Randy Brown sat down with AllMonster recently and was kind enough to give us some great insight on many aspects of monster truck racing. Before racing monster trucks, Brown was involved in pulling with his father and has always been involved in motor sports of some sort. We thank Brown for his time and courtesy.Robert Haught – How do you feel about the year to this point for your team?
Randy Brown – Right now the season’s going really good. Alex (Blackwell) is adjusting well to the Turtle truck, and he’s doing a great job. He’s learning the truck and he definitely works hard on our trucks to keep them in good shape. We’ve got a good team and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.
RH – You mentioned Alex Blackwell. Do you feel that he fits what you are looking for in a driver, that he will stay with your team for awhile?
RB – It’s a hard question. Alex is obviously a good guy; we have a good relationship on and off the track. He works for me, but we’re still friends. Carl (VanHorn), Chad Tingler, Frank Krmel–I consider them all very good friends of mine. Anytime one of them has an opportunity come up where they think they’re going to better their career, I’m not going to hold that against them. If it comes to that with Alex, I’m not gonna make him feel bad at all about taking it. These guys always know that if they want to come back, the door is always open when I have an opening. If it works out with us in the situation we’re in now, great, and if he finds another opportunity, I wish him the best of luck as well.
Randy Brown has racing in his blood, but tirps from fellow Grave Digger driver Charlie Pauken helped step his freestyle game up even more. (Photos By: Robert Haught)
RH – That was a point that I wanted to illustrate for the fans who may think you left on bad terms with any of your former drivers. I understand that wasn’t the case?
RB – No, not at all. Circumstances came up to where they had better offers and took them. Who can blame Carl for getting a ride in Power Forward (at the time) and a much bigger budget than what the Pure Adrenalin truck had, and now the opportunity in Grave Digger? I wouldn’t hold anyone back from trying to do that. Just because these guys worked for me and then went to another team doesn’t mean we left on bad terms at all. It’s just a matter of guys getting better opportunities for themselves, and I support them 100%.
RH – You aren’t using the Pure Adrenaline name right now. Do you have any plans for it in the near future?
RB – No, not really. I still own the name, and the truck’s in a good home. Brandon Lagarde’s team will take good care of it, and I know they’ll run it hard; they have a good piece to run hard with. Pure Adrenaline is kind of on the back burner for now because we’re doing the Turtle thing and the Digger thing. What it boils down to is that I really don’t have the time to bring out a third truck.
RH – Three is also an odd number. Do you eventually want to have a four truck team?
RB – Yeah, it is kind of an odd number. We have some things we’re kicking around at the office, and we may end up with four trucks sometime, but I don’t think you’ll see it within a year or two. Four trucks is a good number. It’s a lot of parts and a lot of work, but it helps you get more guys involved, on and off the track, and that’s what we need right now. We need a few more guys at the shop so that when we get in from the road, we have more guys to help keep the trucks in good shape. We want the guys that are on the road to be able to spend some more time at home when they come home. That’s what we’re looking to do right now.
RH – Are you happy with your situation in Grave Digger? Has the pressure been what you expected?
RB – I like the Grave Digger deal; it’s fun, and I can’t say anything bad about what it’s done for my career. As far as that, it’s done wonders, especially with people recognizing me as a driver now. In Pure Adrenaline, it was just racing. That’s what I brought the truck out for and that’s what I was most proud of. I didn’t really concentrate on freestyle, but eventually I started getting more aggressive, and I think that’s what drew the attention from the Grave Digger team to me. Knowing Dennis all my life helped out a lot too (laughs). But the whole deal’s been great to me and my family, and the whole team. Randy Brown Motorsports has become a better organization because of Grave Digger. Right now, as far as I know, I’m gonna be with Grave Digger for a long time. They’re happy with me and I’m happy with them. We have a good arrangement and I have a little bit of flexibility. It gives them an opportunity to shuffle trucks around a little bit since Gary Porter and I both have a Grave Digger and a Turtle.
Randy Brown had a freestyle to remember in Indianapolis this year. "You have to do something that stands out in the crowd's mind, and make them walk away saying, "Did you see what Grave Digger did?" says Brown. (Photos By: Robert Haught)
RH – Do you think there was a certain moment or show that you felt you were getting noticed because of your freestyle?
RB – As far as a turning point, I don’t know. I’ll never get the racing out of my blood, but the fans are there to see the freestyle. There was a point I can think of in Canada, after I subbed for Brian Barthel (Wolverine at the time), where I was with Charlie Pauken. I asked him what I could do to make my freestyle better. I was making big hits, donuts, doing all that, but to put it all together I needed to bring my momentum up, pace myself a little bit faster, and get more action into that 60 or 90 seconds. I started going off of what Chuckie was telling me, and it worked. I was making smoother hits, and it seemed more out of control, so to speak, but I was still in control. I think that’s what makes it look good. When any Grave Digger goes out there, we’ve always got that noise going, we’re always hitting stuff hard, and we’re always keeping our momentum up. We try and pack as much into the time we’re given as we can.
RH – Have you talked with Dennis Anderson much about the Grave Digger thing? Has he given you any advice, or suggested anything to you about it?
RB – Yeah, that was a benefit of living so close to him and growing up around him. He gave me some advice when I first talked about going into monster trucks. He wants you to do your own thing. Everyone that drives a Grave Digger truck has a style that is required to drive a Digger, but I’m just happy to be with the group I’m with drivers-wise. But everyone has their little unique things that set them apart. They kind of have a style within the Digger style, and that’s the neat part. We’re all a team, but we’re all just a bit different.
(Photo By: Robert Haught)
RH – It was interesting that you mentioned the individual styles of the Grave Digger drivers. Fans have been saying that for a long while, that you can tell who is behind the wheel of individual Diggers by what happens on the track.
RB – That’s the thing though. I’m always thinking while I’m out there; you have to think a lot. While I’m hitting one thing, I’m already thinking about what I’m gonna do next. Especially in small arenas and things like that, you have to do something that stands out in the crowd’s mind, and make them walk away saying, “Did you see what Grave Digger did?” It’s no offense meant to any other truck out there, but when I was racing against Pure Adrenalin, for example, I wanted to stick something in their mind with Grave Digger that Pure Adrenalin didn’t do.
RH – Is that partially because Grave Digger goes last freestyle-wise and is subject to “reputation” wins in some fans’ eyes?
RB – Yeah, exactly. We don’t have to dump the truck to win. As far as crashing the truck, the only reason that it happens more to the Diggers is because we try stuff that nobody else will try. When you don’t think you can do a donut, we’ll go out there and try it, because we need to do something different to keep those fans coming back to see Grave Digger, because you never know what’s gonna happen.
(Photo By: Robert Haught)
AllMonster.com would like to thank Randy Brown for his time and support. For more information on Randy Brown Motorsports and Grave Digger, visit the following links:
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