The Allen Report: Budweiser Monster Truck Spring Nationals – Turlock, CA 2016

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

“The Allen Report” is back and we return to the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, California, this time in the month of May for the popular Budweiser Monster Truck Spring Nationals. Turlock is a relaxed, peaceful town where the biggest disturbance is normally the frequent freight train. However, there was some additional noise in the air on Friday and Saturday night where seven high flying, car smashing monster trucks arrived to do battle in bus munching, donut spinning freestyle.

Making the trip from Tonganoxie, Kansas were Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter. Popular hometown driver Russell Steeley stepped up to drive team truck Iron Outlaw for the final time so he could give his pulling truck his sole attention in the near future. From just down the road in Menifee, California, were the father/son duo of Rick and Eric Swanson. Former Monster Jam Young Guns Shootout competitor Eric was behind the wheel of his pickup bodied Obsessed and Rick continued his 20th anniversary of professional monster trucking in his breathtaking Obsession, complete with a film strip featuring just a fraction of his numerous TV and commercial appearances running down either side. Rounding out the field was Tony Canedo, who brought all three of his trucks, ready to give a good show to the crowd. David Tucker would take the wheel of Survivor and Jeff Souza would pilot Enforcer while Tony himself stuck to his usual Play ‘N for Keeps.

With two buses to crush, a van stack at the arena entry, two great spaces for getting into the spin cycle and several tuff truck jumps to get the monsters off the ground, there was no room for error and every freestyle point would count. As the huge crowd filed in for the pre-show autograph session and the show on Friday night, the drivers could feel the pressure.

First truck out was Jeff Souza and Enforcer who immediately got huge air over the bus stack. Obsession with Rick Swanson at the wheel came out next, got good air and great donuts. The third truck in the order was Survivor, and the iconic Pacific Northwest name under new ownership put together a great run, clearing the tuff truck jumps and doing a nosedive over the bus that saw driver David Tucker just barely bring it back down onto all fours. Next in line was Iron Outlaw, who cleared the entire bus stack completely, kept the speed up the whole run and did some lightning fast cyclones as Russ Steeley finished up his second to last ever run in a monster truck. His effort rewarded him with a score of 86 with 100 being perfection. Truck after truck came after him but it wasn’t until the last truck in line and former World Champion hit the floor. Jimmy Creten matched Russell jump for jump, but carried several great wheelies across the fairgrounds floor to take the lead and the Friday night victory.

The second and final night of monster truck competition saw a big crowd and bigger efforts by every monster pilot in the field. However, the end of the night came a little too soon for the first truck out Enforcer. Coming down from the van stack awkwardly, the 1990s West Coast monster legend in its new form blew the left front tire. Jeff Souza wasn’t hurt, however, and that was the closest to a major incident the whole night. In his last ever appearance behind the wheel of a monster vehicle, hometown hitter Russell Steeley gave huge air over the bus, and an admirable wheelie attempt to put him back in the lead with the championship in sight. The young rising star Eric Swanson pushed his machine to its limit, clearing the bus stack both ways and turning in his family’s usual great donuts to get the crowd screaming. Last out was the only driver who could earn back to back titles. Jimmy Creten gave everything the fans wanted; big air, wheelies and donuts. It was not an unrewarded attempt either as the second perfect score in as many nights garnered Bounty Hunter the double victory. Both the 2Xtreme drivers were interviewed for the crowd and were thankful to the fans for showing up to support them.

In other race action, Jeff Souza’s son Hunter, Lee Plato’s son Shane and Corbin Shockey practiced for the big leagues with the Wrecking Machine, Skull Krusher and Monster Buddy mini monsters, respectively. Also there was one at a time, vehicle against timed tuff truck racing which saw the crowd cheering the reckless drivers and booing the cautious ones. One of the tuff truck participants was former Mike Welch Motorsports driver Sammy Baca out of Modesto, CA. Finally, the future of racing was on full display as kids drove Junior Outlaw Sprint and Mini Dwarf racecars on a tight oval around the bus stack with very little room to overtake. This made the racing exciting for all in attendance. During opening ceremonies for both shows, a moment of silence was held for longtime WGAS announcer Lloyd Massey who tragically passed away just days before the Monster Jam World Finals this year.

