Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Car of the Week: USA-1 Monster Truck

Welcome to the BTE Racing Car of the Week series, where we feature our customers and fans, and the cars (and trucks) they love to race. Today, we have a special edition for our first ever Monster Truck Week: USA-1 from Gauger Motorsports, which is sponsored by BTE, running a BTE Powerglide transmission as well as a bolt-together torque converter under the hood.

How did the Gaugers get into monster trucks?
Roger Gauger (USA-1’s driver and owner) saw Bigfoot when it first came out and was immediately bitten by the “Monster Truck Bug.” He decided early on in life that he wanted to run his own monster truck. Roger and his wife, Kathy purchased the Bad News Monster Truck back in 1991 while they were on their honeymoon. USA-1 is their fourth monster truck.

When and where was USA-1’s first race?
We debuted the new USA-1 on January 9th at a Monster X event in Augusta, GA. Everett Jasmer, USA-1’s original owner even traveled all the way from Minnesota to be there.

What model/year is USA-1?
The body is a 2013 Chevy Silverado extended cab shortbed. The chassis was built by Concussion Motorsports.


What's under the hood?
The engine is a supercharged, methanol injected, 572 ci Donovan, with Brodix XXX heads. It was built by Cummins Racing Engines in Princeton, IN.


Which BTE products do you use in your vehicle?
USA-1 uses a BTE ProMod Powerglide shorty transmission and 10” billet bolt-together converter with tailored adjustments to our specific application. We also use BTE’s transmission fluid and their heavy duty flexplate. We run two transmission coolers to help the transmission survive.

Someone you look up to in racing?
Obviously we look up to Everett Jasmer, the creator of USA-1. Bob Chandler and the Bigfoot team have our respect as well. Marty Garza and the Overkill trucks have also been a huge inspiration.


Any rituals before an event?
Team fist bumps.

No comments: