(Hazelwood, Missouri – BIGFOOT PR) – It has been a long time since legendary BIGFOOT® driver and nine-time National Champion Dan Runte has been this excited about an upcoming racing season, and that is pretty impressive, considering that Runte has been at the forefront of Team BIGFOOT’s racing program for nearly two decades! But, in 2012, while Runte tries to win his TENTH championship, he will be piloting a brand-new BIGFOOT truck, and he can’t wait to get racing!
As frequent followers of the BIGFOOT team can attest, the last two seasons have been banner years for Runte. He posted a pair of top-shelf seasons in the Lucas Oil 4-Wheel Jamboree series, netting a runner-up in 2010 and a Championship in 2011. He also swept every single race for the last two years at Salt Lake City’s Maverik Clash of the Titans Figure-8 Invitational, appeared at numerous Firestone retailers, and won various other races around the country. And, next week, he will, again, make a trip to Germany to visit US military personnel with fellow Summit Racing drivers Jason Line and Greg Anderson.
The incredible new body used on BIGFOOT #18 comes from the world of short course off road racing.
So what exactly has Runte so excited about 2012? He will be driving the all-new BIGFOOT #18. 2012 will mark the first time since 1992 that Runte (or anyone on Team BIGFOOT) has stepped into a new, totally-redesigned BIGFOOT truck! BIGFOOT #18 will be on a totally new chassis and will include a new suspension design and a totally new style of monster truck body. And Runte is way past ready!
“Our current chassis’ have more than proven its worth,” said Runte. “But for this new truck, we wanted and needed to try some new things that our current setup won’t quite let us get away with. I think it will take a little bit of time to get dialed in and it’s going to take me a while to get used to it, but I’m so ready it’s not even funny. This thing’s gonna be an animal.”
Another look at the stunning new ride for Dan Runte in 2012.
The completion of BIGFOOT #18 will mark the culmination of almost a year’s worth of designing, fabrication, and planning. BIGFOOT VP of Sponsorships & Business Development Bob Trent started the whole project late last year when he pointed out that BIGFOOT had been standing still too long with the use of the same chassis for so many years. He then came up with some really different ideas, including a new chassis and a new body style.
“We came to a crossroads last year where it was like ‘Do we keep modifying what we have, or do we start from scratch?’ The chassis design we have used up to now has been one of the most resilient the industry has ever seen, but we hit the point where we needed a clean slate to try some of the new ideas we had.”
Trent went on to explain that “Bryan Bertoletti, our lead mechanic and fabricator, helped make sure the design I found would give us the flexibility to do what we wanted, while still allowing us the ability to add to our fleet in a cost-effective and timely manner. We are just too busy maintaining our current fleet to start something completely from scratch.”
Bertoletti went on to explain: “The chassis design we currently rely on has served us very well since we developed the first one years ago (for BIGFOOT #10), since then we’ve refined that design significantly. Even with all the curve balls we face from tracks, etc., our trucks have consistently met the challenge. But we needed to move forward. We wanted a lower center of gravity, additional reinforcement in various places, and a longer wheelbase.”
Team BIGFOOT had been working around the clock to finish #18 for the 2012 racing season. Pictured left to right, Jim Kramer, Bob Brown, Nick Dvorchak, Dan Runte, Chris Ludwig, Bryan Bertoletti and John Peterson.
BIGFOOT #18 will feature close to 4 ½ inches of additional shock travel in the front, improved driveline restraint systems, nearly 6 inches of additional wheelbase, improved shock mounting angles, and a mass of additional steel tubing in critical areas, all of which will allow the truck to better sustain the abuses it is expected to encounter in its first season of competition. All of this will be topped off with a radical new truck body that can only be described as “extreme.”
Runte is tentatively scheduled to debut his new ride at the Toughest Monster Truck Tour event in Southaven, MS (Memphis) during the second weekend of January, the first stop in his quest to capture the inaugural Toughest Monster Truck/Monster Nation dual-championship. The TMT/MN partnership is the first time the monster truck industry has ever seen two separate series’ combine points for a single title for racing and a single title for freestyle. Following the completion of the indoor tour in March, Runte will head outdoors in May to defend his Lucas Oil 4-Wheel Jamboree championship in Springfield, MO.
