The United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) is an organization that sanctions 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, [1] which continues to operate the Monster Jam series.
The USHRA was founded as "Truck-O-Rama" in the late 1970s by Bob George, Ed Thayer, and Tony Vaccaro. By the early 1980s, the company became known as SRO Motorsports, and began promoting events under the USHRA banner. The early events focused on tractor pulling and mud bogging, and were primarily held in stadiums and arenas. Often, specialty vehicles were booked for events as intermission entertainment between competitions. In 1982, one such vehicle, Bob Chandler's Bigfoot, was booked for an event at the Pontiac Silverdome. It was that event, during which Bigfoot drove over a pair of cars in its first stadium car crush, that launched the phenomenon of monster trucks.
In 1985, USHRA held their first monster truck racing event, The Battle of the Monster Trucks, at the Louisiana Superdome. Up to this point, monster trucks had only performed freestyle exhibitions, and although for several years exhibitions would be a part of smaller arena shows, racing became used in all events by the early 1990s.
Although monster trucks grew in popularity throughout the 1980s, tractor pulling and mud bogging (subsequently known as "mud racing") remained marquee events. Popular pullers included Art Arfons, who competed with the "Green Monster" unlimited tractor, David Willoughby, who pulled with his reputable "Back in Time" modified four-wheel-drive truck, Kenneth and Paula Geuin's Black Gold and Oklahoman four-wheel-drive trucks, Allen Gaines, who had an entire fleet of "Orange Blossom Special" truck pullers, and Gary Collins and his "Budweiser Boss" semi-truck. In mud racing, Tom Martin's "Mud Patrol" and "Super Trooper" police-themed vehicles dominated for several years, while a young Tom Meents began his rise to fame in the "Shake Me" machine.
In 1991, the parent company, now known as SRO/Pace, bought out competitor TNT Motorsports, and in the process acquired the rights to promote events at several more venues, as well as the booking rights to several of their best known trucks, including Carolina Crusher, Equalizer, and, most notably, Grave Digger. These trucks all competed in the "Camel Mud & Monster Series", which ran from 1990 to 1994. By the end of the Camel series, monster trucks were the headlining competitors.
In 1993, USHRA produced the syndicated television show "Monster Wars", which was controversial for its implementation of professional wrestling style characters representing the monster trucks. This was also the year that some events began to be promoted with the name "Monster Jam", which would become the official series name in 1995. 1998 saw competitor USA Motorsports bought out by USHRA's parent, now known as Pace Motorsports, which led to Monster Jam events being shown on TNN's Motor Madness television show.
In 1998, Pace was bought by SFX Entertainment, which was bought in turn by Clear Channel in 2000. The live events division of Clear Channel was split off as Live Nation in 2005, and the motorsports division was sold to Feld Entertainment in 2008. Under Feld ownership, all events except Monster Jam and the AMA Supercross Championship, which is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association, have been discontinued, and the USHRA name has largely been phased out in favor of the better known Monster Jam name.
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 truck with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, 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.
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 nine 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 and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.
Bulldozer was a monster truck that raced in the USHRA Monster Jam series. It featured one of the first 3-D body shells, with horns sticking out of the roof. In this respect, it resembled El Toro Loco. The truck debuted as a promotional truck for Smoke Craft jerky in the USA Motorsports series in 1997, and several different entertainment companies received the rights when they bought out USA Motorsports in 1999, including SFX, PACE Motorsports, Clear Channel, Live Nation, and lastly FELD Motorsports. The truck has been driven previously by Bobby Zoelner, Steve Reynolds, Rob Knell, former Taurus driver Eldon DePew, and current Maximum Destruction superstar Tom Meents, as well as Chuck Werner and Alex Blackwell. Bulldozer sometimes switched bodies with Hot Wheels, Bob & Tom, or High Roller.
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 Matt Cody. The truck did not compete in 2012 when Todd LeDuc moved to Metal Mulisha after driving Blue Thunder in 2011. 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.
John Seasock was a professional monster truck driver. He last drove Grinder sponsored by Advance Auto Parts, and is a two time Monster Jam World Finals Racing Champion.
