Monster Photos: Monster Truck Throwdown – Marne, MI 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Throwdown
Venue: Berlin Raceway
Location: Marne, Michigan
Date: September 9th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Avenger (Jim Koehler), Barbarian (Devin Jones), BIGFOOT #19 (Darron Schnell), Brutus (Brad Allen), Hooked (Bryan Wright), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Reckless Drivin (Jeremy Hosman), Stone Crusher (Steve Sims), Wrecking Crew (Michael Thompson) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: All Star Monster Truck Tour – Palmer, AK 2017

Event Information

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Alaska State Fair
Location: Palmer, Alaska
Date: September 2nd-3rd, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

10,000 Pound Hound (Nick Jones), Identity Theft (Marvin Anderson), Reverse Racer (Ezra Wilson), Rock Star (Bill Payne) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Throwdown – Chippewa Falls, WI 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Throwdown
Venue: Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds
Location: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Date: August 18th-19th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Barbarian (Devin Jones), Miss Over Bored (Deidra Ballard), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Reckless Drivin (Jeremy Hosman), Samson (Rick Steffens) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Toughest Monster Truck Tour – West Plains, MO 2017

Event Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Heart of the Ozarks Fairgrounds
Location: West Plains, Missouri
Date: August 11th-12th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Basher (Tim Jones), Dirt Crew (Tim Missentzis), Firestone Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell), Heavy Hitter (Derick Anson), Quad Chaos (Aaron Cain) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Throwdown – Farmington, MO 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Throwdown
Venue: Saint Francois County Raceway
Location: Farmington, Missouri
Date: August 3rd-4th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Barbarian (Devin Jones), Crushstation (Kurt Phillips), Lumberjack (Chris Sawicki), Over Bored (Jamey Garner) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals – Springfield, MO 2017

Event Information

Event: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Venue: Ozark Empire Fairgrounds
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Date: July 29th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Big Kahuna (Shane England), Crushstation (Greg Winchenbach), Lumberjack (Kurt Phillips), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), War Eagle (Devin Jones) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: San Diego County Fair Monster Trucks – Del Mar, CA 2017

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we head to the annual San Diego County Fair in the picturesque town of Del Mar, CA. Our friends at WGAS Motorsports have been entertaining fans at the annual fair for 22 straight years with a vast variety of motorsports entertainment, from tuff truck racing, to UTV racing, to freestyle motocross, and much more. But on the closing days of the fair, the shows held at the Del Mar Arena were headlined by six dirt slinging, high flying, bumper dragging monster trucks in freestyle action.

From just up the road in Menifee, CA were the father and son team of Rick and Eric Swanson. Twenty year old Eric continued to run his 1968 Ford F-100 body on Obsessed while Rick carried on with his Top Notch Tee’s sponsored yellow body. For the first time ever, Jim Creten had all four of his trucks in the house. 2Xtreme drivers Mikeal Christensen, Christian Norman, Austin Minton and Sinjan Gergick all took turns driving Knucklehead and Iron Outlaw. Once more, Dawn Creten took the helm of her usual Scarlet Bandit and Jim Creten lead the charge in his traditional Bounty Hunter, complete with the updated version of his American Sniper Chris Kyle Foundation body.

As with years past, the afternoon shows were exhibition only while the evening shows would utilize the sport’s traditional freestyle scoring system to crown an Overall Day Champion. A tabletop jump, two wheelie bumps, a small roller with a kicker and the customary Del Mar huge hill were all in play. This meant that winning the Overall Day Championship would not come easy for any of the participants.

The first day of monster truck action got things off to a roaring start. Rick Swanson made several admirable attempts at slap wheelies while Mikeal Christensen made some massive leaps off the tabletop. Eric Swanson turned in a high speed, high energy run from start to finish with huge air and Dawn Creten combined consistent huge air and dirt churning cyclones to stay in the hunt for the Overall Day Championship.

But, the crowd favorite and former World Finals Champion was waiting in the wings. Jim Creten dug his truck’s wheelie bar into the dirt, shot for the sky multiple times and continued long after his two minute time expired. In the evening show with scores and a trophy on the line, the 2Xtreme Racing team owner and founder had just enough points altogether to take the Overall Day Championship on the first day of monster action.

As the next few days marched by, the action inside the arena only got progressively hotter. The second day of action saw each driver step up their game and great performances all around, but Jim Creten, even with the strong performances by all of those who went before him, was able to repeat as the Overall Day Champion.

