2013 International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

(Auburn, Indiana – IMTM PR) – The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame is very proud to officially announce the 20 nominees for the 2013 IMTM Hall of Fame class.

Members of the official 2013 IMTM Nominating Committee, consisting of 25 people from all aspects of the monster truck industry, were charged with the process of narrowing the great number of candidates who have excelled in the monster truck industry over the years, down to an official voting ballot of 20 names. Each committee member submitted a form listing the 20 names they wish to nominate, along with a brief explanation of the qualifications of each.

IMTM_logo

When all the nominating forms were received, the IMTM Board of Directors tabulated the results and are now very excited to announce the 20 names submitted most across all nominating committee member forms, the official 2013 IMTM Hall of Fame Nominees:

– Army Armstrong
– Gary Bauer
– Andy Brass
– John Breen
– Kirk Dabney
– Seth Doulton
– Brett Englemann
– Bob George
– Bobby Holman
– Dave Marquart
– Billy Joe Miles
– Dan Patrick
– Allen Pezo
– Gary Porter
– Jerry Richmond
– Cliff Starbird
– Scott Stephens
– Alan Tura
– Mike Vaters
– Diehl Wilson

The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame would like to congratulate each of these legendary monster truck figures on officially being nominated for induction into the IMTM Hall of Fame. We would also like to thank the 25 members of the Nominating Committee for their efforts in helping honor some of the most significant figures in the history of monster trucks.

With the nominating process now complete, an official voting ballot will be created, listing all 20 nominees. Members of the IMTM Board of Directors, along with previous Hall of Fame Inductees will each receive a voting ballot. They will vote for 5 of the 20 nominees and return their ballot. The 5 nominees receiving the most votes will be inducted into the IMTM Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 9th in Auburn, Indiana. These 5 inductees will be announced to the public on Saturday, September 21st at the 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tickets to attend the 3rd Annual IMTM Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion will go on-sale Monday, September 2nd and will be available online at www.MonsterMuseum.org.

About the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame

The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame was established in 2010 with the mission of collecting and archiving the history of the monster truck sport and related aspects of the high performance aftermarket, focusing upon capturing history from the surviving pioneers and legends. Each year, the International Monster Truck Museum will honor the most accomplished and significant people in the history of monster trucks with induction into its Hall of Fame.

Through the accumulation of vehicles, oral histories, videos and still images, the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame will provide a documented history and an entertaining and educational retrospective display about the birth and growth of a purely North American year round motor sport that is geared toward the entire family and the industry it launched for future generations.

More information on the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame can be found on the organization’s official website, www.MonsterMuseum.org. All of the latest news and updates can be followed on the organization’s Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MonsterMuseum.

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 4.5 – Monster X Tour – Jonesboro, AR 2013

[column size=”1-3″]

Episode Information

Episode: MT Unlimited 4.5
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: ASU Convocation Center
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Date: March 8th-9th, 2013
Videographer: Colby Marshall
[/column] [column size=”1-3″]

Featured Monster Trucks

Ballistic – Mac Plecker
Barbarian – Devin Jones
Heavy Hitter – Derick Anson
River Rat – Vern House
Vi-Cor Bigfoot #15 – Darron Schnell
[/column] [column size=”1-3″ last=”1″]

Featured Links

www.Barbarian4x4.com
www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.E3SparkPlugs.com
www.ExtremeTeam4x4.com
www.HeavyHitterMonsterTruck.com
www.MonsterXTour.com
[/column] [Read more…]

TMB TV: Original Series 6.2 – Monster Nation – Bossier City, LA 2013

TMB TV's Original Series Presented By E3 Spark Plugs
[column size=”1-3″]

Episode Information

Episode: Original Series 6.2
Event: Monster Nation
Venue: CenturyLink Center
Location: Southaven, Mississippi
Date: January 18th-19th, 2013
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Shane Skinner
[/column] [column size=”1-3″]

Featured Monster Trucks

Equalizer – Mike Hawkins
Red Solo Truck – Brandon Budd
Smashosaurus – Dale Gerding
Summit Bigfoot #18 – Dan Runte
Tail Gator – Doug Noelke
Toxic – Travis Petri
[/column] [column size=”1-3″ last=”1″]

