Seasock to Display Traxxas T-Maxx, Accept Honor

FRACKVILLE, PA (May 31) – John Seasock will be busy this week, displaying the Traxxas T-Maxx™ and being honored by his high school alma mater before returning to the car-crushing, high-flying world of monster truck racing.

Traxxas’ monster truck driver will display the T-Maxx at a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) graduation in New Jersey Wednesday and have a plaque in his honor placed on the Shenandoah Valley High School Wall of Fame Thursday. Seasock will compete in the Southern Monster Truck Showdown in Eustis, FL, Friday and Saturday.

Seasock, who has been involved with the D.A.R.E. organization throughout his monster truck racing career, will join the North Bergen Police D.A.R.E. Day 5 parade in honor of the 625 fifth-graders who will graduate from the drug awareness program this year.

“We try to do as much as we can to help the kids,” Seasock, the father of two sons, said. “I want to take an active role and make a difference. They have more than 600 youngsters graduating from the program this year. They bring in helicopters from the National Guard, have a professional singer perform and we will be there displaying the T-Maxx and signing autographs. It’s the way they repay the kids for attending classes and learning about the evils of drugs.”

Seasock played basketball and ran track at Shenandoah Valley High School in Pennsylvania. The United States Hot Rod Association’s Fan Choice Award winner has remained on the fast track to fame since graduation.

“It’s really remarkable,” the humble Seasock said. “Two other people will be honored that day as well. One is a lady doctor and the other – the first female member of the United States Army – is flying in from Arizona. I was there a few weeks ago and saw the Wall of Fame where they will put our plaques. It’s a distinct honor for me to be recognized with the other 20 or so people who also have plaques commemorating their achievements. I never thought I’d have a plaque up there.”

Seasock will drive the T-Maxx against Bad News Travels Fast®, Bulletproof®, Eradicator®, Gun Slinger®, Monkey'n Around® and Sudden Impact® in the Southern Monster Truck Showdown at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Eustis, FL, this weekend. ©Copyright Traxxas 2005

EUSTIS, FL (June 1) – Get ready, Florida monster truck fans, the Traxxas T-Maxx is on its way back to the Sunshine State!

Yes, John Seasock and Traxxas’ full-size replica of the world’s premier four-wheel drive R/C monster truck will compete in the Southern Monster Truck Showdown at the Lake County Fairgrounds Friday and Saturday.

“We’ve never been to the Lake County Fairgrounds before, but we’ve run a couple of Southern Monster Truck Showdown events,” Seasock said Wednesday. “Eustis is a little north of Orlando. Hopefully, we’ll see many of the fans we met when we raced in Orlando earlier this year (January 29th). Florida has been pretty good to us this year.”

Seasock has driven the T-Maxx in nine monster truck events in Florida in 2005 and has been one of the brightest-shining performers, racing through the quarterfinals every time. The United States Hot Rod Association’s Fan Choice Award winner won the May 22nd Summer Heat Monster Jam in Ocala and a pair of freestyle contests during the Big Boys Toys event in Lake City April 9-10.

The T-Maxx will compete against Bad News Travels Fast®, Bulletproof®, Eradicator, Gun Slinger®, Monkey’n Around® and Sudden Impact® this weekend.

“It will be a good show with all those quality trucks,” Seasock said. “My former teammate, Eradicator, will be there, as well as my current teammate, Sudden Impact. Bulletproof is a new truck.

“We’re looking forward to getting down there and playing. Mike (Hoy, the Traxxas team’s crew chief) has the T-Maxx in great condition. It’s looking good and running good. We feel confident going in there with such a great truck. We’re running every round like it was our last and we have a ‘take-no-prisoners’ attitude this year.”

The gates at the Lake County Fairgrounds will open at 5pm Friday and Saturday. A one-hour Pit Party will precede the monster truck events, which will start at 7pm each night. The Hummer Time monster truck will take fans for rides during intermissions and before and after each show. ©Copyright Traxxas 2005

T-Maxx Dominates Southern Monster Truck Showdown

AMITE, LA (July 18) – The Traxxas T-Maxx™ crushed the competition in last weekend’s Southern Monster Truck Showdown!

