Joe Rogan Experience #1982 - John Hennessey

Joe Rogan 0:00 (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays) What up? Mr. Hennessey.

John Hennessey 0:14 Mr. Rogan.

Joe Rogan 0:15 Fun hanging with you today. (laughs)

John Hennessey 0:16 (laughs) It's been a blast. We, uh-

Joe Rogan 0:18 That, that fucking vehicle that you have built is the most ridiculous thing I've ever been inside in my life. I can't believe how fast it is. Like, it doesn't-

John Hennessey 0:26 Well, we only did the speed limit today, right? So-

Joe Rogan 0:28 Yes.

John Hennessey 0:28 Um-

Joe Rogan 0:28 We did... But we got there very quickly.

John Hennessey 0:29 The... We got there very quickly. Yes.

Joe Rogan 0:31 Yeah.

John Hennessey 0:31 1817 horsepower and, uh, 3000 pounds, so you got some power to weight ratio to work with there.

Joe Rogan 0:37 That's like 700 more horsepower than a Tesla Plaid.

John Hennessey 0:41 Yeah, it's like taking a McLaren 765 LT and adding a thousand horsepower to it.

Joe Rogan 0:46 (Puffs)

John Hennessey 0:46 Something nobody needs, but we've sold 36 of those.

Joe Rogan 0:50 (laughs)

John Hennessey 0:50 The Venom F5.

Joe Rogan 0:50 What is ha-... What happened to you in your life that you needed to make these preposterous cars?

John Hennessey 0:56 Well, you know, uh-

Joe Rogan 0:57 Like what, what is going on? Like what... (laughs)

John Hennessey 0:59 Yeah, there it is.

Joe Rogan 1:00 Like-

John Hennessey 1:00 That's the Venom F5.

Joe Rogan 1:01 How did you get to be this guy? Like what did, uh... How did this start out where you, you're making these-

John Hennessey 1:06 You know-

Joe Rogan 1:06 ... 1800 horsepower cars?

John Hennessey 1:07 It's probably kinda like, you know, the pool hall deal when we were younger. Like, I didn't have a good relationship with my old man. He was a car guy, but we didn't get along. And, I don't know, maybe six years later, you know, I'm 60 now, I've got s- you know, I still feel like I got a little chip on my shoulder and something to prove. Maybe a little bit-

Joe Rogan 1:24 Oh.

John Hennessey 1:24 ... less now, but, but for sure.

Joe Rogan 1:27 Isn't it interesting that you would never want that to your-... for your son?

John Hennessey 1:30 No.

Joe Rogan 1:30 But, boy, is that a, a great motivating factor-

John Hennessey 1:32 Oh, for sure.

Joe Rogan 1:33 ... for success. (laughs)

John Hennessey 1:34 For sure, yeah. I'd live up... You know, grew up in a kind of an abusive situation and neglect and, uh, you know, now all of a sudden I've got all this motivation or had all this motivation for the last, you know, 40 years of my business career. So it's been good.

Joe Rogan 1:46 It's funny, 'cause you would never want that for your children.

John Hennessey 1:49 No, I mean the-

Joe Rogan 1:50 But it may... It's amazing how well it's worked out for people like you or for me.

John Hennessey 1:53 Yeah, I mean, I, I... you know, I don't think everybody out there that has some level of success has not necessarily been abused and motivated by, by negativity. But I can definitely see with our five kids, with the nurture mainly from my wife, Hope, um, they're gonna turn out just fine and they'll be plenty successful. But, you know, that just... I don't know your story-

Joe Rogan 2:13 Yeah, it's a myth. They-

John Hennessey 2:13 But that's, that's my, that's my road-

Joe Rogan 2:14 I think-

John Hennessey 2:15 How I got here.

Joe Rogan 2:15 ... it can lead you to be very ambitious and very successful, but it, it can also just fuck your life up.

John Hennessey 2:21 Oh, sure.

Joe Rogan 2:22 And you can be very ambitious and very successful and also be, like, happy. Like that's-

John Hennessey 2:26 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 2:27 That's possible too.

John Hennessey 2:28 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 2:28 You don't have to have a tortured childhood.

John Hennessey 2:30 For sure. No, I'm very, very blessed. I mean, you know, to have an opportunity to build toys for people. You know?

Joe Rogan 2:35 Yeah.

John Hennessey 2:36 Whether it's a, you know, a seven to 800,000 horsepower pickup truck or a Venom F5, uh, you know, we were talking earlier is about... is first world problems, right?

Joe Rogan 2:44 Yeah.

John Hennessey 2:44 You know, stuff that nobody really needs. Nobody needs to go to a comedy show or MMA, but they do it for entertainment. I tell people all the time we're more... Are there stars up there?

Joe Rogan 2:52 Yeah, they fly.

John Hennessey 2:52 Oh, wow. Am I running a Rolls-Royce? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 2:54 And they're shooting. (laughs) They, there's a shooting star.

John Hennessey 2:55 After the Ric Flair gummy bear-

Joe Rogan 2:56 Woo.

John Hennessey 2:56 ... they're gonna really start flying. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 2:58 Yeah.

John Hennessey 2:59 Yeah. So, uh, no, feel very blessed and we're definitely, uh... You know, people come to us 'cause they wanna entertain themselves with their vehicles.

Joe Rogan 3:05 That's a great way of looking at it too, because that's really what those kind of cars are. Like, when I try to describe, uh, my love of old muscle cars for people, because, you know, they kinda are not super reliable.

John Hennessey 3:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:16 They're, they're not so great at handling.

John Hennessey 3:18 Sure.

Joe Rogan 3:18 And, you know, so I turn them in, I get them done into Restomods.

John Hennessey 3:21 Yep.

Joe Rogan 3:22 But still, they're, the... But when I drive them, the experience is entertaining. It's like a ride. Like, I'm not just in a Corolla, I'm not just in some quiet Subaru.

John Hennessey 3:33 Sure.

Joe Rogan 3:33 I'm in a ride.

John Hennessey 3:34 But does it take... Like when you drive your Land Cruiser, you drive, you know, one of your older cars, does it take you back to that time either when you had that car, you aspired to have that car, you knew the guy or the girl that had that car kinda growing up and you wanted it back then, but you didn't know how you were gonna get it?

Joe Rogan 3:49 Oh yeah, for sure. Withmy Chevelle definitely.

John Hennessey 3:51 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 3:51 'Cause my Chevelle, I have a 1970, uh, black with the white stripes-

John Hennessey 3:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:56 ... the Tuxedo Chevelle.

John Hennessey 3:57 Sure.

Joe Rogan 3:57 And when I was a kid-

John Hennessey 3:58 Cowl induction?

Joe Rogan 3:59 What's that?

John Hennessey 3:59 You got the cowl induction-

Joe Rogan 4:00 Yeah.

John Hennessey 4:00 ... hood? Yeah, LS6.

Joe Rogan 4:01 It... Well, it actually is, uh, a 454 under the hood.

John Hennessey 4:04 Yep.

Joe Rogan 4:04 And, uh, Calvin, Kasey Calvin-

John Hennessey 4:06 Sure.

Joe Rogan 4:06 ... is Calvin Ulm. You know-

John Hennessey 4:07 Yeah, yeah. Know Kasey. Sure.

Joe Rogan 4:08 You know Kasey? He's the man.

John Hennessey 4:08 Big Viper guy, yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:09 Fucking love that dude.

John Hennessey 4:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:10 He hooked up the cowl so that it, it when you-

John Hennessey 4:12 Nice.

Joe Rogan 4:13 ... the ignition goes just like-

John Hennessey 4:13 Yeah, those vac-

Joe Rogan 4:14 Yeah.

John Hennessey 4:14 Those vacuum hoses get old and crack and...

Joe Rogan 4:16 Yeah.

John Hennessey 4:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:17 It's, uh... When I was a kid, when I was about 16 years old, one of my friends picked me up. His friend had a 1970 Chevelle and we were going somewhere. And, uh, I just remember getting in the back seat of the car going, "How is it possible that this kid owns this car?"

John Hennessey 4:32 Yes.

Joe Rogan 4:32 "This is crazy."

John Hennessey 4:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:33 It was the best looking car I'd ever seen in my life.

John Hennessey 4:35 On those 70 series tires that guys used to... back in the day when I... I had a '69 Olds 442 convertible. And if you didn't have the posi rear end, you had the one tire fryer. You know, if you do the burnout-

Joe Rogan 4:45 Right.

John Hennessey 4:45 ... and you got one stripe going about 400 feet down the road.

Joe Rogan 4:48 Yeah.

John Hennessey 4:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:49 Those old cars suck to drive, though. Oh my god. If you drive the old ones that don't have Restomod components-

John Hennessey 4:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:56 ... like Roadster Shop components, they're just-

John Hennessey 4:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:58 ... terrible.

John Hennessey 4:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:59 They're so bad. (laughs)

John Hennessey 5:01 Yeah. Yeah, you know, I'm... I... So my, my wife, uh, for my 60th last year, my 60th birthday, she and the kids bought me a nice '69 Olds 442. So it's nice enough to where I'll drive it, but not so nice that I don't wanna drive it.

Joe Rogan 5:13 Right.

John Hennessey 5:13 Um, and I just... Man, when I drive that thing, it's the slowest, least powerful thing in the, in the fleet. But I just... Kind of brings me back. I got this, uh, jam box I put in the back seat, the Turtle Box, and, uh, I just turn on my AC/DC and go out cruising around.

Joe Rogan 5:27 (laughs)

John Hennessey 5:27 And, you know-

Joe Rogan 5:27 You don't even bother to turn on the stereo, you know?

John Hennessey 5:29 Without a care in the world. You know, if it dies at the stop sign or if it, uh... You know, we'll probably put an LT4 or an LSA in it, you know, we'll LS swap it at some point, but-

Joe Rogan 5:36 Yeah. Do you think you'll do something to the chassis?

John Hennessey 5:39 It would probably need that, but, you know-

Joe Rogan 5:41 Yeah.

John Hennessey 5:41 ... I like a scary ride that kinda ki-

Joe Rogan 5:42 (laughs)

John Hennessey 5:42 It entertains me, you know? So, uh, maybe to some degree. We, I mean, we do wanna have a balanced, safe car, but, uh, you know the old saying of Bob Lutz who used to be president of, of Chrysler back in the day when I first met him, he had, um...... he was working for BMW in Germany. He had a pretty fast motorcycle, and he's out tooling around Germany. And some dude just rips past him on the Autobahn, and he pulls into the gas station. It's this old guy, and Bob goes up looking at his bike and is like, "Is that a turbocharger on your bike?" This dude, this is like the early '70s. And the German guy says, "Yeah. Yes, young man, this, it has a turbocharger." And Bob says, "Well, how much horsepower does that bike have?" He says, "Well, probably 200 of the tire." And Bob's like-

Joe Rogan 6:21 (exhales)

John Hennessey 6:21 ... "What? Two hundred of the tire?" He's like, "Isn't that too much horse..." Bob is saying to this old German guy, "Isn't that too much horsepower?" And the old guy looks at him and says, "Young man, there's no such thing as too much horsepower."

Joe Rogan 6:31 (exhales)

John Hennessey 6:32 Bob told me that story like 30 years ago. I was visiting him up in Detroit. And I think to some degree that's true. But-

Joe Rogan 6:37 It's a good story.

John Hennessey 6:37 ... you wanna have it balanced, you wanna have it safe, you know?

Joe Rogan 6:39 As long as you're not there for the end.

John Hennessey 6:41 As long as you're not in the ditch.

Joe Rogan 6:43 As long as you're not there for the accident.

John Hennessey 6:45 Right.

Joe Rogan 6:45 The, the thing about motorcycles is the consequences are so grave.

John Hennessey 6:49 Well, sure, yeah. I've, I've had a few. I've, I busted up my knee and spent a week in the hospital when I was in high school. And I guess now the term they use, and it's to some degree true, donorcycle, so.

Joe Rogan 6:59 Yeah.

John Hennessey 7:00 Yeah. My b- my boys all like to ride, we ride KTM, we ride dirt bikes up in Colorado in the summertime. But I'm like, on the road, you gotta be careful because even back in the day if you're riding, you know, there are distracted drivers now, everybody's on their fucking phone. Nobody's paying attention to shit.

Joe Rogan 7:12 (exhales) So bad.

John Hennessey 7:13 You know? So-

Joe Rogan 7:14 There's so many people that are just addicted to their phones and they can't put them down while they're driving. It's so wild to see.

John Hennessey 7:19 Yeah, I mean, every now and then I, I take a car service to the airport or something, and if you're not driving, you can just like look out the window just-

Joe Rogan 7:25 Mm-hmm.

