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Aussie Monster Trucks

US invite for gutsy Schaffer
Thu Nov 27 01:14:40 2008

She may not have got the result she was hoping for, but Bundamba's Sherri Schaffer walked away from the World Monster Trucks Finals with her pride intact.

More than 10,000 people packed into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre to see the 48-year-old go up against some of the biggest names in the sport, including 2005 World Champion James Tigue and Australian trio Clive, Billy and Jaye Featherby. In a field of 10, Schaffer showed she was not out of her depth competing against the best, finishing sixth in the head-to-head racing and fifth in the freestyle event.

Despite failing to meet her own expectations, Schaffer took some positives from her performance. "It was disappointing because it was on my home territory, so I was hoping to do a bit better," Schaffer said. "(But) one of the other drivers was obviously impressed, so he asked me to drive for him in America in July next year. The whole experience was great. There was a really good crowd who cheered me on."

The event boasted the greatest number of elite monster truck drivers ever assembled in one night and Schaffer said it lived up to the hype. "I didn't see many vacant seats. A lot of people said they hadn't seen a monster truck before and said they would certainly be back again if there was another show," Schaffer said. "It was definitely the highlight for me in Australia."

Schaffer's next show will be at Brisbane on Boxing Day, before she heads to Melbourne and the Gold Coast early next year.

- Nationwide News Pty Ltd release

Monster truck show organiser sues club
Wed Nov 12 16:35:21 2008

The organiser of a Rockhampton monster truck show which was axed earlier this year is suing the city’s saloon car club for $240,000 damages. Clive Featherby’s company, KC's Fireworks Displays, claims it lost $140,000 worth of anticipated profits and suffered $100,000 in loss of business reputation when the monster truck show had to be canned in May at the last minute.

On Thursday the company lodged a claim with the District Court at Rockhampton. While the matter is before the court, Mr Featherby yesterday said he had organised another monster truck show to be held at the Rockhampton Showgrounds on Saturday, November 29, so the region’s motoring enthusiasts wouldn’t miss out. He said this show, which has been organised through the council and not the saloon club, would be bigger and better and would benefit many community clubs in the region.

The court claim, relating to the cancelled May show, said: “There was a bad feeling amongst the Rockhampton public about the plaintiff not bringing his trucks to Rockhampton... The company expects it will have to increase its advertising massively to counter this, any time that it returns to run a show in Rockhampton or surrounding area.” It said the company and the saloon car club had a contract to jointly promote the May show.

Mr Featherby had spent more than $13,000 promoting the event, including television advertising, printing more than 8000 pamphlets, supplying 5000 tickets to be sold and bringing two monster trucks to the city. Between April 21 and 28 the parties had a disagreement. “The saloon car club repudiated the contract by advising the plaintiff they would not be allowing the plaintiff to conduct the show at the Rockhampton Showgrounds,” the claim said. Mr Featherby was unable to hire the Showgrounds independently and later cancelled the event.

A spokesman for the Rockhampton Saloon Car Club yesterday said the club had taken legal advice and was not in a position to comment at this stage.

- Adam Wratten (edited by Mark Hurley)

Three New Trucks Added
Sun Nov 2 21:38:07 2008

Check out the AMT Trucks gallery to find three new monster truck profiles featuring Outback Thunda II, Rex the Ride and Monster Patrol II.

The first weekend of November saw a sell-out Sunshine Coast crowd arrive at Stockland Park Kawana to witness nine monster trucks go full boar in racing and freestyle competitions. Among the show’s many highlights which included a very special appearance of two top United States drivers Kreg Christensen and James Tigue, the night marked the performance debut of two massive monster trucks Outback Thunda II and Rex the Ride.

Monster Patrol II has also finally arrived in Australia. After many delays through US customs the truck arrived fresh at KC’s headquarters on Thursday, October 30th, ready for its final set up before the performance debut at the Pacific Monster Tuck World Finals on Novemeber 15th at Brisbane.

