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One fan at the Malicious Monster Truck Tour stop in Bremerton, Washington got a little more than they bargained for when a giant tire flew off one of the competitor’s trucks and crushed their car. While, luckily, no one was hurt, one spectator’s Kia Spectra was no match for the close to several hundred-pound tire when it flew off the track and into the parking lot.
Look out below
The event, which took place at the the Thunderbird Arena at the Kitsap Fairgrounds on July 19, was going along as normal when a Monster Truck named Veteran took to the dirt. While performing it’s repertoire of jumps, donuts and, of course, crushing the cars it was supposed to smash, the left front wheel popped off during a hard landing after leaping off a ramp and over another vehicle parking below.
The tire, bouncing like a rubber ball, then careened over the signage in the arena and flew into the parking lot. As can be seen in multiple videos of the tire taking off, it is actually surprising that it only hit the Kia Spectra and a Subaru (that suffered much less damage) and not several vehicles. On the plus side, thankfully, no one was injured by the stray Monster Truck wheel, because according to Popular Mechanics, Monster Truck tires typically weigh between 800 and 900 pounds – and that’s not counting the giant wheel that it is mounted on.
KIRO News reports that the event’s organizer, Bill Payne of Straight Up Racing, said that once it was determined that no one was hurt by the stray Monster Truck tire, the event continued on as planned.
“Well, this last show here in Bremerton was something else,” Monster Trucks Washington wrote on their Instagram page. “A tire off of veteran went flying over the backflip ramp into the parking lot down below absolutely smashing a car. Luckily no one was injured! For sure a memorable weekend and I can’t wait to be back next year!”
The tour’s response
The Malicious Monster Truck addressed the incident on their Facebook page with a message.
“Hi Everyone! You may have heard that we had an incident during our Sunday performance in Bremerton,” they wrote. “One truck had a tire separate, which ended up in the parking lot beyond the end of the track. First, the fantastic news that no one was injured. That is the most important thing. Multiple cars were damaged. We want to get out in front of this so you hear it from us & not any uninformed or sensationalized source on TV or online.
“Motorsports are unpredictable. The truck involved was running industry-standard wheel restraints. Fact is, there is no piece of metal in existence that will always stand up to the forces involved in monster truck competition. We were quickly in contact with both the Kitsap County Fair Board & a fencing company to collaborate on a plan of action to help reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future.
“Accidents happen, even unprecedented incidents such as this & we will always do everything we can to help further the safety of this great sport we all love. Our backflip ramp Camera captured the most dramatic angle of the incident. We wanted to prove we are hiding from nothing & want to be as transparent & open about it as possible.”