The Allen Report: Monster Truck Show – Phoenix, AZ 2011

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

One year ago, WGAS Motorsports brought monster trucks back to the Arizona State Fair after a several year absence. And they must have done well because not only did the monsters play to a sold out house each night, but they came back for more just last weekend, November 3rd through 6th with my father Jim and I covering each night from the 4th onward. This year’s four drivers included father and son duo Rick and Eric Swanson driving their signature Obsession and Obsessed machines in front of an Arizona crowd for the very first time. Rounding out the field was Chris Lagana in the Ice Monster and Chris Ryan in Ground Pounder.

On the first night, 16 year old Eric and Obsessed impressed many, including the judges with a score of 27 out of 40. But the runs of his father Rick and Chris Ryan in the Ground Pounder were both so good, they could only tie, each with a score of 34. The next night, every driver took their runs to a whole new level. Obsessed had the fastest donuts of the night and Ice Monster had great air, but Ground Pounder finally found the signature slap wheelies he had been searching for and got a perfect 40 for the win. The final day saw the monsters perform to a sellout crowd. Rick and Obsession pulled off the gloves and went for broke, hitting everything on the track and had plenty of speed. The judges were impressed and gave him a score of 38, but in the end, Ground Pounder edged him out by just one point, giving Chris Ryan the weekend sweep.

In other action, Bob Johnson gave rides to everyone who wanted one in his Hog Wild monster while Jake Blackwell did the same with his 1947 Mack fire monster, the Extinguisher. Also, the term “Home wrecker” was taken to a whole new level with motor home demolition derbies. Next for me is the inaugural International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Then it’s on to 2012 for us at “The Allen Report”. Until then, thank you for reading, a special thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their hospitality, enjoy the great photos by Jim Allen and cheer on!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

TMB TV: Highlights – Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular – Rolla, MO 2011

Event: Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venue: Phelps County Fairgrounds
Location: Rolla, Missouri
Date: October 8th, 2011
Videographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Ben Winslow), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Viper (Rich Blackburne) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular – Rolla, MO 2011

Event: Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venue: Phelps County Fairgrounds
Location: Rolla, Missouri
Date: October 8th, 2011
Photographer: Danny Maass

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Ben Winslow), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Viper (Rich Blackburne) [Read more…]

TMB TV: Highlights – All Star Monster Truck Tour – Primm, NV 2011

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Star of the Desert Arena
Location: Primm, Nevada
Date: June 24th-25th, 2011
Videographer: Lynette Bonar

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Gene Kinal), McGruff (Rod Wood), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: All Star Monster Truck Tour – Primm, NV 2011

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Star of the Desert Arena
Location: Primm, Nevada
Date: June 24th-25th, 2011
Photographer: Lauren Z. Bonar

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Gene Kinal), McGruff (Rod Wood), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana) [Read more…]

Video of the Week – 06/18/11

Week Ending: June 18th, 2011
Truck(s) Featured: Captain USA (Jeff Bainter), Double Trouble (Travis Groth), Ground Pounder (Kevin Koszala), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte)
Video Type: Fan Video
Courtesy: www.YouTube.com

Description: Highlights from a wild weekend on the Toughest Monster Truck Tour in Yakima, Washington.

Video of the Week – 06/11/11

Week Ending: June 11th, 2011
Truck(s) Featured: Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana)
Video Type: Fan Video
Courtesy: www.YouTube.com

Description: Chris Lagana starts out his freestyle at Spokane County Raceway with an incredible leap that ends in one of the wildest crashes seen in monster trucks in many years. Chris would be OK but the truck will need much work before returning to competition next week.

Monster Photos: Mighty Monster Truck Tour – Sandusky, OH 2011

Event: Mighty Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Sandusky Speedway
Location: Sandusky, Ohio
Date: May 29th, 2011
Photographer: Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Ground Pounder (Kevin Koszala), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Shell Camino (Shelley Kujat), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Mighty Monster Truck Tour – Sandusky, OH 2011

Event: Mighty Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Sandusky Speedway
Location: Sandusky, Ohio
Date: May 29th, 2011
Photographer: Michael Harry

Lineup: Ground Pounder (Kevin Koszala), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Shell Camino (Shelley Kujat), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Monster Jam made its annual visit to downtown Indianapolis last weekend as 14 trucks competed in racing and freestyle at the beautiful new palace that is Lucas Oil Stadium. Fittingly, it was Monster Jam driver Linsey Weenk who took the big racing win in Feld’s new Lucas Oil sponsored truck, the Crusader. Freestyle would see strong runs from several drivers but when defending Freestyle World Champion Charlie Pauken is on his game, there is no stopping the Grave Digger as Chuckie took the big win.

IMG_2381

TMB was out in force for the big event in Indy as Chris Parrish, Paul Harry and Michael Harry were all shooting photos. Check out the links below to see all of their great work and a big thanks to all the guys for their efforts!

Photos By Chris Parrish

Photos By Paul M. Harry

Photos By Michael Harry

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Michael Harry

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dragon’s Breath (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Ben Winslow), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Superman (Chad Fortune) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dragon’s Breath (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Ben Winslow), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Superman (Chad Fortune) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Chris Parrish

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dragon’s Breath (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Ben Winslow), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Superman (Chad Fortune) [Read more…]

Domination In The Dome – Pontiac, MI – 04/17/10

Event:  Domination In The Dome
Venue:  Pontiac Silverdome
Location:  Pontiac, Michigan
Date:  April 17th, 2010
Photographer:  Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup:  American Guardian (Rick Raab), Anger Management (Aaron Cromer), Bigfoot #11 (Eric Tack), Brute Force (Jerry Perry), Crashmaster (Jeremy Perry), Excaliber (Jon Zimmer), Ghost Ryder (Larry Quick), Ground Pounder (Ben Winslow), High Maintenance (Jocelyn Perrin), Ice (Jordan Austin), Lone Eagle (Dale Mitchell), Lucas Oil Stabilizer (Bobby Holman), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Ryan), Pouncer (Dave Pezo), Predator (Allen Pezo), Prowler (Lenny Kuilder), Sudden Impact (Sean Duhon) [Read more…]

Pontiac Silverdome “Domination In The Dome” Photos

TheMonsterBlog.com was out in full force a couple months back for Domination In The Dome, easily one of the biggest news stories of the year as monster trucks returned to the Pontiac Silverdome. You’ve seen TMB TV from the big event, now enjoy the amazing event in over 400 photos courtesy of TMB photographers Ross Z. Bonar and Paul M. Harry.

A thanks once again to Brian Sharenow and the FMG Events group for their hospitality and for a great event – stay tuned for an official announcement as it appears the monsters will be returning to the Silverdome once again this year in October!! For now though, click the links below to see all the action from the April event in pictures.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ROSS Z. BONAR’S DOMINATION IN THE DOME PHOTOS

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PAUL M. HARRY’S DOMINATION IN THE DOME PHOTOS