike's from Florida.
[00:42:54.680] - Big Rich Klein
Yes. There's not a lot of rocks in Florida.
[00:42:58.020] - Stan Haynes
We're.
[00:42:59.640] - Big Rich Klein
Going to have You're going to have to get him to go to Alabama or to Georgia or something and put on another ride.
[00:43:07.370] - Stan Haynes
Yeah. I did want to say too, as far as the Rocks sports is we've got more and more involved here in the last couple of years with Trek again at the Badlands.
[00:43:19.180] - Big Rich Klein
Right.
[00:43:19.890] - Stan Haynes
I really want to put a shout out as far as Trek. It's about as grassroots as you can get with GoFast, Woods and Badlands is just one heck of a place that you've been there many times, and I got to say, for being here in the land of corn in Indiana, Badlands has terrain that pretty much covers everything we do in rock sports: dunes, woods, rocks.
[00:43:55.220] - Big Rich Klein
Water, mud.
[00:43:57.150] - Stan Haynes
A lot of water and mud, yeah. Yeah. But what a good group of guys there with Kyle and Larry. It's good grassroots racing. I just want to put a shout out about Trek too. XRRA was fun, so is Trek. And it's distance endurance type racing and they're.
[00:44:25.900] - Big Rich Klein
Good people. Yeah, Kyle's good people. I first worked with him back at the first event that he did back in Paragon.
[00:44:35.430] - Stan Haynes
In Paragon, yeah.
[00:44:36.690] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, me and Bob Roggy went out there and helped them put on that first event.
[00:44:41.740] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, he's a real good guy. That place is growing like crazy. He's a number one side-by-side dealer in Indiana right now out of Badlands. Wow.
[00:44:53.850] - Big Rich Klein
He's doing good.
[00:44:54.980] - Stan Haynes
In Flaherce. Flaherce in Can-Am.
[00:44:58.570] - Big Rich Klein
Excellent. I'm going to throw it out there. If you want to come out and go to the Rubicon or Fordyce or anything like that, let's talk ahead of time. Like I said, I'm going to try to do boo-bash. But after Mike leaves, you're still welcome to come visit. We're going to be here in Placerville for looks like the duration. We're real excited about getting some of our friends. I rarely ever have wheeled the Rubicon since I've been a promoter during the summer because I've always been so busy and always traveling, always on the road. I've always done my wheeling late fall, early spring before the seasons get going or the winter. I'm looking forward to those days where I can just—I did it a couple of times this year, just jump up on the trail for a few hours, not even run the whole trail. Just go up for a day and have a picnic. I'm looking forward to more of that. But anybody that's listening to this, if you want somebody to go on the trail with you, let me know ahead of time. If I'm in town and not at an event, I'll do it.
[00:46:16.310] - Big Rich Klein
I'll go. I'll help. I'll guide.
[00:46:20.580] - Stan Haynes
It's strange, the last couple of years, I've gone two years now, and I've kicked around having out there and leaving it out there just to come back and forth to be able to wheel out there. It's just amazing. And there's no way really to describe it unless you're there. I would do the same is invite anybody to be able to go out there. If you haven't gone, it needs to be on a bucket list for sure.
[00:46:52.720] - Big Rich Klein
Absolutely. While the Rubicon is beautiful, it's not the most difficult trail in the area. I would throw that at Fordyce. Yeah. Fordyce is a much more difficult trail. It's relentless. The Rubicon is scenic. There's a couple of hard spots, but it's not like being at the hammers or anything, that's for sure.
[00:47:16.170] - Stan Haynes
Right. Rubicon is not difficult until you have to daisy chain out from all the way out like we did this last year. We pulled a forerunner out all the way from a dirty dozen campground all the way out to the loonside. It was an all-day deal. It was all-day. Daisy chaining a dead forerunner out from Lona Scott. She'll enjoy me telling this, but she broke and we got her out. And it was quite the experience. Something I'll never forget being able to recovery all the way out of Rubicon.
[00:48:02.190] - Big Rich Klein
Right. Yeah, she's not too far from where I'm at. I think she's in Diamond Springs, which is just over the next ridge.
[00:48:10.900] - Stan Haynes
Right. Yeah, she's not too far from there. Yeah.
[00:48:15.930] - Big Rich Klein
Well, is there anything that you want to touch on that we haven't touched on? Can you think of?
[00:48:22.450] - Stan Haynes
No. I just want to tell everybody that's listening that I've met so many good people through my experience with Offroad and what you do, Rich, I want to thank you for what you do. And I want to thank Dave Cole and Jeff Knoll and everybody, the Weavers, all the way to Kyle Knosp and everybody that's been involved with this crazy sport that I've met so many really good people, which have become customers, friends, lifelong friends. And the experiences that I've got is I sometimes just have to sit back and wonder how it all happened, but that all happens with the people you're affiliated with and the good friends that I've made through the years.
[00:49:25.520] - Big Rich Klein
Yeah, we're blessed in this industry.
[00:49:27.950] - Stan Haynes
Absolutely. Dave Cole gave me the opportunity to go to China. I would never thought I had ever gone to China before, but….
[00:49:35.860] - Big Rich Klein
What was that like?
[00:49:36.920] - Stan Haynes
Oh, my goodness. One of those deals that I'll never forget, when I did get back to Seattle from that trip, I literally dropped down and kissed the good old earth that I was back. But just the friendliest people you could ever imagine under a government that you can't imagine either. And I think about Chinese people a lot, especially in today's climate. There's good people there that really don't know any better. They don't know freedom. And sometimes I wonder if people here understand the freedom we have that we're able to do and what we're able to do. I think there's a whole lot of people in this country that really don't enjoy the freedom that so many people have fought for and died for.
[00:50:44.710] - Big Rich Klein
I agree. And that's unfortunate that they don't understand. Are there problems in the United States? Yes. Absolutely. There's problems everywhere. But to think that this country is a bad place to live is absolutely ridiculous.
[00:51:09.340] - Stan Haynes
Yeah, we just got to hope that everybody wises up about it. Everybody has personal responsibility. It's a one big thing for me is if everybody would be responsible for themselves and treat others as you'd want to be treated, we would be okay. I'm always hopeful. I'm optimistic it's all going to be good. And as long as we can keep working together to make that happen, it will.
[00:51:41.830] - Big Rich Klein
I agree. So Stan, I want to say thank you so much for spending this evening, early evening with me and talking to our listeners. I'll let you know that this podcast will air next week. Yeah, next week. So listen for it. I'll send you a link and everything, and you'll share it across your social media so more people can get to know Stan and hopefully bring you some more business that you can handle.
[00:52:23.010] - Stan Haynes
Rich, I really appreciate it myself, and Brandon does too. He really sends his regrets as far as not being able to do it here tonight. But like you said, maybe in a year or so you'll be talking to him and seeing where we went from this point.
[00:52:39.010] - Big Rich Klein
That would.
[00:52:39.380] - Stan Haynes
Be great. I said, Hello and Merry Christmas. I want to tell everybody out there to make this Christmas a special one. Everybody hug your family and be good to each other. Thank you so much, Rich.
[00:52:55.720] - Big Rich Klein
All right. Thank you. Amen. I love that. Yes, sir. All right. Take care and we'll talk later. Thank you.
[00:53:02.620] - Stan Haynes
Thank you.
[00:53:04.670] - 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. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gust of you can. Thank you.