From Backyard Bronco to Desert Racing Champion, Nate Williams in Episode 321

 In this episode, Big Rich Klein sits down with Nate Williams to explore a life immersed in off-road culture. Growing up in Logan, Utah, Nate caught the bug early—rebuilding a 1975 Bronco at just 15, complete with body work and a custom Chevy engine swap. What started as weekend trail runs evolved into competitive rock crawling, and eventually into full-scale desert racing. 

Nate shares the origin story of Mount Logan Off-Road, the shop he built with his brother John, and the pivotal lessons learned through business challenges and partnerships gone wrong. After ten years in industrial automation, Nate returned to his true passion, rejoining John to launch Crossfire Off-Road in Logan. 

The conversation highlights Nate's racing achievements, including winning King of Area BFE in 2007 and multiple victories at the Baja 1000, Mint 400, and Silver State 300—all while maintaining a competitive edge at King of the Hammers. Now partnered with Ford, Nate continues chasing championships in Ultra4 and Best in the Desert series, while his shop focuses on custom builds and long-term fabrication projects. 

This episode explores the lifestyle, persistence, and brotherhood that define the modern off-road industry. 

Transcript

[00:00:05.320] 

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 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 hear their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active in 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.

[00:00:46.610] 

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.

[00:01:13.090] - Big Rich Klein

On this episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I will be discussing life with a guy whose life in 4x4 started off with his dad's FJ40, then turned a Bronco into a competitive rock crawler But he couldn't stop there. Next move was to build a comp buggy and then on to race Broncos and Raptors with Ford, racing and winning in desert racing series like Best in the Desert and SCORE. My guest is Nate Williams. Hello, Nate Williams. So good to have you on the podcast. I'm looking forward to not only talking about those OG days of rock crawling, but also what you got going on today. And of course everything in between. So I hope you're doing well.

[00:01:59.130] - Nate Williams

Yep, doing great. I'm excited to catch up with you and, uh, yeah, just see how things are shaking out.

[00:02:04.920] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. So let's start off with the, uh, very first question I ask everybody: where are you born and raised?

[00:02:12.840] - Nate Williams

So I was born and raised in Logan, Utah. It's about 100 miles north of Salt Lake, um, right at the top Right. Pretty close to the border to Idaho.

[00:02:24.310] - Big Rich Klein

And that's real close to where they filmed— oh, what the heck was that movie?

[00:02:30.980] - Nate Williams

It was in Napoleon Dynamite.

[00:02:33.070] - Big Rich Klein

There you go. You guys are just at the other end of the valley, aren't you?

[00:02:36.990] - Nate Williams

Yeah, they're about 20 miles north of us.

[00:02:39.390] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:02:39.670] - Nate Williams

Is where they filmed that show.

[00:02:41.170] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. So they didn't bleed over. I mean, yeah. Okay. Yep. Did you know Pedro?

[00:02:50.070] - Nate Williams

I didn't. I did not know him. So.

[00:02:53.040] - Big Rich Klein

All right, so let's get serious. All right. So born and raised in Logan, Utah. Tell me about those early years.

[00:03:01.090] - Nate Williams

I think we had— man, I think that those of us that were kids, you know, I was born in 1980, so I got, you know, remember the end of the '80s and all of the '90s. And I think we had just the best childhood, you know, the most freedom that kids had. And, um, just a really good time. And, and where I grew up was a great place, you know, to grow up. We didn't have crime, and we kind of— we call that little Happy Valley, you know, surrounded by mountains. So we did a lot of stuff outdoors as a family, and it was really a great place to grow up and a good time in the world to grow up also.

[00:03:39.940] - Big Rich Klein

And, uh, what kind of things did you do for, you know, as a kid for entertainment when— if you weren't in school or weren't doing chores?

[00:03:50.540] - Nate Williams

Yeah, we were outside all the time, you know. So my brother, um, John, is 3 years older than I am, so we, we were really close and grew up and did everything together. And then, you know, we had a neighborhood and, and a bunch of kids that were a similar age, so we, we did all the sports, you know. We got into skateboarding, rollerblading, BMX bikes, mountain bikes. We had dirt bikes, and so we did that with our dad and had a lot of fun with that. And then that kind of turned into, you know, just a love for outdoor and nature stuff. But yeah, we were at— we spent a lot of time outside doing that, that stuff, you know, bikes and, and that.

[00:04:31.960] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And did you spend time, any time, like, with the family hunting or fishing or anything like that?

[00:04:38.750] - Nate Williams

You know, my dad, he was really into hunting, and all of his hunting stories, um, were before we were around. And so I almost think we were bad luck because he would take us hunting and we would, we would never shoot anything. Um, only one time ever did we, um, we got an elk, um, with, uh, with him. And, uh, so that was pretty good. But when we, yeah, we grew up and I was 16, and, um, he died in a car crash. And but we, up till that point, we were always doing stuff as a family. He went through a midlife crisis and thought he needed to be a cowboy and got horses and drug us into the horse world, which, uh, I mean, it's just crazy to be on top of something that's, you know, 1,200 pounds and it's trying to kill you. So we, we didn't have the passion for horses that my dad did. But we enjoyed hanging out with him and did whatever he did. You know, he had an old FJ40 Land Cruiser, a '71. And that was his hunting rig. And so it pretty much sat on the side of our house.

[00:05:47.490] - Nate Williams

And he got it out every fall and made sure it would run and, and we'd take it hunting. And it was mostly just us driving around dirt roads. Because like I said, we never We never shot anything, so I think my brother and I were bad luck when it came to, to hunting.

