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"GRACE UNDER PRESSURE" By KYLE DOYLE - 10/18/06
“You have got to be kidding me,” I thought to myself as I started my truck, warming it up before heading to the shop. Needless to say, I was less than impressed with the fact that I could see my breath, though the fact that it was about a quarter to six in the morning and still dark could have had something to do with it. I had waken up a bit earlier than usual, in order to make sure that we were not late to Dempsey Dodge in Dwight, IL. The fact that Dwight is only two hours and change from our shop meant an extra night at home that week, though it also meant for an early morning rousing the day of the gig. In order to be setup at the dealership with the R/T by 9am, I calculated that a 6am departure from the shop would be sufficient.
The gig at Dempsey Dodge was
quite ordinary, a typical nine-to-five ride truck gig, if such a thing could be
said to exist. Having left early in the morning without much consideration being
paid to breakfast, and a busy enough day that lunchtime came and went, we were
all pretty famished by the time we had the R/T loaded up and ready to hit the
road. Salvation that evening came in the form of a one-off truck stop across
IL-47 from the dealership that served a suitable glass of sweet tea and Beef
Manhattan. In fact, I should say that this diner’s cuisine was at least a notch
or two above that served by the “Flyin’ Hook” or any of its brethren. After grabbing my cursory package of ranch-flavored sunflower seeds (in-shell, of course) and two bottles of iced tea, we hit the road for Toledo, OH. The conclusion of the Saturday gig in Dwight (9/16/06) would find us rapidly moving east on I-80 (quickest way possible!) towards the Toledo Machining Plant on the western edge of Toledo. Thankfully, the trip was uneventful, though as we pulled into the TMP facility parking lot at about 2:30am EST, I was most definitely glad to be off the road. My contacts were about to jump off of my eyes on their own, but thankfully I managed to subdue them before anything tragic happened.
Raminator joining the 9 & 19 Nextel Cup cars for some photos in Toledo.
A Toledo area fire department put on an exhibition during the day at TMP, including a special landing by this medivac helicopter.
In contrast to the small
grass lot I had given rides on in Dwight, I was able to let the R/T stretch its
legs a bit more in Toledo. The plant allowed us the use of a multi-acre (and
well-manicured) grass lawn in front of the plant, complete with some drainage
ditches and trees to help make the rides a bit more scenic and fun for the
passengers. After overcoming some RII troubles during his first car crush
earlier in the day, Dale Benear rebounded by putting on a show-stopper of a
performance later in the afternoon, taking advantage of the wide open spaces,
much to the delight of the crowd. After a quick tire-down of both trucks, we
motored down the highway a few miles to Beaver Dam to the aforementioned “Flyin’
Hook” to wolf down some supper at the Not Really Home Cooking restaurant, before
heading the rest of the way home.
Still somewhat groggy after the long weekend, we returned to the shop Monday morning to take advantage of what little time we had to get ready for the Indy Jamboree. With the points battle being ever so tight, we knew that preparation would be a crucial ingredient to a successful weekend in Indy. If you show up to Indy flustered with equipment needing worked on, your chances of fighting off the wolves isn’t very high, if you catch my drift. The entire team spent quite a bit of effort getting everything ready, and if I may brag for a moment, I think they did a fantastic job. I don’t really think you can appreciate the intensity and attention to detail that afflicts our team without working for us, so I guess my weak description will have to suffice.
The R/T on the Circle.
An aerial view of Bigfoot 1 on the circle.
After setting the truck up and cleaning up, I decided to take a brief stroll around the circle to find a coffee shop before I got to taking pictures and all that. My stroll took me about 25 yards, as I wandered into the South Bend Chocolate Company’s “Chocolate Café”. The Chocolate Café’s menu offered a plethora of hot, caffeine-loaded beverages, but considering the name of the place, I opted to try a 20oz hot chocolate, which came heartily recommended by the staff. Topped with a generous portion of whipped cream and some shredded chocolate sprinkles, I briefly considered the notion that a ride to the hospital might be in order if I drank the whole thing. No such crisis would arise, though I did seem to make Bigfoot’s Alan Hartsock jealous during our conversation next to the R/T, as I quietly nodded my head and sipped at my insulated paper cup of heaven. After discovering I found bliss for the low low price of only $2.50 USD, I’m pretty sure that he may have found himself some as well.
The R/T hauler hanging out in downtown. After warming up the R/T and heading down Meridian St. with the rest of the monsters, we quickly tore down the truck and headed over to the Indiana State Fairgrounds to meet up with the rest of the team, who had been setting up the pits while we had been mingling with folks downtown. I should like to note that in my relatively short career in monster trucks (3 ½ years), it was a pretty cool feeling to be driving a monster truck in a parade with Bigfoot 1 following me.
The HBR pits in Indy.
Friday morning the rains came, setting the tone early for how most of the weekend would progress. Though there are often jokes or complaints made behind our backs at the race track, every time it rains at a Jamboree I’m thankful to high-heavens for the huge awning that sticks out off the side of Mark’s Raminator trailer. Not only does it keep our trucks nearly bone-dry, but it offers some respite from the sometimes claustrophobic interiors of the trailers. Sadly, the poor weather lasted the duration of the day and into most of the night, keeping attendance down and limiting the monsters to a single freestyle-only session. Initially, plans still called for a full-on bracket of racing, which would have been sloppy but still manageable at that point. The drama reached new heights when Allen Pezo and his Predator team (40pts out of first place) showed up at the track a mere hour before race time. Concerns and questions arose as to whether or not Predator could make the call; rumor suggested that the bracket sheets did not include the Pezo trucks. Just as introductions began, word was received in the pits that the show was being shifted to freestyle-only, and crew chief Tim Hall made a bold decision. Both of our trucks, tied for first in points, were fine-tuned to hit the race track, or at least more so than full-on wet weather freestyle. The grim reality was that Geremie would have to freestyle Rammunition, but we realized that a different option existed for Mark. The #004 Raminator, which Dale Benear and I share seat time in, was loaded up in its transporter in the pits, unbeknownst to most everyone at the Jamboree.
Mitch Tulachka and his Get Er Done MT passed their MTRA certification on Saturday in Indy,
inspected by yours truly. When the call came over our radios at nearly the last minute to unload the truck and tire it up, our crew sprang into action. In just over ten minutes time, the truck and its tires were out of the trailer, the truck was tired-up, fueled-up, weather-proofed, and ready to go. All we had to do was insert Mark Hall into the cab and send him on his way. As I jogged in front of the truck guiding Mark out of the pits and onto the race track, I saw a number of faces go wide-eyed with surprise as a second big red Ram emerged from the seemingly empty pits. We returned Mark’s normal truck back to the pits and placed it back under the awning, sparing at least one of our trucks from the muck and the mess, while not robbing the fans of seeing Raminator. Back in the Pezo camp, the team was able to tire up Prowler in time to run FS, though they were still struggling to get the Predator machine to fire up. Questions and curiosity in the pits ran rampant. Just like any other race series in the world that has a final-race points battle, people randomly took guesses as to what the situation was. “Is he just holding off so he doesn’t have to get muddy?” “I heard he put a new motor in last night.” “I heard it’s blown up!”
The drivers gathering for the
pre-race drivers’ meeting. Our team was perhaps the most curious of all, though we all held our cards close, wondering how this rainy Friday would affect the rest of the weekend. The next day, DW and I wandered down to Allen’s pits to see how they were doing. We immediately noticed Allen, Lenny, and co. working on the truck, which was still in the trailer. Turns out the truck had been burning up starters, and wouldn’t want to run on top of that. It was later discovered that the fuel pump shaft had sheared off, leaving a small bit of it still in the motor. As Allen pondered how to get it out, I suggested that he use a stick magnet, knowing that those shafts don’t exactly press in real tight or anything. Sure enough, the magnet plucked it right out. I took a few minutes to chat with Lenny, though careful not to interrupt his work. Lenny, who is Allen’s cousin, has been a good friend of mine for a number of years now, the common ground between us makes for a unique understanding of what kind of life each of us lives. Being young and on the road a lot, working on and driving monsters, eating truck stop food; these are all things we’ve joke about and lamented on.
Bob Chandler piloted Bigfoot 1 out onto the front stretch for intros on Sunday in Indy.
Much to my surprise, and I dare say the surprise of everyone else racing MT’s
that day, Greg and his crew were able to pull a clean rabbit out of a muddy hat,
so to speak. Though the trucks had to forge a tributary of the Mississippi River
to get to the starting line, the track was a ten-fold improvement over what it
had been a few hours prior. As introductions carried on into Bobby Cox’s spiel,
the temperature continued to drop noticeably, and the once partly cloudy skies
had begun to shift back to the familiar overcast. “That’d be our luck,” I
mumbled to John Peterson of Bigfoot, referencing the apparent chance for rain,
yet again. As the first pair of the first round did their RII test and staged,
the rain mercifully decided to hold off. Big Dawg drew Allen Pezo’s Predator in
the first round, and in a very close (and nerve-wracking) race, Doug Noelke
would defeat Pezo, securing the championship for HBR for the second time in
three years at Indy. Our team exchanged handshakes, high fives, and hugs, but
instead of the more common forms of championship celebration, our display was
mainly resigned to a huge *sigh* of relief. To come from behind, to fight out of
the deep hole we had fallen into early in the season, it was relief more than
anything to know that all of the work we had put into our program would not be
cast aside by one event. The race now between teammates: Mark and Geremie.
Geremie disposed of Metallic Mayhem, while Mark knocked out Andy Hoffman, who
filled in for the broken Eradicator. The second round pairings kept Mark and G
separate for yet another round. Geremie would go on to defeat a strong Big Dawg,
while Mark took out underdog Avenger, who had upset Bigfoot in round one. Our
guys were on a mission, and those of us on the ground wondered what would be
left of the two trucks once the final round was over. One thing was for certain;
the guys weren’t going to leave anything on the table when the light turned
green.
Mark and G racing for the
championship in the finals on Sunday.
And green it did turn, though the black Ram moved off the line a skosh sooner
than the red Ram did, the driver of the black beast never looking back. Geremie
and his Rammunition steed clawed their way down the track as quick as anyone had
that day, narrowly defeating Mark and Raminator, who had lost some ground on the
starting line and in a slick spot in no-man’s-land. For the first time in his
young career, Geremie Dishman won himself a championship; furthermore,
Rammunition also got to enjoy the championship limelight for the first time
since its birth in mid-2002. You can attribute our team winning the championship
to a number of things, people, and critical events; but I feel it all boils down
to being graceful under pressure.
A rare glimpse of Bigfoot 5 being torn down during Sunday’s race.
The championship cuisine options are pretty limited for a mob of hungry guys
driving a fleet of semis between Indy and Champaign, so for that particular
night the National Sub Sandwich Chain franchise in Pittsboro, IN would have to
do, as they offered adequate truck parking. Though I enjoyed my club sub, I
think it was the Cherry Coke that really hit the spot.
Some of the fine memorabilia
at Haywood’s.
