Preparing to attempt the world's...
Preparing to attempt the world's first monster truck backflip, Larry Quick had been practicing the stunt in his hard-charging Ghost Ryder truck-but lost out to gravity this time. Quick successfully did his 360-degree flip later that evening to become the world's first monster truck to complete a backflip. You can check it out at Vermonster4x4.com.
Did you witness "the flip"? If you did you must have been at the 4th Annual Vermonster 4X4 competition, home of the world's first monster truck backflip. Twice a year thousands gather in Bradford, Vermont, for the Vermonster 4x4 mud fling weekend. People from 12 states and two Canadian provinces attend the event. It is held twice a year: the first weekend in May and the last weekend in September. This whole event is thanks to the imagination of Randy Oakley. Oakley started it as a place to have his own mud run. Each year the event gets bigger. In May there were 2,500 people in attendance each day.
For those good at multitasking, three events occur simultaneously: a rockcrawl, head-to-head mud racing, and a deep mud competition. The 250-foot-long track of lumps, bumps, humps, and a 7-foot trench is some of the best Vermont mud around, courtesy of the Bradford Fire Department tanker that hauls in 110,000 gallons of water to make the primo mud. Daryl Masure Excavating did the site work for the courses.
This event offers six classes of head-to-head mud racing in a 300-foot-long single elimination race. A big draw is the five classes of deep mud competition in the Trench. And there is a Reverse Attempt class for the deep mud competition as well. And if that wasn't enough, there is a full payout and a trophy for the winners too.
Mike Kubat in his '79 Ford...
Mike Kubat in his '79 Ford Bronco mega-truck conquers the Trench. Named the Swamp Donkey, Kubat's Bronco is typical of the Tractor Tire class at Vermonster 4x4.
New York's Bruce McGreggor...
New York's Bruce McGreggor in his Chevy Blazer named No Quarter is a three-time Tuff Truck champ. Seeing this ride fly off the berms with no damage is impressive.
Even local trail riders had...
Even local trail riders had the chance to take on some of the rocks. While some were just old chunks of concrete, the dents they produced were just as real as any rock.
Of course we can't forget the traditional show-and-shine, which Ken's Off Road will be taking over in the fall. There's a burnout contest, and the National Guard offers a climbing wall and a bouncy obstacle course.
But the biggest draw was the monster trucks, even before the record-setting backflip. Larry Quick's Ghost Ryder, the Beast of the Northeast, and the Tow-mater were very popular with the kids. The kids were squealing with fright and excitement during their monster truck ride in the Extinguisher. Historically there have been helicopter rides too. To get our little four-wheelers as addicted to our sport as we are, they held a Power Wheels race and tractor pull complete with prizes for the wee winners.
Vermonster 4x4 has been featured on the Outdoor channel's show Roll With It and in Trucks Gone Wild 7. Local radio station 99 Rock helped sponsor the event, and KIXX 100.5 held a radio contest where the winners got to have a "redneck wedding" during the races.
So mark your calendars for May 2010. There are plenty of local hotels and campgrounds. It makes New Englanders look forward to the mud season, and hopefully you will too! For more informantion visit Vermonster4x4.com.
Jeff Bursey in Tow-Mater annihilated...
Jeff Bursey in Tow-Mater annihilated a row of cars that were clearly no match for his. This truck was one of the most popular with the little ones and the rest of the crowd as well.
One of the many rockcrawling...
One of the many rockcrawling challenges that the participants conquered consisted of big logs as well. This leaf-sprung XJ made quick work of the course, and as a bonus he was running it backwards for extra points.
Gary Muzzy in his early Dodge...
Gary Muzzy in his early Dodge truck makes the Trench look easy. He walked through the 7-foot-deep mud trench without getting so much as a speck on the pretty white paint job. Of course, tall tractor tires don't hurt either.