Ivan Stewart on Episode 211. Such a privilege to interview the Ironman. We talk about all the dreams and adventures, and the timing, the all-important timing! Ivan was inducted in the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006. Ivan is why we say; legends live at ORMHOF.org. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
2:19 – the race is almost secondary, the pre-running and the adventure is the real story
10:42 – an automobile is so cool because you can get in your car and set the radio station exactly like you want, and the heater, and…
19:29 – without GPS, you had to remember the course, and the better you were at the that, the more successful you were going to be
26:09 – I said, “Charlotte, the sun should never be rising on our right-hand side!”
35:55 – it wasn’t going to cost a whole lot more to build a desert truck, although it cost a lot to campaign them
40:09 – Sometimes you hit the timing just perfect!
45:21 – You got to have a dream to have a dream come true.
50:47 – I wanted to race off-road, I didn’t want to talk about it!
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:15.530] – Big Rich Klein
On this episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I’ll be talking with one of the biggest names in off-road, a true legend, a great storyteller, a 2006 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, a 2020 Inductee into the Motorsports Hall of Fame, the man behind the moniker Ironman.
[00:01:34.610] – Big Rich Klein
Yes, Ivan Ironman-Stewart. Hello, Ivan. It’s so great to have you on the show. I’ve been wanting to do this interview for a long time, and I’m really looking forward to this, and I’m glad we were able to make this work out. So thank you for coming on board.
[00:01:51.580] – Ivan Stewart
Thank you. I appreciate you thinking of me and looking forward to telling you some of my adventures that I’ve had over the years in off-road racing and off-road pre-running and everything that goes with it.
[00:02:02.710] – Big Rich Klein
Well, I think you’re one of the supreme storytellers. I listened to you at a conference there at SEMA where you did a talk, and I was really… You held me captive. I have to say that you held me captive with your stories.
[00:02:19.100] – Ivan Stewart
Well, I think one of the reasons for that is off-road racing, desert racing anyway, is an event and it’s a race. But For me, when I was racing, and even today, the pre-running and the adventure of racing down there and pre-running is the real story. I’ve always thought the race was almost secondary, because I couldn’t wait to do the adventure of driving night and day through the wilds of Baja and all the things that you see and all of the obstacles that you have to overcome and how quick you can overcome those obstacles. If it be rain or snow or cattle or a forest fire, you name it, then you have to… The quicker you can maneuver that, the more better your odds are for winning the race. But it’s always an adventure for me. READ MORE
