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Living Large

Posted February 22, 2016 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

ELLIS GROVE -- Surrounded by the farm fields of Ellis Grove is one of Randolph County's uniquest - and not locally well-known - businesses.

Concussion Motorsports, co-owned by Rich and Shannon Inman, builds, repairs and makes parts for monster trucks, with more than 20 built thus far.

"There's only four or five of us in the whole world that do this," Rich Inman said. "The big show in St. Louis was this past Saturday and I was expecting several trucks to be out in the driveway (Sunday)."

Inman told the Herald Tribune how he got started building the massive machines.

"I ended up going over to Australia and racing a truck over there for a guy," he said. "He ended up buying it and he wanted some parts, we started building stuff, the word got out and we're still doing it."

Among the Inmans' clients is Bigfoot 4X4 Inc., whose founder, Bob Chandler, created the original monster truck in 1975.

The Inmans have built the chassis for two of the famed Bigfoot models, with a third - Bigfoot 22 - currently under construction at the Ellis Grove shop.

"We were actually the first people to build a truck for them," Inman said. "They've still got such a big fleet of trucks and they don't have time to build them.

"Honestly, we had a customer's truck that had a Ford Super Duty body on it, like what (Bigfoot) uses, and I heard rumors that (Bigfoot) was looking at us about building them one. So, I just called them and said 'Hey, I want to bring a chassis and stuff up to you and see what you think.'

The meeting went well.

"We went into the office and had a meeting and by the time we left, they bought one," Inman said.

With a price range in the ballpark of $150,000, the vehicles aren't cheap. The sport is similar to NASCAR in that sponsor support helps truck owners with the cost of competing at races, shows and special events.

"We can work as fast as your pocketbook," said Inman, who later added that he has a build crew of three to five people, including himself. "If somebody's got the money to put it down, we can do a turn-key truck ready to drive out of here and go to a show in three months.

"We can do a chassis in two weeks."

To accommodate the quick build time, Inman has a customized jig table for which individual parts are numbered for their corresponding holes.

"We've got everything numbered where in 10 minutes, you could be helping us and you could do this by yourself," Inman said.

Along one wall are mock-ups of the parts the build team uses to assemble each chassis.

"It will tell you how long to cut it, what degrees to notch it and how deep to notch it," Inman said. "It's just a little bit of the mock-up stuff that we use to build something."

Inman used to race the trucks he builds, but a neck injury several years ago ultimately took him out of the driver's seat.

"I still could (race) to this day, but I'm over it," he said, looking at a scuffed door panel of Bear Foot that's mounted on one wall of the shop. "You see on Bear Foot how his claw's messed up? I wrecked that one and broke the tires off of it.

"That's why that door's there. Crowd liked it."

Other builds have been the fan-favorite USA-1, Wild Thang, Walking Tall and even a chassis for Grave Digger creator Dennis Anderson.

"Every one of my chassis has got the Concussion Motorsports logo on it," Inman said. "For the one for Bigfoot 21, it's got that logo and it's got 'Bigfoot' embedded in the bottom of it."

In terms of horsepower, Inman said most trucks average around 1,500.

"Some are a little less and there's a few out there that are pushing more than that," he said.

Inman was asked what he likes most about building the machines.

"Honestly, just going to the shows," Inman said. "People don't even have to point me out or say 'Hey, he built this for me' or whatever.

"I get enjoyment just standing over in the corner watching people look at it and kids marvel over it. Even the big kids."

For those wanting to see the big trucks in action, the Monster Truck Nationals take place Friday and Saturday at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin.

Friday's show begins at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday shows at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $14, with same-day tickets at $17. Parking is $5 per vehicle.

A free pit party will start an hour and a half prior to each show, where drivers and their vehicles will be available for photos and autographs.

For more information, visit Here.

Inman said he isn't sure any of the trucks he's built will be in the Du Quoin show, but he knows at least two that will be appearing at the Show Me Center on April 9 when the No Limits Monster Trucks Tour makes a stop in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

"We've already built some of the biggest names in the business and honestly, it ain't even dawned on us yet," Inman said. "Like we say, 'It will be one day when we're old and sitting on the porch and go holy cow, we did all that.'"

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