The Allen Report: Monster Jam – Anaheim, CA 2011

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

The Monster Jam superstars lowered the curtain on a triad of shows in the home of the Anaheim Angels Saturday, February 12th, 2011. The stacked 16 truck field featured the following top names in monster trucks: Charlie Pauken in Grave Digger, Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction, Adam Anderson in Grave Digger The Legend, Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter, Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus, Candace Jolly in the Monster Mutt Dalmatian, Becky McDonough in Dragon’s Breath, Scott Buetow driving Iron Man, Pat Gerber in Shocker, Don Frankish with Maniac, Scott Anderson in Jurassic Attack, Kelvin Ramer in Time Flys, Nick Owens driving Iron Outlaw, Mark Schroeder in The Felon, Dan Rodoni and The Patriot and Mike Pappas in Tropical Thunder.

The track of choice was an appropriate one for the locale and venue, the very popular so-cal style. That means they fall off a tabletop jump, turn away from each other, fly down a straightaway and race back the way they came. Early racing highlights saw Bounty Hunter advance with a bye after Jurassic Attack suffered fatal engine trouble during intros and Time Flys upset new World Finals qualifier Nitro Circus in the opening race, free of qualifying. In one of the semis, the blue and gray Digger and Max D crossed the finish line side-by-side with Grave Digger The Legend winning by an inch or two, if that much. The other Digger outraced Bounty Hunter to setup a history making Digger vs. Digger final. In the end, Adam proved himself more than just a freestyler by taking the huge racing win.

Freestyle started off a little slow, with most of the first half the field slowly strutting their way around the track with little air. Nick Owens in Iron Outlaw would hold the lead for the longest time with a score of 22. Even the young Anderson and Owen’s boss Jimmy Creten could not outscore him. But then, there were two. Tom Meents has four World Freestyle championships to his credit and showed why, finishing his run with an upside-down cyclone on the tabletop. With a score of 29, Meents looked to see a trophy for the first time at the Big A in a few years. To close the show, the reigning freestyle champion of the world Charlie Pauken gave the fans a potential winning freestyle in Grave Digger, but he only impressed the judges enough for second place, giving Meents the victory.

Although the Anaheim Monster Jam season was over, two weeks later Monster Jam would make its debut at the Los Angeles Dodger Stadium. With Monster Jam, a great show is always guaranteed. On that note, thank you for reading, enjoy Jim Allen’s great photos and cheer on, we’ll see you down the road!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular – Marion, OH – 11/05-06/10

Event:  Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venue:  Marion County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Location:  Marion, Ohio
Date:  November 5th-6th, 2010
Photographer:  Paul M. Harry

Lineup:  American Thunder (Dalton Van Skyhawk), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Cyclone (Chuck Sisson), Evolution (Robby Saunders), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens) [Read more…]

Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular – Marion, OH – 11/05-06/10

Event:  Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venue:  Marion County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Location:  Marion, Ohio
Date:  November 5th-6th, 2010
Photographer:  Michael P. Harry

Lineup: American Thunder (Dalton Van Skyhawk), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Cyclone (Chuck Sisson), Evolution (Robby Saunders), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens) [Read more…]

Jim & Chris Allen’s Maverik Clash of the Titans Coverage

TMB’s great friends Jim and Chris Allen attended the huge Maverik Clash of the Titans event a few weeks ago and we are proud to present their great coverage. You’ve seen all the action in video on the first episode of MT Unlimited, now experience all the fun in Jim’s great photography and Chris’ great recaps:

“For many years, there was just one type of monster truck race: the drag race. While that type of race course did test out just how fast the trucks could really go, fans yearned for something different. Then the Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago created monster truck races with turns. Fan response was tremendous and monster trucks started coming by the dozens for new and better challenges. One of these challenging races is at Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah. The racers are Jim Creten and Bounty Hunter, Nick Owens in Iron Outlaw, David Smith driving King Krunch, El Matador driven by Daron Basl, Dan Runte driving Retro Bigfoot #16, Amber Walker behind the wheel of Ms. Bigfoot #11, Jon Zimmer and Amsoil Shock Therapy, Chris “Panda” Ryan driving Excaliber, Jeff Jones in Obsession, Rick Swanson with Obsessed, Roger Stidel in Captain USA and hometown hitter Ron Doncombe in Maverik Monster Trakker.

It was Bounty Hunter who would go on to master the grueling figure eight course quickest as quickest qualifier and easily advanced in the first round over Captain USA, Maverik defeated Excalibur despite good efforts from “Panda”, Amber Walker got the biggest win in her career as Jon Zimmer received two seconds worth of penalties, Obsessed out ran Iron Outlaw, Retro Foot beat El Matador and King Krunch sent Obsession to the trailer. The next round saw the upset of the night as Maverik defeated Bounty Hunter, though Jim Creten would still advance as the fastest qualifier. Obsessed ruined the Cinderella story for Amber Walker and Retro Foot dethroned King Krunch. In the semis, Bounty Hunter avenged his loss in the previous round by defeating Maverik and Retro Foot put Obsessed down. In the two lap final, Bounty Hunter was fast and had the lead at the end of the first lap, but then Dan Runte kept gaining more and more ground and took the lead and the win in the final two turns.

The show ended with some preview freestyles to advertise the show for Sunday evening. Jon Zimmer was the third driver out and got and an almost perfect score of 9 out of a potential 10. Truck after truck tried and failed to match Shock Therapy, but then there was one: Bounty Hunter. Jim Creten gave vertical wheelies, dizzying cyclone donuts and the biggest air over the ramp that preceded one of the pairs of crush cars. With a perfect score of 10, Bounty Hunter took the Night One Freestyle Championship.

It was an awesome show, the fans went away happy and the show for the next day was already in the works by the time the post show autograph session had begun.

“It’s a war out there.” So said legendary announcer Army Armstrong at one point in the end of the steel body age for monster trucks and his words have remained very true over the years. But what makes a monster truck war out of a race? A challenging race course? High caliber competition? A highly desired rematch from an earlier race? In the case of the final day of the Maverik Clash of the Titans XIV, all of the above were true as Dan Runte in Retro Bigfoot #16 and Jim Creten driving Bounty Hunter both looked to sweep the weekend in their respective categories. But this was no two truck show, especially considering the race track is a figure 8 course!

The hometown hero Maverik Monster Trakker and driver Ron Domcombe would not be able to see the track all day as he was unable to get parts to repair the front drive train that was broken the previous evening. Dan Runte set a brand new track record of 27.78 and would get a bye run in the first round. In Round 1, Nick Owens and Iron Outlaw shut down Roger Stidell in Captain USA, Jeff Jones driving Obsession defeated Daron Basl with El Matador, Jon Zimmer with Shock Therapy beat his team mate Chris “Panda” Ryan in Excalibur and Amber Walker and Ms. Bigfoot #11 could not grab a first round win as she lost to Jim Creten. David Smith and King Krunch raced solo as Rick Swanson’s Obsessed had transmission trouble. Rick would drive Obsession for the remainder of the night. Advancing to the semi-final round were Retro Bigfoot, Obsession and Bounty Hunter. Despite not finishing his run, King Krunch would advance as the fast loser. Bigfoot and Bounty Hunter punched their tickets to the 2-lap finals as he defeated Obsession. Retro Bigfoot also advanced as he defeated King Krunch in the semifinal round for the second night in a row. Try as he might, Jim Creten could not catch Dan as Bigfoot swept the weekend in racing.

Unlike the previous night, the drivers had three minutes of Freestyle time and every obstacle on the track was available. Sadly, Ms. Bigfoot broke something in the back axle and King Krunch had brakes that were done, eliminating them from Freestyle. Good early efforts were made by Captain USA, El Matador, Excalibur and Obsession. Then things started to heat up when Iron Outlaw and Shock Therapy hit the track doing better and better tricks at higher and higher speeds and getting better and better scores. But then, there were two. Bounty Hunter and Bigfoot all gave the runs of their weekends and the fans loved it. Bounty Hunter was given the win in Freestyle with and almost perfect score of 9.75 out of 10.0 sweeping the weekend freestyle competitions.

Throughout the weekend, Ron Barrows out of Idaho Falls gave monster truck rides to fans in his ride truck “Thumper”. I took a ride and felt it was the best ride I’ve ever had in a monster ride truck. Up next for me will be the last shows of the year for WGAS Motorsports which will be at the Arizona State Fairgrounds on November 5th-7th. Until then, thank you for reading, enjoy the photos and cheer on.”

Thanks again to Jim and Chris for their great work and to the RMR staff for their hospitality. Click the link below to see all of Jim’s photos!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW JIM ALLEN’S CLASH OF THE TITANS PHOTO GALLERY

Maverik Clash of the Titans – West Valley City, UT – 08/14-15/10

Event:  Maverik Clash of the Titans
Venue:  Rocky Mountain Raceway
Location:  West Valley City, UT
Date:  August 14th-15th, 2010
Photographer: Jim Allen

Lineup:  Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Captain USA (Roger Stidell), El Matador (Daron Basl), Excaliber (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens), King Krunch (David Smith), Maverik Monster Trakkar (Ron Duncombe), Ms. Bigfoot #11 (Amber Walker), Obessed (Rick Swanson), Obsession (Jeff Jones), Retro Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte) [Read more…]

Introducing “TMB TV: MT Unlimited” Video Series

TMB TV is proud to unveil our second brand new series, MT Unlimited, produced in conjunction with our own Colby Marshall and Bite Me Productions Studios!!  Colby is introducing another great new format to the TMB TV family of video coverage, as MT Unlimited will focus not only on all the great action of events, but also go behind the scenes with a unique interview format that puts the drivers, crews and industry personnel front and center.