Okay, now we at “The Allen Report” look to make a return to Longview, Washington, to support Mike Welch Freaks of Freestyle and we do so hoping for better weather this time. In the meantime, thank you for reading, a special thank you to Chelsea Kessler and the entire WGAS crew for having us, enjoy the photos, don’t forget to follow us in real time under the name “Monster Truckin’ with Jim and Chris” on Facebook and Instagram, and cheer on!

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All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2016.

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 3.3 – Toughest Monster Truck Tour – Saginaw, MI 2016

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Episode Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Dow Event Center
Location: Saginaw, Michigan
Date: February 12th, 2016
Videographer: Danny Maass

Featured Monster Trucks

Dawg Pound – Vern House
Dirt Crew – Jerry Beck
Heavy Hitter – Derick Anson
Over Bored – Jamey Garner
Quad Chaos – Aaron Cain
Summit Bigfoot #18 – Dan Runte

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.DirtShows.com
www.OverBoredMonsterTruck.com
www.ToughestMonsterTrucks.com

[Read more…]

The Allen Report: Maricopa County Fair Monster Trucks – Phoenix, AZ 2016

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report, we make a short trip over to the Arizona State Fairgrounds, which sees a wide variety of entertainment forms over the course of a calendar year, from expos and trade shows to concerts and, on two of the last three days of the 2016 Maricopa County Fair, earth shaking, sky touching monster trucks. Six of the best monster trucks in the southwest arrived in the Sanderson Ford Arena to do battle in an all freestyle event on Friday, and side by side racing as well as freestyle on Sunday.

Making the trip over from Menifee, California were the father and son duo of Rick and Eric Swanson. Rick drove his beautiful 20th Anniversary body on his usual Obsession while former Young Guns Shootout competitor Eric took time off from his trophy truck body and reverted to his longstanding pickup shell on Obsessed. Driving up from Tucson, Arizona were all three trucks in the Sturges Motorsports entourage. Per usual, Sam Sturges drove the 1942 Dodge Panel Wagon Unnamed & Untamed. Longtime friend Gary Ely took the helm of fan favorite Nasty Boy and Cesar Nunez made the trip across the border from Mexico to pilot the 1963 split window Corvette Rat Attack. Finally, Rod Wood’s stepson Murphy McCrorey got behind the wheel of McGruff the Crime Dog.

To open the freestyle only show on Friday evening, each monster made a jump over an obstacle on the floor one after the other. Unfortunately for Sam Sturges, the intro saw an input shaft in the transmission break, bringing his night to a premature end. To raise the curtain on the competition, Rick Swanson played it cool, getting decent air off the cross thread jump in the middle and finishing it up with his customary donuts. Next up was Murphy in McGruff, in his first monster truck action since a car accident a few years ago. Murphy lived up to his nickname “Werewolf”, starting with a great entry jump, cleared the double in the middle of the floor, and got some great cyclones, making it look like he had never left the driver’s seat. Cesar Nunez was not to be outdone, getting even bigger air and continuing the donut craze. Last out was the 20 year old rising star Eric Swanson. Early in his run, he shot for the moon off the cross thread jump and landed hard on the left rear tire, causing all kinds of damage to the rear end of the truck. Despite the mishap, the crowd was roaring for the kid. With the next show not until Sunday, all the teams with broken trucks had no shortage of time to get their machines back together.

On Sunday a huge crowd piled into the grandstand ready for some hot and heavy, heads up competition. In the opening round of reverse Chicago style racing, innocence briefly trumped experience as Eric Swanson in his fully repaired Obsessed upset the Unnamed and Untamed vehicle. Sam Sturges still advanced, however, as the fastest loser. When both Rick and Eric dispensed of their semi final round opponents, all signs pointed to a great final. And it didn’t disappoint, with the father getting the jump over the son off the start line, but Eric had made up the ground halfway home. With all eyes on the finish line, Eric just barely hit his finish line jump before his dad, taking the racing win.

In freestyle, Sam Sturges was angry after losing twice in racing, and it showed in his driving, getting huge air off the double and carrying on a team tradition with gorgeous slap wheelies. During one of these moves, Sam kept the move going right over the grandstand side racing jump. Murphy McCrorey was on another roll with McGruff before the head gasket in the transmission snapped, ending his weekend. Gary Ely gave an admirable effort in Nasty Boy with very good hang time and decent attempts at slap wheelies. Much to the delight of the fans, both Rick and Eric Swanson entered the floor right behind the other and started a game of follow the leader. The fans were on their feet for the father and son pair as they stepped out of their monsters to end the afternoon show.