John Hennessey 7:26 Next time you do that, just look out the window, more than half the people are fucking not even looking at the road. (laughs) They're on their phone.

Joe Rogan 7:31 Yeah.

John Hennessey 7:31 And they're supposed to be driving, or they're putting on their makeup.

Joe Rogan 7:33 One of the things I love about Apple CarPlay is you don't have to take your hands off of anything.

John Hennessey 7:37 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 7:38 You can just say, "Hey, Siri, play."

John Hennessey 7:40 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:40 It'll play a song for you.

John Hennessey 7:41 Yep.

Joe Rogan 7:41 That is the wi- like I do that shit with my daughter, because my daughter is into like Taylor Swift and-

John Hennessey 7:46 Sure.

Joe Rogan 7:46 ... I don't have any Taylor Swift in my phone.

John Hennessey 7:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:47 But I could just, while we're in the car, "Do you wanna listen to something?" And she brings up a song, so I just say, "Hey, Siri, play." And then (snaps fingers) bam, like that-

John Hennessey 7:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:55 ... it's playing it. I mean it's-

John Hennessey 7:56 CarPlay works really well.

Joe Rogan 7:57 It's incredible. The te- you could, it reads your texts.

John Hennessey 8:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:01 It sends texts for you.

John Hennessey 8:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:02 It's fucking amazing.

John Hennessey 8:02 Did you ever put CarPlay in any of your old cars? They have like retrofit kits now-

Joe Rogan 8:06 Yeah.

John Hennessey 8:06 ... for that kind of stuff.

Joe Rogan 8:06 I have.

John Hennessey 8:07 Um-

Joe Rogan 8:07 But honestly when I'm driving those old cars, I don't, I don't like to, uh, sometimes I don't even like to listen to music.

John Hennessey 8:12 Yeah, I'm the same way.

Joe Rogan 8:12 I really just wanna hear that engine.

John Hennessey 8:14 Sure, sure. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:15 You know? I'll listen to music sometimes but I'm al- it always gets annoying. I wa-

John Hennessey 8:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:19 ... I wanna hear that engi- I want to hear that (imitates engine revving) .

John Hennessey 8:22 Sure, yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:23 You wanna fucking feel that V8.

John Hennessey 8:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:25 Woo. You know?

John Hennessey 8:26 Spin the tires a little bit, not too much.

Joe Rogan 8:28 Yeah. I just, there's something about cars that I guess it was 'cause when I was a kid, it represented freedom, right? Because you were in high school, if you didn't had a, have a car, you had to ride the bus.

John Hennessey 8:39 Freedom, status.

Joe Rogan 8:40 Yeah. Status for sure.

John Hennessey 8:42 Chicks.

Joe Rogan 8:42 Chicks for sure.

John Hennessey 8:43 Friends maybe, you know?

Joe Rogan 8:44 It was really more impressive for guys than it was for girls.

John Hennessey 8:46 Sure.

Joe Rogan 8:46 The kinds of cars I like, girls are like, "This fucking thing stinks."

John Hennessey 8:49 Sure, yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:49 Smells like gas.

John Hennessey 8:50 I went to this, I went to this Jesuit high school up in Kansas City called Rockhurst, and I was a tota- I was a little guy and total nobody. I was on the wrestling team and I think I was in a 98 pound, pound weight class when I was a freshman. Anyways, a total nobody, and then, uh, I, I bought a motorcycle from my dad when I was like a sophomore. And I remember the first time I rolled into school, I was late, and there's like this quadrangle where I could like pull right up to the door, and there's all these windows that are open, and all these guys like rushed to the window to hear what this loud (laughs) motorcycle was. And all of a sudden, I had status. All of a sudden, I was not a nobody.

Joe Rogan 9:19 Oh.

John Hennessey 9:19 I was like, "Who-

Joe Rogan 9:20 Right.

John Hennessey 9:20 ... who's the wild man in the moto- little kid in the motorcycle?"

Joe Rogan 9:22 That is the thing, right?

John Hennessey 9:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:23 If you're a kid showing up at school with a motorcycle, you're a wild man.

John Hennessey 9:27 Sure, yeah. Yeah. So-

Joe Rogan 9:28 Yeah.

John Hennessey 9:28 ... sa- and then I kinda had my car crash, and the guy that lived across the street from me had this old 442 convertible. It's kind of a crazy story, like my old man was an insurance adjuster, and he, he was gonna buy this car from this body shop for like a couple hundred bucks, and he told me it was gonna be my first car, blah, blah, blah. And like a month goes by, I'm like, "Hey, Dad, when, when, when we getting that car?" And he just kind of ignored me and just kind of blew me off. And the next thing I knew, the neighbor across the street had that car.

Joe Rogan 9:52 Wow.

John Hennessey 9:53 So the torture of I didn't get the car and now I gotta, now I gotta drive, uh, go home every day (laughs) on my motorcycle and look at the neighbor across the street who had the car.

Joe Rogan 10:00 Oh.

John Hennessey 10:00 So when I had my motorcycle wreck, I had two bikes, I was 16 and, um, trying to fix my bike and the guy across the street worked at this Ford factory up in Kansas City, and he offered to help me with the bikes, and I ended up making a deal with him and I sold him... I traded him the two bikes and I paid him like 50 bucks a month for a year, something like that, and I bought, I bought, I bought the car back with my own money.

Joe Rogan 10:19 That's awesome.

John Hennessey 10:19 So I'm like, "F you, old man."

Joe Rogan 10:20 That's awesome.

John Hennessey 10:21 Anyway, it was fun.

Joe Rogan 10:22 Yeah. What, when you first got into cars, uh, like what were the cars you, were you always into American cars or were you into a lot of foreign cars?

John Hennessey 10:30 You know, I mean, back in the, back when, you know, muscle back in the, growing up in the '70s and '80s, I mean, it was all muscle cars. So, you know, you see the guy with the Chevelle or-

Joe Rogan 10:39 Yeah.

John Hennessey 10:40 ... the Camaro, the 70 and a half, Z28.

Joe Rogan 10:42 How old are you?

John Hennessey 10:43 I'm 60.

Joe Rogan 10:43 Okay, so you're a little older than me.

John Hennessey 10:44 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:44 I'm 65.

John Hennessey 10:45 So I'm 62, yeah, so, so I just grew up around muscle cars and then, um, fast forward, you know, went to college for a few years, dropped out, moved from Kansas City to Texas and, um, back then like the, in the '80s, the, the German cars, they, or they had these rally cars over in Europe and they called, it was the Group B rally cars and they called them the killer bees because they got so fast back like in the mid to late '80s that, that the crowds would like bunch up in the road waiting for these, you know, rally cars blasting by at 120 or whatever. And they knew where the rally cars were because the helicopters were chasing them, you know, kind of spotting for them or the TV camera, and then one time, the cars got so fast that they would like hit the, they w- they got ahead of the helicopters and these Group B rally cars like landed on people and killed a bunch of people.

Joe Rogan 11:31 Oh, my God.

John Hennessey 11:31 So they called them the killer, killer bees. So I was really kind of enamored with like the Audi Quattro, they went to Pikes Peak and they raced at Pikes Peak, and that's really kinda what got m- um, so I kind of, you know, shifted gears from, uh, American muscle to now kind of this higher tech German all-wheel drive turbocharged stuff.

Joe Rogan 11:49 Mm.

John Hennessey 11:49 And then kind of I started a small, um, uh, environmental cleanup, like an asbestos abatement business back in the late '80s, and, um, made a little bit of money, uh, wasn't dating my wife, wasn't married yet, and so I'd, I'd read in Motor Trend magazine about this guy named C. Van Tuine. He was actually the editor at Motor Trend back in the mid to late '90s.And he had bought an Eagle Talon, this is like 1990, put a roll cage in it, and he went, goes and enters the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in Colorado Springs. And I read that, and I'm like, "Oh man, my name's not Andretti or Unser, I can't just show up to Indy, but maybe I could do that." And so, made a little bit of money on my asbestos business. I, um, was reading the car magazines, and I'm like, I'm the kinda guy, whether it's then or now, I don't really wanna do what everybody else has done. I'm a contrarian by nature and, you know, if everybody else is racing Porsches or whatever... So, I'm trying to find something that I can afford but that's high tech that I can modify to race at Pikes Peak. And I read about a car that came out that year. Uh, it was the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. So, it was all-wheel drive, twin-turbo V6.

Joe Rogan 12:51 Let me see what that looks like.

John Hennessey 12:51 Four-wheel seal- four-wheel steer. Yeah. And, um, and-

Joe Rogan 12:56 I had a Mitsubishi Starion.

John Hennessey 12:58 Yeah, those were cool.

Joe Rogan 12:59 Remember those?

John Hennessey 12:59 Those are coming back. That's kind of Rad- Rad Wood-ish.

Joe Rogan 13:01 Yeah. What car was it? Was it Mitsubishi 3000...

John Hennessey 13:03 3000... Yeah, just type in Hennessy 3000GT and you'll probably see something pop up, VR4.

Joe Rogan 13:07 Oh, you know what? Now that I'm thinking about it, I had the Dodge version of it.

John Hennessey 13:10 Yeah, yeah the Stealth.

Joe Rogan 13:11 I had the Conquest.

John Hennessey 13:11 Oh, the Conquest, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:13 Yeah.

John Hennessey 13:13 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:14 Oh, so you had one of those.

John Hennessey 13:15 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:15 Those things were sick.

John Hennessey 13:16 Yeah, those were cool.

Joe Rogan 13:17 I loved those things when I first saw those.

John Hennessey 13:18 So, I took it and raced it at- raced it at Pikes Peak, and, uh, didn't win anything, but, uh-

Joe Rogan 13:24 Those things were the shit when they came out.

John Hennessey 13:26 Drove- drove it to Pikes Peak, drove it home. I did a couple races. If you type- type in, uh, yeah...

Joe Rogan 13:31 You know what's crazy? Does Mitsubishi-

John Hennessey 13:33 Oh, there you go, that Motor Trend article. There's Bonneville. You can do Bonneville.

Joe Rogan 13:35 Mitsubishi doesn't make anything like that now, right? They don't make-

John Hennessey 13:39 Well, Mitsubishi, they, I mean, a good friend of mine, Joe Jacuzzi, he's with GM now. There were some really great folks at Mitsubishi and maybe they've just kind of gone to- on other things. But, uh, yeah, the VR200.

Joe Rogan 13:50 Wow.

John Hennessey 13:50 So that car... So I learned- I learned the first rule in car racing. Well, the first rule if you want to make a small fortune in the car racing business, you start with a larger fortune.

Joe Rogan 13:58 (laughs)

John Hennessey 13:58 So, so I'm going and I'm doing these races.

Joe Rogan 14:01 I think I've heard that one before.

John Hennessey 14:02 And I'm going to Pikes Peak, and I do these open road races in Nevada- in Nevada where you go out at night. There's a- they have a- they still have it called the Silver State Classic. They take Highway 318, so it's about... It's just south of Ely, so about four hours north of Vegas, and they shut the whole highway down, and they let these cars go out on a Sunday morning and go out and haul ass. And so I did... The first time I did it, my average speed for 90 miles was 164 miles an hour. I did, I did 90 miles in 34 minutes in that car.

Joe Rogan 14:30 Jesus Christ.

John Hennessey 14:31 And, uh, you know, I did... The first time I did it, it didn't even have a roll cage, which is pretty stupid. But, uh, after I did all this stuff, so I'm- I'm engaged, um, planning a honeymoon. We bought a house. I like to say we bought furniture, but my wife corrects me on that. (laughs) We just bought... You know, we didn't... We inherited fur- furniture from her family. Her... I think all I brought to the marriage was a mattress and a box spring and a desk maybe, and a Mac. Anyway, so I did all that. I'm doing all these races, come home from the honeymoon, and I look at the bank balance and I'm like, "Man, I used to have some money in the bank before I got engaged and bought a race car and raced all over the place." And I thought, "You know what? I- I really like doing this car thing. Maybe other people would pay me to modify their cars like Carroll Shelby, like Alois Ruf with Porsches-"

Joe Rogan 15:16 Right, right.

John Hennessey 15:16 "...Reece Galloway." And so, um, 19... You know, October of 1991, we opened up Hennessy Motorsports and I hired a mechanic and got a toolbox and- and off we went. And that kind of led into the JDM market. So-

Joe Rogan 15:30 What- what kind of cars are you modifying back then? Like so you were-

John Hennessey 15:33 Yeah, any... Dude, anything that would roll in the door. And- and I kind of had a little bit of notoriety from the Silver State Race. So, you know, it was JDM, so it was Supras, 300ZX Twin Turbo.

