Off-road icon, Casey Currie in Episode 303

Off-road icon, Casey Currie, joins Big Rich to trace a life lived on dirt – from a family compound of builders and racers to Dakar glory and beyond.  Casey shares how a tight-knit Currie clan shaped his love for muscle cars, Jeeps and racing.

From early JeepSpeed wins and a college-born moto business to full-time short course with Monster Energy. From hard lessons at Dakar 2019 to a Dakar 2020 win.  With a Post-COVID pivot and taking the helm at Currie Enterprises, Casey is aligning racing with product development and brand partners.  The Legacy of his grandfather’s ORMHOF induction and Casey’s vision for a foundation supporting youth outdoors and land use; Casey is bringing both together to live life fully.

Transcript

[00:00:05.100] 

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.

[00:00:46.460] 

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.

[00:01:12.240] - Big Rich Klein

My next guest is a racer with a deep family history in off-road. From racing motorcycles as a kid, to desert, to short course, to rallies, to rock racing.

[00:01:23.860] - Big Rich Klein

Casey Curry has won at every level. Hello, Casey Curry. So good to have you on the podcast. We've actually had a few conversations over the last year, and I'm looking forward to this one more than the others.

[00:01:39.340] - Casey Currie

I appreciate it. I'm glad to be here.

[00:01:42.460] - Big Rich Klein

So there's a lot of exciting things that are happening right now. Dakar, which is one of the things that we're going to talk about with your history as well. And I thought the timing of that was really good to do this during this time. But I want to get started with the first question that I ask everybody, and that was, where were you born and raised?

[00:02:02.100] - Casey Currie

I was born and raised in Orange County, California, in Anaheim Hills.

[00:02:07.520] - Big Rich Klein

And that's a family compound, if I remember right, with talking to your Uncle John, that everybody's got their houses in the same area? Was that where you grew up?

[00:02:21.220] - Casey Currie

Yeah, grew up on the same street. So my parents and then both my uncles, and then my grandparents at the top. All right. So all neighbors All neighbors.

[00:02:30.680] - Big Rich Klein

All neighbors and all your cousins.

[00:02:35.180] - Casey Currie

Yeah, I grew up with every... Our cousins grew up with everybody on the same street.

[00:02:40.180] - Big Rich Klein

And age-wise, how big a gap is there in all those cousins?

[00:02:46.460] - Casey Currie

Almost all of us are from right now, about two years.

[00:02:52.940] - Big Rich Klein

Wow.

[00:02:54.280] - Casey Currie

We have one cousin that's 10 years younger, but for all the other cousins are within two years.

[00:03:00.380] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. That makes it quite the tribe.

[00:03:04.720] - Casey Currie

Yeah. And then almost all of us have kids within two years apart as well. So we got to... It's a never-ending family chaos.

[00:03:14.920] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I guess. Pretty cool.

[00:03:18.360] - Casey Currie

Yeah, it's good.

[00:03:19.920] - Big Rich Klein

You never run out of friends to play with that way.

[00:03:22.620] - Casey Currie

Right. Yeah. No, it works out really well.

[00:03:25.500] - Big Rich Klein

So what was it like growing up in the Curry compound or Curry family? Motorsports has been a big part of your family for everyone. I would imagine that was the first thing you even probably remember.

[00:03:45.120] - Casey Currie

Yeah. My grandpa retired from working full-time in 1983, which was the year I was born. Then we all lived on the same street. Obviously, I grew up around him building a super cool and muscle cars and Jeeps. And then obviously, my dad and my uncle's running and owning Curry enterprises. They've just always been around it. So my dad... It's funny. I'm a a unique dynamic of all my uncles. But I think that's just from growing up, really around my grandpa. But my dad is more of a racing guy. He's always had a passion for racing. And then my uncle John has a passion for crawling and rocks. And then my other uncle has got a passion for muscle cars and performance cars. So for some crazy way, I've fallen in love with all three.

[00:04:40.120] - Big Rich Klein

And that's a great way to be. Absolutely. What was it like when it came to outside of the compound, say, or the neighborhood, and going on vacation, was it all three families together, or did everybody do their own thing or how did that work?

[00:05:05.140] - Casey Currie

We grew up... My grandparents bought a river house in Mahabe Valley. Really, we grew up going to the river as a big old group. That's always been our family vacation spot. It still is to this day. But we did a lot of just individual families. I wouldn't say a lot, but we would go on family vacations. But when it came to anything off-roading, it was always done as a group. Our vacations are going to Johnson Valley and going to Glamis. We did a lot of stuff as a complete group, so very tight-knit family. It's pretty crazy that my dad and uncles, they went to lunch every day together their entire working career. Whether you're working or just living life, there was a lot done as a family.

[00:05:59.380] - Big Rich Klein

Right. That is awesome. Everybody still talks to each other.

[00:06:05.400] - Casey Currie

Yeah.

[00:06:06.240] - Big Rich Klein

Most families can't say that.

[00:06:08.600] - Casey Currie

Right. Yeah. No, it's cool. For me, I'm blessed. Obviously, my dad's a super big advocate for my racing career, and I'm now running Curry enterprises. He's a big supporter, but my uncle John is a humongous fan and supporter of my racing career as well. We spend and cherish a lot of time together in the Rock, so I really enjoy and love King of the Hammers, and I love that atmosphere, and so does he. I actually spend more time with him in the desert than I do with my dad as far as not When it comes to jeeping and stuff like that, my uncle and I do a lot of it together.

[00:06:51.340] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And yeah, I've seen you guys up on the Rubicon together and stuff, and out at Easter Jeep.

[00:06:58.060] - Casey Currie

Yeah. So now we're always jeeping together.

[00:07:01.120] - Big Rich Klein

Great. So what was school like for you growing up? Were you one of those that was a good student or were you always looking out the window waiting to get to the desert?

