The Allen Report: All Star Monster Truck Tour – Phoenix, AZ 2013

March 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we look back to the end of last year, when a familiar sight returned to the Arizona State Fairgrounds with an interesting twist. Six monster trucks arrived over the first weekend of November. However, both halves of the field would be split into different shows over the weekend. Six shows happened over the three days. Every win was rewarded with points. Shows number one, three and five starred Rod Wood in El Perro Loco, Nasty Boy piloted by Travis Sturges and team owner Sam Sturges back in Unnamed and Untamed. All the other performances showcased Jimmy Lyons in Firedrill, Dawn Creten in control of Iron Outlaw and Darren Migues behind the wheel of Bounty Hunter.

In the first group of shows, Rod Wood had increasingly higher competition. He started his weekend with a clean sweep of wheelie contest, S-track obstacle course racing and freestyle on Friday. His opponents started to catch up when Nasty Boy got a win in wheelies, only to have his right front tire snap off upon landing. Undeterred by the snap of his streak, Rod just started another, winning both obstacle course and freestyle to maintain his lead. But when Sunday arrived, Nasty Boy shed off the pit rust quickly, winning both of the first two competitions before the Crazy Dog finally got his groove back with a 27 point win in freestyle.

Over in the other group, Bounty Hunter continued the game of “anything you can do, I can do” by duplicating Rod Wood’s clean sweep in his group’s first show. That evening, Darren started to do the same with a win in wheelies. But in obstacle course, Bounty Hunter suddenly shut off with the finish line just ahead, giving the win to Iron Outlaw. Darren Migues had everyone on notice in freestyle with an exciting run. But he could only tie with Dawn Creten. In the weekend’s final show, Jimmy Lyons finally found his winning wheelies, even with only rear wheel drive. But Darren Migues won in obstacle course and laid it all out in his final freestyle.

When all the points were tallied up, Rod Wood and El Perro Loco were declared the Arizona State Fair Overall Champions. The weekend also featured some thrilling “tuff truck” action and rides for all with the Boogie Monster.

For us at “the Allen Report”, next up caught a plane to northern Indiana to watch five legends of the monster truck sport receive induction into the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame. You’ll see that next week as we catch up on action from the end of 2013, thank you for reading, a grateful thank-you to All-Star Monster Trucks for hosting these great events, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Kaboom – Pomona, CA 2013

August 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we head up to the annual KaBoom show at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California where the show is sold out for the 11th consecutive year. There, five of the west coast’s meanest monster trucks fight for survival as well as each other in the dirt track course in the infield of the horse racing track. This year’s track warriors are: Roger Stidell in Destroyer, Tony Canedo in the legendary Play N’ 4 Keeps, California’s own Pat Gerber drove Shocker, and Tucson, Arizona’s Rod Wood in El Perro Loco. And finally, perennial Pomona favorite Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter, who had made the voyage up from Del Mar earlier that day.

With an odd-numbered field, the racing bracket was changed. Reigning champion Bounty Hunter would get a bye all the way to the final round and race the winner of a standard four-truck bracket. To start racing, Destroyer had a better card than Play N’ 4 Keeps. Then, Shocker put El Perro Loco in the dog pound to face Destroyer. In a photo finish, Shocker won the race. But in the process he broke the four-link bar, surrendering his chance at facing Bounty Hunter. For the money, Bounty Hunter nailed the tight hairpin turn at the far end then was first past the exit ramp of the freestyle mound to take the racing championship over Destroyer.

Shocker would be unable to freestyle as there was more broken than just the four-link bar. El Perro Loco, the wild dog from the high desert set the bar early with wheelies and smashing one of the motor homes. He was rewarded with a score of 34 out of 40. Destroyer would also give an honorable run, but Jimmy Creten was not to be denied. Clearing the huge center mound’s exit ramp, coasting through wheelies and fast, dusty cyclones had the crowd going wild. To finish his run, Bounty smashed a “double wide” motor home. Right on cue, the pyro experts sent off the preview fireworks, which set the stage for the annual grand final, the 4th of July fireworks. A perfect 40 erased all doubt who the winner was.

As well as the monsters and fireworks, four of the most daring freestyle motocross riders in the country warmed up the crowd with gravity-defying tricks like the “Indian-Air” and the “Superman”. But the crowd was calling for the favorite backflip, and the riders didn’t disappoint.

