The Cook Out Monster Truck Bash (formerly known as the Circle K Back to School Monster Truck Bash) is a monster truck event hosted annually at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina since 2000. The event is usually held around the same time which the new school year starts up, hence the name of the event up until 2023.
Event format[]
The show opens with the pit party that is located right outside of the track, which allows fans to take up-close pictures of the trucks. The pit party also consists of bounce-houses, face-painting, autograph sessions and monster truck rides.
Opening ceremonies start with monster truck qualifying, which seeds the trucks out into a bracket. Afterwards, round 1 and 2 of monster truck racing are held. Following round 2, the non-qualifiers/round 1 losers face off in some sort of small contest, usually a donut, long jump, or best trick competition. Afterwards, the semi-finals are held, followed by school bus racing. After that, the monster truck racing finals are held. A 15-minute intermission is usually held following the finals, as well as a small sideshow, usually a jet-powered car. The event then concludes with a freestyle competition. After the freestyle competition concludes, another brief autograph session is held.
History[]
2000[]
The inaugural Monster Truck Bash was held on August 19th, 2000 as the "Back to School Monster Truck Spectacular".[1]
2005[]
Circle K would become the event sponsor for the event, becoming the Circle K Back to School Monster Truck Bash.
2006[]
The event hosted the first and only Long Jump competition, which was won by Chris Bergeron.
2007[]
The event was hosted as the opening event of the 2007 Major League of Monster Trucks season.[2]
2008[]
Mike Hawkins in Equalizer becomes the first driver to double down at the event.
2009[]
The unique over-under-racing style was introduced which remains as the main racing style for the event. The event itself saw Mike Hawkins double down again, becoming the only driver to double down twice in-a-row.
2012[]
Steve Sims in Stone Crusher becomes the second different driver to double down.
2019[]
Bryan Wright in Hooked becomes the third different driver to double down.
2020[]
For the first time since its inception, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021[]
The event returns, and sees John Gordon in Bad Company winning racing, and Cory Snyder in Toxic winning freestyle.
2022[]
John Gordon in Bad Company becomes the fourth driver to double down.
2023[]
The "Best Trick" competition is introduced and is won by Devin Winfield in Rockwell R.E.D.
2024[]
Cook Out becomes the title sponsor and is renamed to the "Cook Out Monster Truck Bash" dropping the "Back to School" portion. The final round of racing would see one of the greatest double crashes in monster truck history.
Event results[]
* (Note: the event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Trivia[]
- The event has gone through many sponsors, such as Quaker Steak & Lube (2000-2001, 2004), Hostess (2002-2003), Circle K (2005-2023), and Cook Out (2024-Present).
- This event is widely considered to be one of the biggest monster truck shows of the year, aside from the Monster Jam World Finals and Monster Spectacular
- Monster Trucks Unlimited (Stone Crusher, Hooked, and Mopar Magic) currently holds the record for most Monster Truck Bash events ran (2005, 2009-2023).
- This streak would end in 2024, when they would not be present at that year's show due to scheduling conflicts.
- The over-under-course was introduced to the event in 2009.
- Team Scream holds the most Back to School Monster Truck Bash trophies, with a total of seven overall trophies, including the only Long Jump Competition held in 2006 (Won by Chris Bergeron)
- In the Bash's 24-year history, only four drivers have been able to win both the racing and freestyle competitions in the same year:
- Mike Hawkins (2008 and 2009, the only driver to double down twice in-a-row)
- Steve Sims (2012)
- Bryan Wright (2019)
- John Gordon (2022)
Most Appearances by Teams[]
- Monster Trucks Unlimited: (2005, 2009-2023) (15)
- Team Scream Racing: (2005-2016) (12)
- Bigfoot: (2002-2005, 2007, 2014, 2016-2017, 2019, 2021-2022) (11)
- PEI Motorsports: (2002-2005, 2007-2009, 2011-2014) (11)
- Equalizer Racing: (2004, 2006-2014) (10)
- Hall Bros Racing: (2002-2003, 2005, 2007-2010) (7)
- DCT Powersports: (2016-2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) (7)
- Loose Cannon Racing: (2018-2019, 2021-2024) (6)
- War Wizard Racing: (2008-2012) (5)
- Hoffman Motorsports: (2003, 2006-2008, 2009) (5)
- Noelke Motorsports: (2003-2004, 2008-2010) (5)
- Eradicator Racing: (2000, 2005-2006, 2010) (4)
- Heavy Hitter Racing: (2015-2017) (3)
- Paul Shafer Motorsports: (2000-2002) (3)
- Virginia Giant: (2002-2004) (3)
- Twisted Addiction Racing: (2022, 2023, 2024) (3)
- Hartsock Racing: (2005, 2013, 2015) (3)
- Tomfoolery Motorsports: (2018-2019, 2021) (3)
- FELD Motorsports: (2000-2001) (2)
- Team Throttle Monster: (2023, 2024) (2)
- Walking Tall: (2013, 2014) (2)
- Sudden Impact Racing: (2000, 2007) (2)
- Vaters Motorsports: (2002, 2011) (2)
- Disharoon Racing: (2017, 2022) (2)
- Predator Racing: (2004, 2006) (2)
- Wild Hair: (2003-2004) (2)
- RKMT: (2019, 2021) (2)
- Flame Motorsports (2007) (1)
- 2xtreme Racing (2007) (1)
- Sudden Impact Racing : (2007) (1)
- Send It Motorsports: (2024) (1)
- Randy Brown Motorsports: (2001) (1)
- Bennett Clark Racing: (2001) (1)
- Little Tiger Racing: (2000) (1)
- Raab Racing: (2004) (1)
- Rap Attack: (2005) (1)
Gallery[]
| Cook Out Monster Truck Bash |
2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • References[] |