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Josh Rhodes-What
parts on Bounty Hunter have you custom-built yourself?
|
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Jimmy
Creten-We build a lot of custom parts for Bounty.
Obviously the knuckle setup on the planetaries we built. We also
originally designed and built the spindles. We were in on the
design with Pablo Huffaker (Driver of Grave Digger #16); we were
building them jointly and now Pablo just builds them, but we
help do all the CAD work for those.
The
intake manifolds on our engines were specially made in-house.
It’s a special design for the raptor heads. We built all of
our custom supercharger offsets. The injector setup was done in
Boliver
Missouri
, by Gary Saleen. We also built custom spacers to space it
forward.
The
frame was an original Patrick frame, but we changed it to fit
our bodies. We also helped Dan Patrick with the new design that
he’s currently building. We incorporated some ideas that we'd
like to see. Now he’s building them all, all the new trucks
that I see, with new mounts and so forth.
We
run a lot of Patrick parts, a lot of Racesource parts, Steve
Combs parts, but basically the setup and design is all ours. |
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JR-Is Iron Outlaw set up exactly the same as Bounty
Hunter?
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JC-They’re
all a little bit different. Bounty’s a little bit different
from Outlaw, Outlaw's a little bit different from Scarlet
Bandit. We run twenty inch shocks on the front of Bounty and
twenty-six shocks on the rear. It works great in racing with
that shock setup; it works OK in freestyle. That’s probably
why we break a lot of spindles, wheels, and champagne glasses,
because of the short shocks.
The
obstacles for freestyle are getting bigger. We can’t seem to
do the work we need to do with the shorter shocks. That’s why
we went with longer shocks on Outlaw and Bandit. I like the way
Bounty rides; it rides real low, it races better.
There
are some other differences. We run Firestone tires on Bounty,
and the new Sudden Impact Racing tires on the other two trucks.
We run some different steering cylinder setups based on
preference. Obviously the cab setups are different. What Dawn
likes is different than what Kreg and I like. We run different
controls for rear steering. All three trucks are a little bit
different. |
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JR-There was a recent purchase of CSK by O'Reilly
Auto Parts. Will that affect your sponsorship?
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JC-It
could very much so. I'm hoping it doesn't. I don't know exactly
how long we've been with CSK. Probably been working with them
for 9 years now. We've had the sponsorship for about 8 years.
Our contract is up at the end of the year. It’s definitely on
the table right now. O'Reilly is taking a long look at all CSK
ventures, us being one of them. CSK has told us they feel we are
one of their better programs, dollar-for-dollar one of the best
programs they have. O'Reilly will definitely be taking a look at
that. I know they've already been out to
Phoenix
to CSK Headquarters and we've already been talked about.
Hopefully they will be making a decision rather soon; that way
we know which way we’re headed. I think they’re keeping an
open mind and I hear they’re good people from what CSK has
told me. Hopefully we can continue on, business as usual. |
|
JR-After seeing the footage from the recent NASCAR
race at Texas Motor Speedway, rumors have been going around that
you may be switching to Chevrolet bodies (Creten performed in a
Chevrolet-bodied Bounty Hunter and driver Clint Bowyer take a
ride as well). Is there any truth to that rumor?
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JC-I'm not excluding that. Currently we’re working
with Chevrolet, just doing some displays for them. It was really
successful in
Fort Worth
. We’re talking about doing it again. There was a lot of great
stuff relayed back to Corporate in
Detroit
. I think they’re liking it. We'll just see where it goes. |
|
JR-What
can we expect out of the 2Xtreme racing team for
the rest of the year?
|
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JC-We’re
really busy. You can expect at least two trucks, if not three
running every weekend. We’re all over the country, totally
booked up. I don't think we have any more weekends off. Right
now we're using different employment to try to cover everything,
flying people in and out. We’re very busy trying to juggle
everything. We've actually turned work down. We have some new
technology coming out for 2009 and we’re excited about that.
We are working with lots of different companies. We got a good
report with
Quaker
State
. Hopefully they will move over and help us out with O'Reilly,
you never know, that’s just hearsay. We hope we continue that
relationship. We have a great relationship with Hughes
Transmissions, K&N, and hopefully some people from CSK stay
on board because we've enjoyed working with them over the years.