The next stop for us at “The Allen Report” is the world’s best monster truck figure-8 race at multi-purpose racing facility Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah. That being said, thank you for reading, a special thank you to our great friends at WGAS Motorsports for putting together this fun yearly event, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Monster Truck Show – Del Mar, CA 2013

July 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we make our annual trek to the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California for a series of showdowns between a national name and a home state hero. For the past several years, Kelvin Ramer and his Time Flys machine have made several attempts to replace Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter as King of the Del Mar monster trucks. And he was going to try again this year. However, this was no two truck show. Right behind Jimmy was Trent Montgomery in Iron Outlaw. But Kelvin had backup of his own. That was his own daughter, young Rosalee Ramer, driving Detour. Rick Swanson returned with Wrongway Rick to the place where it debuted one year ago. Son Eric Swanson drove his trophy truck bodied-monster wearing the normal Obsessed logo to round out the field.

Day one of three at Del Mar was the unique High Jump competition under NCAA rules. Bringing the bar down three times meant elimination. Clearing the bar meant raising it. The last truck that could still clear the bar was the winner. In the afternoon show, Bounty Hunter not only won but kept all four tires still on with a height of 8 feet, 2 inches. The evening show started the showdown. First, the 1934 Ford Coupe with Kelvin at the wheel threw down the gauntlet of 9 feet, 3 inches. Jimmy had the officials raise the bar even higher and still cleared it. Not to be outdone, Iron Outlaw and Detour jumped in to help their teammates. But when those two left the building, the game of “Top this!” truly began. It went on and on until the bar couldn’t go any higher. At a venue record 10 feet, 9 inches, Jimmy and Kelvin would tie for the win. But things were just getting started.

Day two was a wheelie competition. Longer distance plus higher vertical equaled more points. Trent Montgomery had come a long way in one day from smashing the High Jump bar the day before with an honorable run in the evening that held the lead until the last two and finished the day in third place. The elder Ramer showed he meant business, getting the loudest applause of the show up to that point in Time Flys. But Jimmy Creten won the Wheelie Competition at Del Mar last year and started the repeat with the crowd roaring for him. In the evening show, Time Flys gave it one last shot with power, slap and sky wheelies all in the same run. But Bounty Hunter rarely shares the trophy a second time. Double wheelies, tons of momentum and excellent pre-wheelie air gave the Tonganoxie, KS native the Wheelie contest win for the second year in a row by better than 10 points over second place. With only a day of all or nothing freestyle to go at Del Mar, Kelvin had only one more try to prevent Bounty Hunter from cleaning house.

Day three was all out freestyle. Bounty Hunter only pulled further into the lead in his first run with a very high score. But the win did not come without a price. Moments before his time expired, Jimmy blew a rod in his engine. Despite the crew’s best efforts, Bounty was out for the day, ending his chances of a clean sweep. With that, all signs appeared to point to Kelvin Ramer sharing the crown with the Bounty Hunter driver. But Time Flys would also find engine trouble. Eric Swanson and Obsessed had finished third place every competition they entered. This was the third day of at least one competition for Eric. By getting scores on the board and finishing his run, third time was the charm for Eric to take the day win. With three different winners in three days, the competition in the Del Mar arena remains tighter than ever.

Along with the monsters, trophy karts started the show on days one and two, while scaled down versions of mid-twentieth century dirt racing jalopies called mini dwarf cars did on day three. Next on the calendar for us is just a few hours up the road at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA, for the annual KaBoom with freestyle motocross, monster trucks and fireworks extravaganza. Well then, thank you for reading, a warm thank you to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Stadium Super Trucks – Los Angeles, CA 2013

May 2, 2013 by 1 Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we follow Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks series to the venue where Mickey Thompson first created stadium off road racing: the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Monster trucks had not been here since the dusk of the 1990s. In addition, stadium off road racing had not happened at the Coliseum for almost 20 years. So history was being made all night long. The mechanical gladiators of the night included not one, not two, but four Bigfoot trucks. Counterattacking the Bigfoot invasion were Darren Migues and Trent Montgomery in Bounty Hunter Blue and Iron Outlaw. The father and son Swanson team of Rick and Eric ran their new trophy truck bodies to wrap up the starting grid. Rick’s was purple and Eric’s was his signature blue.

The monsters had to race roundy-round “Chicago Style” on a half-blacktop, half dirt figure 8 track with a crossover jump in the middle with the winner first back to his starting jump. Once each lap, the drivers had to climb towards, drive through and around and free fall back down from the venue’s world famous arches. Getting a 12 foot wide monster truck through a 13 foot wide arch twice proved a formidable task.

