The Story
Michael Ballard bought 27 acres on Highway 34 in 1999 and built the Full Throttle into a sprawling "world's largest blue-collar biker bar" — multiple stages, a burn-out pit, a tattoo parlor, zip lines, a wrestling ring, and hundreds of rental cabins, drawing an estimated 20,000 guests a night during rally week. From 2009 to 2015 it starred in truTV's six-season reality series. In the early hours of September 8, 2015, a pinched cord to a keg fridge overheated, ignited a cardboard box, and within roughly three hours the whole saloon had burned down. Ballard rebuilt about five miles away near Vale in 2016.
Surprising Facts
→ At its peak it could draw an estimated 20,000 guests in a single night.
→ The complex included a wrestling ring, zip lines, and a tattoo parlor.
→ The rebuilt saloon reopened five miles away on Highway 79 rather than at this original site.