I had the pleasure of meeting owner & driver
of the Equalizer Monster Truck David Morris, in Springfield, Missouri in
1998. Here's some questions I put to him.
Q) How did you get into Monster Truck Racing
?
A) "I started out on
the street with big tires on my pickup truck, which seemed to get bigger
& bigger, until it was to big to drive it on the street, so I got into
Monster Truck racing"
Q) How long have you been driving Monster Trucks
?
A) "11 years now"
Q) What was going through your mind the first
time you crushed some cars ?
A) "The
first time I went over a pile of cars, there wasn't much really going through
my mind, until after I hit them & went flying into the air & thought
about what was going to happen, when I come back down"
Q) Where was that ?
A) That
was at the shop. Me and a friend of mine. We wern't sure how it was gonna
go. It turned out well & we got started"
Q) Do you find it hard keeping your truck upto
date with the technical advancemant in the sport ?
A) "We've put
two trucks together since the first one. We used alot of parts from the
first one, to make the other two. The trucks nowadays, are much more expensive
to keep them competitive. In other words you gotta spend alot more money
to be able to keep up against other competitors in the sport"
Q) Have you ever rolled the truck ?
A) "Yeah, I crashed
my first truck twice. I didn't crash my second one, but I have crashed
this once"
Q) What was going through your mind as it was
happening or directly after the crash ?
A) "
The first time I crashed I was kinda scared, I
was just thinking about getting out. The last time I was think about what
would be hanging off the truck, when I get out."
Q) What do you enjoy most about being a Monster
Truck Driver ?
A) "Mostly just
going to differnt cities & meeting the fans. I enjoy racing, but I
like to get out & meet differnt people in differnt places."
Q) What don't you like about it ?
A) "The worst
thing is when you load the truck up in broken pieces, to go home."
Q) Do you mind all of the travelling which
is involved, to get to the different show's ?
A) "Doing
all the miles on the road, takes it toll on you after in a while."
Q) Are there any particular momments
in your career, which stick in your mind ?
A) "Yeah, I've
one a couple of National Championships since I started. I've had a few
2nd & 3rd place finishes. One place that sticks in my mind is the Tampa
Stadium in Florida. I've one every time I've been there.
Q) What about the future of the sport ? What
do you think there is to do to advance it further ?
A) "I would like
to see the sport get bigger & more people get involved. I'd like to
see more corparate sponsors involved in it "
I would like to personally thank David
Morris, for taking time out to answer my questions.
If you want to see pictures &
information on the Equalizer Monster Truck,
check out my Equalizer
page.
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