Bigfoot trucks are always tough on long courses, as evidenced by every spot in the semi finals occupied by a team Bigfoot truck. The end of the night came a little sooner for Phoenix Champion Darren Migues, who saw his chances at repeating slip away when he had to back up to avoid cutting a turn beyond the arches too sharp. With two Bigfoot relative newcomers in one semi-final and two veterans of the same team in the other, the original monster truck team’s domination was unstoppable. The world’s only cow-themed monster continued to tame the tough track with a win over Kyle Doyle and Firestone #14 in the first semi-final race. Larry Swim and SPEED Energy #19 bested Dan Runte and Summit #18 to meet “Bessie” in the finals.

In the feature, Darron Schnell finally fired a blank as Larry Swim went on to victory for his truck’s sponsor, SPEED Energy, which made it an all orange night for eventual SST main event winner Robby Gordon. In other action, a former competitor in the Mickey Thompson Off Road Series named Jerry Whelchel was shown the money with a win in the Super Buggies main event.

Next up for us at “The Allen Report” is a monster marathon of three back to back days at the San Diego County Fair and the annual 4th of July Pomona, California, KaBoom event, all put together by our friends at WGAS Motorsports. That being said, thanks for reading, we wish much success to SST, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report – Monster Truck Show – Phoenix, AZ 2013

April 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, five regional favorites are pushed to the limit in two shows in a single day, the last day of the Maricopa County Fair. It was here, one year ago, where Grand Canyon State Promotions ventured into the world of monster trucks for the very first time. With the big crowd that followed last year, it made sense the monster trucks came back this year. The lineup looked like this: Tucson’s Rod Wood was in McGruff and Ronnie Sturges, as always, piloted Nasty Boy. His brother Travis filled in for their Uncle Sam in Unnamed & Untamed and a friend of the Sturges’ from just across the border in Mexico named Cesar Nunez took the helm of the sleek ’63 Corvette named Rat Attack. Finally, Jack Koberna, as always, drove Tuff-E-Nuff.

The race course of choice was “Minneapolis Style”, with the trucks starting in the middle and working their way around with the third jump representing the finish line. After Nasty Boy put McGruff in the dog pound, Rat Attack took the place of Unnamed against Tuff-E-Nuff after the 1942 Panel Wagon locked up both axles on the way to the starting line. Rat Attack won the right to face Nasty Boy in the first semi final. In the consolation race, McGruff got his groove back and tamed Tuff-E-Nuff to get another shot at the main event where Nasty Boy, having beaten Rat Attack, was there waiting. But history repeated itself when McGruff spun out in the final corner, giving the racing title to Ronnie Sturges. In the exhibition only freestyle, McGruff had some great air and kept the speed up very well. But the highlight came when Rat Attack launched off a starting line jump and followed it up with a slap wheelie before a tuff truck jump sent him on his side, much to the delight of the fans.

The evening show would see only 4 vehicles as Rat Attack’s rollover broke his hub inside the axle and it could not get fixed in time. But Unnamed & Untamed was back in the game with both third members in the axles fixed. In racing, McGruff rolled the dice one more time with Unnamed and won to advance to the finals. Nasty Boy downed Tuff-E-Nuff in the other semi to face Rod Wood for the third time in the same day. But first, the dark cloud finally lifted off of U & U when Travis Sturges drove to victory over New Mexico’s Jack Koberna in the third place race. In the main event, Rod Wood just could not stop the domination of Team Sturges at the Maricopa County Fair. Nasty Boy swept racing. To finish the night, all 4 trucks gave it all in a wild exhibition only freestyle. Jack Koberna, the southwest monster truck legend from New Mexico, threw out some huge air, a near vertical slap wheelie and some dusty donuts, much to the delight of the fans.

The shows also featured some tuff truck racing, freestyle motocross action and hilarious side by side SUV racing on the tuff truck course. For us at “The Allen Report”, we are headed over to Los Angeles next to cover Robby Gordon’s SST race at the venue where stadium off road racing all began, the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. So, thank you for reading, a huge thanks to Grand Canyon State Promotions for their hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Autism Speaks – Phoenix, AZ 2013

April 22, 2013 by 1 Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

At the time of this writing, just days remain before the first ever Stadium Super Trucks race at University of Phoenix Stadium. But before that, Team Bigfoot had some special audience members to please: Young people with autism. On World Autism Awareness Day dozens of families gathered in the stadium’s parking lot to watch Bigfoot #20 crush cars to benefit the team’s newest sponsor, Autism Speaks.

Driving duties went to Monster Truck Hall of Famer Jim Kramer. And there was no problem whatsoever with noise. Bigfoot #20 is the worlds first and, thus far, only all electric powered monster truck. So the biggest noise came from the cars themselves as the 66 inch tall tires rolled right over them. The night culminated in the unveiling of Team Bigfoot’s Autism Speaks body, complete with the company’s signature puzzle piece logo. The families must have loved it because they clapped and cheered and took many pictures of the new body.

