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| "What I’d like to see in a race series though, is not just a straight line race. I want to see A long race. S-turns, figure-8, something." |
JR- Back in the days of TNT Motor sports, Bigfoot 8 was banned. Did you feel that was just? |
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BC- I didn’t feel it was just at the time, no. When you go back and think about it though, I guess overall it was a good thing. It gave everyone else a chance to get caught up. Andy Brass and John Piant went back in the series with Bigfoot 4 and ended up winning it anyway. So it worked out pretty well. I understand, it was ahead of its time. |
| I didn’t think it was very fair at first. When you think about it as the whole industry is concerned, it was probably a good thing. Anybody that asked, I let them see it, measure it, do whatever they wanted. People were getting hurt in those old trucks. We had to make some kind of change. We were going so much faster. So the tube chassis, and the nitrogen gas shocks, were the way to go. Look around now, probably 99% of them run that. |
| JR- You have been involved with this sport for over 30 years. What would you say is your proudest moment? |
BC- Well, one of the proudest moments is that earlier this year I was inducted into the Missouri sports Hall of Fame. I was there with Tony LaRussa, and one of the NASCAR drivers. It was really interesting; the guy walked up to me and said, we only allow you 3 minutes to talk. I said don’t worry, if I make it two minutes it would be amazing. I’m not a talker. It went over pretty well. |
JR- What is your least favorite moment? |
BC- Least favorite is probably a couple things. When people get hurt, I think I’m partly the cause, because of starting this industry. I don’t necessarily like to be patted on the back for things I do, I don’t need it. Like the direction were going with the air shock, the gas shocks, tube chassis, everything else. But it bothers the hell out of me when somebody else takes credit for it. It happens all the time. That’s probably the thing that grips me the most. |
-Despite the entire fleet being over ten years old the Bigfoot trucks continue to be the top racers in the industry. (Photo By: Robby Haught) |
JR- When can we expect to see Bigfoot 16 completed? |
BC- *laughs* I wish Bigfoot 16 was done now! One of our shop mechanics broke his foot. That has put us back at least a month, month and a half. It’s not that far from being done. Roy can’t work on it now, because he’s taking all the work right now for everything that comes in. Every truck that gets damage has to be serviced. He has to do it all. Until Brian comes back, nothing is going to happen to that truck. |
JR- What will be different on Bigfoot 16? |
BC- It would be new. *laughs* The frame won’t be bent. The other frames, like 14 have been run for so many years, and just been patched or replaced. The frame is strong as can be, but the frame is just not straight anymore. When Dan Runte jumped the airplane, it bent the stop, the front part of the frame. They brought that to the shop, cut it out, replaced that section, it’s not that big of a deal. The newer truck (16) will have |
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| different things. It will have a better shock setup. Jim Kramer has been doing a lot of R&D on the shocks. We have a shock dyno, probably nobody else runs a shock dyno hooked to a computer. He’s done a lot of work with them now, it’s a major change. Some of the drivers say it’s like going from the old leaf spring trucks to the nitrogen gas chassis. Now we’re going from the nitrogen shocks to the bypasses, it’s like another full jump. It’s that much better they say. That’s the main thing; everything else is pretty much the same. |
Click Here for Page 3 of our Monster Profile on Bob Chandler
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