(O’Fallon, MO) BIGFOOT 4×4, Inc. will have its biggest presence yet at an American Drag Racing League (ADRL) event that continues to take shape as one of the largest in its history.

Adding even more excitement to the season-ending LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VII presented by Summit Racing Equipment, the world’s premier eighth-mile drag racing league announced on Monday that two BIGFOOT® monster trucks will be at the Texas Motorplex on Oct. 21-23 in Ennis, Texas for the final stop on the 2011 ADRL Tour.

The pair of impressive monster trucks will face off in a side-by-side duel on Friday, Oct. 21, and then will entertain the fans in a variety of ways on Saturday, providing another must-see element to the weekend.
“We are so thrilled to have two BIGFOOT monster trucks for what will be an amazing weekend at Texas Motorplex. We have forged such a great relationship with everyone at BIGFOOT and this is a further testament to that,” ADRL Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brian Evans said.
“These monster trucks have proven to be such a big hit with fans of all ages and the runs down the track this year have been nothing short of remarkable.”

The Summit Racing BIGFOOT monster truck, driven by Dan Runte, will make its customary appearance at an ADRL event, fresh off a series of incredible performances during ADRL events this year. Joining Runte will be Darron Schnell, who will be driving a new Vi-COR-sponsored BIGFOOT truck, which will have a special “dairy cow” theme. The new truck will be white with black cow spots on it, making it a certain head-turner.

The pair of trucks will face off on Friday as the Vi-COR truck will makes its first official pass down a dragstrip. “We’re going to be lucky enough to have two trucks down there to run side-by-side against each other. It’s going to be a lot of fun in Ennis,” BIGFOOT Vice President of Sponsorships and Development Bob Trent said.

“They’re so competitive against each other and that’s going to make it very interesting because they both want to win.”
In operation since 1975, BIGFOOT 4×4 continues to have a sizeable impact in the ADRL and drag racing world.
The St. Louis-based company is closing in on completing its 18th BIGFOOT monster truck and eight are currently active, with one more expected to be running in 2012.

The Summit Racing BIGFOOT truck has been a star attraction at ADRL events for several years, drawing big crowds in the pits and memorable reactions after going down the track.

Weighing more than 10,000 pounds, it has gone as quick as the 7.80s in the eighth-mile at more than 80 miles per hour, a testament to the considerable work done in testing to make BIGFOOT an impressive drag racing monster truck.

“We started doing the runs down the track two years ago and I think we caught a lot of people off-guard by doing it because it turned out to be a whole lot cooler than people thought it would be, “Trent said.
“We’ve been doing the burnout and going down the track and I think people have been impressed with how fast it actually has gone. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s turned out really well.”

Runte has also perfected the crowd-pleasing run, performing a massive wheelstand before darting down the track.
“Dan is a great driver and I think he’s got it figured it out now where he can launch off the line, get the tires up in the air, go about 80 feet, set it down and keep it going,” Trent said. “It really is unbelievable.”

 
ABOUT THE ADRL

Based in O’Fallon, Missouri, the American Drag Racing League is the nation’s premier sanctioning body for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The professional categories featured in the ADRL are Pro Junior Dragster, Summit Racing Equipment Top Sportsman, Extreme Pro Stock, Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme, the quickest doorslammer class in all of drag racing. The 2011 ADRL tour consists of nine national events run throughout the United States. For more information on the ADRL, visit www.ADRL.us.

For more information about Team BIGFOOT, please visit www.bigfoot4x4.com.

 

Multi-time Monster Truck Racing Champion Mark Hall, driver of the RAMINATOR monster truck recently competed in the Dodge Viper Celebrity Challenge event held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The event will be broadcast Sunday, October 9 at 3PM Eastern time on Versus TV.

Mark competed against fellow Dodge Motorsports drivers in equally prepared 640 horsepower Dodge Viper ACRx cars on the 2.44 mile road course at Miller Motorsports Park. NASCAR drivers Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Robby Gordon were in the race, along with racing icon Roger Penske. Formula Drift and off road racer Sam Hubinette and NHRA Pro-Stock racer Allen Johnson also competed, as did motocross stars Ivan Tedesco and Carey Hart. Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish, JR and others were also in the field. Road racer Cindi Lux helped give Mark some instructions prior to the race. “I had a great time”, Mark said. “Hanging out with all these great champion drivers…what a fantastic experience! I hope we can do it again sometime!” The event raised more than $18,000 for various charities.