[00:06:05.500] - Big Rich Klein

And, uh, did you guys hunt to the east of you then in that area?

[00:06:11.350] - Nate Williams

Um, yeah, to the east of us. Yeah, there's— it's called Logan Canyon, and it's, I mean, beautiful place. Yeah, there's a lot of wildlife up there, and, and so yeah, we just spent a lot of time cruising, cruising those hills. Um, and then that when we rode dirt bikes, same place, you know.

[00:06:27.830] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:06:28.600] - Nate Williams

Um, up those mountains.

[00:06:31.000] - Big Rich Klein

And how were you as a student? Were you one of those— were you a good student, or were you one of those always looking out the window?

[00:06:39.500] - Nate Williams

I, I feel like I was a pretty good student when I was younger, but I definitely got sidetracked as I got older. Um, you know, I just kind of learned that there's— there was a lot more to school for me anyways, you know. And, um, it was a fun social life, but I didn't apply myself probably as much as I should have to an education. Um, but I, I just enjoyed stuff outside of school so much more.

[00:07:05.740] - Big Rich Klein

And what were those things outside of school? Um, any, any extracurricular activities, sports, you know, things like that?

[00:07:16.420] - Nate Williams

I've always played sports with the neighbor kids, and I wanted to play— like, I really want to play Little League football. I did do— we call it Junior Jazz, but it's a basketball league. I was never good at it, but I want to play football because my buddies played football. And my— it's funny, my dad wouldn't let us play that because when he was in high school, he had a really good friend that had a football accident and was paralyzed. And so he wouldn't let us play football, but he bought my brother and I dirt bikes. You know, I was 4 when I got my first one. Yeah, my brother was 7, you know. And so we were, we were kids and could go dirt biking, but, um, playing in a football league was, was out of limits.

[00:08:02.710] - Big Rich Klein

And, uh, what was your favorite, say, all through your grades? Through high school, what was your— what were your favorite classes?

[00:08:13.060] - Nate Williams

Um, I did— well, I really liked a jewelry class. It was a casting jewelry, and that was really fun. Um, and then our high school was pretty cool. We had a tech school that the three area high schools could all go to, and so I did an auto mechanics program there. I did a welding course there and an auto body course, um, there. So it was— I, I definitely was drawn more towards that stuff than, you know, math or, or history or something like that. So, um, that, that kind of caught my attention early.

[00:08:52.620] - Big Rich Klein

And did you, uh, did you, did you work on your own motorcycles, or when there was a problem, did you take them to a shop?

[00:09:01.050] - Nate Williams

Um, when we were kids, oh, my dad was the biggest do-it-yourselfer. He wouldn't pay anybody to do anything he could do himself. So we learned that at an early age. And so, yeah, we always worked on our bikes and worked on the neighbor kids' bikes, um, and, and did all that. And then, you know, it turned into working on cars in our garage. And, and it's all because my dad was— he was too cheap to pay anybody to do something he could do. And, uh, volunteered my brother and I to do it. And so we end up doing all of his honeydews for him.

[00:09:39.070] - Big Rich Klein

And what was the— what was your dad besides having the FJ40? What other vehicles were around?

[00:09:48.550] - Nate Williams

He had a 1970 two-wheel drive Chevy short bed, half-ton truck that was pretty cool. And we always, when we were young, my brother's like, oh, I'm gonna, I'll get the Land Cruiser and then you can get that Chevy pickup. And, you know, so we got Ford with our magazines and stuff since we were pretty little. And, you know, I'm like, oh, that little two-wheel drive truck would make a fun little, you know, desert truck out of. And one day somebody came driving through the neighborhood and offered him some money for it and he sold it. And We were heartbroken that that one was gone, but, you know, the Land Cruiser and the 4-wheel drive stuff, definitely we were more interested in that.

[00:10:35.670] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And what was your first car?

[00:10:40.740] - Nate Williams

So mine, man, I remember as a youngster we would go driving around, you know, so John's a little older, he has a license, and we were just looking fields for Jeep, you know, like CJ7, or a leather Land Cruiser, or a Bronco. You know, those were kind of the things we looked at. And when I was 15, and I don't remember where my dad went, but there was a— so this dates you, but we're looking in the classifieds of our local newspaper, you know, there's no internet or anything, and somebody was selling a 1975 Bronco in you know, it's two towns down, 10 miles away from us. So I talked my mom into going, um, and looking at this thing. And anyways, I'd sold a dirt bike that I had, and so I had just a little bit of money. I had $900, and the guy was asking $1,000. And so I went and looked at this Bronco, and I'm like, yeah, this is perfect, it'll be great. And talked him into taking the $900, and so I bought it. He still needed it to get his stuff cleaned out of it. So I had to go back.

[00:11:47.540] - Nate Williams

It was like midweek when I found it, and so we went back on a Saturday to get it with my dad, and he was just like, what did you buy? Um, it was, it was quite the project, but that was my first, first car was a 1975 Bronco.

[00:12:01.540] - Big Rich Klein

And, and how big a project was it? Describe it.

[00:12:05.550] - Nate Williams

Um, so I, I was really unaware of you know, what to look for. And, you know, probably luckily my dad wasn't there because he would have talked me out of it. Um, but anyways, we, we picked it up and he's like, oh, I've got an extra tub for it, um, that's in a little better shape, you know, that comes with it. And, and so, you know, we plan on picking that up with a little trailer and, and hauling it all back. But I remember in my driveway taking the top off of it and the rocker panels were rusted out. I peeled the carpet up a little bit and notice the rust going all around the inner wheel wells in there. And, and I like grabbed the bedside and shook it a little bit, and it like dropped down, you know. So the back quarter was 4 inches lower than the rocker panel. And, uh, you know, my dad's just like, I, I hope you didn't waste all your money because this is going to be a lot of work. So, you know, in, in my driveway, um, you know, I cut— I just sectioned the body at the A-pillar um, right there at the door pillar back and cut the stock one off and then grafted that new body back on there.

[00:13:11.490] - Nate Williams

But I sandblasted the frame and the body and everything while I was working on it. And, uh, you know, and so at 15 I was able to put that all back together, you know, get the doors to line back up and the top and, and all of that. And I was, I was pretty proud, but it took me— it was a 1-year project to get it into paint. And then after that, I did a lift kit, and, and, you know, then it got some lockers, and, you know, just kind of evolved from there. But it was a 1-year pretty dedicated schedule to get that thing into paint.

[00:13:44.880] - Big Rich Klein

So you, uh, you were able to drive that through the end of high school?

[00:13:49.180] - Nate Williams

Yeah, I drove it all through high school, um, and, you know, that's my only car. It was But, and it— we had a lot of good times with that. And so we had, um, you know, a couple other buddies had Jeeps or whatever, and, and, uh, we would go on, you know, a little— all the trails around here. And then started going to Moab, um, well, first one in John's FJ40. And, um, the next— so that's the car that got wrecked in '96 with my dad in it. And then like Jeep Safari '97, that was the first year I took my Bronco down there, and then we were, we were pretty frequent down in Moab ever, ever since then.

[00:14:31.210] - Big Rich Klein

I think '97, yeah, '96 or '97 was my first trip to Moab, but I was in Cedar City working. Little Rich was in high school at that time, or just in 8th grade, something like that maybe. Okay, and, uh, After the— you got it to paint, you said you, you did lockers and you did a lift and that kind of stuff. Was it— did, did you buy, you know, a ready-made lift, or did you do something on your own?

[00:15:06.150] - Nate Williams

Yeah, no, I mean, just at that point in time, I mean, you— all you had was just what was in the magazine. So there's a couple places, you know, James Duff and Tom's Broncos and you know, Wild Horse, all those guys were around. And, and you'd have to get a catalog from them. And man, that was just my reading material at home. I had all those catalogs. And so you just flip through there, and, and I mean, stuff didn't even make sense to me at that age. Um, you know, just we didn't quite have the exposure to understand, you know, all the different bushings and then what it does to your caster. You know, you change this in your radius arm and, you know, all that stuff. And so you'd have to call somebody and they'd they'd run you through that program, you know, what parts you needed. So, so I ended up just buying, buying some kit parts and, uh, you know, put it together. And then from there it just snowballs, you know, you go use it and it's like, oh, you know, we bought 33-inch Super Swampers, it was the first set of tires I ever put on there.

[00:16:03.710] - Nate Williams

And then, you know, oh, it needs to be a little bit bigger, and, and then you get 35s and just that whole evolution of of those cars that I think, you know, a lot of people are going through at that time. Um, and the industry was going through that, you know, as it was changed a lot in that late '90s, early 2000s.

[00:16:23.380] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. And the, the drivetrain, was it 4— was it the 6-cylinder or did you have a V8?

[00:16:31.980] - Nate Williams

So I was lucky enough that— so I still think '75 was the best year of a Bronco. You know, had the best steering and had everything else. So mine came with a 302. It was a 3-on-the-tree. And kind of funny about that, I remember, you know, as you're working on something, you need some motivation. But I would drive it around the block and cruise around. And, and, uh, you know, it wasn't licensed, registered, or anything. So I just, you know, put around the neighborhoods, you know, dreaming of the day when it's all painted and done. But I was driving through this parking lot, and some kid came by in another truck, and So we did a little drag race through this parking lot. I remember shifting from first to second on the 3-on-the-tree, and I, you know, I slammed that thing hard. I ripped the shifter right out of the steering column, and so stuck in second gear. So I had to limp it back home. And, and, uh, you know, there's— it's like a cast aluminum piece with a pin that holds the shifter rod, and ripped that out. And so, um, I had to fix that, but I later put a a 4-speed on the floor, um, a T8, or no, I did a new Process 435 in there.

[00:17:39.730] - Nate Williams

And so, you know, you start learning about adapters and what fits and stuff like that. So swap that in. And then one night, um, I was driving it, I was at a buddy's house, I went to leave and the— it wouldn't start. And so I had my buddy pull start me, thought the battery died or somehow something. So he pulls me down the street and I pop the clutch and the back end just starts hopping around and the motor's just locked up solid. And I'm like, this is crazy. And so, um, you know, I didn't know much about motors, but I wasn't a fan of the Ford motor for no reason really. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it. So I decided I was going to swap in a Chevy motor. And so we had a good buddy that had sacrilege. Exactly. Oh, it made people so upset. Um, I had this guy who built racing motors, you know, and, and I kind of lucked into finding parts and it kind of snowballed. But I built a really sweet small block Chevy and, and I got it all done. And I remember being at the shop ready to pull the old 302 out and, uh, you know, I've got an adapting bell housing to go from that 435 to the Chevy motor and some motor mounts from Advanced Adapters and And I'm pulling the Ford motor out and I disassembling stuff.

