Master Fabber and Rock Bouncing Champion Tim Cameron on Episode 336

In this episode, Big Rich Klein sits down with rock-bouncing champion Tim Cameron, a Tennessee native whose passion for off-road racing began with four-wheelers, Jeeps, and hill climbs.

Tim shares how he learned fabrication from Brian Cole and built his first full-tube-chassis buggy, Fat Girl. He discusses the evolution of his rigs, including Jenny Craig, Moon Rover, Hellraiser, Showtime, and Game Changer. His innovative use of a ProFab drop box helped redefine rock-bouncer drivetrain design.

The conversation follows Tim’s transition from wild hill climbs to competitive racing. After experiencing Ultra4 suspension technology firsthand with Randy Slawson, Tim embraced bypass shocks, trailing arms, and increased wheel travel. His redesigned buggies helped him win multiple consecutive championships and influenced the direction of rock-bouncing competition.

Tim also recalls his 2015 King of the Hammers debut, where he and co-pilot Cole Shirley finished 11th despite fuel-system problems.

After racing more than 40 weekends a year, Tim recognized burnout and took time away from competition. During that break, he discovered dirt late-model racing and began mastering an entirely different discipline.

Today, Tim continues competing in rock bouncing while developing his dirt-track career. He discusses his current buggy, 100 Shots Reloaded, plans for a super late model, and the possibility of returning to Ultra4 racing.

Transcript

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[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 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 We discuss 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.

[00:00:46.720] - 

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. 4 wheels or 2, 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.

[00:01:13.680] - Big Rich Klein

My guest this week has gone from a Tennessee country boy to an internet sensation driving rock bouncer rigs with names like Showtime, Game Changer, Ultra Bouncer, Underrated, and Showtime 2. Possibly the winningest driver in rock bouncing. My guest is Tim Cameron. Good morning, Tim Cameron. So good to have you on the podcast. I think that you might be the only— the, the second person, driver or promoter actually, in that I've done in, uh, with the Rock Bouncers or Hill Killers or however you guys want to be called.

[00:01:53.550] - Tim Cameron

Yeah, yeah. Good morning, sir. It's an honor to have me on. I really do appreciate it for sure, but But yeah, it's, uh, yeah, the rock bouncing thing is definitely, it's definitely growing. You know, it started out pretty, you know, really small, of course, but I feel like the past, ah, 6, 7-ish years, it's, it's really, I feel like it's really taken off and, you know, kind of got notoriety. And, and it's, uh, it's, uh, it's just, it's getting bigger and bigger. And, you know, it's, it's such a wild sport too. Like, um, it's one of those things people, people watch it on YouTube and it's like, oh man, I I think I'd like to go do that. And then, you know, then they come watch it in person. And because it's one of those things, videos just never does justice to the craziness of the hills and stuff like that. But it's really— it is really, really fun for, you know, for me kind of coming from when I first started and when I was a lot younger and I was like 15 years old, you know, it was more slower rock crawling, just easing around.

[00:02:48.300] - Tim Cameron

And it's wild how the sport has went from you know, 2 or 3 inches of up travel to, you know, now we're in a— now we're in a 20 to 30 inch, you know, inches of up travel, kind of like Ultra 4 car or whatever. It's crazy how the sport's evolved for sure.

[00:03:03.730] - Big Rich Klein

Well, let's go to the very beginning, and that would be where were you born and raised?

[00:03:09.290] - Tim Cameron

So I'm born, raised in Franklin, Tennessee.

[00:03:12.140] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And, um, when you, uh, And are you still in that area?

[00:03:21.080] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. So I'm just outside of it. I'm right here in Columbia, Tennessee, which is, you know, just about 10 to 15 minutes south of Franklin.

[00:03:28.360] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And what was it like? Were you— is Franklin, at the time you grew up, was it pretty rural or were you in the city? What was the situation?

[00:03:42.600] - Tim Cameron

So, you know, Franklin's kind of— it's somewhat outskirts of Nashville and Brentwood, so it's, it's still got some city to it. But I was, I was raised more, um, I was not in the city limits, you know, I was outside of the city limits, uh, you know, went, went to just a, you know, regular public high school. Um, it was— I was in the country enough to where whenever I had a buggy or had a rock crawler I was able to start it up outside and not have to worry about the police showing up and stuff like that for, you know, for noise ordinance. You know, I had a bunch of buddies who lived, who lived in town, which, you know, when I say, when I say I lived in the country, we're talking, we're only talking about 3 or 4 miles, you know, outside of town.

[00:04:24.920] - Big Rich Klein

So.

[00:04:24.960] - Tim Cameron

Right. I had a bunch of buddies who actually lived in town and still kind of did the same thing, but we'd be over at their shop working and stuff like that. Next thing you know, the police would show up and they'd come in there like, ah, we got to show up, at least show our face because someone called on y'all again. You know, it's almost like a funny matter. You know, because, you know, we actually knew the place from seeing them so much, you know.

[00:04:46.260] - Big Rich Klein

So when, when you were, when you were younger in those early years, um, as a family, did you guys pretty much stick around, you know, the area, or did you travel much for like vacations or holidays, or what did you guys do as a family?

[00:05:06.920] - Tim Cameron

So most, most of the time, whenever Family-wise, when we would do a vacation, it would be something like East Tennessee up in the mountains like Gatlinburg, or it'd be like go to Florida like Panama City or something like that at the beach.

[00:05:21.030] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:05:21.990] - Tim Cameron

And which did you like best? I was always the mountain-style person. I'm just, I'm pretty much just a country boy from Tennessee who's light-skinned and I get sunburned easy. I just, I never was the type to lay on the beach.

[00:05:39.030] - Big Rich Klein

And, uh, was that camping or did you guys have like a cabin to go to or?

[00:05:44.160] - Tim Cameron

Yeah, uh, we, we, yeah, we would, we would do the cabin thing and, you know, go downtown Gatlinburg and kind of walk up and down, you know, walk up and down the strip and just really just, just honestly just enjoy the, enjoy the cool mountain air and just kind of hang out.

[00:05:56.320] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:05:57.420] - Tim Cameron

And, and I was, of course, I was always the type that I was looking around for, oh man, if I, if I had a buggy or if I had something, I, I think I'd like to climb that. You know, I was always, I was always looking at the, The one looking at the crazy stuff on the side of the interstate driving up there, you know, stuff like that.

[00:06:11.610] - Big Rich Klein

Well, I'm glad to hear that because I'm— I've been the same way for, I guess, about 40 years. Like, oh man, I'd love to go wheel that. I'd love to go wheel that. Yep.

[00:06:20.590] - Tim Cameron

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

[00:06:22.070] - Big Rich Klein

So when you were in school, were you a good student or were you one of the kids that was always looking out the window waiting to do something else?

[00:06:31.980] - Tim Cameron

I was, I was, I was good. I mean, I always felt like I was always just raised, you know, to be respectful. Yes, sir. No, sir. You know, thank you. All this and that. And so I was— I wouldn't say I was a teacher's pet, but I was definitely— I mean, I sucked up to them. I was nice because I wanted to be treated, you know, the way other— you know, I want to be treated the way I treat people. You know what I'm saying?

[00:06:53.250] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:06:53.430] - Tim Cameron

So, but at the same time, I didn't really enjoy going to school at all. I was— I'd be there and I would try to do my best. And I just, just, just enough to get by. Um, and, but I was always definitely looking out the window, ready to, ready to, ready to get out of there and go, you know, go rip on something. Of course, back then it was either, it was either we was riding four-wheelers and racing four-wheelers and climbing hills and all this and that. And, and I, at that time I had like a, um, you know, a built Jeep. You know, it was, wasn't much Jeep left on it. It might as well been a, a, a Juggie, but, um. Yeah, but I feel like I was a good student. You know, I just, I did enough just to get by and graduate, you know?

