Dan Whittington, founder of Venom Aire, shares his journey from mechanics work to pioneering air intake technology. Born in Santa Rosa, California and raised in Salt Lake City’s Cottonwood Heights, Dan developed a lifelong passion for off-roading through family camping trips and motorcycle adventures.
After high school, Dan worked at a service station, became a stonemason, and held roles in insurance and automotive retail before joining Hinkley Dodge and Larry Miller as a technician. A knee injury forced a career pivot, leading him to pursue his longtime passion: fine art at Salt Lake Community College. He later worked in video game development for Sculpture Software, contributing to the successful WWF War Zone title before the studio closed.
Today, Dan is known as “Bronco Dan” for his high-end early Bronco builds and his work with Venom Aire—an innovative ducted fan system designed to improve fuel efficiency. Testing shows 10–25% fuel mileage improvements across various vehicles, plus horsepower gains up to 40 HP in mid-range. The system features affordability, simple installation, EPA-friendly emissions reduction, and no required remapping.
Partnered with ProForm, Venom Aire is pursuing CARB certification for broader market access. Dan emphasizes product quality, welcomes critical testing, and encourages interested customers to contact him directly or visit www.venomaire.com for details and testimonials.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:13.220] – Big Rich Klein
This week’s guest has been an off-road enthusiast for most of his life. Life has taken him on many employment journeys. My guest, known as Bronco Dan, is Dan Whittington of Venom Air. Hello, Dan Whittington. It’s so good to have you on the podcast. We talked, I think we first met at Danny Grimes during Easter Jeep Safari.
[00:01:40.170] – Dan Whittington
Wow.
[00:01:40.430] – Big Rich Klein
Quite a few years ago. And I was always intrigued with your products and want to talk about that eventually. But just wanted to say thank you for coming on to the podcast and talking about your life.
[00:01:52.070] – Dan Whittington
Well, thank you. Appreciate the opportunity.
[00:01:54.810] – Big Rich Klein
So let’s start at the very beginning where everybody starts. Where were you born and raised?
[00:02:02.330] – Dan Whittington
Born in Santa Rosa, California.
[00:02:04.340] – Big Rich Klein
Oh wow, my, my area.
[00:02:06.810] – Dan Whittington
Yeah, love that area. It’s so pretty up there. Petaluma, Sonoma County, wine country. I mean, it’s just, it’s gorgeous up there, right? Uh, when I was too young and couldn’t resist, my parents brought me to Salt Lake area. So I pretty much grew up in the Cottonwood Heights area in Salt Lake area.
[00:02:24.310] – Big Rich Klein
And, uh, at what age did they move you?
[00:02:28.880] – Dan Whittington
I think I was about 1.5, 2 years or something like that.
[00:02:32.160] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, very young.
[00:02:33.920] – Dan Whittington
So yeah, yeah, like I said, too young, I couldn’t resist.
[00:02:40.570] – Big Rich Klein
And so, uh, what was it like growing up in the Cottonwood area?
[00:02:46.810] – Dan Whittington
Well, I remember it was really nice. It was the edge of town. I mean, nowadays, you know, I don’t know how many millions of people are in the Salt Lake Valley, but, you know, 70th South was the edge of town, and there were a lot of open fields and gravel pits and places we could play and run around and ride our bikes. And it was kind of semi-country, I guess, semi-rural, if you want to look at it that way. Okay. It was awesome. I mean, I had a great time growing up.
[00:03:18.710] – Big Rich Klein
Excellent. In those early years, you said that, you know, you’re— it was edge of town. You got gravel pits and all that kind of stuff and outdoor activities. What did you— what did the family do for entertainment? You know, camping, fishing, anything like that, or vacations.
[00:03:42.270] – Dan Whittington
Yeah, yeah. I specifically remember a lot of camping adventures. I mean, that was one of the main things that kind of sticks out of my life with my family. I mean, going out to the sand dunes, Little Sahara Sand Dunes out here, uh, go out there with some dune buggies. My dad had a ’72 Bronco. That was where I kind of got my first taste of the early Broncos and started liking them way back when, uh, you know, we do a lot of ghost towns, run around. So the Utah area, there’s lots of old ghost towns and stuff that you could used to get to, um, you know, just exploring and ride motorcycles. And I mean, those are some of my fondest memories that I remember growing up. READ MORE