[00:07:11.920] - Casey Currie

Right. I mean, it's pretty... Yeah, I was a C student for Casey, but I was just an average student. Everything was normal. Everything was normal up until college. I'm the only courier that basically did not graduate college. I went in my senior year. My junior year, I started a motorcycle business. And by my senior year, I had five employees working for me full-time and trying to graduate college. And I literally finally my senior year, went to the family and said, It's not working. And I basically quit college my senior year to just run my business full-time, and the rest is history from there. But I loved math, and I like numbers, and I enjoy process, but I also enjoy business.

[00:08:09.500] - Big Rich Klein

What was your primary focus while you were in college?

[00:08:17.020] - Casey Currie

Business management and marketing.

[00:08:20.120] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, makes sense.

[00:08:21.290] - Casey Currie

So when Cal State, Pollerton, it was a lot of fun. That's how I started my business was I wrote a marketing strategy for creating an online company. When I did that, I took that and started a business that started making money online pretty crazy fast.

[00:08:42.840] - Big Rich Klein

Awesome. Do you still have that business?

[00:08:45.080] - Casey Currie

No. Sold it. So that's another crazy, funny story. It was 2005 and '06. And then 2007, I was funding my stadium, Racing The Stadium Series stuff. I was funding my racing with my motorist shop, and my dad went to Kurt Leduc and was like, Hey, tell Casey that he should quit racing to focus on his business because he ain't listening to me. And Kurt came to me and basically was like, look, you're never going to be successful running two companies at the same time as their startups. As you get older, you can start new companies, but you can't go racing and run a business. So I literally my dirt bike shop the next day and sold my dirt bike shop and went and committed to going racing full-time, which was lucky because in '09, the economy crashed and motorcycle industry basically went under.

[00:09:44.580] - Big Rich Klein

That crash hurt a lot of us.

[00:09:48.760] - Casey Currie

When that crashed, I got crazy situation, but ended up getting sponsored by Monster Energy in 2008, at the end of '08, beginning of '09. That was the beginning of my racing career.

[00:10:02.420] - Big Rich Klein

Awesome. And as a professional, because then you had- Yeah, getting paid to race. Right. Yeah, exactly. So let's talk about the real early years. What was your first racing experience?

[00:10:19.660] - Casey Currie

I grew up racing dirt bikes, so my dad and my uncles all raced dirt bikes. That's how they all grew up racing was dirt bikes. And then I grew up racing dirt bikes. And then when I was 15, the Jeep Speed Series became a thing. My dad and uncles built us one Jeep speed for me, my brother and my cousin. From there, we raced Jeep speed for a couple of years. Then had some fun with that once. I think we won a championship or two, won a lot of races. Then from there, I actually went back to racing motorcycles professionally for a year before racing trucks.

[00:11:00.000] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:11:01.660] - Casey Currie

So I've done a little bit of everything.

[00:11:05.760] - Big Rich Klein

And I know that you're racing off road in four wheel now. Did you prefer to wheel, or do you prefer the four wheel?

[00:11:17.920] - Casey Currie

So I never raced. I'd say never, but basically, I never really raced off-road dirt bikes. Okay. So I was more of a motor... I did motocross and super moto, but I never actually raced. I never really I did some small events, but I never raced off-road. Always loved off-road racing. But the thing about off-road racing, in 2010 to, I'd say, 17, off-road racing wasn't really as popular as the short-course stuff was. And the money was in Shortcourse at that time. So a lot of my time was trying to figure out a way to raise Shortcourse. Okay.

[00:11:56.660] - Big Rich Klein

And Shortcourse, we're talking the Torx series, Crandon, and all the big houses, right?

[00:12:02.080] - Casey Currie

Yeah, correct.

[00:12:03.180] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And of those tracks, what was your favorite track?

[00:12:09.440] - Casey Currie

I was super successful on bigger tracks like Crandon, where it's very flowy and had a lot of high speed. But the crazy part about it is I actually liked the tight technical tracks better. Had good success in all of them. Very blessed to win quite a few races in all of them. But I would say that I was good on the long tracks just because I think just experience of going fast and having the no fear. But I like jumping and I like technicality. So I think those tracks were really fun to be on those tight technical tracks.

[00:12:46.700] - Big Rich Klein

Was there somebody that was a non-family member who was somebody that you looked up to and tried to model yourself after at least racing, say, short course?

[00:12:58.080] - Casey Currie

Not so much short course, but I mean, I definitely... I mean, like a... I mean, Robbie Gordon would be the guy that raced, built trucks, and did it his own way. And that was something that was very unique, where basically I, besides my first two years of racing, I've always built and designed my own trucks. So great people around me, but I like the model of racing what I build.

[00:13:27.020] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Okay. Are you doing that today?

[00:13:31.760] - Casey Currie

Yeah. So the current vehicle, my Trophy Jeep, basically is a crazy contraption of buying a used vehicle, cutting it apart and making it my own. And then, I mean, now it's the point where everything, there's nothing on it that... Yeah, it's all crazy ideas, basically. Okay.

[00:13:48.720] - Big Rich Klein

And so you're racing, you're racing, then you go from racing, you start racing trucks or cars and trucks at about 15, 16 years old.

[00:14:04.480] - Casey Currie

Yes, so I did- Short course that was? No. So did from... Race dirt bikes. I raced dirt bikes up until I was... I raced dirt bikes from, shoot, I mean, five or six years old, all the way up until I was in it. I raced dirt bikes from seven years old till I was probably 15. Then I raced Jeep speed from, shoot, 15 to 18. Then we didn't race anything when I was in college for two years. I didn't race anything. Then when I was 21, I raced professional motorcycles. Then basically, I took a year off. Just very unique deal with Nissan happened when I was 22. Then basically, when I was 23 on, that's when I started racing trucks.

[00:14:58.180] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. In That was running the Pro-Lite?

[00:15:03.480] - Casey Currie

Yes, that was running the Pro-Lite.

[00:15:04.830] - Big Rich Klein

And you were racing a Nissan then?

[00:15:06.460] - Casey Currie

Is that how you said it? Yeah, that's another crazy opportunity that came about. I literally had a dinner meeting. I ended up designing a concept vehicle for Nissan for Cema, and they liked it a lot. I ended up getting a... I got a full sponsorship before I ever drove Wow.

[00:15:32.940] - Big Rich Klein

Can you talk about that a little bit on how something like that comes about? Because that's unheard of.

[00:15:39.140] - Casey Currie

Yeah. Basically what I did, what ended up going, I was meeting with... My dad was meeting with some I was like, and they were going over there. They were having a meeting the next day with Nissan about a concept vehicle for CIMA. I think it was 2005, the new Nissan Frontier, completely different. A brand new truck, brand new. Everything was new, was coming out. They had all these ideas. I was like, Man, if I ever had this idea, I'd do this short course theme truck that looked like a truck, but it's a pre-runner, but it focuses on short course, which they were a big advocate for. I ended up working four months, and I built a concept vehicle for CEMA, unveiled it at CEMA. During that, you have to give all these presentations. I ended up giving a full presentation in front of all these corporate board members and all these marketing and corporate people. And at the end of it, the super amazing human being came up and was like, dude, everything you've done for the brand is fantastic. Your vision is amazing. And we heard that you would love the opportunity to race.

[00:16:51.480] - Casey Currie

And if you ever want to race, you would have Nissan support from the beginning. So basically, they covered half the cost of anything. They would allow me to race for the factory team and cover half the cost upfront by the way I spoke about the brand.

[00:17:08.580] - Big Rich Klein

Was that the CEMA Battle of the Builders?

[00:17:13.340] - Casey Currie

No, that was way before that. That's shoot, this was 15 years before that. Oh, wow.

[00:17:17.280] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:17:18.540] - Casey Currie

No, this is just a full concept. This was back when CEMA, people were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the OEMs, and actual OEMs were paying them money, not second to They're separate companies. Right.

[00:17:32.340] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And that's pretty insane that you got a deal like that. And how did you fulfill that?

[00:17:44.580] - Casey Currie

It actually took a year. Didn't get anything. Actually, crazy enough, Nitto Tires came on. Ended up working a deal with Nitto. Right time, they had some new tires coming up that they were looking at trying to figure out how to get on TV for a mid-size truck. They ended up coming on as my title sponsor and literally fulfilled the gap to help fund the program. I drove for the factory team my first year.

[00:18:11.720] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. With that, what racing were you doing? Was it just the short course?

[00:18:19.520] - Casey Currie

Just short course. It was just short course. Yeah, show up with a helmet and drive.

[00:18:23.580] - Big Rich Klein

Wow.

[00:18:25.860] - Casey Currie

Yeah, pretty crazy. That was back in the heyday. I I didn't think I was more on the in scale of it, but the sponsorship dollars back in the day of short course was unreal. I mean, even now, it was incredible versus what it is today in some aspects.

[00:18:42.200] - Big Rich Klein

Especially with the OEM involvement.

[00:18:48.020] - Casey Currie

Big time. Yeah.

[00:18:50.960] - Big Rich Klein

And then that all went away with that economy.

[00:18:58.440] - Casey Currie

Yeah, '09 and basically Basically, everything dwindled away after that. I mean, yeah, the next four or five years, everything changed. Right.

[00:19:07.640] - Big Rich Klein

And what was that time frame like for you?

[00:19:12.480] - Casey Currie

Well, the crazy part for me is that I got picked up I had Nissan, or excuse me, Monster Energy, and after that, it allowed me to... Yeah, my program blossomed. And then when Nissan went away, that's okay. Then when Nissan went away, when things changed on their side, It's actually a crazy story. I ended up, I was like, Well, well, screw it. I'm not going to run a Nissan body to help just make more love for my dad. I went out and rented a Jeep. I rented a Jeep JK from an airport, and I drove it to him at California, and we had a glass shop. I molded a prolyte body from a Jeep JK. We made the whole thing by hand. On a rental. It was a boat shop, and we made a complete fibre-less mold, and we put a Jeep body on it. And I was like, Well, if there's no more Nissan, I'm going to run Jeep, and then I can at least help showcase my dad's products because at that time, I had Monster Energy. So I was like, Okay, well, this would be fun. Well, from that, I ended up the Jeep thing.

[00:20:17.240] - Casey Currie

There was no one else at the time running Jeep bodies. And even in 2012, '13, it was still one of the biggest aftermarket or heavily modified vehicles. So Timing was everything. It ended up working out great. A bunch of brands were looking to be able to market cheap components on TV, and I was the ability to be able to make that happen. So it worked out pretty crazy.

[00:20:46.520] - Big Rich Klein

When you say that when Monster came on, was it just with your four-wheel program or were you still racing?

[00:20:54.840] - Casey Currie

No, I was done there. When they came on, I was 100% racing off-road. Okay.

[00:21:00.160] - Big Rich Klein

Did you do the racing with the Olympics at any point? When it came into town, they did the Supermoto?

[00:21:11.200] - Casey Currie

No. It's so funny. You said no. They started that in '06, and I raced in '05. Okay.

[00:21:18.880] - Big Rich Klein

All right. Trying to get the timing down in my mind.

[00:21:22.090] - Casey Currie

Yeah. No. So '05 was when I raced their bikes, and the '06 is when they did X Games for Supermoto.

[00:21:29.480] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. X games. That's right. Yeah.

[00:21:31.580] - Casey Currie

Yeah.

[00:21:32.900] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. So then you're racing trucks, and you're racing short course. You'd raced Jeep speed, then short course, and you were racing. What's the next step?