 

The MTRA is pleased to announce the addition of Excess Medical and Death & Dismemberment Insurance Coverage for all Driver, Additional Driver, and Race Team Affiliate members. This new insurance policy covers accidental medical expenses and provides accidental death & dismemberment benefits for injuries sustained on the road to, during, and on the road back from any monster truck event.

In appreciation for their continued support, this insurance coverage is now in effect through February 2012 at no additional cost to members!

Thank you for your support!

Higher Education Monster Truck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Vaters’ “Higher Education” a monster school bus has been a project in the making for 5 years.  Long time veteran in the monster truck industry for 29 years Michael Vaters debuted the permanent identity of the third monster truck in his stables…..Higher Education in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium.  Vaters bought the Killer Bee monster truck last year and ran the Killer Bee body for a couple of shows, also the team put a Black Stallion body on the truck and ran it the first quarter of this year in the Monster Jam series.  Higher Education is driven by long time crew member and family friend Jimmy Tracey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ken Nelson’s Cool Bus Wheel Stander

Vaters has always had a great respect for and been a big fan of Ken Nelson and his wheel stander Cool Bus.  Ken at age 72 races the Cool Bus down 1/4 mile drag strips at over 100 miles per hour and has been for 15 years now.  Cool Bus was designed and built by Ken and his wife and they travel all over the United States, Canada and Mexico every summer exhibiting at drag strips.  Five years ago Mike shared his idea with Ken to build a school bus monster truck and they both thought it would be a good idea and definitely popular with the kids.

 

When the Killer Bee truck became available Mike found his opening to make the monster truck bus idea happen.  After leaving the Dayton OH show Vaters traveled to Ken’s hometown of Ashland OH and picked up the nose of the Cool Bus to make a mold from and as a starting point for the rest of the bus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vaters has been designing and engineering the truck for some time so when they started the build he had very specific ideas and plans.  Because of this and many man hours in the shop by the Black Stallion team it was completed in 13 days.  Higher Education is built in 3/4 scale.  When designing the bus Michael Vaters new that they would have to build the body stronger to withstand the abuse that a monster truck goes through.  Michael Vaters has been building his own molds and fiberglass body parts as well as parts for other monster truck drivers for a couple of years now.  They built two fiberglass sections to make up the roof and a fiberglass front clip.  The sides of the bus are built from fiberboard donated by Capitol Building Supply in Hagerstown MD one of Black Stallions sponsors.  The paint (school bus yellow) was provided by PPG another of our generous sponsors and painted by the Stallion crew in house.  Vaters wanted the bus to have all the details to make it look as realistic as possible.  Vaters fabricated black rub rails to run down the sides of the bus and installed flashing lights and a flip our STOP sign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Higher Education debuted April 9th in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium.  During the pit party the bus hidden from the spectators during the pit party and not brought out until after the wheelie competition.  The house lights of the Stadium were dimmed as Higher Education driven by Jimmy Tracey roared out onto the track lights flashing to the music of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In the Wall.”  The crowd went crazy on their feet cheering……the monster bus Higher Education went over real big!!!!! A concept idea that will have a huge following especially with the kids…..what could be more awesome for a kid than to see a school bus like they ride in every day getting big air super pumped up on horse power causing destruction and crushing cars, buses, RVs and everything else in its path.  Michael and Denise Vaters want to send out a special thanks to Ken and his wife for their help and cooperation in making this project happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Higher Education Videos:

 

2011 Ottawa ON Higher Education FS:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KaF4LjVHm4

 

2011 Ottawa ON Higher Education vs Avenger Racing:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOaZrMhxCEE

 

2011 April Montreal CAN Cool Bus vs Red Baron:  http://youtu.be/IY6xsR6jNQA

 

2011 April Montreal CAN Cool Bus vs Big Foot:  http://youtu.be/EnA7ROLsSOk

2011 Vaters’ Monster Motorsports….

Summer Schedule

 

2011 dates are still being booked

Visit the Vaters’ Monster Motorsports website for more information:  http://www.vatersmotorsports.com/