Monster truck driver looks to bring fans to edge of seats in Saskatoon

Watch the video above: a Saskatchewan man is looking to thrill crowds with his monster truck

SASKATOON – They’re loud, they’re tough and they draw quite the crowd. It’s not every day you see monster trucks in Saskatchewan, let alone one with a Saskatchewan driver.  A Melville area man will be crushing cars and hitting jumps in Saskatoon this weekend as part of the Motorsports Spectacular.

It maybe one of the coolest jobs on the planet, ripping around in an 11 foot tall, nine thousand pound monster truck. It’s a dream Trent Hickie had growing up on a farm south of Melville and now has been living the dream for three years.

“In Saskatchewan there’s not a lot of opportunity for it, so I tracked Mr. Don Frankish down in Alberta who happened to have a truck for sale, went to see him and ended up coming home with one,” said Hickie, the owner and driver of Maniac.

There are only a handful of monster truck drivers in the country, and Hickie’s is the only one from Saskatchewan.

His initial plan was to be part of a crew and drive for somebody else but owning his own monster truck is both a thrill and a challenge.

“I think most people come up as a fan when you get to be a kid and see them, then they come alive and you hear the truck and you see them do their thing and every kid I think says I want to do that, the problem is there’s only a very few that have that magical combination; mechanical background and that skill or ability,” said Doug de Nance, Monster Truck announcer.

The 37-year-old is competing this weekend in the Motorsports Spectacular at Credit Union Centre. Hickie says it’s fun to put on a show for a home crowd.

“Last year in this very building I had a very little excited fan come up to me, made my day. His dad told him every night when he goes to say his prayers, he thanks god for monster trucks,” Hickie said.

Thousands of fans are expected to be on the edge of their seats over the next three days.

The monster trucks are just some of the entertainment ready to put on a show starting Thursday night and going until Saturday.