Shakopee Launches a Title Chase

Looking at the competitors for the 2008 Monster Truck Challenge Championship three names immediately draw attention – Creten, Hall and Patrick. These men head teams that are arguably making the most horsepower in Monster Trucks today. June 20th & 21st is the start of the 2008 season and Bounty Hunter, Raminator and Samson will all be present at Shakopee Raceway Park to tackle a custom built “S” track.
Bounty Hunter is chasing his first Monster Truck Challenge Title, while Raminator is defending his and Samson is trying to rekindle the success found in 2002.

Dan Patrick and Samson captured the series championship in 2002 in a hard fought points battle with Bigfoot’s Eric Tack. A lot has changed in the 6 years since those two battled on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Mark Hall and Raminator have been dominating outdoors on the Monster Truck Challenge. Mark’s resume stretches all the way back to a victory at Heartland Park Topeka in 2004. More often then not, when Raminator is on the track, he’s going to cross the finish line first. Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter have run a limited MTC schedule in the past and while success was seen at individual events; the quantity of them made a title unachievable. Jimmy has a strong reputation and fan base in the Minneapolis area thanks to frequent trips to the Metrodome. Shakopee will offer Twin city fans a rare opportunity to see the big Ford racing side-by-side outdoors.

While those three might command the spotlight, there is a field of trucks ready to take it away from them. Jon Zimmer in Amsoil T-Maxx has been behind the wheel of that truck off and on since 2006, but jumped in the ride full time after the departed Carl Van Horn. Jon Zimmer has been steadily improving his racing game and has shown to be a master of his manual rear-steer. If there was a dark horse to watch out for in freestyle, it is Devin Jones and Barbarian. This young kid from Oklahoma has taken numerous smaller freestyles wins but his biggest performance to date was last fall in Las Vegas taking 3rd in a stellar field of trucks. That 2008 Ford is a slap wheelie machine and it is only a matter of time before Devin grabs a major victory. Andy Hoffman took home the 2007 Monster Nationals Freestyle victory, mostly because of his patented reveres-moves. Standing the War Wagon up on its nose works well for Andy in the smaller venues, but the truck remains unproven on big outdoor tracks.

The action starts at with Monster Qualifing at 5 pm. At 6pm on the Broken Bow Records stage is Nashville recording artists,The Harders. Then the big show starts at 7.

-Ed

Equalizer – Still One Of The Big Guns

The last time Equalizer raced at Myrtle Beach Speedway the team was owned by Gary Cook and driven by Greg Holbrook.  That July weekend nearly 20 years ago was best known for a fiery crash with King Kong taking down the pit road “76” sign and landing upside down on a Myrtle Beach police cruiser parked far past the finish line inside the speedway.  The real story was the performance of Equalizer with a young gun behind the wheel.  Equalizer was on a mission that summer knocking down the big guns one by one and entered the event that weekend as the favorite.

A lot has changed since the original days of Monster Truck Racing.  Some drivers have become icons.  Many have retired.  New teams have emerged.  And the machines have evolved from heavy 14,000 beasts lumbering their way down a straight line of cars into today’s modern 9,500 pound high-tech racing vehicles terrorizing a variety of obstacles and turns.  They fly higher.  They go faster.   The sport has become one of the most watched forms of motorsports in North America.

Through all of the changes that have taken place in monster truck racing, Equalizer enters into the July 19th event at Myrtle Beach Speedway in the same fashion the team did for the famous weekend back in 1990, an odds on favorite to win it all.  Equalizer returns to Myrtle Beach as one half of a two-truck team in the field that weekend, allowing the entire operation to learn and share information throughout the weekend.  The Lucas Oil Equalizer Chevrolet is thrown across the track with a take-no-prisoners attitude that fits the personality of its pilot, Mike Hawkins.  Mike makes no apologies for his style stating, “I don’t show up for second.  I come to win and nothing less.  We’ll let the other guys set their standards low if they want.  We want the hardware.  We want the prize.”

It’s going to take everything the Lucas Oil Equalizer can crank out to grab the win on Saturday, July 19th.  The field is loaded with today’s top names including Samson, Avenger.  Let’s all say a little prayer for innocent police cars and pit road signs because Mike Hawkins isn’t going to back down if it’s close coming out of the last corner.  And my prediction is that Mike Hawkins won’t let anyone get too far out in front of him.

-Ed.