The students of Thornton Public couldn’t stop themselves smiling as they peered through the bars of the school fence at the aptly named “Convict” monster truck which was parked outside.
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The 1600 horsepower, turbo-charged, ethanol-fuelled V8 machine towered over the crowd in the Tuesday morning sun.
School principal John Millburn spoke through the PA system to the wide-eyed kids.
“It’s a very exciting morning,” he said.
“When I got a phone call saying do I want a monster truck to visit the school I didn’t think twice – I said I want it here.
“Even if it wouldn’t fit through the school gate.”
The truck visited the school in the lead-up to Newcastle’s Monster Slam event on Saturday night.
Monster events operations manager Rusty Bell spoke to the students about his dream of becoming a monster truck driver.
“It wasn’t too long ago I was sitting in a school in Brisbane and a monster truck man came and did a show.
“I knew from then I wanted to be a monster truck driver.
“I decided to study harder at school because, by hook or by crook, I wanted to drive the trucks.”
Mr Bell said that he eventually got the chance to live his dream but his enthusiasm almost got the better of him.
“The opportunity came up for me to drive and I took it with gusto – but a little too much gusto,” he said.
“I crushed too many trucks, my bosses said the damage bill was too high.
“But I got to stay on and now I use my English skills to travel around and secure events and talk at schools.”
Mr Bell said monster trucks began about four decades ago in America with the creation of the iconic “Bigfoot”.
“It’s evolved over 40 years to the big jumps and high flying we do today,” he said.
The Monster Slam will be held on Saturday May 28 from 6pm at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
Mr Bell said last year’s sold-out show saw one truck roll and slide into the big-screen.
This year’s will feature numerous trucks crushing cars, motorcross, fireworks and go-karts.
Tickets available online.