John Seasock drove the larger-than-life-size version of Traxxas’ #1-selling R/C monster truck to a clean sweep Friday night – winning the wheelie contest, every round of racing, and the freestyle competition – then continued to dominate the event at Florida Parishes Arena throughout the weekend. The T-Maxx won all three freestyles, two wheelie contests and two of the three racing events.

“There were three sold-out shows, and it was great,” Seasock said. “There were probably 10,000 people there enjoying the monster truck competition and seeing the Traxxas T-Maxx up close. Everybody was running great all weekend, but we came out on top.”

Seasock defeated both of his teammates – Sudden Impact® once and Kicker® twice – to win Friday’s racing competition.

“It was the second time this year we had all three of our team’s trucks in the same event,” Seasock said. “It’s not often the three of us get to run together. We run hard against everybody, but even harder against our teammates. Shawn (Duhon), who drives Kicker, did a phenomenal job all weekend. He ran hard! I took him lightly the first night, and he almost beat me. Then we went out in freestyle and tore the place apart. We got big air off the cars and turned some wild doughnuts. The place was going nuts; everybody loved it.

“Mike (Hoy, the T-Maxx crew chief) had the truck set up perfectly. He did some work on the shocks, and it was awesome.”

Hoy’s wife, Emily, who often travels with the T-Maxx, sang the National Anthem twice.

“Emily did a phenomenal job singing the National Anthem,” Seasock said. “It was a really good family weekend.

“After we swept everything Friday night, Monkey’n Around® went out and won Saturday’s wheelie contest,” Seasock said. “He pulled two unbelievable wheelies. I don’t like to lose, but to lose to a guy performing like that isn’t so bad. He did a great job.”

Seasock defeated Sudden Impact, Monkey’n Around and Kicker Saturday night to remain undefeated in the racing competition.

“We went out in freestyle and had an incredible freestyle run,” Seasock said. “The place was going wild. They had to shut the gates and turn about 500 people away that night. It was packed. They had capacity crowds all three nights. They were really enthusiastic; screaming and hollering. We fed off that energy and gave them a great show. Mike had the truck set up perfectly, so we won freestyle again.”

The T-Maxx won the wheelie contest Sunday afternoon, but lost to Kicker in the first-round race.

“We bent the wheelie bar on first wheelie, but we wanted to win after losing the wheelie contest Saturday night,” Seasock said. “We came back and raced as the fast loser and beat Monkey’n Around and Sudden Impact, but lost to Kicker in the finals. He did a really good job and beat us.”

Seasock put the T-Maxx through its paces again Sunday afternoon and won freestyle for the third straight time.

“It was an unbelievable weekend,” Seasock said. “Everybody on the team did a great job, including Mike’s wife signing the National Anthem twice, and we made a lot of T-Maxx fans. They’re looking forward to us going back next year.” ©Copyright Traxxas 2005

READING, PA (September 12) – Traxxas was the main attraction during Saturday’s Hobby Connection Day II at HobbyTown USA.

United States Hot Rod Association Fan Choice Award winner John Seasock displayed Traxxas’ T-Maxx monster truck, signed autographs and raced his T-Maxx, Revo and Jato during the full-day celebration of radio-controlled models.

“It was awesome,” said Seasock, who lives in Frackville, PA. “The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time. We had all of our trucks – the T-Maxx, Revo and Jato – out there racing on the off-road track, and the T-Maxx monster truck was on display. I autographed a lot of the T-Maxx cards and answered fans’ questions. They had Traxxas Rustler test drives and R/C racing. They also interviewed me on a live, remote radio broadcast. It was a really good time, and a great event to show off the T-Maxx monster truck and Traxxas models.”

Nick Lawrence and Mike Faust of WEEU Radio (830 AM) interviewed Seasock during their three-hour radio broadcast. Chris Chianelli of the Do-It-Yourself Network also filmed segments for his Radio-Controlled Hobbies show from Reading’s HobbyTown USA store. HobbyTown USA will host Hobby Connection Day III on September 9, 2006.