The third day of action saw a special twist to the show format. Eric and Rick Swanson began the spectacular trend of team trucks performing freestyles at the same time. Their respective runs were topped off by Eric putting his truck’s tires on top of those of his father’s vehicle. In the evening show with judges watching, both trucks were scored together as a team and did very well. But Jim and Dawn Creten, ever the competitors, accepted the challenge. When they took to the track, the husband and wife team got frequent huge air and ended their runs with simultaneous, lightning fast cyclones. When the couple’s winning score was handed down by the judges, the capacity crowd roared with approval.

On the fourth and final day of the 102nd annual San Diego County Fair on Independence Day, WGAS officials had a surprise ready for the fans who showed up to the arena for the final time this year. From the opening freestyle onward, the action inside the arena only got more and more exciting. Each truck was almost done with their freestyle time when the next truck in line came roaring into the arena. This process continued on until the father and son Swanson were the only trucks still on the track. As one last thanks to the fans for coming, all the monsters did one noisy parade lap around the perimeter of the arena, bringing the curtain down on another successful year of WGAS monster truck action at the San Diego County Fair.

While the monsters were waiting their turn to take to the track, the crowds were entertained by several different kinds of scaled down race cars with young gals and guys at the wheel. Mini dwarf cars and junior outlaw sprint races showcased future race drivers in the kids behind the wheels. With many battles for position and several races ending in photo finishes, it was clear that these kids have just as big a will to win as the adult racers.

With Del Mar behind us for the year, we don’t get much time to rest as only two weeks later we take a familiar trip at a new time of year. We have followed monsters to the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, CA in both the spring and fall, but this is our first time seeing them during the fair itself in late July. Coverage from there will be coming soon. That said, thank you for reading, a huge, heartfelt thanks to John and Charlene Borba, Chelsea Kessler, Greg and Carol Atherton and all of the WGAS Motorsports family for their warm hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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Monster Photos: Monster Madness – Hillsboro, MO 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Madness
Venue: Jefferson County Fairgrounds
Location: Hillsboro, Missouri
Date: July 23rd, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Big Dawg (Josh Morris), Jailbird (Kaylyn Migues), Nitro Menace (Darren Migues), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Bash 2 – Quincy, IL 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Bash 2
Venue: Quincy Raceways
Location: Quincy, Illinois
Date: July 21st, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Basher (Jeremy Sharrett), Big Kahuna (Shane England), Heavy Hitter (Derick Anson), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), Venom (Denver Echternkamp), XDP (Dave Radzierez) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Summer Smash Monster Truck Show – Evansville, IN 2017

Event Information

Event: Summer Smash Monster Truck Show
Venue: Vanderburgh County 4H Center
Location: Evansville, Indiana
Date: July 14th-15th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Avenger (Jim Koehler), Brutus (Brad Allen), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Lucas Oil BIGFOOT #18 (Josh Gibson), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Scarlet Bandit (Dawn Creten), USA-1 (Roger Gauger) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Throwdown – South Bend, IN 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Throwdown
Venue: St. Joseph County 4H Fair
Location: South Bend, Indiana
Date: July 8th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Ballistic (Mac Plecker), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Reckless Drivin (Jeremy Hosman), Wild Side (Jay Beckner) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Throwdown – Marion, OH 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Throwdown
Venue: Marion County Fairgrounds
Location: Marion, Ohio
Date: July 7th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Barbarian (Devin Jones), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Samson (Rick Steffens) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Throwdown – Sun Prairie, WI 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Throwdown
Venue: Angell Park Speedway
Location: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Date: June 24th-25th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Avenger (Brad Allen), Axe (Michael Thompson), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Miss Over Bored (Deidra Ballard), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Reckless Drivin (Jeremy Hosman) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Minnesota Monster Madness – Elk River, MN 2017

Event Information

Event: Minnesota Monster Madness
Venue: ERX Motor Park
Location: Elk River, Minnesota
Date: June 23rd, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Big Kahuna (Shane England), Black Stallion (Michael Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Christian Norman), Higher Education (Preston Perez), Incinerator (Ryan Rice), Iron Outlaw (Mikael Christensen), Iron Warrior (Matt Cody), Jailbird (Kaylyn Migues), Midnight Rider (Tom Herzog), Monster Patrol (Michael Phelps), Nitro Menace (Darren Migues), Overkill Evolution (Michael Vaters Jr.), Rat Nasty (James Trantina), Snake Bite (Vinny Venom), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Larry Swim), Twisted Addiction (Tim Jones) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: All Star Monster Truck Tour – Cresco, IA 2017

Event Information

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Howard County Fairgrounds
Location: Cresco, Iowa
Date: June 21st, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Bounty Hunter (Christian Norman), Iron Outlaw (Mikael Christensen), Jailbird (Kaylyn Migues), Nitro Menace (Darren Migues) [Read more…]