Introducing “TMB TV: MT Unlimited” Video Series

TMB TV is proud to unveil our second brand new series, MT Unlimited, produced in conjunction with our own Colby Marshall and Bite Me Productions Studios!!  Colby is introducing another great new format to the TMB TV family of video coverage, as MT Unlimited will focus not only on all the great action of events, but also go behind the scenes with a unique interview format that puts the drivers, crews and industry personnel front and center.

Much like last week’s debut of ActionTracks, we kick off the series with one of the biggest events of the year, the Maverik Clash of the Titans from Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City, Utah. 12 trucks and the only figure 8 monster truck racing of the year featuring intense battles between Bigfoot, Bounty Hunter, Amsoil Shock Therapy, Obsession and many more.

A big thanks to Colby for the awesome work on this new series and also to the RMR staff for welcoming us at their event. Click the link below to start enjoying all of the exciting new content from TMB TV’s MT Unlimited!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW TMB TV: MT UNLIMITED EPISODE 1.1

TMB TV: MT Unlimited Episode 1.1 – Maverik Clash of the Titans

Event:  Maverik Clash of the Titans
Venue:  Rocky Mountain Raceway
Location:  Salt Lake City, UT
Date:  August 14th-15th, 2010
Host:  Colby Marshall
Videographer:  Colby Marshall

Lineup:  Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Captain USA (Roger Stidell), El Matador (Daron Basl), Excaliber (Chris Ryan), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens), King Krunch (David Smith), Maverik Monster Trakkar (Ron Duncombe), Ms. Bigfoot #11 (Amber Walker), Obessed (Rick Swanson), Obsession (Jeff Jones), Retro Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte) [Read more…]

Obsession Racing Press Release 12

(Menifee, CA) On the 14th and 15th of August Obsession Racing made their first appearance at the legendary RMR (Rocky Mountain Raceway) Clash of the Titans Event. This is one of the biggest West Coast Events held during the summertime season. RMR had twelve of the most competitive racing trucks. The giant figure eight course takes driving ability, horsepower, and your equipment needs to be at its best. The track is set up in the form of an hourglass design on asphalt. Instead of having the looped corners of a figure eight, you have very sharp corners with two short straight a way’s and two long straight a way’s plus racing at very high speeds it is very difficult to have any traction. This is defiantly a driver’s course!

Rick drove Obsessed and Jeff Jones was in Obsession. In the weeks leading up to this event Rick was told that first time drivers at this track usually do not make it out the first round. On Saturday night Rick qualified in the middle of the field. Unfortunately Jeff hit a cone during qualifying and this put him lower on the bracket but he was quick for his time. In racing Jeff in Obsession was taken out by King Krunch. Rick took Obsessed all the way to the semi finals again Dan Runte in Big Foot. He was very pleased considering first timers of RMR are never likely to make it to the top.

Sunday evening had both racing and freestyle. During qualifying Rick was doing awesome and unfortunately slid out in the corner costing him a broken input shaft in the transmission. Jeff did his qualifying run in Obsession and then immediately helped Rick try to get the transmission back together in Obsessed for racing. Jeff chose to stick with working on Obsessed, with the help of Michael Christensen while Rick jumped in Obsession and brought it to the semi finals. This was pretty impressive since the Obsession truck has the smaller motor. For freestyle they couldn’t get Obsessed back together in time. Rick continued the night in Obsession and did a great freestyle the pleased the crowd. We wanted to give special thanks and appreciation to all of the people that helped us. Michael Christensen for all of your help at the track, David Smith for getting us into this show, Jimmy Creten for the transmission parts, Jim Allen for the great photo’s, and Doug Binstock for booking us into this show and the awesome meal on Friday night. The Obsession Racing Team is looking forward to this show once again next year!

For more information on Obsession Racing, go to www.ObsessionRacing.com.