[00:07:32.190] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:07:32.590] - Tim Cameron

But no trouble. I never was the one to get in trouble and all that stuff.

[00:07:36.670] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:07:36.690] - Tim Cameron

I mean, the biggest trouble, I guess you say, I would've got in was, you know, skipping, skipping second period to go to town to eat breakfast at Shoney's and, you know, and come back during break.

[00:07:47.790] - Big Rich Klein

And what was second period that you were willing to skip it?

[00:07:51.890] - Tim Cameron

Do you remember? It was math.

[00:07:52.710] - Big Rich Klein

Math.

[00:07:53.310] - Tim Cameron

Math. Yep. Yep.

[00:07:55.150] - Big Rich Klein

Um, and as a, and as a fabricator, you never use math anymore, right?

[00:08:00.770] - Tim Cameron

Uh, no, that's crazy. It's, it's so wild to think of that. I did not enjoy math at all in, in, in class at school. I mean, I just despised it, just didn't, didn't, didn't care for it. And it's wild now just thinking about it. I was like, I feel like that's all I use now in the shop, but, you know, you know, you know, a bunch. Yeah, pretty crazy.

[00:08:21.800] - Big Rich Klein

Yep. Interesting. So while you were in school, did you do any extracurricular activities? Did you play sports or, you know, get into band or plays or anything like that?

[00:08:34.660] - Tim Cameron

So I did. I was a pretty big baseball player. I like through school, I played a little bit of ball at Page and then I played a bunch of rec ball. Uh, and let's see here. Outside, outside of that, uh, once the baseball thing kind of slowed down, like around about the time I was graduating, I, I got, I got, I was into men's league softball and co-ed softball pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty big also. And then other than that, I was a really big coon, uh, raccoon hunter.

[00:09:11.220] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:09:11.380] - Tim Cameron

Um, like they have like PKC, Professional Kennel Club points hunts and stuff like that. I was I was kind of into that pretty big. That's kind of what I did besides off-road. Um, and of course at this time I was kind of just slowly stepping into metal fabricating work, you know, around 17, 18 years old or so. Um, so I wasn't full-blown building buggies and all this and that at the time quite yet.

[00:09:42.360] - Big Rich Klein

And Did you, did you have shop classes or anything like that, or how did you get involved in the, in the fabrication work?

[00:09:51.200] - Tim Cameron

So we did have a shop class, but it was, I guess, where I guess times have kind of changed, at least around here. Maybe, uh, there was no welding class. When I say shop class, it was more of they were Gluing stuff together like, uh, oh man, what do you call those little cars that you— Now you let go down a ramp and you see which one can, you know, grab the fastest to the bottom.

[00:10:19.070] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, like the Bouncy Bobble Bee type stuff.

[00:10:20.160] - Tim Cameron

Yep. Yes, sir. Yep, yep, yep. Uh, so it was more, it was more like that instead of, I guess you'd say, like a welding class or something, you know. But, but honestly, honestly, I looked at that class as it was It was just something easier for me to do just to pass time.

[00:10:38.710] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:10:39.980] - Tim Cameron

You know, so, uh, but now when it comes to me welding and bending tubing and stuff like that, um, when I was around, uh, let's see, I was probably 18, 17 to 18-ish, um, because I lived right there in Franklin. Well, it wasn't but about 4 miles down the road And, uh, there was a fella named Mark Phillips who owned a farm. I had met Mark through an off-road park right here in Middle Tennessee called Wheelin' in the Country. A bunch of, a bunch of locals call it Summertown. And, um, we was there riding. They had it— they have huge rides during the, during New Year's event each year. And I'd met Mark down there and he said, yeah, I'm from Franklin. I, you know, we talked all this and that. And, uh, uh, yeah, uh, you have to meet a good buddy of mine who kind of works at— works in my shop. His name was Brian Cole. He, uh, he's the owner and founder of Cole Works Rock Racing. That's the name of his business.

[00:11:39.430] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:11:40.060] - Tim Cameron

I had met Brian. Brian was there. Brian had built a bunch of, uh, Mark's rigs. They were really, really nice high-end, uh, Jeep builds. I mean, you know, but when I say Jeep, the only thing left on them Jeep was pretty much the hood and the grill.

[00:11:53.060] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:11:53.510] - Tim Cameron

And some of the tub. But I'd met Brian and looked at some of the buggies. They were awesome. You know, I was like, man, I sure would, you know, kind of was— I was a younger, younger kid. So I was like, I sure would like to love to have something like that one day, you know? And I got to— since I was so close to their shop, I got to going over there and hanging out in the evenings after school. And at the time I knew how to weld. I hadn't welded much tubing and stuff like that. I had done a bunch of plate, you know, plate welding and stuff, just playing around the shop and all this and that. And, um, and Brian said, well, yeah, just come over here, you know, whenever you want to. So I started hanging out there a pretty good bit. And at the time, I had a, I had a Jeep that Tim Hood— was another fabricator that was, that was in Franklin that worked at a shop called Off and On, his off-road shop. And, and, uh, Tim Hood had built me that Jeep, and, and I, I had messed with it here and there, you know, welding on it and playing and learning and And well, I, I took my— and Brian invited me to go to one of their rides in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Superlift OHV.

[00:13:00.480] - Tim Cameron

And, um, I went out there and rode with those guys and, and, uh, because I, I was, I was pretty wild, um, you know, behind the wheel. Just, I don't know, just kind of always have been really. But, and so Brian, he really, he really enjoyed going, me going on the trip with him and all this and that. And he, he, he He fit— he thought that I fit in with their style of wheeling, you know. And next thing I know, he offered to build me a buggy just crazy cheap. And so he did. He— so the first actual full tube chassis I ever had was— we called the buggy, it was Fat Girl. Like, it was— it was the '07 unit is what some people called it. But the actual buggy's name was Fat Girl. How I got that name was it was, you know, 2.5-ton Rockwells, big block Chevrolet, just, you know, just a big heavy machine, you know. But that was my pretty much introduction to fabricating and being around a full-blown tube chassis buggy build like that. That was where, like Brian Cole, that's where I learned how to notch tube and to figure out the angles of making tubing fit and And for instance, like little small things like welder settings on a welding tube and welder settings on welding, you know, 3/8 thick axle tabs to the axle housing.

[00:14:22.560] - Tim Cameron

And, you know, how to build an axle truss, you know, how to build a rough 4-link, you know, just that Brian Cole's pretty much who introduced me to, uh, to all that for the first time.

[00:14:32.820] - Big Rich Klein

Awesome. And you just absorbed it like a sponge, right?

[00:14:36.840] - Tim Cameron

Yes, I, I took it all in and Of course, it just, it kind of, it kind of just went from there. The next— I wheeled that thing for, I'm going to say it was probably a good 2 years. And, you know, with Brian and, and a bunch of the guys and then me and Brian got together, I was like, I think, you know, because the sport was starting to change a little bit here and there and was, was bad about cutting tires because the machine was so heavy, you know, you know. So we end up, end up, um, I sold that machine and we, we got to get our heads together and we was going to build the exact same thing but lighter version. So we, uh, so Brian, me and him, we, uh, we worked together and, and, um, he built the next, next one we built was, uh, we called it Jenny Craig, which was—

[00:15:28.920] - Big Rich Klein

Jenny Craig.

