2009 Road Updates

The Saga Continues: BIGFOOT vs. Snake Bite

August 24, 2009 - There was a third battle between the two great monster truck rivals recently.  BIGFOOT and Snake Bite competed in Salt Lake City, Utah at Rocky Mountain Raceway (RMR) over the weekend of August 8th.  While neither truck won the racing portions of the events, the BIGFOOT® monster did win freestyle on Friday night with the Snake Bite® truck coming in a close second.  We had 3 trucks competing in the 2-day event, but things did NOT work out as planned.  We even think we have a good candidate for the 2009 MTRA “Weekend from Hell” Award.  Dan Runte was driving Summit Racing BIGFOOT #16 and Rodney Tweedy was driving Snake Bite #10, and the Bad Boy himself, Larry Swim, competed in the Bad Boy BIGFOOT #14 truck.

Photo by Missy Simpson.

What started out to be a promising event with 3 trucks took a turn for the worst right off the bat!  During Qualifying, Larry Swim had his motor blow up halfway thru his run, putting him out for the entire weekend.  Then, a short time later, Dan Runte ended up on 2 wheels on the last corner of the track and, with his truck being shut off by the event director running the RII, Dan ended up rolling his truck!  This was Dan’s first rollover since he started driving the BIGFOOT #16 truck in 2007!

Photo by Missy Simpson.

Luckily, Rodney had no problems with the Snake truck during Qualifying.  In racing, both Dan and Rodney went to the semi-finals, but never raced each other.  In Freestyle, though, Dan and BIGFOOT took first, while Rodney and Snake Bite came in a close second!

Finally, on Sunday, the match up we were all waiting for took place: BIGFOOT vs. Snake Bite.  Unfortunately for Snake Bite and Rodney, they were on the losing end of this historic battle.

Year-to-Date BIGFOOT vs. Snake Bite Racing Results:
BIGFOOT = 3
Snake Bite = 0

This battle will continue in Fayetteville, NC on September 11th and 12th. You can see Larry Swim and the Bad Boy BIGFOOT vs. Rodney “Hot Rod” Tweedy in Snake Bite at the Fayetteville Motorspeedway for Checkered Flag Productions!

BIGFOOT vs. Snake-Bite

July 30, 2009 - The old rivalry is back!  The BIGFOOT® monster and the Snake Bite® monster have raced 6 times just recently!  These two LONG-TIME competitors competed in 3 races back in May in Lima, Ohio and 3 more races this past weekend in Canfield, Ohio.

The Snake Bite truck was a last-second replacement for The Family Event’s-promoted Jeep and Truck Fest.  The Snake Bite Team had less than 24 hours to get their truck race-ready and make the 11 hour drive to Canfield.  Larry Swim, who normally pilots the “BAD BOY BIGFOOT” truck, and, fresh off his 2009 CFP Championship, was looking to put down teammate and rival Dan Runte and the Summit Racing BIGFOOT #16 truck.

Photo by Missy Simpson.

This was not to be, however, as they only faced each other one time all weekend.  AND, there was no one close to taking down Runte in Canfield.  Dan had the fastest truck all weekend, never losing one round of racing!

Photo by Missy Simpson.

The rivalry will continue again on August 8th and 9th in West Valley, Utah at Rocky Mountain Raceway.  Team BIGFOOT will send Dan Runte in the BIGFOOT #16 truck and Larry Swim in the BAD BOY BIGFOOT #14 truck.  Piloting the Snake-Bite truck will be Rodney Tweedy!  Rodney is undefeated in racing for 2009, so this should be a REAL nail-biter!  Can the Snake-Bite Team finally take down BIGFOOT in 2009?

Good luck, boys and drive hard and jump far!

We would like to thank everyone in our shop for getting the Snake Bite truck to Canfield and helping the BIGFOOT truck get a 3 race sweep of the weekend!  John Peterson, Bryan Bertoletti, Bob Brown, Randy Lenger, and Nick Dvorchak, give yourselves each a round of applause!

- Click images for large version -

We also introduced our new Snake Bite shirt in Canfield, and, after careful counting, it looks like Snake Bite has a small lead in sales! Visit bigfoot4x4.com/store/clothes.html.

How time flies when you’re having fun!

May 26, 2009 - What a busy year! It’s been hard to update everything that’s been happening. The outdoor season has started with Family Events, and BIGFOOT® has competed in that series for 2 weekends and have had some mixed results. We went to Springfield, Missouri and competed in 3 races, reaching the finals at every event and winning 2 of them. Then, 2 weeks later, we went to Lima, Ohio for 4 races in 3 days. We reached the finals 2 times, but were not able to bring home a win.

Photo by Missy Simpson.

