Article By Kyle Doyle - November 4th, 2008

Q: A press release on the Monster Truck Challenge site mentions businessman Benny Brown, and gives readers a brief insight into his background and what he is involved in. Can you share with us a bit more about how you got hooked up with Benny, as well as some of the plans you’ve been working on with Benny?

A: There is some truth to the saying that every cloud has a silver lining. The short version is simply that this guy went from almost nothing to be very financially successful. And he did it with hard work and integrity. One thing I have noticed about Mr. Brown is that people that work for him are happy and have a tendency to stay in his business family for decades. He doesn’t get into anything to quit…

-Rich Schaefer, TMB Interview, May 2008

Q: What happened to the rest of the MTC events that were scheduled for 2008 after the Nashville event?

A: After all the pep talks about how they invested 10 million into Broken Bow Records before they saw a return and how, “Benny Brown doesn’t get in anything to quit,” they decided to yank the rug out from under the monster truck program because of the downturn in their other businesses. The monster program was losing money. It was built to lose money for a year or two. That wasn’t any startling information. And going into the 2008 calendar, Yerger told me that it was OK to lose as long as Benny knew where the money was going. Naturally, they don’t want to lose money. But it wasn’t new information that 08 would be a red year.

-Rich Schaefer, TMB Interview, October 2008

If you look hard enough in the casinos of Las Vegas you will find a small but prominently displayed bulletin that clearly explains why the odds are against you when you dump your hard-earned dollars (and time) into the greedy openings of the one-armed bandits that cover the city like snow on a mountain range. From gas stations to grocery stores and even the airport, they lie in wait like chrome-dipped criminals waiting to roll you in the back alley, taking your time and money and leaving you with nothing but sour memories and, if you are wise, a lesson learned.

To contrast, in the business world, there isn’t a framed piece of parchment on the wall warning against the cruelties of modern commerce; no sheet of notarized paper telling you of the heartbreaks and disappointments one might face when delving head first into the business world. Rather, one has to rely on instinct, the advice of others, financial savvy, and a good bit of luck. The term “buyer beware” might as well read “businessman beware too.”

But no matter how slim your chances may be of returning from Las Vegas with a fistful of dollars (and perhaps, your dignity), its nowhere near as risky as being on the tip of the spear in the monster truck event productions business; a volatile, highly-unpredictable and ferociously competitive environment that could be on the verge of a new-millennium melt-down.

Rich Schaefer knows this all too well. After more than 20 years in monster trucks and motorsports in general, Schaefer has seen more than his fair share of misfortune and hard times in the live event production realm. But he has also been behind some of the most impressive racing events that this sport has seen in the last 20 years. So after taking part in the short-lived 2007 MLMT season, Rich stepped up to the plate in 2008 to act as general manager for the ProMTR group’s Monster Truck Challenge tour. As the season neared its kick off earlier this year, I sat down with Rich in St. Louis to get his thoughts on the situation, and to have him address some of the burning questions that fans had been almost foaming at the mouth to hear the answers to. By the time our interview was finished, my hopes ran high and I was excited to see how things would go for Rich and his MTC crew.

I had the great fortune of participating in some of the MTC events over the summer as a trackside announcer, augmenting a talented lineup of well-established announcers including George Eisenhart, Army Armstrong, and Scottie Deubler. The racing was legendary, the freestyle ground-shaking, and the time spent with friends (new and old) off-track was the stuff that will stay in my memories forever. But it became to clear to the careful observer that things were beginning to run astray as the summer went on. Politics were brewing, financial concerns were becoming a key note, and rumor of events being cancelled began to swirl; a sure sign that things were coming unraveled.
 

Kyle Doyle co-announced several MTC events in 2008 and is seen here with the legendary Army Armstrong at Eldora Speedway.

Eventually, the remaining schedule was cancelled and Nashville became the final MTC event of the year. But right up to the very end, when their jobs and their livelihood as employees of ProMTR were in jeopardy, Schaefer and his veteran crew performed with the utmost professionalism, refusing to cave in and offer the fans a lackluster finale. Rather, they delivered one of the most entertaining, and most surprising events that monster truck fans have witnessed in over a decade.