[00:21:44.920] - Casey Currie

Yeah. So 2008 all the way until 2017, I raced short course. And 2017 is when I decided... 2017 When I decided, I felt that the sport was not going in a direction that I felt that it was going to last a long time. I made the decision to start racing off road, and then I was going to build... My ultimate goal in 2017 was to build a truck that could race in desert and race in the rocks. I felt that no one really ever built one vehicle to be able to race the bottom 1,000. And raced King of the Hammers. So that all started then, and every brand was supportive of it. And we went and I raced the Model 1,000. I won the ball 1,000 three times. And I've had I mean, I've had some shit luck at the King of the Hammers, but obviously, can run up front. But my ultimate goal is to be able to build one vehicle to win the ball 1,000 and King of the Hammers in the same complete vehicle. But anyways, that's 2017, '18, '19. In the same realm, crazy dynamic. I ended up meeting some people from Canam in Europe and Racing Rally.

[00:23:13.940] - Casey Currie

And then I 2018, I fell in love with Raleigh that led me to Dakar.

[00:23:21.700] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Before we get to that, do you remember the year, the first UTV race at King of the Hammers?

[00:23:32.920] - Casey Currie

No, it was probably 2009, '10.

[00:23:36.980] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Mitch Guthrie won it, but you finished the race driving in reverse.

[00:23:44.360] - Casey Currie

Yeah, I lost my four gears. Me and Reid Nordean, who was my team manager from Kawasaki. Yeah, long ass day. I remember that, actually.

[00:23:54.540] - Big Rich Klein

I put that race on. It was the first... Oh, you did? Yeah, it was the first UTV race there, and Jeff and Dave didn't want to do it. And then we had 24, 25 vehicles show up or something like that. That's awesome. They were like, What? People are going to race these things? And then they took it away from me.

[00:24:16.120] - Casey Currie

Oh, I did not. No way. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah.

[00:24:19.920] - Big Rich Klein

So, yeah, in fact, you guys, the UTVs finished so much faster than what I thought they would, that I wasn't even ready when you guys, when Mitch came to the finish line.

[00:24:31.380] - Casey Currie

That's funny. That's super cool.

[00:24:33.450] - Big Rich Klein

Somebody had to come get me after he finished, and I'm like, There's no way. There's no way he finished. And then you came in backwards.

[00:24:41.260] - Casey Currie

Yeah, I remember that.

[00:24:43.660] - Big Rich Klein

So then let's go to the rally. You're racing at K&M.

[00:24:50.880] - Casey Currie

Yeah. So I've always done a marketing... I've had a marketing deal with K&M to go and compete at the King of the Hammers. I had a deal to raise King of the Hammers. We did some stuff in the desert. And yeah, when I ended up in 2018, still racing off road at this point with my Trophy Jeep. I ended up meeting the factory team, the guy that runs the team for the factory K&M team. I just literally hit him up on Instagram. Started talking, he invited me over to Morocco. I went to Morocco, and after that, just completely fell in love. I went to Morocco, learned a little bit about it, and then we went down to the... No, no, no. The rally down in Mainland, Mexico. Skilton runs it. I'm not sure the name. I'm not sure the name. But that rally is authentic. We ended up doing that rally, and my co- driver was an American, but we obviously didn't know what we were... None of us knew what we were doing. So I ended up co-driving and driving myself. It's a numbers game, and I ended up falling in love with it.

[00:26:11.800] - Casey Currie

So from there, went and started competing in all of 2018, traveled all over the world, racing in different races, learning rally, so that I can race the car in 2019.

[00:26:25.280] - Big Rich Klein

And you raced the... Well, I I can't even... I don't know if I can say it right. Defacio Inca Rally?

[00:26:34.480] - Casey Currie

The Inca, yeah. So I raced that down in Peru. We did the Inca Challenge. It's called the Inca Challenge. There was an Inca Challenge in Peru. We raced in Morocco, and then we went back to Morocco, and then I raced in Abu Dhabi. I raced the Sand Dunes in Abu Dhabi. That That's probably the craziest race you ever do in your life because it's so hot. Then from there was Dakar 2019.

[00:27:09.800] - Big Rich Klein

You've raced Dakar how many times?

[00:27:13.440] - Casey Currie

I did it two times. My goal was I had a five-year deal. We had a five-year contract to win the car. That was my deal with myself and with the sponsors.

[00:27:25.540] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:27:26.780] - Casey Currie

So 2019, went to the car fully like an idiot. It's funny. I went to the desert to do some training with... Very little training, but I was training with Ricky Brabeck and his trainer, Jimmy Lewis, and he's like, Casey, you're setting yourself up for failure. You should have a co- driver from America. I was like, I just did every rally that I did in 2018, I had a new co- driver every rally. It didn't matter. I was winning with a new co- driver every time. It I was like, I didn't think I needed a co- driver for this rally. I thought it was going to be the same as all the other races. Well, come to find out, it was not the case. 2019, we had a great run. I think, honestly, if it wasn't for getting lost, we should have won the rally in 2019. But It is what it is. But anyways, got my butt kicked pretty bad and went home. Actually, during the rally, I ended up hanging out with Sean, who was my co- driver in 2020. Sean worked for the Minzies as a a mechanic on the Minzies team, but he also was a mechanic for the truck team that I was driving for.

[00:28:37.780] - Casey Currie

He was a big truck mechanic and a co- driver for those massive trucks. So he was hanging out the whole time. I was like, well, shit, dude, next year, if I come back, we should train together in America, and then let's race the car in 2020. When we got home, had a shitty time. I was very frustrated. Came back all 2019. We did three different rallies or two different rallies, and then went to Dakar, but we trained a lot in America.

[00:29:06.780] - Big Rich Klein

With Jimmy?

[00:29:08.720] - Casey Currie

With Jimmy, yeah. Went and spent time with him in Arizona. We did Nevada and California Deserts, and we just really focused on training, and obviously it paid off. People don't realize how hard it is. Every day is a different situation, and there's a strategy to it. Going back in 2020, we were definitely ready to go for 2020.

