Behind The Wheel With Legends

This week on trucks. We'll go for a ride with four men whose accomplishments on and off the track will amaze and inspire you. We'll get started with off road legend Walker Evans and his son Evan.

Then we'll get behind the wheel with Baja 1000 Champion Rod Hall before getting our priorities straight with N hr A pro stock truck pilot, Sam Tomkins.

That's all today on trucks.

Welcome to this week's show, everybody glad you could be with us. You know, over the past three years, we've had the pleasure taking you step by step through a wide range of truck and Suv, how two projects. But today we're gonna lay the tools down and pay tribute to four men. We consider to be true truck legends.

It's become known as the nation's premier off road racing series. And who's going to argue, where else can you see full size trucks packing 800 horsepower racing side by side, nose to tail, getting major air.

This is excellent, excellent racing. If you've never been, you have to come out to a core race, core, puts on the greatest races out here, the most exciting races you'll ever see, you know,

this aspect of racing, I feel has all different kinds of realm of racing. You've got drag racing, which is the starting line right off the start. It's a drag race to the first corner, you get to the first corner, then you're sideways, just like sprint car racing with a truck right next to you. Then after that first corner, of course, cos gonna throw in some jumps and bumps. So that's always upsetting the trucks and the chassis and the other vehicles. So there's always excitement, no matter where you're looking at on the track.

The most recognizable name to ever compete in the championship off road racing series is the legendary Walker Evans whose benchmark

road career got started some 30 years ago after stumbling into a shop owned by actor James Garner in Southern California

that

invited me to go out to hem, to look at a bunch of vehicles that they were putting together and

jumped in a pickup, drove out there and wow, when I walked through the door, there was 10 vehicles all lined up.

They were cutting the fender wells open on them, putting on big shocks and tires. And I said, wow, I gotta be a part of this

by

being a part of this. Walker helped himself to victory lane 140 times in his desert

stadium and sprint track off road racing career. But when it's all said and done, it'll be the way he helped out his fellow competitors along the way that will earn him the crown as the ultimate champion of his sport.

I see a young guy that's coming up, looks like he's got some talent and his vehicle is just purely not handling good, whether it be the shots

or tires or whatever. I'm the first one to give him a little advice and, uh, if he takes it so much the better

he's touched probably two thirds to three quarters of the people here, he's had him actually work for him, mechanics, engine builders, drivers. Um, it's amazing what Walker Evans organization has done.

I want to do the same thing Walker did for me. You know, if anybody wants to come in here and I can show him and help him get in,

in the off road racing, I'd be more than happy to because that's what Walker Evans did for me.

Even though Walker did decide 1999 would be his final season as a full time driver. Don't think for a second, the 60 year old vet was looking to rest on past glory in his final campaign.

I want to win the championship on the way out the door

legend Walker finished off his final season by winning the

championship in 99 just one of his 20 titles in a storied off road career.

And while it's true, 20 crowns and 30 seasons of racing is a staggering achievement. His true legend reaches far beyond his racing exploits. Without question, Walker's greatest legacy,

the legendary heart. He's instilled in Son Evan

who lost the use of his legs in a motorcycle accident. 10 years ago

when I was laying there paralyzed, I told myself I'm not gonna let my legs not working

stop me from racing. This is the love of my life. I've been around it my whole life watching my father race and I wasn't gonna not race just because my legs didn't work

when he was laying on the operating table just before they went in to open his back hall up. He said,

I will be back.

And I said, I know you will. I know you will. I had no idea

that he had the confidence, the desire,

the burning desire that I just talked about. He possessed way more than, than me.

Look where he's at. He builds his own cars, hand controls goes out there and wins races, a

paraplegic bouncing through that kind of stuff. Phenomenal.

I just wanna keep that Evans name and tradition going and I just wanna make him as proud as he's made me over the years

when it's all said and done. You come in for the last time and turn her off and she goes cold.

What do you want people to say about walk

up?

Well, I like him to think that he was probably

one of the greatest off road drivers

every time he got in a vehicle, he drove it like he wanted to win.

I mean, uh I

don't lollygag around. I go for the gusto. I want the thing up front or I want to know why

I want him to say he put on his great a show as he possibly could.

And above all, I want to say he was a man.

He was a great man for this.

There's no doubt what Walker Evans wants him to say is exactly

what they do

later in the show, we'll drop the hammer with a racer who refused to let life drag him down.

But up first, we'll go off road with another champion who also knows something about beating the odds,

the legs of off road racer. Evan Evans no longer work.

A motorcycle accident more than 10 years ago, took away the use of those

but his heart,

well,

that's a completely different story.

A

lot of people don't understand just because you're disabled doesn't mean you're unable, you just have to get out there and try

just because my legs weren't working doesn't mean I couldn't drive. I still had my mind. I still had my arms and I was gonna drive.

Evan began his desert off road racing career in 1988.

The following year, his father off road legend Walker Evans offered his son a full time ride with his team.