Standing on top of the big freestyle stack in the middle of Nashville Superspeedway’s infield at the end of the event, I discussed what would happen next with Rich and his crew. I think Rich had come to expect the worse by that point, but I could tell that he still wanted to cling to his dream as much as possible. We resolved to talk again in the near future, to offer up the monster truck industry and its fans as accurate of an account as possible of the deceptive roller coaster that Broken Bow Records took Rich, his crew, and the industry as a whole on in 2008.

It may behoove the reader to read my interview with Rich from May of ’08, to see just how unfortunate and disheartening the ProMTR saga has turned out to be this year. But Rich isn’t the sort to be kept down, and I’m sure this certainly isn’t the last we’ve seen of his family’s name in the monster truck world. The following is my most recent discussion with Rich.
 

Kyle Doyle: I guess the first thing everyone wants to know is, ‘why are there no more MTC shows for 2008?’

Rich Schaefer: I have asked Jim Yerger, Executive Vice President of ProMtr for an “official” statement about that several times. I haven’t received any formal press release or comments from them about the cancellations. They took us by surprise the way they handled things. All I can offer is my insight on what I saw going on and what Jim Yerger, Benny Brown, and Paul Sutfin said to me along the way.

Jim Yerger was and still is the link between the ownership (Benny Brown and Paul Sutfin) and ProMtr which is based out of Broken Bow Record’s office in Nashville. Yerger told me on several occasions that the record business, overall, was down and that the car business was in the basement - the worst he had ever seen. After all the pep talks about how they invested 10 million into Broken Bow Records before they saw a return and how, “Benny Brown doesn’t get in anything to quit,” they decided to yank the rug out from under the monster truck program because of the downturn in their other businesses. The monster program was losing money. It was built to lose money for a year or two. That wasn’t any startling information. And going into the 2008 calendar, Yerger told me that it was OK to lose as long as Benny knew where the money was going. Naturally, they don’t want to lose money. But it wasn’t new information that 08 would be a red year.

At no time did Benny or Paul consult with the St. Louis staff about what could be done to help the situation before they cancelled the events following Nashville. It wasn’t until after the Nashville event that I was informed that things were going to be shut down.

The bottom line is that they changed course and decided it was not OK to operate in the red this year. Losses were dramatically less than 2007. But they were still losses. And we could talk for quite a while about the many things that were part of the original business plan that were never delivered. Benny and Paul are cutting their losses. Yerger is covering his back.

KD: I guess that lends some credence to the stories we all hear about how the record companies supposedly meddle with bands and their work, often derailing a good project to the point that it fails completely.

RS: Well, I don’t know anything about the record business. But it makes me wonder what happened to cause an artist like Craig Morgan to leave Broken Bow. From day one, this project was supposed to closely integrate country music with motorsports. The budgets were built around the idea that big name artists would be part of the whole experience at every event. I don’t understand why Jim would tell us that if it wasn’t going to happen. The shows were over budgeted from a marketing and line-up standpoint so we weren’t putting their country acts in small events. And the ad buys were heavy so we could really capitalize on having quality concerts as part of the event. Ash Bowers was great. Good guy. But it didn’t help the event sell tickets or gain publicity in the market.

KD: Tell us about how the MLMT deal came together last year, and what led to the apparent cancellation of the 2008 MLMT schedule; adding to that, how did the 2008 MTC series come about?

RS: The idea of focusing on a race-oriented outdoor event series was something I had talked about for years. And a few years ago, I talked to Froome about my view of what we could do. I don’t know the full details of how he and Broken Bow Records/Corning Ford actually got together. But they did. So the series I discussed with Joe was kind of birthed at that point. There were some great events that unfortunately lost a ton of money. And there were a lot of reasons and people contributing to that situation.
 

MLMT produced the best monster truck racing the sport has seen in the last decade in 2007...but was unable to keep it together for '08.