[00:15:29.520] - Tim Cameron

Pretty much, yeah, it was pretty much Fat Girl on a Diet. And it looked identical, but a whole lot smaller version. You know, it was, it was a, it was 14-bolt axle housings, you know, small block Chevrolet. And then I wheeled that thing for a few years and, and we kind of, we kind of put our heads together and we built, we built the buggy called Moon Rover. And that, that was around the time the sport was starting to change a little bit. At this time, at this point in time, like, I learned enough to where I felt like I could You know, been tubing and do a lot on my own and everything. And, uh, after, after I wheeled Moon Rover for a little while, I end up, end up getting rid of it. I, um, let's see, the next one was, uh, I've done— it's been so long ago it's hard to remember, but I'm pretty sure the next one was, uh, I think it was Hellraiser. And I think that was the very first thing, the first full-blown buggy that I built on my own.

[00:16:32.660] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:16:33.370] - Tim Cameron

Like, actually at my shop, at my, at my parents' house. Um, and it was on Rockwells. It was, it was a small block LS motor. And there was a bunch of things that I tried, I just was not happy about it. The center of gravity was too tall, you know, stuff that, that me as just being young just didn't realize that That stuff that came into play throughout the build. Like, I guess mentally in my mind, I, at that time, I wasn't prepared for, oh man, I gotta think, I gotta think way ahead to, you know, to make sure I got this mounted in the right spot for this not to be in the way and so on and so on. And so anyway, so I got that machine done. I wheeled it for, it wasn't very long. It was, It might have been 6 months and I wasn't happy. So when I realized that, that I, I stepped, I stepped, I stepped back from that and I stripped that machine down and I got with a fella named Jimmy Smith because Brian was so busy, uh, building other things at the time. So I got with a fella named Jimmy Smith in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

[00:17:42.310] - Tim Cameron

And, um, he was, he was going, he was wide open at the time. Like the Jimmy Smith was a, was a pretty big era. where he was building buggies left and right and building chassis for people. And, um, uh, the, the buggies got a nickname, the Aetna Buggies. That's just a— Aetna is a really, a really famous big hill climbing place in Chattanooga.

[00:18:02.490] - Big Rich Klein

Yep.

[00:18:03.920] - Tim Cameron

And, um, I got with Jimmy Smith and he built me, um, I had him build me a bare chassis. And, um, because me, me is mentally as a fabricator, I was like, okay, if I can get the chassis the right size and everything, then I'll just, I'll just come back and do the 4-link and all the suspension how I want it to be done and mount everything, you know. So, and that, that bouncer ended up being called Showtime, and that was the red, the red buggy that I had, Showtime. And, um, that machine was awesome. I had it for a few years and it was, it kind of, that's one of the ones that kind of broke the internet, uh, at least here on the, on the East Coast for—

[00:18:44.430] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:18:44.780] - Tim Cameron

some of the, some of the wilder stuff that I was doing.

[00:18:47.440] - Big Rich Klein

And so, uh, how old were you when you built Hellraiser?

[00:18:54.410] - Tim Cameron

I'd been 17. Oh wow.

[00:18:56.300] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:18:58.450] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. Uh, yep, 17 to 18-ish. And then, and then whenever, whenever I got Showtime and kind of finished it out, and, you know, in between Hellraiser and Showtime, you know, we're talking probably You know, 8 months, 8 months to a year probably gap right there. So I learned quite a bit more from what I had tried on that Hellraiser buggy to what I wanted to put into Showtime, especially 4-link geometry and suspension-wise.

[00:19:29.280] - Big Rich Klein

So you would say that you were right around 20 with Showtime?

[00:19:32.890] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. Yep.

[00:19:34.560] - Big Rich Klein

How much time did you spend it up on Aetna?

[00:19:37.810] - Tim Cameron

So I I had been to Aetna when I had Showtime. Was— oh man, I mean, I'm gonna say I rode Aetna probably 10 or 15 times at least. Uh, it was a really fun place to go. It was, it was kind of, it was kind of sketchy. It's kind of one of those places because it's all shut down now. It's most of it's all subdivisions and stuff. But, uh, it was kind of one of those places where, you know, I don't guess they— people minded you riding, but no one— you weren't supposed to be in there. Uh, it wasn't like an off-road park or nothing like that. It was just random, random paper land company, you know?

[00:20:14.190] - Big Rich Klein

Right. We, we had, uh, we had looked at that area with We Rock, you know, because we used to be up there in Dayton, um, because ours is property. And, um, guys were going, you know, people, locals were saying, hey, you ought to come down and check out Aetna and stuff. And I said, well, who owns it? Nobody owns it.

[00:20:34.330] - Tim Cameron

Right.

[00:20:34.830] - Big Rich Klein

Somebody's gotta own it.

[00:20:36.190] - Tim Cameron

Somebody.

[00:20:37.020] - Big Rich Klein

Nobody could tell me who owned it. And I was like, okay, I'm not gonna just go use somebody's property to put on some kind of an event. You know, that's how you end up in jail.

[00:20:48.850] - Tim Cameron

Oh, absolutely. I'd always wanted to go to We Rock. I remember, so at Aetna, I remember riding with like Randy Torbett and a few of those guys.

[00:20:56.410] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:20:57.600] - Tim Cameron

And man, that was, that was, those were so awesome. That's one of the first times I've seen I had seen something, a rig playing around with tractor axles and water in the tires.

[00:21:07.530] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. What did you think about that? The old tractor axle?

[00:21:12.950] - Tim Cameron

Oh yeah, that was something else. I mean, you know, I remember seeing a few things on Unimogs and stuff like that, but I thought the tractor axle was something. Just the turning radius, of course, back at its time and day was just insane.

[00:21:28.520] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, yeah, it was when he came out with that and started rock crawling, um, there was, there was quite the, uh, the stir in the, the rock crawling world about, uh, you know, Randy and what he was doing with, with tractor axles and was it, you know, legal or not.

[00:21:47.970] - Tim Cameron

Legal, yeah, yeah.

[00:21:49.160] - Big Rich Klein

And it's like, you know what, it's unlimited, go for it. It's, it's still automotive-based. It might be farm equipment, but it's still automotive-based.

[00:21:58.380] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. Oh yeah, that's right. That's right.

[00:22:00.720] - Big Rich Klein

I didn't have a problem with it. Some of the other promoters or competitors had an issue with it because you know how competitors are when they get beat. They look for some excuse why they got beat.

[00:22:10.380] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. Absolutely. No, that's right. 100%.

[00:22:14.250] - Big Rich Klein

So then, um, Showtime— or let's go, let's go back a little bit. Did you Did you ever have any jobs that you did besides hanging out at the shop and stuff? Did you?

[00:22:28.240] - Tim Cameron

Yep. So, so let's see, uh, coming towards the end of high school when I was 17, 18 years old, my, um, my dad, we had kind of got into car wash, car washes.

[00:22:43.250] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:22:44.130] - Tim Cameron

Um, we had a self-serve wash. It was 5 self-serve bays like you want. You spray by hand with the wand. and had 2 touchless automatics on one end. It was right there in Franklin. So we had kind of gotten into that a little bit. And, um, uh, of course that was also a way for me to kind of get out of school early when I was a senior, you know, as a co-ed, you know, you know, get out half day for, uh, you know, to go, to go to work.

[00:23:08.510] - Big Rich Klein

Uh-huh.

[00:23:08.740] - Tim Cameron

Uh, so I'd go to the car, go to the car wash and do my thing and all this and that. And, um, the car wash thing kind of took off and We ended up, we ended up building a tunnel wash in Nashville off White Bridge Road. And that was pretty much my bread and butter. Like my, that was my income from, let's see, from when I was 18 to about, I was probably 27.

[00:23:37.210] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, okay.

