The Scooby Doo! Monster Truck

 

Photo by the author

Dominating the BKT tire (Balkrishna Industries Limited) display booth at the 2019 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show Global Tire Expo was the “Scooby Doo!” Monster truck.

Linsey Read photo courtesy of Field Motor Sports

The author got the opportunity to visit with the driver, Linsey Read, from El Paso Texas, who has been driving Monster Trucks since 2016. Ms. Read started her racing career in 2011 with the Tuff Truck Challenge (street legal trucks) racing held during intermissions at Monster Jam® events in Texas before she got the call to drive a Monster Truck.

The Monster Jam World Finals XX Freestyle trophy

author's photo

Linsey, the mother of a two-year daughter, became the second woman, and the first mother to win the Monster Jam® World Finals Freestyle Championship in Orlando Florida in May 2019, as her Orlando freestyle run was highlighted by the completion of her first ever backflip in competition.

Hero card autographed by Linsey Read

Author's collection

author photo

The “Scooby Doo!’ truck is 17 feet long, 11 feet high (including the ears) and weighs12,000 pounds powered by a supercharged 1500-horsepower engine enclosed in a fiberglass body. The truck rides on a four-link suspension system with multiple shock absorbers at each corner that allows an astounding 30 inches of suspension travel during the truck’s high-flying stunts. Like all Monster Jam® trucks, “Scooby Doo!” rides on four 66-inch diameter, 43-inch-wide BKT tires that weigh 650 pounds each.   

Photo courtesy of BKT

Ms. Read is at the far left.

During the 2019 SEMA show, BKT and Field Motor Sports the promoter of Monster Jam announced an extension of their five-year partnership that extends BKT as the official and exclusive tire supplier of Monster Jam®.

Since its founding in 1987 in Mumbai, India, BKT has successfully focused on specialist segments such as agricultural, construction and industrial vehicles, with an annual sales volume of $850 million.  There are five BKT manufacturing sites in India that employ 7,000 people, and the tires are distributed in the United States through BKT Tires USA Inc. with the executive offices in Akron, Ohio, and BKT Tires, Inc. in Brentwood, Tennessee which handles sales, marketing, product development, engineering, and customer service.

The author is a proud SEMA member

1929 Ford Model A roadster hot rod

While walking the paddock of the 2019 Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) Charity Challenge at the Sonoma Raceway, the author spied this fantastic 1929 Ford Model A roadster hot rod.

Photos by the author 

A visit to Brian Bass Customs 

Recently the author had an opportunity to join a group with the Racers Reunion weekends that toured the shop of Brian Bass Customs in Dallas Texas.  There were lots of really cool things to see, and we thought we would share some of Bass' hot rod builds.

All photos by the author 

Ford v Ferrari

The author was among a group invited by the Hunt family to a showing of the Ford v Ferrari  movie, which features stunt driving by ten-time racing champion Tony Hunt.

The movie is outstanding and highly recommended. While not 100 % historically accurate, it tells the story of the roles of Carroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale)  in Ford's historic one-two-three victory at the 24 hours of LeMans in 1966.  

The film does not make use of the modern Hollywood computer generated imagery (CGI), all the stunt scenes were shot on film.   

On the movie theater plaza  before the showing of the film, Tony Hunt proudly displayed the continuation Shelby Cobra that he drove in the film and bought afterwards. 

Also on display was a street-legal replica of a Ford GT40 painted to represent the the 1968  LeMans winner driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi. 

All photos by the author 

The new 2020 Toyota GR Supra

 makes huge impact at SEMA 2019

It's obvious that the automotive aftermarket is more than ready for the 2020 Toyota GR Supra, as many were on display at the 2019 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas Nevada. We photographed a few examples:

The Eneos Oil Company (JX Nippon Oil Company USA) booth showed off this white example with cool-looking carbon fiber EVS Tuning GT Aero mirrors and a oversized carbon fiber rear wing.

