When sitting here trying to think of an appropriate title of this short narrative, something to describe the photo we made together of Rick Swanson’s monster truck perched atop a neat little row of dead cars, the solution seemed obvious. Not being a monster truck kind of guy, with little understanding of the sport, the drivers or individual trucks that inhabit this wildly popular activity, I was given a crash course (no pun intended) into the world of competitive monster truck driving.

After the obligatory research via the Internet to get a basic understanding of all things monster trucks, it seemed that finding a somewhat local monster truck owner would be the smartest approach. I could see that there are several monster truck teams all around the country, many of them owning several monster trucks all of the same name, performing at various venues at the same time. What I really wanted was to find a guy who owned and drove his own truck, somebody who might represent the entire sport, it’s fans, and the passion that so many pour into this extremely American pursuit.

Finally hooking up with Rick Swanson and his wife Jill, owners of the truck “Obsession”, and Obsession Racing, Rick was truly open to my ideas about shooting him and his rig someday. As we talked and compared thoughts for making a truly creative and representative image that will do justice to their life’s passion, the idea of including his better half of the team seemed appropriate. His wife Jill (herself a monster truck driver before little Eric came along,) and their son Eric would be, I thought, a vital ingredient in the photograph, as theirs is truly a family business. The logistical difficulty of gaining access to a large public venue with bleachers in the background, along with about 5 cars to put underneath the monster truck proved to be a slightly more difficult challenge to overcome. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with the combined efforts and enthusiasm of several individuals all working towards the same goal. Through Rick’s contact in the industry, we were eventually talking to a promoter of monster truck rallies, WGAS Motor Sport. John Borba and his wife Sharlene, of WGAS were, it turned out, big fans of my fine art photography to date. Through their considerable efforts, along with the help and cooperation from the Southern California Fairgrounds, and the Perris Auto Speedway, out in Perris, California, we were finally able to recreate and capture this classic shot of a monster truck perched atop 5 cars. Remember that this whole image was made possible through the combined efforts of all these different people and entities at no charge to me. Volunteerism in America, hurray!

A little background on Rick and his truck, is that he currently drives a rig powered by a 1,500 H.P. 540 cu. in. Merlin engine, blown and injected, inside of a custom welded Patrick Enterprises steel tube frame, surrounded by a 2007 Super duty extended cab F-350 fiberglass body. This is Rick’s second monster truck, inside of the sixth body. The one that started his un-likely career was an old truck bought from his grandparents for $1,700 when he was sixteen years old. That was in the days long before monsters, so after modifications to create a show truck, and several awards that followed, the road ahead was pretty much a one way street. Later on, having spent 2 years building 7 show trucks for Ford, the transition to working for himself was inevitable.

After watching Rick perform now in a few monster truck shows, it’s an experience I can’t really describe. Somewhere between master showman and daredevil driver extraordinaire. That’s the impression I have while standing on good old terra firma, looking up at Rick in his rig as he’s jumping 25 feet in the air, then coming down in a torrent of dust, noise and the hapless remains of yet another junked car under his oversized wheels. It seems like a bone jarring experience at best. It’s amazing that these incredible machines, purpose built to stand this kind of punishment, can survive the experience, much less the drivers. Rick did happen to mention to me just before his last performance of the evening, that his back’s killing him. A monster truck event is something every American should experience, Rick shouldn’t suffer for nothing.

After eleven years now as a monster truck driver, with about sixteen corporate sponsors, he and his wife are currently working on a second monster truck that they will also take with them to truck events, to use in conjunction with their existing truck. The plan is that his wife Jill will drive this second rig for a couple years then, when little Eric is old enough, he will take over as lead driver of the second truck. (If you can believe it, Eric, at the tender age of 12 has already driven Obsession on a custom built track once already.) This certainly is a family business.

This photograph specifically depicts Rick Swanson standing in front of his truck “Obsession”, his wife Jill and their son Eric are on the far right side of the image. Jim, an employee of WGAS Motor Sport is on the far left side of the image. Jim volunteered to stay late after the monster truck rally finished that evening, along with several others, to help put together this shot. I purposely worked hard to capture and expose the fine wire mesh in the sky in front of the bleachers, evoking a sort of Thunder Dome, Road Warrior feeling. During the course of fork lifting all the dead cars left over from the day’s activities, into a neat little row, we had to use the teeth of the fork lifts to either “pop up” the crushed car cabs, or smash down the up lifted, mangled engine hoods, as they were in a pretty sorry state following the earlier demolition derby. In addition to lighting the interior car cabs, which adds a cool touch of detail and oddity, I have included a bag of spilled popcorn and some cotton candy on the foreground dirt. Being a somewhat quirky visual twist, I wanted to imply the multitudes of spectators that are always present during monster truck events. Since we all were working late into the evening, finishing about 2:00 or 3:00 A.M., no crowds were present, a bag of popcorn would have to suffice.