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

The original monster truck- Bigfoot 

at SEMA 2017

 

 

 

 

 

The Hedman Hedders booth at the 2017 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas featured a blast from the past- the original “Bigfoot®” monster truck to celebrate the company’s nearly 40-year relationship with Bigfoot®.

 

 

 

Bob Chandler who ran a speed shop,  Midwest Four Wheel Drive in Hazelwood Missouri, was nicknamed “Bigfoot” by one of his shop employees due to his heavy-right-foot driving style, and as this 1974 Ford F-250 truck was being built as a showpiece for the shop, the truck itself was christened “Bigfoot®.”

 

 

 

The car-crushing truck which features military axles complete with four-wheel steering, 48-inch tall tires, and a supercharged 460 cubic inch Ford big block V8 engine made its first show appearance in 1979.

 

 

To date there have been a total of 22 Bigfoot® monster trucks built, including a battery-powered truck and a truck built with 10-foot tires. Bigfoot® has been named one of the “Top 5 Marketing Vehicles of All Time,” and its worldwide notoriety led to the creation of an entire “Monster Truck” industry.

Hedman Hedders began as a one-man shop in 1954 as Bob Hedman sold exhaust tubes to fellow racers for use on the dry lakes of the Mojave Desert. In the years since, the Hedman Performance Group has incorporated computer technology to ensure that its products offer the best performance improvement possible for street, race and off-road vehicles. Hedman Hedders has been part of the monster truck phenomenon since its start back in the mid-70’s, and every Bigfoot® truck has been Hedman equipped.

https://www.hedman.com/

Photos by the author