Much like last week’s debut of ActionTracks, we kick off the series with one of the biggest events of the year, the Maverik Clash of the Titans from Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City, Utah. 12 trucks and the only figure 8 monster truck racing of the year featuring intense battles between Bigfoot, Bounty Hunter, Amsoil Shock Therapy, Obsession and many more.

A big thanks to Colby for the awesome work on this new series and also to the RMR staff for welcoming us at their event. Click the link below to start enjoying all of the exciting new content from TMB TV’s MT Unlimited!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW TMB TV: MT UNLIMITED EPISODE 1.1

TMB TV: MT Unlimited Episode 1.1 – Maverik Clash of the Titans

Event:  Maverik Clash of the Titans
Venue:  Rocky Mountain Raceway
Location:  Salt Lake City, UT
Date:  August 14th-15th, 2010
Host:  Colby Marshall
Videographer:  Colby Marshall

Lineup:  Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Captain USA (Roger Stidell), El Matador (Daron Basl), Excaliber (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens), King Krunch (David Smith), Maverik Monster Trakkar (Ron Duncombe), Ms. Bigfoot #11 (Amber Walker), Obessed (Rick Swanson), Obsession (Jeff Jones), Retro Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte) [Read more…]

Monster Truck Radio 08/16/10 – Jimmy Creten & Nick Owens

Monster Truck Radio With Host Jeff Richards
Date:  Monday, August 16th, 2010
Guest #1:  Jimmy Creten, driver of Bounty Hunter
Guest #2:  Nick Owens, driver of Iron Outlaw [Read more…]

Jim & Christopher Allen’s Del Mar / Pomona Coverage

TMB is always proud to bring you great coverage from our friends out west, Jim and Christopher Allen, and this week that means lots of great photos and all the details from the 2010 Del Mar and Pomona, California events. Check the coverage out below and thanks to Jim and Chris for another job well done:

“Once again WGAS Motorsports invited teams of monster trucks to perform at Del Mar California’s San Diego County Fairgrounds and the fan favorite July 4th “KaBoom!” in Pomona. The teams were “Living the Dream Racing’s” own “Time Flys” and “Fired Up” driven by Kelvin Ramer and Justin Cluster, both “Obsession” and “Obsessed” with Rick Swanson and Eric Swanson behind the wheels and representatives of “2Xtreme Racing” in the form of Russell Steeley in “Iron Outlaw” and Jim Creten, as always, driving “Bounty Hunter”.

Shout-outs go to Ron Johnson in his old school monster truck, the T-C Pig Ranch sponsored “Hog Wild”, who had some t-shirts to give away and Jake Blackwell’s awesome ride truck, the Thrasher Racing owned “Extinguisher” , who gave rides to fans young and old all weekend long.

The first monster out was “Fired Up” and his freestyle performance set the stage as each driver tried to top the next. Rick Swanson showed why he was the Undisputed Champion from this event one year ago, doing very nice cyclones and rarely laying off the throttle; so much in fact, that steam was coming from the engine area as “Obsession” left the arena. Russell Steeley put Iron Outlaw through its paces, not stopping until everything on the track was hit. However, during the second show of the day he took the big mountain in the middle of the floor, hard broke the right front wheel off and rolled over slowly. Kelvin Ramer was up next and drove over every obstacle, finishing his final run in the evening show with a cyclone with his hands out the window. But the potential winner possibility goes to the former World Champion in Bounty Hunter, using tons of pure horsepower over every jump, getting great air and continuing long after the 90 second time period. It was a great first day in Del Mar.

For the final day of monster trucks in Del Mar, the first afternoon show was racing only and the second afternoon show was freestyle only. Since only five trucks were competing, this created an interesting race bracket. “Bounty Hunter” would automatically be seeded into the semi-finals. Two winners of the heats would join him along with the fastest loser. From there, two finalists would advance and a racing champion would be crowned succeeding that race.

WGAS officials created a Chicago style race course with the finish lines on top of each trucks’ respective starting jumps. In the opening round, fan favorite Kelvin Ramer in “Time Flys” took out his own teammate, “Fired Up” driven by Justin Cluster to advance to the semi-finals and a shot at Jim Creten and “Bounty Hunter”. In the other quarter-final race, 14 year old Eric Swanson with “Obsessed” was on his way to victory over his own father in the team truck when he aver drove the final turn. Rick swapped trucks and raced “Obsessed” for the remainder of the racing show.