But, for now, Runte is just ready to get in his new truck! “I’m stoked about the New Year, but around here its best to take things one day at a time. We’ve got a lot of testing to do with this new truck before we try to win races with it. But I’m pretty optimistic about how testing is going to go, and once we’ve got that under our belt it’s going to be GAME ON. The guys here are ready to see what this thing can do, and so are the fans. They’ve been waiting pretty patiently,” said Runte.
Perhaps Runte summed it best during a break in construction while talking to one of the team’s other drivers: “I’m ready to go hit something big with this thing!”
BIGFOOT would like to thank everyone for their efforts on this project, with a special “THANKS” to Jim Kramer, John Peterson, Chris Ludwig, Nick Dvorchak, and Bob Brown!
For more information on the new BIGFOOT #18 and the rest of the team, check out www.BIGFOOT4x4.com!
(Photos & Video courtesy BIGFOOT 4×4)
Truck looks awesome! gotta do an r/c version of it. Team Bigfoot is taken it to another level with this truck. Can’t wait to see this truck in action!
I think this truck speaks volumes of where Team Bigfoot has come. They knew they were at a point where they needed to do something different. That’s not to say the fleet of trucks that were built between 1992 and 2007 (the year #16 was built) aren’t good trucks, that’s been proven otherwise numerous times. But it was time to take the truck to the next level.
This new machine makes the Bad Boy Bigfoot truck look tame. This truck is going to photograph extremely well and handle any track design, whether indoors or outdoors, with ease. Dan is gonna be hard to beat in 2012.
Cannot wait to see it @ Firebird!
Hate the new body,please put a real truck body on it.
It’s nice to see change in the monster truck world. I’m very happy to say that the new bigfoot monster truck looks very cool. Lets see what some of the other monster truck drivers think of the new BIGFOOT truck . p.s I’m very happy for Dan. The bigfoot team did one hell of a job on it. Jason!!!!!!!
bad ass that’s all i got to say.
Ole Ernie has a good point, it barely resembles a truck body. But, I had the same reaction way back when the industry went with the full fiberglass bodies. This change is nothing compared to that one. I’ve gotten used to the use of fiberglass and recognize it is part of the natural progression of things. Honestly, I really like 18. It was way past time for BG to come out with some entirely new. I would really like to see BG compete on the Monster Jam circuit against the truly best trucks and drivers on the planet. 18 looks like it belongs on that large stage.
BG was supposed to be BF.
Is that a Ford SVT Raptor body?
That is correct Steve. To be a bit more specific, it is a SVT Raptor desert racer body. That was the inspiration behind the body, as noted by the high-arched fender wells.
Summit Racing Equipment has termed this the “World’s Largest Trophy Truck,” whereas I’ve decided to nickname this machine “Baja Bigfoot”.
they outdid themselves on this one ,raising the bar once again only the way Big Foot can . looks like an F U to tom meents. just had to say that but seriously the Big Foot team has always been an inovater and a pioneer in the industry since day one. Bob Chandler you are the man and the real icon of monster trucks.
About damn time, love everything about the new machine. BF was long overdue for new technology.
I know what I want for christmas
Monster trucks are race vehicles. It’s about time it looks like one.
@ R.P. right on you nailed it and i say again bad ass Ford SVT Raptor. it’s refreshing to see something out of the box and as for the FU to meents that was funny , it’s a way more professional looking than his trucks or anny thing that Feld/MJ can come up with ( stupid cartoon/comic trucks) by far. Besides Bob Chandler and his team are the best at making technological advances in the industry. Dan Runte has a magnificent truck to dominate the competition, just like Big Foot 8 back in the day.
Bigfoot Inc.has a great job on Bigfoot 18.Maybe someday we can see BF18 vs Grave Digger,to see who is the true Icon of monster trucks.Good Luck Dan in 2012. Hope to see BF18 in Southhaven,MS at the Desoto Civic Center in Jan.
does any one know where the first miss bigfoot is at i know it got sold but where is it now