BIGFOOT 50x50 Day 23, 2002: “(Searching For) One Little Victory”

After the events of September 11, 2001, a new sense of patriotism galvanized Americans, and BIGFOOT wanted to participate and show their pride as well. Fitting, in that the story of BIGFOOT is about as quintessentially American as you can get. Longtime collaborator and graphic designer Dan Patterson teamed with BIGFOOT paint and body specialist Jim Aiello to create a new American Flag paint scheme to show off the team’s love of country.

The ProMT opener in Daytona did not go the way Team BIGFOOT wanted. Both trucks suffered from drivetrain issues and entered the leaderboard with Eric Tack, and the new for ‘02 MAC Tools 15 in third, and with Dan Runte and Chromalusion 14 in fourth. The stop in Phoenix was much more favorable with Dan winning both events over the weekend and propelling himself to first in points.

At Nazareth, the Hall brothers would have their revenge and beat both BIGFOOT trucks in the finals of both events. Hope would continue to fade at Kansas Speedway when Mark Hall in Raminator would earn enough points to secure the 2002 ProMT Championship before the event’s finish. Team BIGFOOT would find success in other places though, with Dan Runte winning the Monster Truck Summer Nationals Championship for Checkered Flag Productions and Eric Tack winning the Overall Championship for the Monster Nationals series, presented by Image Promotions.

BIGFOOT was busy in other areas as well. The year also saw BIGFOOT on television, doing appearances for The Learning Channel, British Television Channel 5, and NBC's Fear Factor. For Easter weekend, BIGFOOT 1 teamed with St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner and The St. Louis Dream Center for an Easter Treasure hunt for more than 5000 children, adding to BIGFOOT’s long legacy of charity and goodwill work.