Electrical problems marred his first run but a trip to the winner's circle at the fireworks. 250 in the California Desert marked his fourth consecutive victory

tragically. However,

it was a cruel twist of fate that served notice just five days later,

that left this young gun paralyzed from the chest down

when he was laying on the operating table just before they went in to open his back hall up. He said,

I will be back.

And I said, I know you will. I know you will. I had no idea

that he had the confidence, the desire

he possessed way more than, than me.

Look where he's at. He builds his own cars, hand controls goes out there and wins races.

A paraplegic bouncing through that kind of stuff. Phenomenal.

At the point when I was laying in the hospital, I don't think my dad really wanted to hear me say I can go, go race again, dad. But, but that's the way he raised me and that's the way he's gonna have to put up with me.

Miraculously, four months after the accident, Evans strapped himself in for the famed ball hall 1000 and ran the 1st 72 miles before giving way to a relief driver.

It was that never give up attitude that helped Evan take home his first championship crown as well as the respect and admiration of the entire off road racing community.

A lot of people ask, well, did you have, did you, did you wanna use your feet? Not really because I went through four months of rehabilitation. And in those 34 months, you

kind of forget about using the use of your legs because you have to adapt and use your arms to do everything else. Get dressed, get in a car or whatever, you have to use your arms. So you kind of forget about using your legs. So that wasn't a big transition for me. The biggest thing was being comfortable in a car and finding hand controls that would adapt to the type of racing that I'm doing.

In fact, Evans went through numerous hand controls before designing the perfect setup that allows him to steer and shift with his left hand, accelerate and break with his right.

It was also during the research and development of those hand controls that he found he preferred short course racing to the desert.

So in 1996 he turned his attention to the short course off road Drivers Association. His goal was to grab rookie of the year honor but winning seven of eight races on the season also earned him the distinction of being the first paraplegic to win a professional off road championship.

In 1998 the Soda Series became core and during the 2000 season, Evan became the first pro two driver to win three

consecutive main events

in a way. I I I'm kind of a hurting unit because I don't think I could get out of racing if I had to. This is all I've ever done. This is all I know and, and uh to be my dad's son and to follow in his footsteps is just unbelievable for me.

You know, even though the driver has enjoyed 28 career short course victories as well as a pair of off road driving titles. It'd be completely understandable if the man wanted to play the more

from time to time.

Should anybody shed a tear for heaven and his plight?

Oh, heck no, no way.

If anything they should, uh, they should be very happy for me because I am doing what I'm doing,

you know, and,

and there's no, no reason anybody should feel sad for me because I got the best job in the world. I got the, the nicest office to work out of and this is my desk. It's the fastest desk around and it's a Chevy.

No driver on the planet has found his way to the winner's circle at the Baja 1000 more times than Rod Hall.

So we figured he'd be the perfect choice to teach us how to handle a Hummer in the desert.

You just can't get enough of trucks, check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

His name is Rod Hall and he owns the Baja 1000 running every race since the first in 1967 when he paid $1800 for a brand new CJ five and wrote the first chapter of what's become an epic novel. Of adventure and success in the bad lands of Baha.

His legacy is built on 16 class championships and includes an overall title in 1969.

The record setting run for this living legend has come from behind the wheel of a Ford Bronco Dodge Ram and most recently the tour de force of off road vehicles. The Hummer,

I was always a person

that, uh, wanted to win

more than I wanted to go fast.

So I didn't go any faster than I had to, to win a race. But

if Roger me

and I was having a duke out to the finish line last 50 miles,

I mean, believe me, I would drive as hard as I could and take chances and,

and uh misuse my vehicle, but I saved it until I had to do it

when he's not running the competition ragged in the desert of Baja.

He returns to Reno Nevada to share more than 40 years of off road experience with hundreds of students each year.

The opportunity to learn from a master in a Hummer was something stace and I simply could not resist

the first day out. Rod taught us vehicle placement and clearance before he turned us loose with a feature that's totally unique to the Hummer brake modulation.

Ok. That's good right there.

So the way this works, we're gonna mash on the brake pedal

with the left foot,

then we're gonna squeeze on the throttle

and override the brake pedal

and once it takes a set and starts to move, then you don't change anything. And especially on this side hill like this until you get to the top.

Because as soon as you take your foot off the brake, then you lose your traction control system, start spending on it.

Right. So, let's see what happens.

Ok? A

little bit that way and bring it right on up the hill nice and slow.

I think. So.

You're making it look pretty easy, so

easy. You're making it look easy. How about this man right here?

Looking good.

Yes, sir. Butter baby. Just like butter. Catch it on

after getting a feel for just how far we could push our stock hummers. It was time to review day one.

Well, the one thing you guys noticed this morning right now is that

you don't have to get a lot of momentum going. You don't have to need a lot of speed to make the hill. The Hummer is having

got lots of tracks and brake modulation. You just kind of

ease all the stuff and I noticed you pull the wheels off the ground a couple of times and you guys hit it just right. You dropped it down

just like on a big marshmallow.

