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TIRE PROS TRUCK & 4X4 NATIONALS
October 21st-22nd, 2006 - Firebird
International Raceway - Chandler, AZ
As most monster truck fans know, especially the
ones in the Phoenix area, the annual Firebird events are not to be missed. They
are some of the best produced in the country and are fun for everyone to
include fans, media, and the drivers. Lynn and I arrived at the Firebird
International Raceway around 9:30 am Saturday morning thinking this was plenty
early for the 11:30 event. We were very wrong as traffic was already lined up
all the way to Interstate 10. The Raceway staff was very
organized however, and kept traffic moving at a steady pace, getting fans parked and in the gates on
time for the start of the event. Great job Firebird staff!!
Upon our arrival and after
registering for our media credentials, we headed over to the monster truck pit
area to greet all the teams and wish them the best of luck for the weekend's
events. In addition to most of the drivers being out signing auto-graphs, the
Boogie Monster ride truck was giving fans the ride of their lives.
Once again, just as at the year's previous Firebird show, the first people we run into are Ron Howell and Labe Abernathy of
Brand Connections (www.brand-connections.com). Lynn and I gave Ron and Labe a hard
time the last time we met, but they got the best of us convincing us to wear a
Ford hat (even thought we are Chevy folks) all day at that event. This time I was wearing a Monster Blog hat--I
had two hats made at a trade show to see how they would look a few weeks prior and gave
Sam Sturges the only other one--Anyway, these guys got on me right away wanting
to know where their hat was! Not letting me explain, it was their turn to
give me a hard time. lol All in good humor, these guys are always fun to visit
with. Ron and Labe had the Brand new Ford Fusion on display and were giving
children and adults a Hot Wheels special packaged Ford Fusion toy NASCAR replica. Very
awesome and the attention these guys attract must be great advertising for Ford.
Lynn and I did not have much time to say hello to all the drivers and get seated
for the first event, but we did accomplish the mission. As most of you know by
now and I am sure the drivers are well aware, Lynn and I like to get something auto-graphed
at each event. I am sure some of the drivers are getting
sick of it, but I do it for a few reasons, for my grandson and some day it will
be great stuff for historical reasons. After having Nathan Weenk, driver of
Jurassic Attack sign a couple items the previous weekend in Tuba City, I asked
Nathan to sign a Firebird Poster for me--He said, “I carry a special Sharpie
just for you Lauren”. lol I started laughing and promised to get him a new
one. Next time I see you Nathan, a promise is a promise!
There are four monster truck shows this weekend, times are 11:30 AM Saturday & Sunday and 2:30
PM Saturday & Sunday. The shows are all freestyle, to include some brief
freestyle moves
during introductions. The setup is huge, with cars to crush, a huge tire pit, a
mini FMX hill and huge tires chained together for a wheelie set up. There is a
huge pit behind the track with a very large mud bog and a track for tough
trucks. For those who dare to attempt it, coming back up from the dirt track
towards the front, there is a huge stack of boulders. Not rocks, but boulders!
This is the largest freestyle area I have ever witnessed and the drivers are
free to use any portion of it.
The next surprise for me came when I was seated and the announcer took the
microphone. He introduced his self as Mark Wright and was doing a great job
getting everything going when he introduced his co-announcer who was wearing a
Bigfoot shirt came on the stage. Yes, much to the crowds delight, it was Madusa! Madusa would not
be driving in this event, but she did a great job with Mark, keeping the crowd
entertained throughout the weekend. Another thing Madusa fans might like to hear, she has a great
throwing arm as she proved throwing T-shirts to the crowd. Mark and Madusa made
a very good team, keeping the crowd informed and entertained.
The National Anthem was sung by an up & coming country singer out of Clarksburg,
WV. His name is Glen Shaffer and his first CD was titled Salvation Man. Glen did a
great job Saturday, and on Sunday performed the National Anthem in a way I had
never heard, an instrumental with his guitar. It turned out very well as the
crowd also understood how hard this really is and gave him a good round of applause.
Glen is pictured below and you can find out more about him at his website
www.glenshaffer.com. Glen stated that he thought Jimmy Creten put his heart &
soul into Monster Trucks and that Jimmy & Dawn Creten were the inspiration in a
new Monster Truck Anthem called “No Fear” that can be downloaded off the above
site, beginning next month.
Let's take a moment to check out our truck and driver lineup for the
weekend's events, using pictures from Introductions at the 11:30AM Saturday
show.
THE TRUCK LINEUP
BOUNTY HUNTER - JIMMY CRETEN
IRON OUTLAW - LINSEY WEENK
JURASSIC ATTACK - NATHAN WEENK
MANIAC - DON FRANKISH
NASTY BOY - RONNIE STURGES
SUMMIT BIGFOOT - DAN RUNTE
UNNAMED & UNTAMED - SAM STURGES
SATURDAY 11:30AM SHOW
All drivers and vehicles came out on the track to big applause, faced the crowd
and drivers waved as introduced. I say this because the next three introductions
would be a bit different, as you'll soon see. Once Introductions concluded, it
was time for the first Freestyle competition of the weekend. Check out the
photos of all the action below!!
NASTY BOY
JURASSIC ATTACK
UNNAMED & UNTAMED
IRON OUTLAW
MANIAC
SUMMIT BIGFOOT
BOUNTY HUNTER
All of the drivers put on
excellent performances, but it was Dan Runte in Summit Bigfoot and Jimmy Creten
in Bounty Hunter receiving perfect scores for a tie for the win.
Don Frankish should get an honorable mention, and in my opinion deserved at least
a three-way tie. His performance led my wife to say, “Don is out of control”!!
An unusual remark from her that made me laugh. Linsey Weenk had some tough luck,
as on his first jump over the
huge tire pit, his front tires landed directly on the concrete barrier, causing
one to pop. Bad luck for Linsey in Iron Outlaw, but he would be back for the
next show.
Head on over to the 2nd page
of this coverage to see all the action from the Saturday 2:30PM show!!
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