There are a lot of unanswered questions right now. We plan on
continuing with business as usual and being contenders at every
show, running a good program, and letting the cards fall where
they’re going to fall. |
Creten during freestyle this year in
St. Louis, Missouri. The 2Xtreme team is known for its very
powerful trucks (photo-Robert
Haught). |
|
JR-What's
your favorite track
style to run on?
|
|
JC-Bounty
and Outlaw, they lift clay. We have so much horsepower it’s a
problem to get them to hook up. We just blow the tires. We can
sit there and spin on the starting line all day. Or if it’s a
loose track, like a roundy-round track. It’s hard surface with
loose dirt on top we'll get beat sometimes because we can't hook
up. If you put us on clay
like you just saw on Speed, the last
Houston
show. Or let us get out on a track that’s big, where we can
open these motors up. We'll do real good. |
|
JR-How has having Kreg Christenson helped the team?
|
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JC-Kreg’s
a great, great driver. When Bounty was broke he picked up the
slack. He’s definitely starting to settle in and know his
role. He’s quite capable of winning at any time. He could have
done really well at the World Finals too. In the Monster Jam
series, whatever I didn't win, Kreg did or whatever he didn't, I
did. It was a great team effort. Freestyle, we’re still trying
to figure out our role. Kreg is a great freestyler. We had a lot
of damage between him and I this past year.
San Antonio
,
Dallas
,
Phoenix
we had some transmission issues. We were snapping input shafts.
That’s just our horsepower; we’re working through those
issues. Kreg has been good, he’s a great driver. Its expensive
doing business the way we’re doing it. Kreg has a full-time
job, with him flying in on the weekends. Basically what we pay
him is what we could pay a guy that I could have all week. We
lack help in that direction because we’re spending it on Kreg.
Right now it’s working for us. Kreg’s great. |
Creten has always enjoyed success in
Las Vegas, taking a freestyle champion and having the most
final-round racing appearances without a championship
(photo-Andrew Ellingwood) |
|
JR-This is a little bit of
word association. Just say the first thing that pops into your
mind.
|
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JC-OK. |
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JR-Dennis Anderson.
|
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JC-Thank god for people like Dennis and Tom. I'm not
trying to blow smoke or anything like that. They give us
somebody to shoot for. They are definitely the best in the
business with what they have accomplished, and I'm not sure
anybody else will do what they've done. I think they are
somebody to look up to and to strive to be. Not only are they
good drivers, but they can win any race at anytime. They’re
good with the fans, they love them. Not too many people don't
like Tom or Dennis. |
|
"We've actually had
to turn down work this summer," says Creten.(photo-Josh
Rhodes) |
|
JR-Las
Vegas.
|
|
JC-Stressful. It’s grueling. When you’re laying
the whole season on one night, it’s tough. You could have the
best truck underneath you and not do well, or you can be on your
game and the truck breaks. You gotta have everything going your
way in Vegas. It can be very rewarding and you can smile a lot
when it’s over, or be really upset. There are a wide range of
emotions that Vegas can bring out in you. |
|
JR-Bob
Chandler..
|
|
JC-I don't know Bob that
well. I really don't. I've met the man a couple times. We really
haven't said much to each other. With the shows that he does
choose to come out to is normally shows we don't go to. The
times I did see him were at Special Events shows and we don't
normally do those. I don't have an opinion one way or the other,
although I'm sure he’s a good man. |
|
JR-Mark
Hall..
|
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JC-There’s another guy I
don't know very well. A very nice guy, I don't run with him
much. Never have run with him much. He is a great racer. They
run a good program, their trucks are always immaculate. He’s
super nice. |
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|
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JR-Debra
"Madusa" Miceli.
|
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JC-Debra,
I know Debra real well. We ran Monster Jam together for a lot of
years. I don't know her on a personal level. We never hung out
together. She seems like an OK person. I don't always agree with
what she had to say or how she acted. To each their own; I'm
sure she feels the same way. No two people are always going to
see things the same way. I have no problems with Madusa.. |
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