Monster Truck Nationals Promoter Killed At Monster Truck Show, Second Death In Two Weeks

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George Eisenhart Jr., promoter and announcer of the Monster Truck Nationals, was injured and died Saturday night at his Monster Truck show in Wisconsin — the second death in a week involving monster trucks.

Eisenhart, 41, of Chardon, Ohio, was president and owner of Image Productions, the Ohio company that's been staging the Monster Nationals around the country since 1993. He also was the show's promoter and announcer.

Eisenhart was hit by one of the giant-wheeled vehicles when he stepped into its path near the end of the performance. He was pronounced dead two hours later at Univeristy of Wisconsin Hospital of major, "crushing" internal injuries, Coroner John Stanley claimed in a news conference Sunday that:

Our preliminary investigation shows neither Eisenhart nor the truck driver saw each other before the collision."

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A statement on the International Monster Truck Racing Association website, an organization Eisenhart became president of this month states:

This is a general workplace accident in which the extraordinary happened under what would previously have been considered ordinary conditions,"

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What wasn't an "ordinary condition" was what happened just eight days ago, when a 6-year-old boy was killed by flying debris at a monster truck show in Tacoma, Wash. We do want to be clear the two incidents are not related, and the shows were staged by different companies.

Ironically, Eisenhart commented on the Washington death Friday to a local Wisconsin TV station. He was quoted as saying:

"This is our 16th year and I wish I had a big piece of wood to knock on right now, but we have not had an incident besides a gal slipping in the aisle at another location. That's been all. We think our venue is very safe and all the shows we do are very safe."

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[via ABC News, WKOW 27]