In the fair closing evening show, Obsessed got a bye run with only five trucks. But in the semi final round against Rat Attack, Eric never got going, giving an easy win to the sleek hot rod monster and with it a berth in the finals. Rick Swanson ended Unnamed and Untamed’s racing night to advance to the finals and one last shot at a racing win. Rick poured on the gas in the straightaways and took the win to evenly split the racing glory between his son and himself.

In the last monster competition of the weekend, Sam Sturges gave excellent slap wheelies, continued to reach for the sky and turned in an overall exciting run. Cesar Nunez refused to be upstaged and turned in some great air off the double jump and some fast donuts to put himself in the hunt for the win. But the fans got on their feet once more when again Eric and Rick Swanson took to the floor in their monsters at the same time. Both went the wrong way up the rarely used step up behind the double, and turned in some dizzying donuts to end the monster entertainment at the fair.

In other action, the crowd was treated to smash n bash, all or nothing democross racing, a combination of off road racing and demolition derby. Fans cheered on and on as intentional spinouts, heavy contact and all around vehicular assault played out in front of them. Well, next we at “The Allen Report” seek to return to Turlock, California, for the popular annual Budweiser Monster Truck Spring Nationals, featuring eight big monster trucks, two mini monsters, ride trucks and freestyle motocross. Look for more coverage coming then. Well, thank you for reading, a special thanks to Zack McKinley and all the Grand Canyon State Promotions crew for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2016.

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 3.2 – Toughest Monster Truck Tour – Rio Rancho, NM 2016

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Episode Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Santa Ana Star Center
Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Date: January 22nd-23rd, 2016
Videographer: Rajeana Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

Dawg Pound – Vern House
Dirt Crew – Jerry Beck
Heavy Hitter – Derick Anson
Over Bored – Jamey Garner
Quad Chaos – Aaron Cain
Summit Bigfoot #18 – Dan Runte

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.DirtShows.com
www.OverBoredMonsterTruck.com
www.ToughestMonsterTrucks.com

[Read more…]

The Allen Report: All Star Monster Truck Tour – West Valley City, UT 2016

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we travel to West Valley City, Utah, just outside Salt Lake. It’s a city with an extensive sports résumé from the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, to minor league baseball, to major league hockey and basketball. But on this weekend, the All Star Monster Truck Tour arrived in the Maverik Center with six car crushing, high flying monster trucks. All the way from Lafayette, Indiana was Aaron Cain piloting the world’s largest ATV, Quad Chaos. Right behind was teammate Jerry Beck behind the wheel of the world’s only flying dump truck, the Dodge bodied Dirt Crew. During the pit parties, there were some construction toys behind Dirt Crew for the kids to play with. Tucson, Arizona’s own Unnamed & Untamed was in the house, driven by Sam Sturges, as was Nasty Boy with Derek Ritter at the controls. Defending the Utah home turf was West Jordan’s Ron Duncombe and the Maverik Monster Trakker. Finally, Kreg Christensen from South Willard took time off from the Australian monster truck circuit to bring his radical looking part Studebaker, part Camaro monster known as Wicked to the arena.

Wheelie contest, single pass obstacle course racing and freestyle were the weekend’s competitions for the monsters. With points on the line for every discipline to determine an overall champion in each show, every round counted and consistency would win.

On Friday evening, things got off to a wild start when Nasty Boy, the first truck out in wheelie contest, went far beyond vertical and rolled onto its side. The driver was okay, but making only one of a maximum of two attempts meant his score wouldn’t be much, only 10 out of a possible 20. Unnamed & Untamed, a monster set up very well for wheelies, gave an admirable attempt off both the step up obstacle and the crush cars to take the lead with a score of 13. The very next truck was Dirt Crew and he gave an excellent run, pointing the dump truck’s nose towards the ceiling of the Maverik Center. The judges rewarded him with a score of 14. Jerry Beck was able to hold off both of the last two competitors to take the wheelie contest win and take the points lead.

In obstacle course, the imperfect figure 8 style track proved tricky for even the experienced drivers, as Sam Sturges turned in a lap in just under 22 seconds. Looking to better his chances at the overall championship, Jerry Beck threw down a very good pass to take the new fastest time at 18.54. But the twenty four year veteran of the sport, Kreg Christensen went even faster, clocking in a time of 16.37. The last truck in the order, Quad Chaos, couldn’t do better and Wicked stormed into the overall championship lead with only freestyle to go.

