The Allen Report: All Star Monster Truck Tour – Phoenix, AZ 2017 Part 2

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we return to the Arizona State Fairgrounds, where just two weeks earlier a thrill show co-starring a flame throwing jet car and the kid captivating Transaurus took place alongside the monster trucks. All Star Motorsport Productions, promoter of the thrill shows, also came back for this weekend. But unlike the events of earlier in October, this was a tried and true, full on monster truck show with six five ton, high horsepower mechanical beasts having the spotlight all to themselves on the fair’s final weekend for the year.

Throughout each show, the monsters would participate in Best Trick competition, single run obstacle course racing against the clock and no time limit, no holding back freestyle. Points were on the line for each competition and the truck with the highest number of points at the end of the show would be crowned the Overall Event Champion. As the weekend would go by, result trackers would count the number of Overall wins per monster with the competitor who had obtained the most Overall wins receiving the distinction of Arizona State Fair Champion.

Representing the home state was Marana’s El Perro Loco (translation – The Crazy Dog) with Murph McCrorey behind the wheel. Murph is the stepson of team owner Rod Wood and his tendency to drive like a madman in night shows garnered him the nickname “Werewolf”, a moniker he would live up to equally under the sun and after dark over the days this weekend. To make the truck sound as different as possible from McGruff two weeks earlier, the event announcers billed the truck from Ensenada, Baja, Mexico and had spent years dominating the Mexican circuit before crossing into the USA.

The rest of the field consisted of the entire Straight Up Racing team. Team co-founder and leader Bill Payne took the wheel of his trusty Rock Star. Gabe Montoya was ready to attack the track as the pilot of Reverse Racer, where the body is turned around one hundred and eighty degrees to make it look like the truck is always going the wrong way. Next in line was the vicious looking 10,000 Pound Hound to be driven by Nick Jones. Not far behind was Ezra Wilson in the Identity Theft. The fifth and final truck in the stable was the monster hot rod California Kid, controlled by Dallas Glen Rogers.

In the first of three shows on Saturday, Identity Theft got the show off to a splendid start with a one-two punch of great air and a sweet sky wheelie to get a score of 14 of a possible 20 for Best Trick. When El Perro Loco fell short by just one single point despite sick air and a great sky wheelie, the crowd openly voiced their disappointment. But next out was Bill Payne, who has performed as far away as Europe and Asia in years past. Bill followed up a great sky wheelie off the crush car with a wicked slap wheelie from one end of the floor to the other, taking the Best Trick win and Overall points lead.

Identity Theft set the standard for those coming after by completing the course in just under 23 seconds. The very next pass by 10K Pound Hound proved how tough the competition was by edging out his predecessor in the order by less than one tenth of a second. The colossal canine monster held the lead until Rock Star stormed past him on the stopwatch, reaching the finish line a whole two seconds faster with only freestyle to go.

The freestyle track consisted of a jammer stack for air, a wheelie bump and the time trial finish line crush car for wheelies and the obstacle course track second straightaway offering a distance jump ramp on one side and sideways tires for wheelies on the other. Identity Theft took advantage of his final shot for a trophy to get huge air and cross threaded the jump used as the obstacle course halfway point to stay in the hunt. Ten Thousand Pound Hound gave admirable efforts, including decent air. But Rock Star gave more incredible slap wheelies and hit the kicker obstacle the wrong way to get the early afternoon Overall Championship.

As the weekend progressed, the competition got tighter and tighter across the board. The second obstacle course competition of the day was decided by only half a second between winner Rock Star and runner-up Identity Theft. A few hours later in the evening show obstacle course race, Bill Payne finally pushed his truck too hard, breaking a steering line in the final turn of the course, causing his truck to do a complete 360 and rendering him unable to cross the finish line. This DNF would go on to end Rock Star’s perfect streak of Overall Titles, the final Saturday win eventually going to Identity Theft.