[00:23:37.840] - Tim Cameron

Somewhere, somewhere in that ballpark, maybe 27 to 29-ish, probably. And so, but, but so that, that, that's, that's really what I did was the, the tunnel wash in Nashville up until, up until, up until then. I end up, I end up building my own shop house and stuff and moved out whenever I was from home. I was 26. And, uh, that's when I started doing a bunch of fabricating stuff on the side, as in I built a bunch of Razor cages, uh, some tube chassis Razor stuff. Uh, never built a rock bouncer for it, for anybody or anything like that, but I did a bunch of work to them. You know, like people would bring them, bring them to me and like, man, what do you think about this? And I would change a 4-link, change some of the suspension shock locations, build cages on them, you know, a little stuff like that. And so that was kind of like a side gig for me, um, outside of my main income, which was the car wash.

[00:24:34.460] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And, uh, In that process, did you learn— what, what did you learn in that during that process? Was it, um, the business aspect, or was it the fabrication to make sure that things line up the way you want and everything appear, you know, appearance-wise? What?

[00:24:58.790] - Tim Cameron

Right. So definitely no, you know, hands down. So like My family, they've been into like commercial rental property stuff for a long time. So they're definitely business-minded. And I kind of feel like I've kind of got, you know, took that, took a bunch of that knowledge from them and tried to put it into, you know, kind of what I do now. And trying to, when I would build something or whatever or make a modification for For anyone you call, I guess you could call them a customer or friend or, or, you know, whatever. I always feel like try to, try to make it to the fullest and just make it to be the best I possibly feel like it can be. You know, I, I just, I, I've never really been the person to want to like cut corners or take a shortcut because I've always felt like it'll bite you in the long run.

[00:25:50.970] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. So then with, uh, With Showtime, you're just 20 years old. You're competing at that point, correct?

[00:26:06.160] - Tim Cameron

So not quite yet. Not quite yet.

[00:26:08.490] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:26:09.540] - Tim Cameron

No. So now there might have been some little pop-up races here and there, but it— there I had gotten rid of Showtime. So you remember, so Jimmy Smith, he built the Showtime chassis, right? Well, and then I did the suspension and all this and that. Once I did that and figured out, I could tell how the machine was working, and I feel like, okay, well, I might want to try this and try that. So that's when I decided to build, to build my own again, uh, and the next thing I built was, um, I named it Game Changer. So the reason that buggy got its name was in when I had Showtime, Showtime 1, that is, in that era, the Atlas transfer case was, was, you know, the go-to. That was the thing.

[00:27:03.490] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:27:04.050] - Tim Cameron

But at the same time, here on the East Coast with, you know, big, bigger power and big tires and all this and that, we— that was kind of the weak link. Also, um, we like at that time we was, some of us was breaking 1410 U-joints. Well, I upgraded all myself to 1480. Of course that eliminated that, but the Atlas was, was the culprit.

[00:27:24.830] - Big Rich Klein

And, um, you always find a fuse.

[00:27:27.240] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. Absolutely. And well, I, I'd been around some truck pulling a little bit and I always knew they, that they were using a straight drive box from either SCS or ProFab. And I was like, man, I wonder if— I mean, you know, I don't see why I couldn't— someone couldn't build a bouncer or a buggy with one of those cases and just eliminate the transfer case being an issue. Of course, you know, everything we do over here, majority anyway, is you don't need high range. You know, you just, you just get the ratio set where you like it and it is what it is. Um, so I, I, I built that machine with a ProFab drop box and And you couldn't tear it up. Like, you, you know, literally with the power level, which was around 700 horsepower, you couldn't break the machine. It has 2-inch axle shafts, Dana 80 axles over some C's and knuckles, Rockwell spindles. I mean, it was at that power level, it was borderline indestructible. And so that's how that buggy got its name, Game Changer, because I feel like, you know, it got, you know, kind of introduced this, you know, drop box, straight drive box to the to the rock bouncing world.

[00:28:35.960] - Big Rich Klein

And okay, so you were the one that introduced that?

[00:28:39.250] - Tim Cameron

I feel like I was, at least as I had never seen one, at least around here. I'm pretty confident I'd never seen one in any other machine that was, that was not an Atlas or, you know, NP205.

[00:28:52.020] - Big Rich Klein

Now, now we'll get somebody that'll pop up and say, I did that before you.

[00:28:55.980] - Tim Cameron

Yeah.

[00:28:56.200] - Big Rich Klein

And I was up here in somewhere, you know. But anyway, yeah. Okay. You're the one that brought it to the forefront, at least, if not to be the first. Right. Okay. And how long did you have Game Changer? And was that besides being a game changer because of that, what else do you think it did?

[00:29:20.680] - Tim Cameron

Okay, well, it was perfect. It was awesome machine when it comes to durability. Um, we went to— I went to a hill climb event because so, so many little events had happened with Showtime. But like, for instance, there was a, there was an event in Arkansas. There's a big bounty hill. I think it's $10,000 or $15,000 to win for somebody to climb it. And, um, this is a Hot Springs, uh, ORV park. But, uh, and that's how the hill got its name, was Showtime Hill, because I was, I was the one of the first ones to climb it that day. And well, that they was going to run it back. So a couple of years later, that they was going to have a race up Showtime. And so I took Game Changer, you know, and took, took that machine and went there, didn't make it, turned over all this. And I don't think no one made it that day. But well, that event happened to be at when they, when they had an Ultra 4 race. at Hot Springs. That's that same weekend.

[00:30:23.970] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:30:24.510] - Tim Cameron

So that was the first time I'd ever seen an Ultra4 car in person. And I got to meet Randy Slauson and a good buddy of mine, Cole Shirley, who owns Mad Rim 11 Productions. And he knew Randy and kind of got me and Randy together, introduced us. And Randy's like, here, jump in, I want to take you a ride in, you know, my Ultra4 car or whatever. And Man, Rich, that, that, that right there was— that was probably one of the biggest eye-openers I'd ever witnessed, you know, when it comes to suspension and the way, the way something should work.

[00:31:01.230] - Big Rich Klein

It was, it was. Yeah, because Randy, those, those cars— oh yeah, tuned.

[00:31:07.020] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir.

[00:31:07.520] - Big Rich Klein

Not just engine tuned, but suspension tuned.

[00:31:10.670] - Tim Cameron

Yeah, absolutely. I just couldn't believe it. I mean, we was ripping up this power line And of course, you know, I'm used to one of my machines or a rock bouncer. I was just used to the way they acted and the way they handled things. And there was like 2-foot deep, 2 or 3-foot deep ruts. I seen them coming. I was— I braced up in the seat. I thought it was just gonna be terrible, just violent. And you didn't even hardly feel it. You seen the tire and suspension move, and the chassis barely moved. And I just— I was so blown away. So I knew right then and there That— oh no, it's just everything, everything I've, I've learned and all this and that for the way I wanted my suspension to be. And, you know, you know, all that was gone out the window. So I took Game Changer home and I'm pretty sure I sold it within about 2 weeks. And, and I completely rethought my whole process. And the next, next thing I built was I wanted to do bypass shocks. I wasn't ready to do trailing arm quite yet. I just wanted to, I wanted to try still be a little bit of rock bouncer, but with bypass shocks.

[00:32:22.090] - Tim Cameron

I built the buggy, I named it Ultra Bouncer. It was a big block Chevrolet rear engine, but it did have bypass shocks and it did work. It worked cool. It was awesome. But I was not happy with the bigger motor in the back and stuff. But the suspension did work better. And And I kind of took that as a, as a leap forward, like, okay, so I'm kind of going in the right direction. And the next machine I built was Underrated. Now, this was getting about around the time where Clyde had, had, had come out with the SRSS, you know, the Southern Rock Racing Series.

