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A DAY OF MONSTERS IN PHOENIX!!
APRIL 22ND, 2006 - F1 RACE FACTORY & MARICOPA COUNTY FAIR
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As always, we have to take off right after the car crush. This time we had to check into our hotel, and then download the pictures I took at the car crush to free up space on the camera for the WGAS event later that evening.
Now I am really thankful that Autumn and Hunter were there. Autumn
knew the downtown area really well and was able to help us find our hotel;
this was of great help as the downtown area was filled with construction.
We checked in, downloaded the pictures, visited a few minutes, and then we
were off to get a healthy meal before going to the Fairgrounds.
Every little boy’s idea of a healthy meal is McDonald's and Happy Meals
still have a toy, so all four of us get a nice healthy burger, lol.
Reminds of when the Monster Blogger was a little guy.
Upon entry we parked right by Johns area of operation and immediately seen friends. Looking over on the other side of John’s outfit, I could see five Monster Trucks. One I did not recognize and I didn't see McGruff. After visiting with Don Borba of 24/7 motor oil and John’s brother/sponsor, we walked over to visit with the Monster Truck drivers.
Nathan Weenk was working on Jurassic Attack as we walked up, and he seemed pretty busy, so we just said hello and decided to head back over later. Looking over I saw the McGruff hauler and a monster truck with a new, plain black body on it. Nobody was around yet, so I was still confused. We spotted Unnamed & Untamed, then Nasty Boy, but no one was around to talk to. Even Don Frankish of Maniac was not around.
I saw the ride truck on the other side of the field, so thought I would walk over there. The ride truck was the Boogie Monster, which we last saw in Glendale. The Boogie Monster is out of the Sturges stable, and I looked around and spotted Sam Sturges collecting for the ride. Gary Schott Jr. was driving the Boogie Monster and I found out he was now driving Nasty Boy. Peggy Sturges would take over the Boogie Monster when Gary was getting ready to climb in Nasty Boy. So we were able to get some pictures autographed that I had taken at previous events.
I couldn't help but laugh as we saw Don Frankish sitting in the shade on this side of the arena, while Nathan was working in the hot sun on the other side. We later caught up with Don after he got done washing Maniac up, and got a picture of him and Nathan showing off the sponsor!!
Walking back to the other side of the field, John Borba caught us and introduced us to Del Baker of USLMRA. That is: United States Lawn Mower Racing Association. Del is one of the head chiefs of USLMRA here in AZ and can be reached at DDCBaker1@cox.net. Del would be one of the Lawn Mower racers we would see later in the evening. I think there were a total of eight Lawn Mowers in two different classes.
We went over to the FMX stunt riders and introduced ourselves to them. We had gotten some pretty nice pictures of them at Parker and Ross had posted some on the WGAS website. We met Walls, Stephens and Fitzpatrick. I asked if they had looked at the pictures, they said they had not, this letting me know these guys were into bikes, not computers!!
Walking back to the Monster Trucks, I spotted Karen from the McGruff team. I asked what was up with the truck and she explained they had just bought a new body and it was not finished yet. Rod Wood came over and joined us. Lynn and I both brought up how they were robbed of the Freestyle win at the Tucson show we attended earlier this year. Karen and Rod explained that’s just how it goes when you compete against the big name, more popular trucks (ahem, Grave Digger, lol).
I asked Rod how the truck handled with the new body; he said he was not driving, that his step-son Murph McCrorey would be driving tonight. Now if you have read my other articles, you have heard me mention Murph twice. He is now 16 and as promised by Rod, he is driving a Monster Truck. This is a very exciting night and we are very happy to be here to get this on video and some pictures. I had to get a couple of pictures of Murph by the McGruff hauler, as McGruff the truck was dressed in its dark black, "secret identity" with a 24/7 sticker on the door.
It is almost show time; Lynn has taken Autumn and Hunter to the gate that goes up in the stands for their safety. I look at the setup on the field and talk to John about how everything will go down tonight. Lynn returns, and I ask her to video from the announcer's stand. She can get them going up in the air, and then follow them with camera to get some great shots. Now comes my problem, it is very dark down on the floor of the arena, and I just cannot get good pictures with my limited experience shooting in such low-light conditions. I want to apologize to everyone as to how the pics came out. They were terrible, but on our way home we stopped at Best Buy and purchased an SB-600 Nikon Flash Attachment for our camera. I have tested it out and it should work very well for some of our upcoming outdoor night shows this summer. First, a few photos from the Freestyle Motocross and Lawnmower Racing action!!
On to the monsters, I must say that every truck out there put on one heck of a show. The show was setup as an all Freestyle show, with two rounds. Then, the crowd would decided an overall winner for the evening. Don Frankish and Nathan Weenk had a very long ride back to Canada after the show, as both trucks had problems. Maniac had a problem in the first run after he thrilled the fans and drove off the field early, but got it fixed in time to come back out with a wild second run!!
Play The Video!! Nathan Weenk had a really rough go of it. The truck broke on the second move of the first run, and after thrashing to get it ready for the second round, the truck broke again on the first hit of his second run. While jumping over the cars, the driveshaft broke and started spinning all over the place underneath, causing lots of problems for Jurassic. You can see this in the video.
Play The Video!! The only one not to have a serious problem, was the sixteen year old in McGruff. Murph may appear a little bashful when you meet him, but when he hops in that Monster Truck, there sure is nothing bashful about him!! McGruff was the only truck to perform donuts on the night, and really got an awesome set going during the second round!!
Play The Video!! It looked as though Sam Sturgis had a problem with Unnamed & Untamed, but did a fantastic job in both performances, pulling off some incredible wheelies!!
Play The Video!! Gary Schott Jr. in Nasty Boy was declared the winner for the second night in a row, but even he had problems with the sway bar. The sway bar problem came during an awesome wheelie, causing the truck to go wobbly while standing straight up and down. While this most have been a wild ride for the driver, it sure looked great on camera!!
Play The Video!! Congratulations to young Gary Schott Jr. for sweeping the WGAS Monster Truck Freestyle wins this weekend, and as always thank you to John and Charlene Borba for having us there representing the Monster Blog. Thank you to all the drivers and performers for their awesome performances at the show. Also, a big thank you to Autumn and Hunter for being our city guides, and enjoying the events with us. We had a great time and can't wait for the next time we can bring you another Monster Blog Coverage!! Thanks, as always to our readers, please stop by the Fan Forum and let us know what you thought!! - Lauren & Lynette Bonar |
