Archives for September 2010

“In kindergarten, I used to draw pictures of trucks with big tires before monsters existed. My dad and school teachers laughed and said I was creative but didn’t take me serious.”

The mind of Jeff Cook was afflicted with the idea of oversized trucks at an early age. It all began when Jeff’s young eyes became fixated on a Peterson’s 4 Wheel and Off-Road magazine cover of Bigfoot with 48 inch tires. The rest is history. TMB’s Kaedon Berry took time to interview the mastermind behind the War Wagon monster truck and, most recently, the old school inspired “Shotgun Harry” truck.

Kaedon: Thanks for taking the time to let us monster truck enthusiasts hear a few pages from your monster truck career, Jeff.

Jeff: It’s my pleasure; I started just like all of the hardcore monster truck fans today. I would learn of a new truck out in the monster truck scene and study it. Pretty soon I would be able to tell you any stat about the truck, driver, and so on. I remember doing a show at Myrtle Beach where King Kong rolled on top of police cars. I did that show for Deihl Wilson in 1999 and it was so awesome to stand on that straight away and see that big 76 sign and knowing the history of that situation of the roll over onto those brand new police cars. . I enjoy relating to the fans on that level.

Kaedon: The evolution from normal 4×4’s to monster trucks took the nation by storm. Illustrate for us how you got drawn in to the monster truck scene.

Jeff: From a very young age, I always wanted to put bigger tires on trucks. In kindergarten, I used to draw pictures of trucks with big tires before monsters existed. My dad and school teachers laughed and said I was creative but didn’t take me serious. Back in those days, 35 inch Ground Hogs were the biggest tires you could get and those were massive! I used to keep up with the increase in tire size through my subscription of Peterson’s 4 Wheel and Off-Road Magazine. When I got the issue with Bigfoot on 48 inch tires, I remember thinking how awesome it was and became fixated on it. I lived for that throughout all of my schooling and decided I wanted to build a monster truck.

We had a few guys in from my area that were involved with monster trucks, namely Scott Hess and Kirk Dabney. Scott’s truck “Hercules” started out as a show truck and progressed to a full-fledged 66 inch tire truck. Scott would crawl in that truck and just launch it 20 feet in the air and the landings used to scare me half to death! He was one of my heroes! Kirk ended up in our town and ended up renting a shop from my dad. From there I would hang around and keep my nose in things helping with anything I could. Dad and I started doing paint work for Kirk when he started buying more trucks. Eventually I got the chance to drive Kirk’s original Overkill truck named “Thunderstruck” in 1991. I did shows primarily with the Thunder Nationals series and Chris Arel in Canada through 1992.

At the end of 1992, Marty Garza called me and asked if I wanted to drive the new, Maximum Overkill truck that he and Jerry Richmond had put together. I was beyond excited to drive a new style truck with tons of horsepower and eagerly accepted. Throughout the first quarter of 1993, I campaigned that truck and was pretty successful. Then one day, there was an accidental fire in the shop housing the trucks, ultimately destroying all of them. It wasn’t something you wanted to remember at the time. In fact, I don’t even think I have any pictures of the rubble. We are all so depressed and shocked by the situation. Marty told me to stay optimistic and that they were going to build a truck for me to drive. As flattered as I was, I knew it would be tough on Marty to get a truck together for me and made the decision and told him to take care of Jerry Richmond and to get back on his feet.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after the situation, but Aaron Paulburn (formerly of the Thunder Nationals Tour) came to me and said, “Jeff, why don’t you build your own truck?” At that point in my career, I had been working on the monster I’d started in high school in my minimal spare time and thought I might want to finish it. Aaron laughed and told me I should instead build a race truck instead of an outdated, leaf sprung Scout monster truck. He finally talked me into it. We had spent time putting our heads together to come up with a unique concept. I was an avid hot rod fan, so we came up with the use of a 55 Chevy. He asked me what I was going to name it, and I had no clue. Aaron told me, “Name it war wagon, have it done by July, and meet me at my show in Mansfield, Ohio, and you’ll have a full schedule next year.” Throughout the spring and Summer I worked feverishly to complete that truck. By July 1993, War Wagon was competing at its first show.

Kaedon: The War Wagon truck was always a front runner on the Indoor Circuit and is still touring regularly today. Talk about your time with the War Wagon and what you accomplished.

Jeff: I toured with the first War Wagon chassis through the end of the 1996 season. I began construction of the new War Wagon tube frame truck in late 1996 and began touring with it in the winter of 1997. I wanted to build a truck that was conducive to the smaller confines of the arenas I was used to running in the Thunder Nationals series. Some guys criticized me for building a squared cradle saying that it was obsolete and that it was pointless to take that step “backwards”. I envisioned a truck that would be a wheelie machine and be pointed vertical and was confident that my idea was going to work. I have many fond memories of lining up to a stack of cars and standing the truck up into a vertical wheelie and finish by walking all the way across the arena. I continued to tour the Thunder Nationals Tour and transitioned to my good friend’s (The late and great George Eisenhart) series: Monster Nationals. In 1999, I started my fire truck business, 1st Attack Engineering, and it began to be where I was burning the candle at both ends. I would work during the week at the business then thrash to get the truck ready for a show on Friday and it became exhausting. As the business really took off, I decided that I would refocus my attention to work and spending time with my wife and kids at home in Auburn.

Kaedon: It’s been said that once a person has entered the realm of monster trucks that it’s in their blood forever. After your stint out of the industry, you built various 4×4 creations such as “Lil’ Squirt” and “Silly Willy”, but out of nowhere, you debuted the truck you’d been working on for years, Shotgun Harry. What possessed you to complete the first truck you ever started?

Jeff: George Eisenhart and I were very close friends. We’d talk with each other multiple times every day and be sounding posts for each other for our business ventures, both in and out of monster trucks. In 2008 and 2009, We had talked about me making a reentry into the sport of monster truck racing with a new race truck and so forth. When George’s accident happened, I, like many who knew George, were devastated and I had to soul search for the direction I wanted to go with my monster truck career. I loved being on the road and meeting new fans and seeing all my friends, but I also wanted to involve my family who was gracious enough to put up with me being on the road alone with the War Wagon all those years. I’d made up my mind that I was going to finish what I started in the truck I started in high school.

I went to my Grandmother’s and pulled the truck out her barn, down the road, and into my shop. My son and I worked on the truck consistently and I decided I wanted to get back to my old school roots within the truck’s design. I originally wanted to put a truck body on it and throw in a blown motor. I instead stuck with my original plan of making it a family play toy and installed four, 73 inch tires and a diesel engine. To continue on with this theme, I wanted to come up with something kid friendly. My son and I are avidly into Cowboy shooting scenes and we came up with a cowboy character named “Shotgun Harry”. The truck that got me into monster trucks in a fun way and not so much in a competitive way was finally finished. I didn’t realize how excited people would be until we debuted it in Lima at the 4 Wheel Jamboree . It’s fun to see just how into the old school side of monster trucks people still are and we’re working on some things in the future that will greatly appeal to all old school fans alike so stay tuned!

TMB would like to thank Jeff for his time and hospitality. The big news with Wildman Jeff doesn’t stop with just the Schotgun Harry truck as Jeff is currently working organizing an old school style event, which is tentatively scheduled for October 16th in Auburn, Indiana.  For more information regarding “Wildman” Jeff Cook, 1st Attack Engineering, and the Shotgun Harry Monster Truck, visit www.WildmanJeff.com.