Monster Truck Kid

Brian Mason

"From Keyboard to Driver's Wheel"

photos and story by Bob Savage

Publication Date: March 2000

At seven years of age, Brian Manson of Independence, Iowa enjoyed monster trucks so much that he would take various models and make his own monster trucks out of them. Soon, Brian had completed a scale-size monster truck racing scene, complete with arena, trucks, labels and lights.

At age 14, Brian's love for the sport and his talent landed him a job with Paul Schafer's Monster Patrol. He spent several weeks on the road learning the basics of monster truck racing. Soon he met long-time monster truck promoter George Carpenter, who now owns the car-eating, fire-breathing, metal dinosaur 'Megasaurus.' Along with operating the beast, Brian was also George's assistant event director at several events each year.

At 17, Brian took his interests one step further and started his own website with partner Andrew Palochko. Monsterzone.com soon became one of the premier websites covering monster truck racing. Not only were they editors of Monsterzone, but they also designed websites for other race teams.

Brian's big break came in 1999, when 16-year-veteran, Bobby Holman, owner and driver of America's #1 Chevy monster truck The Beast, approached Brian about doing a website for his team. Holman was so impressed with Brian's abilities and eagerness to learn that he soon offered Brian a position with TeamBeast as a driver of Holman's new 1999 541 cubic inch, 1500 horsepower, Ford F-150 monster truck Godzilla. When talking with Holman of Dayton, OH, Extremz writers were told that he was impressed with Brian's willingness to learn and that he listens and remembers everything that is being said.

Brian's debut event was on the weekend of January 15 at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC. Brian was paired against Dan Runte in the Dan Runte's Ford monster truck Bigfoot 14 for the first race. This weekend was Bigfoot's weekend to rule the arena. On Friday night, Eric Tack drove TeamBigfoot's Firestone Wilderness to victory in the final race, while Saturday night saw Runte take the win in Bigfoot 15.

Ed and Linda Beckley from Checkered Flag Productions of Bridgeport, TX, invited us back to another weekend of indoor monster truck action at the Wicomico Civic Center, in Salisbury, MD. It was there that we met Brian, the youngest professional monster truck driver in the United States, during his second showing. Ready to race when the show started, Brian was soon disappointed when ignition problems sidelined Godzilla for the evening. But fans were not disappointed with the show as Brian's mentor Holman excited the crowd during the freestyle competition by sending Beast airborne in the arena. Unfortunately, at the end of the freestyle, Holman flipped Beast while doing donuts on the arena floor. Although the body and framing suffered relatively minor damage, Holman won the freestyle competition but was unable to continue with Friday's show.

Saturday's show saw both Manson and Holman back for action. During the freestyle competition, where the trucks jumped and crushed six cars parked side-by-side, Manson impressed the audience by sending his Ford truck airborne across the arena. Although Brian didn't win the evening's competition, Holman was able to take the race competition.

Sunday's competition showed more of the same action when Manson paired up against Holman during the side-by-side racing. Holman's experience and 571 cubic inch Chevy engine ruled and Manson took second to Holman. However, by the end of the night, Holman had to settle for second place when Runte's Bigfoot took the checkered at the end of the night.

After the final show, Manson and Holman packed up and headed for the next Checkered Flag Productions' event at the Southeast Missouri State University's Show-Me-Center in Cape Girardeau, MO, which turned out to be another first for Manson. During the Saturday night event, Manson took his first freestyle competition victory. At the end of the weekend competition, Manson found himself in fourth place out of 15 trucks in the CFP points standings. Not bad for a rookie, and you can be sure in the years to come you'll be seeing more of Brian Manson.

If you are interested in monster trucks, or would like more information on TeamBeast, visit their websites at www.monsterzone.com or www.teambeast.com.

Another excellent monster truck website is www.monstertrucks-uk.com. While covering the Salisbury event, we met Andrew Fielder, of London, England, producer of monstertrucks-uk.com. It was very interesting to learn of the popularity of Monster Trucks in the British Isles and read the British perspective on them. Both sites are well worth looking into...

Top Photo - Brian Mason waves to the audience in Salisbury, MD

Photo On Right - Brian goes airborne during the Freestyle Competition