The Malicious Monster Truck Tour made its debut at the Clark County Fair after fair management sought a change in companies to bring the excitement of monster trucks back.
The Malicious Monster Trucks, out of Port Orchard, headlined by 20-year veteran Bill Payne driving Rockstar, made a statement for all four shows on Thursday, Aug. 13, and Friday, Aug. 14, with high-flying action.
In monster truck “Elbows Up,” a driver is still trying to find his way and build experience show after show. For Joe Briggs, driving a monster truck is the culmination of a dream that began when he was 3 years old.
Briggs, a 43-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, native and new driver for the Elbows Up monster truck, made his Clark County Fair debut Thursday, Aug. 13, bringing years of mechanical and pit-crew experience to the driver’s seat this year.
“I saw my first monster truck and I was hooked,” Briggs said. “So after that, I've followed them all my life.”
Briggs spent 12 years working as a pit crew member at local shows before getting an opportunity to join a team full time. He said the position required him to uproot his life and move across the country, but it eventually gave him a chance to pursue the goal of driving.
“I was a mechanic by trade,” Briggs said. “I always tried to learn how they work and what the components were like, and then, as I got older, I started going to small shows talking to owners and got the opportunity to actually start helping in the pits with small tasks.”
As he demonstrated his abilities, Briggs said he gradually took on more responsibility, learning about the machines and how to identify potential problems.
Eventually, the team he now drives for posted online that it was looking for full-time employees with the possibility of driving.
“And I uprooted my life, moved across the country and worked full time,” Briggs said. “I've been home six days this year.”
The Clark County Fair offered Briggs and the Malicious Monster Trucks crew a different type of venue than some of the larger speedways on the tour. With a smaller arena, Briggs said safety and adapting to the available space are priorities.
“We try to do the best, fun show we can with the space we have,” Briggs said. “It's a little bit of a smaller arena here. So obviously, for safety, we're going to be, you know, cautious with our stuff. But we try to put on a good, fun show for everybody.”
For Briggs, freestyle is the highlight.
“My favorite part of the show is freestyle,” he said. “You know, the racing is fun, but I kind of like just going out and doing whatever I want.”
Despite the spectacle of monster trucks, Briggs said there is considerably more technique involved than simply stepping on the accelerator and launching over ramps.
“People think we just kind of point and shoot, stomp it to the floor and go,” he said. “That wouldn't be a very productive thing for us.”
Drivers study the jumps, the distances and the available space before deciding how to approach each obstacle. Briggs said he has continued to improve at judging ramps and controlling his speed during his first year behind the wheel.
“I'm still a newer driver,” Briggs said. “This is my first year. October will be a year behind the wheel. So, I'm still kind of learning things.”
Briggs said the demanding schedule, which includes driving, maintenance, fabrication and transporting equipment, is balanced by the opportunity to climb into a monster truck and perform for crowds.
“But the reward is we get to go out and kind of do whatever we want in one of these trucks for a couple of minutes,” he said. “And that's a hard thing to pass on.”
Briggs hopes his path demonstrates that becoming a monster truck driver is attainable for those willing to work toward it.
“If you put your heart into it and you learn things that will help commercial driver's license, mechanic experience, fabrication,” he said, “you can accomplish getting behind the wheel of one of these things without spending half a million dollars to buy your own.”