Now the curtain is about to rise on Robby Gordon’s reboot of stadium off road racing, and more highlights are on the way from us here at “The Allen Report” from just that event. That being said, thank you for reading, thanks so much to University of Phoenix Stadium for hosting this touching event, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: NAPA Final Event Spectacular – Chandler, AZ 2013

April 21, 2013 by 2 Comments

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

After 30 years of offering a vast variety of motorsports to auto racing fans in the Valley of the Sun, Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ, will close. It was decided, however, to put on one more huge show and what better way to close things out on the Saturday before Easter than to do it with monster trucks, jet cars and Robosaurus. The NAPA Auto Parts Final Event Spectacular was a Saturday night only event. The featured monster trucks included: Jimmy Creten in the new Bounty Hunter Silver and wife Dawn Creten, as always, in Scarlet Bandit. Steven Thompson drove Iron Outlaw and Darren Migues flew the Red Baron. Team Bigfoot was in the house courtesy of Dan Runte in Summit Bigfoot #18. Finally, World Finals Young Guns Shootout competitor JR McNeal was in the driver’s seat of Razin Kane and TJ Tripp had Ice Cream Man at the ready.

Before the night’s mayhem began, a tremendous crowd piled in and stood in line to get autographs from their favorite drivers. The sun set and the action on the quarter-mile drag strip heated up. Jet cars versus funny cars started the action with passes down the strip of over 250 mph. This was followed by the finals of the drag racing whose heat races were run earlier in the day. The fans were then treated to Ed “the Outlaw” Jones in his wheel-standing horseless carriage who made a full quarter mile pass in 12 seconds only on his rear wheels.

Then it was time for the Monsters! The competition was to be freestyle and it got bigger and better with each truck. JR McNeal threw down the gauntlet early with a score of 27. Red Baron and Ice Cream Man also gave great efforts, but could only tie the current best score of 27. Scarlet Bandit and Iron Outlaw also excited the crowd with car crushing action but failed to wrestle the lead from the trio holding on to the high score. Dan Runte’s farewell freestyle to one of his favorite places to perform came to an end sooner than expected thanks to a flat tire after hitting the drag strip’s concrete wall. But for years, Jim Creten and The Bounty Hunter had had a lock on the Firebird Champion’s trophy. Over the years, many had tried to take the title from him, but all had failed. This year was no exception as two tremendous jumps threw away the key to that lock. The first jump had bright blue fireworks on either side of him as he entered the drag arena and the second was completely over Iron Outlaw and Red Baron parked side by side. He nailed a perfect 30, making him the Final Champion of Firebird Raceway. An incredible fireworks show followed the Monster Truck action then the stage was set for the car eating, fire breathing madness only Robosaurus can bring.

Up next for us at “The Allen Report” will be a demonstration car crush of the all electric Bigfoot #20 and the unveiling of the Autism Awareness Bigfoot #18 on Tuesday, April 2, which is World Autism Awareness day. Autism is very near to the heart for us at “The Allen Report” and we are very proud to be able to cover this very special event.

We will also be attending the first ever Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks race just down the road from us in University of Phoenix Stadium. There will be a full field of Monster Trucks providing racing action in addition to the Super Trucks. We will have a report.

Until then, thank you for reading, a very special thanks to Firebird Raceway for 30 years of motorsports action and hosting this great event one more time, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Stadium Super Trucks – Glendale, AZ 2013

April 9, 2013 by 9 Comments

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we cover NASCAR and off road favorite Robby Gordon’s effort to revive Mickey Thompson style stadium off road racing. The inaugural event of Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks featured eight of the best monster trucks in the west and it was just down the road from us at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. No less than five Bigfoot trucks were in the house. The rest of the competition was Darren Migues and Bounty Hunter along with the father and son team of Rick and Eric Swanson running special bodies on their Obsessed and Obsession chassis.

The first ever SST race featured a rare occurrence in that racing would be the only competition for the monster trucks. It was fascinating to watch the monsters battle each other side by side on an off road style track, with over-under jumps, hairpin turns and mid-race lane choice. Without a single true finish line, the winner would be first back to his starting line jump.

Once the quarter finals were complete, only Dan Runte and Larry Swim were still alive for Team Bigfoot with Bounty Hunter and Eric Swanson taking the other two spots in the semis. Darren was just too fast for Dan’s new Autism Speaks Bigfoot #18, but Larry Swim in the SPEED Energy Bigfoot machine downed Eric’s bright purple trophy truck to set up a classic Bounty Hunter/Bigfoot 2-lap finale.

