Gary Porter - History

History

Gary's involvement in monster truck began in 1981 when he opened Porter's 4x4 Shop in Wadesboro, North Carolina with his brother. In 1985, they built their first truck to promote the business and compete in local shows. Soon afterward, they modified the truck, and Gary began his monster-truck racing career. In 1987, Gary started competing in a monster truck called the Carolina Crusher with TNT Motosports. The Porters participated in exhibitions from 1985 to 1988. He placed fourth in 1988, second in 1989, and third in 1990.

Beginning in 1991, Gary raced in the USHRA/Camel Mud & Monster Series. The Carolina Crusher placed sixth and became the series champion of the Special Events season. In 1992, the Porters decided to build a second truck to be able to compete in three different monster truck series. A third Carolina Crusher appeared for the 1994 season, as did a new shop to host Carolina Crusher Racing. The trucks made 125 appearances in 1994. 1995 saw Carolina Crusher finish fourth in the Special Events Penda Points series and winning a race. Gary continued to race Carolina Crusher until after its sale to Paul Shafer in 1999.

In 2000, Clear Channel Entertainment hired Porter to drive various trucks for them, notably Ragin' Steel and Spider-Man. The following year, at the behest of longtime friend and rival Dennis Anderson, he began driving Grave Digger 12, which is similar to his last incarnation of Crusher.