In the second to last show of the weekend, El Perro Loco was in the midst of a high intensity freestyle when an awkward landing from a sky wheelie sent him into the only rollover of the weekend. Murph was okay and the crowd roared when it was announced that El Perro had taken the freestyle lead. This, on top of a Best Trick win and runner-up placing in the obstacle course was enough for Murph and The Crazy Dog to finally take an Overall Championship.

In the last Obstacle Course contest of the weekend, Identity Theft just narrowly slipped past Rock Star with less than half a second being the difference. To end the weekend on a high note, Rock Star joined Identity Theft not long into the latter’s freestyle, causing All Star Productions officials to decree the two co-champions. This brought the crowd’s noise level very high, marking the ideal end to both the 2017 Arizona State Fair and the last weekend of monster trucks. Even so, with three sole titles and one shared win across a total of six shows over three days, Rock Star handily took the Arizona State Fair Championship.

At that, the monster truck action season for us at “The Allen Report” has come to a close. But we also begin to finalize plans for our trip to Auburn, Indiana, for one of our favorite annual events, the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame Ceremony. As of this writing, the number of overall display monster vehicles, weekend and full time sponsors and returning past inductees all look high, which is great news for us, as we are just as much fans of the early days of the sport as we are fans of its current state. With that behind us, a special thanks to Bryan Wagner and every member of All Star Productions for allowing us to cover his events, thank you, our readers, for following our show coverage, enjoy the photos and until next year, cheer on!

Photo Gallery

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TMB TV: Monster Sights & Sounds 2.2 – Monster X Tour – Jonesboro, AR 2015

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Episode Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: ASU Convocation Center
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Date: March 14th, 2015
Videographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

American Muscle (Pierce Knight)
Ballistic (Mac Plecker)
California Kid (Tehvyn Goodwin)
Firestone Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell)
Rock Star (Bill Payne)

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.ExtremeTeam4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com

[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Jonesboro, AR 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: ASU Convocation Center
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Date: March 13th-14th, 2015
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

American Muscle (Pierce Knight), Ballistic (Mac Plecker), California Kid (Tehvyn Goodwin), Firestone Bigfoot #19 (Darron Schnell), Rock Star (Bill Payne) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Lake Charles, LA 2015

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Lake Charles Civic Center
Location: Lake Charles, Louisiana
Date: February 27th-28th, 2015
Photographer: Matthew Ison (Check out Matthew Ison Photography on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

American Bad Ass (Pierce Knight), California Kid (Tehvyn Goodwin), Rock Star (Bill Payne), Trick Flow Bigfoot #18 (Larry Swim), USA-1 (Roger Gauger) [Read more…]

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 6.1 – Monster X Tour – Augusta, GA 2015

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Episode Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: James Brown Arena
Location: Augusta, Georgia
Date: January 9th-10th, 2015
Videographer: Colby Marshall (Check out BMPS Video Productions on Facebook)

Featured Monster Trucks

Firestone Bigfoot #18 – Larry Swim
Holman’s Beast – Bobby Holman
Safety Kleen Rock Star – Gabe Montoya
Son of Beast – Cody Holman
USA-1 – Roger Gauger

Featured Links

www.Bigfoot4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.Quadzilla4x4.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com
www.USA-14×4.com

[Read more…]

Monster Video: All Star Monster Truck Tour – West Valley City, UT 2015

Details

Event: All Star Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Maverik Center
Location: West Valley City, Utah
Date: January 2nd-3rd, 2015
Videographer: Maverik Center Staff

Description

Ross Z. Bonar from the TheMonsterBlog.com was on hand announcing for the 2015 All Star Monster Truck Tour event at the Maverik Center this past weekend in West Valley City, Utah. There Rock Star, Wicked, Crusher, Destroyer, California Kid and Maverik Monster Trakker battled it out in three big shows. While we did not have our own video crew on hand, Desi and the amazing Maverik Center media staff was gracious enough to allow us to share some highlights they captured with you here on TMB. Enjoy!
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TMB TV: Original Series 7.3 – Monster X Tour – Chico, CA 2014