[00:29:36.280] - Big Rich Klein

People don't realize how successful Jimmy was as a racer until recently, when more people got to know him because of him being inducted into the Hall of Fame. But his training regimens, at least for what most people have told me, like, hey, we're going to go for a day ride. Well, a day ride is, most people think is, six, eight hours. With Jimmy, it's like 20 hours.

[00:30:09.320] - Casey Currie

Yeah, well, he's got crazy ideas. It's so wild. So basically, if we train at his house, you show up in the morning and then he'll give you a roadbook, and then he'll break down the roadbook into sections, and then You have on piece, off piece. And then he makes these... He'll have areas that are super screwed up and nasty navigation through like, Fesh-Fesh, or I don't know what we call it, just like weeds and bushes. And he just makes it very difficult. And then he'll come out in his truck or on a dirt bike and watch you basically fail. But he's got all these crazy ways of making you understand how to get lost and then how to backtrack. It's hard to explain. There's ways to do rally that if you put yourself in these bad situations, race day, it makes it easier. He's got all these strategic plans for training that make you just a better chance of not failing. It's hard to explain, but he does a really good job of making training easy. Everything's in kilometers and meters, which is way easier than miles and feet. But yeah, he makes it where you...

[00:31:38.100] - Casey Currie

By the time it comes race day, it's very easy to know what meters are and kilometers are as far as We do blind fold testing on the on Lake beds and drive 100 meters, turn 90 right, and drive 100 meters, and you have to do a perfect square. But we do it until you do it perfect because you have to know what 100 meters is or 250 meters is without knowing, without being able to see anything because you want to be able to be so comfortable with your distance that the distance is just spot on all the time. Because obviously, if you don't go far enough in turn or go too far in turn, you'll get lost. So it's crazy talking about it, but it's wild. Like, dude, driving on a dry Lake bed with a freaking, blind folded for 10 minutes at a time until you get it right. It's pretty wild and funny now talking about it.

[00:32:36.960] - Big Rich Klein

I've seen a little bit of that with working the Rebell Rally as a course staff and seeing when he throws challenges at the girls that they've never trained for, but they have this road book, and it's a technical driving skill book. I can remember one time being out there at the beginning of one of those in Johnson Valley, it means dry Lake right in there. And watching the girls go the first section, and it's just a distance thing, and then watching them turn from there, taking with a next heading, and the girls were going off in all different directions each time. I mean, they weren't watching each other because everybody got there at a different time. But it was like, okay, which way is this one going to go? That thing. And so I can understand what that must have been like just watching the girls try to do it for the first time with one of his tricky books.

[00:33:42.400] - Casey Currie

I had my wife do the Rebell Rally once. Very much so about a Navi. Emily does a great job. I think that's a fantastic race. I wish they did for boys, too. Strategic planning is so crucial. Just like our roadbooks, you can win that rally almost before the day even starts, or you can lose it before the day even starts. And I think she does a great job. I love it. For me, I would love to be able to compete because I think it's so fantastic what she does. The way she creates the roadbooks and the way that you have to draw the compass heading, I think... Yeah, I don't know. I think it's fantastic.

[00:34:28.220] - Big Rich Klein

Doing all that plotting. Yeah.

[00:34:29.340] - Casey Currie

Yeah, I love it. But that's where... I mean, that plotting is where my wife, they had a tough time. They were plotting too late. But anyway, that's a strategic plan that I... Obviously, you're not allowed to be there. So I was learning about it after, which was killing me because... But it was a lot of fun for her and it was cool.

[00:34:50.340] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I heard that she's actually thinking about doing it again?

[00:34:54.600] - Casey Currie

Yeah, I'm debating. I'm thinking that she needs to do it again. I'm We got some great support right now from Jeep, and I think it'd be fun to get her back out in the desert. We did a great job on the media side. I think we were able to push some envelopes, and I think there's some new media, livestream stuff that I'd love to be able to bring back out there and try to explore more opportunity and just get more eyeballs on off-road racing. Right.

[00:35:28.640] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, cool. And so with your rally, you're training with Jimmy, you go back in in 2020?

[00:35:37.410] - Casey Currie

Yep.

[00:35:38.130] - Big Rich Klein

And you guys killed it.

[00:35:42.100] - Casey Currie

Yeah, for them, yeah, same. We went over there. We really had a great, whatever, 12 days. Our biggest mistakes, it's crazy. We had a little bit of an issue right before the rally with some axles breaking, which is stressful. But during the rally, Sean did We did a great job co-driving. We had that UTV, we had no issues the whole week. We lost. Where I think we strategically wanted was, like I said, I'm very into numbers and strategically planning where to start and finish on how fast you're driving. We played the game very smart. I think our worst day was we lost an axel and the way we laid our car out with pit tools and stuff. Dude, most guys that lost an axel were taking 30 to 45 minutes to change an actual, and I think we did it under eight minutes. I think Sean's mechanical skills and obviously just strategically planning out the race car with what tools were where made it so we could change parts fast. But the second half of the rally went really well. Having a team that was following in the sand, you'd put a fast guy in front of you to follow, so you're not pushing the very hard.

[00:37:00.880] - Casey Currie

There's so much strategy, but it worked out in a great way.

[00:37:05.920] - Big Rich Klein

When you talk about strategically planning the vehicle for repairs, or access to things, early days of rock crawling, the first event I ever put on was a rock crawling event at Lake Amador up here outside of Sacramento. Chris Durham was on course and broke a driveline, broke a driveline, had a spare driveline on the vehicle, just duct-taped or whatever, and while still under his 10 minutes, changed the driveline and came within about 5 or 10 seconds of being able to finish the course.

[00:37:56.780] - Casey Currie

Wow.

