June 30th, 2010 – New Rock Star Build In Progress!

Bill Payne is hard at work on the brand news Rock Star chassis and it is progressing along nicely. The new truck will feature a great looking new Chevrolet Colorado body style and is being built entirely in-house at Straight Up Racing. Check out the progress so far and stay tuned for more updates!

June 21st, 2010 – Rock Star Sweeps Wheelies, Freestyle In Cottage Grove!

Straight Up Racing has returned home from another very successful weekend, this time in Cottage Grove, Oregon for Danny Torgeson’s Monster X Tour. Friday was huge as Bill swept both the wheelie contest and freestyle competition and highlighted the night with a crazy rollover. As Bill drove Rockstar hard into the turn, the truck hooked, rolled, and contorted itself onto the rear bumper leaving Bill staring at the sky! Bill refired and aimed the truck at the backside of the bus stack, blasting up and over it with huge air and riding out a sick slap wheelie upon landing! The crowd went wild as Bill headed back to the pits to prepare the truck for Saturday’s action.

Picking up right where he left off, Bill piloted Rockstar to the weekend sweep of the wheelie and freestyle contests, again highlighted by another wild rollover. To finish off Saturday night’s freestyle, Bill cross-threaded the bus stack, sending him skyward, twisting the truck in the air and then over on its roof! After a wild couple of weeks, the Rockstar truck has one good body panel left on the truck and will be undergoing maintenance in the 3 weeks the team has off.

Within that time span, construction of the new Rockstar chassis will begin and fitting of the new body from GTS fiberglass that just arrived at the shop will be taken care of. Straight Up Racing would like to thank Danny Torgeson with the Monster X Tour for his hospitality as well as Awesome Racewear for the cool, new crew shirts for the team!

Check back for updates on the chassis construction next week as the team regroups for their full late summer/fall tour!

June 14th, 2010 – Monroe, Ukiah, Canada Reviews!

The Straight Up Racing team has just finished up a great few weeks that has seen plenty more success. The first show since our last update was a unique one as Bill Payne was asked to hop in the seat of Maniac for the Monster Madness event at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington. Bill was happy to help out friend and owner Don Frankish for the weekend and eager for the chance to drive a Patrick style chassis for the first time. Unfortunately the team would battle electrical problems the first day before a motor let go during the second day’s freestyle run. Bill was just starting to get a feel for the truck and have a little fun when the motor expired, but after the experience, Bill is still a proponent of the shorter wheel base style of Rock Star.

After Monroe, the Straight Up team headed to one of our favorite events each year, the big show at Ukiah Speedway in Ukiah, California. This venue is known for huge obstacles, which perfectly fits the Straight Up team’s driving style. Bill would be on fire all weekend, winning both wheelie contests and the Friday night freestyle. Garrett had a great showing as well, winning racing on Saturday and rolling California Kid end over in end in freestyle. Saturday’s freestyle featured an awesome stunt as Bill pulled Rock Star onto the track and parked in front of a launch ramp. Former Straight Up driver Donald Epidendio then launched his Titan truck, catching huge air and clearing Rock Star as the fans went wild. As soon as Titan stopped, Bill fired up the Rock Star and put on a great run, eventually stopping the truck while doing a wheelie and saluted the fans with the truck standing straight up and down. All the trucks would then do a great exhibition encore on Sunday while other events went on at the track.
 

This past weekend, the team headed up to Canada for two Chris Arel shows in British Columbia. The first stop would be Abbotsford where Bill would have a great show, winning wheelie and freestyle and getting runner up in racing to Sean Duhon and Cult Energy Activator. Then the team loaded up and headed to the next stop in Victoria. Bill would once again take Rock Star to the wheelie contest win, while Garrett had a great showing in racing, just getting edged in the finals by Cult. Despite solid efforts from the Straight Up team, Cult would also prevail in freestyle on Saturday night.

Next weekend we head to Cottage Grove, Oregon for another great Monster X Tour event at Cottage Grove Speedway. Stay tuned for results from that event and more news as we get ready to begin work on an all-new Rock Star chassis!

May 18th, 2010 – April / May Recap!

It’s been a busy month since the big CFP finale in Pocatello as we’ve spent time in California, Oregon and Mexico. Our next stop following Pocatello was in Lancaster, California for Danny Torgerson’s Monster X Tour. Bill Payne and new California Kid driver Garrett Ladelle took on a tough lineup including Larry Swim with Bigfoot and Don Frankish’s Maniac and Jurassic Attack trucks. Garrett did a great job in the truck during the afternoon show, but it was Bill taking the freestyle win in Rock Star. With Rock Star out of commission for the evening show, Bill hopped into California Kid and managed to pull of the weekend sweep of freestyle.

The next weekend was to be an off weekend, but while in the shop working on the trucks the team received a call from Torgerson. Breakage had taken a heavy toll the first night in Roseburg, Oregon and a replacement truck was needed for the Saturday night show. With Rock Star all taken apart, Straight Up Racing loaded up California Kid and headed over for the event. Garrett drove and did a great job, really starting to get a feel for the truck.

After some more time in the shop, it was off for Santa Rosa, California where Bill and Garrett would take on Bounty Hunter and Play’n 4 Keeps. In a great freestyle battle with Bounty Hunter, Bill would once again take the big freestyle win.

From there, the trek to Mexico began as the Straight Up team would head all the way to Mexico City for a WGAS Motorsports event. The event would feature both Rock Star and California Kid, along with Rod Wood’s McGruff. Bill would continue to dominate wheelie and freestyle contests as he has all year long, winning both while Garrett got his very first win in the racing competition.