If you don't drop it, crash it, you just, ah,

you

guys are getting a good feel quick

with the equipment still in one piece and a head full of knowledge. We dashed home in eager anticipation of day two, a

lesson in the race.

The three things you want to keep in mind when you're raising off road,

three basic girls we teach in school.

What I miss.

Are you comfortable in the car?

If you're getting a good ride? The speed is probably ok.

The next thing is, are you putting the vehicle exactly where you want it?

Not almost where you want it exactly where you want.

And then the third thing is sometimes ambiguous. Are you comfortable behind the wheel?

I mean, if you're all tents and worked up,

then

you're probably driving too

hard.

Now. Right now, you see, we're getting a comfortable ride. You have to relax behind the wheel.

So, uh

I tell you're doing a fine job for not being,

you know, uh

behind the wheel a long time, not having a lot of experience in the desert,

doing a good job.

The hardest thing

you did, the

issue

was something far enough down the road so you can anticipate what's gonna happen.

You get to

us,

that vehicle placed on the road is just fine, like right there.

You know, you kind of moved over to miss that big rock. That's good.

You know why put the entire

up

if you don't have

pl

of rock

to get there. So

let's give it a break,

giving his equipment a break has made Rod Hall the off-road legend. He is. But at 61 years old. It doesn't sound like his competition is gonna get one any time soon.

Gosh, you know, you got to keep going as long as you can. And

then let me tell you guys something

getting old.

It ain't for sissies.

And so I figured that

I better keep going as long as I can.

Sam Tompkins came from humble beginnings to run with the N hr A.

Now he's helping kids from the inner city find their way out.

Overcoming hurdles in life is something Sam Tompkins knows all about. After all, he came from a small rural town in Virginia, co-founded the largest minority owned core supplier in the automotive industry with just 40 bucks in his pocket. And then there's this little weekend habit that makes him the only African American owner and driver in the most competitive class of the N hr A,

a

lot of times, you know, people say the same. Are you sure you wanna do this? Are you sure you can do this? And I always feel I said, yeah,

I really believe I can do it. I know,

I know it's gonna be hard.

I know it's gonna be difficult. I know it's gonna be some ups and downs. But I know that if you keep

doing positive things and you keep trying,

you, you'll get the way you wanna go.

Don't get the wrong idea here. This isn't a story about a drag racing champion just yet. This story is more about a racer who's trying to help kids from single parent homes become champions of the human race. Sam started the Atlanta based inner city mentoring

program called Another Way Out more than 10 years ago

when he took a trip to the ghetto and got involved instead of merely shouting some good ideas from the mountain top of success.

The reason why we brought you here is not to try to make drag races out of

here.

All we're trying to do is expose you to some of the things that you may not have ever seen

whenever you try to do something

that's a little different from what anybody else has ever done.

You're gonna get a lot of people telling you it can't be done.

My recommendation to you is you don't ever allow anybody

to, to tear you from trying to pursue your dream.

Not only does Tomkins Core recycling company, conserve energy and reduce waste in our landfills, but the efforts of he and his mentors are also reducing some of the tragic waste that happens daily in the inner city of Atlanta.

Does it work? You ask? Well, there's at least one shining example who just happens to be a shop foreman at Tompkins business as well as a member of his pit crew.

I'm 25 years old

and uh I start working for Sam Thompson when I was about 19 straight out of high school.

And um

the thing was I was getting in a lot of trouble and the Sam seen that I was getting in trouble or whatever and, uh,

actually took me off the streets.

I actually like being here and being with Sam and being, being able to run with the big guy,

something you always dreamed of who, who would think he would be here with John Boy

and,

uh, Tony, she

mocking them.

Who, who, who, who, who, who would think that.

Well, Carlos, we know at least one guy who really did one of the things that I do have

is the ability to focus and I don't care how hard it is to do what I wanna do,

how long it takes. That doesn't bother me.

I know that if I want it bad enough and if I work hard enough, I'm gonna get it

now. By his own admission, Sam Tompkins has a long way to go before he can wear the crown of an N hr A champion.

But if you really want to help him get there, just tell him he'll never be able to do it. And he along with a whole bunch of kids from the inner city of Atlanta will have a much different perspective on that.

But whatever happens at the end of the day, it's not n hr a titles that shape our future, it's our kids and at least one man's doing something that really makes a difference for all of us. You're not gonna save the world overnight. And our goal is we are not trying to save the world. If we only save one or two

kids throughout the life of the program, I would say that that would certainly be a success, but I believe we're gonna do better than that.

Well, if you're anything like us, the stories of the four men you've just seen definitely helps you believe that true greatness still walks among us. And we'd like to thank Walker Rod Sam and Evan for allowing us to tell their stories. That's gonna do it for this week's show. We appreciate you for hanging out with us

next week on trucks. We've got some of the hottest machines that have ever rolled into the shop to show you

take your choice of a ground up restoration.

A manufacturer's concept,

a sport truck that's about as wild as it gets or even a go anywhere military vehicle from yesteryear.

Bottom line. If you like trucks, you gotta see this show

trucks is an RTM production.