TMB TV: MT Unlimited 5.2 – Monster X Tour – Bakersfield, CA 2014

tmbtv_mtu

Episode Information

Episode: MT Unlimited 5.2
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Rabobank Arena
Location: Bakersfield, California
Date: January 17th-18th, 2014
Videographer: Colby Marshall

Featured Monster Trucks

California Kid – Tehvyn Goodwin
Mega Merc – Devin Ball
Monster Truck Mafia Bigfoot #19 – Larry Swim
Nasty Boy – Travis Sturges
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Unnamed & Untamed – Sam Sturges

Featured Links

www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com
www.StugesMotorsports.com
[/column] [Read more...]

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 5.1 – Monster X Tour – Stockton, CA 2014

tmbtv_mtu

Episode Information

Episode: MT Unlimited 5.1
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Stockton Arena
Location: Stockton, California
Date: January 10th, 2014
Videographer: Colby Marshall

Featured Monster Trucks

California Kid – Tehvyn Goodwin
Mega Merc – Devin Ball
Monster Truck Mafia Bigfoot #19 – Larry Swim
Nasty Boy – Travis Sturges
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Unnamed & Untamed – Sam Sturges

Featured Links

www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com
www.StugesMotorsports.com
[/column] [Read more...]

TMB TV: Original Series 6.3 – Monster X Tour – Chico, CA 2013

TMB TV's Original Series Presented By E3 Spark Plugs

Episode Information

Episode: Original Series 6.3
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Silver Dollar Fairgrounds
Location: Chico, California
Date: April 12th-14th, 2013
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Colby Marshall, Ross Z. Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

American Graffiti – Justin Cluster
California Kid – Tehvyn Goodwin
Reverse Racer – Ed Miller
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Titan – Donald Epidendio
Vi-Cor Bigfoot #15 – Darron Schnell

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.E3SparkPlugs.com
www.EpidemicMotorsports.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com

[Read more…]

The Allen Report: Kaboom – Pomona, CA 2013

(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!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

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

(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!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

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

(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!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Chico, CA 2013

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Silver Dollar Speedway
Location: Chico, California
Date: April 14th, 2013
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: American Graffiti (Justin Cluster), California Kid (Tehvyn Goodwin), Reverse Racer (Ed Miller), Rock Star (Bill Payne), Titan (Donald Epidendio), Vi-Cor Bigfoot #15 (Darron Schnell) [Read more…]

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 4.1 – Monster X Tour – Stockton, CA 2013

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Episode Information

Episode: MT Unlimited 4.1
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Stockton Arena
Location: Stockton, California
Date: January 11th-12th, 2013
Videographer: Colby Marshall
[/column] [column size=”1-3″]

Featured Monster Trucks

Bucked Up – Travis Ybarra
California Kid – Kevin Post
Captain USA – Travis Groth
Firestone Bigfoot #14 – Kyle Doyle
Rock Star – Bill Payne
[/column] [column size=”1-3″ last=”1″]

Featured Links

www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.E3SparkPlugs.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com
[/column] [Read more…]

Video of the Week – 01/19/13

Week Ending: January 19th, 2013
Truck(s) Featured: Bucked Up (Travis Ybarra)
Video Type: Fan Video
Courtesy: www.YouTube.com

Description: Rookie driver Travis Ybarra took over the reigns of Bucked Up to start 2013 and as you’ll see in these highlights from Bakersfield, he’s picking it up pretty quick!

TMB TV: Highlights – All Star Monster Truck Tour – 2012 West Coast Swing

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Wyoming State Fairgrounds & Nevada County Fairgrounds
Location: Douglas, Wyoming & Grass Valley, California
Date: August 10th-11th, 2012
Videographer: 2Xtreme Racing & Fischer’s Towing

Lineup: Douglas, WY – Bounty Hunter (Ben Winslow), Monkey’N Around (Steven Hill), Outtacontrol (Orville Hill), Scarlet Bandit (Steven Thompson)
Lineup: Grass Valley, CA – Bucked Up (Kenny Whitmarsh), California Kid (BJ Johnson), El Perro Loco (Rod Wood), Rock Star (Bill Payne) [Read more…]

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

(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!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2012.

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

(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!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2012.

Video of the Week – 06/02/12

Week Ending: June 2nd, 2012
Truck(s) Featured: Summit Bigfoot #18 (Dan Runte)
Video Type: Fan Video
Courtesy: www.YouTube.com

Description: Dan Runte jumps Summit Bigfoot #18 through the arches at the LA Coliseum!

TMB TV: Original Series 5.8 – Monster X Tour – Chico, CA 2012

TMB TV's Original Series Presented By E3 Spark Plugs
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Episode Information

Episode: Original Series 5.8
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Silver Dollar Speedway
Location: Chico, California
Date: April 14th-15th, 2012
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Colby Marshall, Ross Z. Bonar
[/column] [column size=”1-3″]

Featured Monster Trucks

Bounty Hunter – Darren Migues
Bucked Up – Anthony Epidendio
California Kid – BJ Johnson
MotorcycleSuperstore.com – Ed Miller
Red Baron – Andrew Peckham
Rock Star – Bill Payne
The General – Eddie Yowman
Titan – Donald Epidendio
[/column] [column size=”1-3″ last=”1″]

Featured Links

www.2XtremeRacing.com
www.BuckedUpApparel.com
www.E3SparkPlugs.com
www.EpidemicMotorsports.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.MotorcycleSuperstore.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com
[/column] [Read more…]

TMB TV: Highlights – Monster X Tour – Chico, CA 2012

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Silver Dollar Speedway
Location: Chico, California
Date: April 14th-15th, 2011
Videographer: Colby Marshall

Lineup: Bounty Hunter – Darren Migues, Bucked Up – Anthony Epidendio, California Kid – BJ Johnson, MotorcyleSuperstore.com – Ed Miller, Red Baron – Andrew Peckhum, Rock Star – Bill Payne, The General – Eddie Yowman, Titan – Donald Epidendio [Read more…]