[00:18:58.400] - Nate Williams

I get the starter out and I remember just shaking it back and forth and the Bendix gear was just like stuck out in it. And, uh, so then I like put a pry bar in there and I rotated the motor on the flywheel or flex plate— flywheel, flywheel— anyways, and it, it rolled free. And, uh, so the whole reason I Oh geez, the, the starter was bad and that caused me to build a whole nother motor and replace it. And so I'm like, uh, of course my mom had to help me out a little bit to get that motor done. I'm like, I can't tell her that I needed a $50 starter and I spent all this money to build another motor instead. But, um, you know, it's just all part of the learning curve. You know, we were pretty self-taught on stuff like that and And, uh, but it was, it was a good experience, you know, swapping the Chevy in. They fit right in there. The firewall's notched out in the back for a distributor, and it fit really nice and, and ran really well. It was a good motor. And, um, so yeah, but that's, that kind of was how it got through high school.

[00:20:03.490] - Nate Williams

And then after that, it evolved a lot more as we started getting more serious into the off-road stuff.

[00:20:10.300] - Big Rich Klein

And so After high school, did you have— did you do any more college or anything like that?

[00:20:18.580] - Nate Williams

So I did go to college for a little bit, and I, man, I just didn't know what to do up there. Um, so I graduated in 1998, and, um, gotta backtrack a little bit. So my brother and dad were involved in a car crash in '96, and it wrecked um, my brother's FJ40. And so he came back and he didn't know what to do. He actually almost bought a Camaro, and our lives would have been so different if he would have bought a Camaro to build and, and we went down that road. But, um, he ended up starting to build another FJ40, and, and he, you know, was in between what he was wanting to do for work, and so he decided to open an off-road shop. So we, we opened a shop together in 1997. So I was still a senior in high school, he was, you know, out of, out of school, um, and he had gone to college for a while and, and nothing clicked to him either. So he started this shop, and, uh, so after I graduated, I was doing both, you know. I had a job and then going to, to college, not enjoying it, and then I just made the decision like, well, you know, I can give college 4 years, I can give a business 4 years and see, see what that puts me, you know, at that time.

[00:21:35.450] - Nate Williams

So that's where we just kind of took off and, and started an off-road shop. So then we were building, you know, all the people in our valleys, you know, their trucks and, and Jeeps and stuff.

[00:21:44.910] - Big Rich Klein

And the name of that one, was that Logan?

[00:21:47.400] - Nate Williams

That was called Mount Logan Off-Road.

[00:21:49.660] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:21:50.380] - Nate Williams

Yep. And, uh, how long did that last, do you guys So we, um, it was a good business and it was, it was a fun experience. You know, we started in a small shop, um, you know, we pulled all of our money together and bought a shop that was, you know, big size. And it, we quickly grew out of that, um, after about 5 years. And then we, by the time we were done, I think, I don't think that shop was like 13,000 square feet that we were in, and it was full, chock full of cars all the time. And so we kind of, we learned that, you know, we're really passionate about what we did and enjoyed that, but there's probably a lot that we needed to learn, you know, business-wise and stuff. So we took on an investor in 2009 to, you know, help us grow the business. And, you know, we really, he had, this guy had taken on some other businesses and and done really well. So we partnered and, and it ended up being a really bad partnership. And so I left.

[00:22:58.110] - Big Rich Klein

As a lot of them do.

[00:23:00.120] - Nate Williams

As a lot do. Yeah, it's, I mean, yeah, the, the school of hard knocks, that's definitely the one we went to. So I left after about a month after we, we, I mean, it's kind of investment, then we sold majority out and I couldn't take it anymore, so I left. And John was there for quite a bit while longer, um, just making sure that any loose end that he was involved in was, was tied up. And so it was a sad time for that chapter to, to close, you know, and all the good times we had and the cars we built, the people we met, you know, magazine articles and all the stuff we were part of was, um, you know, it's kind of sad to close that that chapter.

[00:23:44.600] - Big Rich Klein

And what did you do after walking away from Mount Logan?

[00:23:51.090] - Nate Williams

So I did some soul searching. I spent that summer helping a buddy do some construction work just so I had some money. And I was like, man, that I could go do whatever I want, you know. And but I just didn't know what that was. And, uh, I had a another mutual friend and he worked for a place that did industrial automation. He's like, hey, you know, when you're done with that construction, come, you know, we got some projects I think you'd be really good at, you know, come help us. And so that was the first time I've ever worked for somebody else, and, uh, it was a super neat place. I mean, they— I try to explain it like when you watch the TV show How It's Made and you see all the machines, you know, that either make little parts or assemble something, you know, robots or pneumatic moving cylinders. Um, this, this business made the machines that did that stuff. And so I worked in, you know, all parts of their shop. You know, I worked in the weld shop, I worked in the assembly side, you know. And a lot of these were, you know, machines you'd assemble.

[00:24:59.570] - Nate Williams

So we had engineers and they would draw everything up and go out to machine shops. They would make parts, and then we would put them together. And, and of course, not everything fits right, and not every engineer just does everything just right. So, you know, I got pretty good at making things fit. And then so I started doing more machining stuff, um, there. And then so I was there for 10 years, and about the last 5 years I moved up and got on a computer and started designing equipment and machines as well. So, and I think I— that was a good fit because I had so much, um, you know, mechanical background and assembling all this stuff. And, you know, a lot of— we had engineers there that were fresh out of school, and it's amazing what you can draw on a computer but you can't manufacture that part, you know. They'd send stuff out to machine shops and they're just like, uh, I don't know, I plan on making this part, but it's not possible. And, you know, so I, I designed everything, but, but did it in a way on how you would, you know, manually make it, because I only knew how to, you know, like a manual mill or a lathe.

