American Speedfest & Monster Jam Ride

Today we had one of the most amazing days out at Brands Hatch for the annual American Speedfest race event. At one point it was touch and go whether we were actually going to make it there despite already having our tickets. The reason for this was that only about 12 hours earlier Brandon had come down with some sort of bug and was up all night being sick. Fortunately by the morning he seemed OK and managed to eat some breakfast, so our "petrol head" day was on. Maybe his sickness was merely excitement at the thought of going to see race cars the next day????

A trip to Brands Hatch was one of the items on my Mum's bucket list and for sure had she of still been with us today then we would have taken her. However as she couldn't be there in person, me and the boys still made sure she was with us in spirit by me wearing my "Kismet" hat the the boys wearing their "Andy Capp" hats that she bought them both. Mum/Nan was always keen for us to make the Kismet cap travel far and wide on all of our adventures.

Anyway upon arrival at the gates the first thing we stumbled across was the Monster Truck arena. Now I knew that there was going to be monster truck displays but little did I know we would be able to have a ride on a monster truck!!!! Oh yes, me and Little B could not join the queue quick enough to get our turn at squashing some cars in the 500 bhp Ford F350 Red Dragon Monster Jam. For those that don't know Brandon is a Monster Jam enthusiast and has just about all of the toy cars so to be able to ride on one was like a dream come true for him.



So here is red dragon which we waited about 20 to ride on. Well worth the wait though.

Later in the day we got to see the amazing Monster Jam Swamp Thing going airborne.

The boys getting all excited as we are next to ride. Unfortunately no Mummy due to potential risks for the baby. The yellow ladder is how you climb up into the back of the truck.

And here we are all strapped in and ready to crush some cars. Don't ask about Brandon's face, he was excited and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Our cars were all lined up ready for some crushing.

This is a view over the side as we drove over the top of the cars. Just amazing.

At the end of the ride me and B pose in front of Red Dragon. This piccy gives you an idea of the size of this truck.

A cheeky picture of the 3 of us in front of Swamp Thing.

The monster truck ride was just incredible. The noise of the engine was phenomenal. The front and rear steering makes this beast surprisingly manoeuvrable and wicked for doing donuts as we soon found out. The raw power and aggression of this machines is just indescribable. This was the highlight of our day and such a bonus to be able to take the boys on a Monster Jam ride. Worth every penny.

We also saw a Plymouth Superbee which the boys recognise as the Dinoco King off of Disney Cars.

The boys also got to see one of the most spectacular views of all time, a parking lot full of Corvettes!!!

The on track racing was really entertaining with a good range of cars from Muscle Cars, NASCAR's, Arial Atoms and various other categories. We pretty much covered the whole of the track and watched various races from different advantage points such as the druids hair pin and the fast descending paddock curve. The leader of the race shown below was wearing a white crash helmet and as a result of this Brandon kept asking me if that was the Stig driving? How funny.

In this class of race cars the boys were worryingly cheering on the car decorated with the McDonald's livery!

Brandon knows a great car when he sees one. A C5 Indy 500 pace car.

The NASCAR's on the track were brutally awesome and had such a sweet V8 roar as the ripped down the track.

Me and the boys celebrating in winners row. This was the actual podium they used for all the race presentations throughout the day.

God only knows what this pose is from Joshua.

It was great to see a lot of my favourite TV themed cars present and on display bringing back some great childhood memories. This was a great chance to educate the boys about the sort of cars which I still desire even today.

Starting with probably my favourite of all time, it could only be the General Lee.

The boys reliably inform me this Corvette runs on Allinol and is from Disney Cars 2 (they were right as well!).

The Starsky and Hutch Torino and in the background the A-Team van.

Me, the boys and the General.

"I love it when a plan comes together!".

They even had "Faces" Corvette. The boys don't believe that I used to own a black one of these.

Little B in a single seater race car. He had to stand otherwise you wouldn't see his head!

Joshua can just about see out of the cockpit.

They even had a display of funny cars and top fuel dragsters on display.

I know the driver of that red car?

Could our next "Petrol head" day be at Santa Pod itself?

This car was pretty weird but had an awesome paint job. I think me and the boys saw these cars on TV a few weeks ago.

Good to see an old Capri mixing it up with some racing around druids.

An old Corvette tearing around druids.

Petrol head 1 with a Camaro about to come into the background.

Petrol Head 2 - Brandon was fixed on the racing most of the day and absolutely loved it.

More action from druids as one car skids off a bit wide.

1.21 Gigawatts..........how could I be so wreck less????????

Time to go back to the future. I can't wait to sit down with the boys and watch the BTTF films one day.

Joshua and Brandon enjoying some fun time in the kids FunZone.

Towards the end of our day we went back to the Monster Truck display to watch Swamp Thing doing its thing. If we thought the noise of Red Dragon was loud, this truck was on a whole different level and after about 10 mins actually had the boys covering their ears and asking to stand back a bit further as it was giving them a headache. For me it was music to the ears.........

Swamp Thing turning around in front of us.

Wow, Swamp Thing gets airborne as it jumps over the cars we flattened earlier in the day using Red Dragon.

And then on the next run the Monster Jam goes even higher. How do this beasts jump so high?

Before heading home we had one more activity which Joshua wanted to have a go at, that was to do a bit off off road driving on a petrol driven quad bike.

Joshua all geared up with his shark patterned crash helmet.

Inspired by all of the racing he has seen today, Joshua tears off in front of his quad bike race. Doesn't he look a big boy out there.

Another amazing day out for the boys. I look forward to hearing what Joshua writes about at school tomorrow during his news writing from the weekends adventures. Will it be Forest Glade trophies or Monster Jam trucks???