Monster Truck Show – Del Mar, CA – 07/02-03/10

Event:  Monster Truck Show
Venue:   San Diego County Fairgrounds
Location:  Del Mar, California
Date:  July 2nd-3rd, 2010
Photographer:  Jim Allen

Lineup:  Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Fired Up (Justin Cluster), Iron Outlaw (Russell Steeley), Obsession (Rick Swanson), Obsessed (Jeff Jones), Time Flys (Kelvin Ramer) [Read more…]

Firebird Raceway NAPA Monster Truck Nationals Coverage

TMB coverage has been a staple at Firebird International Raceway over the last 5 years and this year is no different as we present to you coverage from this past April’s NAPA Monster Truck Nationals!! Our awesome contributors Jim and Chris Allen were on hand to provide the great write-ups and amazing photos from each show. In addition, our own Lauren & Lynette Bonar attended the Saturday event to bring you more great video coverage from one of the southwest’s biggest events. So read on below to enjoy Christopher Allen’s great recap from the events:

“There once was a time in the monster truck racing sport when if you broke, you did not bother to try and fix it in time for the next round. Once that happened, you could just load your truck on the trailer and go on home. The fans would have known you with the dreaded words “out for the night”. Then came freestyle and this was less often the case. But, as we will see, the words “out for the night” are not in the dictionary of “Team Scream”, especially when they are competing at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona for the annual NAPA Auto Parts Monster Truck Nationals.

The participants, along with Avenger and Brutus driven by Jim Koehler and Chris Bergeron, were Dan Runte and Bigfoot #16, Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter, Firebird regulars Travis Sturges filling in for Uncle Sam Sturges in Unnamed and Untamed, brother Ronnie driving Nasty Boy, and returning to Firebird were Mike Hawkins in Equalizer after a couple years away, along with teammate Isaiah Morales in Hot Tamale.

Following some 300 mph jet car action, exciting introductions and an Independence Day rivaling fireworks show, was the long jump competition. Hot Tamale was the opener and made a nice jump, slightly tagging the freestyle van stack just off the landing. Nasty Boy, more known for wheelies, didn’t quite make the distance. Then came Brutus. He just didn’t make it in the actual jump, but then tried to make up for it by attacking the tire pyramid, but when he did, disaster struck. To find out how, check out the video coverage and photos! Following Brutus’ clearing of the track, Unnamed & Untamed, Equalizer, Avenger and Bigfoot each tried and failed to beat Hot Tamale, but then came Bounty Hunter. He easily made the distance, then ran into the van stack but saved it to take the win.

Freestyle is often the “Main Event” of monster truck shows, and tonight was no different. Each driver put his truck’s major horsepower to the ground to out-perform the next guy. Mr. Runte is always a potential winner at Firebird and got a near-perfect score of 29. Then the shocker of the night came with the return of Brutus, having been fixed just in the nick of time. Showing no mercy, the other half of the loudest interviewees in the sport hit literally every obstacle the track threw at him. With a perfect score of 30, all Mr. Creten could do was tie. And that is exactly what he did.

The announcer then got word that since there cannot be co-winners in the race to get a highest total score for the weekend to become the year’s undisputed champion, it was decided that the showdown Firebird fans long deserved would occur the next day. With one wild, rabid dog in one corner and a hard to beat old west tracker in the other, Sunday might very well see the greatest throw-down in Firebird history.

The NAPA Monster Truck Nationals employs an interesting championship crowning system each year. The distance in the long jump is calculated with the scores in freestyle and whoever has the highest distance-score combination wins, and that driver has been Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter several times as of recent memory. But there was another driver, Chris Bergeron and Brutus, who also scored a perfect 30 on Saturday night, making this war arguably Jimmy’s greatest Firebird challenge yet.

Unique to Firebird Raceway is the challenge of having to watch out for swarms of bees around the facility. A slight bee attack delayed the show about half an hour, making the monster truck drivers’ job even harder, but they did not disappoint. Bounty Hunter made the first jump in the jump off contest look easy. Truck after truck came after him only to fall short. Then came a fired up Jim Kohler with Avenger that had two things on his mind: slowing down Brutus and beating Bounty Hunter. After he made the jump that looked almost identical to Jim Creten’s, the fans knew this was going to be close heading into the finale, the winner take all freestyle.

The first freestyle is always a challenge but the Bounty Hunter driver showed he did not fear anyone who followed, if his freestyle, which was worth a 28 point score, said anything. The remaining headliners, Avenger and Bigfoot must have been paying attention, because they showed no mercy, either. But when it was all said and done, Jimmy and Bounty Hunter, with three wins and one tie, overall never finishing out of the top two all weekend, was declared the undisputed monster truck champion of the 2010 NAPA Monster Truck Nationals.

Hopefully, Firebird Raceway fans went away with some new memories and even some new fans of the monster truck racing sport were made. The bee attack notwithstanding, another great show at the historic race track is in the books.” – Coverage By Chris Allen

Thanks again to Christopher for the great write-up of this year’s event. Now click the links below to see Jim Allen’s incredible photos from the event and also Lynette Bonar’s great video coverage. Thanks to all our TMB’ers for the great job out in Firebird this year.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW JIM ALLEN’S FIREBIRD RACEWAY PHOTO GALLERY

CLICK HERE TO VIEW LYNETTE BONAR’S FIREBIRD VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

NAPA Monster Truck Nationals – Chandler, AZ – 04/24-25/10

Event:  NAPA Monster Truck Nationals
Venue:  Firebird International Raceway
Location:  Chandler, Arizona
Date:  April 24-25th, 2010
Photographer:  Jim Allen

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Hot Tamale (Isaiah Morales), Nasty Boy (Ronnie Sturges), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Unnamed & Untamed (Sam Sturges) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 2.15 – Montreal, Quebec