[00:37:57.960] - Big Rich Klein

And everybody was just blown going away and cheering him on, of course. But it's that same thing, that he knew that with that J10 that he had, that that was one of his weak links. But he also didn't overtorque the bolts so that everything was easy to get off. Basically, everything was finger tight to get back. Yeah, it's killer. And he almost pulled it off. Almost pulled it off. It was pretty awesome. But that's part of the game.

[00:38:30.440] - Casey Currie

Yeah, I forgot about that. I did compete. I had one. I was Kevin Hawkins' Spotter in, I think, New Mexico in a shoot. I had to have been in high school. It was somewhere between 2000 and 2005.

[00:38:50.440] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:38:51.500] - Casey Currie

I went to a competition just to hang out with my uncle and ended up being Kevin Hawkins' spotter.

[00:39:00.460] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. You didn't get hooked on being a rock crawling then?

[00:39:05.640] - Casey Currie

I actually did. I loved it. I've always loved rock crawling. The problem was, there's no way to make money at it at the time.

[00:39:16.700] - Big Rich Klein

Even now.

[00:39:19.380] - Casey Currie

Yeah. I love it, though. I truly did love it. But I've always loved it. I really do. I love I like doing it the way... Obviously, it's my uncle, so I just love the way he does it. I love, I don't know, everything from the way we drive Jeeps to the way we drive rock buggies. I just love the way he does it. So it's just fun doing it the way. I'm not a big rear steer, like Moon buggy guy. I don't know. We go out and we drive Jeeps and buggies a certain way, and I just have a freaking blast doing it. I love it.

[00:39:55.340] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Most of the time... Well, I can't say most of the time because it's It's closer to you, but it's the Hammers area, Johnson Valley. But like I said, I've seen you in Moab, and I've seen you on the Rubicon, and I'm sure there's other places that you've rock-crawled.

[00:40:14.480] - Casey Currie

I We jeep all over like the Moab and Rubicon and Sand Hall area. But my uncle and I, we really enjoy that Johnson Valley area for rock buggies. I don't know. There's something about it. We just I love it. And I freaking enjoy it. I don't even care if I'm not even driving. His style and my style are so similar that I have a blast just riding him with him. Cool.

[00:40:42.380] - Big Rich Klein

So you're racing Raleigh, you win in 2020. Go ahead and tell more about that.

[00:40:50.820] - Casey Currie

Yeah, so no win. It was obviously insane. The crazy part about it is my support for Monster is unreal. I mean, obviously, all my brands came on and were a massive supporter of it, but it's pretty crazy. One of my directs, Monster, who's just a huge supporter, is crazy having him there with me along the entire journey. Just seeing the support and the love of going over and doing it and having people that are like, Dude, they don't need to be there wasting their time on me. Being there at the finish line and obviously being the first Americans. We're in Saudi Arabia. It's insane. Americans weren't even allowed in Saudi a couple of years before. Now we're here in this country and they're playing for the first time in Dakar history. They're playing the American National Anthem. Up until 2020, the only thing an American has ever done is won a stage. It would always tell you all these winners, and then it'd have Americans as stage winners, but they never had the ability to say that Americans won the rally. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. It was just a crazy experience. On top of that, that was the only year that on the final day of the rally, they did this $5,000 shootout.

[00:42:16.980] - Casey Currie

I have a bigger trophy from... They did this shootout where I finished my stage, and then from the end of my stage in the liaison, we had a 50 Maybe it's 100K liaison. Then after that, we had a three and a half mile... No. Yeah, about 7K sprint, they called it. It was a sprint for money and a trophy. They ended up like, it was crazy because I told my co- driver and my team that, You have to finish the liaison to actually get to turning your points, to turning your card. I was like, We're just going to cruise it. That way we don't total the car and somehow not finish the rally. Well, freaking, dude, I felt so good that I ended up going out, pushing hard, telling my co- driver, Sean, I'm like, Screw it. No more rally notes. You need to race it like a race in Baja. We need to call corners. We ended up winning this shootout as well as the rally. It was sick because we ended up passing. I ended cutting off one of those big trucks and pinching them off and get myself all twisted up. But we ended up winning this shootout with me, Tobi Price, and Nasser Altaia.

[00:43:42.860] - Casey Currie

We all won, and it was sick because we got the presentation. The awards in Saudi, there's so much money there. The awards bank was unreal. We got all these cool trophies, and it was a really cool experience.

[00:43:55.660] - Big Rich Klein

Are those trophies at the shop or at home?

[00:43:58.340] - Casey Currie

At home, safe and secure. So, yeah. But it was cool. The craziest part about it is we were going to go to... We won and came home, and obviously at the middle of January. And the goal was, K&M had this entire media go to New York, go to LA. We're going to do all this media and make it a big deal. And then COVID hit in February, and that was it. We literally... Nothing happened in 2020. And after that, honestly, The life changed.

[00:44:31.760] - Big Rich Klein

Right. It sure did. Sure did. That's when I started podcasting. Oh, really? Yeah, because I was bored. We were sitting in our hotel. We had a boutique hotel in Mason, Texas, and we were sitting there at the hotel with no place else to go because we lived on the road, right? And I was bored. My wife had been bugging me to do a podcast on the history of off-road and four-wheel drive and all that stuff. I was like, Well, I don't really have time for that or anything. All of a sudden, I found myself twiddling my thumbs in this hotel room, or this hotel, and I walked into her on day three and said, Okay, tell me about podcasting. What do I need to know? And three days later, I did my first podcast.

[00:45:21.280] - Casey Currie

Very cool.

[00:45:23.160] - Big Rich Klein

Life changes.

[00:45:25.580] - Casey Currie

For me, everything happened in such a unique, great way Because I think for me, the biggest thing that I realized during 2020 was my kids at that time were five and seven years old, and I had devoted... I was that guy that when I'm all in, I'm all in. I was traveling. I was traveling like 35 to 40 weeks out of the year to make that rally thing happen between keeping my sponsors having in America, racing in America, and traveling the World Racing Rally, I was gone 35 to 40 weeks for two years in a row. I came home, won, and COVID happened. A full year of being around my kids was the fact that I wanted to be a dad. That was my eye opener that I want to be home more. From there, I had a different outlook on racing and very blessed that my sponsors were into it and a path and created my own unique direction in life after that.

