A) "I purchased the original SAMSON from its creator, Don Maples, in 1988."
Q)What was going through your mind the first time you crushed some cars ?
A) "That this was the dumbest thing that I have ever done!"
Q)Where you nervous ?
A) "Yes, very nervous."
Q)How did the crowd react ?
A) "The crowd was very
receptive and they cheered."
Q)Before driving Monster Trucks you raced a
1983 Pontiac Firebird funny car, called WARLORD, which was featured
on the TV program "Battle of the Monster Trucks". After that program
was aired, did you ever think that it would be you, driving a monster
trucks only few years later ?
A) "No, I did not."
Q)How many years have you been racing for ?
A) "Since 1974"
Q)Do you find it hard to keep your trucks up to date, with all technical advances that the sport see's ?
A) "You have to keep
abreast of the constant rule changes with this sport."
Q)Have you ever rolled a monster truck ?
A) "Yes, 4 times."
Q)What was going through your mind as the truck
was rolling (Apart from how much is this going to cost me !!) ?
A) "It happens so fast,
that you do not have time to think about it or what you can do."
Q)What do you enjoy most about being a Monster
Truck Driver ?
A) "Entertaining the
fans and watching childrens faces."
Q)What don't you like about it ?
A) "The amount of time
travelling and time away from my family."
Q)Do you mind all of the travelling which is
involved, to get to the different show's ?
A) "Yes, I miss alot
of events that my family are involved in, but I realize that this is part
of my job".
Q)Are there any particular moments in your
racing career, which stick in your mind?
A) "Bloomsburg, PA
July 1994. I was the first Monster Truck to break the 5 second time with
a run of 4.983"
Q)You used to be a BIGFOOT driver, as well
as driving your own truck, which did you prefer ?
A) "I enjoyed both.
I also enjoyed testing the Bigfoot trucks"
Q)You where heavily involved in the construction
of the next generation of monster trucks, built by BIGFOOT. These
bought the sport to a whole new level of racing, How did you feel
about being part of that ?
A) "I was glad to be a part of it, but feel that there is still so much more advancement to go yet with this sport."
Q)You have built chassis for a number of other monster truck drivers. Do you enjoy helping other monster truck drivers gain a technical advancement over yourself ? Or do you not see it that way ? Or do you not give to much away ?
A) "When I build a chassis for a competitor, I try to help them as much as I possible can."
Q)You are also the Technical Director for the MTRA (Monster Truck Racing Association). What does that involve ?
A) "Clarifying rules
for Inspectors and Competitors."
Q)What are your views on the sport at
the present moment ?
A) "I have alot of
mixed feelings at the present time. But with the number of spectators following
this sport, we (Monster Truck Racing Association) are in the position
to make it so much better."
Q)What about the future of the sport
? Do you think there is anything left to do to advance it any further ?
A) "We have come a
long way in a short period of time, but I feel that the time will come
that our sport will find its way to the top of the Motorsports market."
Q)Are there any other comments you wish
to make ?
A) "There are alot of ups and downs in this sport, but if we concentrate on the up side then the down side will become a distance memory."