Tom Meents is a professional monster truck driver. He currently drives Maximum Destruction on the Monster Jam circuit. He has won twelve Monster Jam World Finals championships during his career.
Dennis 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.
Predator Racing, Inc. is a monster truck team consisting of the trucks Predator, Prowler, Pouncer and Lone Eagle all of which currently compete primarily on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. The team is owned by Allen Pezo, and includes Pezo, Larry Jaruzel, Lenny Kuilder and Dale Mitchell as drivers. The trucks are famous for their "cat" designs, with the trucks modeled after a panther, tiger, and leopard, respectively. The team also occasionally runs a conventional Dodge Ram by the name of Lone Eagle.
RaminatorRammunition and Hotsy Raminator are monster trucks that race on the Special Events, Monster Nationals, and Monster Jam tours. They are primarily driven by Mark Hall and Mat Dishman. The team is sponsored by RAM. Until recently, the team was, along with Team Bigfoot, one of the most high profile teams to not run in the USHRA, although they competed in several Monster Jam events, as well.
Gary Porter is an American former monster-truck driver that races on the United States Hot Rod Association circuit. He is a former member of the Grave Digger team but returned to his Carolina Crusher truck in 2015. In July 2017, Gary Porter retired from monster truck driving after spending 32 years in the sport.
Mud bogging is a form of off-road motorsport popular in Canada and the United States in which the goal is to drive a vehicle through a pit of mud or a track of a set length. Winners are determined by the distance traveled through the pit. However, if several vehicles are able to travel the entire length, the time taken to traverse the pit will determine the winner. Typically, vehicles competing in mud bogs are four-wheel drives. The motor sport is overseen by sanctioning bodies like the American Mud Racing Association, and the National Mud Racing Organization (NMRO), that oversee each class, develop and maintain the relationship with track owners to provide a racer and fan-friendly facility, ensure the sponsors get a good return, and help govern the sport.
Trucks and Tractor Power was a weekly television show on TNN featuring mud bogging, tractor pulling and monster trucks. The show's original hosts were Stan Rhoads and former Bigfoot driver Rich Hooser, along with pit reporter Mike Goss. Gary Lee replaced Stan Rhoads. Army Armstrong later joined as a pit reporter, and later, when Hooser left the show, became color commentator. The show initially began in 1989 as a vehicle for TNT Motorsports events, complementing their ESPN show Powertrax and syndicated show Tuff Trax, and would typically alternate between truck and tractor pulls and monster trucks, with National Mud Racing Organization mud races intermittently. After TNT was bought out by the United States Hot Rod Association in 1991, the show began primarily airing the Pendaliner Monster Truck Series and NMRO mud races held at Special Events' 4-Wheel and Off-Road Jamborees. A frequent feature of these shows was a highlight segment of "Tough Truck" amateur off-road races near the end of the monster truck episodes. The final season of Trucks and Tractor Power had Gary Lee as the host at the Monster Truck Thunder Drags, with Dave Rief, and later Tom Rivers, for the Jamborees. At the end of the 1996 season, the Pendaliner cancelled their sponsorship of the monster truck series, causing the show to be subsequently cancelled.
Monster Truck Challenge, originally known as Powertrax, was a half-hour weekly television show on ESPN, which featured primarily tractor pulling and monster truck racing.
TNT Motorsports was a popular promoter of monster truck races, tractor pulls, and occasionally mud racing in the 1980s. Events were shown on Powertrax on ESPN, Trucks and Tractor Power on TNN and the syndicated Tuff Trax.
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.
Carolina Crusher is a monster truck in the Feld Entertainment Monster Jam series. Carolina Crusher was built in 1985 by Gary Porter. Gary Porter and Carolina Crusher was one of the most popular monster trucks of the 1980s and 1990s. In the Fall of 2014, it was announced that Gary Porter would be returning to the Carolina Crusher in the Monster Jam series to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the truck in 2015.
The International Monster Truck Hall of Fame, based in Auburn, Indiana, is a shrine to the best drivers in the history of monster truck competition. The Hall is part of the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum.