Bruce Shallis is a stand-up guy, partner in both Rausch Creek and Burning Rock Off-Road Parks, Lacrosse Coach, rockcrawler, and East Coast defender. Bruce gives some insight to what it takes to fill all those roles. Join us for another Conversation with Big Rich on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to Subscribe so you’re reminded every Thursday when a new episode drops.
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2:45 – It’s always the wife’s fault
4:39 – Credit where credit is due.
8:08 – Define “Modified”
14:17 – Property is easy, red tape is the tough part
19:36 – Sometimes the things you’re forced to do end up being the best choice, who knew?
25:07 – How creative do you gotta be to pass tech some times?
39:47 – Here’s where my competitive career started
44:48 – What’s next for Rausch Creek?
50:42 – You’re all invited – July 25-26 – old-school reunion at WE Rock, come down Saturday night
52:33 – That’s NOT east coast!
Conversations with Big Rich is all about the history, catching up with the folks who are the foundation of rock crawling. Bruce Shallis continues to fit that description. We appreciate you, Bruce!
We want to thank our sponsors Maxxis Tires and 4Low Magazine.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:21.420] – Big Rich Klein
Well, thank you for joining us again with Conversations with Big Rich today on the show. We have Bruce Shallis. He was a longtime rock crawling competitor in the pro mod class. And also he’s the owner or one of the owners of Rausch Creek Off Road Park. Let’s talk to Bruce about what it took to become an owner of an off-road park. Well, Bruce, thank you for joining us today on Conversations with Big Rich.
[00:01:49.560] – Big Rich Klein
This is an oral history of rock sports and this episode, especially about you and Rausch Creek. So, first of all, I’d like to know a little bit about Bruce. Where did you grow up and how did. What were some of the influences that you had that got you to where you are today?
[00:02:08.900] – Bruce Shallis
OK, well, first, thanks for inviting me to this Rich, honored. I watched a couple of the casts already and felt like I wasn’t worthy of them.
[00:02:17.470] – Bruce Shallis
So thank you for the invite. So I grew up in the hotbed of rock crawling right outside of Philadelphia. As you can imagine, there’s rocks everywhere. Honestly, I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, went to college in central P.A. Millersville University. And my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I were on a just a road trip on a Sunday and there was a 90 YJ sitting in a used car parking lot.
[00:02:46.730] – Bruce Shallis
She actually went the following Monday and maxed out her Discover card. And she said, you got to figure out the rest of the money. So honestly, that is how I got started in the off-road world.
[00:02:59.240] – Big Rich Klein
That’s pretty awesome that the wife was the one that went out and got it going.