Featured Links

www.BigDawg4x4.com
www.BIGFOOT4x4.com
www.E3SparkPlugs.com
www.EqualizerRacing.com
www.Monster-Nation.com
www.ToxicMonsterTruck.com
[/column]

[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Nation – Bossier City, LA 2013

Event: Monster Nation
Venue: CenturyLink Center
Location: Bossier City, LA
Date: January 18th-19th, 2013
Photographer: Danny Maass

Lineup: Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Red Solo Truck (Brandon Budd), Smashosaurus (Dale Gerding), Summit Bigfoot #18 (Dan Runte), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), Toxic (Travis Petri) [Read more…]

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 Truck Show – Troy, PA 2013

Event: Monster Truck Show
Venue: Endless Mountains Maple Festival
Location: Troy, Pennsylvania
Date: April 28th, 2013
Photographer: Jeff Luckey, www.JeffLuckeyPhoto.com

Lineup: Backdraft (Jeremy Slifko), Stinger (Zane Rettew), XDP (Dave Radzierez) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Toughest Monster Truck Tour – Rio Rancho, NM 2013

Event: Toughest Monster Truck Tour
Venue: Santa Ana Star Center
Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Date: February 8th-9th, 2013
Photographer: Lauren Z. Bonar

Lineup: Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Red Solo Truck (Brandon Budd), Smashosaurus (Dale Gerding), Summit Bigfoot #18 (Dan Runte), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), Toxic (Travis Petri) [Read more…]

TMB TV: MT Unlimited 4.4 – Monster X Tour – Lake Charles, LA 2013

[column size=”1-3″]

Episode Information

Episode: MT Unlimited 4.4
Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: Lake Charles Civic Center
Location: Lake Charles, Louisiana
Date: February 22nd-23rd, 2013
Videographer: Colby Marshall
[/column] [column size=”1-3″]

Featured Monster Trucks

Bucked Up – Brad Keller
California Kid – Kevin Post
Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #11 – Kevin Koszala
Rock Star – Bill Payne
Stinger – Zane Rettew
[/column] [column size=”1-3″ last=”1″]

Featured Links

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

Monster Photos: Monster Jam World Finals – Las Vegas, NV 2013

Event: Monster Jam World Finals Young Guns Shootout
Venue: Sam Boyd Stadium
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: March 22nd-23rd, 2013
Photographer: Danny Maass

World Finals Lineup: Avenger – Jim Koehler, Bad Habit – Joe Sylvester, Batman – Norm Miller (Racing) / Carl Van Horn (Freestyle), Blue Thunder – Pablo Huffaker, Bounty Hunter – Jimmy Creten, Captain’s Curse – Alex Blackwell, Captain America – Chad Fortune, El Toro Loco – Marc MacDonald, Grave Digger – Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger The Legend – Adam Anderson, Grinder – John Seasock (Racing) / Lupe Soza (Freestyle), Hot Wheels Firestorm – Scott Buetow, Iron Man – Lee O’Donnell, Lucas Oil Crusader – Linsey Weenk, Madusa – Debra Miceli, Maximum Destruction – Tom Meents, Metal Mulisha – Todd Leduc, Mohawk Warrior – George Balhan, Monster Energy – Damon Bradshaw, Monster Mutt – Charlie Pauken, Monster Mutt Dalmation – Candace Jolly, Northern Nightmare – Cam McQueen, Scooby Doo – Nicole Johnson, Son Uva Digger – Ryan Anderson, Spiderman – Bari Musawwir, Stone Crusher – Steve Sims, Superman – Jon Zimmer, Zombie – Sean Duhon

Young Guns Shootout Lineup: Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Crushstation (Greg Winchenbach), El Diablo (Jean-Paul Ruggiero), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Hooked (Steven Sims), Iron Man (Morgan Kane), Monster Mutt Dalmation (Taryn Laskey), Nitro Hornet (Daron Basl), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Titan (Donald Epidendio), Wolverine (Dustin Brown) [Read more…]

The Allen Report – Monster Truck Show – Phoenix, AZ 2013

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, five regional favorites are pushed to the limit in two shows in a single day, the last day of the Maricopa County Fair. It was here, one year ago, where Grand Canyon State Promotions ventured into the world of monster trucks for the very first time. With the big crowd that followed last year, it made sense the monster trucks came back this year. The lineup looked like this: Tucson’s Rod Wood was in McGruff and Ronnie Sturges, as always, piloted Nasty Boy. His brother Travis filled in for their Uncle Sam in Unnamed & Untamed and a friend of the Sturges’ from just across the border in Mexico named Cesar Nunez took the helm of the sleek ’63 Corvette named Rat Attack. Finally, Jack Koberna, as always, drove Tuff-E-Nuff.