[00:32:59.150] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:33:00.360] - Tim Cameron

And I was, I was kind of planning on maybe doing a little bit of racing. But I still wanted my machine to have a big fuel tank, full exhaust. I still wanted to be able to trail ride because, you know, that's just what I've always done since I was 14 years old, you know, like going to, you know, Tellico Plains and Murphy, North Carolina and stuff like that when I was a lot younger. Um, um, when I— so I built this single-seater, Underrated, and it was, of course, it was bypass shocks. Shocks and real nice 383 stroker motor. And, and that's whenever I got introduced to, to racing. I'd went to a couple of events and I was like, man, it was kind of crazy how I got bit by the bug. I did. I never was a racer. Like, I honestly, I was against it because I was always like, oh no, man, we ain't gonna go racing. Let's all go over here. Let's hill climb, do something else, do something, do something. What I thought was Was fun, you know. And I'll be the first one to admit I was dead wrong. Um, the racing thing, it really bit me.

[00:34:11.290] - Tim Cameron

It bit me hard. Um, just the, the type of adrenaline I was, I was getting racing was just as intense as me climbing a crazy hill or making a crazy save. Um, uh, except the possibility of reward of, you know, getting paid or trophy or being on a podium or— Or whatever. And, and, and the racing thing really, really, really, really got me, and I, I was— I've pretty much been hooked ever since.

[00:34:40.310] - Big Rich Klein

Right. It, it's interesting watching your development from outside of your sport because I always— I'm always watching off-road, whether it's, whether it's what I was doing with the rock crawling and then what Dave was doing with with King of the Hammers and then Ultra4, and then we started Dirt Riot, and then going down to Baja and helping teams down there. You know, there was always— I was always watching what was happening in the industry. And you guys, you know, I, I was kidding Matt Myrick one time, um, and we were at KOH.

[00:35:23.470] - Tim Cameron

Yeah.

[00:35:24.100] - Big Rich Klein

And He, uh, it was when the rock crawlers beat the rock bouncers in the shootout. Yep. And it was because David set it up so that, you know, that the qualifying was fast and then the final was a crawl.

[00:35:44.900] - Tim Cameron

Yeah, technical. Yes, sir.

[00:35:46.330] - Big Rich Klein

And you know that it, it really wasn't fair the way it was set up. It was set up for Right, right. But when I saw Matt, he was like, you know, he goes, so you're not, you're not bragging into stuff? And I go, well, you know, there's, uh, we all knew that when it, when it comes to, to rock crawling, to true technical type stuff, nobody's going to beat a rock crawler. You might be able to horsepower up the same hill, but, you know, if it's— if the conditions are right, The rock crawler is just going to go and do its thing.

[00:36:22.790] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir.

[00:36:23.690] - Big Rich Klein

And I said, besides, I said, everybody loves watching people drag race into a brick wall. Right. And that's what I was equating bouncing with at the time, because that's a basic description is what it was. Because more than not, people would roll, crash, and then 1 or 2 guys would make the hill at that time.

[00:36:44.610] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. That's right. Yep.

[00:36:46.760] - Big Rich Klein

And I said, besides, you know, I said, there's only— it doesn't take talent to drag race into a wall. I said, the only guy that's got talent in your sport is Tim. And he goes, what do you mean? And I said, well, Tim wins everything unless he happens to break something. If he doesn't break, he wins. And he goes, okay, fair enough. So we've never met, you and I, but—

[00:37:16.710] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir.

[00:37:17.350] - Big Rich Klein

I've watched.

[00:37:18.950] - Tim Cameron

Yep. Oh yeah.

[00:37:20.830] - Big Rich Klein

So yeah, let's talk about those times when you, you know, with getting hooked and, and starting to compete, because you did just seem like every time you showed up, everybody should have just loaded their stuff up and gone home and, you know, not have that— have to pay that bill to repair their stuff.

[00:37:38.110] - Tim Cameron

I just, I mean, I definitely always want to always try to show, you know, if I'm there to race, I'm there to race and try to win, you know. And, and I've always tried to be the best I could be. And, and I've always been a firm believer in, you know, a lot of the race is won in the shop and, you know, in maintenance and keeping the machine up and making sure everything works right. And, you know, especially in the earlier years of some of the rates, some of the rock bouncer racing and stuff, and mechanical failure would take out a lot of people, especially over 2 hills that were pretty rough, you know. But when I built— when I built the Underrated Buggy and I raced that full year, but I was also racing or racing and trail riding that machine. Well, we got down to, let's see, It was like 2 or 3 weeks before, before the finals. And we was at, we was at a different little trail ride event down in Alabama, a place called Gray Rock and on Cable Hill. And I blew the motor up and I was like, oh man, well, and I was, I was leading the points in the series and all this and that and blew the motor up.

[00:38:51.450] - Tim Cameron

I was trying to get one before the, before the next race. Well, I couldn't. So I was like, oh, well, heck, I'll just borrow a buggy. It'll be all right. I'll just make it work, you know? I just thought, you know, I was just young and young and confident. I just felt like I could just, I could just take whatever and just win. And I borrowed a good buddy of mine's Rockwell buggy, you know, and he, you know, thankful. Thanks to him for even letting me, for letting me take it out and use it. Well, I'll tell you what. So we was at, we was at Hot Springs for finals and I struggled. I just, me not being, being used to the machine and not, and not, and being in something that was totally different and Uh, I ended up getting second for the day, and Sean Tolson, uh, he beat me. He beat me for the day, and that allowed him to squeak by. He beat me for the championship over 2 points.

[00:39:39.120] - Big Rich Klein

Oh wow.

[00:39:39.600] - Tim Cameron

And I told— oh yeah, I told myself right then and there that it's not happening. If I, if I, if I'm gonna get beat, I, I want to get beat like in my own, in my own stuff that I, that I know how it works. I want to get beat at my best, you know. And let's see, then I built what you— I built a buggy called Showtime 2. That was the first buggy that I built that was trailing arm. And that machine worked extremely well. And then I went on to the next year and won that championship. And I think Let's see, I won— I think I won— I won that championship 8 years in a row.

[00:40:29.320] - Big Rich Klein

Wow.

[00:40:29.740] - Tim Cameron

Yep. It's either 7 or 8 years in a row. Of course, you know, each year was a different machine because a lot of times I'd race the machine for a year and, and try to help, help all the sponsors, you know, give all their social media attention and praise and everything. And then what I would do is I would just, I'll just sell the machine at the end of the year if somebody wanted it. And then during the wintertime or the little off break we had, I would, I would build, I'd build a new one and I would try to just, I would try to learn from each machine and learn of how this, where the sport was at and how it was growing and what to do to be better. And, and I was always just trying to think outside the box and just kind of one-up everybody or, you know, if I could.

[00:41:13.730] - Big Rich Klein

Did you, did you feel that, that after you did Game Changer and went to, you know, more of a tuned suspension, um, or alt— I guess it was Ultra, Ultra Bouncer, um, when you got, you know, the bypasses and the tuned suspension, I saw a big change because I, I recognized that as well. And that, you know, now you had a car that actually handled, um—

[00:41:38.650] - Tim Cameron

Yep.

[00:41:39.120] - Big Rich Klein

and didn't just react. Oh yeah, to the, the mountain and never knowing what it's going to really do. And absolutely, I noticed that others started following the trend.

[00:41:51.460] - Tim Cameron

You know, the trail arm thing really, really took off.

[00:41:54.270] - Big Rich Klein

Uh, right.

[00:41:55.230] - Tim Cameron

Uh, so Peter Baszler had an Ultra 4 car that he raced, uh, in the, in the, the, uh, the Southern Rock Racing Series. He actually won Won the points championship the first 2 years that the series was, was out, was out and going.