After the long drive back home to Washington, the team now takes a week off before Bill cameos in Maniac in Monroe as a favor to friend Don Frankish and then down to Ukiah, California for one of our favorite events of the year.

April 20th, 2010 – Bill Payne Wins Pocatello Freestyle, Finishes 2nd In Points!

The 2010 Monster Truck Winter Nationals points chase is over and despite a huge performance from Bill Payne in Pocatello winning wheelies and freestyle, Rock Star has finished runner-up to Larry Swim and Bigfoot Bad Boy in the championship standings.  A big congratulations to Larry from all of us here at Straight Up Racing - it was a hard fought battle and we had a great time running with Larry, Devin, Darren and everyone else who competed with CFP this season.  Bill was on fire in Pocatello, starting the night off with a great wheelie effort, cross-threading the van stack and standing the truck straight up and down before rolling off the side.  That run would earn Bill the wheelie victory.  Donald did a great job in his last event in California Kid before returning to his normal job, putting the truck right on its rear and getting fourth overall.  Racing would be the downfall for Rock Star's title hopes as Bill came home 7th overall while Larry Swim in Bigfoot Bad Boy went on to win, clinching the title. Freestyle however is Rock Star's forte and Bill wasted no time going big, catching huge air on the first jump and rolling it over and back onto its wheels. Officials allowed Bill to continue and a huge move over the bus double jump nearly resulted in a backflip for Rock Star but instead ended the run on its roof.  The crowd went absolutely wild and flipped up a perfect score giving Bill a huge win and second in the overall points standings.  A great big thanks to Checkered Flag Productions for having Straight Up Racing on the full tour this season and also to Donald Epidendio for his great work behind the wheel this first quarter.  Donald will be missed but we look forward to running against him and his Titan truck every now and then.  We would also like to welcome Garrett Ladelle, brother of former Straight Up driver Casey Ladelle as the new driver of the California Kid for the summer. Check out below for some video from Pocatello, and stay tuned for more news as we embark on what should be an amazing summer of monster trucks!

April 14th, 2010 – Rock Star Dominates In Chico!

We’re only one days away from the big CFP championship event in Pocatello!  Bill Payne and Donald Epidendio are fired up and ready to go, looking for a big night on Saturday at the dome as Rock Star will go for the 2010 Monster Truck Winter Nationals Championship. We had a great warm up event in Chico, California this past weekend as both Rock Star and California Kid went wild on a great track with big obstacles. It was a very successful weekend for Bill as he swept wheelies and freestyle with some absolutely huge performances. Donald split seat time in California Kid and in his own truck, the Titan, and wowed the crowd with some huge wheelies. We also had Garrett Ladelle spending some time in the seat of California Kid and he did a great job. Check out below for some video highlights from the event:

You’ll also notice we’ve got a fresh new look here on the Straight Up Racing website!  Take a look around at the new site and get ready to root us on this weekend as Bill tries to bring home a points title for Straight Up Racing!

April 1st – Billings, Montana and Wenatchee, Washington Recaps!

Two weeks ago we returned to one of our favorite venues, the MetraPark Arena in Billings, Montana. With only two weekends of competition left before the CFP championship event in Pocatello, Bill would be looking to try and close the gap to points leader Larry Swim in Bigfoot. The night would start strong as Bill stood Rock Star up and rolled it over to take his 9^th wheelie contest victory on the CFP tour in 2010. Bill would go on to tie for second in freestyle, narrowly losing out to a great run from Devin Jones in Barbarian.

The final event before Pocatello was a new stop in Wenatchee, Washington at the Town Toyota Center. Three big shows and three last chances to gain points on Larry Swim and Bigfoot. Friday night would see a hard charging Bill Payne grab second in the wheelie contest, win side by side racing over Rodney Tweedy in Bigfoot and end up third overall in freestyle. Donald Epidendio had a solid night in California Kid as well, making it to the semi-finals and getting runner up in freestyle.

Donald followed up his solid Friday with two more great runs on Saturday, finishing second in both freestyles and making the semis of racing in both shows. Bill would also run strong, claiming a win and a second place in wheelies but unfortunately missing the top three in both freestyles.

A fun weekend in Wenatchee closes out the regular season in the chase for the 2010 CFP Championship. Straight Up Racing heads for Pocatello, ID in three weeks with Bill Payne and Rock Star second in points and Donald Epidendio in California Kid tenth in points. Bill needs to gain 219 points on Larry Swim in Bigfoot to take the championship and while that is a tough task, Rock Star will be ready to go for the title!

March 16th – Straight Up Racing Sweeps Hobbs, Strong In Pasco!

The month of March started off with Straight Up Racing returning to the CFP Monster Truck Winter Nationals tour after a fun two weeks running the O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals. Hobbs, New Mexico would be the battleground as Bill and Donald would take on a star studded lineup including Larry Swim in Bigfoot, Bounty Hunter, Barbarian and Razin Kane. This weekend will surely be one of the best of 2010 for the team as Bill and Donald swept the entire night for Straight Up Racing. Bill dominated the wheelie and freestyle competitions in Rock Star while Donald took the side by side racing victory in California Kid over none other than Rock Star. It would also be a great points night for Bill as he gained 50 championship points on leader Larry Swim.

From New Mexico, it was back up to our home state of Washington for three big shows in Pasco. The weekend started off great on Friday night as Bill nailed down another wheelie contest win and Donald grabbed his very first CFP freestyle win of the year in California Kid!  Saturday would see more solid performances from the team, but those would yield only another wheelie contest victory for Rock Star. Nonetheless, it was a great time performing close to home and made for another solid weekend in the 2010 season.

Keep checking back for more recaps and be watching for our all-new website, coming soon!

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