[00:46:35.520] - Big Rich Klein

Let's talk about that. Besides spending more family time and watching your kids grow up more closely, what were the things that changed for you the most besides family?

[00:46:49.500] - Casey Currie

Actually, I won the car. We had a five-year deal. So ended up, second year, I won it. That's all I wanted. I never wanted to be a rally racer. I just wanted to win the car. During the year, I made the decision that I had no interest in going back. I also decided that... Well, at the same time, my dad and my uncles, they made a family deal that I was able to help take over the curry enterprise side. We split the company so that My cousins could work for Rockchock, and my brother and I would work for Curry. I ended up taking over Curry enterprises basically February first, 2020. Without a lot of racing, it allowed me to spend a full year at Curry. Really, I invested a lot of time and effort to figure out the family business. What I understood and took from that was that first I blew up a lot of stuff and learned the hard way. But I spent the time on working on Curry. After that, my strategy was to only race and do things that would benefit the company. Instead of going out and spending a bunch of time and effort on things that wouldn't benefit the company, I wanted to race my Tropey Jeep that had curry axles in it.

[00:48:25.390] - Casey Currie

I wanted to have pre-runners that had curry axles in I wanted to build the most badass Jeeps with curry axles in it and showcase all my partners and curry and all the brands everywhere I went. Yeah, it snowballed. It's crazy because it started getting bigger and bigger as I got more focused on just basically Curry as my backbone and really having focused on that. Here we are in 2026, and we're blessed that we're an OEM involvement with Jeep. We have a lot of cool partners within the industry. Then obviously, even with Monster Energy, being a massive supporter in all the Jeeping and curry endeavors that we have, we're in a great place, and it's a lot of fun.

[00:49:27.520] - Big Rich Klein

What racing are you still doing doing today?

[00:49:31.580] - Casey Currie

Race King of the Hammers. In 2026, we're going to race King of the Hammers. We're going to go down and we're going to race San Felipe A250 for a score. I'm going to do the Nora 500 and the Nora 1,000 so that we can get some more racing in. Then we will race Crandon as well. We will go to Crandon this year.

[00:49:54.260] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, really? Okay. How long has it been since you've been racing short Dude, I haven't...

[00:50:02.540] - Casey Currie

Seven years. Okay. Yeah.

[00:50:07.260] - Big Rich Klein

And what class are you coming back to race in?

[00:50:12.480] - Casey Currie

Have you had a last year yet? Can't work. I got some deals in the works.

[00:50:17.600] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. That'll be a secret then.

[00:50:20.400] - Casey Currie

Surprise. Yeah. I got some stuff coming.

[00:50:23.040] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. I can't wait to catch all that. Let's talk family a little bit. You said you have two kids?

[00:50:35.560] - Casey Currie

Two kids. Yes, they're 10 and 11.

[00:50:38.160] - Big Rich Klein

Ten and 11. Okay. And two boys?

[00:50:40.960] - Casey Currie

Two boys. Okay.

[00:50:43.960] - Big Rich Klein

How long have you been married now?

[00:50:46.020] - Casey Currie

I've been married 13 years, going on 14 years.

[00:50:50.180] - Big Rich Klein

And where did you meet her?

[00:50:53.880] - Casey Currie

I actually met her in San Felipe Bay. She was a rock star model. Okay. So, yeah, we met there and literally started dating right after the San Felipe 250.

[00:51:07.700] - Big Rich Klein

So she was allowed to talk to a monster?

[00:51:10.840] - Casey Currie

I wasn't even a monster yet. That's the crazy part. When we met, I was literally... I really wasn't anything at that point. So it's pretty crazy. We met when I was just... At that point, I was racing for Nissan, but it wasn't as big We were paying for racing, but I was still living at home and there wasn't a lot going on.

[00:51:37.640] - Big Rich Klein

So you turned on the charm then?

[00:51:40.240] - Casey Currie

Yeah. We just had fun together. Cool.

[00:51:47.400] - Big Rich Klein

And are your kids into racing?

[00:51:51.160] - Casey Currie

Yes, funny enough. My dad's actually out in the garage right now loading up. I tried my hardest to get him into sports, but it's not working. So They're racing. Right now, they're racing players, racers at a local Glen Helen series. So they love it.

[00:52:07.580] - Big Rich Klein

Great. Did you play sports at all when you were a kid?

[00:52:12.000] - Casey Currie

No, we tried. We did like one year of soccer, maybe two years of baseball, but never really worked. I was very much into racing.

[00:52:21.200] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, makes sense. What does the future hold for Casey?

[00:52:30.540] - Casey Currie

I think futures, obviously, with Curry enterprises, is to keep things moving in a direction that have a focus on Curry. But I It's to get my kids love it. So at this point, I'm doing everything I can to keep them involved. I want them to feel a part of everything. They love it. So moving forward is just doing things in a way that they can come and enjoy it and be a part of it. I think my early days of racing, they didn't get to be a part of, so I want them to see it before I get too old and can't do it anymore. Cool.

[00:53:14.080] - Big Rich Klein

We had talked at Ormhoff, the gala. If you wish I can edit this part out, but I'll ask the question. We talked at Ormhoff at the gala, and you mentioned a foundation that you would like to start. Have you thought any more on that?