[00:42:11.110] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:42:12.310] - Tim Cameron

And, and then I'm not really sure why, but, you know, I'm sure people seen that he was on trailing arms, but some reason there wasn't any rock bouncers trying it yet. But after I did Showtime and won that championship with it, I don't know if the way the suspension was working Or way it acted, I don't know. Or me just being having a rock bouncer background, if people was like, oh wow, we got to try that. I'm not really sure what it was, but the trailing arm thing really took off after. Yeah, after I did that Showtime 2 buggy. And another thing too, I mean, it to me it made the racing just easier, like on your body. I mean, I'm talking before I went to a really well. Suspension, something that had wheel travel and rode good. I mean, after, after every race or after every hill climb event, I mean, I feel like I've been in a car wreck. It's rough, you know.

[00:43:10.620] - Big Rich Klein

Well, you had been. That was my whole thing, you know. That's, that's why I said it was like drag racing into a brick wall.

[00:43:20.610] - Tim Cameron

Oh yeah. But, but oh yeah. And, but getting, getting to Getting over to Trail on Arm and something that had, you know, 30 inches of wheel travel in the back and 25 inches in the front compared to, I mean, some of the earlier rock bouncers, for instance, like Showtime. I mean, we're talking 3 or 4 inches up travel in the front. And I mean, just, just log wagon, you know, just rough. But, but that's just, that's just how it was though back then. I mean, at least over here. I mean, that's how they got their name was rock bouncer. That, 'cause that, heck, We'd hit stuff hard enough to where you'd be looking 30, 40 foot ahead just to see where you was going to land at from bounce to bounce. It was kind of wild.

[00:44:05.380] - Big Rich Klein

Oh no, it was great videos. I mean, right. It made, you know, I mean, between Matt with Busted Knuckle and Cole Shirley and a couple of others, I mean, you guys just destroyed the internet.

[00:44:21.510] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir.

[00:44:22.400] - Big Rich Klein

Oh yeah.

[00:44:23.180] - Tim Cameron

Uh, and, and like, I, I just, you know, I see comments online and stuff about how a lot of people were like, oh, he, man, makes it look easy. And it, it ain't really driver. I mean, it's just the— I was able to get, get lucky and get my shocks and stuff right and, and take and pick, pick a right line. And man, the last, you know, for sure last 7, 8 years or whatever. I mean, if you hit— if you can hit it right and everything, the suspension stuff just works so good. I mean, it'll make something really, really bad, rough, make it look like a highway. It's pretty insane.

[00:45:01.080] - Big Rich Klein

Right. But I'll tell you what though, I, I've watched enough and I, I've, I've, I study. Like I said, I watch and I study. I truly believe that you're what I call a wheelman, where you can, you could probably come out and figure out rock crawling really fast. And, you know, the go-slow technical, you know, trials-type crawling.

[00:45:29.940] - Tim Cameron

Right.

[00:45:30.410] - Big Rich Klein

Um, that, you know, you're, you're obviously great at the bouncing. I believe that if you, you know, same thing, you'd figure out the Ultra 4 desert racing, um, I think that you're a wheelman. There's a, there's a lot of guys in the sport that might be able to do one style.

[00:45:51.830] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir.

[00:45:52.490] - Big Rich Klein

But not be able to transition into another style. But I think that you're one of those that probably has the ability to, to transition.

[00:46:02.260] - Tim Cameron

Um, well, I sure appreciate it. Yeah, I mean, I, I definitely enjoy it. I mean, it's, it's pretty much I'm 40. I'm 40 now, so it's pretty much been my life. You're still a kid. Oh, yes. I still feel young, so I guess that's the main thing.

[00:46:19.040] - Big Rich Klein

Yes. And what about, what about your foray into Ultra 4?

[00:46:27.390] - Tim Cameron

Oh, yeah. So that was in 2015.

[00:46:31.580] - Big Rich Klein

God, was it that long ago?

[00:46:33.610] - Tim Cameron

Yeah, it sure was. That's crazy.

[00:46:35.240] - Big Rich Klein

Holy mackerel.

[00:46:35.890] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. I know it. Um, by a fella by the name of, uh, Richard Domas. He, um, he was a, he was a guy from West Virginia who owned East Coast Underground, a big directional boring company. He, he had got a hold of me and wanted to buy one of my machines. It was, and it I was in Ultra Bouncer. Ultra Bouncer is what I had at the time. Uh, well, just so, just so happened a good buddy of mine, Joe Matlock, he owned Showtime. Showtime 1, the, the red one, the original.

[00:47:13.760] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:47:14.480] - Tim Cameron

And, um, and he and, and this Richard fella had another buddy that wanted to buy Showtime. So what was it? Well, I guess we'll just, we'll just bring him up here to y'all. And, uh, and y'all can ride them or whatever. So we, we took them buggies, Ultra Bouncer and Showtime, we put them on a gooseneck trailer and took them to West Virginia at an off-road park called King Knob. And we met those, met those fellas there, and they drove around. They said, we'll take them. So they paid us and all this and that. And, and it probably wasn't a week later that Richard fella, he, he had gotten a hold of me and And he's like, man, what do you think about this Ultra4 King of the Hammers thing? And of course, I knew a little bit about it from seeing it online and, you know, just being around off-road stuff for a long time. And I told him, I said, yeah, I mean, it's definitely a totally different world for sure. I mean, you know, you're not going to take no rock bouncer out there and compete with that. You're going to have to have something that's built for that, you know?

[00:48:13.410] - Tim Cameron

And well, he said, well, would you like to do it? And I was like, I mean, that would definitely be a bucket list thing to do for sure. Um, and he's like, well, I'll tell you what, I'd like for you to be my driver and you pick, you pick your co-pilot and, uh, and let's see if we can do something. So Jimmy Penner was the owner of Essentially Off-Road in Murfreesboro, right?

[00:48:36.620] - Big Rich Klein

Tennessee.

[00:48:37.330] - Tim Cameron

And, um, Jimmy, I got— he was hooked up with Rich and, uh, Richard Domas and all this and that. And, and we, uh, we kind of put all of our heads together and And decided if we was going to do it, you know, I was going to want to be in a solid axle. And I was— and my, my, my choice was Randy Slauson just because of what I experienced, you know, in the, in the past at Hot Springs, you know, when I rode with him. So, uh, we got with Randy Slauson and we ended up buying his winning car of— I think it's been '14, either '13 or '14. And, um, and got it back to Tennessee and Actually, I'm sorry, let me back up just a little bit. Before we bought it, we all flew out to California, met with Randy, went to the desert. He had his new— he had his new car that he actually won with in '15. He had it there, and then he had his '14 there, and we went, ripped around, went rock crawling. You just, you know, just took the Bombers out and just played with them.

[00:49:36.450] - Tim Cameron

Just something for me to get seat time in that style of terrain anyway. And all that went great. Got the cars back to— got the car back to Tennessee. And yeah, we pretty much started developing a little team. I picked Cole Shirley of Mad Ram as my copilot. He was doing all the cool video stuff here and there. And anyways, long story short, we had a trailer built and everything. We went to King of the Hammers and, oh man, let's see here. Of course, Dave Cole, of course he put me in Power Hour. I thought that was pretty neat, pretty cool for qualifying. And I think I qualified 14th. I'm pretty sure it was 14th. So that was cool. So anyway, race goes on and we was running about 5th and all of a sudden this car started losing power. There was one of these sand hills. The car wouldn't even hardly make it up the hill. We went back down, finally got up the climb. We got to pit and the fuel filter had sand in it. So they swapped the filter out, did another lap or so. The same thing happened again. And then, you know, it ended up finally when we finished, we finished 11th.