In the main event, Bounty Hunter had the inside lane at his starting point and took full advantage of the route’s benefits. Despite Larry’s best efforts, the first ever Stadium Super Trucks Monster Truck Division Champion was Darren Migues and Bounty Hunter.

In front of a modest crowd, the first ever win of the Stadium Super Trucks main event, the “big show” of the series, went to Rob MacCachren. Rob is a former champion of SST’s predecessor, the Mickey Thompson Off Road Championship Gran Prix and was clearly thrilled to receive the first ever main event trophy. So, until you hear from us at “The Allen Report” again, thanks to University of Phoenix Stadium for their hospitality, thank you for reading, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Monster Jam – Phoenix, AZ 2013

January 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, the biggest field in the history of Monster Jam in the “Valley of the Sun” played their game to a sold-out crowd at Chase Field. The field of 16: Charlie Pauken represented Team Grave Digger. Familiar faces Batman with Norm Miller at the helm and Devastator driven by Mark Schroeder were also in the house. West Coaster Daron Basl drove King Krunch while sharing the seat of team truck Nitro Hornet with former Bigfoot and FELD driver Sky Hartley. Rookie Shane England rounded out the camp in Big Kahuna. Todd Leduc was back driving Metal Mulisha. Scott Buetow came piloting Team Hot Wheels Firestorm. Steven Hill took the wheel of Ground Pounder. Right behind him in the teammate Amsoil Shock Therapy was Dave Radzierez. Damon Bradshaw was present in Monster Energy. Hometown driver Rod Wood was there as always in McGruff. Mitch Tulachka and Shane Phreed returned in Jus’ Geter Done and Robo Machine. Pat Gerber and Shocker appeared and rounding out the field was first year driver J.P. Ruggiero in El Diablo.

From the first green light of the So-Cal style of racing, the monster from the Mulisha compound and the black and green wrecking machine were on a collision course with each other. Just four-tenths of a second separated them in qualifications. From there, the two bulldozed down the opposition. However, as Grave Digger came back to the pits after defeating Monster Energy in the semi-finals, there was smoke pouring from GD’s motor area. Unable to get fixed in time, Monster Energy took Digger’s place at the starting line where Metal Mulisha was there waiting. Halfway home at the “jammer” obstacle, Todd, a former short course off road racer, drifted a little too far out. From there, the win was Monster Energy’s. But the night’s action was far from over.

Nitro Hornet stung the field early with a score of 23. The Oregon native would remain the “hot seat” for a large part of the night. Then came the truck conceived by “the General” Brian Deegan and the other straight from the top secret Hot Wheels test facility. They both scored a 27 with the “coolest” monster truck around having a hair-thin edge of a single bonus point. Then on came the “Bad to the Bone” music. With the crowd roaring and the engine running on only seven cylinders, the 2010 Freestyle World Champion nailed huge air and had incredible speed followed by dizzying three-wheeled cyclones to take the winning score of 31, twenty-seven in regulation and no less than four bonus points for the win.

In other action, Team USA defeated Team Mexico in fast and furious quad war action. In addition, Tom Cunningham won the “off road truck-cross” main. From here, we at “The Allen Report” head out to Firebird Raceway for the last ever two day monster truck marathon on the merciless drag strip in Chandler, AZ. Till then, thank you for reading, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Speedworld Off Road Park Exhibition – Surprise, AZ 2012

October 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

We at The Allen Report were fortunate enough to have two monster trucks perform practically in “our backyard” at racing facility Speedworld Off Road Park in West Phoenix for the very first time. Eric Swanson, as usual, piloted Obsessed while his father Rick was at the helm of the new WrongWay Rick.

Much to the delight of the crowd, both monsters gave special pair freestyles especially for the short course off-road racing fans in attendance. Both Rick and Eric put on a great show, which was a great addition to coverage schedule as the year winds down.

Thank you for reading, a special thanks to Speedworld for their hospitality, enjoy the photos, and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Maverik Clash of the Titans – West Valley City, UT 2012

August 25, 2012 by 1 Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on The Allen Report, we come to you from the Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah where two of the biggest monster truck teams have to fight to get to victory lane. 2Xtreme Racing was represented by the black Bounty Hunter driven by Ben “Bobo” Winslow and, as always, Jimmy Creten in the blue Bounty Hunter. Dawn Creten, with Scarlet Bandit in tow, had embarrassing the boys on her mind and regular Hurricane Force driver Steven Thompson jumped into the Iron Outlaw for the very first time in a substitute role.