- Mark Hurley and David Carr

Monster Trucks hit Brisbane
Tue Oct 14 00:12:02 2008

Brisbane is set to host the biggest ever line up of monster trucks and elite monster truck drivers outside the US next month when the first ever Sony Playstation World Monster Truck finals are battled out.

The big battle is set to take place on Saturday, November 15 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre from 6pm. The event is a coup for Australia as never before have this many monster trucks and this many elite drivers performed together in a single venue.

Some of the great names of the US monster truck phenomenon will drive in Brisbane – legends such as Chicago’s Paul Shafer, Ohio’s Dan Patrick, South Carolina’s 2005 World Champion James Tigue and Kreg Christensen from Utah.

Australia will have four representatives on the night, with three drivers from the same family – current national champion Clive Featherby driving the legendary Aussie truck Outback Thunda; 16-year-old sensation Billy Featherby driving Scooby Doo, and strong favourite to do well in the freestyle competition; and the world’s youngest monster truck driver, Jaye Featherby, driving the Sony Playstation 3 Motorstorm truck. Australia’s fourth representative is south-east Queensland’s Sherri Shafer, the only female driver in the program. The former Sprintcar star will team with the monster truck Bear Foot.

The real stars of the show, however, are the 10 metal-shredding monster trucks – Scooby, Batman, Outback Thunda, Predator, Bearfoot, Monster Patrol, Playstation 3 Motorstorm and more. There will also be flame throwing jet vans, a crash-a-rama demolition derby, backflippin’ FMX and, of course, the famous and crowd-loving, fire-breathing dinosaur Transzilla.

Australian racing driver and Channel Seven TV personality Grant Denyer will call the show, having recently been injured in a monster truck accident.Country music singer Adam Brand will lead the music offer.

“Forget all the previous monster truck events you’ve ever seen or heard about because this is a whole new ball game of high octane thrills, insane obstacles and absolute mass destruction,” race promoter Clive Featherby said.

- APN News Pty Ltd release

The Demon is Rising!
Sat Oct 4 06:39:28 2008

A new monster truck known as the Demon is set to debut in New Zealand this coming November. The truck is suitably named after Demon Energy, New Zealand’s latest supplier of energy drinks, who are the primary name sponsors of the truck.

The Demon is the flagship truck for new promoter HB Monstertrucks, which aim to campaign the truck at events all across New Zealand. At the helm of team HB is Hayden Cornick, Benn Milne and Glen Jacobs, who purchased the truck in its original incarnation as Kiwi Thunder. The decision was soon made to say goodbye to the original 80’s identity, and with that the team got busy stripping the truck back in preparation for its re-incarnation as the Demon.

Check it out now in the Trucks section.

- Mark Hurley

Batman and MotorStorm Trucks Added
Fri Aug 15 01:26:49 2008

Check out the Trucks gallery to find the latest additions Batman and MotorStorm.

Since their debut, both these trucks have been roaring successes, attracting much interest on a national and global level. This marks the beginning of a wake of major investments coming through the partnerships of KC’s Fireworks, Gilbert Racing and Attard Racing, which includes further upgrades to the current fleet of monster trucks and the purchase of at least three more from the United States.

- Mark Hurley

New (Old) Coverage Added
Fri May 9 06:03:49 2008

It's a bit overdue, but we have just completed a new event coverage page for a KC's Fireworks show held in the past year in Bathurst. Hosted by DRIFT Australia, this show sported a slightly different format, with the monster trucks competing in a racing time trial in addition to jumps over crush cars.

Although not deemed a success (the poor audience turnout has caused KC's to boycott performing in the area years since), the show still contained the same quality entertainment, and the time of year made it possible to capture some very clear photographs of the action. View it here.

- David Carr

Ride That Beast!
Sun Jan 20 04:56:41 2008

If you haven’t noticed already, we have uploaded another Monster to the Trucks gallery, Bear Foot The Ride.

Although this truck has been operating since September last year, it was only very recently that we were able to catch up with this one of a kind Monster Truck, getting set to thrill hundreds of adoring fans at the Gold Coast in Queensland. Click the link, or find it under the Trucks section.

- Mark Hurley and David Carr