Joe Rogan 15:43 Ah.

John Hennessey 15:43 Um, you know, so Grand National-

Joe Rogan 15:46 Supra?

John Hennessey 15:46 Yeah, Supra. So- so the Mark IV Supra.

Joe Rogan 15:48 Yeah.

John Hennessey 15:48 Um, you know, the Cyclone, the, uh, the Typhoon, you know that had like-

Joe Rogan 15:53 Oh, the GMC pickup truck? That's crazy pickup truck.

John Hennessey 15:54 Yeah, that had like the 3.8 liter single-

Joe Rogan 15:57 Yeah.

John Hennessey 15:57 ...single turbo V6. And so then a guy calls me up, uh, in early '93 and he said, "Hey, I've got one of the first Dodge Vipers coming." It was actually a model year '92 but with... They had some production delays so the car didn't come out till the spring of '93 and he says, "Hey, I wanna... I'm gonna... I bought a Viper and I want to take it to the Silver State Race, and I wonder if... Can you help me put like the safety equipment and help it pass tech?" And I said, "Sure." I said, "But I'll make you a deal. If you let me modify it, I think I can get another 100 horsepower in that Viper, and I'll do it for free."

Joe Rogan 16:28 (laughs)

John Hennessey 16:28 I said, "I won't even charge you to do it." I said, "The only thing I'll ask in return, I'll take you out to the race, we'll- I'll support you, we'll... I'll bring my mechanic, we'll look after your car. After the race, if you'll..." Again, my buddy, Joe Jacuzzi, was with Mitsubishi at the time, um, said, "Hey, I'll take you around LA and I'll introduce you to the editor at MotorTrend and Hot Rod and Car Craft and Road and Track," and sure enough, we did all that and we... I initially did it with my 3000GT, got some articles off of it, and I'm like... When I was doing that back in the early 90s, this is before social media, this is before YouTube, no internet, and so that... The only way we knew about car stuff is we read car magazines, right?

Joe Rogan 17:04 Right.

John Hennessey 17:04 And so I'm doing all this for a couple weeks with Joe and going around, I'm thinking, "Man, I've been gone a long time." I did this race, I go to talk to all these media guys, and Joe's like, "Just be patient. When the magazine comes out, if they're- if they like you and they like your car and they write something nice about it, your phone will ring." And sure enough, phone started ringing. So I did all that with the Viper, and then-

Joe Rogan 17:22 How'd you get 100 more horsepower out of it?

John Hennessey 17:24 You know, the Viper is a big, um, you know, eight liter V10. And so back in those days, the- the exhaust system sounded like a UPS truck. They still kind of sound weird. It's two five cylinders basically is what it sounds like. So we freed up the exhaust, we did a cold air intake, we ported and polished the head. So we got... We bumped it to at least 500 horsepower. Then we started doing cams and stroker motors and eventually turbos, and basically from '93 through for the next 10 years into the early 2000s, I would say we were on the covers of 30, 40 magazines, including all the major buff books.

Joe Rogan 18:00 Isn't it crazy when you think about the progression of cars and- and power, that if you go back to the original Viper, it wasn't really that fast?

John Hennessey 18:07 ... now, compared to today, now-

Joe Rogan 18:09 What did it have horsepower-wise? The original out there?

John Hennessey 18:10 It was, uh, well, the original was 400-

Joe Rogan 18:11 400, yeah.

John Hennessey 18:11 ... and then they went to 450.

Joe Rogan 18:13 So, 400 is like... I mean, you get a regular Mustang GT, you're getting 460.

John Hennessey 18:18 Yeah, yeah, and the new-

Joe Rogan 18:19 Like, right off the factory floor.

John Hennessey 18:19 The new Dark Horse'll be 500 and I mean-

Joe Rogan 18:21 Right.

John Hennessey 18:21 ... you, you could take a, you know, Tesla, you know, Model 3 and beat a, beat an old Viper, I mean-

Joe Rogan 18:26 Oh, yeah.

John Hennessey 18:26 ... back in the day. But it was so torquey and it was just so outrageous. In fact-

Joe Rogan 18:30 It was raw.

John Hennessey 18:30 It was raw. It-

Joe Rogan 18:31 No anti-lock brakes.

John Hennessey 18:32 Well, that's true. (laughs) It was kinda scary.

Joe Rogan 18:34 Yeah.

John Hennessey 18:34 We spot, spotted a lot of tires.

Joe Rogan 18:36 Ooh.

John Hennessey 18:36 But, uh, but, you know, pretty, pretty cool car for back in the day. And again, me being the contrarian, there are plenty of other guys out there modifying Corvettes and Mustangs and things like that.

Joe Rogan 18:44 Of course.

John Hennessey 18:45 I'm like, "I'm the guy that wants to be different."

Joe Rogan 18:46 Right.

John Hennessey 18:46 "So if you guys are modifying those vehicles, I'm gonna modify the, the Viper." And so, that just kind of built up our... So, our business kind of grew from a, just a small tuning shop to a, a larger-scale tuning shop. And then we added it up, well, maybe a year ago, that's from '91 through about a year ago, we had modified about 15,000 vehicles worldwide. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:06 Wow.

John Hennessey 19:06 We did mail order for a while, and, and some of that was mail order. But last year, we built... We modified 564 vehicles last year.

Joe Rogan 19:14 So, when did you start getting to the shit you're doing now? Like, you know, you made me a 1,000 horsepower-

John Hennessey 19:20 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:20 ... TRX.

John Hennessey 19:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:20 That car is so stupid. (laughs)

John Hennessey 19:22 It is. It is so stupid.

Joe Rogan 19:24 But it's so... The problem with it-

John Hennessey 19:25 And the brakes are good? 'Cause I, I was worried-

Joe Rogan 19:27 The brakes are, yeah.

John Hennessey 19:27 ... that you would end up into the back of an 18-wheeler.

Joe Rogan 19:29 The upgrade? No. I drive it very responsibly-

John Hennessey 19:30 Okay, okay, okay.

Joe Rogan 19:30 ... believe it or not. I don't, I just love the fact that it has so much power. You don't need the-

John Hennessey 19:35 And it sounds great.

Joe Rogan 19:35 Oh, it sounds amazing.

John Hennessey 19:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:36 It's very comfortable.

John Hennessey 19:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:37 And it also, because it's high up, you get a-

John Hennessey 19:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:39 ... great vantage point. You get to see accidents-

John Hennessey 19:40 Great vantage point.

Joe Rogan 19:41 ... before they happen.

John Hennessey 19:42 If you're stuck on the highway and there's some wreck-

Joe Rogan 19:44 Yeah.

John Hennessey 19:44 ... you can just go through the grass and go onto-

Joe Rogan 19:45 Yes.

John Hennessey 19:45 ... the feeder road.

Joe Rogan 19:46 Yeah, you really could do that, actually.

John Hennessey 19:47 I mean, trucks are... And the other thing is like, like when I'm driving, like, my older cars, like, I've got a Cadillac CTS-V Wagon Manual, and I'm pulling out of a store and some lady, at Christmas a couple years ago, runs into me 'cause she didn't see me. So, I do like, like driving something bigger like that because-

Joe Rogan 20:02 Yeah.

John Hennessey 20:02 ... if they run into you, it's not gonna do that much, and, and they generally see you and will not run into you, so...

Joe Rogan 20:06 My Land Cruiser... Well this, this, uh, the TRX has steel bumpers too.

John Hennessey 20:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:10 My Land Cruiser also has rock sliders-

John Hennessey 20:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:12 ... on the side of it.

John Hennessey 20:13 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 20:13 And so because it's lifted, if someone's gonna T-bone me, they're going right into the rock slider.

John Hennessey 20:17 Yeah, it's gonna be worse for them than it is for you, for sure.

Joe Rogan 20:19 It's just... There's so many fucking bad drivers out there.

John Hennessey 20:22 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:23 It's-

John Hennessey 20:23 Well-

Joe Rogan 20:24 You know?

John Hennessey 20:24 ... yeah, we could talk at length about that, but I think a lot of that boils down to... Like, if you look at Europe, you look at Germany, getting a driver's license in Germany is a serious deal. It takes two years.

Joe Rogan 20:35 Really?

John Hennessey 20:35 It costs about $2,500.

Joe Rogan 20:36 Really?

John Hennessey 20:36 Getting your driver's license in Germany... The Germans are so serious. And es- they're serious about their cars and about their driving and about the Autobahn. But getting the driver's license in Germany is similar to like getting a private pilot's license over here.

Joe Rogan 20:49 Wow.

John Hennessey 20:49 Yeah. And so, so why don't we do that over here? Well, that would be a higher barrier for a lot of people. And so, you know, car companies wanna sell cars, insurance companies wanna sell insurance.

Joe Rogan 20:58 Also-

John Hennessey 20:59 You know?

Joe Rogan 20:59 ... like maybe people don't need to learn how to drive that good. They just need to pay attention and don't go fast.

John Hennessey 21:04 Yeah, that's true. I mean, I-

Joe Rogan 21:05 Most, like, average-

John Hennessey 21:06 I don't know if it's speed, but it's just, it's paying attention, you know. I mean, our kids all just, you know, in the last 10 years, all went through driver's ed, and I think they got, you know, some decent training. But, you know, to your point, uh, like lane discipline, like, you know-

Joe Rogan 21:19 Yeah.

John Hennessey 21:19 ... if you're the slowest guy out there, get in the right lane.

Joe Rogan 21:20 Yeah.

John Hennessey 21:21 You know? If you're the, if you're going a little bit faster, you go on the inside lane. But just that, you know, that drives any serious driver crazy is when somebody's in the left lane going 49.

Joe Rogan 21:29 Yeah.

John Hennessey 21:29 You know?

Joe Rogan 21:29 Which is... I... That, that doesn't bother me.

John Hennessey 21:30 Okay.

Joe Rogan 21:31 The, what... It does bother me, but it doesn't bother me like not paying attention. The not paying attention thing-

John Hennessey 21:35 The distracted drivers.

Joe Rogan 21:36 ... is wild.

John Hennessey 21:37 Right. Yeah. Well, and I would put-

Joe Rogan 21:38 So often.

John Hennessey 21:39 ... some... I would put some of that on the OEMs. I think the OEMs, to some degree, try to make the cars like nannies. Like, whether it's autopilot or adaptive steering. I think... I, I had a friend of mine's dad when I was in high school, I'll never forget, he said, "Hey kid, you know, if you wanna stay alive, don't use cr... If you're driving at night, don't use cruise control." I'm like, "Well, why not?" "Well, you set your cruise control, you got your tunes going, you're a little tired, you fall asleep-

Joe Rogan 22:00 (yawns)

John Hennessey 22:00 ... and you end up in a ditch, right?"

Joe Rogan 22:02 Right. Yeah.

John Hennessey 22:02 So, I think that, uh, you know, I would almost say that, to some degree, that the nannies to try to protect drivers all of a sudden become, "Well, maybe I can crawl in the back seat and take a nap," you know?

Joe Rogan 22:12 Here's, here's a tip for anybody that might be driving and you're worried you're gonna fall asleep. Get a... Bring a washcloth with you and ice cubes. Like, uh, get a wet washcloth-

John Hennessey 22:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:22 ... and then put ice cubes in that washcloth, and just rub your face.

John Hennessey 22:25 Okay.

Joe Rogan 22:25 It'll keep you awake-

John Hennessey 22:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:26 ... the whole time. It's not painful.

John Hennessey 22:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:28 It's... I used to slap myself in the face. That's what I used to do.

John Hennessey 22:31 So you said that you'd be out doing a road trip and trying to drive through the night?

Joe Rogan 22:34 Yeah, because-

John Hennessey 22:34 I've, I've done all that.

Joe Rogan 22:35 ... well, it's because I was doing standup comedy at night-

John Hennessey 22:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:37 ... and I was, uh, delivering newspapers in the morning.

John Hennessey 22:39 Oh.

Joe Rogan 22:39 So, I was always fucking tired.

John Hennessey 22:41 We've got, we've got a lot of things in common.

Joe Rogan 22:43 You delivered newspapers?

John Hennessey 22:43 Oh, fuck yeah, I did.

Joe Rogan 22:44 Did you? Did you? Which, which one?

John Hennessey 22:44 I was 12, 12 years old, Kansas City Star.

Joe Rogan 22:47 Nice.

John Hennessey 22:47 And dude, I mean, I'm getting up at like, fuck, 3:45, 4:00 AM delivering papers-

Joe Rogan 22:52 Mm-hmm.