[00:26:10.540] - Nate Williams

And so I would draw parts in that fashion. And, and, uh, you know, so that's really fun. So I picked up a few new skill sets from working there, but I kept busy in my garage the whole time, slowly gathering tools up that we sold with the business. And so I had a garage that was very well set up. I had a plasma table, a mill, a lathe, all the welders and everything that I needed. And so I was doing a lot of side work, building Jeeps. The guys I worked for, there was 3 guys that owned that company, I built all of them one or more Jeeps or Raptors or whatever in my garage. And, and, uh, so the passion for vehicles never left, um, me. But, you know, I just— I spent 10 years away and then was drawn right back into the off-road world after that.

[00:27:07.800] - Big Rich Klein

And we might as well go full circle on this then. And you're now doing— from, from that industrial automation and then doing the side work, what was the next step?

[00:27:23.080] - Nate Williams

So, um, everything I've done, I mean, it's, it's always included working with my brother. And so John's story is pretty interesting. After he left, um, work, he, he ended up in St. George, um, and he started another off-road shop down there. He had a non-compete clause for, I think, 250-mile radius or something. So he ended up down in St. George and started a shop down there. And after 5 years and that was over, he moved up to Salt Lake and brought that business with him. And I helped him out, you know, a lot during the whole thing. You know, we, we built some Jeeps and raced King of the Hammers, you know, and, and had a really good time doing that stuff. and then I just help him out with his work. And so we had a couple of old employees from our Mount Logan Off-Road days, and, you know, we all kept in touch, we're all close. And so they had talked to my brother, like, hey, we're not so happy where we're at, you know, why don't you start another shop back in, in the Logan area, and we'll quit where we're at and come work for you.

[00:28:31.110] - Nate Williams

And so John thought it was a good idea, and so he hit me up and he's like, if we start another shop, you know, or you— would you want to come back? And I'm like, you know, yes, I would. And it's one of those things that you always look back and you're like, oh, you know, we, we did make mistakes and we could have done things so much better. And so maybe you should try it again, you know, with what we've learned and know now. So I left my job and we started a second location of, um, the shop in Salt Lake. And so I was running it up here in the Logan area, a couple of our old employees, a couple new guys, and, uh, you know, it was working really well. And, um, John eventually, he had a deal worked out and somebody wanted to buy him out in our, in his Salt Lake shop. So he sold it and now he's just working up in our Logan shop, um, for the last like 3 years he's been doing that. So I think that was 2019 when we left, so this fall it will be 7 years back in into the current shop setup we have now.

[00:29:38.790] - Nate Williams

And the name of that business is, um, it was Impulse Off-Road, and then he sold that name and stuff in Salt Lake, so we rebranded our, our Logan store to Crossfire Off-Road.

[00:29:50.270] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, I always kind of wondered how that all came about.

[00:29:56.370] - Nate Williams

Yeah, it— I mean, it was, it was kind of weird how it all went, but, uh, yeah, that's how we're all back together now.

[00:30:04.160] - Big Rich Klein

Awesome. So let's talk about those early jeeping years and then how that led into competitive rock crawling.

[00:30:15.340] - Nate Williams

So yeah, we, you know, when going to Moab, and it's, it's so easy to make friends in Moab. And so we ended up getting some good friends. They're kind of out of Salt Lake, and a couple of them were up going to school at, at the university we have up in Logan. And so we kind of had a good group of friends. We traveled a lot and, you know, went to Moab a lot, had a, you know, one of these other guys had a Bronco, and so we clicked pretty good. And we built that Bronco up to go do a rock crawling competition in, uh, 1999 and had— I mean, it was super fun. Everything is, you know, great. So I, as soon as we came back, I stripped my Bronco down, rebuilt it all, and then the next year we were competing together and traveling around, um, doing that. But, you know, it's just, yeah, the early days of Moab and going down there and, you know, trying to run all the hardest trails. And, you know, I remember one trip we were down there and, um this guy named Kevin Hawkins. The old guys would remember him for sure.

[00:31:16.190] - Nate Williams

Um, but he had this sweet little turquoise flat fender, and he'd be down there wheeling by himself all the time. We'd run into him, and, and I swear he, he must just laugh to himself, but he would take us on trails, and I know he knew better, but he was like, I wonder if these guys will follow me through these trails. And we did, you know, because he was, he was the man down there. And, and We would bust our stuff up. I remember going on Lower Eldorado, and man, I did it in both rocker panels all the way up the doors. They'd barely open and broke my steering box and all this stuff. We ended up getting through the trail, and, you know, and we were dumb kids. We come— we would go home and fix it and come right back and do it again, you know. But that was, you know, well, what broke and, and led to the evolution of, you know, what, what do you need to do to make it better and able to do that stuff. And then, you know, that challenge of getting through those trails and then the challenge of, you know, a rock crawling competition, you know, and where do you stack up with everybody else?

[00:32:18.150] - Nate Williams

It's just as dumb as you are to go beat up on their junk like that for nothing, you know, like, but I mean, we were hooked on it. That's kind of how it all started.

[00:32:27.120] - Big Rich Klein

And what was the, um, first event that you guys competed together in? So in your own vehicle?