[00:50:54.910] - Tim Cameron

But that was, man, that was definitely a pretty, really awesome, awesome experience. I mean, for one, just to finish for me, you know, because Uh, the internet was kind of, kind of on the, on the doubts because I come from such an extreme driving, uh, deal, I guess, on the East Coast that most people probably, you know, thought I couldn't, you know, dial back enough to make a car live through a race like that, you know.

[00:51:23.230] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. I mean, there was, there was people that didn't want to see you succeed.

[00:51:28.850] - Tim Cameron

Oh yeah.

[00:51:29.580] - Big Rich Klein

Yes, sir. Yep. But that's, that's what happens. You know, I mean, we've had, uh, like, I know that at one of the Bouncer events, um, Kenny Bloom showed up with his, with his Rock Crawler Pro Mod.

[00:51:45.630] - Tim Cameron

Yep.

[00:51:45.830] - Big Rich Klein

And they, after he ran such a great time and, and, and it wasn't the violent run that the Bouncers were doing, they said, okay, well, you're in the rock— you're in the Rock Crawler class. And he goes, well, what's that mean? Unfortunately, you're running by yourself.

[00:52:05.870] - Tim Cameron

Oh my gosh. Yeah.

[00:52:07.410] - Big Rich Klein

And then Derek West did the same thing in his Ultra 4 car.

[00:52:10.370] - Tim Cameron

Yep. Oh yeah.

[00:52:11.730] - Big Rich Klein

You know, it kind of changed, you know, people didn't want— in the rock bouncing community, a lot of people didn't want to see it, see those guys succeed because it's like, yes, sir, right out of our pond, you know. Yeah. Oh yeah. All over the place. Doesn't matter what kind of racing you do.

[00:52:27.880] - Tim Cameron

Yep, absolutely. Oh, exactly right. Yeah, Derek West, he's— man, he was— he, he— that's a wheelman right there too. Me and him, we— because he, he kind of sees— he kind of started racing in some of the, some of the Rock Bouncer events over here quite a bit. And me and him, we've had some, we've had some pretty good battles too, for sure.

[00:52:46.490] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, Derek West is a real nice guy too, but I mean, oh, he's a competitor.

[00:52:51.040] - Tim Cameron

Yep, absolutely.

[00:52:52.020] - Big Rich Klein

And, and he's another one of those wheelmen. I I mean, he won championships at rock crawling. He did well at the bouncer events he went to. He did well at Ultra4. He just probably didn't have the budget that guys were spending at Ultra4 at that time. Yes, sir.

[00:53:10.620] - Tim Cameron

Right, right. Yep.

[00:53:13.170] - Big Rich Klein

Not everybody wants to mortgage their house 16 times to win. Oh, yeah.

[00:53:18.860] - Tim Cameron

No, that's exactly right, for sure. Ain't no doubt.

[00:53:23.220] - Big Rich Klein

So what are you doing nowadays?

[00:53:26.280] - Tim Cameron

So let's see, let's dial back about, uh, let's see, I guess it'd be 4 years ago, uh, because I built a bunch of machines, you know, since then, or I mean up until about 4 years ago. But I had this buggy called— I named it Tyrant. It was, uh, it was a— of course it was a— it was the first leading arm machine I'd ever built. Uh, I'm sorry, no, it was a second. Uh, so it was a leading arm, big, big blower motor LS, you know, make 1,200 horsepower. Um, uh, trailing arm, you know, just, just, just really, really cool machine, real low center of gravity. And I went out and raced it that year, and something about the year— and we, and we have to, we have to think too, so for 9 years solid I raced 40+ weekends a year. So—

[00:54:18.600] - Big Rich Klein

Wow.

[00:54:19.330] - Tim Cameron

I, I know I was, Rich, I was just, I was burnt plum out. I mean, I was, I was, it was so bad that I would, I, I went to a couple races that were close to the house. One, for instance, is the AOP. And, um, I raced Hill 1 and, and, you know, did good, did great. And, and for Hill 2, I was so not in, not in it, like mentally. I didn't even walk the course. I was like, oh, I'll just, uh, whatever, I'll just wing it, you know? And, and I, I, I, I lost. I lost. I lost the, um, um, what series was that? Uh, I'm pretty sure it was, uh, 0.1. I believe they're not around no more, but I think it was the 0.1 series.

[00:55:07.180] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:55:07.530] - Tim Cameron

But anyway, I lost the championship because of my stupidity, of not being in it and being burnt out, not walking the course and looking at it and just, just, just stupid, you know, just crazy. But I realized right then I needed a break. I said I didn't want to because I was— I felt like the 40-weekend-a-year thing and trying to race every single rock bouncer race there was. was I felt like I was turned into a job, like massively. So that after that year, I was— whenever I lost that 0.1 series, Clyde, you know, series, the— at that time was it was changed. It went from SRS to the National Rock Racing Association.

[00:55:58.690] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:55:59.260] - Tim Cameron

I told myself, I said, I said, I mean, I was pretty much like, Timmy, you're gonna have to get it together. If not, you're gonna throw another championship away. So I was able to get it together and salvage the rest of that year and won the championship. But when I— the relief after that was, was huge for me just to get— just to know that. I said, I'm gonna have to take a year off. So I won that championship, took it, took a year off. The following year, I sold the machine and then took a year off and started collecting parts to build something else. And man, Rich, I can't even begin to explain how good it felt to take a year break. I mean, it was unbelievable. And during that break, I've always had an interest in dirt late model racing.

[00:56:51.030] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:56:54.060] - Tim Cameron

I got a bunch of buddies who have, who have dabbled in it. Uh, you know, I got a bunch of buddies in dirt racing but not late models. But, um, I met a, a guy by the name of Logan Phillips who's a— he's younger, he's, I think he's 27, 28 years old. He, um, he, uh, he's really knowledgeable. He's raced, he's dirt raced himself in late models. He, he can build late model shocks. He's really, really Really familiar with it. And, uh, so I bought a car. Um, and of course, that is— that's one of those sports to where, to me, looking from the outside in, oh, I mean, oh heck, I can do that. I mean, who can't go in a circle and, and slide around, you know? And oh my gosh, was I in for— in for massive, like, I wouldn't say rude awakening, but something that does not look like it is, you know. And so I got a car and we started playing with that. And that probably, you know, a year goes by of me just dabbling, going to practices here and there and all this and that. And that was during that year off, that year, that first year break.

[00:58:12.990] - Tim Cameron

And of course, I'd built another rock bouncer. That bouncer I'd built was something totally off the wall I've never done before. It was, it was rear engine, single shock, more of a lighter weight machine. I built that buggy, I named it 100 Shots. And then I came out, of course I felt great again just because I guess taking a year break, my mentality was like, okay, I'm ready to race again. I feel good, not burnt out. I raced that whole year. Everything went good. Won the championship and sold that machine. I was like, I'm gonna take another year off. And that's whenever I really got into the dirt, the late model stuff. I just— and I can't even— I can't really explain much about it because it is— it's nothing what it looks like on the outside at all. Zero. But Uh, I've— so since ever since then, I've been dabbling in it and trying to learn it and, and, and not overdrive. That, that's, that's something that I've struggled with honestly up until probably this past 6 months is when the track's got moisture and the track's heavy. Oh yeah, I'm bad. I'm fast, bad fast.

[00:59:30.390] - Tim Cameron

But then when a track starts going away, getting slick, I'm You know, I may feel like I'm driving hard, but my lap times are, are not showing it.