In the main event, Monster Trakker went out first as electrical problems kept Nasty Boy off the floor and out of the competition. Ron Duncombe’s efforts, including a decent sky wheelie and good air off the step up garnered him a score of 25 of a possible 40. Dirt Crew was fourth in line of the six trucks and put together an all-around exciting run. The professional judges gave him a score of 28 with only Wicked and teammate Quad Chaos left to go. But Kreg Christensen was a man on a mission, getting huge air off the FMX mountain, nailing a reverser over the crush cars and rarely letting off the loud pedal to get the crowd roaring. The judges rewarded his run with a 35 point score. Quad Chaos just couldn’t match the international superstar and Wicked took the freestyle and overall event championships to start the weekend.

In the first of two shows on Saturday, Sam Sturges improved greatly from the first show, pointing U&U’s nose at the roof of the arena. His efforts did not go unnoticed by the judges as his score was 14, leaving only a six point window in which Sam could be overtaken. Wicked and Dirt Crew both gave everything they had, but could only tie for second. Sam Sturges won the wheelie contest, making it two different winners in as many wheelie competitions.

Full of confidence after getting his first win of the weekend, Sam did not let up in the obstacle course, finishing his lap in a time of 20.91. Wicked was the fourth truck out in the ladder and slowed down a little from the first show with an elapsed time of 18.32, but it was still good enough to take the top spot on the grid. Next up was Quad Chaos, who fell short of the number one spot by just six-tenths of a second. The last truck in line, Dirt Crew, was a full second off the high watermark, giving back to back obstacle course wins to Kreg Christensen.

On to freestyle, where Ron Duncombe’s weekend came to a premature end when a hard landing off the FMX mountain blew out the rear shocks on both sides. Despite the damage, Ron’s score was still very good at 30, just ten points shy of perfection. Starting the second half of the field was the two time obstacle course winner, who soared through the afternoon sky off the FMX ramp, again hit the cars in reverse and stood on the throttle again and again to receive a score of 35. The last two monsters just couldn’t clear the bar and Wicked got back to back overall championships. With only the evening show to go, there was one more shot for the other drivers to stop the clean sweep from the twenty four year veteran.

When the biggest crowd all weekend piled into the Maverik Center for the last show, the stakes were high, and the drivers didn’t disappoint. Jerry Beck and Dirt Crew gave a spectacular wheelie contest run and got a score of 17 to boot, leaving the window of opportunity very small. Two time overall champion Wicked came the closest at 15, but it wasn’t enough to stop Dirt Crew from becoming the multi-time wheelie contest winner for the weekend.

During obstacle course racing, things got wild with the first two trucks in line. Unnamed & Untamed got up on two wheels but saved it. The lack of time on the board due to a DNF wasn’t enough to silence the crowd. Nasty Boy, even fighting electrical issues between shows also bicycled for a moment before saving it, all this before driver Derek Ritter had even staged for his run.

This gave the fans an even bigger reason to cheer. When Wicked took to the track, the time he had to beat, 19.39, had been laid down one run earlier by Dirt Crew. Kreg was up to the challenge, and he stepped up. The hybrid hot rod turned in a time that was faster than his nearest competitor by almost three seconds at 16.5. This meant that the overall championship clean sweep was within reach and the same feat for obstacle course had been done.

On to the crowd favorite freestyle, where Unnamed & Untamed got off to a fast start with wheelies and even donuts to get a score of 27. Quad Chaos went for one last shot to take a win with big air and clearing the crush cars. A score of 34 meant there was still room left for the two winningest trucks that had still to run. Both Dirt Crew and Wicked had incredible runs that had the crowd cheering on and on. In a strange turn of events, both trucks tied with scores of 35. But Wicked had more points coming into the cheer off, so the former Dragon Slayer owner and past Maximum Destruction driver already had the overall championship swept for the weekend. And when the crowd erupted in Kreg’s favor during the freestyle deciding cheer off, it was clear that the weekend sweep of the crowd favorite competition belonged to Wicked as well, closing out the weekend.