Muncy is one of those towns that you really enjoy going to when you have a job
like I do. Smaller town dealerships (like any small-town business) tend to have
a much more personal relationship with their customers, as the limited
population ensures that word of any wrong-doing will spread like wildfire
through the town, tarnishing the business’ image. Therefore, you tend to find
that most small town dealerships do a really good job of maintaining a good
relationship with their customers, and the town in general. Such was the case in
Muncy, proof being the small bar and grill we ate at after being rained out on
Thursday (9/28). “Haywood’s Bar & Grill” is nestled in an old New England-like
neighborhood near downtown Muncy, in a facility that emulates the surrounding
houses, almost to the point of being camouflaged. Inside we found a very nicely
decorated and maintained establishment, complete with bar stools mounted on
polished aluminum rims, some zoomie headers on the wall signed by John Force,
and even a Larry Dixon/Snake crew shirt. Among all of the other “stick and ball
sports” memorabilia on the wall, we spotted autographed hero cards from other
drag racing icons, like Gary Scelzi. The Kaiser brothers knew the owner of the
joint, and per their advice we brought a big Raminator/Rammunition poster that
we had all signed, and presented it to the owner after he had seated us and the
Kaiser brothers. In appreciation for that (and several good-natured jokes about
his affinity for Corvettes), he returned from the back room of the restaurant
with a handful of Haywood’s Bar & Grill t-shirts for all of us. Now, let me just
say that in our line of work, free t-shirts come pretty often, so it takes a
pretty special t-shirt to make us laugh, or even blush for that fact. But our
shirts from Haywood’s proclaiming “I got POUNDED @ Haywood’s! Muncy, PA” did
just that.
Travis digging in to his 5lb
club sandwich. We didn’t get pounded by a far cry, unless you count the gallon of root beer I washed my grilled chicken and onions down with, though we did have a really great time. After getting royally muddy during the day Friday, we quickly cleaned the R/T up before we loaded it, and upon getting loaded DW and I made our way back across I-80, bound for Fostoria, OH. So, as I drove us across central PA in the darkness of twilight, I let my mind wander for awhile, soaking up the tunes on our Sirius radio, indulging in some deep thinking. We switched drivers near the Ohio border, and DW carried us the second half of the drive to a truck stop about 45 minutes from Fostoria. We turned in around 3a.m., setting our alarms for 6:30, not wanting to be late to the dealership and knowing that the rainy conditions would slow our setting up a bit. Before I get into any detail about our gig in Fostoria, I need to share a bit of background information with you.
The R/T doing its thing in
Fostoria.
Back in October of 2003, Geremie Dishman and I did a static display with his
race truck at the Northwood College International Auto Show in Midland, MI.
Northwood's curriculum is more along the lines of automotive marketing, PR,
dealership management, etc (as opposed to spinning wrenches). For the yearly
auto show, students form teams and create high-end professional-like auto show
exhibits as their final projects. G and I brought Raminator up to the show to be
a part of the Dodge exhibit. That's where we met the girl running the booth...a
girl by the name of Christy Cole. The determination and drive that this young
lady had was quite impressive; even more so when we learned from her and her
mother that she suffers from a disease that affects her stamina, immune system,
and digestive system. How she had the strength to coordinate a hectic display
for three long days is was beyond me, and still is. Though many people did not
realize it, she found herself getting sick throughout the entire weekend,
disappearing occasionally to regain her composure.
Christy and myself after a long day at Paul Cole Motors.
The R/T at the end of the day
in Fostoria.
Sadly, we often lose touch with people whom are friends with or care about, and
in our own struggles, tend to forget that those people have struggles of their
own and in many cases WORSE than our own.
One of the service guys from the dealership thought it would be cool to go out and play with his Dakota
in the mess that the R/T had
made. Still discussing the day’s amazing activities, DW drove while I navigated using a combination of road map and GPS, guiding our rig down a series of smaller state and country roads, working our way over to I-75, “the big road”. Not long after jumping on I-75, we stopped at the familiar Beaver Dam Flyin’ Hook for fuel, soda, and sunflower seeds, and then got back after it, arriving home late that night.
