We caught up with Eric Tack, legendary former Bigfoot driver who has returned to fill in for the injured Larry Swim, and he’s going to be our subject of second installment of In Focus. Eric drove for Team Bigfoot in the ’90’s and early ’00’s, but stepped out of the seat and has made a few come back appearances in recent years. Eric is currently piloting the Bigfoot Bad Boy #14 on the Monster Truck Winter Nationals series until regular driver Larry Swim is able to return.
Legendary BIGFOOT driver Eric Tack celebrates a big freestyle win at last April's Pontiac Silverdome event.
Chris Parrish: Eric, you’re back in the saddle driving Bigfoot again after a lengthy break, what’s it like to be back?
Eric Tack: It’s just another walk in the park, actually. It’s fun to sit back in the truck again and enjoy the thrill and excitement of it.
CP: We’re going to venture through your career. How did you get started with Bigfoot and did you work with any other teams before that?
ET: No, actually, years ago John Piant and Dan Runte were in Pittsburgh and I talked to them, and that was where I first made contact with Bigfoot. That would be back in ‘88 or ‘89. That was right when Dan started, I know. I used to race motor cross back in the old Camel Mud & Monster days. I talked to Dan and at that time, they had a deal where an insurance clause wouldn’t allow you to work for them until you were 25, so I had to put it off for a couple years. I talked to Jim Kramer in Bloomsburg, PA one year and he said the insurance thing went away, so I sent in my resume and two weeks later I was working for Bigfoot.
CP: What was the first Bigfoot you drove in a show?
ET: It would have been Bigfoot #8 in Illinois. No, I’ve got to back up there. It would have been Bigfoot #9, which had a Snake Bite body on it, in Craig, CO. That would have been my first show.
Tack has been on fire since stepping into the Bigfoot Bad Boy ride, winning nearly every event he has competed in during the first month of the year.
CP: Do you have a highlight in your career? Any particular high moment?
ET: Yeah, working for Zane (Rettew of Checkered Flag Productions). Not prompted there at all, he’s not standing close or anything (laughing). Really, wining the 2000 PRO MT championship would have been one. Jumping the airplane (In Firestone Wilderness) would have been a big one. Doing a lot of neat shows and meeting a lot of neat people.
CP: Speaking of the airplane jump, tell us a little bit about that. Thoughts, feelings… you’re jumping over an AIRPLANE in a MONSTER TRUCK!
ET: We did a bunch of test jumps out in the test field down at Bigfoot. I think I jumped 13 times just to make sure I could get the height and distance. Then there was about a month and a half until we actually did the jump. So, there was a lot of anxiety waiting and realizing what was going on.
CP: When did you get out of the sport?
ET: I think November 2003 was my last show. That’s when I moved from St. Louis and left Bigfoot full time and moved back to Butler, PA. I bought my dad’s excavating business and have been digging ditches ever since.
CP: Did you miss monster trucks during that time?
ET: It’s an addiction. I guess I’ve heard it before, you can take the boy out of the truck, but you can’t take the truck out of the boy. It’s something that you do miss, but running equipment you do get somewhat of the same satisfaction, but you don’t have as big of crowds.
Tack has typically made a cameo appearance here and there since stepping away from the sport, as he did here piloting Raminator in Canfield, Ohio in 2008.
CP: You stepped away for a while, but you’ve appeared to be willing to jump back in the seat. Would you have any interest in running a truck full time?
ET: I’d probably consider it, but running a business back home in the winter months right now, we’re slow and we’re just depending on the snow coming down because we plow snow, too. You kind of fill in, in between doing that. But, in the summer months when we’re busy, I don’t know how easy it would be to run full time.
CP: The deal running the Bigfoot Bad Boy in Larry’s place during first quarter really works out well for you?
ET: Yeah, it kind of all came all together. When Bob Trent called and told me the situation and asked about it, it was great to know that they felt they could call and put me in that position.
CP: Throughout your career, who do you think was your biggest rival?
ET: Oohh…probably Dan(Runte)….within the Bigfoot organization. There are a lot of great drivers I’ve met out there. Gary Porter and Dan Patrick are probably two of the top ones, other than the Bigfoot drivers.
CP: You’ve mentioned that it’s hard to really get out of the sport, it’s always a part of you…what’s the biggest benefit to being out of the sport?
ET: None.. (laughter)….
CP: You’ve seen a lot of developments through your career in the industry. Is there any one item that you consider to be the biggest improvement in the sport?
ET: I’d say lately, probably the specialized seats that are custom made to the driver. That’s a huge, huge step. When I was at Bigfoot, Jim Kramer and I started the shocks that they are running now, and they have fine tuned them since. The shocks were a big step, but these ISP seats that Bigfoot runs, that’s a huge safety step.
CP: Where do you see the sport going in the future? Do you have any thoughts on where it might be heading?
ET: Well, I watch TV and watch Feld do their thing and watch all the promoters do theirs. I don’t know how much bigger you can go with it. (They’re) pushing the extremes of the trucks. I guess you can only go bigger.
Tack rides a wheelie over the massive center stack at the Pontiac Silverdome in Bigfoot #11. When the Bad Boy stint is over, who knows where Tack will turn up next?
CP: You mentioned watching it on TV. Do you keep up with the sport while you’re away from the seat?
ET: A little bit. I’m not computer oriented, so I don’t do the internet stuff, but when it’s on TV and I have time to watch, I flip through and watch it.
CP: Is there anything about the sport you don’t like these days?
ET: Down time.
CP: On a personal level, what’s your daily driver? What does a monster truck driver drive during the week?
ET: I start the morning in an F-150, then either move to a super duty or an International dump truck in the afternoon.
CP: Do you have any hobbies? I understand that you follow the Steelers.
ET: Oh, of course!
CP: Any other hobbies?
ET: I like to hunt and fish, ride quads, and just spend time with family.
CP: Pittsburgh fan all around?
ET: Ah, yes. Ehh…except for baseball. We won’t go there.
CP: Do you have a favorite monster truck?
ET: Blue. There is only one monster truck isn’t there?
We’ve got to thank Eric Tack for his time and participation. Eric has done a great job filling in for Larry Swim in Bigfoot Bad Boy. He has put on an excellent show everywhere he’s traveled, filling the Bad Boy shoes perfectly and we can only hope to continue to seeing Eric in the seat in some capacity in the future after Larry’s return sometime in February.
We hope you enjoyed another edition of In Focus, stay tuned next month as we detail another of the industry’s top personalities.
Photos courtesy Ross Z. Bonar and Paul M. Harry.
BIGFOOT #16, the team’s most technically advanced race chassis to date, will be skinned in F-250 fiberglass and will sport an all-new custom paint scheme that is similar in concept to that used by Team Summit drivers Pete Berner (ADRL Extreme Pro Stock) and Tim Wilkerson (NHRA TF/FC), and will showcase the team’s two primary sponsors, Summit Racing Equipment and Firestone tires.
