2017
BIGFOOT 50x50 Day 8, 2017: “The Year of the Snake”
Starting off 2017 it was announced that Dan Runte would be promoted to Vice President following Jim Kramer’s retirement. And there was no one more fitting to take the role. Dan’s experience and knowledge were both unmatched as he had seen how the industry and technology had progressed for over twenty years.
On January 2nd, BIGFOOT was asked to display a truck for the 2017 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. The yearly outdoor hockey game is generally hosted in historic baseball and football arenas. This year would see the St. Louis Blues take on the Chicago Blackhawks. And what better place to host a St. Louis icon than the iconic Busch Stadium. BIGFOOT 15 was done up special in a blue, white and gold body to match the Blues team colors and promote the game near Ballpark Village. The Blues would go on to win 4-1.
2017 would be another very good year for Team BIGFOOT in the points series department. Darron Schnell would win his second consecutive Monster Nationals Racing championship with BIGFOOT 19. And while he wouldn’t get a point series title under his belt, Larry Swim would win the Freestyle segment of the Charlotte Back to School Monster Truck Bash. But Josh Gibson would have the breakout year to end all breakout years winning three championships over two different series. Josh (as Vinny Venom) and Snake Bite 15 would take both the 4-Wheel Jamboree Monster Nationals Freestyle and Racing championships, and also The Toughest Monster Truck Championship.
On April 29, the annual BIGFOOT open house would take place at BIGFOOT HQ in Pacific, and even though the rain tried to put a damper on the day, the show ended up being a monster success and a muddy good time that saw Jim Kramer crush cars in both BIGFOOT 1 and 5, but also saw BIGFOOTs 8, 19, and Jeff Krekeler in High Roller join in on the muddy fun. As well as two modern old school leafers in Heath Padgett’s BFT and Alan Fenstermaker’s Earthquake.
On Halloween of 2017, BIGFOOT 1, Odyssey 20, and Firestone 21 would begin their week-long residence at SEMA in Las Vegas. Bob Chandler would be in attendance to sign autographs and take pictures and for the first time BIGFOOT would have three vehicles on hand to represent some of their main sponsors.
In late November, Dan Runte and Larry Swim would go to Japan for another tour with Operation Appreciation. Partnering with Summit Racing Equipment and Armed Forces Entertainment, the pair made their way to Yokota Air Force Base for a radio interview. Then onto Camp Fuji, where Larry got to try on a hundred-plus pound bomb suit. Followed by trying their hand at flight simulators at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, seeing the ocean at 214 feet high at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, and finally, U.S. Air Fleet Activities Sasebo, a Naval base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, to tour the USS Bonhomme Richard. All the while doing meet and greets with the troops and their families stationed in the country, taking time to thank them for their service.
Create Your Own Website With Webador