John Hennessey 22:52 ... for two, two and a half hours. And dude, like on a Sunday, which i-

Joe Rogan 22:55 Did you do it on your bike?

John Hennessey 22:56 No, I'm in the back of this paper truck. And this guy had the route, and then, you know, we would have to like roll the paper-

Joe Rogan 23:02 Mm-hmm.

John Hennessey 23:02 ... and put it in this machine and crank this thing, and he would tie a little knot with some string around it, and we'd fucking toss it out the window-

Joe Rogan 23:08 Yup.

John Hennessey 23:08 ... when we're going by. You know, like, dogs are barking at you and it's snowing and it's cold. And then I'd be the... I, you know, I would do some of that, but all of sudden there'd be like an apartment complex, "Well, here's your stack of papers," and I'm out tossing 'em at people's doorsteps and like, on like a juicy day, we might make like $3.25.

Joe Rogan 23:24 (gasps)

John Hennessey 23:24 And so what would we do? We'd go, we'd go to 7-Eleven and we'd blow half the cash on fricking, you know, nasty burritos and Big Gulps and crap like that.

Joe Rogan 23:33 Right.

John Hennessey 23:33 You know? But that was just kinda what we did. But that's... I mean, it's what we had to do to make... So, so you were, you were doing papers while you were doing standup?

Joe Rogan 23:38 Yeah, I was doing newspapers, um, from the time, I guess I was... Probably like 17 or 18-

John Hennessey 23:46 Okay.

Joe Rogan 23:46 ... when I first started it.

John Hennessey 23:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:48 Uh, maybe, maybe it was a little...... yeah, somewhere in that range. And, uh, I did for the Boston Herald-

John Hennessey 23:54 Okay.

Joe Rogan 23:54 ... I did it for the Boston Globe, and I did it for The New York Times.

John Hennessey 23:57 Nice.

Joe Rogan 23:57 And so I had, uh, at one point, I don't... Uh, I had a huge route, and I even got a van. I had, like, a cargo van.

John Hennessey 24:03 So you were... You had your own deal. You weren't working for somebody else?

Joe Rogan 24:05 No, I was working for, uh, a dispatch.

John Hennessey 24:07 Okay.

Joe Rogan 24:08 So you would get a job working for The Globe-

John Hennessey 24:10 Okay.

Joe Rogan 24:10 ... and you'd go to the dispatch, and they'd give you a route.

John Hennessey 24:13 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:13 Like, so they give you a map and all the houses that are on it, all the addresses.

John Hennessey 24:16 Right.

Joe Rogan 24:16 And then they would give you, uh, stacks of newspapers.

John Hennessey 24:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:20 And you had to fold them while you're driving.

John Hennessey 24:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:22 So you're driving, you pull up in front of the house-

John Hennessey 24:23 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 24:23 ... I had a stack of papers right next to me.

John Hennessey 24:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:26 And I would just go like this, grab it, zap, zap, foom!

John Hennessey 24:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:28 And I had, uh, these plastic bags-

John Hennessey 24:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:31 ... that were hanging from my rearview mirror.

John Hennessey 24:32 Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:33 So I'd go wa-womp, wham, and then chuck it out the window.

John Hennessey 24:36 Yeah. We... Well, I think we started going to the plastic... I... So I did it from... I was probably 12 to maybe 14, and then I, then I... One of my relatives was in a hospital in South Kansas City, St. Joe's, and, and I found out that they did not have a paper route in the hospital, and I was able to kind of get that.

Joe Rogan 24:50 Oh.

John Hennessey 24:51 I was able to get that franchise. I was making, like-

Joe Rogan 24:52 (laughs)

John Hennessey 24:53 ... back in the day, maybe 80 bucks a week, which is pretty good money back then.

Joe Rogan 24:56 Yeah, I was doing so many newspapers that I actually was... That was the primary money that I was making.

John Hennessey 25:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:02 So this is when I wasn't really making much money teaching. And, um...

John Hennessey 25:05 You were a teacher too?

Joe Rogan 25:06 No, I used to teach, uh, martial arts.

John Hennessey 25:08 Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:09 Yeah. So, um, I was... I actually used to teach at Boston University.

John Hennessey 25:11 Okay.

Joe Rogan 25:13 Uh, I was actually a pass-fail A, so it counted towards your GPA.

John Hennessey 25:17 Okay. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:17 So, I tell everybody, if you just try-

John Hennessey 25:19 Right.

Joe Rogan 25:19 ... you'll get an A, and it's a real A. So just try. Just show up and try. If you can't make it-

John Hennessey 25:24 I li- I like your... I like your story when those guys were following you and fucking with you, and you're like, "Hey, you wanna come up to the dojo?" (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:28 Oh, that was hilarious. That was so dumb. They... But- (laughs)

John Hennessey 25:31 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:31 This is just-

John Hennessey 25:32 You wanna get your ass whipped? Come on.

Joe Rogan 25:33 It was hilarious-

John Hennessey 25:34 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:34 ... 'cause they were... They just kept saying that I needed to give them money. And then I said, "L-" And they, "Where are you going?" I'm like, "I'm gonna go teach class."

John Hennessey 25:40 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:40 "You wanna come up and watch?"

John Hennessey 25:41 Yeah, right. You wanna come be the...

Joe Rogan 25:42 And, like, they're standing there in front of the Jae Hun Kim Taekwondo Institute, and they're looking at me. They're like, "You're teaching?" I go, "Yeah."

John Hennessey 25:49 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 25:49 "Yeah, I'm a black belt, I'm teaching class."

John Hennessey 25:51 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:51 "I'll fucking kill you, man. Leave me alone."

John Hennessey 25:53 You wanna be broken ribs?

Joe Rogan 25:54 "I... Don't make me kill you."

John Hennessey 25:55 Exactly.

Joe Rogan 25:55 It was so funny. It was, like, the least nervous I've ever been-

John Hennessey 25:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:59 ... like, as a young man.

John Hennessey 26:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:01 It was, like, the perfect... Like, it was like... Uh, the whole reason why I got into fighting at all was 'cause I was terrified of being bullied.

John Hennessey 26:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:07 And so to have this moment happen while I'm walking on the street, and these two guys start fucking with me, and, and I'm not rattled at all.

John Hennessey 26:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:15 And then I get to that door (laughs) and I say-

John Hennessey 26:19 (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:19 And I tell them-

John Hennessey 26:20 I saw the video. I, I just laughed my ass off. That was awesome. What, what... How... So when you were doing... So you started off in MMA or you started off in jujitsu, ju-

Joe Rogan 26:28 I started off in taekwondo.

John Hennessey 26:29 Taekwondo?

Joe Rogan 26:29 Yeah. Well, I started off in karate first.

John Hennessey 26:31 Okay.

Joe Rogan 26:31 I went to, uh, Esposito's, a karate academy, which was in Newton, Massachusetts where I lived.

John Hennessey 26:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:36 But it was hard to get there. I didn't have a car, and it was like-

John Hennessey 26:39 Right.

Joe Rogan 26:39 ... you had to take buses. It was a, it was a grind to get there. But, um, Boston was pretty easy. I just had to walk to the T, which is like... I had to walk a mile and a half or something like that.

John Hennessey 26:48 Right.

Joe Rogan 26:48 And then I would get to the T, which is the train that would take me right into Kenmore Square, which is right where the school was. And it was easy to get there.

John Hennessey 26:55 Now, how... From the time you started to the time you felt like you had some skills or a little bit of confidence, how long did that take? Six months?

Joe Rogan 27:01 Well, I was obsessed. Uh, I mean, when I started, when I was 15, I was there every day.

John Hennessey 27:09 Okay.

Joe Rogan 27:10 I mean, every day.

John Hennessey 27:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:11 I didn't take any days off.

John Hennessey 27:12 Right.

Joe Rogan 27:13 I was obsessed. And I, I became a black belt in two years.

John Hennessey 27:16 No shit? Wow.

Joe Rogan 27:17 Yeah. I was t- I was teaching, like, almost right away. Like, right after, um... I j- I think when I got my blue belt, I started teaching, um, private lessons.

John Hennessey 27:29 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 27:29 Like, for the new beginners, I teach them form and stances and, and how to get your, your hips into things-

John Hennessey 27:35 Right.

Joe Rogan 27:35 ... and how to throw p- And I was just teaching them, like, basics.

John Hennessey 27:37 Right.

Joe Rogan 27:37 And that helped me a lot.

John Hennessey 27:39 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 27:39 Because there's something about teaching that, like, really sort of accelerates your own learning curve.

John Hennessey 27:45 Interesting.

Joe Rogan 27:46 And so I was obsessed with it, and I was, I was competing already. I started competing, like, right away-

John Hennessey 27:51 Okay.

Joe Rogan 27:51 When I was a white belt.

John Hennessey 27:53 So you're what? 16, 15?

Joe Rogan 27:54 15. 15.

John Hennessey 27:54 Okay. All right.

Joe Rogan 27:55 And so, uh, you know, they would take you to these tournaments. Like, so y- all you had to do is, like, be at the school, and everybody would sort of carpool. And then when I was a kid, it was like, I... They would kind of take care of me-

John Hennessey 28:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:06 ... and bring me to these places.

John Hennessey 28:07 Right.

Joe Rogan 28:08 And you're in this fucking gymnasium, and there's this other dude across from you, and you're about to try to kick each other unconscious.

John Hennessey 28:16 Right.

Joe Rogan 28:16 This is wild.

John Hennessey 28:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:18 And I became obsessed with it 'cause it was so insane.

John Hennessey 28:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:21 It was like, to go from, like, regular life-

John Hennessey 28:24 Right.

Joe Rogan 28:24 ... you know, just being a kid, I l- t- I liked to draw. I was an artist.

John Hennessey 28:27 Yeah.... like, I mean, I've seen videos. I haven't seen you train in person.

Joe Rogan 30:10 That's where I learned it.

John Hennessey 30:10 But I'm like, it's like-

Joe Rogan 30:11 I learned it from him.

John Hennessey 30:11 ... you know, one whack of the, your, your leg and you got some broken ribs.

Joe Rogan 30:15 Yeah. W- I, but I learned it from that guy.

John Hennessey 30:16 Wow.

Joe Rogan 30:16 I mean, I learned it from... I mean, I, he most certainly helped me many, many, many times. But watching him, I learned it from. I mean, I weren't learning that was possible. Like, I'd never known that a person could do that.

John Hennessey 30:27 Right.

Joe Rogan 30:28 Like the amount of force. I was like, "That is insane."

John Hennessey 30:31 So, you were doing that and you were doing, uh, toss newspapers around the same time?

Joe Rogan 30:34 Yes. Because-

John Hennessey 30:35 So, newspapers was your income source, but-

Joe Rogan 30:37 Right.

John Hennessey 30:37 ... but, fighting was your passion and-

Joe Rogan 30:39 Yeah.

John Hennessey 30:39 ... and cost some money for travel and whatever.

Joe Rogan 30:41 It was a, it was a good way, once I got out of high school, it was a good way to generate some money while I was doing this crazy thing where I was trying to make the Olympic team for TaeKwonDo.

John Hennessey 30:49 Really? Okay. Oh.

Joe Rogan 30:50 Yeah. So, I was competing. I won the Massachusetts State Championship, like, four years in a row.

John Hennessey 30:56 Okay.

Joe Rogan 30:56 And I was competing in the Nationals and I had never... I couldn't win the Nationals. I got clo-... I came close a couple of times and I, I, uh, got in the finals of the US Cup with this guy, uh, Kareem Jabbar, who was the National Champion. It was a very disputed close decision that I thought I could've got. But, so I was at that level. I was, like, right close. But unfortunately, then I started kickboxing.

John Hennessey 31:17 Okay.

Joe Rogan 31:17 And when I started kickboxing, immediately I realized how helpless I was against, uh, someone who had really, really good hands.

John Hennessey 31:23 Right.

Joe Rogan 31:23 I was getting fucked up kickboxing.

John Hennessey 31:25 Okay.

Joe Rogan 31:26 And then I, I kinda lost my faith in TaeKwonDo, because, uh, I realized how limited it was, 'cause they don't punch to the face.

John Hennessey 31:32 Okay.

Joe Rogan 31:32 So, you get like a... It's... You get the most amazing leg dexterity-

John Hennessey 31:37 Right.

Joe Rogan 31:37 ... because you're learning how to... Primarily learning how to kick. They have some of the best kicks. But you're so limited in your ability to defend your face from punches-

John Hennessey 31:46 Okay.

Joe Rogan 31:47 ... because when punches and kicks are thrown together to your face, it makes things so much more complex.

John Hennessey 31:51 Right.

