OLIVER PAIPOONGE – Monster Madness usually happens on Oct. 31, but it came a couple of weeks early at the Thunder City Speedway.
Day 2 of the two-day monster truck and freestyle motocross event drew thousands of fans to the track on Sunday.
Fans on hand had the chance to get up close and personal with drivers like Lion's Head, Ont.'s Kristal Carey, one of the few female monster truck drivers in the country, a self-described thrill seeker who said the sport was right up her alley
“It's not what I thought I would be doing, but the opportunity came up and I was asked if I wanted to do this and I said, 'Yes I do.' So I jump in the driver seat and go.”
Carey said she and her husband already had one monster truck, Train Wreck, on the circuit, and since the trailer fit two trucks, they decided to add another, Sabotage, to their collection.
“We thought we'd build a second one to take on the road, so we built this one and launched it for the first time last year. We've been running with it ever since,” Carey said.
It's an event that draws fans of all ages and from all walks of life.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, she said.
“I think it's just the loudness and the sheer size of them, just the capability of what these trucks can do for being such a heavy piece of machinery. And it's just a family-friendly event that people can come to,” Carey said.
Bryson Fortier couldn't wait to see Carey and the rest of the drivers in action.
“I just want see the jumps and I want to see the flips,” the nine-year-old said, crossing his fingers the rain would hold off and allow the motocross riders to perform their death-defying aerial acrobatics, flying off ramps, flipping upside down in mid-air, yet able to land on the fly and maintain their balance on the ground.
The trucks are pretty cool too, said his friend, Max Drabit.
“I want to see the trucks and some triple backflips, he said.
Bryson's little brother, Easton, was also thrilled to be at the track.
“I really like the monster trucks and it's my first time,” he said. “They're cool because they're tall.”
Both days of Monster Madness sold out, a great sign said track general manager Rick Simpson, only too happy to welcome the event to the track, in its first full year of operation.
“It's kind of nice to have Monster Madness come here. The city has been looking for something like this for a lot of years and we have the facility hold something like this now. It shows, with two sold-out shows what the city has been starving for,” Simpson said.
“It's an unbelievable event. They have six monster trucks that are trucked here and it's a great family event for the kids that want to come and watch big trucks crush cars. That's the excitement, and the guys on the motorcycles are unbelievable.”
Simpson said this year's success makes it likely Monster Madness will be invited back, though it will likely take two or three years, he said.
He added there could be a snow-cross event scheduled for Thunder City Speedway in February.