As the season grew on, Joe and I had a lot of differences of opinion over decisions that were being made. But I wasn’t going to jump ship on the project mid-season. Sometime around December, Joe and I simply parted ways. There was a lot of underlying issues from all directions. Joe had to do what he thought was best for him. I had to do what was best for me. We shared, and still share some of the same goals. But like a lot of people in business, we don’t always agree on how to get there. Soon after that, I found myself having a conversation with Benny Brown, Paul Sutfin, and Jim Yerger in which they indicated that they wanted to continue on with the project but could not settle their differences with Joe. I was not fully versed in all of the struggles between those parties. What I did know is that the guys that primarily bankrolled the ’07 series said they were not going to bankroll it in ’08 under the same circumstances. But they would move forward. They asked if the series could work. I said yes. My goal was to keep these guys focused on building this property of a quality outdoor event series. To my knowledge, the relationship between them and the MLMT was already in its closing stages regardless of what happened in 2008.

There was a lot of dancing and maneuvering behind the scenes from their end based on their still existing ownership/investor status in the MLMT. That was their issue to deal with. Mine was to start building a plan for a 2008 event series that had growth potential. The topic of what name to use came up and someone from their side came up with ProMTR for “Professional Monster Truck Racing.” I expressed a concern over that name and offered up the idea of using ProMtr strictly as the corporation name behind the scenes while the name my company has operated events under for many years, Monster Truck Challenge would be the marketed event name. Wish I wouldn’t have done that!

KD: What do you think could have been done differently in 2007 to keep you, Joe, and the MLMT together as an effective unit that would eventually go from red to black financially? Or do you feel that your personal differences were sufficient enough that a partnership wouldn’t have been able to exist anyways?

RS: I try not to let personal differences get in the way of business. You just have to compartmentalize everything. Joe has a lot of different attributes than me. And when they were all clicking, it was looking good. But he brought in a person that I truly believe corrupted the process. Joe believed in her. I didn’t. And I think that he was starting to get pulled in too many directions. When you’re swinging for the fences instead of just trying to make contact with the ball, there’s a better chance of striking out. In my opinion, Joe had a very motivating cheerleader pushing him too hard. She was very persuasive. And I think that was just as much of a factor as the tactics used by Corning Ford and Broken Bow Records. I think any partnership is tough. I think it would have had a much better chance without some people around. But I’m not sure that we could have ever overcome the misrepresentations put forth by Jim Yerger.

KD: For the concerned monster truck fans out there that have followed your work, what is the status of the Monster Truck Challenge namesake?

The new Monster Truck Challenge logo used in 2008 by ProMTR.

RS: Oh, who knows! Monster Truck Challenge was originally owned by TNT. They got purchased by what is now Monster Jam. When I left that company many years ago I started using that name again. In recent years, AMP, Jim Morris, and several others have occasionally used the name. And quite frankly, I don’t think their type of events compare to what we do. They have a much different approach than what we’ve been doing for the last decade. That’s always been a thorn in my side because the novice fan doesn’t know the different from one to the other.

I never at any time agreed to transfer rights of the name to anyone. I guess it really comes down to who hires the biggest lawyer. That seems to be Jim Yerger’s tactic. In some cases, Broken Bow uses a high profile attorney based in Atlanta that usually scares anyone off from even trying to fight with them. Through a different attorney, Jim started the process of trademarking their altered version of a monster truck challenge logo. But, like a lot of other people in this mess, I don’t think the trademark attorney ever got paid to finish the job. And other than being upset with me for doing this interview, I don’t see any reason why they would follow through on even trademarking their logo. I don’t see them going for year three. Their money would be better spent paying the bills they owe.

We might use the name. We might just get away from it because it’s been so exploited. I think that the trucks you put in the event are just as important as the name on the banner. Monster Jam is the only really high profile “brand” name.

KD: I think the fans have some misconceptions about who is responsible for all of this going down the way it did. Care to elaborate on that topic any to dissuade any rumors?

