10/19/2018
RacinBoys
Lucas Oil Speedway Spotlight: "Bigfoot" driver calls wheeling iconic vehicle a dream come true
By Lyndal Scranton (Wheatland, MO) -- For Larry Swim, being introduced to strangers as a driver of one of the most iconic vehicles in motorsports never gets old.
"It's awesome. When people that I meet find out what I do they'll say, 'That's so cool.' And I tell them that it is," Swim said. "It's like I tell the kids all the time: Dreams do come true."
Swim will be behind the wheel of the Bigfoot - all 12,000 pounds of it - on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway. The Monster Truck Nationals "Night of Destruction" will wrap up the season with a monstrous display of power and agility from Bigfoot and six other behemoths in front of a big crowd.
The high-performance trucks - including Bigfoot, Overkill Evolution, Black Stallion, Storm Damage, Hurricane Force, Overbored and Miss Overbored - will put on a show of high-jumping, ground-pounding, car-crushing, axle-wrenching action in side-by-side drags and wheelie shootouts, then go into freestyle action.
"It's going to be an awesome show," said Swim, who promises that first-time Monster Truck spectators will be impressed. "Lucas Oil Speedway is an awesome facility and we're really looking forward to being there. It's a big track with some big jumps and it'll be a great show.
"It seems like this year we've had an overwhelming number of people tell us this was their first time coming out and seeing Monster Trucks and they always tell us they'll be back."
Swim described himself as a life-long motorsports enthusiast and was hooked the first time he saw a monster truck as a youngster in the St. Louis area. He started driving one for a team other than Bigfoot in 2000 and said it was like a dream come true when he signed on to drive one of the Bigfoot team trucks in 2008.
Bigfoot is known all over the world as "the" biggest name in Monster Trucks. Owned by Bob Chandler, it debuted in 1979 as the original Monster Truck. Swim is driving the newest truck in the fleet, Bigfoot 21, which debuted in early 2015 with legendary driver Dan Runte behind the wheel.
"It's all top of the line," Swim said of the vehicle, which has a low center of gravity chassis, long-travel shocks and an even longer wheelbase than the earlier trucks.
This Bigfoot also utilizes "zoomie" headers, giving it a very loud and unique sound as compared to others. Swim won the 4-Wheel Jamboree Series in 2016 in this truck which Swim said is 10 feet tall, 12 feet wide and a 565-cubic-inch engine with 1,600 horsepower.
Swim said he hears the fans cheer when Bigfoot is announced at the start of an event. He said it never gets old.
"We're adrenaline junkies and when the crowd gets pumped up, it makes us go even harder," Swim said.
The family friendly event also will include bounce houses for kids on the midway with vendors handing out candy to the youngsters. Fans of all ages are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite Halloween costume.
Additional parts of the show include Freestyle Insanity Moto-X with Keith Sayers FMX performing stunts; Lil Monster Trucks with kids 6-17 taking to the wheel and Sergeant Smash Monster Truck Ride with kids getting to buckle in to ride a real Monster Truck for just $10, during the Pit Party, intermission or after the show.
One of the most-popular and hottest-selling tickets of the year, fans can save $5 off gate admission by purchasing tickets in advance at participating O'Reilly Auto Parts locations or online.
Event schedule
Gates open - 4 p.m.
Pit Party - 5-6:30 p.m.
Showtime - 7 p.m.
Ticket prices
Adults (16 and over) - $20 in advance online, $25 at gate day of event
Seniors (62 and over) - $17 in advance online, $25 at gate day of event
Youth (ages 6-15) - $5 in advance online, $10 at gate day of event
Kids (5 and under) - FREE
Family pass - $50 at gate day of event
For ticket information on all events at Lucas Oil Speedway, contact Admission Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or by email at nichole@LucasOilSpeedway.com. Fans also can go online to purchase tickets for any event on the 2018 schedule.
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