After arriving home Sunday afternoon, I picked Amanda up and we headed out to
one of my favorite local attractions, Lake of the Woods in Mahomet, IL. Though
the park isn’t the biggest, best, least crowded or most stunning state park
you’ll find in Illinois, it isn’t a long drive and it offers some decent
photographic opportunities. Thanks mainly in part to the droves of young
children wildly terrorizing the park’s serenity, wildlife was nowhere to be
found that particular evening, though our walks on the park’s various trails and
paths proved to be a welcome break from the hustle-bustle of a busy monster
truck career. I’ve always felt that the best way to remain interested in
something is to make sure that you find a few other things that you are
interested in as well, so as to not over-indulge or get burnt out on any one
thing. For me, music, reading, photography, and the outdoors are some of those
“other things” on which I rely when I feel the weight of those big monsters
bearing down. I honestly think that the ability to have “secondary habits” helps
make you better at your primary one.
Mark Hall signing some
autographs in Urbana at Yankee Ridge Elementary.
The following Tuesday (10/10/06), Mark, Tim, Geremie, Mat, DW, and I hauled the
Raminator S/T and Rammunition down to Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana,
IL. For those not familiar with east-central IL geography, Urbana and Champaign
are essentially twin cities, often referred to by locals as “Champaign-Urbana”
or “ChamBana”. Mmm….sounds like a milkshake flavor….but anyways. The school, as
do most all elementary schools in the area, has an after school program for kids
who don’t have babysitters or their parents work a bit later in the evening and
can’t pick them up right away. These students are kept out of trouble by a
dedicated staff of volunteers, who have to find something to keep them occupied
nearly every evening of the school year! So, to help out, Raminator and
Rammunition pay them a visit each year. Last year’s event was such a big hit,
that this year all of the area schools bussed their after-school-kids over as
well. At one point, Mark and G had autograph lines that numbered up into the
hundreds, kids and volunteers alike. At events like that, I enjoy trying to be
“the observer”. People watching is very entertaining, especially when its kids.
They haven’t yet been oppressed by the reality of society, so of course they are
super-energetic, emotional (re: happy!!!), and their expressions are exaggerated
substantially, but I enjoy it all. I remember what it was like to be a young
impressionable fan, and how excited I was to see a monster truck at a show or
display. When you do a gig with lots of kids like that, you can clearly see that
their emotions are real, genuine, and pure; they are just flat out having a good
time. That’s something to be appreciated. Click Here for The Monster Blog’s Urbana, IL Gallery
A couple days later, Friday to be exact, the bulk of the team departed with two
racers and the R/T for our bi-annual gig in Richmond, IN at the local Dodge
dealer. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: these guys go all out. Three
car crushes in two days, over 20hrs of rides between each day, over 2000 fans
throughout the weekend, four sets of cars for a total of 20 cars (one set even
has its own dirt ramp), a huge field to play in, and tons of food donated by
riders for the local food bank. *Phew, that’s a lot of stuff!* Geremie’s run was
cut short Friday night as a u-joint in the rear axle let go, no doubt a victim
of the sub-40 degree temps. Saturday’s noon crush went well, as did the 3pm
crush, at least until the rear end locked up in Mark’s truck right near the end
of the run. Needless to say, the crowds were treated to a ten minute show during
each crush, so nobody walked away disappointed.
Mark making a run Friday night in Richmond.
Geremie putting on a show in Richmond.
I should like to note that the event in Richmond marks the one-year anniversary of “Behind the Scenes with KD” here on The Monster Blog. That being said, *sniffles*, I’d like to thank the academy *wipes tears*. Err….let’s just settle for a big thank you to everyone who takes time to read this silly little article of mine. Some adventures that happen to me in the course of my career are inevitable, though some are purely of my own choosing or doing. As Neil Peart states in his latest book: “Adventures suck while you are having them,” but I know they are always worth it in the end, one way or another. So, whenever I’m in the middle of an adventure, or confronting the possibility of having one, there’s a little voice in the back of my mind screaming out “DO IT FOR THE ARTICLE! DO IT!!” Thanks for reading about them.
- KD Email KD and let him know what you thought!!
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