[00:59:40.430] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:59:40.590] - Tim Cameron

And I'm getting passed and all this and that. And, um, so I've had to discipline myself from rock bouncer and UTV racing, which is, you know, borderline. You, you drive a rock bouncer and our UTV stuff, you pretty much drive it absolute as fast as you mentally can think. you know, to make the corners and stuff without, you know, without turning over or whatever. And the cars, the cars way more dialed back, a lot more like technical. Like my tire placement and stuff in the track needs to be wherever the moisture is. Some of the moisture strips might not be 6 inches wide, you know, little stuff like that. But so I've been— So I raced that a bunch. last year and learned a lot and progressed and finally got a few wins and stuff. And, and then let's see, in that, in that time I was— because I'd sold 100 Shots, I was building another, a new one, which is the one I've got now. I just, I named it 100 Shots Reloaded. And I kind of took, I kind of took what I learned from The Hunter Shot buggy, which was rear engine, big LS motor, different wheelbase changes.

[01:00:59.800] - Tim Cameron

I kind of took that and I put it into my new one, which is— my new one is a— I got Igor at Triton Engineering and had him do me another IFS bulkhead. And I went back to bypass shocks. I feel like my new one is really— it's really, really awesome. I think it's crazy. It will— You can about— you— I can about drive it as hard as I want to, and I feel like the buggy wants more, you know. It's really, it's really fun to drive. It sure is. And so that, that's kind of, that's kind of where I'm at nowadays. You know, I'm— we're coming into— we got 2 races left. We got Missouri. I'm leading the points. I've had a few mishaps this year, like I had a belt tensioner break. That sucked because, you know, I don't mind getting beat, but I'd rather get beat— I'd rather get beat by not a part failure, you know?

[01:01:53.930] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[01:01:55.390] - Tim Cameron

But I had a belt tensioner break, and then I had a driver mistake and I clipped a tree, broke a tie rod. Those are a couple of things I've had that hurt me points-wise. I'm still leading the points, but it's gotten close now. But we got one race left in Missouri, then we'll have our points final race in in October at Windrock. But, but other than that, outside of bouncer racing, I've been— I car race, I dirt late model race every single weekend that I'm not, I'm not buggy racing.

[01:02:28.810] - Big Rich Klein

And that's pretty cool. Yep.

[01:02:31.150] - Tim Cameron

It's— I really enjoy it. I just, I guess I've just done the 4-wheel drive thing for so long. I guess just doing something complete opposite is, is like a mental challenge for me. And like, and I don't know, I feel like I'm the type of person where if I'm not good at something, I want to try to figure out how, how to make, how to make myself better. Right. And that's been a really, that's been a really fun challenge for me.

[01:02:54.780] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. I always say that that's why I don't do— why I don't golf.

[01:02:58.970] - Tim Cameron

Oh, yeah.

[01:02:59.520] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. I would spend way too much time trying to be perfect. And golf is—

[01:03:03.370] - Tim Cameron

yes, sir.

[01:03:03.770] - Big Rich Klein

Will never be perfect.

[01:03:05.700] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir. Oh, that's right. That's true.

[01:03:07.310] - Big Rich Klein

You may have perfect days or perfect holes.

[01:03:10.500] - Tim Cameron

Yep.

[01:03:10.740] - Big Rich Klein

But you are never going to put together a string of perfects.

[01:03:14.800] - Tim Cameron

Nope. That's exactly right. That's so true.

[01:03:19.030] - Big Rich Klein

So what do you think is in the future? More, more late model? I mean, more bouncing, maybe an Ultra 4 again?

[01:03:28.740] - Tim Cameron

So I would love— I would love to do an Ultra 4 or to race it again. The only thing is, I don't know if I would I don't know if I'd ever have one just because of, uh, the more, you know, majority of it is, is more Central or, you know, West Coast racing stuff.

[01:03:51.250] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[01:03:52.220] - Tim Cameron

Uh, but I would love to, like, I would love to have the opportunity to drive one again, just kind of like the last time. I think that would be, would be really cool for sure. Uh, of course, you know, it'd be different if I, if I lived more West-ish, which I think I'd be into either sprint cars or, or Pro 4 racing. Pro 4 would probably be absolute dream.

[01:04:16.630] - Big Rich Klein

I can see that.

[01:04:18.220] - Tim Cameron

Yeah, I feel like the Pro 4, you know, I think that'd be right up my alley just, just for a lot of the aggression, like the aggressive driving style. But yeah, but yeah, dirt late model. I'm actually building a super late model right now, so that'll— this next coming year will be— I'll definitely be interested. Uh, I'm gonna come in a crate car right now. This is, you know, this is 350 horsepower. Be interesting to jump up to 900 horsepower.

[01:04:49.100] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah.

[01:04:49.260] - Tim Cameron

So that'll be— that'll be, uh, that'll be fun in, in, in itself. But, but in the big scheme of things, I will, um, I'll always, probably always 4-wheel drive race too. I mean, um, just what I've always done, you know. I, I definitely enjoy the rock bouncer racing a lot more than UTV racing. Uh, I don't— a lot, like a lot of people ask me, you know, why do you, why do you keep on UTV racing, you know? And I was like, I just enjoy it. I mean, I'm already there. That's the biggest thing is we race UTVs on Friday. and the, and the bouncer's on Saturday. Well, a lot of times I get to the park on Thursday, so I'm here, might as well race it if I got one, right?

[01:05:30.760] - Big Rich Klein

But true.

[01:05:32.670] - Tim Cameron

But some of the, some of the tracks and stuff has gotten to where it needs to be studied so much and try to remember where you're gonna go. It has kind of gotten— not unless it's me getting older or what, but I feel like it's gotten to where trying to remember 4 courses, 2 completely separate machines, is kind of getting Kind of getting a lot— or maybe it's the sport and the competitors have gotten— everybody's gotten so good that you got to be on your A-game in both classes to be in the front. So I could definitely see in the future, you know, me rockbound, you know, not really racing the UTV as much and just when I go to a 4-wheel drive event being, you know, being a rock bouncer, then Obviously, when I go to a car event, you know, being, you know, late model.

[01:06:22.590] - Big Rich Klein

Well, I can see where, where the competitors that you're competing against now will like to hear that. So—

[01:06:29.800] - Tim Cameron

Oh yeah, right.

[01:06:32.350] - Big Rich Klein

Well, probably going, well, why doesn't he take another year off, you know?

[01:06:35.800] - Tim Cameron

I heard that, right, right.

[01:06:38.840] - Big Rich Klein

Well, Tim, I'd like to say thank you so much for spending the morning and agreeing to do the podcast. I really appreciate it. I'm going to have to get a few more of you bouncer guys on here and talk about it. And again, I want to say thank you so much for being who you are. You're just a pleasant person. There's not a lot of attitude or anything.

[01:07:05.870] - Tim Cameron

Yes, sir.

[01:07:06.590] - Big Rich Klein

You're just one of those good old country boys. And it's awesome.

[01:07:13.490] - Tim Cameron

No, I sure appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate contacting me and getting me on. And yeah, I'd love to, love to, love to chat and talk about whatever, any, any, any time. If you ever need someone to just talk to and kind of fill some time up, just let me know.

[01:07:25.270] - Big Rich Klein

All right, sounds great. And, uh, again, Tim, have a great day today. I hope you're successful in the shop or whatever it is that you're doing today. And, uh, yes sir, and step forward the same way.

[01:07:37.370] - Tim Cameron

Yes sir, hope you do the same. Thanks a lot.

[01:07:39.360] - Big Rich Klein

You take care. Thank you.

[01:07:40.820] - Tim Cameron

You too. Thank you, sir.

[01:07:43.090] - 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, uh, 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.