Central Coast 4x4 Racing

Red Bluff was another one of those shows CC4X4 Racing always enjoy doing. The fans are great and people travel from all over. This year there were 12 other trucks to battle it out with for a racing or freestyle championship.

"Racing for me in the Patriot this year was a disappointment I couldn't seem to get the tight final turn down." stated Dan Rodoni. Andrew in Tropical Thunder on the other hand seem to have the course figured out and made his way into the finals on Friday and Sunday but wasn't able to pick up the win. "Racing defiantly comes natural to him." commented Rodoni.

Friday night CC4X4 Racing had some solid freestyle but no wins. Saturday night was the night to let it all hang out and that's what Danny did with some big air over the bus stacks, a lot of momentum, 2 saves and finished it off by cross threading the car stacks and table tops giving him the win with a 40. "That really felt like an accomplishment considering the competition." said Rodoni. Sunday, Danny knew that this was the last show for the year and he wanted to finish up with another freestyle win. Dan literally ran Patriot into the ground and finished the run by rolling it over, yet only managed to get a 36. Danny said, "...a lot of people tell me I should have won Sunday; oh well, they are just numbers."

A few bits of news for the new year "Factory" Phil Foster will be back in Tropical Thunder for most of 1st quarter and Andrew a.k.a. "Ricky Bobby" will finish off the remaining part.

In the works now is a new 2008 Silverado body for The Patriot, be sure to look for CC4X4 Racing coming to a city near you.

The schedule on the home page is tentative for the 2008 season. Subject to change without notice.

Recently Dan Rodoni and family made the trip to the great midwest to join Phil Foster, his family and his beautiful bride on one of Phil's happiest days. Factory Phil said I do on June 16th and married his long time girlfriend Julie Wheaton. We all would like to wish Phil and Julie the best.

Merced was another fun weekend ,big track and a totally different layout than any we have ever raced on. No wins for the team but we made the best of it even with The Patriot being plagued with rear steer problems all weekend and engine problems on Sunday that put us out for freestyle.

Sunday we decided to hand Tropical Thunder over to crew chief Mike Pappas who had never raced a monster truck in competition before. I figured that 3 years ago Merced was the place that I got started and 1 year ago Andrew got his start there, so why not give Mike the opportunity to shine this year. Considering the track layout I thought he did a great job for a first timer.

Salinas is one of the shows we look forward to all year long .We get to race against some of the top teams in the sport and it's as close to home town as we get . This year we had nice weather and a sellout crowd and I wanted the team to really push to get some wins. We were prepared to run the trucks as hard as we needed to get the job done. Racing started out strong with very close races we pushed hard and one by one made our way to the semi finals .Phil in Tropical Thunder against Max D with the win going to Max D in a very close race. Patriot and Grave Digger with Patriot taking the win and setting the final race of the day Patriot and Max-D . The light goes green both trucks leave the line and never looked back five hits on the cars and Max-d took the win in another close race.

Freestyle started strong and continued to build then Phil in Tropical Thunder hit the floor hitting everything in sight with big air and a slap wheelie giving Tropical Thunder a 29 a couple trucks later it was time for Patriot to hit the floor. Two big air hits off the van stacks and the gremlins that haunted us last weekend in Merced were back and we blew the motor causing us to end freestyle early. What can we say it was a great weekend and look forward to next year.

This last weekend in Los Banos, Ca at the Merced County Spring fair Dan Rodoni and the second driver to Tropical Thunder Andrew Peckham came out to put on a nice freestyle exhibition for the fans after the Tuff Truck, ProArena Truck races on Friday night and after the Truck and Tractor pulls on Sunday. Friday night went well with solid runs with no breakage and just one hair raising moment for Dan; when he took on a Double Jump backwards and allowed the take off ramp trip the rear of the truck, sending the truck into a nose wheelie which took some creative driving to get under control. Great show both nights. Thanks to the fans that turned out to see the team put on stellar performance.

Dan Rodoni and The Patriot did a display in Half Moon Bay, Ca this last weekend for the Dream Machine Car Show. Here is where he debuted his new "all paint" paint job for The Patriot.

The Salt Lake City show went well for the CC4x4 Racing guys. Andrew Peckhum was in attendence along with Phil and Danny so they made the descion to let Andrew get some indoor arena seat time at the 2pm Saturday show. In another driver change Phil drove Patriot Saturday night going head to head with the boss in a cheer-off for the Wheelie Contest which was given to Danny at the end. Racing was also good that weekend, the team walked away with one win for Phil and one for Danny. Solid Freestyle runs all weekend, but it just wasn't what the judges were looking for, maybe next time.

It was good meeting up with Pablo and Aaron from the Grave Digger and Blacksmith Team, it was the first time this year. Andrew did a great job picking up a win against Pablo on Saturday. Judging from the fiberglass damage left on the Patriot after the wheelie contest Pablo had his hands full getting the wins. Danny and the Patriot were in the Finals both days against Rick Swanson in the Fabtech Obsession, one win going to Patriot and one going to Rick Swanson. Great freestyle runs all weekend and Andrew is getting the hang of indoor driving and looked real comfortable in Tropical Thunder. Patriot suffered a few rear steering issues but managed to keep the scores in the high twenties all weekend. The fans in Fresno are some of the best out there and we enjoy meeting new ones every where we go.