[00:32:36.610] - Nate Williams

In my own vehicle. So it would have been— and I wish I remembered it better. So the '99 was, um, our other buddy did it in his Bronco, and that was in Farmington, New Mexico. And then ARCA got going, and so whatever the first event in 2000 was, was when we started, um, competing in our, in our own cars. So, um, I drove, and then John was my spotter. And so we did that for, yeah, a long time in that Bronco. And then, you know, as evolution went, you know, a full-bodied car just wasn't competitive. And you think back of all the cool cars that popped up from, from back then, you know, the buggies and rear steer and, you know, hydraulic shocks on the corners. You know, you start watching the guy, you know, he's gonna hit a cone and all of a sudden he pushes a button and the tire lifts up off the around and, you know, drives right over the top of it. And you're like, whoa, wait a minute, we got to redo some rules because something crazy just happened, you know. And but all of the cool stuff that happened, you know, back then.

[00:33:39.050] - Nate Williams

And so anyways, I ran that Bronco for a few years and then built my first buggy as a two-seat buggy, had Cadillac Northstar motor in it, some Teraflex 60s and coilovers, you know, and all that. It was new stuff, you know. You got to figure out how to get coilovers to work and links to work because everybody had leaf springs, you know. And, and so you're, you're learning, you know, as the industry is learning. And, uh, you know, so you run a car for a year and then you start building another one, you know, that's going to be better. And, and you look forward to every event just to see how your stuff was comparing to everybody else's.

[00:34:21.050] - Big Rich Klein

What was the most memorable event from those early years?

[00:34:25.690] - Nate Williams

Oh, well, we kind of had— we were, we were mid-packers in, in the early days. And it wasn't until, you know, that we started getting, you know, if there were 60 people, we would be, you know, in the 30th, you know, and the big events, you know, 100 people, we'd be right, still right in the middle. I built a single-seat car for John Gilliland, and he was dominating in his career. And that was a great move for us to team up with him. So he started having good success. And then I started working on a single-seat car. And probably, I mean, my best year was 2007. And, you know, that year they did the King of Area BFE. So King of the Hammers was going, and, you know, I think people saw that that was going to be something, and, and so they decided to put this, you know, King of Area BFE event on. And so they invited 30 of the top, you know, drivers, you know, they were hitting all the rock crawling series, and to go do that event. And so we ended up doing really well, and things were going good through the event, and And, uh, at the end of all of it, I won it.

[00:35:42.690] - Nate Williams

And so I still have a crown from that event, and they never did another one. Um, you know, I thought it'd be an annual thing where you take the crown back and pass it on to the next guy, but they never did again. So that year I won that. Um, they had a rock cross series, and I did really well, and I won the series points in that, you know. So I think '07 was my pinnacle. That's my top year in in, uh, you know, rock crawling competitions where everything kind of clicked and we were, we were finally winning things.

[00:36:15.620] - Big Rich Klein

And did you have a lot of sponsors?

[00:36:19.150] - Nate Williams

Um, man, it was really hard to get sponsors. And now, yes, you know, John, John chased that and we had some good ones. You know, I remember, uh, you know, Tough Country came on and, you know, they, they helped us out with some money to get to events and And that was a big deal. You know, we had other stuff, you know, we met somebody at SEMA that worked for Hot Wheels. And so we, you know, they let us on enough that we thought they'd make a Hot Wheels of our car. And so we thought we'd have a Hot Wheels sponsor and that kind of fell through. But yeah, it was hard to get money and we just, we really didn't know how to chase it. Either. Um, you know, we were just more focused on building the best car we could and getting to the event, and, and we're missing, you know, that marketing side of things. Um, but, uh, yeah.

[00:37:16.150] - Big Rich Klein

And then you— what year did you race? Did you say you raced King of the Hammers?

[00:37:21.310] - Nate Williams

So the first year that John and I raced Hammers was 2012, so that was the first year that they opened up new classes. I tried to race in 2008 in, in this little single-seater car, the last one I had. And Dave Cole, he's just like, oh, we only take 50 people, we're full, there's a waiting list, you know, I'm sorry, you waited too long to, to come. So I was pretty disappointed in that. That kind of all actually led to we sold our cars shortly after that, and then we didn't do any competing until that 2012. So they opened up, you know, they call it the Everyman Challenge, but they had a stock class, a modified stock, and the legends class that they, they put in there. And so John, with his business, the Impulse Off-Road in St. George, he's like, you know, we're, we're building Jeeps for, you know, all of our customers. And what better way to validate it and, you know, show customer stuff is to build one and go race. So we thought that was a good idea. So he bought a 2-door JK and we built that into a stock class, um, race car.

[00:38:38.390] - Nate Williams

And I, and I think that's the hardest class to build something for because you're working around all the restrictions of this, the stock frame and the body and you know, you just can't place things where you would ideally like to, um, you know. So it's hard to build a car and it's hard to do those races. They're so dang hard. And you're on a, you know, a small car with 35-inch tires, um, but it's super challenging at that. Yeah. And so that, that's first time at Hammers. And I'm thinking from then we might have only missed 2 years, 2 or 3 years since 2012. We've been there every year since.

[00:39:17.730] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. So, and, uh, what do you feel your record is there?

[00:39:24.710] - Nate Williams

Um, you know, we've been chasing a win ever since then. Um, the first year we raced, we did finish. Um, the second year we raced, we were actually leading our class for most of the race. And then had a— broke a steering knuckle. And, and, uh, man, I had to do a MacGyver weld to get that car out of there, but we still got it to the finish line. Um, fell off. Um, so I know, I mean, the last few years, um, we got a 5th this year, a 3rd last year, um, a couple 4ths in there, you know. We've, we've just been a top, you know, that 5 to 7 or 3rd to 7th spot so many times. You know, just dreaming of a win down there and just haven't got it yet.