The race course of choice was “Minneapolis Style”, with the trucks starting in the middle and working their way around with the third jump representing the finish line. After Nasty Boy put McGruff in the dog pound, Rat Attack took the place of Unnamed against Tuff-E-Nuff after the 1942 Panel Wagon locked up both axles on the way to the starting line. Rat Attack won the right to face Nasty Boy in the first semi final. In the consolation race, McGruff got his groove back and tamed Tuff-E-Nuff to get another shot at the main event where Nasty Boy, having beaten Rat Attack, was there waiting. But history repeated itself when McGruff spun out in the final corner, giving the racing title to Ronnie Sturges. In the exhibition only freestyle, McGruff had some great air and kept the speed up very well. But the highlight came when Rat Attack launched off a starting line jump and followed it up with a slap wheelie before a tuff truck jump sent him on his side, much to the delight of the fans.

The evening show would see only 4 vehicles as Rat Attack’s rollover broke his hub inside the axle and it could not get fixed in time. But Unnamed & Untamed was back in the game with both third members in the axles fixed. In racing, McGruff rolled the dice one more time with Unnamed and won to advance to the finals. Nasty Boy downed Tuff-E-Nuff in the other semi to face Rod Wood for the third time in the same day. But first, the dark cloud finally lifted off of U & U when Travis Sturges drove to victory over New Mexico’s Jack Koberna in the third place race. In the main event, Rod Wood just could not stop the domination of Team Sturges at the Maricopa County Fair. Nasty Boy swept racing. To finish the night, all 4 trucks gave it all in a wild exhibition only freestyle. Jack Koberna, the southwest monster truck legend from New Mexico, threw out some huge air, a near vertical slap wheelie and some dusty donuts, much to the delight of the fans.

The shows also featured some tuff truck racing, freestyle motocross action and hilarious side by side SUV racing on the tuff truck course. For us at “The Allen Report”, we are headed over to Los Angeles next to cover Robby Gordon’s SST race at the venue where stadium off road racing all began, the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. So, thank you for reading, a huge thanks to Grand Canyon State Promotions for their hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

TMB TV: MT Unlimited Moment – Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #20 Car Crush

Event: BIGFOOT 4×4 Autism Speaks Benefit
Venue: Midwest 4-Wheel Drive
Location: Hazelwood, Missouri
Date: April 17th, 2013
Videographer: Colby Marshall

Lineup: Odyssey Battery Bigfoot #20 – Jim Kramer [Read more…]

The Allen Report: Autism Speaks – Phoenix, AZ 2013

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

At the time of this writing, just days remain before the first ever Stadium Super Trucks race at University of Phoenix Stadium. But before that, Team Bigfoot had some special audience members to please: Young people with autism. On World Autism Awareness Day dozens of families gathered in the stadium’s parking lot to watch Bigfoot #20 crush cars to benefit the team’s newest sponsor, Autism Speaks.

Driving duties went to Monster Truck Hall of Famer Jim Kramer. And there was no problem whatsoever with noise. Bigfoot #20 is the worlds first and, thus far, only all electric powered monster truck. So the biggest noise came from the cars themselves as the 66 inch tall tires rolled right over them. The night culminated in the unveiling of Team Bigfoot’s Autism Speaks body, complete with the company’s signature puzzle piece logo. The families must have loved it because they clapped and cheered and took many pictures of the new body.

