Monster Photos: Toughest Monster Truck Tour – West Plains, MO 2015

Event Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Heart of the Ozarks Fairgrounds
Location: West Plains, Missouri
Date: August 22nd, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dawg Pound (Vern House), Heavy Hitter (Derrick Anson), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Scarlet Bandit (Dawn Creten), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Dan Runte) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Toughest Monster Truck Tour – Cedar Park, TX 2015

Event Information

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Cedar Park Center
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
Date: August 14th-15th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Big Kahuna (Shane England), Dawg Pound (Vern House), Heavy Hitter (Derrick Anson), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Dan Runte) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Back to School Monster Truck Bash – Concord, NC 2015

Event Information

Event: Back to School Monster Truck Bash
Venue: The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Location: Concord, North Carolina
Date: August 8th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Avenger (Jim Koehler), Gun Slinger (Scott Hartsock), Heavy Hitter (Derrick Anson), Hooked (Steven Sims Jr.), River Rat (Vern House), Stone Crusher (Steve Sims), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Dan Runte), Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: East Texas Summer Spectacular – Lufkin, TX 2015

Event Information

Event: East Texas Summer Spectacular
Venue: Angelina County Expo Center
Location: Lufkin, Texas
Date: July 31st-August 1st, 2015
Photographer: Matthew Ison (Check out Matthew Ison Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Amsoil Shock Therapy (Roddy Fahnestock), Big Chief (Chris Trussell), Gun Slinger (Scott Hartsock), Predator (Allen Pezo), Pouncer (Ron Nelson), Tantrum (James Chandler) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals – Springfield, MO 2015

Event Information

Event: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Venue: Ozark Empire Fairgrounds
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Date: August 1st, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Trent Montgomery), Iron Outlaw (Brian Maes), Smashosaurus (Dale Gerding), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Show – Farmington, MO 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Show
Venue: St. Francois County Raceway
Location: Farmington, Missouri
Date: July 31st, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Ballistic (Dale Gerding), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Dan Runte), Wicked Sickness (Mark Andrew) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Mechanical Mayhem – Amite, LA 2015

Event Information

Event: Mechanical Mayhem
Venue: Florida Parishes Arena
Location: Amite, Louisiana
Date: July 31st-August 1st, 2015
Photographer: Matthew Ison (Check out Matthew Ison Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Amsoil Shock Therapy (Steven Hill), Ballistic (James Chandler), Ground Pounder (Roddy Fahnestock), Sudden Impact (Chad Poston), Tantrum (Dillon Fenley) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Nationals – Wheatland, MO 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster Nationals
Venue: Lucas Oil Speedway
Location: Wheatland, Missouri
Date: July 25th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Lucas Oil Bigfoot #21 (Chris Ludwig), Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Smashosaurus (Dale Gerding), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: Monster Truck Show – Pomona, CA 2015

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “the Allen Report”, we once more venture to the Fairplex in Pomona, California, a town rich in motorsport history as the birthplace of the modern day drag racing funny car and a host city of one of the first ever stadium off road event produced by the legendary Mickey Thompson. But on Fourth of July, it was all about gear grinding monster trucks. Jim and Dawn Creten made the trip up from Del Mar with Bounty Hunter and Scarlet Bandit ready to thrill the fans, as did Tony Canedo, only this time pulling double duty in Play N’ 4 Keeps and Enforcer. And nineteen year old rising star Eric Swanson was in town ready to perform in his sharp looking off road bodied Obsessed monster. When a huge crowd piled in, all things appeared to point to an action packed night, and all the performers delivered.

To start the action, a new Pomona tradition was born when “the Rocketman” Choche Valencia had fans marveling at his one-hundred and fifty-five foot leap out of a cannon into the safety of a big net. Next were the daredevil freestyle motocross riders, notably the leader of the “Fitz Army”, Metal Mulisha’s own Jimmy Fitzpatrick. The fans cheered on and on as the riders went bigger and bigger with the tricks, ultimately culminating in backflip variations.

The monsters got off to roaring starts too, with roundy-round racing setting the bar for what was to come. Dawn Creten and Eric Swanson faced off for the right to face Bounty Hunter in the super final. A slow start and hitting one the turning tires slowed down Eric, giving Dawn a rematch against her husband from Del Mar. Jim Creten rarely makes the same mistake and he did not here, crossing the finish line just ahead of Scarlet Bandit. Freestyle began with Eric Swanson getting great air off the bread truck and doing some excellent donuts. Tony Canedo and Play N’ 4 Keeps gave great wheelie efforts and were rewarded with the crowd’s cheers. But Jim Creten showcased why he won the Freestyle World Title in 2005, with huge speed, smashing through a motor home and completely vertical wheelstands. To finish off the monster action, the others joined Bounty Hunter on the stadium floor and drove up and over the huge center mound, leading to all the monsters doing side by side donuts to ignite the initial fireworks as a prelude to what was just a few moments away. A spectacular fireworks show, with hearts and happy faces to almost any color conceivable had the crowd gasping and cheering deep into the night.

Well then, we at “The Allen Report” are going to take a little time off, but when we return, you will have access to monster truck figure-8 racing, courtesy of our friends at Rocky Mountain Raceways. Til that day, thank you for reading, a special thank-you to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2015.