Representing Team Bigfoot was Dan Runte coming to RMR in the radical Bigfoot #18 for the very first time with Larry Swim behind the wheel of Vi-Cor Bigfoot “Bessie” #16. As always, the Salt Lake area’s own Maverik Monster Trakker was in the house driven by Ron Duncombe, and rounding out the field were the twin brothers Groth: Travis driving the ever patriotic Captain USA and Tyler driving the truck they had built from the ground up, Double Trouble.

From the start, the world’s only cow themed monster truck was driven to its limit, taking the number one spot as the sole driver to qualify in the 29 second range. Due to the odd number of competitors, Bessie got a bye run in the first round, but from there it only got harder. To face Bessie in the finals, both Bounty Hunters had to race each other, with the ever experienced Jimmy Creten in the Blue Bounty taking the win. Bigfoot #18 tried his hardest against his own teammate, but Larry, who drove Snake Bite to the finals in one race of this event a year ago, was not to be denied.

In the 2 lap grand finale, the event’s perennial racing finalist Bounty Hunter Blue got the matchup he wanted with Larry. But “the cow”, as the announcers called Bessie throughout the weekend, had the corners down better than any other driver, taking the Saturday night racing win, despite being behind at the start of the final lap.

As a prelude to freestyle the next day, a wheelie contest closed the first night. All drivers gave their best efforts, but the two time reigning champion, with now no chance for a three-peat, unleashed his truck’s inner beast, carrying a slap wheelie three-quarters of the length of the front straightaway. Not surprisingly, Dan’s score was an almost perfect 9.4 out of a potential 10.0 to take the win. But the weekend was far from over.

On Sunday, Dan and Bigfoot #18 had their eyes on the prize, and it showed. He was king of the hill once more in qualifying, missing his own track record by just seven-tenths of a second. Things took a turn on the wild side when Maverik Monster Trakker tried to make up for lost time against Bigfoot #18 in the quarter-finals, only to cartwheel hard on its roll cage in a savage crash. While Ron was only rattled, a continuous list of broken parts meant there was no saving the home state monster.

Dan’s march to the finals required him to take out the rising star they call “Bobo” in Bounty Hunter Black, and he delivered. Back in 2010, Jim Creten and Dan Runte had faced each other in the final round both nights, with Dan, at the time driving Retro Bigfoot #16, going two for two in those races. The final race of the weekend this year would mirror that sight, with Bounty Hunter fans watching in bitter disappointment as Runte took another racing trophy.

This time, the grand finale was all out freestyle. The four runner-up finishes in six final round races over the past three years made the former World Freestyle Champion even more determined, hitting everything with tremendous speed, creativity in a class all its own, and unbeatable air on every obstacle and erased all doubt about who the winner was. The Tonganoxie, Kansas native narrowly edged out Larry Swim in Bessie who also had an excellent run with a score of 36.85, stopping the Bigfoot clean sweep and winning freestyle at RMR for the third time in as many years.

As usual, the entire weekend saw Basalt, Idaho’s own Ron Barrows and his ride truck called “Thumper” giving rides to everyone who wanted one. With a different racing winner each night, there was no Undisputed Champion for the first time since “The Allen Report” started representing TMB in West Valley City. But as both racing winners had the name Bigfoot on the sides of their trucks, the overall racing winner was team Bigfoot.

Next up for us is the 2nd Annual International Monster Truck Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, where legends become immortals. Until that time, thank you for reading, a special thanks to everyone at Rocky Mountain Raceways for their wonderful hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Kaboom Monster Truck Show – Pomona, CA 2012

July 29, 2012 by 1 Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

The annual KaBoom! Event in Pomona, CA, has been sellout every year since its inception in 2002. Its 10th birthday was celebrated side by side with America’s birthday by again being held on the 4th of July. The Monster Trucks performing were Jimmy Creten in bounty Hunter, Geno Kinal in Iron Outlaw, Kelvin Ramer in Time Flys, Rosalee Ramer in Detour and Eric Swanson in Obsessed.

To get the crowd pumped up for the monster trucks, four of the most fearless freestyle motocross riders you could find had the crowd screaming for the favorite – The Backflip, and the riders, including Metal Mulisha representative Jimmy Fitzpatrick, delivered.

But the show soon became a nightmare for Jimmy Creten really fast. Despite a bye all the way to the finals where Iron Outlaw joined him, the former World Champion broke a ring and pinion in the front differential right off the starting line of the Chicago-style, Roundy-round course, causing him to wash out on both turns, and giving up the win to his teammate, Iron Outlaw. The front end mechanical goblins, which had followed him up to Pomona from Del Mar, proved too much for Jimmy to fix in time and the entertainer had to have the curtain come down early.

