Your World Finals 6 Freestyle Champion...

Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter

Interview from Robert Haught, photos from Andrew Ellingwood and Robert Haught

Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter have been chasing the World Finals Racing Championship for four years now, never finishing out of the top four in the racing competition, with two runner-ups to his credit. Creten won a championship this year, but it was not the racing title. With a score of 37 points (after tiebreaker), Jimmy Creten became the World Finals 6 Freestyle Champion. Robert Haught caught up with Creten a week after his title; we appreciate the entire Bounty Hunter/Scarlet Bandit team's time and support:

Robert Haught-How did you feel about the World Finals this year team-wise?

Jimmy Creten-For our team, it was a night of highs and lows. Clear Channel really put a lot of attention and work into this World Finals, and to me it showed; it was astounding. Before the show we were all taken up into a meeting room and given some great gifts, and that was totally unexpected. When I qualified fastest, I thought that I would win. Fans from all over at the pit party kept telling Dawn and I, “This is your year!” and I thought so too after coming so close, but hitting the pole in the semifinals did it. Before that run, we made the call to switch front tires at the last moment, and it bit on me hard. I thought I could slide around the turn, but the truck spun out and I got too tight, and that was it.

As far as freestyle, our goal coming in was the same as when I talked to you last year—survive, and not tear it up. I was interviewed about Dawn before her run, and I said that I thought she would last the entire 90 seconds. She did, and I thought she did an excellent job, especially considering it was her first time out there. We were sort of down about racing, but freestyle was great; the judging was right on and I felt my run was beatable, but nobody was able to get that far. Some people were too aggressive too early and it is too easy to break early in Vegas.

RH-What is your reaction to winning the freestyle championship? 

JC-It was great! As an independent with some great sponsors, I’m sort of different in my style; people don’t understand sometimes that we have to make a living doing this, and sometimes that means we have to pick and choose when to be really aggressive as far as freestyle. That isn’t to say at all that we’re not aggressive at some shows, but we have to pick our times to step it up that extra notch. In Pontiac , for example, we were the only two trucks (Bounty Hunter and Scarlet Bandit) that left without rolling. I hate doing body work, and we do our own body work, so we try not to put it on its lid too much.

RH-It seems that in past years, your freestyles have been overshadowed by the “big two,” Tom Meents (Maximum Destruction) and Dennis Anderson (Grave Digger), at times. What are your thoughts on that?

JC-Yeah, sometimes it is that way, but I know we’ve been up there the past couple of years doing good freestyle runs. The judging this year and especially at the World Finals has been fair. I have my own opinions on how a freestyle run should be. It doesn’t take a driver to wreck a truck; anyone can do that, and I’m not at all saying that Dennis and Tom do. We all like to put the truck on the edge and bring it back. Sometimes we bring it back, and sometimes we don’t. This year, I felt like we’ve had good scores and good runs, with the exception of a blown transmission at one show. I believe we’ve gotten mostly 27’s and higher, so I’m happy with that. 

RH-Do you feel that any specific hits in freestyle helped you earn the lead in Vegas? If so, which one (s)?

JC-I would have to say my second hit; it was on the cars jumping towards the huge dirt ramp they had in the center of the track. I hit that and got some good air, then nudged the dirt hill and saved it. I probably got the biggest air off of that dirt ramp as well, and the truck landed well from that. Overall I didn’t feel like I had any downtime in the run, and we hit everything but one obstacle I believe; we would have hit it if we’d had a full two minutes to work with, but I understand why they cut the time to 90 seconds. They had to make room for the 20-truck field.

"Now there will be expectations to live up to every time I run. Tom and Dennis have set the bar in freestyle, and if we get to run behind them in the order, we’ll have to do a Tom and Dennis-quality freestyle to beat them. We're going to welcome it." -Jimmy Creten

RH-Now that you are the freestyle champion, do you feel like your freestyles have to be at a new level?

JS-Definitely. Now there will be expectations to live up to every time I run. Tom and Dennis have set the bar in freestyle, and if we get to run behind them in the order, we’ll have to do a Tom and Dennis-quality freestyle to beat them. We are going to work on the roll cage so that if we bite it (roll over) in freestyle more, it won’t tear our bodies and cage up as much, and we’ll have to stock up on bodies and things like that. We’ll put more “wow” into the runs, more air, and since we get to watch everyone else run, that will help. We are going to welcome the champion status and try to live up to it and keep the championship with us for a long time.

RH-Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say to the fans?

We thank the Cretens for their time and support. For more information on Bounty Hunter and Scarlet Bandit, visit www.bountyhunter4x4.com.