If it has an acronym, Chris May has probably raced there – KOH, ECORS, UROC, WE Rock, XRRA – it’s been a long road and now he’s started on the next generation of racers. Great stories of a couple of guys with high budget dreams and low-budget pockets; it’s a fun listen. Be sure to tune in on your favorite podcast app.
5:52 – My dad was like, “you do not want to work on cars, that’s a bad profession”
12:08 – don’t ever take your vehicle to a WalMart, we tore up so many vehicles goofing around
19:52 – we entered Tuff Truck, our vehicles kind of sucked, but we entered anyway
24:16 – being in South Carolina, we didn’t learn about a lot of stuff til later on
32:15 – I got to do something easier so I have energy to go work after work
50:08 – Drew got an invite to the OG race, be he was like, my dad’s never going to pay for that much gas to go to California
52:14 – When everybody went off the line, I just followed the last guy and took off
59:28 – my daughter is racing the kids stuff, and it’s kind of short course
1:10:46 – Keep it real, it makes it less stressful and you can have more fun
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:39.220] – Big Rich Klein
On today’s episode of Conversations with Big Rich, we have Chris May. Chris is an old time rock crawler. I first met him, I think back in the EROC days out in Jellico, Tennessee, maybe New Rock, but I think it was EROC. And then he competed with us at We Rock. And I know Ultra Four and Koh. We’re going to talk about all the other things that happened in between and what got Chris to where he is at now. Hey Chris, thank you for coming on board and taking the time.
[00:02:11.600] – Chris May
Yeah, thanks for reaching out. I’m glad we can make this happen. Good chatting with you. I haven’t talked with you in a while, so this would be good to catch up.
[00:02:17.270] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah, it is. That’s one thing I’m really loving about this podcast is it gives me a chance to catch up with people I haven’t had a chance to see or talk to. So I’m excited. So let’s jump right in. And where were you born and raised?
[00:02:32.840] – Chris May
So I was actually born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but we kind of lived all over Florida. My parents kind of just we lived in Jacksonville and Pompano Beach kind of all around Florida until I was about twelve and then I moved to where I live now in South Carolina. So I kind of was born in Florida, but pretty much raised in South Carolina.
[00:02:56.630] – Big Rich Klein
What did your parents do that kept them bouncing around?
[00:03:00.300] – Chris May
Well, nothing good, like no army stories or anything like that my dad wasn’t an army for just a short stint, but really my dad just worked on cars, my mom waited tables and my dad actually wanted to become a firefighter. So I moved to Jacksonville. And trying to think how old I was, I don’t even know the years. I was young, maybe eight. And actually the last day of training for him to become a firefighter for the city of Jacksonville there, the training building like blew up, caught on fire. It kind of really messed him up for a while. I mean, he stayed skin grass really bad.
[00:03:36.540] – Big Rich Klein
Oh wow.
[00:03:37.130] – Chris May
And so we, we kind of lived in Florida for a little while there, but that’s kind of when my dad was like, I just need to change the scenery, change everything. And we moved to South Carolina. So I kind of been here since I was about twelve.
[00:03:51.220] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I would imagine that was pretty traumatic, going through training to be a firefighter and then having something like that happen to where you get injured before you’re full blown into it.
[00:04:03.200] – Chris May
Yeah, there was a mess because it messed them up and there were some lawsuits involved with it and everything and I don’t think he come out too good on the end of things. But anyways, it moved me to South Carolina and man, I think aback about what I’d be doing if I grew up in Florida versus where I grew up here in South Carolina. I’m sure it would be totally different because Broward County, you can only imagine people broward county is way different than the backwoods of South Carolina.
[00:04:30.640] – Big Rich Klein
Well, and Broward County is one of those that you used to see on Cops all the time.
[00:04:34.650] – Chris May
Yes, I moved South Carolina in 92, so yeah, the early, late 80s, early 90s, there was definitely gangs and all that. I remember that in middle school and stuff. So it was totally different than South Carolina.
[00:04:50.100] – Big Rich Klein
Well, I’m glad that happened. I was going to ask but if you’re bouncing around and stuff, was it hard for you to make friends or were you in an area each time? Were you in a spot long enough to where you were able to make friends?
[00:05:06.180] – Chris May
So I remember some friends, but I don’t remember much. I mean, I was twelve when I moved to South Carolina, but my wife can tell you every teacher she ever had, everything. I on the other hand, I don’t remember a lot of that. So, I mean, I kind of don’t. I had friends and I always was out in Florida. Man, I roller bladed rode my bike skateboard. I never had any dirt bikes or I think my dad bought a dirt bike one time, but we didn’t keep it long and we lived in just cities and everything. And I always wanted something with a motor. Never got it. READ MORE