Joe Rogan 31:51 And when I was learning that, I wa- it, like, I lost, like, some of my faith in TaeKwonDo.

John Hennessey 31:55 Wow.

Joe Rogan 31:56 So, I had a few kickboxing fights. And then I was doing standup at the same time, and I knew I had to pick one or the other.

John Hennessey 32:01 Now, how, where did, where did standup kick... Where did standup come on, come into that whole program? How old were you when you started with that?

Joe Rogan 32:06 Well, I was thinking about it when I was, like, 19 or 20.

John Hennessey 32:09 Okay.

Joe Rogan 32:10 And, um, I-

John Hennessey 32:10 You wrote your own stuff?

Joe Rogan 32:12 Yeah.

John Hennessey 32:12 Okay.

Joe Rogan 32:12 Yeah. Just like... It was horrible. (laughs)

John Hennessey 32:14 Right, yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 32:15 It was-

John Hennessey 32:15 But you're, but you're the kinda guy that, like, you don't mi- you don't, you'll put your balls out there and you won't mind getting punished for something that you wanna try?

Joe Rogan 32:21 It... Well, I wa- I was just curious. Like, I'd, I'd seen... This is what it was. I- I have a very good friend to this day, his name's Steve Graham.

John Hennessey 32:29 Okay.

Joe Rogan 32:29 He's a good buddy of mine. And Steve, when I was, uh, 15, when I met him, he was, uh, an ophthalmologist. And like, uh, he'd been on the US Ski team, like a fucking, um, uh, wild man.

John Hennessey 32:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:42 Just done a lot of stu-... Like, super, super-duper smart.

John Hennessey 32:45 Right.

Joe Rogan 32:45 And, you know, he was, like, in his 30s and I was, like, 15, and, uh, we- we'd used to train together all the time. And when we would go and fight in tournaments, I was the guy who made everybody laugh, 'cause everybody would be nervous. We would be all scared because we're gonna go fight.

John Hennessey 32:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:59 Or when we were about to spar.

John Hennessey 33:00 Okay.

Joe Rogan 33:00 Everyone would be super nervous.

John Hennessey 33:01 All right.

Joe Rogan 33:02 'Cause sparring's scary.

John Hennessey 33:03 Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:03 You know? And I was the guy who, like, cracked-

John Hennessey 33:05 You could cut up and crack jokes.

Joe Rogan 33:07 ... I'd cr- 'cause I realized if there was, like, tension in the room, and then I could get attention-

John Hennessey 33:10 Okay.

Joe Rogan 33:10 ... from cracking that tension.

John Hennessey 33:12 All right.

Joe Rogan 33:12 I could get attention from, like, making everybody laugh.

John Hennessey 33:15 Right.

Joe Rogan 33:15 And so, I started... I would do, like, impressions of guys we knew having sex, and like just stupid shit.

John Hennessey 33:21 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 33:21 And it was so dumb, but Steve is the one who told me. Uh, Steve and this other guy, Ed Shorter-

John Hennessey 33:27 Wow.

Joe Rogan 33:28 ... was a friend of mine too. And he, he just said, "You really should be... You should do standup. Like you, you could do it."

John Hennessey 33:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:33 I'm like, "Dude, you think I'm funny because you know me." I'm like-

John Hennessey 33:36 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 33:36 ... "Other people are gonna think I'm an asshole." Like, my sense of humor is so fucked up. But, so then I went to-

John Hennessey 33:41 That's funny.

Joe Rogan 33:41 ... an open mic night. And when you go to open mic night, one of the things that's good about open mic nights is, like, if you compare yourself to, like, Bill Burr or Dave Chappelle, it's like, it'll blow your m-

John Hennessey 33:51 Yeah, of course.

Joe Rogan 33:51 You know, you won't be able... You can't imagine ever reaching that level.

John Hennessey 33:54 Yeah, right.

Joe Rogan 33:55 But if you go to an open mic night, you realize, "Oh, these people are terrible." (laughs)

John Hennessey 34:00 Yeah. Right.

Joe Rogan 34:00 It's 'cause like-

John Hennessey 34:00 So I might've sucked that bad.

Joe Rogan 34:01 Yeah. Everybody's terrible when they first start.

John Hennessey 34:03 That's funny.

Joe Rogan 34:03 Me in- me included. I was terrible. And so, when you're around these terrible comedians, you realize like, "Oh, okay. This is like... This is how it works." Like you just-

John Hennessey 34:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:12 And then, when I was at open mic night the first time, a couple of, like, real top level pros stopped by and did sets.

John Hennessey 34:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:19 Like this guy, Teddy Bergeron-

John Hennessey 34:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:21 ... who did The Tonight Show back in the day. And he was like-

John Hennessey 34:24 Yeah, I've heard the name.

Joe Rogan 34:24 He had some substance abuse problems-

John Hennessey 34:26 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 34:26 ... but I'm telling you, in 1988, there was... No one was better. There was people that are at that level-

John Hennessey 34:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:32 ... but no one wa-... He was so smooth-

John Hennessey 34:34 Wow.

Joe Rogan 34:34 ... and so polished, and his material was so interesting and funny. And I remember w-... I had done my stupid little set, I barely got a few laughs, right? And then I was like, "Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could do this." And then I went out and watched that guy, I was like, "I should just quit now." (laughs)

John Hennessey 34:47 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:47 'Cause he went up and just... It was so polished.

John Hennessey 34:52 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:52 It was so... It was... He was in such, uh, like, ease on stage-

John Hennessey 34:56 But he'd done it 1,000 times, right?

Joe Rogan 34:57 Oh, 1,000 times.

John Hennessey 34:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:58 So, this was when he was in his prime.

John Hennessey 35:00 Right, right.

Joe Rogan 35:00 He- he had one of the best sets I've ever seen on The Tonight Show. He was-

John Hennessey 35:03 Wow.

Joe Rogan 35:04 ... he was in- he was incredible, but then he went off the rails. He went off the rails and, you know, he just, uh, he had some problems.

John Hennessey 35:09 So, did you, like, learn how to deal with hecklers early on?

Joe Rogan 35:12 Oh, yeah. You always have to learn how to deal with hecklers.

John Hennessey 35:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:14 Yeah. You're gonna learn.

John Hennessey 35:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:15 You're gonna... Well, you know, you're gonna have some moments where you fall apart, you're gonna have some moments where it works out great.

John Hennessey 35:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:21 You know? It's like, it's a long bloody process.

John Hennessey 35:24 Right.

Joe Rogan 35:24 I compare it to, like, trying to build a mountain one layer of paint at a time.

John Hennessey 35:29 Oh, shit. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 35:29 (laughs)

John Hennessey 35:30 Oh, my God.

Joe Rogan 35:30 It takes so long. It takes so long, it's so brutal. But it was... To me, it was, uh, it was a way that I could, like, exist in the world that wasn't a regular job.

John Hennessey 35:42 Right.

Joe Rogan 35:43 Like, I was... Whatever it is, it's ADD or what... You know, whatever the fuck is gonna happen.

John Hennessey 35:47 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yep.

Joe Rogan 35:47 I just couldn't sit still-

John Hennessey 35:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:49 ... and I couldn't be involved in anything that didn't freak me out. I, like... I wa-... I only wanted to be involved in things that scared me.

John Hennessey 35:55 So, you were the original Fear Factor then? You were... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 35:58 (laughs)

John Hennessey 35:58 They cast you for a reason in that deal.

Joe Rogan 35:59 They cast me against one of... A couple of the producers didn't want to cast me 'cause I was making fun of it.

John Hennessey 36:04 Right.

Joe Rogan 36:04 I went in and, um, when I did the audition for it, they- they wanted it to be scary, like, "Fear is not a factor for you."

John Hennessey 36:11 Right.

Joe Rogan 36:11 Da-na-na-na. Like, they were interviewing, like, sportscaster-type dudes too.

John Hennessey 36:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:16 And, uh, I went in there and, you know, I thought, like, "This is..." I was... I had a deal with NBC and, uh, I think it was to do a sitcom.... I'm pretty sure it was. And so, uh, the- I went in to talk to them and they said, "We have this thing."

John Hennessey 36:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:28 I was like, "What are- what are you doing?" And they're like, "Well, we wanna present it to you."

John Hennessey 36:32 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 36:32 So I go there, and like, they're sicking dogs on people, and sh-

John Hennessey 36:34 "We're gonna put you in a cage with a bunch of centipedes."

Joe Rogan 36:36 Well, well it, was originally a show in Holland-

John Hennessey 36:39 Okay.

Joe Rogan 36:39 ... and it was called Now or Never Land.

John Hennessey 36:41 Okay.

Joe Rogan 36:41 I think that was called, what it was called. And so, uh, this company bought it, and then they put it on TV in America, and they needed a host. And then, you know, they came to me.

John Hennessey 36:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:50 And I was making so much fun, 'cause I was high. I showed up high.

John Hennessey 36:53 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 36:53 I was like, "I'm gonna have this meeting with all these Hollywood people." I always get weirded out by those meetings.

John Hennessey 36:57 Right.

Joe Rogan 36:57 So like, I like to show up high.

John Hennessey 36:58 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 36:59 Just to feel 'em out, you know?

John Hennessey 37:00 Good.

Joe Rogan 37:00 And, uh, I was, I was just making fun of it. Like, you're gonna sick dogs on people on TV?

John Hennessey 37:05 That is funny.

Joe Rogan 37:05 Like, that is so stupid. I was like, I was like, how long, how long before this gets canceled? I was like making all these jokes about like how ridiculous it is you're gonna sick dogs on people.

John Hennessey 37:13 So how, so you were doing the standup in, in Boston, and then what, what made you think to move to, like, did you go on the road, up in the Northeast?

Joe Rogan 37:20 I moved to New York.

John Hennessey 37:21 Okay, New York, okay.

Joe Rogan 37:21 I moved to New York first, and, uh, that was in the very early '90s.

John Hennessey 37:24 Okay.

Joe Rogan 37:25 I, uh, met a manager, who's still my manager to this day-

John Hennessey 37:28 That's great.

Joe Rogan 37:28 ... when I was an open mic'er in Boston, and then he moved me out to New York.

John Hennessey 37:31 Okay.

Joe Rogan 37:32 So I lived in New York for a few years, then I got a development deal to do a sitcom, and then I came out-

John Hennessey 37:37 Okay.

Joe Rogan 37:37 ... I came out to Hollywood.

John Hennessey 37:38 Okay.

Joe Rogan 37:39 Yeah, but all, the whole time playing pool.

John Hennessey 37:41 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:41 Like, you and I played pool before.

John Hennessey 37:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:42 You play good pool, dude.

John Hennessey 37:43 Um-

Joe Rogan 37:43 You play good pool.

John Hennessey 37:44 I'm rusty but you're-

Joe Rogan 37:45 No, yeah, but you know what you're doing.

John Hennessey 37:46 ... good motivator for me.

Joe Rogan 37:46 You know what you're doing. Like, I watch you hit the ball, you know what you're doing.

John Hennessey 37:49 It was fun.

Joe Rogan 37:49 Yeah.

John Hennessey 37:50 Kinda bring back some memories.

Joe Rogan 37:51 You, you know how to play pool. Like, some people just play pool, they're just knocking balls around. But I'm watching you get out, and I'm like, "Okay, you know how to play pool."

John Hennessey 37:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:57 It's complicated.

John Hennessey 37:58 We'll say it is complicated.

Joe Rogan 37:59 Should we do a little-

John Hennessey 37:59 You got a tough table, man.

Joe Rogan 38:00 Yeah.

John Hennessey 38:00 He has tight pockets.

Joe Rogan 38:02 Yeah.

John Hennessey 38:02 Little snooker table.

Joe Rogan 38:02 I like difficult shit. (laughs)

John Hennessey 38:03 Yeah. Well, that's right, yeah. Yeah, what Kennedys say, "We don't do these things because they're easy."

Joe Rogan 38:07 Yeah.

John Hennessey 38:07 "We do them because they're hard."

Joe Rogan 38:08 We do them because they are hard.

John Hennessey 38:10 Hard.

Joe Rogan 38:11 Yeah.

John Hennessey 38:11 Exactly right.

Joe Rogan 38:12 So when I moved to, uh, LA, like I fucking hated it.

John Hennessey 38:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:15 But, but, I could go to Hard Times.

John Hennessey 38:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:18 And that was, to me, like there was two places that were, um, Mecca in LA-

John Hennessey 38:20 So this is like Comedy Club? Okay.

Joe Rogan 38:22 No, no, no. Comedy Store was the Mecca-

John Hennessey 38:25 Okay, right.