Obsession Racing Press Release 11

(Menifee, CA) In the last four weeks Obsession Racing has done four events in three weekends. It started out on Rick’s Fathers Birthday which was Sunday, July 18th. The event was held at the Turlock fair for John Shipman Motorsports. This was a freestyle show that consisted of three rounds. The first round was donut display. The second round was sky wheelie exhibition and the third and final round was a one minute freestyle exhibition. Jeff drove the Obsession Monster Truck and Rick was in Eric’s Obsessed truck. What we thought would be a laid back fair exhibition turned out to be more strenuous than expected. During our brunch we received a phone call telling us we needed to show up at the track because Obsession’s tire was leaking air and needed to be attended to before the show. We got to the track and worked in 105 degree (humid) weather and patched the tire 3 times and after the third try we didn’t have enough time to let the patch dry before the show. We were fortunate that Living the Dream Racing let us borrow a tire for the show! Everyone put on an awesome show! We were so grateful to hit the hotel showers when the event was over!!

From Turlock we headed to Salinas California for another John Shipmen’s Motorsports event. The event was held on August 1st and we couldn’t have asked for better weather! The weekend started out on Friday and Saturday displaying the trucks to promote Sunday’s event. Once again it was Jeff and Rick piloting the trucks. This was a standard show format with racing and freestyle. Rick started the show with the fastest qualifying time. Jeff was put up against Bigfoot on the first round of racing. This was a very tough course consisting of a double Chicago style with both left and right turns. Rick in Obsessed and Bigfoot were in the finals. Rick took the victory so he could uphold Eric image! Freestyle was awesome Jeff and Rick both made the local newspapers. I think this was the some of most air that Obsessed has ever flown! It was a fun show and meaningful as the proceeds went to the local Children’s hospital.

This past weekend Rick and Eric went over to Victoria Canada to do an event for Big Toyz Racing for Western Speedway. This was a two day show and exhibition only. This was Eric’s first trip out of the United States. The Canadian were excited to see a 14 year old piloting a Monster truck. He was the talk of the show! Friday night Eric was a natural behind the wheel going over jumps and doing some wicked donuts on the asphalt! When Rick was in his third round he was doubling up a jump and on the second hit he broke the right rear spindle in half. Rick was driving Obsession, so of course he had to blame Jeff for the damage” Obsession must have got weak from the event in Salinas when Jeff drove”. Rick never seems to break the truck on his own!

Rick and Eric got the truck back in running order on Saturday, but due to rain the show was postponed until Sunday afternoon. Sunday Rick and Eric put on another great show and the local papers proved it as they did a special article on Eric. They had a great time but they are very pleased to be back in the good old US of A! We would like to thank Brad Campbell for helping Obsession Racing and transporting our trucks for us. This weekend Jeff and Rick will be in Salt Lake City Utah for Rocky Mountain Raceway’s event on Saturday and Sunday August 13th and 14th.

For more information on Obsession Racing, go to www.ObsessionRacing.com.

TMB Weekend Update – Charlotte & RMR

Well fans, its a huge weekend for monster trucks as two of the biggest events of the summer are happening on opposite ends of the country and TMB is on hand for all the action!!

Tonight the Monster Truck Challenge Back to School Bash returns to The Dirt Track @ Charlotte Motor Speedway as 10 trucks will once again take on the wildest racing course in the history of monster trucks. TMB’s Chris Parrish is on hand filming for what will be Episode #2 of the new ActionTracks series and he’ll have all the highlights as Mike Hawkins in Equalizer looks to win it all for third straight year in Charlotte. He’ll take on Avenger, Raminator, Stone Crusher, Mopar Magic, Backdraft, Brutus, Hot Tamale, War Wizard and Tail Gator – what a lineup!  Check out www.CharlotteMotorSpeedway.com for more information on one of the year’s biggest events.

