AllMonster.com-News Archives

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 thank the Wittes 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.

Randy Brown Motorsports has opened their new site, www.randybrownmotorsports.com, to the public. The site includes a full schedule for Grave Digger 18 (driven by Randy Brown) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (driven by Alex Blackwell), bios, photos, and more. Thanks to Randy Brown Motorsports and staff for the information on the site.

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 team for their support. Look for a Monster Profile with Phil Foster of Meents Racing tomorrow!

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.

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.

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. Look for photos and more news soon!

We have been informed of the results of night two in Rochester, New York, and the winners were 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. Photos and more updates are still to come!

Reports coming in from the Houston, Texas Monster Jam last night indicate that Tony Farrell's Blue Thunder took the racing victory, while Pablo Huffaker and Grave Digger won freestyle with a perfect 30. We understand that there was some controversy at the event involving freestyle scoring, but will wait until facts are unquestionable to report on that. 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!

We were able to confirm reports that Grave Digger did not win freestyle, as mentioned yesterday. 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).

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.

ASK PAT SUMMA-THRASHER

Thrasher Motorsports sent us a press release last night about a new section of their web site (www.thrasher4x4.net); we thank them for their time:

Thrasher Motor Sports

Ever wanted to Ask Pat a question about Thrasher? Maybe about his thoughts on the industry today compared to the past? Well no matter the question, here is your chance to ask Pat.

You can submit as many questions as you like. Pat will pick the best ones and will post the answers on the Thrasher4x4.net website.

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 checked in with Mike Vaters and Trey Myers from Black Stallion and Iron Warrior yesterday, and they informed us of some interesting news involving their team. For the full story, click the picture above or the link below!

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!

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. Kyle Seden was kind enough to send us a few teaser shots from Toronto, and they are available below or by clicking the link above:

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.

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.

Andy Slifko and the entire Eradicator team have suffered a great loss; they took the time to send us this letter explaining it all:

Dear fans, drivers, event officials, sponsors, promoters, and friends:

It seems that luck is just not on our side this year. It seems funny to say
that the two transmissions we've blown up in the last two weeks are now the
least of our worries.

We were coming home from the Pontiac show on Sunday morning when I felt a
trailer tire blow out. When we went back to see it, we noticed some flames.
The trailer caught fire. Two fire extinguishers, a ton of snow, and all the
Pepsis we had couldn't stop the fire from spreading.

Several minutes later, a gentleman in a pickup truck stopped to help. We were
able to hook the monster truck to his pickup and pull it out of the trailer.
It suffered minimal body damage. Unfortunately, it was the only thing we were
able to salvage.

The fire spread, and it claimed the entire trailer and almost everything in
it. Four tires and wheels, our Harley-Davidson, all of our parts, toolboxes,
tools, living quarters, and clothes. Luckily the fire was put out before it
reached the tractor.

We would like to sincerely thank the fine men and women of the Brooksville
Police Department, Brooksville Fire Department, and the Pennsylvania State
Police, all of whom went above and beyond their call of duty in extinguishing
the blaze, cleaning up the mess, and keeping us and the other motorists safe.
We cannot thank them enough, and it was with their help that we can say nobody
was injured in the incident.

This will bring about major changes in our business. Among the first of these
changes, we'd like to announce the sale of our display monster truck and rig.
It is a turn-key unit, and anyone interested can email me through our website
at www.eradicator4x4.com.

We will need some time to regroup and reassess our business. We may be down,
but we are surely not out. The immediate outpouring of support we received in
the hours following the incident from our friends and competitors is
heartwarming, and it makes us feel lucky to be a part of this business.

Safety is something that many take for granted. Any truck driver will tell
you that this is his or her worst nightmare. We are forever grateful for the
gentleman in the pickup truck and the men and women who work everyday to keep
us safe, secure, and healthy. It is true that without these men and women in
the world, none of us would be able to perform and entertain as we do week in
and week out.

Sincerely yours,

Andy Slifko and the entire Eradicator team

We wish Andy Slifko and the entire team a full recovery from this unfortunate event; he is in our thoughts.

AllMonster.com and Monster-Style.com have teamed up to form the Eradicator Trailer Relief Fund, available at the link above. We accept PayPal and mail donations, so everyone should be able to help Andy and the Eradicator team's cause. We hope that you will be able to, and encourage you to visit the link above. Large and small donations are accepted; we thank you for your time, and hope to present Andy with a check when the fund is over!

"It makes me feel good to be a part of this industry after all the support I've had in the past few days," he said. "My phone has been ringing off the hook. People like (Tom) Meents, The Hall Brothers, the Grave Digger guys, FK Rod Ends, and a lot more have pulled together and helped me out, and I really appreciate it."

AllMonster.com will be hitting the road tomorrow morning for three shows from Kansas City, and also hopes to have coverage from Greensboro, North Carolina, Columbus, Ohio, and San Diego, California within the same weekend!

Andy Slifko of the Eradicator monster truck has had an interesting past couple of weeks, and it culminated in him winning four of eight competitions in Manchester, New Hampshire, just five days after his hauler (and nearly his truck!) was destroyed in a fire. Team Eradicator was kind enough to send us a press release on all those happenings, and it is available below (photo courtesy Andrew Palochko, Eradicator4x4.com):

Also, AllMonster.com has just returned from three shows in three nights at Kansas City, and hopes to have more from there and a few other surprises as soon as possible!

Tomorrow, AllMonster.com will be making the trip to Indianapolis for the televised Monster Jam. A few teaser shots from last week's shows in Columbus and Kansas City are now online at the link below or by clicking the photo above, with full galleries to come soon, along with our long-overdue site overhaul/redesign.

AllMonster.com has returned from Indianapolis, and has a brief show rundown, with coverage, 100+ photos, and more to follow soon. Predator was the fast qualifier and met up with the Bob and Tom truck (formerly Hot Wheels) driven by Guy Wood in the final. It was close into the final turn, but Predator had problems, while Wood was smooth took the racing win.

Freestyle was unique, with several trucks stepping up with career performances in front of the television cameras. Jason Witte had a spectacular save in Wild Hair coming out of a donut, nearly dragging the roof of the truck on the dirt before bringing it back onto all four wheels and continuing his run. It was Randy Brown and Grave Digger taking the win with a 29 that included a sideways hit on double stacked cars that spun the truck on its nose in a unique "flip" and save, which he continued. He also hammered through a mobile home/box truck setup (see photo above) in the center of the track. Tom Meents (Maximum Destruction) and Pezo tied for second place with 28 points each. Photos, a full recap, and more from Indianapolis will be up soon!

AllMonster.com is currently working on photos from action this past weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, Albany, New York, and Indianapolis Indiana. In Raleigh, Gary Porter took the racing win against Troy Dubose's Total Chaos, with Brian Barthel's Little Tiger winning freestyle after a slap wheelie at the end of his run earned him a 25. In Albany on Sunday, Diehl Wilson's Virginia Giant took the wheelie and donut competitions, while Mike Vaters' Black Stallion won freestyle with a 30 in a crowd cheer off. Thrasher was able to win the racing but nosed over and took a hard landing at the end. (photo courtesy Dustin Hart)