Paul Harry was kind enough to send us a short gallery from last night’s Monster Jam in Pontiac, Michigan, and it is now available in the Photos section. Thanks go out to Paul for the photos.
Pontiac Gallery Now Available
Toronto Saturday Gallery Now Available; Sunday Results
Kyle Seden’s photos from Saturday’s Toronto Monster Jam are now available in the Photos section; we thank him for his time. We have just received results from today’s show in Toronto as well. Carl VanHorn drove Grave Digger XIV to another sweep, taking racing over Larry Jaruzel’s Predator, who broke on the starting line. VanHorn rolled the truck after a slap wheelie into a motocross hill on the way to a 29 and the freestyle win as well. Chad Tingler was right behind him in Safe Auto with a 28. More photos from Toronto and updates should be available soon; as always, thank you for visiting AllMonster.com.
Toronto and Pontiac Updates
Reports are coming in fast and furious to AllMonster.com. First is from the Pontiac Monster Jam, where Norm Miller drove Blue Thunder to the racing victory against Randy Brown and Grave Digger. Brown got revenge in freestyle, however, and posted a perfect 30 to win. Rick Raab pulled double duty, driving his usual American Guardian, but also taking the wheel of Thrasher for the weekend. Raab finished second in freestyle with a 27 and a sideways hit on a van stack on the track.
Next is from Toronto, Ontario, for the debut of Safe Auto (Chad Tingler driving, Monster Profile to come soon!) and more. Tingler rolled the truck in racing, but made it back for freestyle with part of the body missing. We will also have pictures of the new Kicker monster truck (formerly Sudden Impact). Carl VanHorn took a sweep of the first night’s action, defeating Mike Vaters’ Black Stallion in racing and tying with Vaters for the freestyle win. He was judged the outright winner in a cheer off.
Devastatormonstertruck.com now open!
Some of you may have noticed Mark Schroeder’s Devastator had decals on the windshield advertising his web site in Atlanta last week. That site is now available at www.devastatormonstertruck.com. The site is still under construction, but will be finished shortly, and has photos, the truck’s schedule, and more already available. AllMonster.com recently took a trip to the home of Devastator; look for a feature on the truck soon, and enjoy the new site!
Predator Starts Strong – Pezo’s Thoughts
AllMonster.com was able to reach Allen Pezo of the Predator monster truck for comments about his racing victory this past weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.
“It felt great,” said Pezo. “I definitely gained some confidence; it has been awhile since I won at a televised show.”
The closest Pezo got to that goal last year was a racing final round appearance against Bounty Hunter in Jacksonville, Florida. In Atlanta, Pezo was second only to Dennis Anderson’s Grave Digger in qualifying. Pezo informed us that the team’s site, predatorracinginc.com, is being worked on and that the team is headed to Evansville, Indiana, Tampa Florida, Indianapolis, Indiana, University Park, Pennsylvania, and Minneapolis Minnesota in the coming weeks and months.
“I feel like things are going great now and it’s a good start to the season. I hope to get some more wins by year’s end,” he said.
We thank Allen and the entire Predator/Prowler racing team for their time.
Rochester and Houston Weekend Results
In Rochester, New York’s Thunder Nationals to kick off the new season, Carl VanHorn made his driving debut in Grave Digger XIV and won the Wheelie, Donut, and Freestyle competitions, while Mike Vaters’ Black Stallion won Racing. Reports are that VanHorn scored a 29 in Freestyle and perfect 30’s in Wheelie and Donut, and Vaters and VanHorn both had near vertical sky wheelies in the Wheelie portion.
Night two in Rochester, New York saw more of the same, identical to the first night-Carl VanHorn in Grave Digger XIV won the Wheelie, Donut, and Freestyle competitions, while Mike Vaters’ Black Stallion won racing in the finals against Grave Digger. The Broker (Jim Leahy) and Iron Warrior (Trey Myers) each broke during the Donut contest, with Iron Warrior returning in time for Racing. Ed Eckert’s Full Boar was also in attendance, and spun a solid donut in addition to defeating Vaters’ Black Stallion the previous night.
Reports coming in from the Houston, Texas Monster Jam last night indicate that Tony Farrell’s Blue Thunder took the racing victory, while Lupe Soza and El Toro Loco got the freestyle victory after rolling in racing, shedding the body during his freestyle run. Pablo Huffaker rolled early in his freestyle run and was officially scored a 26, then allowed to restart and continue for the fans, who gave him an “unofficial 30” upon completion of his second run (it was not his official score).