Seasock will drive Traxxas’ larger-than-life-size replica of its #1-selling R/C monster truck in the 29th Annual Diesel Truckin’ Nationals Saturday at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. ©Copyright Traxxas 2005

ENGLISHTOWN, NJ (September 20) – The Traxxas T-Maxx™ proved to be one of the most outstanding monster trucks in Saturday’s 29th Annual U.S. Diesel Truckin' Nationals and Motorsports Spectacular at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park!

United States Hot Rod Association Fan Choice Award winner John Seasock drove the larger-than-life-size replica of Traxxas’ #1-selling R/C monster truck into third place against some of the world’s toughest, car-crushing competition.

The Diesel Truckin’ Nationals and Motorsports Spectacular is the United States’ largest single-day diesel event, featuring more than 1,000 diesel trucks in show and race competition. In two other visits to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park this summer, Seasock reached the finals of the Summer Motorsports Spectacular July 13th and finished second in the freestyle competition at the All-American Jet Car Nationals and Monster Truck Madness event August 3rd.

“The Diesel Nationals Motorsports Spectacular was awesome,” Seasock said. “There were 1,000 tractor trailers there, and eight great monster trucks. We had the T-Maxx trailer on display all day, and everybody loved it. All three of our team’s trucks were there – the T-Maxx, Sudden Impact® and Kicker®. Mike (Hoy, the T-Maxx crew chief) made his driving debut in Kicker because Brandon (Lagarde) was still in New Orleans taking care of the team’s affairs after Hurricane Katrina caused so many problems.

“Mike did a great job. I was really proud of him. Shawn (Duhon) drove the Sudden Impact truck, and he did a great job, too. We had to borrow a set of tires from the Eradicator team because we weren’t able to recover everything from our New Orleans shop. There have been many teams who have offered to help us. I thank God for all of them. We’re pulling together and wearing many hats. We’re going to have to do that until we get everything straightened out in New Orleans. Mike and Shawn are going to race at Dixie Speedway in Georgia this weekend and I’m going to get some friends and sponsors to crew for me in Indianapolis.”

The T-Maxx defeated Bulldozer®, and recorded the third-fastest qualifying run in the racing competition. Seasock finished behind Maximum Destruction® and Grave Digger®.

“All eight trucks took qualifying runs,” Seasock said. “We ran against the guy next to us, but we also ran against the clock. The two fastest trucks went to the finals.

“We took the trucks back into the pits and signed a lot of autographs before coming back out and running freestyle. The trucks were on display all day for the 17,000 or so fans to see. I got some really big air in freestyle and had a blast. Everybody was phenomenal in freestyle. We signed more autographs after freestyle. It was Old Bridge Township Raceway Park’s last event of the year, and the fans loved it. We’re going to go back again next year.”

Seasock and his sons, J.R. and Kyle, received a police escort at 3am when they arrived in Sewell, NJ, for Sunday’s “Ride to Remember.” Seasock displayed the T-Maxx at the car show portion of the event that honors New Jersey’s fallen police officers, firemen and emergency medical service personnel, in addition to providing funds for local charities.

The “Ride to Remember,” conducted by the Steven L. Levy Memorial Fund, started at Washington Township High School and ended at Washington Lake Park. The event included a Law Enforcement Memorial, Motorcycle Run, Car Show and Toy Drive.

“We really enjoyed displaying the T-Maxx at the ‘Ride to Remember,’” Seasock said. “We gave everybody there a chance to see the massive T-Maxx up close, and told everybody about Traxxas while supporting a good cause.

“They just invited us last week. Sewell is only about 70 miles away from Englishtown, which gave us the opportunity to help out a good cause. We get so many requests, we can’t fulfill all of them, but we try to do as much as we can for charity. That’s what it’s all about – giving back to the community. We’ll be back there next year, too.”

The original “Ride to Remember” honored Steven L. Levy, a Washington Township police corporal who died during a SWAT call in Woodbury, NJ, on October 21, 1999.