RS: I guess I would have to hear a rumor to comment on it. Who’s responsible? Well, I guess a lot of us are to an extent. It’s just a matter of varying degrees of responsibility. I definitely feel embarrassed for giving these guys a second chance and they took advantage of us. The monster truck industry needs outside investment. Unfortunately, this sport has attracted some people that were wolves in sheep’s clothing. And they’ve exploited us. Paul Sutfin and Benny Brown control the money. They’re the ones making the decision to stop operations and, so far, not pay all the bills for services rendered to them. Jim Yerger is the person grossly mismanaging the company and the money. I’m responsible for asking the industry to give these guys a second chance when they had not proved that they deserved it. The industry as a whole is slightly responsible because all of us so passionately want something like this to work that we leave ourselves exposed.

I think there are some ways that the MTRA can help prevent this from happening to all of us again. If the teams are willing to stick together in an organization like the MTRA and let the group put together some standards that apply to the sport outside of just creating a guideline for truck construction, there is a great opportunity here. It’s not their responsibility to get involved. But I think it is a place where the organization could service its membership well.

KD: How has the cancellation of the MTC affected you and your staff up to this point? What are your future plans?

RS: It’s pretty disheartening. From day one, Yerger was giving us the speeches that they were in this for the long haul and that they were going to give our staff the tools and time to build this thing up. We never got the OK to hire the full staff that was built into the original business plan. After the first event in Shakopee, Yerger really started showing his colors by back-dooring our marketing team. We had two excellent individuals with decades of live event experience. But Yerger had his own agenda that included hiring some girl from Nashville he met on an airplane. So after one event, Yerger privately had meetings with Benny and Paul where it was determined to fire our staff with 20+ years of experience and hire Yerger’s new found friends. The St. Louis team was allowed to finish up the marketing on Myrtle Beach and St. Louis without further interference. (The best attended events we had, excluding Charlotte which is done by the track.) These two people were giving us full time work efforts for part-time fees. They were people I’ve known and worked with for years. They came into this determined to make it work because they saw our passion for it. But they weren’t Yerger’s buddies. So he cut them out, cancelled all the upcoming work and didn’t pay them for the work they did. Now he’s gone as far as lying to CBS and implying that these two individuals who were working for us are financially responsible for the advertising bills. It’s incomprehensible what this man, the Senior Vice President of Broken Bow Records is doing.

While Yerger was tearing down the marketing team, Paul Sutfin directed me to let go of another employee that was brought in to work low-level sponsorships and help out operationally at the events. He had been there just long enough to get a feel for what we needed to get done. But Paul never met him and didn’t even remember his name. So it was easy to not care that he was putting someone out on the street with no warning.

So I became very aware of their lack of concern for how their actions affected other people. But Jim kept reassuring me that the remaining staff (and everyone else involved) had nothing to worry about. I believed it because it seemed like he just felt the need to put HIS footprint on the company. That’s not uncommon. I didn’t like the decisions he and Paul were making. But I was willing to suck it up and live with it. Even in Eldora, when the decision was made to cancel Lincoln the following week, I still thought we would make it through it. It was just one show we were talking about canceling. I thought, “OK. Jim now sees that his new marketing team isn’t qualified. He sees that we do know what we’re doing. Now I just have to get this ship heading back in the right direction. But I have to let Jim feel like it was his idea. He has to be the hero even though he created the problem.” So when we got home from Eldora, he started hinting about canceling ALL of the remaining events except Nashville. Ironically, of all the events, Nashville was one of the least likely events to make money this year. But Jim wanted to be the big guy in Nashville and show off his ridiculous “CHAOS” truck to all of his music industry chums.

But even when Yerger finally announced that all future events, save Nashville, would be cancelled he still preached that we would be figuring it out together. Not quiting. Not shutting down. We were just going to stop the bleeding, sit down, and figure out how to fix it and go on. It seemed pretty hard to put much faith in what he was saying at that point.