Other reports include Phil Foster (Maximum Destruction) and Chris Bergeron (Brutus) with solid runs and saves in freestyle, and Bounty Hunter knocking a turning pole over, putting himself out of racing. More to come soon from both Houston and Rochester!
In Rochester, New York, the final day of action saw Grave Digger (Carl VanHorn) win the wheelie contest, but break multiple parts in the rear of the truck, putting him out until racing, where Black Stallion took the victory and weekend sweep of that portion of competition.
Black Stallion and Iron Warrior Report
Trey Myers was kind enough to fill us in on what the Black Stallion/Iron Warrior team has been up to lately, and they have been very busy! With the news of the team purchasing the former American Dream chassis, Myers elaborated on what the team’s plans are for it.
“We plan on making that truck an excellent one,” said Myers. “This year is its 16th birthday (the chassis was the former Taurus Racer), and when it was originally built, it was built as the best truck out there. We want to return it to being that.”
Myers also mentioned that the truck is currently in the shop waiting to be powder coated, and that the team will insert new shocks, possibly the same setup as the current Black Stallion, as well as a “big motor” that is used on Black Stallion.
The team was headed to their first show in Rochester, New York as we spoke with them, and Myers is excited about driving Iron Warrior full-time there.
“I am definitely looking forward to it. We updated some things on Iron Warrior and redid the shocks a bit. It has the same combination but is set up better, and I hope it all works out,” he said.
The team also plans on their Monster Motorsports promotion company expanding for the summer season. We thank Trey Myers and the entire Black Stallion/Iron Warrior team for their time.
Ready to Go! Phil Foster Monster Profile
Phil Foster was kind enough to do an interview with us for the newest Monster Profile, and had some interesting things to say! Foster discussed his feelings about his new ride in the second Maximum Destruction truck, Team Meents’ search for drivers, some up and coming talent in their stable of drivers, and more! We thank Foster and Tom Meents Racing for their time and support.
Shockwave Racing Monster Truck Announces 2005 Plans and New Paint Scheme
Shockwave Racing sent us the following press release late Tuesday evening; we thank Matt from EMU for the photo and David Rife for the press release:
“On the second weekend in January in Salem, Virginia, the Quick Chek Foot Stores-sponsored Shockwave will debut a new paint scheme at the Checkered Flag Productions (CFP) event at the Salem Civic Center.The body is currently being painted and will be done just in time for Salem. For more information on Shockwave, you can visit www.shockwave4x4.com. Shockwave will be doing battle Friday and Saturday with Bigfoot, Towasaurus Wrex, Demon, Mopar Magic, and Blackjack. Shockwave will run with CFP in January, but will go to Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE) for February and then back to CFP in March for Dayton, Ohio.”
We thank the entire Shockwave Racing team for their support. Look for a Monster Profile with Phil Foster of Meents Racing tomorrow!
Wild Hair Sold!
Jason and Julie Witte of Wild Hair racing sent AllMonster.com a press release late Monday evening with the following information on their truck’s sale:
“Wild Hair Monster Truck has been sold to Ray and Kim Mowery of Extreme Attitude Racing, which is based out of Virginia, they purchased the entire operation from Jason and Julie Witte. Jason wants to thank everyone for their support over the years. Jason will be driving the Wild Hair truck in the 2005 USHRA winter season. We would like to give special thanks to the other drivers who have helped us out over the years and we would also like to thank Clear Channel Motorsports, Rich Schaeffer of the Monster Truck Challenge Series, all of our sponsors and especially the Wild Hair pit crew. We wish a successful future for Ray and Kim Mowery and the Wild Hair.”
Jason will be driving Wild Hair at:
Pontiac, Michigan January 15
Pontiac, Michigan January 15
Kansas City, Missouri January 21-23
Indianapolis, Indiana January 29
Houston, Texas February 5
St. Louis, Missouri February 12
Minneapolis, Minnesota February 19
We thank the Witte’s for their time and commitment to the sport, and wish them the best of luck in the 2005 racing season.
AllMonster.com is currently being redesigned for 2005 and hopes to be back at full strength by the end of the week. We thank you for your patience.
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