Out west, its the annual Maverik Clash of the Titans at Rocky Mountain Raceway in suburban Salt Lake City, Utah today and tomorrow. Twelve trucks will take on the tricky figure 8 style race course and our own Colby Marshall is on hand for all the fun as he too will be filming for another new TMB TV spinoff video series – stay tuned for more news on that. The lineup will feature drivers who have dominated at RMR before – Dan Runte in Retro-Bigfoot, Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter and David Smith in King Krunch. They’ll take on some tough RMR first timers including Jon Zimmer in Amsoil Shock Therapy and Rick Swanson in Obsession who are both expected to contend for victories. El Matador, Ms. Bigfoot, Obsessed, Maverik Monster Trakkar, Excaliber, Iron Outlaw and Captain USA round out the lineup. For more information, check out www.RMRRacing.com as you do not want to miss this event.

Stay tuned to the TMB Facebook page this weekend as Chris and Colby will keep you updated on all the happenings with these two HUGE events!!

Obsession Racing Press Release 10

(Menifee, CA) Obsession Racing celebrated the Fourth of July holiday weekend with two big shows at the San Diego State Fair on the 2nd and 3rd. Then on the 4th we were in Pomona California for their Annual Forth of July Kaboom show for WGAS Motorsports. For the Friday show Rick only ran our Obsession truck for an exhibition run. He once again pleased the crowd with his performance. On Saturday we were booked to run Obsession and Obsessed.

The original plan was for Rick and Jeff to drive. After Eric doing the Albuquerque show he was itchin’ to drive again but he thought that he wouldn’t be able to do the Del Mar event. Dad was happy to fulfill another one of his dreams by telling him that John Borba agreed to let him drive because he was confident in Eric’s driving abilities, and knew he would put on a great show! Eric and Rick were put up against each other in racing. It was a round a round course. Eric had Dad on the line but slid out in the last turn and Dad took the win!

This made Eric all the more eager to out shine Dad in freestyle! Racing ended with Rick and Jimmy in Bounty Hunter in the finals for Racing. For freestyle Eric caught some wicked air off the back side of the racing jump. I think he caught some of the biggest air that day! Then he had to try one of Dad’s famous donuts, but the truck slid into the jump and popped the bead off the wheel which the crowd thought was really cool! It was a cheap fix so Mom and Dad were ok with it. Rick had to one up Eric with a donut by taking the steering wheel off and throwing it out of the window! Obsession happily placed second in freestyle!

For more information on Obsession Racing, visit www.ObsessionRacing.com.

Obsession Racing Press Release 9

(Menifee, CA) Over Fathers Day weekend, the Obsession Racing team celebrated owners Rick and Jill’s wedding Anniversary doing an event for WHR Motorsports in Missoula Montana, which was held on June 18th and 19th. Fathers Day and our Anniversary are very emotional days for us as Rick’s father had passed away on those two days. Having to race on these days Rick competed with all of his heart to win racing/freestyle in honor of his Father and also for our Anniversary. He managed to full fill his wish as he won racing and did an awesome free style which I am sure made his Dad proud. I was also pleased to have him win on our Anniversary! It was a very special gift that you could not purchase! Eric also got to work the track with the tuff trucks for the first time. He did a great job and had a lot of fun.

From Missoula Rick and Eric drove to Albuquerque New Mexico for a benefit show for the Tingly Children’s Hospital. I flew to tend to the house and dog until I found out that they wanted Eric to do the event. Of course I wanted to be there to see Eric run for his first time of racing! I booked a plane ticket and flew there to meet them. The event was for two days held on June 25th and 26th. Eric did an incredible job!! It was like he had been driving for years. Friday night he had a wheelie competition and won! Then he got the fastest qualifying time and made it to the semi finals. He freestyle was cut short by an electrical problem that we were able to fix for the show the next night. On Saturday night he got 2nd place in the wheelie competition and made it to the finals with Ben Winslow in the Cult Energy drink truck. He was unable to freestyle because his driveshaft broke in his final round of racing.