When I arrived in Nashville I found out we had less than a thousand tickets sold. I wanted to cry. I wanted Yerger to prove us wrong and that he knew how to market a show. But, quite honestly, I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it had become. Sunday, the day after the event, the ops crew and I went back to the track to finish the load out and then head back to St. Louis. On Tuesday we got the call from Yerger saying someone was coming to St. Louis by the end of the week to get any equipment they owned that was at the STL office.

I guess to answer your question, their actions left all of us hanging in the wind without warning. As for future plans, I’m going to be doing a lot of things. And hopefully a few monster truck events will still be a part of it. I just doubt it will be affiliated with people like Broken Bow Records.

I did recently accept a position with Dover Motorsports managing their drag racing facility at Gateway Raceway in St. Louis. That will take up most of my time. I have to give that job the attention it deserves and live up to the responsibility that they have entrusted in me. But I think we can still keep pushing the growth of great events like Charlotte and a few others. I’ve always said that I wanted to do a handful of great events as opposed to the philosophy of cranking out a large amount of low-end shows. Working for a great company like Dover Motorsports takes some of the financial load off of my monster truck projects.

KD: I want to touch on a few things you mentioned in your last answer, first of which is the “Chaos” truck. This thing seemingly appeared out of nowhere…even the online monster truck community, which seems to know more about the goings-on in the sport than any of us do, didn’t even pick up on this truck until it rolled out at your events. How did the Chaos truck come about, and what has become of it since?
 

The Chaos monster truck makes its first appearance at the MTC event in St. Louis, MO.

RS: It’s Yerger’s pet project. He talked to Froome in 07 about buying this limo-truck sitting in Arizona and turning it into the monster of all monsters. I didn’t ever imagine that Benny and Paul would be uninvolved enough to let this man spend a quarter of a million dollars on an albatross. But they did. I made it a point to not talk about it because it was a moving target as to when it would actually appear and what it would actually be. The version that rolled out in Myrtle Beach was far from the starry eyed dreams that Yerger was talking about.

Chaos was actually a factor in why we postponed the Myrtle Beach event from Saturday to Sunday. Sure, we told the media that we were canceling because of the tropical storm rolling in to town. But it was absolutely clear that Jim’s team would not have Chaos ready for a Saturday night show. And that same team was also responsible for setting up the event’s stage and sound system. We would have had people sitting in the stands without the event they were promised. Had I known that given an additional 24 hours still wouldn’t get me a Chaos truck for the event, I wouldn’t have ever postponed the event. I tried to cover Jim’s back. And he still let us down.

At this point, Chaos is still sitting in the infield of Nashville Superspeedway. Jim has plans of taking it to SEMA and other events. He still believes that Chaos can be the next “Robosaurus”. He’s still pushing the future of that project while he leaves bills unpaid from the events. But Chaos was his baby. You can’t convince someone their baby is ugly.

KD: Did Yerger ever address the teams who suffered because of the event cancellations? Or were you and your staff left to address that issue?

RS: No. He spent very little time on site at the last event in Nashville. Even when Chaos was in need of help during the show, he couldn’t muster the leadership to go personally ask the teams (or me) for help. Instead, he asked the staff of Nashville Superspeedway to ask the drivers. A few drivers have been able to get through to Jim via cell phone. But he didn’t have much to say.

KD: Step back in time…what’s going through your mind as you set foot on the infield in Nashville knowing that things are starting to come apart at the seams? And then to find out only a short time later that BBR has chosen to abandon ship completely? I’m not necessarily talking from a business and PR standpoint, but more from the personal angle. What is Rich Schaefer feeling inside at those two points in time?

RS: You would actually have to start a week earlier, when I was discussing the situation with Lowe’s Motor Speedway. I’m very protective of that event because of everything that their staff has done for me. I told them that I was contemplating resigning from ProMTR that week. They were, as always, completely supportive of me and whatever I chose to do. They knew that I wouldn’t let anything have a negative effect on the Back To School Bash. During that show I came to the conclusion that we couldn’t just give up. We had to finish it out and see if there was any chance of salvaging this thing. We couldn’t leave the teams, staff, and ticket buyers hanging. And I couldn’t damage the relationship with Dover Motorsports. So Ryan [Seddon] and I loaded up and headed to Nashville.