During a winning interview, Kreg revealed to an enthusiastic audience that the year 2017 marked his twenty-fifth year in the business and, with it, the return of the Dragon Slayer monster Hummer. Other action saw highly competitive Pro Arena Truck racing, a longstanding tradition at the Maverik Center. The racing was tight and fast with three different winners in as many races. Also, freestyle motocross rider Paul “Smitty” Smith gave the fans a wide variety of gravity defying, death cheating tricks, culminating in backflip variations.

Well, we now turn our attention to the biggest monster truck event in the world, the Monster Jam World Finals. The next edition of “The Allen Report” is currently slated to come to you from the Maricopa County Fair in our hometown of Phoenix. For up to the minute, instant updates from our travels, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram under “Monster Truckin’ with Jim and Chris“. On that note, thank you for reading, a sincere thank-you to Bryan Wagner and the entire All Star Monster Truck Tour staff for their generous hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2016.

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Lake Charles, LA 2016

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Lake Charles Civic Center
Location: Lake Charles, Louisiana
Date: February 26th-27th, 2016
Photographer: Matthew Ison (Check out Matthew Ison Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Dawg Pound (Vern House), Ghost Ryder (Larry Quick), Girl Power (Shannon Quick), Heavy Hitter (Derick Anson), Summit Bigfoot #18 (Larry Swim) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Nation – Beaumont, TX 2016

Event Information

Event: Monster Nation
Venue: Ford Arena
Location: Beaumont, Texas
Date: February 19th-20th, 2016
Photographer: Matthew Ison (Check out Matthew Ison Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Dawg Pound (Vern House), Dirt Crew (Jerry Beck), Heavy Hitter (Derick Anson), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Quad Chaos (Aaron Cain), Summit Bigfoot #18 (Larry Swim), Twisted Addiction (Tim Jones) [Read more…]

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 3.1 – Monster Nation – Bossier City, LA 2016

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Episode Information

Event: Monster Nation
Venue: CenturyLink Center
Location: Bossier City, Louisiana
Date: January 15th-16th, 2016
Videographer: Shane Skinner

Featured Monster Trucks

Dawg Pound – Vern House
Dirt Crew – Jerry Beck
Heavy Hitter – Derick Anson
Over Bored – Jamey Garner
Quad Chaos – Aaron Cain
Summit Bigfoot #18 – Dan Runte

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.DirtShows.com
www.OverBoredMonsterTruck.com
www.ToughestMonsterTrucks.com

[Read more…]

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 2.5 – Toughest Monster Truck Tour – West Plains, MO 2015

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Episode Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Heart of the Ozarks Fairgrounds
Location: West Plains, Missouri
Date: August 21st-22nd, 2015
Videographer: Rajeana Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

Bounty Hunter – Jimmy Creten
Dawg Pound – Vern House
Heavy Hitter – Derick Anson
Over Bored – Jamey Garner
Scarlet Bandit – Dawn Creten
Summit Bigfoot #18 – Dan Runte

Featured Links

www.2XtremeRacing.com
www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.DirtShows.com
www.OverBoredMonsterTruck.com
www.ToughestMonsterTrucks.com

[Read more…]

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 2.4 – Toughest Monster Truck Tour – Cedar Park, TX 2015

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Episode Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Cedar Park Center
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
Date: August 14th-15th, 2015
Videographer: Danny Maass

Featured Monster Trucks

Big Kahuna – Shane Phreed
Dawg Pound – Vern House
Heavy Hitter – Derick Anson
Over Bored – Jamey Garner
Summit Bigfoot #18 – Dan Runte

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.DirtShows.com
www.OverBoredMonsterTruck.com
www.ToughestMonsterTrucks.com

[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Nation – Bossier City, LA 2016

Event Information

Event: Monster Nation
Venue: CenturyLink Center
Location: Bossier City, Louisiana
Date: January 15th-16th, 2016
Photographer: Matthew Ison (Check out Matthew Ison Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Dawg Pound (Vern House), Dirt Crew (Jerry Beck), Heavy Hitter (Derick Anson), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Quad Chaos (Aaron Cain), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Dan Runte) [Read more…]

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 2.3 – All Star Monster Truck Tour – Duchesne, UT 2015

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Episode Information

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Duchesne County Fair
Location: Duchesne, Utah
Date: August 4th, 2015
Videographer: Lynette Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

Double Trouble – Tyler Groth
Iron Outlaw – Brian Maes
Knucklehead – Trent Montgomery
Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell)

Featured Links

www.2XtremeRacing.com
www.AllStarMonster.com
www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.MirrorImageRacing.com

