MTRA Weekend In St. Louis

TheMonsterBlog.com Staff was in attendance this weekend for the 24th Annual Monster Truck Racing Association Tech School, Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet.  Members from around the country visited the Sheraton Westport Hotel & Conference Center in St. Louis, Missouri to participate in productive discussion on rule changes and on the future direction of the organization as it prepares for its 25th year of working to improve safety in the monster truck industry.  TMB is thankful for all those members who shared their thoughts, ideas and opinions this weekend and for all those members who participate throughout the year in doing the work of the organization.

To finish up the weekend, members gathered for the MTRA Awards Banquet where the membership honors outstanding achievements by those in the organization. Nominations by the membership were accepted and ballots mailed out, with all members having the opportunity to vote on who they found most deserving for each award. With all the votes tabulated, the winners in each category were announced and presented at last night’s banquet.

The first of the MTRA Awards presented was the Safety Award which is given to the individual who the membership believed did the most to advance safety during the preceding year. The winner was Dan Patrick for all his great work as the MTRA’s Technical Director, a very well deserved honor for a man who has done an incredible amount for the industry over the years.

The Sportsman of the Year Award followed, awarded to the member whose peers believed was the best example of sportsmanship in 2010. The award went to Team Scream who can always be counted on to help out a fellow competitor. A big congratulations on another well deserved award for the team consisting of great guys like new owner/driver members Jim Koehler and Chris Bergeron and the rest of their great crew. The MTRA was very appreciative of Jim and Chris joining the organization in 2010.

Each year the MTRA membership honors their fellow member they feel has done the best job wrenching on and setting up trucks over the long season with the Mechanic of the Year Award. Tim Hall was the winner for 2010 as he helped guide the Hall Brothers Racing team to another Monster Truck Thunder Drags title and to many big wins throughout the year.

Tim Hall, 2010 MTRA Mechanic of the Year

Team who have stepped up their programs with new trucks, better quality equipment and stronger performance are nominated by the membership for the Most Improved Team of the Year Award. The big winner this year was Tim Mente’s Team Natural Disaster with the Storm Damage and Hurricane Force monster trucks. The team expanded to two trucks for 2010, each with great looking graphics and ran strong all season, a big congratulations on a well deserved victory.

Steven Thompson, driver of Hurricane Force, accepts the Most Improved Team Award for Tim Mente's Storm Damage team.

The MTRA’s Jr. Associate program gets kids involved with the organization at an early age as a way for them to learn about monster truck safety. As a fun privilege, the members choose their favorite Driver of the Year each season and this year the winner was Doug Noelke and the great looking Tail Gator truck.

During the middle of the Awards Banquet, MTRA welcomed Promoter Members Family Events and Checkered Flag Productions as they honored their champions from the 2010 season. Family Events honored Mark Hall, their Monster Truck Thunder Drags Champion, Rick Long, the Monster Nationals Racing Champion and Jocelyn Perrin, the Monster Nationals Wheelie and Freestyle Champion. Checkered Flag Productions paid tribute to their 2010 points champion Larry Swim with a great video presentation.

Rick Long, driver of Bigfoot #15, is honored as the 2010 Monster Nationals Racing Champion.

Mark Hall receives his 2010 Monster Truck Thunder Drags Championship Award from Family Events.

Larry Swim gives his acceptance speech after being honored as the 2010 CFP Champion.

The 2010 season saw many great new drivers enter their first full season of monster truck competition. From young guys like Steven Thompson and Mat Dishman to Ryan Rice and even a veteran of the sport who completed his first full season of racing a truck this year, Greg Winchenbach, the MTRA membership had a really great group of rookies to choose from. Coming off a huge win at the Pontiac Silverdome a few weeks back, Mat Dishman was named the MTRA’s Rookie of the Year Award winner. Congratulations to Mat on a great honor from his fellow members.

Mat Dishman, driver of Rammunition, winner of the 2010 MTRA Rookie of the Year Award.

