(Hazelwood, MO – BIGFOOT PR) – BIGFOOT 4×4 Inc. announced this week that team driver Kyle Doyle will take the reigns of the Firestone BIGFOOT® monster truck in 2012, kicking off his rookie season behind the wheel of the team’s red, white, and blue Firestone flagship.
27-year old Doyle, who previously had been a fill-in driver for the team, moved into a full-time slot behind the wheel of BIGFOOT #10 in February of 2011 and immediately set about the task of proving his worth on the team’s roster. After spending the bulk of 2011 performing car-crush exhibitions in BIGFOOT #10 (decked out in 2011 Firestone/MLB All-Star Game colors), Doyle competed in the first two races of his driving career at a pair of FMG/Skyfire Productions monster truck races in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in September.
This caught the industry off-guard, as the Firestone/MLB BIGFOOT currently is the team’s first and only Chevrolet body/engine combination in their 36 year history, and was originally not slated to ever see competition! Needless to say, this surprise was warmly welcomed by fans, and, despite his lack of on-track experience and an unproven engine combination, Doyle was able to quickly find victory lane. Over the course of seven shows between the two events, Doyle took the top qualifying spot all seven nights, won all seven final rounds, and took six out of seven freestyle competitions.
“I can’t even describe how cool it was to compete in a monster truck for the first time, and for it to be a Chevrolet-powered BIGFOOT truck on top of that!” said Doyle. “When you spend your whole childhood fascinated with these things, and then you spend your whole adult life working towards the chance to race one of them, it is very gratifying when a team like BIGFOOT puts their faith in you and gives you a shot at it. That’s huge in my book, and I can’t thank them enough.”
With Darron Schnell moving into the new Vi-cor sponsored Bigfoot for 2012, Kyle Doyle will compete for Rookie of the Year in the Firestone Bigfoot ride.
Jim Kramer, former BIGFOOT driver and current BIGFOOT VP of Research, Technology, & Driver Development, worked with Doyle at his first racing event and was optimistic about the results: “We’re proud that Kyle has become a first-tier driver at BIGFOOT. We increased Kyle’s training opportunities over the last several months and he’s shown us his drive AND his ability to represent our company on and off the track!”
Kramer added that “Kyle’s recent race wins and his attention to truck safety show us that he’s ready to further his monster truck driving career at BIGFOOT. We’re expecting good things from him in the future!”
BIGFOOT VP of Sponsorships and Business Development, Bob Trent, was equally enthusiastic about Doyle’s transition to the Firestone ride: “Kyle came to us a couple years ago with a deep background in the industry. Once we started giving him some seat time, we realized that we really should get him into a truck full-time! His results speak for themselves. Everyone here is looking forward to seeing what he can do in 2012, especially during the indoor season.”
Doyle is extremely excited to be carrying the team’s Firestone colors heading into his rookie racing season. “With Darron [Schnell] picking up the flag for our new Vi-COR sponsorship and moving out of the Firestone ride, I am looking forward to representing Firestone in 2012! They have been with BIGFOOT since 1991, so it’s a BIG responsibility. I’ve got a lot of learning to do, but with a great sponsor and a great team of people behind me, I’m very excited to see what happens!”
For more information about Team BIGFOOT, please visit www.Bigfoot4x4.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A big congratulations to former TMB Staff Member Kyle Doyle on realizing his dream of being a full-time monster truck driver. Best of luck in 2012!
So proud to see Kyle get this opportunity, especially with such a great truck in the Firestone Bigfoot. Good luck to him in 2012.