Last year, the Steven L. Levy Memorial Fund collected approximately 5,000 toys for several charitable organizations to ensure that area children received toys for Christmas. The Steven L. Levy Memorial fund also donated more than 1,000 books to children’s groups, literacy programs and other deserving programs throughout the area and provided funds to Habitat for Humanity in the name of Trooper Bert Zimmerman, and to several other worthy causes.

The 2005 “Ride to Remember” honored Officer Thomas McMeekin, Jr., a five-year veteran of the Atlantic City Police Department who died in the line of duty after being struck by a tour bus. ©Copyright Traxxas 2005

RICHMOND, VA (November 8) – The Traxxas T-Maxx™ put together one of its most outstanding performances of the year last weekend during the United States Hot Rod Association Monster Jam® in the Richmond Coliseum!

USHRA Fan Choice Award winner drove the larger-than-life-size replica of Traxxas #1-selling R/C monster truck to victory in Friday’s Sky Wheelie Contest, then finished in the top three in all but one of the remaining events.

“We had a super weekend,” Seasock said. “It was phenomenal. We won Friday’s Sky Wheelie Contest, and finished second in racing and second in Freestyle. We made the Traxxas fans happy. Plenty of people told us they own T-Maxx trucks and love them. We made them proud. You can’t ask for more than that. It was a great weekend.

“A friend of mine from Indianapolis – Mark Cole – helped me. He did a great job.”

Seasock received a near-perfect score for his breathtaking performance in Friday’s Sky Wheelie Contest.

“We were the first ones to go out in the Sky Wheelie Contest Friday night,” Seasock said. “I wanted to raise the bar to make the other guys work hard, so we went out and put the T-Maxx straight up. We got paint on the tailgate. We bounced the truck on its rear end a little, then turned it to the right. I kept hitting the gas and brakes before finally bringing it back down on the tires. It seemed like the front end was up there forever. The place went nuts and we scored a 29 to win the contest.

“Stone Crusher® was behind me and when he tried to do what I did, he flipped over backwards.”

The T-Maxx defeated Eradicator® and War Wizard® before losing to Grave Digger® in Friday’s racing program. Seasock also finished second behind Grave Digger in Freestyle.

“We beat Eradicator in the first round and War Wizard couldn’t make the call in the semifinals,” Seasock said. “We got some big air – our jumps were huge for an arena – but we lost to Grave Digger in the finals.

“The T-Maxx was working incredibly well. We went out in Freestyle and had a blast, but we ended up finishing second behind Grave Digger.

“All the trucks did an unbelievable job. It was a great show both nights. Every jump everybody pulled was awesome. I didn’t like losing, but to lose to that caliber of competition isn’t nearly as bad.”

More of the same followed for Seasock and the T-Maxx in Saturday’s portion of the Monster Jam.

“There was a great crowd at the Party in the Pits Saturday afternoon,” Seasock said. “The Richmond fans were really enthusiastic and the lines were non-stop. I signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans for a solid hour.”

“I stuck the tailgate into the cars again in Saturday’s Sky Wheelie Contest. I actually got paint on the top of the bedside this time. That’s how far we had it over. The crowd went wild when I brought it back down, and we finished third.”

The T-Maxx beat Eradicator across the line again Saturday, but a slow start in the semifinals kept Traxxas’ gigantic monster truck out of the finals.

“We beat Eradicator in Saturday’s first-round race,” Seasock said. “We ran against Randy Moore in War Wizard in the semifinals and he beat us out of the hole. He was a drag racer for more than 10 years, and he cuts unbelievable lights. He’s lightning-fast at the lights. On a short course like that, it’s all won and lost at the starting line, and he just beat me out of the hole. We ran our best, but he was the better man that day. He also won the finals.

“We had a great time in Freestyle. The crowd was hollering and screaming for us. We went out, got some big air, and had a blast. We finished it off with a roof walk and everybody in the arena loved it.”

Seasock and the Traxxas T-Maxx will be back in action November 19-20 when the USHRA runs another Monster Jam in the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA. ©Copyright Traxxas 2005