The crew totally enjoyed seeing Eric perform and couldn’t believe he was only 14 and how well he handled truck! Everyone was stopping him and asking for autographs and pictures with him on his through the stands. Rick and I are so very proud of him and enjoyed every minute of his success! We would also like to thank our friends Lisa and Morley for their hospitality and taking care of us in Albuquerque!

For more information on Obsession Racing, visit www.ObsessionRacing.com!!

Jim & Christopher Allen’s Del Mar / Pomona Coverage

TMB is always proud to bring you great coverage from our friends out west, Jim and Christopher Allen, and this week that means lots of great photos and all the details from the 2010 Del Mar and Pomona, California events. Check the coverage out below and thanks to Jim and Chris for another job well done:

“Once again WGAS Motorsports invited teams of monster trucks to perform at Del Mar California’s San Diego County Fairgrounds and the fan favorite July 4th “KaBoom!” in Pomona. The teams were “Living the Dream Racing’s” own “Time Flys” and “Fired Up” driven by Kelvin Ramer and Justin Cluster, both “Obsession” and “Obsessed” with Rick Swanson and Eric Swanson behind the wheels and representatives of “2Xtreme Racing” in the form of Russell Steeley in “Iron Outlaw” and Jim Creten, as always, driving “Bounty Hunter”.

Shout-outs go to Ron Johnson in his old school monster truck, the T-C Pig Ranch sponsored “Hog Wild”, who had some t-shirts to give away and Jake Blackwell’s awesome ride truck, the Thrasher Racing owned “Extinguisher” , who gave rides to fans young and old all weekend long.

The first monster out was “Fired Up” and his freestyle performance set the stage as each driver tried to top the next. Rick Swanson showed why he was the Undisputed Champion from this event one year ago, doing very nice cyclones and rarely laying off the throttle; so much in fact, that steam was coming from the engine area as “Obsession” left the arena. Russell Steeley put Iron Outlaw through its paces, not stopping until everything on the track was hit. However, during the second show of the day he took the big mountain in the middle of the floor, hard broke the right front wheel off and rolled over slowly. Kelvin Ramer was up next and drove over every obstacle, finishing his final run in the evening show with a cyclone with his hands out the window. But the potential winner possibility goes to the former World Champion in Bounty Hunter, using tons of pure horsepower over every jump, getting great air and continuing long after the 90 second time period. It was a great first day in Del Mar.

For the final day of monster trucks in Del Mar, the first afternoon show was racing only and the second afternoon show was freestyle only. Since only five trucks were competing, this created an interesting race bracket. “Bounty Hunter” would automatically be seeded into the semi-finals. Two winners of the heats would join him along with the fastest loser. From there, two finalists would advance and a racing champion would be crowned succeeding that race.

WGAS officials created a Chicago style race course with the finish lines on top of each trucks’ respective starting jumps. In the opening round, fan favorite Kelvin Ramer in “Time Flys” took out his own teammate, “Fired Up” driven by Justin Cluster to advance to the semi-finals and a shot at Jim Creten and “Bounty Hunter”. In the other quarter-final race, 14 year old Eric Swanson with “Obsessed” was on his way to victory over his own father in the team truck when he aver drove the final turn. Rick swapped trucks and raced “Obsessed” for the remainder of the racing show.

The top half of the semis would see a close race between the former Monster Jam World Champion Jim Creten and the driver of the 1934 Ford, Kelvin Ramer. It was close, but the win goes to “Bounty Hunter” after Ramer spent too much time in the air over the second jump. Fastest loser “Fired Up” was denied a second shot at the championship round after following “Obsessed” across the finish line. The final race was dead even until the final turn when Jim Creten pulled away for the racing trophy.