[00:53:41.300] - Casey Currie

I mean, I've thought a lot about it. I'm just at the point where I It's pulling the trigger to make it all happen the right way. So the goal with the foundation is my ultimate goal is to start giving back. Obviously, my kids are getting older. I realized that there's a lot of areas in life where video games are becoming very much so a thing of kids' future. My ultimate goal would be to create a foundation to not only get kids outside and figure out a way to get more parents to come and be in the outdoors, but also the way that's only going to happen is to keep the land open. That's where it leads into the next part of what I'd like to focus on is to figure out a way to help fund some of these supporters that are into keeping this land open.

[00:54:35.000] - Big Rich Klein

That's an awesome endeavor.

[00:54:37.860] - Casey Currie

I'm glad that you were thinking that way. The hard part for me is I only want to do it if I can be all in. That's why I haven't really done it yet. It's just, I would say more so because if I'm going to do it, I want to make sure that I do it the correct way.

[00:54:56.280] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Okay. Well, when you're ready to do that, we should talk.

[00:55:00.840] - Casey Currie

Absolutely.

[00:55:01.940] - Big Rich Klein

And you've been going to the the Ormhoff Gala now. You've been there quite a few times, correct?

[00:55:14.600] - Casey Currie

Yes. I've done in the last couple of years.

[00:55:17.100] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And this year, your grandfather, or this last year, 2025, your grandfather was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and you were the one that got to go up on stage and and accept the presentation during the presentation. What was that like?

[00:55:38.820] - Casey Currie

Honestly, probably the best thing that ever happened. I just feel, Obviously, our family business is devoted to making the aftermarket and the off-road segment better. My dad and uncles have spent their whole lives to make things better. It's hard because you think of Off-Road Hall of Fame, that you got to be a race car driver and win. But in reality, they've done such a great job of making the off-road community better that I felt that he is the foundation to them all wanting to be better and make the off-road segment better. It's very humbling. I think that it's so deserved for him. I dropped out of college and my grandpa's whole thing was go to school. I felt that he was a supporter of mine. He was okay with me dropping out of college. He believed in me. He traveled a lot of my races We spent a lot of time together, so I felt that it was only right that... I was the one that put the effort in to try to get him in. I felt that with my dad and uncles being there, it was just... Man, it was amazing. It was just a lot of fun for them to see him be recognized for all the successes that the whole family's had over, obviously, 60 years of being in business.

[00:57:12.320] - Big Rich Klein

I've seen your uncle on stage quite a bit with trophy presentations and stuff like that, and he always talks about the Curry curse. And just before the Ormhoff, a month and a half or so before that, we were all in Sand Hollow for the Rock Sports or the Rock Motorsports Hall of Fame the first year. And your family was recognized, and your uncle John was up there, recognized as well individually. And He talked about the Curry curse and started to cry. Show the emotion, along with Shannon Campbell and a lot of other guys that were brought in up there. Melo and myself, we told jokes because that's who we are. What was it like? You mentioned the curse, too, when you got up on stage. Was it hard to hold back?

[00:58:10.180] - Casey Currie

Yeah, it was very hard. I have the curse just as bad as they do. But I prepared my speech for freaking weeks to make sure that I was... I had to read. If I didn't read, it was going to happen. I got, obviously, care a lot about him and my dad and uncles just for all the hard work. And Obviously, I wanted to get that speech out there. For me, I just wanted... It wasn't about me and my career. It was just about everything the family has, the hard work that they've put their lives in. Because the crazy part is that my dad and uncles, They've never had another job. This is all they've ever done. This industry is what they started in at whatever, 12 years old, and they've never done anything else. This is their heart and soul. People can come in and say it's a job or it's a career, but in reality, this is their life. There is nothing else. They're completely put themselves in a situation that win or lose their life revolved around the dirt. I wanted to make sure I showcase that. I wanted to make sure that they knew that everything they've worked for and my grandpa, that it's deserved in this industry.

[00:59:31.660] - Big Rich Klein

Much so. I was really pleased myself to see that happen. It was great because not only was your grandfather, but also Lonnie McCurry Senior was brought in as well, another off-roader. It was quite the night for the four-wheel drive side of the industry at the 2025 gala.

[00:59:58.000] - Casey Currie

Yeah.

[00:59:59.140] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it was pretty cool. Cool.

[01:00:01.840] - Casey Currie

No, for sure. It was a great night. That was cool to have him up there as well.

[01:00:07.020] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. Anyway, Casey, I want to thank you so much for spending the time and talking about your life and sharing your history and your families and talking about your family and all the aspirations and every dreams that you've had and accomplished. It's great. It's phenomenal to see it. And you're only what? 42 years old? 42, yeah. 42. You got a long ways to go still, kid.

[01:00:36.240] - Casey Currie

I appreciate that.

[01:00:38.080] - Big Rich Klein

You're same age as... Well, you're a year older than my son. So I hope to see you guys up on the Rubicon this year, Jeepers' Jambourie. I don't know if you guys are doing Jamb... Are you guys doing Jeep Jambourie USA? We're going to try to do both.

[01:00:52.840] - Casey Currie

We're going to try to do both this year.

[01:00:55.290] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, cool. Love to see you guys up there because I plan on going this year as I'm trying to get Mark MacMillon to go up there with me so he can see what it's like as part of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. So he's not a... He goes, Rich, I don't know how to drive in the Rocks. I don't know if I can do that. I said, Don't worry, I'll drive. You just ride along and close your eyes if you need to.

[01:01:21.620] - Casey Currie

Yeah, he'll have a blast.

[01:01:23.240] - Big Rich Klein

For sure. All right, Casey, thank you so much for this conversation. And you have fun with with your kids racing and your dad there. And I hope he enjoys the grandkids as well. Absolutely. And have fun out at the races this weekend.

[01:01:40.920] - Casey Currie

No, thank you so much, man. Great talking.

[01:01:42.960] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. We'll talk to you later. Thank you.

[01:01:45.120] - Casey Currie

You got it. Okay.

[01:01:46.400] - Big Rich Klein

Bye-bye.

[01:01:46.960] - Casey Currie

Bye.

[01:01:48.160] - 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 think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.