With its third race upcoming this weekend in Montgomery, Ala., the Minimizer Bandit Big Rig Series racing season is off to a great start.
Minimizer CEO and Chief Visionary Craig Kruckeberg introduced the racing series in January at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) 2017, and thus far the Bandit series has held races in Newton, N.C., and Easley, S.C.
Minimizer’s Bandit Big Rig Series is a unique heavy-duty truck racing circuit. Billing itself as the “workin’ man’s race series,” the rules are structured to make the Bandit trucks affordable and accessible. The series touts that “you can’t buy a win.” Fast paced crashes and spinouts are common. Drivers are awarded extra points for passing, and the series features $50,000 of prize money at each race.
“Our objective is to raise the awareness of the heavy-duty trucking industry and provide marketing exposure and R&D opportunities for our sponsors,” says Kruckeberg.
Today’s trucking isn’t seen as “cool” by millennials, and Minimizer Bandit Big Rig Series organizers are working to change that.
“The family entertainment approach of this series creates that opportunity,” says Brian Madsen, director of Operations.
Exposure thus far has been significant. Madsen says the Series’ website has nearly 50,000 page views in the first quarter alone and Facebook impressions are well over two million. And those results are with only a couple races.
“I’m excited the trucking industry finally has its own racing series,” says Kruckeberg. “It doesn’t get more grassroots than this!”
This year’s season will take place in the eastern and central United States, but the Bandit Series wants to expand west by 2019 to establish a national “King of the Bandits”.
The full 2017 race schedule and track locations can be viewed at www.banditseries.com/schedule.