It was tough. I know what a great product we have. I know how much pride the staff puts into doing those events, especially Special-T-Tracks that did so much for us this year. I know that every team seems to give me so much more than I should expect. We’ve been doing these shows this way for a long time with the mindset that we would eventually find the right financial partner to make all the effort come back to us. I could see it coming from things Jim was saying. But you keep holding out hope that Benny Brown or Paul Sutfin would step up and say, “let’s fix this.” The fact that Jim wouldn’t come completely clean with us just made it more difficult. A few years ago, Brockville Speedway in Ontario bounced a check to me for around $40,000. I never got the money. That about bankrupted me. I don’t keep that kind of money sitting around! This hurt worse.

KD: I know a lot of industry personnel are tired of outside companies and forces “tampering” with the monster truck industry and leaving a wake of destruction in their path. Do you feel this way?

RS: Yes. This industry has seen steady growth for a long time. That’s going to attract some people with masked intentions. And it’s hard to decipher who can actually do us some good versus those that are just looking for a quick return.

I’m thoroughly tired of exploitive people like Jim Yerger, Benny Brown, and Paul Sutfin. They don’t have a relationship with the people that have been inside this business. So they apparently don’t care how their actions affect people’s lives. They don’t care who gets hurt. As of the latest information I have, they still have not paid all the bills for services they received. These guys have not yet paid Special-T-Tracks for all of the excellent work they did throughout the year. They have open invoices from TV, radio, and billboards in several markets including St. Louis and Minneapolis. Jim Yerger has actually denied having any knowledge of the advertising in an attempt to push the stations towards going after our media buyers, instead of ProMTR. Jim signed the credit applications. Jim, Paul, and Benny approved the budgets before anything was spend. They saw every purchase order that was attached to the shows. These are men that own a record label. These are the people that represent acts like Jason Aldean. It’s quite shocking to see this type of behavior. We’re not talking about small bills. We’re not talking about people that don’t have the ability to pay. They’re just choosing not to pay. It’s not the type of person I thought I would see in Benny Brown.

KD: Do you care to share your thoughts on what you think will become of the outstanding debts owed in advertising, track construction, etc? Are there legal repercussions that may be leveled against BBR? How can they simply rack up a tab and then walk out without paying and not suffer any consequences?

RS: It seems like a lot of people get their money by stepping on other people. I think it’s similar to what we’ve recently seen in the news with a lot of high profile companies and executives. They’re still living their life while the companies are racking up losses and hurting the shareholders. These guys don’t seem to care. Yerger will still be running around in Nashville in a few weeks for the CMA’s playing the big time record executive while he knows that people are incurring financial losses because of him and his partners in crime. He doesn’t seem to have any concern for the radio station rep that is going to lose his or her sales commission because ProMTR hasn’t paid their bills for advertising they received. Paul doesn’t seem to care that people could lose their jobs in this tough economy because they skipped out of town.

I remember sitting with Benny out at his Ford dealership in Corning, California discussing politics. He was telling me how much he liked then-presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee in part because of his religious values. I can’t help but think what a contradiction this seems to be. Unfortunately, businessmen pull this type of stuff on a regular basis. And it comes down to how much more are you willing to risk by incurring legal fees to attempt to collect this debt. I most certainly hope that someone tries to hold these guys to the fire.

KD: On a lighter note, what are some of your better memories of the 2008 season?

RS: The smiles on the family of Jim Kramer when the crowd cheered for him. I really messed up there by not giving Kate Kramer a chance to talk on behalf of he father. But at least the Kramers knew on that night how much Jim has meant to the industry.

Watching the fans seek out Jack Wilman, Senior for an autograph. Seeing Jackie Wilman again. Giving the Wilman’s a moment in this industry that is so well earned. And so long overdue.
 

The Monster Truck Challenge Hall of Fame induction in St. Louis, MO.

KD: Not to interrupt, but I have to take the blame for that one. At the last minute I got the honor of introducing Jim’s family and the Willmans to the crowd, but I didn’t come to realize until after the ceremony that Jim’s family had been prepared to speak as well. Gotta tell the dumb announcer guy these things! Needless to say, I felt like a fool and apologized several times over to them for that. My thoughts on Jim’s impact on this sport are well documented, so needless to say I was glad to see his actions get some recognition, as well as those of the Wilman family. So getting back on track, what other positive memories do you carry with you from the 08 season?

RS: Seeing how much it meant to Dan Runte to take that win in St. Louis. The entire Bigfoot team wanted that win in St. Louis. And there was a lot of pressure on him. But Dan is one of the top ten drivers in the history of this sport. And the St. Louis line-up was quality stuff. He didn’t just win another show. He won against Creten, Hall, and Noelke on a real track.

Listening to you develop your skills as a trackside commentator. We need people on the microphone that can tell a story. We need people that help the crowd build a relationship with the drivers. You did a fine job of that.

Shaking hands with a Myrtle Beach police officer that has given our sport one of its greatest video moments of all time. And he’s a heck of a nice guy and that was a great help to us during the event this year.

I always enjoy watching the post-race autograph session at the Back-To-School Bash in Charlotte. It’s rewarding to see that many people so happy, and knowing that you played a small part in that. Yes, we all have to make money doing this. But Charlotte reminds you of the joy these events bring to people that attend them.

It’s having a late night conversation with Carl, Tommy, and Steve while sitting on the pit road of Nashville Superspeedway. It’s watching Brenda and Doug’s dogs ride on a golf cart. It’s an early morning cup of coffee with the Bigfoot crew before we go live for a news shot. It’s watching Jimmy Creten the dad, not Jimmy Creten the driver.

I love every piece of it. The racing. The box office. The front gates. The merch tents. But the memories are the things that happen with the people, not with the trucks.

KD: I think its safe to say that even though years and years of this stuff conditions you to what happens on track, those of us in the sport still appreciate the details, the sights, the smells, and the people just as much, if not more so, than the fans in the stands do. As a fan at heart, I was absolutely floored at some of the amazing races we saw this year. Mark Hall versus Carl Van Horn in Nashville is quite likely the most amazing side-by-side race I’ve ever witnessed live, and I distinctly remember looking over at you as they landed off the last jump…I can’t imagine what I looked like, but you almost looked like a young fan who’d just seen a monster truck for the first time! What are a couple of the individual races or freestyle runs that really stand out in your mind from last year?

RS: Definitely Mark versus Carl in Nashville is one of the greatest side by side races I’ve seen. It doesn’t translate on film to what it felt like in person. That’s the type of moment that revives your passion for this sport. That was a moment that could only have been better with some vintage Army Armstrong/Scott Douglas/Joe Lowe commentary, along with you of course. There are promoters out there that think it’s strictly about big trucks making big jumps in freestyle. Well, I say that’s because they’ve never done racing right. And if this sport ever gets to the point that fans don’t appreciate that type of good old fashion sloberknocker racing, I don’t want to be a part of it.

Carl’s super-jump in Eldora. I’ve never heard a truck “grunt” like that one did when it landed. Just about every time Jimmy Creten hits the track you take a breath. When Mike Hawkins headed to the cement truck in St. Louis, I just crossed my fingers that it was going to work out alright. Unfortunately, there was so much going on around me the week I was in Charlotte that I didn’t really get to absorb that event like I like to. I feel like I cheated myself out of some great memories there. There were a lot of really great moments I should have taken home from that event.
 

Carl Van Horn's "super-jump" at Eldora Speedway.