Joe Rogan 38:25 ... for standup. But Hard Times was the Mecca for pool. Hard Times-

John Hennessey 38:29 Oh, really?

Joe Rogan 38:29 Oh, yeah, that's where Keith McCready came from.

John Hennessey 38:31 Oh, yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:31 Hard, Hard Times was, um, this place in Bellflower.

John Hennessey 38:35 Okay.

Joe Rogan 38:35 And you would go down there, and I would compete in the Sunday tournament. I mean, I, I never came close to winning it. But I would get in it all the time-

John Hennessey 38:42 Right.

Joe Rogan 38:43 ... and get my, my nut shot in.

John Hennessey 38:44 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 38:44 But you could play Rodolfo Luat.

John Hennessey 38:46 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:46 You could play Efren Reyes.

John Hennessey 38:48 Really? Wow.

Joe Rogan 38:48 You could play Max Eberle.

John Hennessey 38:49 How cool.

Joe Rogan 38:50 You could play Jon Mora. You could play just stone cold killers-

John Hennessey 38:53 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:54 ... in a, in an open tournament.

John Hennessey 38:55 Wow.

Joe Rogan 38:55 You could play Efren Reyes.

John Hennessey 38:57 Wow.

Joe Rogan 38:57 Like, it's just a random draw.

John Hennessey 38:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:59 So you go in there, and then, you know, there's a field of I don't know how many players before it fills up. It fills up every weekend.

John Hennessey 39:04 Right.

Joe Rogan 39:05 And we would go there on Sunday, you get there early, I, I played Oscar Doming- or I played his dad Ernesto, Ernesto Dominguez.

John Hennessey 39:11 Okay.

Joe Rogan 39:12 Killer.

John Hennessey 39:12 Wow.

Joe Rogan 39:13 This, this is like killer. Mauro Paez, these guys were killers. And you would go there and watch literally the best pool in the world.

John Hennessey 39:20 Wow.

Joe Rogan 39:20 All in Bellflower, California. And there was a lot of gambling matches, you could sweat.

John Hennessey 39:24 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure.

Joe Rogan 39:25 It was awesome. I loved that place.

John Hennessey 39:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:27 So that was, that was like one of the things that saved me.

John Hennessey 39:30 Okay.

Joe Rogan 39:30 That and going to, there's a few other places that I went, House of Billiards in Sherman Oaks is a great place.

John Hennessey 39:34 Okay, okay.

Joe Rogan 39:35 Used to play pool there. Hollywood Billiards-

John Hennessey 39:37 Okay.

Joe Rogan 39:37 ... in Hollywood is a good spot.

John Hennessey 39:38 I played there. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 39:39 Unfortunately that went under.

John Hennessey 39:40 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:41 So like, that kept me going.

John Hennessey 39:42 Right.

Joe Rogan 39:43 And it kept going-

John Hennessey 39:43 Were you still doing MMA then?

Joe Rogan 39:45 Well, I was do- I was doing martial arts, yeah.

John Hennessey 39:46 Okay.

Joe Rogan 39:46 I was doing jujitsu then.

John Hennessey 39:47 Oh, that's right, martial arts.

Joe Rogan 39:48 Yeah.

John Hennessey 39:48 Okay, got it, got it.

Joe Rogan 39:49 Yeah. That was when, uh, I really got into jujitsu. I got into jujitsu in like '96.

John Hennessey 39:52 Right.

Joe Rogan 39:54 Yeah.

John Hennessey 39:55 Wow.

Joe Rogan 39:55 Yeah, I was actually at the same gym that Vitor Belfort, when he was making his debut in the UFC. I was training at his gym.

John Hennessey 40:02 Okay.

Joe Rogan 40:02 'Cause it was, it was Carlson Gracie's academy, which was in Hollywood. And I was, uh, learning from, uh, his coaches.

John Hennessey 40:09 Okay.

Joe Rogan 40:10 It was, it was crazy. Like to watch Vitor before he-

John Hennessey 40:12 Now how did, how did you connect with UFC and Dana White?

Joe Rogan 40:15 Back then, so when Vitor was making his debut-

John Hennessey 40:18 Right.

Joe Rogan 40:19 ... um, Campbell McLaren-

John Hennessey 40:21 This was like late '90s? Mid-

Joe Rogan 40:22 '97.

John Hennessey 40:23 '97, okay.

Joe Rogan 40:24 So Campbell McLaren, who was one of the producers of, uh, the UFC-

John Hennessey 40:27 Okay.

Joe Rogan 40:28 ... it was a good friend of my manager.

John Hennessey 40:30 Okay.

Joe Rogan 40:30 And they were just having a conversation.

John Hennessey 40:31 Wow.

Joe Rogan 40:31 And he said, "Hey," you know, just, he was, you know, randomly talking to him about how, "I gotta hire a new guy to do interviews. We need someone to do interviews." And, uh, my manager said, "Joe is obsessed. Like he watches them all, like-"

John Hennessey 40:45 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 40:46 ... "he's really obsessed with it."

John Hennessey 40:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 40:47 "Maybe he would do it." And so they get us on the phone, I'm like, "Fuck yeah, I'll do it." And they're like, "You gotta take a propeller plane to-"

John Hennessey 40:52 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:52 ... like Dothan, Alabama. I'm like, "I'm in. Let's go."

John Hennessey 40:55 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:55 And so-

John Hennessey 40:56 How cool.

Joe Rogan 40:56 ... next thing you know, I'm, I'm on these fucking puddle jumper planes-

John Hennessey 40:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 40:59 ... flying to all these weird d- 'cause it was totally illegal in most states.

John Hennessey 41:03 And this was like, yeah, this was like, um-

Joe Rogan 41:04 '97.

John Hennessey 41:05 The, yeah, they had the like those, I think, what Dana bought it from the, Dana bought it from the guys that did the, the, uh-

Joe Rogan 41:09 Bob Meyrowitz.

John Hennessey 41:10 ... tuck, no, the, the, the, the whole thing in the bar where they beat the crap out of you in the parking lot.

Joe Rogan 41:13 Well, this was, this was before Dana owned it.

John Hennessey 41:15 Oh.

Joe Rogan 41:15 This was Bob Meyrowitz.

John Hennessey 41:16 Oh, really?

Joe Rogan 41:16 I worked, yes, I worked for SEG-

John Hennessey 41:18 Oh, wow.

Joe Rogan 41:18 ... which was the, uh, the original company I was working for them.

John Hennessey 41:19 So this is long before the Fertitta brothers came along with Dana and all that?

Joe Rogan 41:21 Yes, long before.

John Hennessey 41:21 Okay, wow.

Joe Rogan 41:22 That's how I got back into it. I quit. I did it for about a year and a half, maybe two years I did backstage interviews. And then there was an event in Japan, I'm like, "I'm not going to Japan."

John Hennessey 41:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 41:32 I don't, I don't have any time. It was cost-

John Hennessey 41:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:33 It was literally it was costing me money.

John Hennessey 41:35 Okay.

Joe Rogan 41:35 Like I loved doing it-

John Hennessey 41:36 Right.

Joe Rogan 41:36 ... but I could make more money doing a comedy club-

John Hennessey 41:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:39 ... on the weekend-

John Hennessey 41:39 Right.

Joe Rogan 41:39 ... than I could going-

John Hennessey 41:40 They weren't making any money, so they're, well, how are they gonna pay you any money, right?

Joe Rogan 41:43 Exactly. There was no money to be made.

John Hennessey 41:44 Right, right, okay.

Joe Rogan 41:45 There was no money for the fighters. I mean, it was, it wasn't a bad, I wasn't getting screwed. It was-

John Hennessey 41:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:48 ... just that's all it was.

John Hennessey 41:49 Right.

Joe Rogan 41:49 Like we would go to these like half-filled high school auditoriums.

John Hennessey 41:53 Right.

Joe Rogan 41:53 Like there, there was no one-

John Hennessey 41:54 Because a lot of states were banning it and stuff like that back then?

Joe Rogan 41:56 100%.

John Hennessey 41:56 Okay.

Joe Rogan 41:56 Yeah, it was very hard to get sanctioned.

John Hennessey 41:58 Right.

Joe Rogan 41:59 That's why we had to go to like Dothan, Alabama.

John Hennessey 42:01 Right. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 42:01 Right, 'cause it's like, it got banned in New York, actually. My first event was supposed to be in New York, but they banned it in New York right before they did the event, and they moved the event very quickly, like overnight-

John Hennessey 42:11 Okay.

Joe Rogan 42:11 ... to Dothan, Alabama.

John Hennessey 42:12 Were the boxing promoters trying to shut it down?

Joe Rogan 42:14 Yes, 100%.

John Hennessey 42:15 Okay.

Joe Rogan 42:15 100%.

John Hennessey 42:16 All right, okay.

Joe Rogan 42:16 And there was also like, there was a lot of, there's so much shenanigans that goes on.

John Hennessey 42:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:20 There's unions, there's-

John Hennessey 42:21 Right.

Joe Rogan 42:21 ... you know, there's, there's and-

John Hennessey 42:22 If you're not paying them, they're not gonna-

Joe Rogan 42:23 100%.

John Hennessey 42:24 ... let you play. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:25 That's how the UFC stayed out of New York State forever.

John Hennessey 42:27 Okay.

Joe Rogan 42:27 And New York, New Y- UFC just got in New York legally-... God, well, how many years ago was it? It wasn't that long ago. Wow. Like crazy recent. Really? Yeah, crazy recent, which doesn't make any sense. It was in- Wow. Every other state it was legal.

John Hennessey 42:41 2015, '16, wasn't it?

Joe Rogan 42:42 Somewhere around then, right? Wow. Let's see what the actual sort of- I mean, I never thought about the politics of it till we were just chatting about it. I'm like- Well, back then it was like, it was scary. Like, what, what is this? Yeah. No one knew what it was. You didn't have all these years and years of guys like Royce Gracie- Right. ... and Georges St-Pierre and Kamaru Usman. Yeah. We didn't have anything to draw from. Mm-hmm. 2016, which is so crazy, New York, the last state to approve it. New York. That's crazy. 'Cause they're dirty. Politics. Yeah, the guy who was helding- holding it back- Yeah. ... I, I believe he got arrested for corruption. See if that's true. Wow.

John Hennessey 43:14 Who was?