On the plus side, we watched Dan Runte in the Summit Racing Equipment sponsored BIGFOOT #16 do some major power wheelies. A power wheelie is when you are at a complete stop and then nail the throttle standing the truck straight up. It was awesome!

Photos by Missy Simpson.

After Larry Swim ripped off a wheel in Snake Bite® during Sunday afternoon’s race, EVERYBODY got into the action:

Photos by Missy Simpson.

“Who is this new BIGFOOT driver changing tires?”

We are now getting ready to head to LaPorte, Indiana with BIGFOOT #1, BIGFOOT #5, and BIGFOOT #16. The event is scheduled for Friday, May 29 through Sunday, May 31 at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds. For event info, see www.rpmfest.com.

Be sure to keep on eye out for a newly re-designed Snake Bite paint scheme and all new Snake Bite novelties. If you thought the “Bad Boys” truck had an attitude, wait till you see this beast!

You can always keep up with our upcoming events by visiting our website. Also, be sure to see if we have BIGFOOT merchandise in your area. We will be sending out our novelty trailer to events and displays all across the country for the first time this year. We will be offering special pricing on products at these events. We want to do our part and help stimulate the economy in our own way!!

March 5th Update

Photo courtesy of Ross Bonar of The Monster Blog.

March 5, 2009 - Dan Runte/Summit Racing BIGFOOT #16 - Dan has been on a tear as of late – although he has only competed in 5 Checkered Flag Championship Series events, he has won 4 of those 5 races, putting him in 6th place. Definitely not bad when you consider the 7th place driver has competed in 12 more events than Dan!  Look for Dan in Pocatello next month for the finals…he’ll be driving Snake Bite®…the original “Ricky Rattler” strikes again!

Photo courtesy of Michael Evans ( www.imagesbymde.com)

Rodney Tweedy/BIGFOOT #10 - WOW!  Rodney “Hot Rod” Tweedy and BIGFOOT #10 have been competing for AMP Live Events since the beginning of the 2009 season.  Rodney has competed in 9 events, taking the racing win in every single one!  Rodney started his BIGFOOT® career in January of 2006 as the Firestone display driver.  He moved into the driver’s seat of BIGFOOT #10 in January of 2008.  In his first year+ of racing BIGFOOT, Rodney has more than held his own!  Let’s keep the streak going, Hot Rod.  We are proud of you!

Please be sure to check back next week to see updates on Rick Long and Jerry Dalton.

BIGFOOT® January Road Update

Photo courtesy of Ross Bonar of The Monster Blog.

February 3, 2009 - It’s hard to believe that January is over.  We have already done 40 events days!

Dan Runte and Summit Racing BIGFOOT #16 have already done shows for Checkered Flag Productions, Amp Live Events and Monster Truck Entertainment.  Dan will also be working with Checkered Flag Productions in Loveland, Colorado and Casper, Wyoming, so he should accumulate enough points to qualify for the CFP Championship in Pocatello, Idaho in April.

Rick Long and Firestone BIGFOOT #15 have also been doing shows for just about everyone this year!  Rick has competed for Extreme Monster Nationals, AMP Live Events, and Image Promotions.  His next scheduled events are in Amarillo, Texas for Frontier Management and then onto Tulsa, Oklahoma for Daryl Starbird.

Bryan Bertoletti and Larry Swim with their "anti-static" hats made by Dan Runte!

Larry Swim and the new, BAD BOYS BIGFOOT #14 have run exclusively for Checkered Flag Productions in 2009 so far.  Larry is currently the Points Leader for the CFP Championship.  You can see Larry next in Cincinnati, Ohio and Florence, South Carolina.

Photo courtesy of Ross Bonar of The Monster Blog.

Jerry Dalton and BIGFOOT #11 have done shows for Pro-Shows Inc and Checkered Flag Productions.  In his very first show for CFP, Jerry took the racing win in both events!  Definitely not a bad start – Great job!

Rodney Tweedy and BIGFOOT #10 have worked exclusively with AMP Live Events this year. Rodney is 6 for 6 in race wins and has won 5 out of 6 freestyle events.  Good job, and let’s see how long the streak can go!  Rodney also visited some injured firefighters in Buffalo, NY.  For more info on this CLICK HERE.

Ron Bachmann, Darron Schnell, and Jim Kramer have all been hard at work crewing for everyone.  Thanks for the help guys!

Darron Schnell and Firestone BIGFOOT #8 will start touring the 2009 Firestone touring schedule on February 5th in Mexia, Texas at Hill Tire.  They will visit 100s of Firestone dealers all over the country before they take a rest in late November.

It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to a dear friend of ours, George Eisenhart.  George was the owner of Image Promotions, and BIGFOOT had worked with him since 2002.  He was known for his commitment to safety, and was the first promoter to use exclusively all MTRA certified trucks.  George, you were a great guy, and we will all miss you.