 

The RSR Wheel Company showed this searing fluorescent yellow example fitted with the company's 20-inch R905 Forged wheels with diamond grey finish.

The Air-Lift Performance Company  showed off this slammed bright red Supra with a giant rear wing and a radical body kit in their booth.

 

All photographs by the author 

 



 

 

A close look at a NASCAR Whelen™ Modified at PRI 2018

The NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) booth at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show displayed the #46 Goodie Racing 2018 Chevrolet NASCAR Whelen™ modified driven by Craig Lutz and sponsored by Riverhead Building Supply. Goodie Racing is owned by Riverhead Building Supply owners Russell and Jeff Goodale with crew chief Douglas Ogiejko. 

The 106-inch wheelbase LFR Enterprises chassis built in West Boylston Massachusetts is powered by a 610-horsepower NASCAR-spec  364-cubic inch Robert Yates Racing engine  based on  GM LS2 block  with LS2 CNC ported heads fed by an 830 CFM (cubic feet per minute) Holley carburetor. The Spec engine is not “sealed” and NASCAR rules do allow teams to assemble, disassemble and rebuild the engine but no modifications to the components are allowed. 

Craig Lutz from Miller Place New York finished in fifth place in the 2018 NASCAR Whelen™ modified tour points in his first full season with Goodie Racing.  With three races completed in the 17-race 2019 NASCAR Whelen tour Lutz is in 14^th place in the standings with one top ten finish.

 Check out the NASCAR Whelen™ site at https://hometracks.nascar.com/regional/whelen-modified-tour/ and LFR Enterprises at https://www.lfrchassis.com/

Datsun 510 Trans-Am race car

The 2019 Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) Charity Challenge at the Sonoma Raceway the weekend of October 5 & 6 featured nine race groups, among them was the cars that competed for the John Morton Cup, cars that competed in the Sports Car Club of America 2.5–liter Trans-Am series and in SCCA ‘B’ and ‘C’ sedan racing in the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies.

The John Morton Cup is named in honor of racer John Morton who dominated the 1971 and 1972 under 2.5-liter SCCA Trans-Am championship seasons for Datsun (marketed these days as Nissan) with six wins each season. Morton was on hand to race over the weekend in this Datsun 510.

A view of the longitudinal mounted single overhead camshaft (SOHC) 4-cylinder carbureted Datsun 110-cubic inch engine under the fiberglass hood develops around 150 horsepower more than enough for the car that weighs around 1700 pounds.

The cockpit of race cars of this era were very sparse with the myriad of electronics that we see today. 

Photos by the author 

NCAR Sprint Car raffle

Northern California Auto Racing Inc. (NCAR) a non-profit, charitable organization that is fundraising to establish a Hall of Fame and Museum, is conducting a raffle of a commemorative scale model sprint car valued a $2,495.00. The car measures 17 inches in length,  9-1/2 inches high and 8 inches wide and is mounted on a walnut base.  

The raffle tickets are $5.00 each or five tickets for $20.00 when bought together will benefit the NCAR which is an IRS approved 501C corporation in its fund-raising efforts. The raffle drawing will be held during the 4^th annual ‘Dinner with Champions’ that will be held during 2020.

Send your check for raffle tickets to:

 NCAR c/o Roy Wilhite

 PO Box 41284

 Sacramento CA  95841

   

2019 Autos of Alamo Festival

The seventh annual Autos of Alamo Festival presented by the Alamo (California) Improvement Association on September 12 2019 featured a wide variety of spectacular cars. Here are some of our favorites. Click to enlarge the photos. 

1929 Ford Model A B/SR roadster – former NHRA record holder

1933 Pontiac Eight Convertible – straight eight engine with 78 horsepower

Restored 1939 Mercury Club convertible - 95 horsepower flathead engine one of 7100 built

1940 Ford coupe resto-mod

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe

1973 Ford Mustang convertible

All photos by the author