Larry Minor credits his friends for a great racing career, from Rodney Hall to Herman Booy to Bill Stroppe – they all started at the beginning. It’s always a great time to be in off-road, but the beginning was pure magic. Following a compass or a paper map is very different than what we do today. Congratulations to Larry Minor, a 2005 inductee into ORMHOF, Larry Minor is why we say; legends live at ORMHOF.org. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
6:29 – of all the things I’ve done in life, I think I miss growing potatoes the most
10:18 – my hot rod was just a wood one, couple of 2×4’s and an apple box
14:38 – the three of us together, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t build right
19:07 – we had a banner year driving the Broncos; after that Rod continued to drive the 4×4’s
22:15 – he smoked the tires and hit the guardrail and the other guardrail, it was a mess!
31:56 – I better buckle down and watch the business and quit the driving part
37:17 – I took 18 Girl Scouts and 13 parents to the Winter Nationals!
42:13 – Bill Stroppe taught me the professional part of racing and how to prepare your cars
Special thanks to ORMHOF.org for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:15.290] – Big Rich Klein
On today’s episode of Conversations with Big Rich, I’m interviewing larry Minor. Larry started his off road career during a trip to glamis in 1959. Shortly after that, Larry started his racing addiction. Over the years, larry teamed up with other ORMHOF inductees such as Herman Booy, Rod Hall, Bill Stroppe. Between offroad, sand, and drag racing, Larry Minor has made quite a name for himself. So we’re going to talk to Larry and find out all about his career. Larry, thank you so much for coming on board and spending some time.
[00:01:53.890] – Larry Minor
Thank you, rich.
[00:01:55.370] – Big Rich Klein
So let’s get started right away with the easiest question in the world. Where were you born and raised?
[00:02:03.030] – Larry Minor
I was born and raised in Hemit, sansino valley. I’d lived there my whole life, all 83 years.
[00:02:08.650] – Big Rich Klein
Wow. All the time in hemet?
[00:02:11.450] – Larry Minor
That’s correct.
[00:02:12.560] – Big Rich Klein
And back when you were born, Hemet was pretty rural. I mean, it’s still kind of rural, but it’s getting that spread from La. But back then, there must have been quite a bit of room out there.
[00:02:29.310] – Larry Minor
It was. It was mostly a farming community. As you know, my dad was a farmer and I was a farmer, and it was a real rural farming area, not heavily populated. I know. When I graduated from high school in 59, we had one high school and there was 80 graduates there. Now we have four high schools and about 800 in each high school graduate every year. And our population back then for the him at sunset valley was only about 7000. So it has really changed.
[00:03:00.150] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I would imagine it has. Now. That’s quite a difference from one class of 80 to four classes of like, 800. That’s huge.
[00:03:12.910] – Larry Minor
Yes, it is.
[00:03:13.890] – Big Rich Klein
So let’s talk about those early years you’re working on the farm. What kind of farming was done back then for you guys?
[00:03:23.170] – Larry Minor
Well, mainly we were potato farmers, and my dad liked the Southern California area, and I capitalized on that because we have so many different climatic conditions here in Southern California. We have the beach area where it’s cool, the mountains and the desert. So we bought ranches in four different counties here in Southern California and we farm potatoes twelve months out of the year. We were either planting or harvesting. Twelve months out of the year? READ MORE
