Cody Folsom grew up bouncing between Colorado towns and Texas, attending over 10 schools while working alongside his father in automotive shops. He was introduced to rock crawling through Jason Feuilly and Jimmy’s 4×4, learning the philosophy that completing obstacles mattered more than keeping vehicles pristine—a shock after his dad’s show-and-shine approach to cars.
Cody became a renowned spotter for rock crawling competitions, spotting for various drivers including Jason Feuilly and Rick Dermo. He transitioned into racing through Dirt Riot, building a Jeep Cherokee called “Raz Spaz” that launched his interest in going faster. He later moved into Ultra 4 racing with a Comanche and became co-driver and mechanic for Shane Chiddix, learning shock tuning and high-performance vehicle dynamics in the process.
Building Dolores: Outfitters & Auto Shop
After a family crisis brought him back to Colorado, Cody and his partner Katie transformed a struggling mercantile into a thriving outdoor outfitters—offering rental Jeeps, side-by-sides, kayaks, handmade food, and recovery gear. Recently they opened Kodiak Automotive next door. Cody now aims to bring manufacturing jobs back to his community through product design, particularly bumper assemblies that can be fabricated and assembled locally.
The Off-Road Community Legacy
Cody credits Big Rich and the off-road community for shaping his life, emphasizing how the sport created family bonds beyond competition.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:13.830] – Big Rich Klein
Growing up as a rough-and-tumble kid, my next guest played hard and competed full out. From dirt bikes to rock crawling to rock racing, my guest has no quit in him. But at the same time, he is caring, passionate, and just plain nice. My guest is Cody Folsom. Good morning, Cody Folsom. It’s so good to have you on the podcast. Last time I saw you was Easter Jeep, and that was pretty cool. Saw some stuff that you’re doing now. Can’t wait to talk about that, but I also want to hit the history. So thanks for coming on.
[00:01:52.900] – Cody Folsom
Yeah, glad to be on. I feel pretty lucky getting asked to come out and share what I’ve done in the past and that sort of thing with you and everyone else that listens. Well, cool.
[00:02:02.650] – Big Rich Klein
So let’s get started where I start with everybody. That first question, the easiest one for me to answer and should be the easiest for me to ask and you to answer, um, is where were you born and raised?
[00:02:16.990] – Cody Folsom
I was born in Durango, Colorado, and I was raised all over Southwest Colorado. I, uh, bounced between 3 different towns growing up. Rico was the high point for me. I loved Rico growing up there. But Durango, Colorado was our home base.
[00:02:33.300] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. And Durango is kind of touristy. Yeah. To say the least. And how long were you in Durango? Or have you been bouncing back and forth between Durango, Rico, Cortez, or not Cortez, but you’re actually in—
[00:02:56.210] – Cody Folsom
I’m up in Dolores. Dolores, that’s right, Dolores. And, you know, so for me, I have kind of a colorful history of, of moving quite a bit as a kid. A lot of folks think when they first talk to me that I’m military, and it just was really that my family was never really committed to staying in one place very long, and they bounced us a lot back and forth between two households. So growing up, I started in Durango, and we went so far as, uh, Cedar City, Las Vegas, building homes. We went to Lake Tahoe and lived there for years, uh, just as a young baby. They kind of went all over the place, and then they each decided to go their own separate ways. And because of that, I couldn’t stand being without either one of them, and I’d bounce back and forth about every school year. So in the end I went to about 10 or 11 different schools, but I primarily grew up in Durango, Rico, Dolores, and I know this area like the back of my hand. I mean, you could, you could drop me in the woods and I know which way I’m going, and I know how to get out of this area. READ MORE
