Nothing beats home cooking and your backyard, which is what the Hooked Monster Truck team had this past weekend for the 18th Annual Monsters On The Beach. For Steven Sims it would be his fourth year straight year in the event he grew up watching for so many years. After thrilling performances the past few years Sims was hoping to take the King Of The Beach title, but most importantly he was hoping to thrill the hometown fans that had supported his family over the years. Sims took a no hold’s barred approach to the weekend giving everything he and the truck had to give and it would be a thrilling weekend for all.
Friday night would start the weekend of events off and Sims got a great start with a second place finish in the wheelie contest, scoring 18 out of 20 points. Round one of racing put the youngster against 25 year veteran Dan Runte and Bigfoot. Runte would sneak away with a round one victory and end Sims’ racing efforts early. In freestyle Sims cut loose and let it all hang out as he put on a spectacular run getting by far the biggest air of the night and being the most aggressive driver on the track. Unfortunately the engine would lose oil pressure a little earlier than Sims would’ve liked forcing him to cut short his run. The result would be a second place in the competition, coming up just one point shy of tying for the victory. In the overall point standings it would be Hooked in third place just 8 points behind his father in first place after one event.
The second event of the weekend took place Saturday afternoon where another strong start got the event going for Sims and Hooked as they put up a 17 point score in the wheelie contest. The day would also see a good racing outing from Sims as he knocked out both Heavy Hitter and Bigfoot on his way to the finals. Former teammate and Hooked pilot Bryan Wright would be his final round opponent in Walking Tall. The two friends had a close race but it would be Wright getting the advantage and taking the victory. The freestyle competition saw several great performances from the competition, but there was no denying Sims the victory as he pushed Hooked to the absolute limits with a big air assault. The biggest jumps continued to come from Sims with a ferocious pace and even a tailgate dragging slap wheelie was thrown into the mix to seal the victory by 4 points over his dad in the Stone Crusher. In the overall standings Hooked was in a tie for second place just five points behind the Stone Crusher in first.
A few hours later the third event of the weekend was set to get underway as the sun set on the Oceanfront. The wheelie contest didn’t quite go as expect for Sims as the last truck out the cars were beaten down and he just didn’t get the launch he was hoping for, but managed to get a solid wheelie and 14 points for his efforts. Round one of racing saw familiar opponent Runte and Bigfoot for the third time on the weekend. Like Friday night it would be Runte getting the upperhand and ending Sims’ racing efforts early. After a somewhat disappointing evening in the results column, Sims unleashed Hooked with yet another high flying performance as he ripped up the beach and had the crowd on their feet. The score wouldn’t be enough to take the victory but it would be enough to keep him within striking distance of the title at 19 points behind Stone Crusher with one event remaining.
While 19 points would be a lot to make up Sims was up to the challenge to try and chase down his dad and make things very interesting in the points chase on Sunday afternoon. The day started off well enough with a great sky wheelie as Sims planted the tailgate into the top of the cars straight up and down. They would tie with Heavy Hitter for the win at a score of 19 which closed the gap to 17 on the Stone Crusher. Hooked would take out Heavy Hitter in round one of racing which inched him even closer to the lead. Unfortunately for Sims, Runte and Bigfoot had their number once again in the semi-finals and took out Hooked to end their racing efforts in the semi-finals. The points chase was put out of reach early in freestyle after the Stone Crusher clinched the title with a great run as the second truck out, but that didn’t mean the young Sims wasn’t still going to go for the win. As the last driver out Sims was unrelenting and went ballistic with a phenomenal run. The biggest leaps of the weekend just kept coming and despite the truck taking some hard side slaps, Sims was able to react quick enough and save the truck from rolling over. After making yet another monstrous leap, Sims made a spectacular save but started to run out of room before plowing into a bus and barrel rolling over it and onto the roof. It was a thrilling finish to a great performance and Sims climbed to the top of that same bus to salute the fans. The run was a clear cut winner with a score of 39 ending the weekend just 11 points behind his dad in the Stone Crusher. Steven joined his dad Steve for the trophy presentation for a great father-son moment.
A big thank you to all of our awesome fans, friends, and family who continue to support us year after year. “We come out here every year to run these trucks into the ground for them. We don’t care what it takes, we’re here to make those people happy,” said Sims following the event. Also a huge thanks to the crew for all their hard work and dedication throughout the weekend on both the Stone Crusher and Hooked. Tommy, Kevin, Craig and everyone else who helped out gave everything they had and the end result was both trucks at the top of the point standings at the end of the weekend.
