The Monster Truck Nationals “Night of Destruction”

“Night of Destruction” at Lucas Oil Speedway

If you have never in your life seen a Monster Truck competition, then the October 20th, 2018 event was a MUST! Indeed, “Wheatland, MO Roared and Rumbled with the nation’s most competitive MONSTER TRUCKS as they stormed into The Lucas Oil Speedway (per www.lucasoilspeedway.com earlier statement). The show featured seven famous Monster Trucks – Bigfoot, Overkill Evolution, Black Stallion, Storm Damage, Hurricane Force, Overbored and Miss Overbored. The show included incredible, high jumping, ground pounding, car crushing race and then went completely insane with amazing freestyle action. The Monster Truck Nationals “Night of Destruction” is the USA most competitive and was indeed a fitting grand finale of the Lucas Oil Speedway season. And, as if this was not temptation enough, early birds, on the day, met the drivers, took photos with them and their amazing trucks at the pre-event Autograph Pit Party on the track. Apart from enjoying the actual event, visitors, young & old, had a chance to get a ride on a real Monster Truck during the Pit Party, the Intermission and at the end of the show.

Monster Trucks

A monster truck is a pickup truck modified with a larger suspension and larger tires for recreational and sports uses. But not any pickup truck can enter a competition. To take part in a racing event, a monster truck must meet specific guidelines. It must be 12 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and from 2015 onwards should be equipped with specifically made 462 lb BKT 66-inch off-road tires. Monster trucks competing at an event are equipped also with a remote ‘kill switch’ which track officials can trigger to shut down a truck’s engine to stop it if endangering the safety of the spectators or the driver. The height above ground of monster trucks made them ideal for rescuing people in flooded areas, as happened in Texas in August 2017 after Hurricane Harvey.

A monster truck tire weighs between 800-900 lbs and, when multiplied by four, takes up about a third of the truck’s average 10,000 lbs weight! The minimum weight of a monster truck is 9,000 lbs while some weigh as much as 12,500 lbs! On the 20th of October, Lucas Oil Speedway had more than 70,000 lbs of Monster Truck Thunder! The average cost of a monster truck tire is $ 2,600 while an average monster truck costs $ 150,000! A Monster Truck driver can make $ 25,000-50,000 per year but naturally that can rise considerably with fame. Some monster truck drivers who are still participating in competitions as well as some who have retired offer coaching and training to fans who aspire to join in the fun. Thus there are monster truck ‘schools’ with ‘student trainees’ from all over the world!.

Lucas Oil Speedway

Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri, USA. It is considered by industry insiders to be one of the top 5 race tracks in the USA; it has also been referred to as “The Diamond of Dirt Tracks”.

It was originally built in 2001 by Ron and Jenkins of Wheatland and was named simply Wheatland Raceway. But Lucas Oil bought it in 2004, re-built and re-opened it as Lucas Oil Speedway in 2006 with new visitor, VIP, and competitor and track facilities. Later “Lake Lucas” an artificial lake was added for drag boats and motorboat racing. This addition, which is the world’s first artificial lake for drag boat racing, was opened in 2011. This is in addition to a scenic campground with spots for RV camping with onsite shower house, water, electric hookups, fishing ponds and hiking trails. Then the construction of an off-road supercross-motorcross-style track was started in 2016 and completed with inaugural events in 2017. The track hosts off-road dirt buggy racing and is the only one of its king in southwest Missouri.

Most Popular Driver

Besides, motorsports fans, whether attending the events or watching them on the screen (on CBS Sports and MAVTV Motorsports Network) were invited to vote, on line at (https://www.lucasoilinvite.com/speedway-2018) for their “Most Popular Driver”. This year’s banquet is set for Nov. 3, 2018 where the top ten drivers, in each of the four divisions, will be honored & the Forrest Lucas Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented. What is perhaps almost unbelievable, though definitely true, is that the event included a National Monster Truck Spectacular performed by kids aged 6-17!.

Forrest & Charlotte Lucas

We’ll bring our article to a close with an interesting brief story about the persons behind the whole venture. Lucas Oil Products Inc. is now a world leader of High Performance Lubricants and Problem Solving Additives. But it all began when a truck driver started experimenting with oil additives to benefit his business. This truck driver is Forrest Lucas and this is how the company came to be founded in 1989 by Forrest and Charlotte Lucas. Their ambition, backed by hard work and dedication, paid off in assured success. And besides oil products and racing, they are passionate about their ranch in Cross Timbers, Missouri & a new organization, Protect the Harvest. Another example of their successful diversification is their acquiring of the cable network MAVTV. The awesome Monster Truck Nationals photos need no comment; they tell their own story!.