Event:  Monster Spectacular
Venue:  Olympic Stadium
Location:  Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Date:  October 24th, 2009
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographer:  Colby Marshall, Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup:  Aftershock (Bob Robbins), Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bigfoot #15 (Rick Long), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Excaliber (Chris Ryan), Ghost Ryder (Larry Quick), Iron Outlaw (Joe Miller), Native Warrior (Mark Noto), Samson (Dan Patrick), Weapon One (Rich Hilgendorf), Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 2.13 – Springdale, AR / Lawton, OK

Events:  Monster X Tour & Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venues:  Parsons Stadium & Lawton Rangers Rodeo Arena
Locations:  Springdale, Arkansas & Lawton, Oklahoma
Dates:  September 12th & September 19th, 2009
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographer:  Kaedon Berry, Colby Marshall

Lineup (Springdale):  Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Gun Slinger (Scott Hartsock), The General (Don King), Wildmann (Chad Yeager)
Lineup (Lawton):  1/2 Pint (Travis Sturges), Bounty Hunter (Jay McPherson), Iron Outlaw (Joe Miller), Nasty Boy (Ronnie Sturges), Unnamed & Untamed (Sam Sturges) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 2.10 – Trucks & Tractor Power

Event(s):  NTPA Grand Nationals & Monsters In The Valley
Venue:  Lincoln County Fairgrounds & Grain Valley Speedway
Location:  Troy, Missouri & Grain Valley, Missouri
Date:  July 17th-18th, 2009
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers:  Colby Marshall, Kaedon Berry

Lineup (Troy):  NTPA 2WD Trucks, Mini Modifieds, Light Super Stocks, Super Semis
Lineup (Grain Valley):  Bar’s Leaks Eliminator (Greg Adams), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Jay McPherson), Iron Outlaw (Dawn Creten), Mechanical Mischief (Jim Burns), Rislone Defender (Zach Adams) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: RPM Fest – LaPorte, IN 2009

Event: RPM Fest
Venue: LaPorte County Fairgrounds
Location: LaPorte, Indiana
Date: May 29th-31st, 2009
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bar’s Leaks Eliminator (Greg Adams), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Cult Energy Activator (Sean Duhon), Excaliber (Kristy Edge), Geter Done (Mitch Tulachka), Havoc (Butch Tulachka), Hushpower Diesel (Dave Radzierez), Predator (Allen Pezo), Prowler (Lenny Kuilder), Rislone Defender (Zach Adams), Sudden Impact (Ben Winslow), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), War Wizard (Randy Moore) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 2.9 – LaPorte, IN

Event:  Monster Truck Nationals
Venue:  LaPorte County Fairgrounds Fairgrounds
Location:  LaPorte, Indiana
Date:  May 29th-31st, 2009
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers:  Colby Marshall, Shane Skinner

Lineup:  Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bar’s Leaks Eliminator (Greg Adams), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Cult Energy Activator (Sean Duhon), Excaliber (Kristy Edge), Geter Done (Mitch Tulachka), Havoc (Butch Tulachka), Hushpower Diesel (Dave Radzierez), Predator (Allen Pezo), Prowler (Lenny Kuilder), Rislone Defender (Zach Adams), Sudden Impact (Ben Winslow), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), War Wizard (Randy Moore) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 2.8 – Miami, OK

Event:   O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Venue:   Miami Fairgrounds
Location:  Miami, Oklahoma
Date:  May 8th-9th, 2009
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers:  Colby Marshall, Kaedon Berry

Lineup:  Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Brute Force (Jerry Perry), Crashmaster (Jeremy Perry), Ice (Jordan Austin), Martial Law (Paul Strong), Nitemare (Andy Hoffman), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 2.6 – Chandler, AZ

Event:  NAPA Monster Truck Nationals
Venue:  Firebird International Raceway
Location:  Chandler, Arizona
Date:  April 25th-26th, 2009
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers:  Shane Skinner, Lynette Bonar

Lineup:  1/2 Pint (Ronnie Sturges), Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bigfoot #15 (Rick Long), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Nasty Boy (Ronnie Sturges), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Unnamed & Untamed (Sam Sturges) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 1.5 – Madison, IL

Event:  Monster Truck Challenge
Venue:  Gateway International Raceway
Location:  Madison, Illinois
Date:  July 26th, 2008
Host:  Kyle Doyle
Videographer:  Colby Marshall

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Steve Koehler), Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Hot Tamale (Troy Rose), Nitemare (Andy Hoffman), Raminator (Mark Hall), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: MEGA Monster Truck Tour – Sedalia, MO 2008

Event Information

Event: MEGA Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Missouri State Fairgrounds
Location: Sedalia, Missouri
Date: June 28th, 2008
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Truck Lineup

Bearfoot (Doug Charles), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), El Matador (Daron Basl), King Krunch (David Smith), Viper (Rich Blackburne) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 1.3 – Miami, OK

Event:  O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Venue:  Miami Fairgrounds
Location:  Miami, OK
Date:  May 9th-10th, 2008
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographer:  Shane Skinner

Lineup:  Ballistic (Mac Plecker), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brute Force (John White), Iron Outlaw (Jay McPherson), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), War Wagon (Andy Hoffman) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 1.2 – Chandler, AZ

Event:  Tire Pros Monster Truck Nationals
Venue:  Firebird International Raceway
Location:  Chandler, AZ
Date: April 26th-27th, 2008
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographer: Lynette Bonar

Lineup:  Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Iron Outlaw (Kreg Christensen), Nasty Boy (Ronnie Sturges), Q Torque Power (Darren Migues), Sudden Impact (Kevin King), Summit Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Traxxas T-Maxx (Sean Duhon), Unnamed & Untamed (Sam Sturges) [Read more…]