Joe Rogan 43:15 The, there was a senator that he, he got busted for some shenanigans. (laughs) But he was part of the problem- Right. ... holding it back. Right. But in the beginning, I could see why they would hold it back. Like you're watching these guys headbutt each other. Right. They can, they could kick and then nut. Well, I remember they used to get all, all the blood and everything and- Crazy. Remember they used to do the f- the foot stomping and all that? (laughs) Well, foot stomping's still legal. Oh, they can still do that? Yeah. Okay, okay. But this, what you would see back then was like nut shots. You're allowed to punch people in the nuts. (laughs) Wow, brutal. Just- I mean, straight up street fight. There's a, there's a fight with Keith Hackney and Joe Son. And Keith Hackney is on top of Joe Son, and Joe Son's like cranking on his neck, and Keith Hackney's just punching him in the nuts. (laughs) Wow. Just over- He's wearing a cup. I'm like... (laughs) And he's wearing a cup. He's wearing a cup. Oh yeah. (laughs) Yeah, but even so- So it's- ... like whatever. Yeah, right. You're still getting punched in the nuts. Yeah, right. Even if you have a cup on, it hurts like hell. Yeah, yeah. So like back in those days, I kind of understand why someone who didn't understand what was going on would think this should be illegal. Yeah. I to- totally get it. Right. And it was like they had to develop rules. So they developed weight classes, and then they developed rules. But I was, I was kind of already on the way out by then. And so in '98-ish, '99, I quit. Okay. And then, um, the UFC got purchased by Zuffa. Okay. And that was in like 2001. And I went to one of their first events. Okay. Vladimir Matyushenko fought Tito Ortiz, and it was right after September 11th. Okay. And Tito Ortiz, they used to have these elaborate walk-ins with like lights and fire and shit. Yeah. And Tito Ortiz is walking into the octagon with an American flag, and the place goes wild. Wow. Just wild. That's cool. 'Cause it was like right after- Yeah. ... September 11th. Sure. It was like holy shit. People needed a break from all of that- Yeah. ... serious stuff. And in- during that fight, the pay-per-view went out, and like the people didn't get to see- Oh, no. ... the last rounds of the main event. Oh, no. It was a huge disaster. The UFC had to give back who knows how much money. Right. 'Cause it was like their big event in Vegas, and the pay-per-view fucked up. So Dana, had Dana bought it yet at this point? It was the Zuffa, uh, the- Zuffa, which was the Fertitta brothers and Dana. Okay, okay. They're the organization that bought it. I see. Okay. So the Fertitta brothers bought it. Right. And then Dana was running it, and this was the very early stages. And this was, you know, they, th- there was no, there was no TV to speak of that was showing the UFC. Right. They had to get this deal on Spike TV to put it on television. Right, right, right. And that was like years in. Sure. So this is like 2005. Okay. So we're like four years later. These guys are hemorrhaging money trying to make this thing happen. Yeah. And, uh, when, when, when that was going on, nobody took it seriously. Like everybody thought it was just like... Isn't that when they came, came up with the idea of Ultimate Fighter? Is that kinda maybe what turned the corner for them? Mm-hmm. That's exactly what it is. They paid for everything. Yeah. They paid to put the show on. They, I think they even bought out the ads, and they took care of the whole thing. They put it on television. It was like a Hail Mary, and it was- Yeah. ... a fucking touchdown. Wow. And Stephan Bonnar, uh, rest in peace, he just died. Okay. And Forrest Griffin had the most insane fight in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter. Wow. And people were just calling friends up, "You gotta watch this. This is insane," because the viewership skyrockets during the fight- Yeah, sure. ... 'cause it's so wild. Right. And that fight made the UFC. Okay. That fight made the sport- Really? ... because then people were like, "What is this?" Okay. And then they put on another event. Yeah. And the other event got fucking huge. And then Chuck Liddell came out to the scene. Yes. And when Chuck Liddell was the champion, Chuck Liddell was so fucking terrifying. Yeah. He was this do or die berserker. He would just come at you just swinging bombs, take one on the chin, knock dudes out. His fights were wild. He didn't give a shit. He was the, the real reason why the UFC became uber popular because you would watch The Ultimate Fighter, and it was wild fight, a great fight, but then you need a destroyer. Right. You need a destroyer. Yeah. And that destroyer was Chuck Liddell. Okay. And for the run where he was at the top, where Chuck Liddell was just murking people. So he was kinda like the Michael Jordan in that he basically took it- Well- ... took the sport to another level? No- well, you know, he was, he was an exceptional champion. Okay. But I wouldn't say he was the Michael Jordan. Okay, okay. He was just- Fair enough. ... he had a j- l- h- he had the most fan-friendly style you could ever imagine. He would just come after dudes- Okay. ... and smash people. Like he was never trying to win decisions. Chuck Liddell was trying to send you into the dream world. Okay. And, and that became UFC. So he was an enter- he was an entertainer. He was- He was very entertaining. ... he was, he was Maximus the, uh- Yes. ... yeah. He was- Gladiator. When he would win, he would throw his arms back- Yeah. ... like this. (screams) It was crazy. (laughs) See if you get, see if you get a video of Chuck Liddell knocking someone out and then celebrating because it was like this iconic primal rage celebration. Yeah. And when, you know, you can only fight like that for so long. Sure. H- here's the reality- It's gonna take the toll. ... of physical damage on the body- Mm-hmm. ... and the kind of sparring that you have to do to fight like that. Yeah. But when he did it, my God, it was glorious. His fights when he, when he knocked out Tito Ortiz, like oh my God, he was a monster. Right. He, he was a monster. Yeah. He was just smashing people, and he was a really good wrestler too, so good luck taking him down. Wow. You know? So this is- Oh my gosh. I mean, this is Chuck with the fucking mohawk. Yeah, the mohawk. I mean, look at this fucking savage, dude. Oh my God. Look at this sav- watch this. Yeah. Look at this. Look at him. Oh, they're not showing this cel- Like a pit bull. Look at him, look at this celebration.Bro-

John Hennessey 48:40 Wow.

Joe Rogan 48:40 ... I'm telling you, when Chuck Liddell was in his prime, he was one of the most terrifying fucking human beings that's ever walked the face of the earth.

John Hennessey 48:46 Wow.

Joe Rogan 48:47 You can't do this for that long. There's only, only so many years a man can do this-

John Hennessey 48:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:51 ... for like this. But my God, Chuck Liddell was so fucking entertaining. He was a destroyer, man. He would just come at you. I mean, look at this shit. He's so terrifying-looking-

John Hennessey 49:01 Wow.

Joe Rogan 49:01 ... tattoo on his head-

John Hennessey 49:02 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 49:03 ... mohawk, built like a brick shithouse, just throwing fucking hammers.

John Hennessey 49:06 Who's the, who's the destroyer? Who's the up-and-coming destroyer today?

Joe Rogan 49:09 Oh, do you see that Bob Arum knockout? Show, back that up again. This one of, this one was insane.

John Hennessey 49:18 Oh. The leg?

Joe Rogan 49:20 Dude, he would do that to everybody. He was just-

John Hennessey 49:22 They're relentless.

Joe Rogan 49:22 ... smashing people.

John Hennessey 49:23 Wow.

Joe Rogan 49:25 Phew.

John Hennessey 49:25 Yeah. He didn't know what defense is. He's pure offense all the time.

Joe Rogan 49:28 Well, he had defense but he didn't ... He just, he fucking threw caution to the wind, man.

John Hennessey 49:32 Wow.

Joe Rogan 49:32 The guy just came after people, and he was so mean. (laughs)

John Hennessey 49:36 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 49:36 But that also made the UFC-

John Hennessey 49:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:38 ... because that guy being at ... That was the figurehead. That was the big guy. He was the, the face of the company-

John Hennessey 49:44 Right.

Joe Rogan 49:44 ... because he was the guy that like, if you, the casual fan, when you would talk to him, like, "Have you seen the Chuck Liddell fight?"

John Hennessey 49:50 Right.

Joe Rogan 49:51 "Did you see ... You gonna see the Chuck Liddell fight?"

John Hennessey 49:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:53 So that like, that, that also took the sport to the next level.

John Hennessey 49:57 So from throwing newspapers, to stand-up, to pool, to New York then Hollywood, UFC interviews, when, what, what motivated you for podcasts? You were so far ahead of your time on that.

Joe Rogan 50:11 Well, I wasn't really. There was other people that were doing it at the same time. The, they, like Adam Carolla already had a podcast.

John Hennessey 50:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:16 Marc Maron already had a podcast. There was quite a few people that were already doing it.

John Hennessey 50:19 Well, but you're, maybe just your style just, just stuck and grew.

Joe Rogan 50:21 Well, it's just, um, I think, uh, I, I got into it because of radio, really.

John Hennessey 50:26 Okay.

Joe Rogan 50:26 Just like d- doing like Opie and Anthony Show, mostly.

John Hennessey 50:29 Okay.

Joe Rogan 50:29 Like, when you, when you do-

John Hennessey 50:29 Oh, so you, you did radio for a while, then?

Joe Rogan 50:30 Oh, yeah. Everybody did.

John Hennessey 50:32 Okay.

Joe Rogan 50:32 And when you would do radio in the morning, like you, uh, the Opie and Anthony Show in particular, you'd go there and you would hang out with comics. So it was all just us shooting the shit and having a great time.

John Hennessey 50:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:42 And when I would leave there, I'd go, "God, that's so fun. I love doing that."

John Hennessey 50:45 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 50:45 "I wish I could do that all the time."

John Hennessey 50:46 Okay. All right.

Joe Rogan 50:48 And, uh, Anthony Cumia, who was, uh, Anthony from Opie and Anthony, he built, uh, a studio in his basement of his house in Long Island.

John Hennessey 50:55 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 50:56 And, uh, he used to do a show called Live from the Compound.

John Hennessey 50:59 Okay. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:59 And he had like a green screen behind him and he played karaoke with a machine gun.

John Hennessey 51:03 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 51:03 Just, he's a f- he was always hammered. It was hilarious. But he would-

John Hennessey 51:06 That's funny.

Joe Rogan 51:06 ... just stream it on the internet. And I was like, "That looks like so much fun. Maybe I should start doing something like that."

John Hennessey 51:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:11 And so then I went to Tom Green's house, and Tom Green, uh, he had this crazy setup. Mi- mi- might have went to Tom Green's house before Anthony had his thing, in the same time period.

John Hennessey 51:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:21 But Tom Green had like the Tom Green Show that he was doing from his house.

John Hennessey 51:24 Right.

Joe Rogan 51:25 So he was doing like a talk show, and he set up his whole house like a television studio that's on the internet. So we had-

John Hennessey 51:30 Right.

Joe Rogan 51:30 ... all these cables running to a server, (clears throat) excuse me, a server room. And, um, so I thought like, "Wow, maybe I should do something like that." Like, uh, I gotta, like there's something to doing something on the internet. Like, maybe a lot of people aren't gonna see it-

John Hennessey 51:44 Right.

Joe Rogan 51:44 ... but it'll be fun. That's all it was.

John Hennessey 51:45 Yeah. Sounds like your motivator was for fun, not trying to grow some big audience or-

Joe Rogan 51:49 No.

John Hennessey 51:49 ... make a bunch of money, at least to start with. I mean ...

Joe Rogan 51:51 Even, like, the, I do it the exact same way now as I've always done it.

John Hennessey 51:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:55 I just do it all myself-

John Hennessey 51:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:56 ... like, in terms of, like, who I wanna have on.

John Hennessey 51:59 Right.

Joe Rogan 51:59 I d- I decide what day they're coming on and-

John Hennessey 52:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:01 ... like, how to do it.

John Hennessey 52:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:02 And I only talk to people that I'm interested in talking to.

John Hennessey 52:06 I mean, the depth of what ... Like, you could have like your own Rogan encyclopedia books with all these people that come on that a lot of people never heard of and have all these interesting facts and opinions. And-

Joe Rogan 52:16 Well, you definitely-

John Hennessey 52:16 ... I, I find it fascinating.

Joe Rogan 52:17 ... c- learn some stuff.

John Hennessey 52:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:19 You know? You, you definitely s- I mean, you could talk to some ... I've had, uh, this, like, unexpected education where I get to talk to all these fascinating people and pick their brain.

John Hennessey 52:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:27 And, you know, it's like you don't really get a chance to talk to people just like this.

John Hennessey 52:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 52:31 Like, just you and me looking at each other eye to eye, no phones, no people around.

John Hennessey 52:34 Right.

Joe Rogan 52:35 Just for our conversation. That's it. That's all-

John Hennessey 52:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:37 ... we're trying to do. And to be able to do this, like, all the time, it just, it, it's a real pleasure. It's like very, it's very fortunate. It's really good for you.

John Hennessey 52:45 But it just seems like it's your own, your own personal curiosity on different things that you like and, or that you're interested in, whereas it seems like, you know, you flip on TV, the people are getting interviewed. It's all part of some sort of a, it's all by design to some degree. You know, you got the-

Joe Rogan 52:59 Yeah.

John Hennessey 53:00 ... right PR firm, the right publicist.

Joe Rogan 53:02 There's also, with those things, the problem is, you know, just like with, uh, Fear Factor, like, you have to hire somebody. You have to hire a host.

John Hennessey 53:07 Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:08 You know? So if you're-

John Hennessey 53:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:09 If it's Fox News or if it's CNN, they have to hire hosts.

John Hennessey 53:12 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:12 And sometimes those people are annoying, you know?

John Hennessey 53:15 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 53:15 And sometimes they're not annoying when you-

John Hennessey 53:16 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:17 ... hire them, and then they become annoying as they get more popular and famous.

John Hennessey 53:20 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:20 And then you gotta fire them.

John Hennessey 53:21 So, like, when you do this, do you, do you have to prep much? You get on the internet, you guys do a little bit of research for you? Or you just fucking roll in and just start talking, start thinking and talking?

Joe Rogan 53:29 Well, I do have a guy, my friend Matt Staggs, who, uh, does some research for me on some things.

John Hennessey 53:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:33 He'll send me some briefings or some videos or some stuff I should watch.

John Hennessey 53:37 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:37 And then, you know, with people that have books, I like to, especially if it's something, like, complicated, I like to listen to the book on audio.

John Hennessey 53:43 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:44 And so I'll listen in the sauna, I'll listen when I'm driving.

John Hennessey 53:46 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:46 And I'll get a sense of what they're doing. Um, but, uh, and then, there's some subjects that I don't have ... Like with you, it's like, we're gonna talk cars, you know?

John Hennessey 53:53 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:54 I just have ... I'm just curious.

John Hennessey 53:55 Well, I, uh, it's just been very fascinating for me. I mean, we've known each other for a couple ... Ever since you got to Texas two and a half years ago?

Joe Rogan 54:00 Yeah.

John Hennessey 54:00 Something like that. Um, just, you know, the more I get to know you, like, even you t-

Joe Rogan 54:05 You ruined me with that fucking Raptor. (laughs)

John Hennessey 54:06 Well, yeah. (laughs) That's what we do, right? Keep them coming back, right?