[00:40:16.410] - Big Rich Klein

And what about other desert racing?

[00:40:19.840] - Nate Williams

So other desert racing actually been doing pretty well. So last bit, we've, we've teamed up with Ford. So we're racing a Ford Bronco at Hammers and then we've got a Raptor pickup and we've been doing a lot of the Best in the Desert and the Unlimited Off-Road Series, you know, Mint 400. And we've been down in Baja doing the 1000 with Ford. And so we've got a couple wins with Ford down at Baja 1000. We've won the Mint 400 in a couple different Jeeps and the Bronco. So we've probably got, you know, 5, 6 wins, you know, doing the Mint 400 over the years. Um, you know, we just won the, um, Silver State 300, and we won that race last year, um, in our truck. Um, won Laughlin. So we, we've actually had pretty good luck in the desert racing and, uh, got some good cars we made, and that's been super fun.

[00:41:25.910] - Big Rich Klein

And, uh, what's your best finish down at the 1000?

[00:41:29.910] - Nate Williams

Uh, so we've won our class So we've been down there with Ford and they really focus on the stock production. You know, they're testing their stock truck down there and it's a super cool experience and a super good learning experience to watch how they do that. And I mean, every part is seriously a stock part. You know, it's a stock tie rods, all these things. And, you know, we've learned a lot how they do that, If you change something on there, there's somebody there, you know, an engineer from Ford, and they'll tell you right to the torque specs and whether that, you know, hardware needs to be Loctited and everything. But they're validating their parts, and it's impressive how they've held up. But, you know, we've won. Last year we fell off pace just a little bit. I mean, our section, we did awesome, but you know, the group was off pace. Um, the 2 years previous, we, we won our class both of those years. Um, so I've got 2 Baja 1000 wins in there too. Yep.

[00:42:36.330] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. And, uh, what is the— what's the thing that stands out most about racing in Baja?

[00:42:46.810] - Nate Williams

Um, The whole experience is, is just something else. You know, I remember we went to the premiere of Dust to Glory, right? So we were heavy in the rock crawling days, and that movie came out, and we got invited through BFGoodrich to go down to the premiere. So we took our buggies, and they were parked outside, you know, as show and tells. And, you know, I remember watching that movie, and I'm like, man, this, this is something else. This is so cool. And You know, it's one of those things, and they tell you in that movie, but you like, you have to experience it to really understand it. But the whole part of it, I mean, the culture is great down there. We have so much fun pre-running. I think pre-running is my favorite part, right? Um, because the stress level is way down. You're just cruising with your brother, you're having a good time, you've got your buddies in the truck next to you, you know. And, and I mean, there's times you're giggling like a kid, and you're— there's times you're stuck and having to work through that and then plan, you know, how are you going to do this during the race and, you know, not get stuck, you know, avoid these situations and, you know, and you're taking all the notes in your GPS and, and stuff.

[00:43:54.070] - Nate Williams

So I think pre-running is, is my favorite thing. And even we get down there and, and so John and I've got little boys that are the same age, you know, they're 9, and we're like, ah, when, when do you think we get to bring our boys down here so they get to experience that? You know, and, you know, we're gonna wait a few more years so they can really enjoy it. But, um, you know, that's something that we really look forward to is, is, uh, getting them down there and, and, uh, getting to experience it.

[00:44:22.130] - Big Rich Klein

I think part— my favorite part of pre-running down there is not only the course but the taco stands.

[00:44:30.320] - Nate Williams

Yeah, it's funny, everybody's got their own favorite stand, and, you know, you you team up with, you know, a different group and they've got their little spots that they all want to hit, and they're all amazing. I mean, it's— it is— you eat so well, you come back, you know, carrying a few extra pounds from, from down there. As long as you don't get sick, you know, right, then it's all gone. But yeah, it's— yeah, I think, you know, eating tacos with your buddies and, and, you know, getting on the beach every now and again, it's, it's Pretty awesome place.

[00:45:02.680] - Big Rich Klein

So when Dust to Glory was being shot, that was the race in 2003. I was down there with BFG in the pits and we were just outside of, um, um, Katowina on the road out to, um, Fish Camp. And that was the first pit. Went out there with Jack Seipoldt's crew that, uh, did the— did all the, the stuff up at Vora Valley Off-Road Racing. And at that point I owned Vora, and so I went down with those guys just to, uh, to experience it. And we really thought we were going to get a chance to get in the movie. We had a camera crew there, but they didn't use any of the footage from us. Oh no, yeah, we were there. I was there for the premiere as well. That was pretty cool.

[00:45:52.110] - Nate Williams

Yeah, that was— I remember to be in there. So I, I had gone once before. I went down for the Baja 2000. Um, I had a guy that, um, in fact, we didn't own a tube bender earlier in our shop days, and this guy did. He was an old fabricator from California, but he was putting together a dirt bike team. And, uh, so he came down to our shop and, and like, hey, I need help, you know, who wants to go to Mexico for 2 weeks? And I raised my hand, I'm like, I'm, I'm in. And so I went to the Baja 2000, and, you know, that was that year, it was the 2,000-mile race, right down and went all the way all the way down to Cabo. And, you know, we, we chased that from the very start, and then our rider was like in the middle, and then we finished chasing all the way to the bottom, you know. So we were awake for 2 days straight, and, and it was just the craziest thing ever. So I, I was familiar with it from that point of view. But then going to that premiere, you know, and I remember, you know, there's Ivan Stewart at his table and Walker Evans, you know, and McCaffrey's over there, all these, you know, the greats of the sport you know, were at that event.