The top half of the semis would see a close race between the former Monster Jam World Champion Jim Creten and the driver of the 1934 Ford, Kelvin Ramer. It was close, but the win goes to “Bounty Hunter” after Ramer spent too much time in the air over the second jump. Fastest loser “Fired Up” was denied a second shot at the championship round after following “Obsessed” across the finish line. The final race was dead even until the final turn when Jim Creten pulled away for the racing trophy.

The final show from Del Mar for the year would be the only time freestyles were scored. Eric Swanson, back in “Obsessed”, got some great air with a sky wheelie and was in the middle of his first donut when he hit one of the racing ramps, breaking the bead on the left rear tire, flattening it. The judges gave him a 14 out of a possible 40. The “Fired Up” driver continued to with the freestyle competition and took the lead with a 28 point score. Next came “Time Flys” and “Obsession”, both of which hit all of the obstacles and took the lead with a score of 38.5. But there was a former Freestyle champion in the house, and he hit everything the track threw at him and got the undisputed big air of the weekend. He missed the perfect score by just one point, but it was enough to get back on the winner’s stage at Del Mar.

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with five of the top monster trucks in the world? But not just monster trucks, also on hand were four high-flying, death defying FMX riders including Jimmy Fitzpatrick as the sole representative of the infamous Metal Mulisha. Finally, the “KaBoom!” tradition continues with a fireworks display as the grand finale.

The five trucks competing in Chicago-style racing and freestyle on some of the biggest obstacles Pomona monster truck fans have ever seen include Kelvin Ramer with “Time Flys” and the teams of “Obsession Racing” with Eric Swanson behind the wheel of “Obsessed” along with his father Rick driving “Obsession” and the “2Xtreme Racing” trucks of Iron Outlaw driven by Nick Owens and Jim Creten, as always, behind the wheel of Bounty Hunter. Before the monsters hit the track, some of the FMX riders performed amazing airborne stunts including back flips.

As “Time Flys” got the bye in the racing bracket and would wait to race until the semi-finals and would take on the winner of the first heat in Round 1. A fast loser would also advance and face the winner of the second heat of Round 1, making a four truck competition in the semi finals. From there, a standard four truck bracket was in place. All hopes of Eric Swanson avenging his loss to his father in Del Mar were dashed as he took the last turn too wide and “Bounty Hunter” showed who was boss in the second heat against his team truck, “Iron Outlaw”. “Obsession” would move to the finals as Kelvin Ramer made the same mistake as Eric during the run of “Time Flys”. The next scheduled race was the rematch Nick Owens wanted with the Bounty Hunter, but it never happened as a problem with the RII prevented Iron Outlaw from making it to the starting line and forfeiting the race. WGAS officials went straight to the finals between “Bounty Hunter” and “Obsession”. “Bounty Hunter” was too fastest and crossed the finish line first and was the racing champion.

Freestyle featured both the small jumps from racing, two additional wheelie obstacles, two sets of motor homes, a large single jump and a HUGE double jump. There was also a “concession stand” on the dirt arena. That’s correct, a concession stand! Iron Outlaw put on an excellent opening freestyle. Eric Swanson emerged next, and got some huge air over the double jump. He earned a 35 out of a possible 40 for his efforts. Rick wanted to keep up the momentum but the transmission had other ideas, breaking an input shaft after just a single jump. “Time Flys” earned a perfect 40 from the judges, but Jim Creten had other ideas about who would be the victor. He hit every obstacle and did some great wheelies and donuts. He then hit the concession stand setting off the first fireworks of the evening. The crowd’s ovation left no doubt as to who was the winner. Scores were never given for “Bounty Hunter”, but Jim didn’t care. No fan was sitting down as Jim had done what he needed to do.

WGAS creator and primary promoter John Borba was on hand, and was told by an anonymous fan that this was the best freestyle motocross and monster truck show the fan had ever seen. Fans were then treated to a great 4th of July fireworks show. Thank you for reading, enjoy the photos, and cheer on.” – Christopher Allen

CLICK HERE TO VIEW JIM ALLEN’S DEL MAR, CA PHOTO GALLERY

CLICK HERE TO VIEW JIM ALLEN’S POMONA, CA PHOTO GALLERY

Kaboom Monster Truck Show – Pomona, CA – 07/04/10

Event:  Kaboom Monster Truck Show
Venue:  L.A. County Fairgrounds
Location:  Pomona, California
Date:  July 4th, 2010
Photographer:  Jim Allen

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens), Obsession (Rick Swanson), Obsessed (Jeff Jones), Time Flys (Kelvin Ramer) [Read more…]