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Stumbleuponsports people bobby holman
Monster trucks never get old at Team Beast
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Bobby Holman had his own parking spot when he attended Northridge High School in the late 1970s. He drove a jacked-up pickup truck to school.
"I parked in the grass a lot because they didn't want me rippin' up the parking lot with the big tires," he said.
His teachers figured driving a big truck was just one of the phases teenage drivers go through. Surely he's grow out of it.
He didn't.
Holman, 46, will begin his 25th season in 2009 on the Monster Truck Racing Association.
His Team Beast monster truck team features "The Beast" — a 2,000-horsepower 2006 Chevy Silverado — and "Ironman" — a 1,200-horsepower 2008 Slant Back Humvee, driven by Shane Smith of Centerville.
The team will do between 35 and 40 indoor and outdoor shows beginning in January.
In his words
Our busiest time of the year is the first three months. We'll do a quarter of our appearances in big arena. We'll have a lull in the spring and then hit the fairs and outdoor shows beginning in late May and June.
There's maybe 20 trucks or fewer that have been around as long as we have. I come by working on trucks naturally because my dad (Bob Holman) started Holman Automotive in 1970. I was always helping out around the business. He specialized in four-wheel drive and off-road vehicles. So it was just kind of natural that I had a big four-wheel drive. The guys in high school called my truck a beast and the name has stuck.
I still have the family business of Holman Automotive and the Team Beast 4x4 Center. Shane has his shop in Centerville, South Dayton Auto and Truck Repair and Team Beast 4x4 South. Chances are if you see any 4x4 rig around the entire area, we've worked on it.
We do all of our own chassis work at our shops and do a lot of work for other teams. A lot of the parts which are used on the monster trucks we developed and perfected. We do a lot of work for other race teams. Stock cars, open wheel, drag racing.
I did my first race, the Grave-Rama in Cincinnati, in 1983 and my first professional race in 1984 at the Ohio State Fair. Monster trucks then were kind of a halftime act in the tractor pulls. We'd crush a few cars and do some jumps.
Things have come a long way. Now we're the big show with the Monster Truck Racing Association. We'll do some jumps, side-by-side racing and then freestyle where the crowd picks the winner.
We're not corporate-sponsored like the well-know trucks 'Big Foot' and 'Grave Digger.' But we've got a pretty good fan following in the Midwest and South. Monster trucks for us is a business and we've been able to make enough each year to keep it going.
We've got a good line of merchandise (hats, T-shirts, Hot Wheels Beast toy trucks). We don't make a lot off it. It's kind of cool when you go someplace and see someone wearing your gear.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2251
or dlong@DaytonDailyNews.com.