If I had to pick one thing from that happened on the track this summer that I will hold on to more than others, it is Dan Runte taking the win in St. Louis. That night at Gateway Raceway belongs to Dan Runte, and as he says, all the guys back in the shop. It was an honor to be a part of it. I have been a fan of Bigfoot. And I have been a critic of Bigfoot. But the bottom line is that it is an injustice to the fans, and just flat out wrong that Dan Runte isn’t in a Bigfoot truck lined up on the floor of Sam Boyd Stadium or especially the Edward Jones Dome going head to head with people like Dennis Anderson, Tom Meents, and all the other fantastic drivers featured at Monster Jam. I’m sure that those two drivers would agree.
 

Dan Runte after taking the big hometown racing win at Gateway Raceway.

KD: So what has the reaction from teams been to the curtailing of the MTC season for 2008?

RS: It varies. It’s more of a financial hit for some teams that it is for others. Overall, the teams have been pretty understanding towards us, the crew working out of the St. Louis office. Hopefully, they are a little angry too. Jim Yerger, Paul Sutfin, and Benny Brown misled a lot of us. They have the financial resources and the social obligation to follow through and pay the bills. Actions were taken based on the pretense that they would pay their bills. They need to live up to their end of the deal.

KD: What’s it going to take for the industry to really learn a lesson from this ordeal, so that we can prevent it from happening in the future?

RS: If the last two years haven’t taught us anything, I don’t think we’ll ever learn. I’m embarrassed to have helped open the textbook.

KD: Let’s talk a little bit about the MTRA in detail. You were nominated for the Board of Directors, and you accepted the nomination. What are your thoughts regarding all of the change that people in the organization are trying to bring about, and how do you feel you can contribute to that? In your mind, what does the MTRA truly need to focus on in order to survive?
 

Rich Schaefer has been nominated to serve on the MTRA Board of Directors in 2009.

RS: Aren’t we tired of political speeches? Well, I guess one more won’t hurt. To be honest with you, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time reading all the finer details of what exactly they’re changing. It sounds as complicated as the federal tax law. And I pay someone smarter than me to do my taxes. What matters is that this industry has for the first time since the MTRA was formed said we must do something to help ourselves . I’m on board with that simple point.

I believe the MTRA has more to offer than just a truck construction rulebook. One problem is that there have been years of declining support for the organization. And I think that stems from the fact that the membership, primarily team owners at one point in time, were afraid of alienating the promoters they relied on for income. It’s a delicate balance. Sure, you will occasionally have disagreements with the promoters that support the organization. MTRA can help create event contracts, sponsorship templates, minimum payment standards, work towards building insurance packages, collective offers for merchandising and other items to help protect the financial viability of the member teams. The very difficult part is, and has been, getting the membership to honor the rules of the organization when it doesn’t financially help them RIGHT NOW. The MTRA can create minimum standards for more than just truck construction. That’s important. But it’s not exclusive.

I believe the MTRA needs to focus on how it can help it’s team members and promoter members exclusively. If that means it becomes harder for wanna-be promoters to get into the sport, so be it. If that means a venue that probably shouldn’t host a monster truck show doesn’t hold a monster truck show, so be it. Isn’t that the point? To help people that share a common interest and goal? The MTRA should promote the safety of the sport AND the financial integrity of it. If you don’t have both you might as well call it CART. It’s not going to be easy. I think it will take a year or two of little steps to convince teams to get back on board with the idea. But they need to do it. This organization needs people like Creten, Kohler, Frankish, Hawkins, Smith to be a part of it. But the organization has to win back their faith in the concept of the MTRA. I think the first step towards that goal has already been made by the board.

I want to personally thank Rich for his time and generosity; this sport needs more people willing to discuss the harsh realities of the business world. Not in a mud-slinging way, but in a way that will benefit the industry as a whole, so that we might learn from the hard lessons that others have had to live through. I want to personally wish Rich the best of luck in his new endeavors at Gateway, and from all of us here at TMB, we look forward to seeing you at the track again soon Rich! (The monster truck track, that is!).

As always, thanks for reading.

-KD

Photos by Kyle Doyle, Ross Z. Bonar, and courtesy of Rich Schaefer.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BACK TO MAIN PAGE