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Episode Information

Episode: Original Series 7.3
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Silver Dollar Speedway
Location: Chico, California
Date: April 11th-12th, 2014
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Colby Marshall, Ross Z. Bonar

Featured Monster Trucks

California Kid – Tehvyn Goodwin
Identity Theft – Brad Keller
MegaMerc – Gabe Montoya
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Summit Bigfoot #19 – Larry Swim
Titan – Donald Epidendio

Featured Links

www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.EpidemicMotorsports.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com

[Read more…]

TMB TV: Original Series 7.2 – Monster X Tour – Jonesboro, AR 2014

tmbtv_original

Episode Information

Episode: Original Series 7.2
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: ASU Convocation Center
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Date: March 7th-8th, 2014
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Ross Z. Bonar, Shane Skinner

Featured Monster Trucks

Ballistic – Mac Plecker
California Kid – Tehvyn Goodwin
Firestone Bigfoot #11 – Kevin Koszala
Holman’s Beast – Bobby Holman
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Son of Beast – Cody Holman

Featured Links

www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.ExtremeTeam4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com

[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Jonesboro, AR 2014

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: ASU Convocation Center
Location: Jonesboro, AR
Date: February 28th, 2014
Photographer: Danny Maass

Truck Lineup

Ballistic (Mac Plecker), California Kid (Tehvyn Goodwin), Firestone Bigfoot #11 (Kevin Koszala), Holman’s Beast (Bobby Holman), Rock Star (Bill Payne), Son of Beast (Cody Holman) [Read more…]

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 5.4 – Monster X Tour – Montgomery, AL 2014

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Episode Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Garrett Coliseum
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Date: February 21st-22nd, 2014
\Videographer: Colby Marshall

Featured Monster Trucks

California Kid – Tehvyn Goodwin
Ironman – Brian Kenney
Mega Merc – Skylar King
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Son of Beast – Cody Holman

Featured Links

www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com

[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Fort Wayne, IN 2014

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: March 15th, 2014
Photographer: Paul Harry

Truck Lineup

Ballistic (Mac Plecker), California Kid (Justin Cluster), Firestone Bigfoot #11 (Kevin Koszala), Nite Stalker (Dalton Van Skyhawk), Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #20 (Jim Kramer), Reverse Racer (Robert Brett) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – Fort Wayne, IN 2014

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: March 15th, 2014
Photographer: Michael Harry

Truck Lineup

Ballistic (Mac Plecker), California Kid (Justin Cluster), Firestone Bigfoot #11 (Kevin Koszala), Nite Stalker (Dalton Van Skyhawk), Reverse Racer (Robert Brett) [Read more…]

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 5.3 – Monster X Tour – West Monroe, LA 2014

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Episode Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Ike Hamilton Expo Center
Location: West Monroe, Louisiana
Date: February 7th-8th, 2014
\Videographer: Colby Marshall

Featured Monster Trucks

American Graffiti (Justin Cluster)
Ballistic (Mac Plecker)
Heavy Medal (Joe Nichter)
Holman’s Beast (Bobby Holman)
Vi-Cor Bigfoot #15 (Darron Schnell)

Featured Links

www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.ExtremeTeam4x4.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
www.StraightUpRacing.com
[/column] [Read more...]

Monster Photos: Monster X Tour – West Monroe, LA 2014

Event Information

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Ike Hamilton Expo Center
Location: West Monroe, Louisiana
Date: February 7th-8th, 2014
Photographer: Matthew Ison

Truck Lineup

American Graffiti (Justin Cluster), Ballistic (Mac Plecker), Heavy Medal (Joe Nichter), Holman’s Beast (Bobby Holman), Vi-Cor Bigfoot #15 (Darron Schnell) [Read more…]

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...]