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For seventeen years Clive Featherby brought his roaring monster truck troupe to Dapto, but now it's time for greener pastures in the northern Illawarra.
This Saturday Featherby will bring his larger-than-life Outback Thunda machine to Bulli Showgrounds for the first time, along with international motorcycle stunt riders, a flame throwing jet truck, "comedy cars" which roll upside down, a fireworks and laser light show, plus other "extreme" feats.
We're like Santa and bringing all the little toys into a giant reality.
- Clive Featherby
He said the weekend's event would be the biggest showground gig with fireworks he has ever organised, but promised it wouldn't just be about big trucks but "everything that kids like".
"Our audience is primarily kids and mums and dads ... and a five-year-old loses attention if you just keep the one same thing going all the time," Featherby told the Mercury.
"Anything that can thrill a little kid, we're like Santa and bringing all the little toys into a giant reality."
This is the 25th year he's been driving monster trucks, a profession which has taken him all over the world.
Featherby's love for adrenaline began with Speedway bikes but after his brother died racing them in England the sport was no longer the same for him.
"It's been a great job my whole life," he said. "I love coming here [to the Illawarra], and I still stay at the Dandaloo Hotel every year."
Cassius Stevenson, 17, is the youngest monster truck driver in Australia and is now part of Featherby's team which tour the country.
The young gun said he began driving the giant beasts at age 11 and "crushed" his first car at age 12.
"I used to come to the shows my grandfather [Robert Stevenson] who used to run them, I used to come out as a kid and used to watch from the pits," he said.
"It's the adrenaline rush, that's what it's all about when you go out there. You're a bit nervous, you've got a bit of butterflies in your stomach, and then you just hit that first car and you get that adrenaline rush and you want to go bigger and better each time."
The Monster Trucks and Thrillmasters Extreme runs for around 90 minutes at Bulli Showground, on Saturday April 23. The main program runs from 4pm - 5.45pm. Tickets children $35, adults (15+) $45.
In the event rain forces the event's cancellation, it will be moved to the following Saturday April 30.
More details at: www.monstertruckpromotionsaustralia.com