CSK's Monster Truck, Scarlet Bandit, Sports New
Paint Job
in Support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
PHOENIX, Oct 25, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) - The Scarlet Bandit, a 10,000 pound, 1,600 horsepower monster truck sponsored
by CSK Auto stores, Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, and Murray's, debuted earlier
this month at the West Coast Monster Truck Nationals in Red Bluff, California
sporting a huge pink "Crush Out Breast Cancer" ribbon. Dawn Creten, 34-year old
driver of the Scarlet Bandit and mother of three daughters, says she is really
glad that CSK was able to support the effort as October is National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. "I think fans really like the truck and everything that
has been done with the Crush Out Breast Cancer effort this month," says Creten.
Both Dawn and her husband Jimmy Creten, driver of CSK's monster truck Bounty
Hunter, are doing all they can to raise awareness and raise donations this
month. CSK's Scarlet Bandit with its Crush Out graphics also appeared in Sparta,
Kentucky and Memphis, Tennessee. The Crush Out Breast Cancer campaign continues
through the month of October.
The Crush Out Breast Cancer monster truck initiative was started last year by
the Major League of Monster Trucks. A portion of ticket sales and proceeds from
the sales of pink checkered flags, tee-shirts, and other merchandise with the
Crush Out Breast Cancer logo is donated to Mercy Foundation North, a non-profit
organization affiliated with St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff,
California. After the West Coast Nationals this month, a $10,000 check was
presented to the Mercy Foundation.
CSK Auto Corporation (NYSE: CAO), is the parent company of CSK Auto, Inc, a
specialty retailer in the automotive aftermarket. CSK Auto, Inc. operates 1,334
stores in 22 states as of August 5, 2007. CSK serves both the do-it-yourself and
the do-it-for-me markets, operating under four brand names: Checker Auto Parts
in Hawaii, Rocky Mountain, Southwestern, and Northern Plains states; Schuck's
Auto Supply in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska; Kragen Auto Parts in
California; and Murray's Discount Auto Parts in the Midwest.
Bounty Hunter™ and Scarlet Bandit™ are registered trademarks of 2Xtreme
Racing, Inc.
About 2Xtreme Racing
2Xtreme Racing is a monster truck team consisting of the trucks Bounty
Hunter, Scarlet Bandit and Iron Outlaw, all of which compete primarily on the
USHRA Monster Jam circuit. The team is owned by Jimmy Creten, and includes
Creten, his wife Dawn Creten, and former Jurassic Attack driver Linsey Weenk as
drivers respectively, although Weenk will be moving to Blue Thunder in 2008.
Each truck is sponsored by CSK Auto and features an Old West theme with a
character based on the truck's name. All three vehicles and drivers have
competed in the Monster Jam World Finals, and Bounty Hunter was the 2005 World
Freestyle Champion.
After attending a show in the Kingdome in 1995, Creten bought the "Shark
Attack" monster truck and renamed it Bounty Hunter without knowing a truck with
the same name, owned by Brian Bellini, already existed. After several years with
the truck, he added a second truck named "2Xtreme", which would be driven by his
wife, Dawn. While Bounty Hunter had a Chevy S-10 body on a custom chassis,
2Xtreme was a Dodge Dakota on a Dan Patrick built chassis.
Iron Outlaw racing in ArizonaThrough a series of displays for the company, CSK
became an official sponsor of the team in 2000. It was then that 2Xtreme was
renamed Scarlet Bandit. The sponsorship lead to a significant increase in
performance for the team, and they began to be shown on the Monster Jam
television show, notably with a final-round appearance by Jimmy in Bounty Hunter
against Tom Meents in the Pontiac Silverdome.
For the 2002 season, both trucks were rebodied to Ford Expeditions, and were
given new themed paintjobs with comic book character mascots. This was also the
first year in which Bounty Hunter was invited to the World Finals, and was
runner up in the racing segment. This result would become familiar to Creten,
who also has runner-up finishes in the 2004 and 2006 events.
Scarlet Bandit racing in ArizonaFor 2005, the new "Iron Outlaw" identity, driven
by Weenk, was added to the team as a replacement body for when Dawn could not
attend events. This new look saw only limited action that season, but went
full-time in 2006 when Dawn was expecting a child. After an unprecedented 7
event winning streak, the truck became a permanent team member. Also in 2005,
Jimmy Creten won the World Freestyle Championship in Las Vegas, bolstering the
team's reputation for freestyle as well as racing.
In 2007, all three trucks competed on the circuit and all earned a slot at the
World Finals. In July, Weenk announced he was moving to the Blue Thunder truck,
and the team has not yet announced formal plans for the future of Iron Outlaw.
External Links
Official
Website for 2Xtreme
Racing
Scarlet Bandit
On Monster Jam
2Xtreme Racing On Wikipedia
2Xtreme
Racing On Facebook |
