The Allen Report: Maverik Clash of the Titans – Rocky Mountain Raceway 2011

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

This year at the Maverik Clash of the Titans in West Valley City, Utah’s at the always impressive Rocky Mountain Raceways, all four members of Jimmy Creten’s team made the trip. Jimmy would drive Bounty, and his wife Dawn piloted Scarlet Bandit. Darren Migues took the helm of Red Baron on a brand new chassis appearing in public for only the second time. Finally, Ben “Bobo” Winslow drove Iron Outlaw. The opposition consisted of Daron Basl of El Matador with David Smith in King Krunch in tow, Dan Runte driving Summit Bigfoot #16 and Larry Swim driving Snake Bite #14. Rounding out the field was Roger Stidell in Captain USA and hometown hero Ron Doncombe in the Maverik Monster Trakker.

The raceway’s signature figure 8 racing made for some interesting and wild finishes. The four semi-finalists were both halves of Team Bigfoot and one half of 2Xtreme Racing, both husband and wife Creten. Number one qualifier Bigfoot stomped on Bounty Hunter in the first semi-final and Scarlet Bandit took down Snake Bite in the other. In the 2 lap finale, Dan schooled Dawn at the line and never looked back, taking his third straight racing title at RMR.

Racing was followed by the wheelie contest, in which Larry in Snake Bite held the lead most of the competition, but it came down to the racing and freestyle winners from last year. Dan and Bigfoot scored an excellent 9.6 out of 10.0 but Jimmy Creten put the competition in his back pocket with a score of 9.95. Dan and Jimmy were looking to defend those titles on Sunday.

On the second and final day, Bigfoot picked up where he left off, taking the number one spot in qualifying with teammate Snake Bite right behind him. These two would then march right through the bracket to meet in an all Team Bigfoot double lap final. With all eyes on the finish line, both drivers ran hard, but Dan and Bigfoot retained his Racing Title from last year.

Unlike the previous night, the drivers had two minutes of freestyle time. Darren Migues and Red Baron took an early lead, but Jimmy and Bounty Hunter were ready. A combination of huge air, high speed and a three wheeled cyclone ensured there was no taking away his freestyle championship he won a year ago.

In other action, Idaho Falls’ own Ron Barrows gave rides to all fans who wanted one in his Thumper ride truck. To find out where they are performing, check out www.rideamonster.com. Until next time, thank you for reading, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

TMB TV: Original Series Episode 4.6 – Miami, OK 2011

Event: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Venue: Ottawa County Fairgrounds
Location: Miami, Oklahoma
Date: June 17th-18th, 2011
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Kaedon Berry

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brute Force (Jerry Perry), Crashmaster (Jeremy Perry), Iron Outlaw (Jay McPherson), War Wagon (Andy Hoffman), Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Sandia Summer Smash – Albuquerque, NM 2011

Event: Sandia Summer Smash
Venue: Sandia Motor Speedway
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date: July 22nd-23rd, 2011
Photographer: Anthony Cordova

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Iron Outlaw (Joe Sylvester), Monkey’N Around (Steven Hill), Outtacontrol (Orville Hill), Pit Bull (Charles Benns). Tuff Enuff (Jack Koberna) [Read more…]

TMB TV: Highlights – All Star Monster Truck Tour – Primm, NV 2011

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Star of the Desert Arena
Location: Primm, Nevada
Date: June 24th-25th, 2011
Videographer: Lynette Bonar

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Gene Kinal), McGruff (Rod Wood), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: WGAS Monster Truck Tour – Del Mar/Pomona, CA 2011

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

The 4th of July is always an important date on the modern calendar and monster trucks are about as American as they come. That is why six of the best monsters this side of the Mississippi River arrived for the annual show at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California, followed by the KaBoom show at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. The six combatants are Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter, Darren Migues in Iron Outlaw and the father and son duo Rick and Eric Swanson in Obsession and Obsessed. Kelvin Ramer drove Time Flys while Hog Wild ride truck owner Bob Johnson and Chris Etchison shared driving duties in Fired Up.

For three days and two shows a day, the monsters made the Chevrolet Del Mar Arena their stomping grounds. The first day saw decent efforts, but Jimmy Creten had his cyclones down pat and took both shows that day. Business picked up tremendously on the second day when Darren announced through amazing runs that he would lay down to no one, his teammate included. With just a few points separating the two halves of 2Xtreme Racing, the final day saw sold out shows in both the afternoon and evening. In the end, the win was awarded to the Bounty Hunter, having a perfect six-for-six record to wrap up the Del Mar shows for another year.

Independence Day was celebrated with exactly those same monsters at the packed Fairplex in Pomona. The show opened with the high-flying, death-defying Freestyle Motocross riders, including Nikki Danielson and Jimmy Fitzpatrick of the famous Metal Mulisha doing what they do best, despite a close encounter with Mother Nature’s fury. Roundy-Round racing saw Eric Swanson in Obsessed take down Fired Up, but the end for him in racing came when Iron Outlaw, who had knocked off Time Flys, defeated him to take on Bounty Hunter in the finals. Jimmy Creten crossed the finish line first, but in the process, he hit a turning pole handing the win to Migues in Iron Outlaw. However, even that could not stop him from literally jumping over his own team truck to finish freestyle. As always, fireworks closed the incredible KaBoom event.