[00:46:54.080] - Nate Williams

And now that was cool to be to that premiere. I mean, that was a pretty cool thing.

[00:46:58.790] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I agree. It was, it was pretty awesome.

[00:47:01.440] - Nate Williams

And Rich Klein was sitting over there at another table too.

[00:47:05.050] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, my son? No, you. Yeah, but I don't have the status that those guys do.

[00:47:12.370] - Nate Williams

Yeah, I'm not of a skew. Big shoes to fill.

[00:47:17.430] - Big Rich Klein

Yep, absolutely. So what, uh, what are you concentrating on now?

[00:47:26.280] - Nate Williams

So our big push now is, I mean, we, we're very fortunate to have an opportunity with Ford to do stuff. So they, they trust us enough to go run a race program, you know, and, and fly their flag, you know, along the way. Um, so I've been driving our Raptor pick up at, um, you know, the races as of late. If they're longer ones, then John and I are teaming up on them. Um, and so we're just putting a lot of effort into that and trying to get, um, championships. You know, that's how you validate your effort, you know, if you did well through the year. And, and, uh, so last year we won, um, an Ultra 4 in the Bronco, uh, the West Coast Series and the National Series, um, for Ultra4. And then in Best in the Desert, we've got the full-size stock production class championship as well. So we're chasing those same ones this year, and, uh, you know, we're hoping that more doors open that way. And, you know, we'd like to do more, you know, projects with that, you know, Ford. They've been a good— great company, you know, and, and provide us with cool experiences.

[00:48:39.160] - Nate Williams

And, and so we're just hoping that, you know, more doors open and, and see where that can take us.

[00:48:44.650] - Big Rich Klein

I know that, that John worked out at, um, the raceway at Tooele when it was, uh, Miller Motorsports Park. Um, did you ever work with him out there?

[00:48:55.200] - Nate Williams

So I did, but it was later on. It was after, um, just— I was working for that industrial automation company and I didn't have the flexibility to do it. But once we— once I made the jump back to working with him, um, I had the flexibility that I could take days off and then I would go down there and instruct, um, in that the Raptor program. And I mean, it's hard to even think that that was work because it was so fun. You just go out there cruising every day. Everybody's got, you know, a similar passion. They all want to learn about this truck that you really enjoy and And, you know, it's an easy, fun day. So I did get to work with him with that. I did help him build his first Raptor that he used to help build that program. And so that— yeah, I've been involved, but, but not till towards the end of it.

[00:49:48.770] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And what are the big plans for the shop?

[00:49:55.230] - Nate Williams

The shop, man, it's just going to keep plugging. The, you know, the whole industry and, and, you know, just kind of where everybody's at's a little different. We used to just have a pile of, you know, guys, they'd just go buy new Jeeps, they'd come straight to us, you know, or a new Bronco or whatever, and we would build them up. And, and that just seems to be a little slow as far as the industry is right now. Um, so we've, we've kind of gone back to some bigger projects, um, more, you know, long-term stuff, you know, more motor swaps and, you know a lot more custom fabrication stuff going. Um, so we'll, we'll just keep chasing where that is and then just keep racing as much as we can. And, uh, yeah, just see where it all takes us.

[00:50:41.760] - Big Rich Klein

Excellent, excellent. And, uh, anybody you want to give a shout out to?

[00:50:47.200] - Nate Williams

Um, you know, through all this, you know, I mean, I'd like to think that I couldn't do without my brother, and I know he couldn't do it without me. So we've We've been a team for so long, you know, so, you know, I really appreciate all the effort he's put into us. And then, you know, I've got a super supportive wife that, you know, and anybody that's tried to do all this would understand it, you know, how hard it is, you know, what it takes from your family, you know, when you go chase your dreams and stuff like that. So, you know, my wife is great and I really appreciate her support through all this. Um, you know, we've just got a bunch of guys from our valley that we've had as customers for, you know, so we're almost 30 years doing this stuff, you know, off and on. And, and there's guys that were there from day one that we still take care of. And so those guys are great, you know. And, and, uh, you know, Ford's been great. Our last couple years have just been amazing experiences with them. And, uh, So yeah, that's pretty much it.

[00:51:54.850] - Big Rich Klein

Cool, cool. Well, Nate, I want to say thank you so much for, uh, joining me on, uh, Conversations with Big Rich. Uh, it's, it's great to finally get your side of the story. And, uh, you know, I really hope that things are just phenomenal for you guys. And, uh, that you guys keep on winning and that everything that, you know, all the dreams that you have come true.

[00:52:23.370] - Nate Williams

Yep. No, thank you very much. It was really, really good to catch up with you. And, and, uh, yeah, we'll just keep plugging and, and see everybody at the races, I guess.

[00:52:32.730] - Big Rich Klein

All right, sounds good. Thank you so much, and, uh, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[00:52:38.690] - Nate Williams

Okay, you too. Thank you, Rich. It was great talking to you.

[00:52:41.130] - Big Rich Klein

All right, bye-bye now.

[00:52:42.270] - Nate Williams

Thanks. Bye-bye.

[00:52:43.730] - 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 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.