Over the last nine years the annual Monsters On The Beach has been a mainstay on the Stone Crusher Monster Truck team’s schedule. The hometown event is one of the most looked forward to events for driver Steve Sims and the entire crew as it’s a weekend at one of the most unique Monster Truck events in the country right in their backyard. Many local fans make the trip down to the Oceanfront to cheer on their local hero’s in the Sims family with the Stone Crusher and Hooked trucks so the team goes the extra mile to make sure the fans that have supported them from day one get an amazing show each and every time the trucks hit the track. This year would be no different as they battled for the King of the Beach title as well as the George Carpenter Cup trophy awarded to the winner. After three straight years of coming up short Sims would not be denied as he pulled out all the stops and would finally claim the trophy.
Friday night would be the first of four events on the weekend where Sims and the Stone Crusher team looked to pick up some points early in the weekend in their pursuit of the title. The wheelie contest started off well as Sims got the Stone Crusher vertical enough to score 17 out of a possible 20 points. The straightline drag racing hasn’t been Sims’ strongest discipline over the years but on Friday night Sims was on a roll as he took out arguably three of the strongest racing trucks in the field on his way to the win, defeating Walking Tall in round one, Bounty Hunter in the semi-finals, and Bigfoot by a narrow margin in the finals. The racing victory would earn Sims 30 more points to add to his weekend total towards the championship. Shortly before freestyle a thick and heavy fog rolled over the Oceanfront, but the drivers weren’t phased as they all put on great performances for the capacity crowd. Sims delivered an aggressive run with plenty of big air during his freestyle, earning a score of 35 out of 40 points and coming up just shy of the win. At the end of the night Sims and Stone Crusher would be the overall points leader by 3 points over the Bounty Hunter.
The Saturday afternoon saw another strong start from Sims and the Stone Crusher as they opened up the afternoon with a wheelie contest win and a perfect score of 20 to improve their overall points lead. In round one of racing Sims would take the win over Scarlet Bandit to advance into the semi-finals. His opponent in the next round would be good friend and former teammate Bryan Wright and Walking Tall. Wright cut a great light and would edge out his old boss to move on into the finals before taking the overall racing win. Wright’s win would put him right behind Sims in the standings by just 4 points heading into freestyle. Freestyle saw plenty of wild action from the Stone Crusher as Sims pushed the truck to it’s limits with more insane air and thrilling moves during his run. A flash fire erupted late in his freestyle run which would cut his efforts short, but luckily for Sims the fire was quickly extinguished and his score would be a 34 which was good enough for second place to his son Steven. At the end of the second event the Stone Crusher team improved their overall lead to 5 points over Walking Tall heading into the Saturday night event.
As the sun set and the third of four events were set to get underway the Stone Crusher crew made some quick repairs to get ready for the night ahead as Sims looked to improve his lead in the overall standings. Once again the wheelie contest started off the event with a great points performance as Sims planted the Stone Crusher’s tailgate into the last car and picked up a score of 19. Walking Tall would just out do the Stone Crusher with a score of 20 but only gained one point in the process. Unfortunately for the Walking Tall team, they suffered damage in the wheelie contest and would not be able to make their round one race against the Stone Crusher. With the easy bye run the Stone Crusher moved onto the semi-finals where they would take out the River Rat on their way to the finals. The final would be a rematch from Friday night as the Stone Crusher lined up next to Bigfoot. This time it would be Bigfoot getting a slight edge over the Stone Crusher and picking up the win. With Walking Tall missing racing and the Stone Crusher making the finals, Sims made a huge gain over the field in the overall standings heading into freestyle. They would cap off the great points night with a one point freestyle victory over son Steven and Hooked to stretch out their lead to 19 points.
With just one event remaining on the weekend and a size-able lead the Stone Crusher team were the obvious favorites for the overall title, but the wear and tear over the course of the weekend had done a number to the truck’s motor. Crew chief Tommy Powers along with crew members Kevin Lewis and Craig Barnhill prepped the truck the best they could for the final event and hoped bad luck wouldn’t get in their way and take away the trophy for the fourth straight year. The day started off well in the wheelie contest with Sims scoring a 17 and finishing third in the contest as son Steven and Hooked were only able to gain two points in the standings. Racing saw an early exit though as the Stone Crusher would be defeated by Scarlet Bandit in round one which gave the competition a chance to make up some ground before freestyle. As racing concluded and the points were totaled, it was revealed that a freestyle score of 27 would clinch the title for Sims and the Stone Crusher team. With that number in mind Sims was determined to put it out of reach from the competition and win the title at all costs. Ailing motor or not, Sims and the Stone Crusher would not be denied as they attacked the track one final time in freestyle, with a relentless performance. Their efforts paid off as the score of 36 would clinch the championship and the trophy!
Following freestyle an elated Steve Sims was presented the George Carpenter Cup trophy by event organizer Bobby Melati of BeachEvents. As Sims hoisted the trophy over his head he would be joined by his son Steven who finished second in the overall standings. It was a proud family moment for the father and son duo. A big thank you goes out to all of our great fans, family, and sponsors for supporting us each and every year. We also have to thank the crew for all their effort throughout the weekend in keeping the trucks going. Tommy, Kevin, Craig, and everyone else involved gave it their all to make it all possible. We can’t wait to be back again in 2016 to defend the title!