THE
ULTIMATE
DRIVE

    BASHING WITH A
     REAL MONSTER

by Henry Chambers                    

If you drive an RC Monster Truck, then you—no doubt—love the sound, smell, the rattling of your teeth, and the suffocating dust storm created by a full-size MT digging into the arena floor. What an adrenaline rush it would be to run your 2+ hp nitro truck alongside the 1,500 hp behemoths that inspired the RC monster truck epidemic! I recently had the opportunity to do just that.

MONSTER JAM

The CTSAVAGE LAND.com crew was scheduled to perform for the crowd at the Stafford Springs Monster Jam. We had planned to get video footage for our upcoming DVD entitled “Big,” but because of contractual issues with the promoter and truck owners, we were unable to tape any of the big trucks at the actual event. Our dreams of getting footage of RC trucks interacting with real monster trucks seemed to be doomed until Pat Suma, whom we met the weekend prior to the event, took an interest in our project and graciously invited us out to his shop to film his truck “Thrasher.” The following Sunday, a few of us packed up our ramps, trucks and support gear, and we headed out to Pat’s testing area.

We had a surprise in store for Pat. In appreciation of his hospitality, we presented him and his son, Michael, with a brand-new Savage .25, donated by HPI, one of our DVD sponsors. Speedzone Hobbies, our local hobby shop, supplied fuel, a glow igniter and a few spare parts to help them get started. For the icing on the cake, we also supplied a custom painted body to match that of the full-size Thrasher. As you can imagine, it was only minutes before they were firing up their new toy. Once Michael got used to the transmitter controls, he immediately headed for the biggest ramp we had set up and launched the Savage skyward. Just as his father has done on many occasions with Thrasher, Michael landed the truck rubber side up.

ROARING TO LIFE

After a few minutes of RC bashing, the ground shook as Thrasher’s engine roared to life. Soon the dirt was flying from the 6-foot tires churning up the earth’s surface. Out of nowhere, a Savage entered the scene seemingly to challenge the goliath that danced before it. As the dust cloud grew, family and friends watching from nearby became anxious since one little mistake by the 1/8 scale Savage could turn it into a parts truck with very few useable parts. But when the sound died and the dust settled, the Savage was still dunking donuts.
It was time for the jumper to become the jump-ee. We positioned our ramps around Thrasher to give the CTSAVAGELAND.com trucks a secure path. The crew repeatedly launched their vehicles roughly 30 feet in the air, doing back flips and front flips and landing them dead on. As we wrapped up our jump-fest, Pat fired up Thrasher once again and performed his donuts while Corey Huntley’s Savage snuck in and stole the show.

CONCLUSION

When it was time to pack up, you couldn’t find a single person who wasn’t donning a smile. We were given an opportunity to bash with a real monster truck, and at the same time had the chance to introduce Pat and his son to our favorite hobby. As RC cars become more popular, there is no telling what kind of opportunities lie ahead. Local clubs all over the country have arranged to perform at monster truck events. Seek out these clubs for your own chance to perform live for an audience.

Links

CTSAVAGELAND.com

HPI Racing, www.hpiracing.com, (949) 753-1099.

For more information, please see the source guide in the magazine.