[Read more…]

TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 2.2 – Monster X Tour – Jonesboro, AR 2015

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Episode Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: ASU Convocation Center
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Date: March 14th, 2015
Videographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

American Muscle (Pierce Knight)
Ballistic (Mac Plecker)
California Kid (Tehvyn Goodwin)
Firestone Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell)
Rock Star (Bill Payne)

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.ExtremeTeam4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com

[Read more…]

The Allen Report: IMTM Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion 2015

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we make a trip by air to Auburn, Indiana, for the fifth consecutive year. Auburn is known as the former “little Detroit” where cars and racing have shaped the town since the 1930’s and still do, with a great number of automotive museums to attend. Once more, we went to the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum for the Fifth Annual International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion. Nearly 300 people from places like Texas, Maryland and Washington State were in attendance to watch four iconic monster truck personalities become the twenty-second through twenty-fifth inductees into the International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame. A new record of both classic and current monster trucks were on display throughout the weekend.

• Team Bigfoot’s Original Monster Truck Bigfoot 1, the World’s Biggest Pickup Truck Bigfoot 5 and the World’s Only Electric Powered Monster Truck, Bigfoot 20.
• IMTM President and Creator Jeff Cook’s Shotgun Harry old school monster.
• First Hall of Fame class member Jeff Dane’s replica of the original King Kong.
• Andy Hoffman’s Nitecrawler tank, which was first Hall of Fame class member Allen Pezo’s Predator Tank earlier in its life.
• Regular attendee Thomas Borders’ 100% Monkey Business old school built monster.
• IMTM Vice President and third Hall of Fame class member Allen Pezo’s original Predator 1.
• First Hall of Fame class member Everett Jasmer brought both the 1988 TNT Monster Truck Challenge Champion USA-1 and its 2015 twin, driven by Roger Gauger of Quadzilla notoriety.
• Terry Woodcock’s recently restored original Cyclops
• Vaters Motorsports surprise truck, the restored original Equalizer

The Fifth International Monster Truck Hall of Fame class consisted of:
• Breen Boyz and Team Bigfoot driver legendary for his role as the “evil” Snake Bite driver Colt Cobra, Gene Patterson.
• Equalizer owner/driver David Morris
• Owner, builder and driver of twin engine monster truck GOLIATH, its faster racing twin GOLIATH’S REVENGE, the jet powered G Force and the Transtormer robot.
• And original TNT Motorsports promoter Billy Joe Miles.

On Friday, a meet and greet between the inductees, past and current monster truck owners, media and fans was held. Meanwhile, the family of Jeff Cook sold a wide variety of official IMTM merchandise exclusive to those attending. From large and small t-shirts to bumper stickers to mugs to pins, even rings, there was no shortage of items to choose from and all sales went to the museum. Several people set up display tables where merchandise of almost any kind conceivable was put on display for one and all to observe. One such case was second Hall of Fame class member Mike Welch who brought never before seen photos and merchandise from his thirty-plus years of travels and shows.

That evening, another classic monster truck was unveiled in the museum for the very first time, its restoration having been done under highly top secret conditions. To the thrill and amazement of the attendees, the tarp came off to reveal the original 1989 TNT Monster Truck Challenge Champion truck; incoming inductee David Morris’ red Equalizer.

On Saturday, an IMTM tradition continued with a Q&A and history discussion with the Hall of Fame inductees. Some stories were from the road and comical, others regarded monster truck industry related people who sadly had passed away at some point.

That night, a delicious meal was served as monster truck video footage exclusive to the IMTM was displayed for those in attendance and Army Armstrong entertained the diners. To get things started, numerous sponsors were thanked with a glass plaque featuring the sponsor’s name. As each new member of the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame was inducted, they received a standing ovation from the audience both on his way to the stage and accepting his induction plaque. At the end of the ceremony, another tradition went on as an auction was held to raise more money for the IMTM. With Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum creator and owner Dean Kruse as auctioneer and items abound to bid on, the bidding drama over each item was intense.

And that’s a wrap for us at “The Allen Report” for 2015, as we plan for the holidays and anxiously look forward to first quarter of 2016. Well, thanks for reading, a special thank-you goes to Jeff Cook and the IMTM and Hall of Fame board of directors as well as all of our friends at themonsterblog.com for a moving and entertaining event. Thank you to all of our followers for reading, please enjoy the photos, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram under the name “Monster Truckin’ with Jim and Chris”, and cheer on!