Dan Rodoni and Phil Foster got the chance to visit our neighbors to the north a couple of weeks ago; and it was very interesting to say the least. Being the second non-dirt event CC4x4 Racing has ever done, they were some what cautious when manuvaring around the stadium floor. A few problems plaqued the team with The Patriot going out in first round with steering problems against Grave Digger. Phil Foster was able to pick up a round one win, but in the semi-finals he was eliminated. Freestyle took a while for the pace to pick up with all the drivers trying to feel out this new concept of non-dirt stadium sized floor space. All in all it was a very good show and CC4x4 Racing enjoyed the time spent with some of the most serious and fun-loving fans.

CC4x4 Racing rolled into Portland with one clear reason, to bring home some wins. And that's just what they did; with The Patriot making it to the finals all three days, two of which were with team mate Phil Foster in Tropical Thunder. It would be "Factory" Phil Foster taking home two of the three wins for the weekend and The Patriot taking the big win, after a transmission swap on Sunday morning. Freestyle all weekend started strong, with drivers like Nathan Weenk and Don Frankish, so by the time, The Patriot and Tropical Thunder had to go, they needed to bring their "A-game". The fans wanted the drivers to go big and thats just what CC4x4 Racing gave them with big slap wheelies, good donuts, a lot of momentum and big air off the freestyle moto-x landing ramp. Plenty of solid runs, yet no wins, but the team had fun and can't wait until 2008!

Another great weekend for Dan Rodoni and the CC4x4 Racing Crew. Dan Rodoni in The Patriot laid down the fast time in qualifying. Sitting on the pole position and feeling good about the truck and himself, Dan was sure he was going to take it all the way. Phil Foster in Tropical Thunder was also feeling good and the truck was running but lost to Maniac early in the bracket. Fortunately for Phil he was brought back as fast loser later on against his boss and team mate Dan Rodoni. Going into the first turn it was even both trucks running at their prime, driver error would set Dan out as he came into the first turn and applied the brakes just a little too hard spinning him out and handing the win the Phil Foster. In the finals it was Phil Foster and Maniac once again, this time Don Frankish had problems and wasn't able to get his truck started. Kelvin Ramer and Natural High, close neighbor to CC4x4 Racing, was called to the line to race Foster. Going into the first turn the race seemed to be matched nicely, that's when Foster layed the hammer down and let his big Chevy power plant do it's job, rewarding Factory Phil Foster the win for Anaheim #2.

Freestyle was tough, both the competitors and the judges. This was evident right away when Phil ripped up the course with considerable ammount of air, fast paced momentum and nice slap wheelies. Phil managed to fill the clock and also hit everything on the track, but it still wasn't good enough to hold the lead. When it was turn for Dan to let it all go in The Patriot, he watch and told himself what he had to do. He started his run with a lot of momentum with a plan to go big, stay big, and finish bigger. Towards the end of his run, after huge air and a high speed wheelie, going for the wheelie car again the truck took a hard bounce; putting it on two wheels and causing Dan to have to correct and try to pull out from under itself for the save. In doing so The Patriot suffered rear steer damage and broken rear axle shaft, but it was enough to catch a 23 in freestyle and hold the hot seat for a little while.

Thanks to all the southern California fans for coming out one last weekend, we'll see you next year!

Hector Palafox, Jill Swanson, and The Arabia Family was kind enough to share their photos with us.

Reno went really great this year with Friday night "Factory" Phil Foster and "The Boss" Dan Rodoni making it to the finals with Dan holding Phil back for the win. Dan in The Patriot managed to put his truck in the finals all four events, yet only taking the win on Friday night, but all the races were really close and exciting. Saturday night the Reno crowd was in store for a exciting night with Phil doing two huge slap wheelies and getting good air but to be outdone by his boss Dan in The Patriot. Dan laid down another blistering run in freestyle being the only truck to hit the freestyle moto-cross landing ramp. With big air and a fast pace Dan took the win with the only perfect 30 of the weekend. Sunday's show had Dan and fellow driver David Smith in the King Krunch tied for the Wheelie Contest. In the finals once again against King Krunch on Sunday was one of the fastest and most exciting of the weekend. Dan was unable to win but did witness Dave Smith in King Krunch push his truck to the ultimate limit, where he lost the front tire and rolled his truck for the win. Dan did another great freestyle which had to be judged in a cheer off unfortunately handing the win to Daron Basl in el Matador. Overall the show was fun and it was great seeing our northern Nevada Fans!

That's right CC4x4 Racing was in San Francisco at AT&T Park for the USHRA Monster Jam and this year, "the weather finally cooperated and I felt like we could let it all hang out." stated Dan Rodoni, driver of The Patriot. "The 3rd year was a charm. I was a little disappointed about loosing in the racing semi finals due to a bad first turn and Phil was having rear steer problems, but freestyle I really wanted the San Francisco fans to leave there remembering Tropical Thunder and The Patriot and we did not disappoint." "Factory" Phil Foster scored a solid 24 in Tropical Thunder. Dan put down a awesome run, with high speed donuts and great saves scoring a 28 for the win