Monster bash at fairgrounds

Monster trucks wow fans at the "Tournament of Destruction"

It was a show that could promise destruction.

Four monster trucks came to Moses Lake and the Grant County Fairgrounds on Saturday to do what "High Anxiety" driver Christopher Roy said fans like to see: "carnage."

"People love destruction and they love that type of thing," Roy said, who was the promoter of the event.

There was mud bogs and a demolition derby that kept the crowd in suspense between monster truck events. With mud slinging into the stands, truck after jeep pushed its way through a runway with mud two-feet deep and about 30 yards long.

But, when the monsters of the arena showed off their stuff, the crowd went wild and as the trucks put on the show.

"We started right off with rocking the show with the freestyle and the wheelie and I was really happy because most of the crowd was here at the end of the show and that usually doesn't happen," Roy said.

"Carolina Crusher," driven by Billy Thames, opened the evening in the wheelie competition. Thames reached for the sky in his yellow and red machine, only to be outdone by "Playin' for Keeps."

Thames, who was the youngest professional monster truck driver at the age of 16, started the business three years ago with a lot of thanks to Roy's guiding light.

"I was doing teenage stuff and gettting into trouble and Chris, he took me under his wing and from 16 on, he gave me a choice and I have been doing this ever since and it is awesome," Thames said.

Thames was the rookie in the mis of four drivers and lost the wheelie competition and freestyle competition to an overwhelming majority. Roy's "High Anxiety" brought home the top award for the freestyle program and later surpassed "Playin' for Keeps" in the head-to-head races for the championship.

Roy's road to the monster truck scene began with the childhood favorite "Big Foot" monster truck.

"I saw 'Big Foot' in seventh grade and I was addicted," Roy said. "I saved up my nickels, dimes and pennies and bought one."

Roy pushed his "High Anxiety" to the limit. In the wheelie round of the monster truck action, Roy hit that first car and reached takeoff, extending the front end of his $100,000 vehicle towards the sky.

His performance was outdone by "Playin' for Keeps," who won over the crowd when his rig left the competition on the ground. With the grandstands almost filled to capacity at the fairgrounds, the fans stood and let their voices be heard as they selected "Playin' for Keeps" as champion of the wheelie competition.

That was the type of crowd, Roy said, they came to Moses Lake to perform for.

"It is cool because it is small town and an intimate environment," Roy added. "Most people can't go to Seattle or Spokane, but if they have a venue, we will bring it to them."

"Tonight was a good night, the trucks are all still together and the fans had fun," Roy said. "I would rather lose money on a show that I was happy with, than make money on a show that wasn't good."