It was a monster weekend at the Penticton Speedway with trucks crushing cars and riders pulling freestyle tricks on bikes.
Monster trucks Rock Star, California Kid, Captain USA and Airborne Ranger all impressed Speedway owner Johnny Aantjes.
“Rock Star, he put on a great show both nights,” said Aantjes.
The only slight disappointment was in the crowds, which turned out slightly smaller than expected Saturday and Sunday. Aantjes figures the heat played a factor on Sundays, but overall, he felt the weekend was good and will bring them back next year.
“The freestyle motorcross guys did an awesome job,” he said. “Reagan Sieg, Jeff Fehr, the Canadian champion, doing double back flips and stuff, they did awesome.”
Sieg, who resides in Vernon, wasn’t able to ride because of an injury suffered in Edmonton, but he completed the setup and was the announcer.
“The shows went good. I was there for Saturday, pretty good crowd, always a good time,” said Sieg, who hit the concrete while performing tricks in the Alberta capital. “Good atmosphere up there. Trucks put on a bit of a demonstration for sure.”
Fehr, Kris Foster and Billy Kohut launched themselves into the air with the help of 75-foot jumps ramp-to-ramp. During and after performances, riders talked to fans and signed various souvenirs. Sieg said he is in talks with Penticton Speedway to have another event close to October that would be “bigger and more fun.”
While crowd sizes weren’t what Aantjes hoped for, he still liked that it was a group that doesn’t normally come to the Speedway.
“They get a chance to come up and check it out,” he said. “Everybody that I talked to thought it was a great show. Everybody liked being outdoors, we had beautiful weather.”
Having the monster trucks and freestyle bikes provide the entertainment also gave the Hit to Pass and Street stock cars a break. They return to the track Saturday with races beginning at 8 p.m. On Aug. 27, Aantjes is excited about Eve of Destruction.
“That’s going to be a huge event,” he said. “We expect it to be our biggest event to date.”
Aantjes is also working to get their motorcross track and hill climb deal working. He also wants to see the Hornet class expand and attract new racers, while shuffling other drivers. Those interested in joining are encouraged to go to http://www.pentictonspeedway.com/index.html.