Nearly 200 residents braved the rain for Edge Motorsports’ Monster Madness Tour at the Paris Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 8, 2023.
The two-day event brought a weekend of loud engines, sky-wheelies and competitions to thrill the crowd as the 10,000-pound machines hit the pit with 1500 horsepower.
With rain jackets and umbrellas in hand, many guests indulged in snacks from food trucks like Amy’s Restaurant or What’s the Scoop before heading to the stands to settle in and get their seats.
Others took advantage of the pit party to get up close and personal with monster trucks and quads, before taking a ride in True North monster truck.
As rain continued, Ralph Moore, Owner of Edge Motorsports, got the show started after clearing out the pit party and introducing the American and Canadian quad teams that would be racing in between the monster truck events.
Moore soon queued up the drivers at the front of the pit as he introduced the six monster trucks and the drivers to the crowd.
During the introductions, Ty Cornelius Jr. ripped around the pit showing off his power and speed in the custom Dodge Ram Fire Engine called “Backdraft” when he experienced an issue with the motor.
“We always have things happen during a show and I think we just spent $50,000 on a motor there,” said Moore. “We’re going to see what we can do, we have a spare motor in the truck so I’m not sure. That’s what happens when you have a lot of power and put in a lot of effort in doing those big power donuts when it’s really slippery and you’re pushing the throttle really hard – we’ll see what happens.”
Moore then reminded guests that he had control over the monster truck power in the event any of them got out of hand.
“We have a RII (Remote Ignition Interrupter) here, so if the truck gets out of control, I can use this radio to shut the trucks off at any given time,” he said. “We always make sure we have these radios running at all times. Every time a truck comes onto our competition floor, we will start the truck and shut it down to make sure we have control of the truck because we can shut off power, but we can’t shut off momentum.”
Next, attendees stood for the playing of both the American and the Canadian national anthems before Pat Paquet took the pit first in a custom built 1979 Ford F-150 truck called “Rat Nasty.”
Perry Como was up next as he showed off his control, speed and high jumps with a 2010 Ford F-250 Super Duty called “Loud and Dirty.”
The drivers continued to take turns in the pit with Matt Briand driving “Train Wreck”, Jerry Furajter driving “Fire Hazard”, Ty Cornelius Jr. in “Backdraft” and Kristal Carey – the only female driver of the day – driving “Sabotage.”
After the wheelie competition, the two quad teams hit the pit to race it out in one of three races throughout the event.
As the rain continued to come down harder, Moore announced they would shorten their mid-way break and speed up the events so guests could get home and dry themselves off.
The truck drivers continued to “wow” the crowd with their machines until the very end as they made jumps off ramps, buses and the popular “tabletop,” as well as one on one races.
As the event came to an end, five of the six trucks continued to show off their skills in the freestyle where they did more donuts, bus jumps and wheelies for the crowd as they packed up to head out.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