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All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2015.

The Allen Report: Monster Trucks & FMX – Phoenix, AZ 2015

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we go to the Arizona State Fairgrounds, a venue that has pretty much seen it all for the past one-hundred and thirty years, from the pre-war capital of motor racing in the city of Phoenix to a premier rodeo venue. And, of course, the Sanderson Ford Arena has seen no shortage of monster truck action, as it did over the fair closing weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Six gear grinding, ground pounding monster trucks arrived to do battle in six shows throughout the weekend. The shows consisted of wheelie contest and freestyle over Friday and Saturday before the High Jump and freestyle competitions on Sunday.

The shows featured Lake Havasu City, Arizona’s Mark Schroeder and his Felon truck. From just a few hours south of Phoenix was Rod Wood and his McGruff monster, ready to take a bite out of the competition. There also was Mexico’s Cesar Nunez driving the sleek 1963 split window Corvette Rat Attack. There also was the California based father and son team of Rick and Eric Swanson. Rick, as usual, piloted his bright yellow trophy truck Obsession and twenty year old Eric took the helm of his blue pickup truck bodied Obsessed. Rounding out the field was Tucson’s Sam Sturges in his 1942 Dodge Panel Wagon Unnamed & Untamed.

The heads-up competition only got hotter as the weekend went on. In wheelie contest on Friday evening, all trucks gave great efforts, each driver pushing his truck to the limit to get the best wheelie possible. Things quickly boiled down to a showdown between McGruff and Rat Attack, both going vertical with regularity, often to good response from the huge crowd. In freestyle, the two wheelie bumps, a set of crush cars and a huge center ramp were all fair game to win over the audience. Both Rat Attack and McGruff got huge air over the center ramp while Felon worked his signature wheelies and did some cyclones that truly were dirt slinging to end the opening show on Friday.

On Saturday, the veteran Sam Sturges and Unnamed & Untamed got off to a fast start in the wheelie contest, going straight up and down to push way ahead of father and son Swanson. But in doing so, Unnamed broke an axle. The California team caught up quickly in freestyle, however, as both Rick and Eric smashed the crush cars and soared over the arena floor thanks to the big ramp in the middle, plus some great cross thread moves, all attempting to win over the fans. Because of Sam Sturges’ breakage, Cesar Nunez in Rat Attack stepped up to take his place. Not resting on his laurels from the first two shows, the corvette monster had an excellent power wheelie while the Obsession trucks struggled to do the same. But when it came to freestyle, Rick and Eric did not back down, getting increasingly big air into the night sky and crushing the cars multiple times to thunderous applause from the capacity crowd.

In the third show of the weekend midway through Saturday, McGruff was in a class all his own, breaking away from the competition. He did so with a great forty-five degree angle wheelie and changing things up with a terrific sky wheelie off the crush cars. And the fans ate it up. In freestyle, the end of Felon’s weekend came a little premature when the motor broke and the damage was not repairable. This left a shootout between Rat Attack and McGruff. But ignition problems plagued Rat Attack from the very start, giving the best run to the Tucson native behind the wheel of McGruff.

On the final day of the fair, show organizers changed things up for the crowd by having McGruff take the place of Obsessed. This led to a battle in wheelie contest for the ages. Both the Tucson representatives in McGruff and Unnamed & Untamed stood straight up and down with no clear winner between the two.

In the final show of the weekend, the High Jump competition had the crowd cheering on and the drivers continued to push their machines. Each monster got two jumps each to outperform the others. No official winner was announced to the enormous number of spectators in the stands, but Obsessed and Rat Attack clearly went the highest of all. In the fair closing freestyle, both Rat Attack and Unnamed & Untamed went for broke with superb slap wheelies, but McGruff put together an exciting run that had the fans cheering practically from start to finish by smashing the crush cars, and great sky wheelies to wrap things up for the monsters at the fair for 2015.

In other action, four daredevil freestyle motocross riders including a member of the famous Metal Mulisha wowed both the young and young at heart alike with spectacular tricks high above the arena floor. Well, we at “The Allen Report” are almost ready to catch a plane to Auburn, Indiana, home of the fifth Annual International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion, where four legendary monster truck personalities will become enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Thank you for reading, a sincere thanks to Zack McKinley and Grand Canyon State Promotions for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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