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Published: February 26th 2007
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Well, I said that the Civil War Re-enactment we attended was a truly unique experience, but it could almost be topped by the Monster Truck racing Fi and I went to last night. Monster Trucks are huge in the States and actually have a racing season not unlike the V8’s in Australia. They tour from city to city and race in the football stadiums before the final series in Las Vegas.
Well last night was Jacksonville’s turn, and didn’t the crowd show up - 69, 000+ mullet toting, 6 fingered, slack jawed yokels and Fi and I went to watch. Half the time it was more interesting to watch the crowd than the actual race - best spot went to Fiona who sighted two country hicks wearing overalls with no shirts underneath…..excellent! We made a mild mistake of turning up only 90 mins early and the complete lack of any public transport meant we were stuck in traffic for a good hour - but got into the stadium found our seats just as they started playing the national anthem - perfect timing!
Anyway, 12 monster trucks turned up and they were of all different designs and themes. There was
Superman vs Batman
Of course Superman was going to win - he's invunerable, and he can turn back time, so if he lost he could have another crack. an Air force truck called ‘Afterburner’, Batman Truck, Superman Truck and the list goes on. They raced each other around a small track which consisted of a couple of tight turns and jumps over some old car bodies. The trucks were so loud Fiona and I spent the whole night with our fingers in our ears trying to ensure we didn’t go deaf. After the time trials they then faced off and eliminated each other until the finals. Well for those of you who have always wondered who would win out of Superman and Batman - well your question has been answered - Superman of course!!! In between races they had quad bike races and a race that is very difficult to describe. Basically it seemed you could enter any car (as long as it was a beaten up piece of crap) and it was a no rules race until the chequered flag appeared - it pretty much turned into a demolition derby and was really funny to watch.
The racing event was eventually won by a truck called ‘Maximum Destruction’, but the fun was just starting. The halftime show consisted of a Motor Cross Freestyle stunt show with
Stock Car Pile Up
This was the result of the 'Stock Car' race - looks like a demolition derby bike riders doing all sorts of stunts - it was pretty crazy, but best of all was the Mullet competition. There were about 8 entrants and oh my god they had the greatest mullets of all time. If you want to see pics of the mullets go to:
http://planetradio1073.com/cc-common/gallery/globalphotos.html
The winner turned out to be a 9 year old boy who had a normal haircut on top with the sides shaved and at the back the mullet nearly reached his bum. It was beautiful to look at - business at the front, party at the back indeed. This poor little kid has no chance in life, but he did win a big arsed trophy!
Anyway, back to the Monster Trucks - it was freestyle time. For the freestyle event forklifts bought out more cars and there was even a bus to get smashed up. Basically the drivers had 1:30 to do whatever they wanted and then it got scored by 3 members of the crowd. Well this was just out of control - the cars and bus were just getting smashed to pieces - the crowd was going insane and the Monster Trucks were getting trashed. The
Superman Flying
Here's the Superman Monster Truck after jumping that massive pile of dirt best efforts were one truck that got so much air its rear wheel fell off, but that didn’t stop him. With only three wheels he jumped some more cars and then did about 10 secs of circle work with the axle digging into the ground and sparks flying everywhere. Another Truck got too much air and landed sideways - but once again that didn’t stop him, he just gassed it and did circle work with the truck on its side!! However the best effort went to the Air Force truck. The driver flogged his car so hard that it started smoking - which enticed him into more circle work (which in turn produced more smoke), the crowd erupted and he jumped a couple of more cars with smoke billowing from his truck before coming to a slide stop and the Truck bursting into flames! Never seen a bloke get out of a car so quickly!! Needless to say he won.
It was a very crazy night indeed, and what we thought would just be a good American experience turned out to be an entertaining experience that we really enjoyed.
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Knackers
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Feels like home
Knackers your monster truck rally sounds great; however, the mullet competition takes the cake. Think I might have to see if Palmerston Shopping Centre wants to run one of those competitions - there are so many contenders here!