Bigfoot is a monster truck. The original Bigfoot began as a 1974 Ford F-250 pickup that was modified by its owner Bob Chandler beginning in 1975. By 1979, the modifications were so extensive, the truck came to be regarded as the first monster truck. Other trucks with the name "Bigfoot" have been introduced in the years since, and it remains a well-known monster truck moniker in the United States.
A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), they have evolved into purpose-built vehicles with tube-frame chassis and fiberglass bodies rather than metal. A competition monster truck is typically 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, and equipped with 66-inch (1.7 m) off-road tires.
The United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) was an organization that sanctioned various motorsports. These included the Monster Jam monster truck series as well as motocross, quad racing and others. Having passed through multiple owners, the rights to the group are now owned by Feld Entertainment, which continues to operate the Monster Jam series.
Grave Digger is a monster truck racing team in the Feld Entertainment Monster Jam series founded by original driver Dennis Anderson. Considered one of the most famous and recognized monster trucks of all time, Grave Digger serves as the flagship team of the Monster Jam series, with seven active Grave Digger trucks being driven by different drivers to allow a truck to appear at every Monster Jam event.
Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some additional events in other countries. Although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the "intermission" entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing, two-wheel skills competition, and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.
Blue Thunder is a monster truck that races in the USHRA Monster Jam series. It was originally sponsored by the truck division of Ford Motor Company and Live Nation. The truck has several similarities with the monster truck Bigfoot. Some fans saw Blue Thunder as a replacement for Bigfoot in the Monster Jam series. The truck has been moderately successful and won several major events during its existence. However, it has not yet won a championship. Blue Thunder was used by Ford Motor Company for promotional purposes along with competition. The truck is currently driven by Todd LeDuc. The truck did not compete in 2012 when Todd LeDuc moved to Metal Mulisha after driving Blue Thunder in 2011, but as of 2022, he began driving Blue Thunder again due to the Monster Energy truck not operating anymore. With Ford dropping its sponsorship in 2012, the truck was redesigned and brought back in 2013 with veteran driver Dan Evans; former owner/driver of the Destroyer monster truck.
Monster Truck Madness is a racing video game developed by Terminal Reality and published by Microsoft. It was released in North America on September 9, 1996. The game has twelve monster trucks and tasks the player with beating computer opponents. Checkpoints, multiple hidden shortcuts, and interactable objects commonly appear in the tracks. In the garage, the player modifies the truck to account for terrain surfaces. Online multiplayer is accessed with a modem, a local area network (LAN), or TCP/IP.
USA-1 is a monster truck that competed during the 1980s and 1990s, named after a Chevrolet ad campaign. It competed against Bigfoot in the first televised monster truck race on the American television show That's Incredible! in 1983. The truck was initially painted blue before it was repainted in white.
Dennis Montague Anderson is an American former professional monster truck driver. He is the creator, team owner, and former driver of "Grave Digger" on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. Anderson is from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, where he currently resides.
Monster Truck Madness 2 is a monster truck racing video game developed by Terminal Reality and published by Microsoft for the PC in 1998. It is the sequel to Monster Truck Madness for the same platform, and was one of the first racing games to feature an online multiplayer mode. Online play for it was available on the MSN Gaming Zone until early 2006.
Bigfoot is an alleged human-like creature of North American folklore.
Snake Bite is an alternate name and identity used for Bigfoot monster trucks when two are scheduled at one event. The identity was initially created in 1991 to promote a Mattel Hot Wheels toy. Snake Bite was the first 3D character body monster truck.
Raminator, Rammunition and Hotsy are monster trucks that race on the Monster Jam, Monster Nationals and ProMT tours. They are currently driven by Mark Hall and Kurt Kraehmer. The team is sponsored by Ram Trucks. Until recently, the team was, along with Team Bigfoot, one of the most high-profile teams to not run in Monster Jam, although since 2017, they have competed in several Monster Jam tours.
TNT Motorsports was a popular promoter of monster truck races, tractor pulls, and occasionally mud racing in the 1980s. TNT was an acronym for “Trucks n Tractors” founded by the late Billy Joe Miles of Owensboro, Kentucky. Events were shown on Powertrax on ESPN, Trucks and Tractor Power on TNN, and the syndicated Tuff Trax. In 1988, TNT produced 77 shows that it estimated drew 1 million fans. In 1989, the company had $12 million in revenue.
Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines is a 1985 American animated TV mini-series that aired on the animated half-hour TV series Super Sunday and Super Saturday containing 9 segments that ran for 6 minutes each weekend, along with Jem, Robotix, and Inhumanoids. The segments were combined and turned into a 53-minute feature-length film. The series was based on SST Muscle Machines toy line by Playskool who in turn was owned by Hasbro.
Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks is an animated television series created by David Snyder and Bill Gross, and produced by Quebec-based animation studio, Big Bang Digital Studios, Beverly Hills-based Endgame Entertainment, and CCI Entertainment, which aired from September 25, 2006, to July 1, 2008, on Discovery Kids. It presented the fictional adventures of anthropomorphic monster trucks with the personalities of younger children.
Bear Foot is a monster truck currently owned by James Trantina of Triple B Motorsports. It was originally built by Jack Wilman and Fred Shafer and, along with Bigfoot and USA-1 was one of the first monster trucks. It won the 1990, 1992, and 1993 USHRA Camel Mud and Monsters championships. Originally a Chevrolet, it became a Dodge in 1992 as a result of a factory sponsorship which lasted until 1997. Shortly thereafter, the truck was sold to Paul Shafer and Fred retired from the sport at the age of 50. In 2022, Paul would sell Bear Foot with the rest of his operation to James Trantina after not competing under its own team since 2008.
Thunder Truck Rally is a monster truck racing video game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis where players select a monster truck or otherwise 4X4 vehicle equipped with monster truck tires and have the option of either racing or crushing cars in an arena.
Bigfoot is a racing video game released in July 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by Beam Software and published by Acclaim. The game was advertised by the legendary monster truck of the same name in the cartoon segment of the 1990 television show, Video Power, titled The Power Team. The show also often used sound effects for the actions of not only Bigfoot, but others as well.
Hardcore 4x4 is a racing video game developed by Gremlin Interactive for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It became available for download from PlayStation Store as a PSone Classic for play on the PlayStation 3 on January 10, 2008, in PAL regions. The game utilizes 3D environments and truck models. The soundtrack features hard rock music.
