2Xtreme Racing

Infobox Monstertruck
name = Bounty Hunter, Scarlet Bandit and Iron Outlaw


image_caption = Bounty Hunter racing in Arizona
owner = Jimmy & Dawn Creten
driver = Jimmy Creten, Dawn Creten, Kreg Christensen
style = 2002 Ford Expendition
engine = 555 in³ Chevrolet
home_city = Tonganoxie, Kansas
year_created = Bounty Hunter, Scarlet Bandit: 2001; Iron Outlaw: 2005

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 Dragon Slayer driver Kreg Christensen as drivers respectively. 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.

History

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.

Through 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 2003, 2006 and 2008 events.

For 2005, the new "Iron Outlaw" identity, driven by former Jurassic Attack driver Linsey 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 at the end of the season. On October 23, Dragon Slayer driver Kreg Christensen was named as the replacement [ [http://www.bountyhunter4x4.com/news.htm Kreg Christensen announcement, BountyHunter4x4.com] ] .

During the prerace for the Samsung 500 NASCAR race at Texas in 2008, NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer and FOX analyst Jeff Hammond drove the Bounty Hunter truck (which was actually the Scarlet Bandit truck with a different body) for a feature segment of the show.

World Finals History

Appearances

*Bounty Hunter: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
*Scarlet Bandit: 2005, 2007, 2008
*Iron Outlaw: 2006, 2007, 2008

Racing

"Bounty Hunter": Even though Jim Creten and Bounty Hunter have been in the World Championship race 4 times, he has never won the championship. In 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 Bounty Hunter made it to the Semi-Finals, but in 2007 he spun out in round 2 and lost to Hot Wheels (truck). Jim has knocked over turning poles in 2005 and 2008, losing the race, after crossing the line ahead of Grave Digger in 2005, and a little behind Batman (truck) in 2008.

"Scarlet Bandit": Dawn has never made it past round 2 in the racing. Losing in round 1 to King Krunch in 2005, Captain's Curse in round 2 in 2007, and Superman (truck) in 2008. She qualified in the top 8 in 2007, and qualified 9th in 2008.

"Iron Outlaw": When Linsey Weenk drove the truck in 2006 and 2007 he made it to round 3 both times, and losing to Captain's Curse both times (Even though it was called Blacksmith in 2006). When Kreg Christensen drove the truck in 2008 he lost to Bounty Hunter in round 1.

Freestyle

"Bounty Hunter": Bounty Hunter won the 2005 Freestyle World Championship with a score of 31, then changed to 37 after tie breakers with Blue Thunder. Creten has broken a back wheel off in 2006 and 2008. He has broken down early in the run in 2003 and 2007. He had a spectacular finish on the trailer jump in 2004. And flipped in the middle of the run in 2002.

"Scarlet Bandit": Scarlet Bandit usually comes out early or in the middle of the freestye. In 2005 she got big air and scored a 25. In 2007 she got more big air and scored a 24. In 2008 she went for the big triple jump and did the save of a life time and finished 2nd with a 36.

"Iron Outlaw": The truck scored 14, after losing a wheel in 2006. And put on an awesome run coming out second out of 22 trucks in freestyle and scored a 29 in 2007 And in 2008 it broke after the first hit and score a 4.

Awards and Championships

Bounty Hunter - 2005 Freestyle World Champion2002 USHRA Team of the Year2006 USHRA Team of the Year2007 USHRA Team of the Year

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Links

[http://www.bountyhunter4x4.com 2Xtreme Racing official site]

References