During the weekend, Kelvin Ramer said he is building a yet to be named third truck that, like Time Flys, will be a 1934 Ford Coupe. However, the body will be roofless and the nose will be slanted banana style. Until next time, thank you for reading, enjoy Jim Allen’s great photos, and a big thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their hospitality. Cheer on!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

Monster Photos: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals – Miami, OK 2011

Event: O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Venue: Miami Fairgrounds
Location: Miami, Oklahoma
Date: June 17th-18th, 2011
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brute Force (Jerry Perry), Crashmaster (Jeremy Perry), Iron Outlaw (Jay McPherson), War Wagon (Andy Hoffman), Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) [Read more…]

Video of the Week – 07/02/11

Week Ending: July 2nd, 2011
Truck(s) Featured: Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Iron Outlaw (Darren Migues)
Video Type: Fan Video
Courtesy: www.YouTube.com

Description: Awesome dual freestyle from Jimmy Creten and Darren Migues at the big Kaboom event in Pomona, California.

Monster Photos: All Star Monster Truck Tour – Primm, NV 2011

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Star of the Desert Arena
Location: Primm, Nevada
Date: June 24th-25th, 2011
Photographer: Lauren Z. Bonar

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Gene Kinal), McGruff (Rod Wood), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: Monster Jam – Anaheim, CA 2011

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

The Monster Jam superstars lowered the curtain on a triad of shows in the home of the Anaheim Angels Saturday, February 12th, 2011. The stacked 16 truck field featured the following top names in monster trucks: Charlie Pauken in Grave Digger, Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction, Adam Anderson in Grave Digger The Legend, Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter, Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus, Candace Jolly in the Monster Mutt Dalmatian, Becky McDonough in Dragon’s Breath, Scott Buetow driving Iron Man, Pat Gerber in Shocker, Don Frankish with Maniac, Scott Anderson in Jurassic Attack, Kelvin Ramer in Time Flys, Nick Owens driving Iron Outlaw, Mark Schroeder in The Felon, Dan Rodoni and The Patriot and Mike Pappas in Tropical Thunder.

The track of choice was an appropriate one for the locale and venue, the very popular so-cal style. That means they fall off a tabletop jump, turn away from each other, fly down a straightaway and race back the way they came. Early racing highlights saw Bounty Hunter advance with a bye after Jurassic Attack suffered fatal engine trouble during intros and Time Flys upset new World Finals qualifier Nitro Circus in the opening race, free of qualifying. In one of the semis, the blue and gray Digger and Max D crossed the finish line side-by-side with Grave Digger The Legend winning by an inch or two, if that much. The other Digger outraced Bounty Hunter to setup a history making Digger vs. Digger final. In the end, Adam proved himself more than just a freestyler by taking the huge racing win.

Freestyle started off a little slow, with most of the first half the field slowly strutting their way around the track with little air. Nick Owens in Iron Outlaw would hold the lead for the longest time with a score of 22. Even the young Anderson and Owen’s boss Jimmy Creten could not outscore him. But then, there were two. Tom Meents has four World Freestyle championships to his credit and showed why, finishing his run with an upside-down cyclone on the tabletop. With a score of 29, Meents looked to see a trophy for the first time at the Big A in a few years. To close the show, the reigning freestyle champion of the world Charlie Pauken gave the fans a potential winning freestyle in Grave Digger, but he only impressed the judges enough for second place, giving Meents the victory.

Although the Anaheim Monster Jam season was over, two weeks later Monster Jam would make its debut at the Los Angeles Dodger Stadium. With Monster Jam, a great show is always guaranteed. On that note, thank you for reading, enjoy Jim Allen’s great photos and cheer on, we’ll see you down the road!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Monster Jam made its annual visit to downtown Indianapolis last weekend as 14 trucks competed in racing and freestyle at the beautiful new palace that is Lucas Oil Stadium. Fittingly, it was Monster Jam driver Linsey Weenk who took the big racing win in Feld’s new Lucas Oil sponsored truck, the Crusader. Freestyle would see strong runs from several drivers but when defending Freestyle World Champion Charlie Pauken is on his game, there is no stopping the Grave Digger as Chuckie took the big win.

IMG_2381

TMB was out in force for the big event in Indy as Chris Parrish, Paul Harry and Michael Harry were all shooting photos. Check out the links below to see all of their great work and a big thanks to all the guys for their efforts!

Photos By Chris Parrish

Photos By Paul M. Harry

Photos By Michael Harry

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Michael Harry

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dragon’s Breath (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Ben Winslow), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Superman (Chad Fortune) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dragon’s Breath (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Ben Winslow), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Superman (Chad Fortune) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Indianapolis, IN 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Chris Parrish

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Dragon’s Breath (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Ground Pounder (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Ben Winslow), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Michigan Ice Monster (Chris Lagana), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Superman (Chad Fortune) [Read more…]

Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular – Marion, OH – 11/05-06/10

Event:  Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venue:  Marion County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Location:  Marion, Ohio
Date:  November 5th-6th, 2010
Photographer:  Paul M. Harry

Lineup:  American Thunder (Dalton Van Skyhawk), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Cyclone (Chuck Sisson), Evolution (Robby Saunders), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens) [Read more…]

Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular – Marion, OH – 11/05-06/10

Event:  Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular
Venue:  Marion County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Location:  Marion, Ohio
Date:  November 5th-6th, 2010
Photographer:  Michael P. Harry

Lineup: American Thunder (Dalton Van Skyhawk), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Cyclone (Chuck Sisson), Evolution (Robby Saunders), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens) [Read more…]