Each year the membership chooses the Promoter Member that they feel put on the best quality events, excelled in the area of event safety and who best supported the MTRA. As the only promoter in 2010 to require MTRA Membership from teams running their events and for operating a series that featured great shows all year with some of the top trucks in the industry, we congratulate Vaters Monster Motorsports on a very well deserved win in this category.

2010 Promoter of the Year, Mike Vaters, Vaters Monster Motorsports.

Every MTRA Certified Truck is up for the Truck of the Year Award which allows the membership to pick the truck they felt was the highest quality, best looking, best performing that season. After some great video clips from Colby Marshall and BMPS Video of all the MTRA Certified Trucks, the announcement came that Tail Gator from the Big Dawg 4×4 team was the big winner. Congratulations to Doug & Brenda Noelke and their great team on this honor from their peers.

Big Dawg 4x4 with their Truck of the Year and Jr. Associate Driver of the Year Awards.

Finally the night ended with one of the longest-running and most prestigious awards in monster trucks, the MTRA Driver of the Year Award. Every driver of an MTRA Certified Truck is nominated for this award and MTRA drivers had great seasons in 2010, many even winning championships in series they ran. On the strength of another Monster Truck Thunder Drags points championship and a great season overall, Mark Hall is your 2010 MTRA Driver of the Year. A big congratulations from all of us at TMB to Mark on this great honor.

Mark Hall accepts the MTRA Driver of the Year Award.

A big thanks from all of us at TheMonsterBlog.com to the MTRA for allowing us to assist in recognizing the accomplishments of this great group of teams in 2010. We always have a great time visiting with all of our friends in the monster truck industry and working with them to support our industry’s only safety organization.

TMB's Colby Marshall, Ross Bonar and Kaedon Berry at the 2010 MTRA Awards Banquet.

We would also like to our good friends “Roller” Jeff Richards and Tyson McKenzie from Monster Truck Radio for being on hand to broadcast live from the MTRA Weekend and for bringing the Banquet to fans live online. Monster Truck Radio is also joining the MTRA as a Sponsor Member in 2011 and we thank them for that support of the organization. Check out their MTRA Weekend Coverage on www.MonsterTruckRadio.com and you can see the full Awards Banquet presentation by clicking the link below.

We encourage everyone who visits TMB to consider joining the MTRA. MTRA is a member ran organization and can only make progress and advancements through the work, input and support of its members – whether you are a promoter, a driver, a sponsor, a fan, it doesn’t matter – everyone can play a part in improving your industry. Visit www.MTRA.us for more information on how you can become a member and roll your sleeves up – there is always work that can be done!

MTRA Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet This Weekend

The Monster Truck Racing Association Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet is being held this weekend at the Sheraton Westport Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.  This is that time of year when major figures in the monster truck industry gather to discuss safety in the sport of monster truck competition during the Annual Meeting and to recognize some of the outstanding accomplishments of member teams at the year end Awards Banquet. The weekend’s activities are open to anyone who would like to attend and are free for MTRA members. For more information on the MTRA and on becoming a member, visit www.MTRA.us. See below for all the details on this weekend’s events and all of us from TMB hope to see you there!

MTRA Tech School

Friday, December 3, 2010
10:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Sheraton Westport Hotel St. Louis
900 West Port Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63146
– Hospitality Room
– Free to all MTRA Members

MTRA Meeting

Saturday, December 4, 2010
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel
– Lunch will be served to all MTRA members
– Non-members or additional guests – $25.00 each

MTRA Awards Banquet

Saturday, December 4, 2010
Cocktails at 6:00 p.m. – Cash Bar
Buffet Dinner at 7:00 p.m.
Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel
– Buffet Dinner for each member provided
– Owner/Drivers and Race Team Affiliate membership includes dinner
for member and one guest
– Associate membership includes dinner for member only
– Non-members or additional guests $50.00 each – children $25.00 each
– Dress appropriately – No denim or shorts allowed

Hotel Information

Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel St. Louis
900 West Port Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63146
314-878-1500
Reservations 800-822-3535
Room Rate $69.00 per night
Ask for MTRA Rate