Similarly, Eric Swanson in Obsessed lost second gear and had difficulty finishing his freestyle run, just barely clearing the big center jump. Iron Outlaw and Kelvin Ramer in Time Flys performed the duet freestyle finale, crashing through the extra long mobile home much to the crowd’s excitement. Iron Outlaw was declared the freestyle winner with Rosalee and Detour finishing a strong second.

The fans forgot all about being sad about Bounty Hunter breaking when the opening fireworks went off, saying “goodbye” and “thank you for coming” with a BANG!

Next for us at “The Allen Report” is one of the biggest monster truck shows of the summer. Every August, some of the biggest players of the monster truck game gather at the Rocky Mountain Raceways in Wet Valley City, Utah for a “Clash of the Titans”. “The Allen Report” will be there to cover the activities. Thank you for reading, a special thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their wonderful hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: Monster Truck Show – Del Mar, CA 2012

July 29, 2012 by 2 Comments

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This edition of “The Allen Report” comes to you from Del Mar, California where Jimmy Creten in the Bounty Hunter is thinking San Diego County Fair Championship three-peat. Rick Swanson has introduced a new body design called WrongWay Rick. The other participants were Kelvin Ramer and Time Flys, the Youngest Female Professional Monster Truck Driver in the World, Rosalee Ramer in Detour, Eric Swanson the Youngest Professional Male driver in the World in Obsessed and Russell Steeley in Iron Outlaw.

The monsters would be competing at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar in two shows a day for four days with a different contest each day. The combined scores from both shows in the same day would determine the day’s winner. Day 1 consisted of a high jump contest. Detour jumped 9 feet 2 inches in the first afternoon show and a roof-raising 12 feet 8 inches for a day total of 21 feet, 10 in to take the first win.

Day 2 was a wheelie contest day. This saw Eric Swanson nail a well executed wheelie in Obsessed, but broke a ring and pinion a monster at the same time. However, Jimmy Creten had his game together, never once getting a wheelie that was less than vertical and the length of the floor to take the win.

Day 3 featured a long jump contest with football field style measurements. Fan favorite Time Flys jumped a respectable 64 feet but that was only good enough for 4th place in the early afternoon show. But then came the late afternoon show and the 1934 Ford flew a neck wrenching 71 feet. These two distances made him the 3rd different winner in 3 days of competition.

The 4th and final day was a full blown freestyle. The trophy cart races were fast and furious, but the crowd was anxious to get down to the meat and potatoes. Bounty Hunter did not disappoint. His perfect 40 in both shows of the day made Jimmy Creten a 3 time San Diego County Fair Undisputed Champion.

Next up for us at “The Allen Report” will be the 4th of July celebration called simply KaBoom! at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA. Many thanks for reading, a special thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their hospitality and access to the pits and drivers, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals – Springfield, MO 2012

May 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

When the 2011 4 Wheel Jamboree season rolled around, Dan Runte was back and ready to stop the Hall Brothers decade long win streak. When all was said and done, Dan stood head and shoulders above the rest, bringing the trophy back to Midwest 4-Wheel Drive. Now another battle royal for the 4 Wheel Jamboree Series Title has begun in Springfield, MO. Dan Runte was driving the new E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot #18 with sophomore season driver Darron Schnell with him in Vi-Cor Bigfoot “Bessie” #11. Those two went up against Mark Hall and Mat Dishman in Raminator and Rammunition. The other trucks in the field of ten were Bobby Holman in Lucas Oil Stabilizer with Michelle Simpson and Chalkboard Chuck, regular Stomper driver Joe Nichter with the General Tire body on the Ironman chassis and Dave Radzierez driving both Star Marshall and the XDP sponsored Diesel Monster Truck. Rounding out the field was Australian Champion Clive Featherby and Outback Thunda.

The track construction crew put together a brand new, “Double S” race course. The two trucks complete half a clock-wise roundy-round lap before making a hairpin turn to the left and flying over one more jump to the finish line. After some photo finishes, tight turns and a lot of dust, the semi-finals featured the Rammunition gunning down the reigning champion Bigfoot, while Bigfoot Bessie “udderly” embarrassed the Stabilizer. In the finale, it was neck and neck all the way to the end where Mat stood on the throttle and edged out the world’s only dairy themed monster truck by less than a truck length. In the following freestyle and the second show freestyle (which was the only competition for the second show with no racing), no official winner was crowned, but the fans cheered on.

