Tempe-raised fabricator and spotter Mike Dieu shares a life built on grit, ingenuity, and community. From paper routes and roofing a family home at 15 to becoming an all-state football standout, Mike’s hands-on roots led him into automotive school and early work converting fleets to natural gas. That tech savvy set the stage for a pivotal chapter: wiring fuel injection for the Campbells—starting with Shannon’s legendary “Pinky”—and ultimately spotting alongside Shannon through ARCA, WeRock, UROC, ProRock, and more.
Mike shares the stories that led him to a well-earned retirement. Shout-outs to Arizona off-road stalwarts: the Campbells, Rob Bonney, Ian Liljeblad, Randy Ellis, and more.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:13.410] – Big Rich Klein
As one of seven kids, my next guest spent his youth exploring the surroundings of Tempe, Arizona. Still rule at that time, finding something to do was easy. Then finding an off road family in the Campbells and off roading and events became a way of life. From automotive to the construction world, Mike Dieu always finds time to hunt and fish while enjoying the outdoors. Hello, Mike. Dieu, this is so good to have you on here. I’m really looking forward to this conversation. We haven’t talked in a while, but those old days of rock crawling, man, you were in the middle of the history.
[00:01:54.390] – Mike Dieu
Yeah, it’s good to hear from you, Rich. I’m glad. I, you know, I had my birthday a couple weeks ago and I saw on my Facebook you messaged me happy birthday. And then I saw your birthday came up and like, boy, send Rich a happy birthday. Felt good. You know, some of the old school guys, the old days, back when I was a little more involved, you know, it’s comforting to know people remember who you are.
[00:02:18.070] – Big Rich Klein
Right? That is true. You know, it’s, it’s kind of like having that little bit of legacy thing, you know. So let’s start off with the interview like I do with everybody. And where were you born and raised?
[00:02:32.100] – Mike Dieu
I was born in Southern California. We lived there just for a couple of years, four or five years, I guess. I went to kindergarten over in Rolling Heights just outside la. And then my dad moved us over here to Tempe, Arizona. I went to grade school, you know, about half my grade school here in Tempe. And then he got an opportunity to Go back to work at the University of Southern California. So our family migrated back over. We lived out in Ontario for four or five years and then things just got kind of too hectic over there. My dad didn’t like driving, you know, two hours each way to work every day for a 30 minute drive or a 30 mile drive. Right. So we moved back to Tempe and just happened to move six or eight houses down from our previous location.
[00:03:24.910] – Big Rich Klein
Nice.
[00:03:26.270] – Mike Dieu
And you know, in grade school you just pick up right where you left off with your buddies. And so I, I really, I grew up in Tempe and went to McClintock High School. I got announced that Charger Pride, Charger pride. Charger you go. Yeah. So in Tempe, I’ve played a lot of sports and pretty athletic. I come from a fairly, I guess, a large family. I’ve got, there’s seven of us, brothers and sisters. And my parents were always pretty busy, you know, just working and paying bills, keeping food on the table. And I’m the third of seven kids, so my older brother and I were only a year apart. And so Jeff and I, we were. A lot of times my mom would just, you know, shove us out the door. So you boys just go fend for yourselves, come back when the street lights come on. That’s pretty much how I was raised. So we did a lot of our own exploring and, you know, fixing, working. I remember as a kid working on our bikes and patching our tires and. Seems to be kind of a lost art that a lot of kids growing up today, they sit behind a screen and a computer. READ MORE