The Allen Report: Monster Truck Show – Del Mar, CA 2015

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we travel back to the San Diego County Fair, a place that, for one hundred years, has delivered on fun rides, great food and exciting entertainment. And on the first, second and third of July, the entertainment was in the Del Mar Arena, where seven ground pounding monster trucks arrived to do battle in wheelie contest the first day, freestyle the second and, on the third day, qualifying in the afternoon and racing in the evening. The husband and wife team of Jim and Dawn Creten came to town, Jim in his sleek new black and yellow Bounty Hunter and Dawn in her traditional Scarlet Bandit. The “Flying Spaniard” Tony Canedo drove his newly purchased Survivor and Roger Stidell, as usual, piloted the trophy truck bodied Destroyer. The father-daughter team of Kelvin and Rosalee Ramer were in the house to defend their southern California home turf, Kelvin in his 1934 Ford Coupe Time Flys and Rosalee in her usual Wild Flower. Finally, Rick Swanson and his crowd-amazing Wrongway Rick arrived.

On the first day, the wheelie competition was heated. Rosalee Ramer showed how far she has come in only three years of competition with almost perfect verticality and great distance. Not to be outdone, her father Kelvin managed to get his monster on its back tires incredibly well, going vertical more than once. But Jim Creten had his wheelies down pat, often coasting mid-wheelie and not wasting any time. A perfect score of thirty saw Jim Creten take the afternoon show win. Only a few hours later, the crowd was back in the arena and so were the monsters. The Wild Flower driver gave admirable efforts, successfully going vertical on a couple occasions. But Jim Creten was unstoppable, shoving his wheelie bar deep into the dirt, not letting off the gas and delivering fantastic distance to get the double victory.

The second day saw high flying freestyle. Rick Swanson proved the namesake of his truck by getting good air, established great flow from one jump to the next, and, as always, finished off his run with some great donuts. Or reverse donuts, depending on which way he was going. Tony Canedo gave honorable attempts in Survivor’s freestyle run, but numerous teething problems hindered the trucks performance, and it showed on the judges’ scorecards. But Jim and Bounty Hunter are former World Champions, and they threw down. Cyclones, big air, great wheelies, you name it, Jim Creten did it. Even though his streak of perfect scores came to an end, it was still high enough to get the double victory.

During first show qualifying on the third and final day, Rosalee Ramer had officials looking at their stopwatches in amazement as she clocked in an incredible 13.40 seconds on the roundy-round course. Even Jim Creten and Bounty Hunter couldn’t overtake the multitalented eighteen year old, just more than one tenth of a second off the fastest time. With an odd numbered field, it was decided that Bounty Hunter would get a bye into the final round where the winner of a standard four truck bracket would face him. With the chance to face the winner from the past two straight days on the line, Rosalee Ramer and Dawn Creten faced off in an all female semi-final. In the first turn, Rosalee rolled hard into the freestyle ramp. Only the truck was damaged in the rollover and Rosalee was A-OK. Spectacular as it was, Dawn Creten won by default and with it the right to face her husband for the championship. The black and yellow Bounty Hunter crossed the finish line first, but WGAS officials concluded that Jim hit the second ramp with only one tire, costing him the race and the clean sweep. The overall Racing victory went to Dawn Creten, in only her third set of shows since April of this year, proving that the unbelievable horsepower extends to all members of Team 2Xtreme.

The crowd was also treated to Mini Dwarf car and Junior Outlaw Sprint car racing preceding each set of monster chaos. Numerous attempts to overtake and several close finishes had the crowd on edge from flag to flag more than once. The lack of repeat winners in either class showcased how competitive motor racing is, no matter the size of car.

And that’s a wrap from us here in Del Mar, as we next head north of Los Angeles to Pomona, where Fourth of July fireworks, backflipping freestyle motocross, even more monster action and a brand new stunt await us. That said, thank you for reading, a sincere thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2015.

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Show – Galesburg, IL 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Show
Venue: Knox County Fair
Location: Galesburg, Illinois
Date: July 15th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Ghost Ryder (Larry Quick), Incinerator (Ryan Rice), La Chica Loca (Shannon Quick), Mechanical Mischief (Jim Burns), Rattler Tank (Ronnie Rice) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Racing League – Brownstown, IL 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Racing League
Venue: Fayette County Speedway
Location: Brownstown, Illinois
Date: July 17th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Amalie Motor Oil Xtermigator (Jimmy Walker), Heavy Hitter (Derrick Anson), Ice Cream Man (Roy Pridgeon), Midnight Rider (Tom Herzog), River Rat (Vern House), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Truck Racing League – Troy, MO 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster Truck Racing League
Venue: Lincoln County Fair
Location: Troy, Missouri
Date: July 18th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Amalie Motor Oil Xtermigator (Jimmy Walker), Ice Cream Man (Roy Pridgeon), Midnight Rider (Tom Herzog), Monster Medic (Rich Blackburne), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals – Bloomsburg, PA 2015

Event Information

Event: 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals
Venue: Bloomsburg Fairgrounds
Location: Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Date: July 10th-12th, 2015
Photographer: Katelin White (Check out Katelin White Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Avenger (Jim Koehler), General Tire (Steve Koehler), Lucas Oil Bigfoot #18 (Larry Swim), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Retro Bigfoot #14 (Josh Gibson), Summit Bigfoot #21 (Dan Runte), XDP (Dave Radzierez) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: No Limits Monster Truck Summer Nationals – Ardmore, OK 2015

Event Information

Event: No Limits Monster Truck Summer Nationals
Venue: Southern Oklahoma Speedway
Location: Ardmore, Oklahoma
Date: July 10th-11th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Freedom Keeper (Kaylyn Migues), Monster Patrol (Michael Phelps), Nitro Menace (Darren Migues), Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell), Wild Thang (Doug Charles) [Read more…]