Big Rich sits down with UTV media pioneer and racer Jon Crowley Jr. to trace his unlikely path from water-ski kid and UCSB computer science grad to one of the most influential voices in the UTV world. Jon shares how a first ride at Sand Mountain hooked him on off-roading, the evolution from ATVs to sand cars to early Yamaha Rhinos and Polaris RZRs, and building DuneGuide and UTVGuide into trusted resources just as social media transformed the industry.
Jon’s career blends tech, storytelling, racing, and exploration—proof that passion and persistence can turn weekend rides into a lifelong off-road lifestyle.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:12.840] – Big Rich Klein
My next guest on Conversations with Big Rich, grew up as a water skier, became a computer science student, then working as a software writer, and moved on to technical sales. Then stand-up jet skis became his groove. He tripped a sand mountain in Nevada, turned John Crowley into an off-roader. The rest is history.
[00:01:37.060] – Jon Crowley Jr.
Are you there?
[00:01:38.140] – Big Rich Klein
Yep. Hello, John Crowley. How are we doing?
[00:01:40.960] – Jon Crowley Jr.
All right. How are you?
[00:01:42.020] – Big Rich Klein
Excellent. Let’s go ahead and get started. If you’re ready.
[00:01:46.280] – Jon Crowley Jr.
Yeah, sure.
[00:01:47.340] – Big Rich Klein
All right. Let’s start with the first question I ask everybody, and where were you born and raised?
[00:01:53.600] – Jon Crowley Jr.
Born and raised? I was born Travis Air Force Base in California. Okay. Raised in San Diego through high school, and then my parents moved to Northern California after that, and that’s where I spent most of my time. Now, I split my time between Hurricane, Utah, and Shingle Springs, California.
[00:02:15.220] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. Still got property out here in California then, huh?
[00:02:19.380] – Jon Crowley Jr.
Yes, sir.
[00:02:20.380] – Big Rich Klein
So let’s talk about the Travis Air Force base thing. Were you a military brat?
[00:02:27.940] – Jon Crowley Jr.
Well, so my dad was in Air Force, flew B-52s, got out of the Air Force right before the Vietnam War, kicked in the high speed, and moved on to becoming a commercial pilot and was based in San Diego with PSA.
[00:02:50.280] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. And so… No, go ahead.
[00:02:53.960] – Jon Crowley Jr.
No, so that’s where I went to school and everything, moved there when we were two years old. So that’s all I remember.
[00:03:00.100] – Big Rich Klein
That was going to be my next question is, when did you leave and head south? So two years old. Yeah, that’s before most of our memories. Anything that we know from before that has just been told to us over and over and over again, and we imagine that we know it. So you went down to Southern California, outside of San Diego, I’m assuming? Yes. And if I read right- Lived in Bonita. Bonita. That’s what I was going to say. That’s a big Metropolitan area?
[00:03:32.200] – Jon Crowley Jr.
Well, it’s east of Chula Vista, down towards the border a bit. A nice place to grow up, though.
[00:03:39.200] – Big Rich Klein
Right. But back then, it was still pretty rural. There wasn’t a whole lot of houses built yet, correct?
[00:03:45.720] – Jon Crowley Jr.
It was much more rural than it is now. Right. But I graduated from high school 40 something years ago, so it’s been a while.