Now the curtain is about to rise on Robby Gordon’s reboot of stadium off road racing, and more highlights are on the way from us here at “The Allen Report” from just that event. That being said, thank you for reading, thanks so much to University of Phoenix Stadium for hosting this touching event, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Detroit, MI 2013

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Ford Field
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Date: March 2nd, 2013
Photographer: Paul Harry

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Batman (Norm Miller), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), El Toro Loco (Marc MacDonald), Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson), Grinder (Frank Krmel), Iron Man (Morgan Kane), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Metal Mulisha (Brian Deegan), Monster Mutt Rottweiler (Rod Schmidt), Scarlet Bandit (Dawn Creten), Son Uva Digger (Ryan Anderson), Wolverine (Dustin Brown), Zombie (Sean Duhon) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: NAPA Final Event Spectacular – Chandler, AZ 2013

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

After 30 years of offering a vast variety of motorsports to auto racing fans in the Valley of the Sun, Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ, will close. It was decided, however, to put on one more huge show and what better way to close things out on the Saturday before Easter than to do it with monster trucks, jet cars and Robosaurus. The NAPA Auto Parts Final Event Spectacular was a Saturday night only event. The featured monster trucks included: Jimmy Creten in the new Bounty Hunter Silver and wife Dawn Creten, as always, in Scarlet Bandit. Steven Thompson drove Iron Outlaw and Darren Migues flew the Red Baron. Team Bigfoot was in the house courtesy of Dan Runte in Summit Bigfoot #18. Finally, World Finals Young Guns Shootout competitor JR McNeal was in the driver’s seat of Razin Kane and TJ Tripp had Ice Cream Man at the ready.

Before the night’s mayhem began, a tremendous crowd piled in and stood in line to get autographs from their favorite drivers. The sun set and the action on the quarter-mile drag strip heated up. Jet cars versus funny cars started the action with passes down the strip of over 250 mph. This was followed by the finals of the drag racing whose heat races were run earlier in the day. The fans were then treated to Ed “the Outlaw” Jones in his wheel-standing horseless carriage who made a full quarter mile pass in 12 seconds only on his rear wheels.

Then it was time for the Monsters! The competition was to be freestyle and it got bigger and better with each truck. JR McNeal threw down the gauntlet early with a score of 27. Red Baron and Ice Cream Man also gave great efforts, but could only tie the current best score of 27. Scarlet Bandit and Iron Outlaw also excited the crowd with car crushing action but failed to wrestle the lead from the trio holding on to the high score. Dan Runte’s farewell freestyle to one of his favorite places to perform came to an end sooner than expected thanks to a flat tire after hitting the drag strip’s concrete wall. But for years, Jim Creten and The Bounty Hunter had had a lock on the Firebird Champion’s trophy. Over the years, many had tried to take the title from him, but all had failed. This year was no exception as two tremendous jumps threw away the key to that lock. The first jump had bright blue fireworks on either side of him as he entered the drag arena and the second was completely over Iron Outlaw and Red Baron parked side by side. He nailed a perfect 30, making him the Final Champion of Firebird Raceway. An incredible fireworks show followed the Monster Truck action then the stage was set for the car eating, fire breathing madness only Robosaurus can bring.

Up next for us at “The Allen Report” will be a demonstration car crush of the all electric Bigfoot #20 and the unveiling of the Autism Awareness Bigfoot #18 on Tuesday, April 2, which is World Autism Awareness day. Autism is very near to the heart for us at “The Allen Report” and we are very proud to be able to cover this very special event.

We will also be attending the first ever Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks race just down the road from us in University of Phoenix Stadium. There will be a full field of Monster Trucks providing racing action in addition to the Super Trucks. We will have a report.

Until then, thank you for reading, a very special thanks to Firebird Raceway for 30 years of motorsports action and hosting this great event one more time, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

TMB TV: Highlights – Monster X Tour – Highland Heights, KY 2013

Event: Monster X Tour
Venue: The Bank of Kentucky Center
Location: Highland Heights, Kentucky
Date: February 8th-9th, 2013
Videographer: Chris Parrish

Lineup: American Graffiti (Justin Cluster), Bigfoot Nation #10 (Tim Missentzis), Bucked Up (Brad Keller), California Kid (Kevin Post), Reverse Racer (Ed Miller), Rock Star (Bill Payne) [Read more…]

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2005-2025.