Joe Rogan 54:10 Exactly. Ruined me. I was like, "This is crazy."

John Hennessey 54:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:13 What have you done?

John Hennessey 54:13 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:14 (laughs)

John Hennessey 54:14 Have you ... By the way, uh, uh, have you experienced the Raptor R yet?

Joe Rogan 54:18 I have not.

John Hennessey 54:18 Okay.

Joe Rogan 54:18 It looks amazing, though.

John Hennessey 54:19 They're hard to get.

Joe Rogan 54:20 I'm a Ford fan.

John Hennessey 54:20 They're expensive. Uh, we, we're working on a 1,000-horsepower package for VelociRaptor 1000. So it would compete with the Mammoth.

Joe Rogan 54:27 Oh.

John Hennessey 54:27 But yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:28 Well, maybe we'll have to m-

John Hennessey 54:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:29 I, I miss my-

John Hennessey 54:29 I'll keep you posted on that.

Joe Rogan 54:30 You know what I really miss about the Raptor?

John Hennessey 54:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:32 It, the visibility.

John Hennessey 54:33 Yes.

Joe Rogan 54:34 It's way ... You can see out of the s- side mirrors way better.

John Hennessey 54:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:36 The TRX is rough.

John Hennessey 54:38 The TRX is rough. The Ford's got the aluminum body and chassis. I mean, I th- I, I think both trucks are a hoot. And we sell plenty-

Joe Rogan 54:45 Oh, no. I love the TRX.

John Hennessey 54:45 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:45 It's just the visibility.

John Hennessey 54:46 Yeah. Okay.

Joe Rogan 54:46 That's the only issue I have with it.

John Hennessey 54:48 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 54:48 It's an amazing truck.

John Hennessey 54:49 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:50 I fucking love it.

John Hennessey 54:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:51 I love what Dodge did, and I really love what you did to what Dodge did.

John Hennessey 54:54 Th- thank you.

Joe Rogan 54:55 Like, the, the extra power and the-

John Hennessey 54:56 They gave us a good platform and, and that's-

Joe Rogan 54:58 And the brake upgrade package-

John Hennessey 54:59 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:59 ... that you put on it.

John Hennessey 55:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:01 It's a big difference.

John Hennessey 55:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:01 Big difference. It's so, it's fucking magical. I love that thing. But the visibility from the Raptor was way better.

John Hennessey 55:07 Yeah.... yeah, I mean-

Joe Rogan 55:09 Like, design with the F-150, where they have it-

John Hennessey 55:11 Yeah. There it is.

Joe Rogan 55:11 There it is. Look at that.

John Hennessey 55:13 Yeah, yeah. And so that's got the supercharged 5.2 liter V8-

Joe Rogan 55:16 Oh.

John Hennessey 55:16 ... that's in the GT 500. And we should have our f- prototype up and running soon. I'll, I'll set it up here.

Joe Rogan 55:21 I like the name better too.

John Hennessey 55:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:23 I have a problem with the name Mammoth.

John Hennessey 55:24 Okay.

Joe Rogan 55:25 I love the truck, but I got a problem.

John Hennessey 55:26 What? Tell me.

Joe Rogan 55:27 Because it, uh, it used to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex and you changed it into a lesser animal.

John Hennessey 55:31 Well, I guess, yeah, I guess a T-Rex could eat a, could eat a, uh-

Joe Rogan 55:34 Yeah, you can't have that.

John Hennessey 55:34 ... a wooly mammoth. I never thought about it that way.

Joe Rogan 55:37 Yeah. I wish we talked.

John Hennessey 55:37 Yes, well-

Joe Rogan 55:38 (laughs)

John Hennessey 55:38 Guess what? Next time we're doing a branding exercise.

Joe Rogan 55:41 (laughs)

John Hennessey 55:42 You'll, you'll be, you'll be the, you'll be the, the consultant that I could never afford to hire.

Joe Rogan 55:46 You can't... Well, well, I'll just do it for free.

John Hennessey 55:47 Okay.

Joe Rogan 55:47 But you can't have, like, a, a, a, like, a dinosaur.

John Hennessey 55:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:51 Like, the whole reason why it's a TRX is 'cause it kills the raptor.

John Hennessey 55:55 Right.

Joe Rogan 55:55 A little bitch-ass velociraptor-

John Hennessey 55:57 Yeah. Sure.

Joe Rogan 55:57 ... fucking with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, it's over.

John Hennessey 55:59 Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:59 So, that's the whole idea. And then you turn into, like, something that, like, people kill with sticks.

John Hennessey 56:02 Yeah. So, so what, so what? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 56:06 (laughs)

John Hennessey 56:06 What, what-

Joe Rogan 56:06 People whacked them out with sticks.

John Hennessey 56:08 Yeah, pretty much.

Joe Rogan 56:09 Yeah.

John Hennessey 56:10 That's funny.

Joe Rogan 56:10 And then probably the asteroid did it too.

John Hennessey 56:12 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:12 But, yeah. So, I, but I, but other than that, I love it. I told you I saw one in Vegas.

John Hennessey 56:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:16 It was orange.

John Hennessey 56:17 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:18 Like a matte orange. I was like, "Ho, that looks sick."

John Hennessey 56:20 I- ignition orange, yeah. It's pretty cool.

Joe Rogan 56:21 I never thought I wanted to drive an orange car in my life, until I saw that.

John Hennessey 56:24 Ah. They're hard to get, but we can get them. They got yellow now too.

Joe Rogan 56:26 Do they have yellow?

John Hennessey 56:27 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:28 Wow.

John Hennessey 56:28 Called Rampage Yellow. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:29 My friend Tony has a yellow C8 Corvette.

John Hennessey 56:31 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 56:31 Tony Hanchlove?

John Hennessey 56:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:33 You saw Tony.

John Hennessey 56:33 Sure.

Joe Rogan 56:33 He's, he has, uh, one with, uh, yellow with black stripes.

John Hennessey 56:36 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 56:36 It's fucking awesome.

John Hennessey 56:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:38 I was like, "I never thought I'd like a yellow car."

John Hennessey 56:40 Yeah. We'd actually just came out with a 700 horsepower supercharge package for the C8s. We've only been working on it for almost three years, but just, just finished it up a few months ago.

Joe Rogan 56:47 How much better is the handling on the Z06 with the wider body and the wider tires, and-

John Hennessey 56:51 Yeah. I mean, the Z06 is lighter. It's got aero, um, carbon brakes. Carbon wheels are options. I've only driven... So, uh, our chief development driver was with GM for 38 years. His name is John Heinricy. We call him Heinrocket. He's our chief engineer and development driver for the Venom F5. And so he just got his new Z06, C806 with a Z07 package, so you've got the Cup 2 Michelin tires-

Joe Rogan 57:13 Hmm.

John Hennessey 57:13 ... and the carbon, uh, splitter and rear wing and I just drove it on the road, but I think if you took them to COTA, both bone stock, I'm guessing you're 10, 12 seconds a lap difference. I mean, just massive-

Joe Rogan 57:25 Wow.

John Hennessey 57:26 Now, if you drag race them, yeah, of course the Z06 is gonna win by, you know, in the quarter mile would probably win by five or six car lengths but the problem with the Z06 now is they've been having supply chain, they still, they still have supply chain issues.

Joe Rogan 57:37 Hmm.

John Hennessey 57:37 I've got an early one on order but, uh, I think the, the, the car has been out for nine months and there's only about... There's less than 100 with the Z07 package on it on the road. So, cool car. Um, you know, I hope to get mine and, and a lot of bang for the buck. Uh, I think that that would... I almost liken the new C8 Corvette, uh, almost in any form, well, the, the Z06 is kind of like the 458 Ferrari, is kind of where it was.

Joe Rogan 57:59 Do you think it's possible-

John Hennessey 58:00 Not that bad. Pardon me.

Joe Rogan 58:00 ... to make a car like a Corvette with entirely American parts and American labor? Entirely.

John Hennessey 58:06 Uh, look, American co-

Joe Rogan 58:07 Everything.

John Hennessey 58:07 American OEMs can do whatever they wanna do. Uh, um, I think w- what, what Chevrolet's magic has been with the Corvette is to deliver that much value and that nice of a car in the volumes that they do it and at the price point that they do.

Joe Rogan 58:19 Yeah. It's crazy. When you think about how much that car costs and the capability of it, just this-

John Hennessey 58:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:23 ... the bone stock Stingray.

John Hennessey 58:25 Yeah. I mean, uh, like the, like, I'm sure the ne- so, you know, Z06 is out now, likely the next iteration that comes from Chevy is the ZR1, probably 850 horsepower, twin-turbo. So it's like a twin-turbo version of the 5.5 liter dual overhead cam motor in this current Z06. That car is gonna be 150, 170 grand. So that car will be as fast or faster than a McLaren or Ferrari that costs two or three times the money. So they, you know, their trick is they, they know how to deliver great value. Now, we've got a neat-

Joe Rogan 58:52 They also look good.

John Hennessey 58:53 We've got a neat niche where we can build our own car from the ground up. It's all carbon fiber. It's all completely b- bespoke. It's American designed and American built. Um, but that car is two to three million bucks a pop. You know? GM's, GM are the masters of being able to-

Joe Rogan 59:06 Yeah.

John Hennessey 59:07 ... scale it in masses, so, you know, average people or somewhat average working folks can afford to buy them.

Joe Rogan 59:12 Yeah. When you're in that car, you're like, "What does this cost?"

John Hennessey 59:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 59:15 "This car is ridiculous."

John Hennessey 59:16 Well, the sticker on them, like, my friend Heinrocket's, uh, I think he paid 160. Uh, you, you know, you try to find one on the s- on the street that you can buy, uh-

Joe Rogan 59:25 You mean a Z06?

John Hennessey 59:26 A Z06, yeah.

Joe Rogan 59:26 I thought... I was talking about the Venom.

John Hennessey 59:28 Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, the Venom, yeah.

Joe Rogan 59:28 You get in that thing and you're like, "How much does this cost?"

John Hennessey 59:30 Yeah, yeah. It's, it's, uh, but, look, the Venom F5, what's cool about that is I'm 60, maybe I'm around another 25 years, maybe I'm not, I don't know, but I think I would like to see... You know, I'd like to have ultimately when we're all done with production, I'd love for each one of my five kids to have one, if I'm able to do that. Anyway, I'd love to see, you know, our grandkids sell it at, you know, Barrett-Jacks or RM Auctions at some point down the road for, you know, four or five X. You know, maybe...

Joe Rogan 59:56 (laughs)

John Hennessey 59:56 Like a McLaren F1, like it could be $20 million some day.

Joe Rogan 59:58 I respect that you can drive that on the street.

John Hennessey 1:00:01 Yeah. Sure.

Joe Rogan 1:00:01 I respect that you can drive it.

John Hennessey 1:00:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00:02 But you really should drive that only on a track. I mean, it's like when you're in it-

John Hennessey 1:00:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00:07 ... you're like, "Yeah, this is kinda crazy."

John Hennessey 1:00:07 Yeah. Well, even like when we're driv- like we, you know, drive in, uh, if you still have your Tesla Plaid... I drove mine up here, you know, the performance that that thing's capable of, you, you, you should not use on the street. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:00:17 No. Right.

John Hennessey 1:00:18 You know, sometimes there might be a place where, you know, you could go out and just have fun with yourself or your buddy but, uh, but yeah, same thing. I mean, the F5 will, you know, will go... You know, forget about 0 to 60. 0 to 60 is a metric from 60 years ago. Let's talk about 0 to 200. It'll go 0 to 200 miles an hour in 10 seconds.

Joe Rogan 1:00:34 (laughs)

John Hennessey 1:00:34 A hair under 10 seconds. It's as fast as or maybe a tiny bit faster from 0 to 200 miles an hour as compared to a modern Formula One car.

Joe Rogan 1:00:42 Jesus Christ.

John Hennessey 1:00:42 Yeah. It's power-to-weight ratio wise, so. Um, but it's built in America.

Joe Rogan 1:00:46 Jesus. (laughs)

John Hennessey 1:00:46 Uh, you know, our guys just go 100 miles down the road, build them for me here and, uh, I think they'll be very collectible someday. So we'll see.

Joe Rogan 1:00:53 How many are you gonna make?

John Hennessey 1:00:55 So we built, um, 24 Venom F5 Coupes. Those are all sold out. We're now producing the Roadster and the Revolution. The Roadster, open top, go out, sunny day, have fun. The Revolution is more track focused. Now, it's like our GT3 RS, it's t- it's a, it's a track focus car, but it's