The first person we met once we were inside and walking around was Charles Benns, owner and driver of the Pit Bull monster truck.  Charles seemed really excited and was never at a loss for words.  I explained who we were and why we were at the show.  It was very nice to meet Charles, as I felt more comfortable immediately.

This show was also where my wife and I first met Larry Quick.  As the Monster Blogger puts it, Larry is a great friend of the Monster Blog.  A very good person to meet, as he already knew Ross and was very good about helping with our questions.  Larry was very busy, but took the time to talk to us, and we really look forward to seeing him out this way again sometime.

The star of the night was Charles Benns and his beautiful Pit Bull truck. This has to be one of the finest Monster Trucks I have ever seen.  Sure, there are others that are newer and flashier, but it is the colors and the fact that it is a Chevy that does it for me.  This sure seems to be a Ford dominated sport at times, but I love a nice looking Chevy truck.  I have never owned anything else.

Charles Benns won the Freestyle competition this night in Albuquerque; he may not have been the best, however he sure was the most popular.  It was not just because he was from Albuquerque as I had originally thought; I learned that Charles donated all the earnings from the Pit Bull that night to charity.  This charity is very special to Charles and I can certainly understand why!  Carries Tingley Children’s Hospital is doing outstanding work with sick or injured children.  You can find out much more about the work Charles is doing with children by going to his website at: www.PitbullMonsterTruck.com.

Charles has only been driving the Pit Bull for around 8 months, something else I did not know at the time.  I wondered how all proceeds went to charity and how Charles was able to keep running financially.  Charles explained that he purchased the truck, however he has some very great sponsors.  Maintenance plays a big role in keeping this monster rolling.  He said that the fine people at Performance Engines Plus and TUIC Transmission help make sure his Monster Truck stays running.  He has several other sponsors you can also find at his website.  This is a wonderful thing these people are doing for the children, especially in this day and age when it is all about money!

I asked Charles if he made any special appearances with the Pit Bull, and the main ones were the ones he's done for the children at Carries Tingley Children’s Hospital.  You could hear the excitement in his voice, knowing he was doing it to help brighten the children's days.

Another example of the charity work came at the event we attended.  Charles worked with Danny Torgerson to get forty tickets each evening of the Albuquerque show for the children from the hospital to attend the Monster Truck event.  This was awesome act of kindness from Torgerson Motorsports.

Back to the evening of the show we went to, Charles won the Freestyle event, and although the end of his run was not as he wanted.  Charles stated that a gasket broke and he was leaking fuel at the end of the run.  I can only assume that it was the carburetor gasket and the leaking fuel hit the manifold.  The Pit Bull’s engine went up in flames.  The first person to arrive was Larry Quick, I have no idea what Larry was yelling to Charles from the driver's side of the truck, but I saw Charles dive out the passenger side of the truck.

Charles was helped by a few people over to the side wall, after a few seconds, he stood, took a bow, and was handed the announcer's microphone.  He yelled to the crowd, "Was that Freestyle or what!!"  The crowd roared, seeing that he was ok, and showing their appreciation for the run he had put on.

Before leaving for the night, Lynn and I went to see Charles.  He had burns and blisters over one eye and was in obvious pain.  He did not want to discuss that though, he was just worried if he put on a good enough show for all the fans in attendance.  With out a doubt, he had done just that.

Bottom line: Charles Benns is doing great charity work with the children's hospital in his hometown, and his sponsors are doing the same.  Take some time out to check out his website, and look out for the Pit Bull at a show near you!!

-  Lauren Z. Bonar