The second day of racing saw only 7 trucks hit the track for the afternoon and only show on Sunday. Star Marshall gave up his two front tires to make up for a broken rim on the Stabilizer. Bigfoot Bessie had blown a motor the night before during freestyle and the XDP Diesel had some gear problems that were fixed but a steering line was also broken with no chance of being fixed in time.

In racing, the Aussie legend went head to head with the American legend Bigfoot #18 in the first semi final. It was neck and neck until Clive spun out in the final corner leading up to the final jump. Mat Dishman demoted the General and 20 plus year veteran Joe Nichter in the other semi to put together a classic Hall Brothers/Bigfoot finale. For the first two-thirds of the race there was no clear leader until Bigfoot went into the final corner too hot, giving the Hemi powered Rammunition the weekend sweep. Like the night before, there was no winner in freestyle. But the best runs of the day belonged to “Horse with Attitude” Outback Thunda and the 10 time champion Dan Runte. Both drivers pushed their trucks to the limit, much to the increasing noise from the crowd.

Throughout the weekend, the Sergeant Smash ride truck gave rides to anyone who wanted one and Kid KJ & The Lil’ Mighty Monsters both raced and gave freestyle runs, showing the future of the monster truck industry looks bright. With two Bigfoot/Hall Brothers battles in two races, this reporter is confident that the rivalry can only get hotter as the season winds down. Right now: Hall Brothers 2; Bigfoot 0. Next stop for The Allen Report is the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California over Independence Day weekend. In the meantime, thanks to Family Events for their hospitality, enjoy the photos, thank you for reading and cheer on!

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The Allen Report: NAPA Monster Truck Nationals – Chandler, AZ 2012

May 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona has something for just about any racing fan. Throughout the year, the track hosts the opening and closing races for off-road racing, one round of hydroplane racing, the second race of the year in NHRA pro drag racing and every April, one of the biggest monster truck shows the Grand Canyon State has to offer: the NAPA Auto Parts Monster Truck Nationals. This year’s competitors were: Jim Koehler in Avenger and Chris Bergeron in Brutus from Team Scream, Jimmy Creten driving Bounty Hunter was back to defend his crown from the past several years along with Ben Winslow in Iron Outlaw from 2Xtreme Racing, and rounding out the field were Dan Runte in Summit Bigfoot #18 and home state favorite Sam Sturges in Unnamed & Untamed.

Saturday night saw the wheelie, donut and freestyle contest each with a total score of 30 for each contest, with whoever getting the closest to an overall perfect score of 90 taking the trophy. Sam and Unnamed & Untamed nearly repeated his incredible move from this show 5 years ago, but did not end up on all fours, suffering a hard rollover. Sam was okay. As it had been the past two years, all eyes were on Team Scream and 2Xtreme Racing. Both Brutus and Avenger gave applause worthy runs and they also impressed the judges. But Bounty Hunter got the highest scores of all three competitions, two of which were perfect 30’s and the freestyle attempt, which included a jump over Iron Outlaw, gave the Tonganoxie, Kansas based team the Saturday night victory with a nearly perfect score of 86.

Sunday saw only two of those same competitions as the wheelie contest was cancelled thus bringing a perfect combined score down to 60. Bounty Hunter was off to a great start in the donut contest when his motor blew. This eliminated any chances of a Sunday donut win. Bigfoot had problems of his own, breaking a rear axle part called the third member bringing the end of his day a little sooner. The win went to Brutus, despite great efforts from teammate Avenger. When the points race was won and the smoke plume cleared Chris had combined his donut efforts with a wicked freestyle to execute an almost perfect 56 point effort, claiming the Sunday win. Still, Bounty Hunter’s combined winning number from the night before was the higher of the two, ensuring that the new Firebird champion was the same as the old champion, Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter.

Also in the show was Robosaurus, a 40 foot tall, 60,000 pound car eating, fire breathing transforming dinosaur that thrilled kids and adults alike with his car eating, breaking and burning. Jelly Belly Ed Jones also performed with his wheel standing stage coach and bags of Jelly Bellies. He went 100+ mph in the quarter mile all on his back wheels. Finally, Ronnie Sturges, Sam’s nephew, drove the “Boogie Monster” ride truck all afternoon on both days.

For us at The Allen Report, we’re now off to Springfield, Missouri for our first ever 4 Wheel Jamboree; where it all began for monster trucks just under 40 years ago. In the meantime, thank you for reading and a special thanks to a great sponsor of Firebird Raceway, Loud Pedal Motorsports, for their hospitality under the blazing Arizona sun. Enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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