Big Rich sits down with Brian Busby, the SoCal gearhead who turned a love of speed into a life in racing—and became “the fuel guy” for some of off-road’s biggest events.
From San Clemente surf breaks near Nixon’s Western White House to wrenching through ROP, Brian shares how a 16-year-old with a Baja Bug ended up racing everything from Class 8 to Trophy Truck and Class 1 (including a 2019 championship). Hear about his first official race—the 1987 Baja 500 that lasted two miles—his drag boat days piloting “Bad Idea” hydros, and the heart-stopping moments riding with Dale Dondel and surviving a 110-mph roll with Brandon Arthur.
Brian also dives into his 17-year Mercedes-Benz career as a specialty engineer (including authoring a global TSB), his pivot to racing fuels, and scaling a small shop into a West Coast powerhouse supplying F&L, VP, and Sunoco—before landing at Merritt Oil and helping launch Fuel Factory across the Western states and Mexico.
Don’t miss the backstory of the Rebelle Rally: the cold, chaotic first year, how fueling 50 teams turned into fueling an entire city-on-wheels, and the now-legendary Busby Games—born from “Busbyland” and officially part of Rebelle lore.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:12.880] – Big Rich Klein
From Baja Bugs to becoming I’m the Fuel Guy. My next guest is none other than Brian Busby. Brian Busby, it is so good to have you on the podcast. I’ve been looking forward to this since meeting you and becoming friends like 10 10 years ago.
[00:01:31.120] – Brian Busby
Yeah. Yeah, it was about 10 years. It’s been fun.
[00:01:33.580] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah. So it’s going to be good to do this conversation. So welcome aboard.
[00:01:38.140] – Brian Busby
Well, thanks for having me.
[00:01:39.960] – Big Rich Klein
So let’s get started right away with the very first question that I ask everybody, where were you born and raised?
[00:01:49.620] – Brian Busby
Born and raised in Southern California. So specifically, San Clemente, California.
[00:01:54.860] – Big Rich Klein
Really? As you were growing up, did you ever see Richard Nixon out on the beach with his- No.
[00:02:02.180] – Brian Busby
Unfortunately not. He was a little bit before my time. Okay. Yeah.
[00:02:07.120] – Big Rich Klein
I figured- We did surf out in front of his house at Cotton Point.
[00:02:11.780] – Brian Busby
So it’s a great break out there.
[00:02:13.830] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, perfect. Yeah, I heard he used to walk around with his metal detector, going doy doy doy.
[00:02:20.080] – Brian Busby
Yeah, and the Secret Service used to kick all the older surfers out. We always heard those stories. So it’s cool to just be able to have the Western Whitehouse in Saint Clemente. It’s part of our history.
[00:02:28.700] – Big Rich Klein
There you go. So let’s talk about that. What was your family? How did they get to Southern California? Were they always from there, or did they move in? What’s that?
[00:02:42.400] – Brian Busby
My mom was born and raised in Oklahoma, and in the ’60s, her parents moved her out here. They wanted to have a career in Hollywood. She did her whole life, she grew up with jazz, tap, and ballet lessons, and came out and actually was in a bunch of beauty pageants and stuff. And they actually, my grandparents, owned a restaurant in Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles called Pat’s Country Kitchen. So that’s how they came out there. They owned a country club in Oklahoma before they came out. So they were always in the hospitality restaurant type business. And then my father, he was born and raised in Culver City. I’m sorry, that was Santa Monica. We moved to Culver City. And after they divorced, we moved down to Orange County and ended up in Saint Clemente. Okay. So that’s how that all worked out.
[00:03:36.020] – Big Rich Klein
And how old were you when they divorced?
[00:03:39.040] – Brian Busby
I was seven at the time.
[00:03:40.900] – Big Rich Klein
Seven, okay.
[00:03:41.840] – Brian Busby
Yeah. So pretty much my whole life that I remember, is in South Orange County.
[00:03:46.580] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, so let’s talk about those years. What was school like for you?
[00:03:51.460] – Brian Busby
School was fun. So moved back and forth. Mostly it was San Clemente, but my parents had a house that they rented out in Mission Viejo, so we I dropped back over there a couple of times, so I switched in junior high, but my high school years were all San Clemente. But it was fun. South Orange County in the ’80s and ’90s was totally different than it is today. So I mean, the ’80s growing up down there, it was fun. We had a blast. So there was a tight knit group of kids that ran around together. Most of us are all still friends to this day. READ MORE