The final show from Del Mar for the year would be the only time freestyles were scored. Eric Swanson, back in “Obsessed”, got some great air with a sky wheelie and was in the middle of his first donut when he hit one of the racing ramps, breaking the bead on the left rear tire, flattening it. The judges gave him a 14 out of a possible 40. The “Fired Up” driver continued to with the freestyle competition and took the lead with a 28 point score. Next came “Time Flys” and “Obsession”, both of which hit all of the obstacles and took the lead with a score of 38.5. But there was a former Freestyle champion in the house, and he hit everything the track threw at him and got the undisputed big air of the weekend. He missed the perfect score by just one point, but it was enough to get back on the winner’s stage at Del Mar.

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with five of the top monster trucks in the world? But not just monster trucks, also on hand were four high-flying, death defying FMX riders including Jimmy Fitzpatrick as the sole representative of the infamous Metal Mulisha. Finally, the “KaBoom!” tradition continues with a fireworks display as the grand finale.

The five trucks competing in Chicago-style racing and freestyle on some of the biggest obstacles Pomona monster truck fans have ever seen include Kelvin Ramer with “Time Flys” and the teams of “Obsession Racing” with Eric Swanson behind the wheel of “Obsessed” along with his father Rick driving “Obsession” and the “2Xtreme Racing” trucks of Iron Outlaw driven by Nick Owens and Jim Creten, as always, behind the wheel of Bounty Hunter. Before the monsters hit the track, some of the FMX riders performed amazing airborne stunts including back flips.

As “Time Flys” got the bye in the racing bracket and would wait to race until the semi-finals and would take on the winner of the first heat in Round 1. A fast loser would also advance and face the winner of the second heat of Round 1, making a four truck competition in the semi finals. From there, a standard four truck bracket was in place. All hopes of Eric Swanson avenging his loss to his father in Del Mar were dashed as he took the last turn too wide and “Bounty Hunter” showed who was boss in the second heat against his team truck, “Iron Outlaw”. “Obsession” would move to the finals as Kelvin Ramer made the same mistake as Eric during the run of “Time Flys”. The next scheduled race was the rematch Nick Owens wanted with the Bounty Hunter, but it never happened as a problem with the RII prevented Iron Outlaw from making it to the starting line and forfeiting the race. WGAS officials went straight to the finals between “Bounty Hunter” and “Obsession”. “Bounty Hunter” was too fastest and crossed the finish line first and was the racing champion.

Freestyle featured both the small jumps from racing, two additional wheelie obstacles, two sets of motor homes, a large single jump and a HUGE double jump. There was also a “concession stand” on the dirt arena. That’s correct, a concession stand! Iron Outlaw put on an excellent opening freestyle. Eric Swanson emerged next, and got some huge air over the double jump. He earned a 35 out of a possible 40 for his efforts. Rick wanted to keep up the momentum but the transmission had other ideas, breaking an input shaft after just a single jump. “Time Flys” earned a perfect 40 from the judges, but Jim Creten had other ideas about who would be the victor. He hit every obstacle and did some great wheelies and donuts. He then hit the concession stand setting off the first fireworks of the evening. The crowd’s ovation left no doubt as to who was the winner. Scores were never given for “Bounty Hunter”, but Jim didn’t care. No fan was sitting down as Jim had done what he needed to do.

WGAS creator and primary promoter John Borba was on hand, and was told by an anonymous fan that this was the best freestyle motocross and monster truck show the fan had ever seen. Fans were then treated to a great 4th of July fireworks show. Thank you for reading, enjoy the photos, and cheer on.” – Christopher Allen

CLICK HERE TO VIEW JIM ALLEN’S DEL MAR, CA PHOTO GALLERY

CLICK HERE TO VIEW JIM ALLEN’S POMONA, CA PHOTO GALLERY

Kaboom Monster Truck Show – Pomona, CA – 07/04/10

Event:  Kaboom Monster Truck Show
Venue:  L.A. County Fairgrounds
Location:  Pomona, California
Date:  July 4th, 2010
Photographer:  Jim Allen

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Iron Outlaw (Nick Owens), Obsession (Rick Swanson), Obsessed (Jeff Jones), Time Flys (Kelvin Ramer) [Read more…]

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…]