IN THE decade since Korumburra’s Simon O’Neill founded SouthCoast Monster Trucks (SCMT), his company has been putting on shows all over Australia.
But recently, Simon decided it was time to bring the SCMT action to his own hometown.
This Saturday, November 15, Monster X Tour – Xtreme Carnage explodes into action at the Korumburra Showgrounds.
With 66-inch-high wheels and packing a mammoth 1500 horsepower, the vehicles are part drag racing car, part truck – complete with fibreglass bodies and lots of bling.
“They’re just a massive toy,” said Simon.
“A Hot Wheels kind of a toy!”
Come Saturday, those massive toys will be airborne – flying over cars.
“We’ve got a caravan – we’re going to jump over that and then at the end of the night, I reckon we’ll run straight through it and destroy it,” said Simon.
“We’re going to have FMX Freestyle Motocross doing backflips and a Scooby Doo van with a jet engine in it, blasting around.
“So, plenty of action. Plenty of carnage. Lots of noise. And great fun.”
There are currently three nitro-fuelled Monster Trucks in the SCMT stable: Bushranger, MonstaTron and Moonshine Madness, and they’ll all be in action at Korumburra this weekend.
Kevin King – a world-renowned Monster Trucker and former Pro Mud Track Racer who hails from Georgia in the US – will be driving Moonshine Madness.
Canadian Monster Truck driver Pat Paquet – better known as PsychoPAT – will be behind the wheel of MonstaTron.
Simon himself will also be in the driver’s seat, commandeering Bush Ranger, the Ford Monster Truck he shipped from the US to Australia several years ago.
Comedians Nick Trapani and Brett Hunter will be front and centre, hosting the event.
Simon will never forget his own introduction to the world of Monster Trucks.
A couple of mates who’d been working for a Monster Trucks company in Queensland enlisted his help to put on a show in Korumburra back in 2016.
“After the show, one of the guys said to me, ‘Hey, how about you get in one, go for a blast – see what you think.’”
Initially hesitant, Simon decided to have a crack.
“I hopped in and went for a little run up and back at the rear of the Showgrounds and thought, ‘Wow. This is fun!’”
A month later, he ended up buying two Monster Trucks of his own.
“I just think I had a bit of hoon left in me,” Simon chuckles.
His company has since gone on to stage around fifty Monster Truck events – including at the Brisbane EKKA, as well as in Darwin and Perth.
“We just did the Deni Ute Muster,” said Simon.
“Ran through a caravan. Crushed a few cars!
“It was good fun.”
And this week, he gets to do it all again.
Monster X Tour – Xtreme Carnage is on this Saturday at the Korumburra Showgrounds. Gates open at 12pm. Main show starts at 2pm. Tickets are available at Ticketek.
