The story caught my eye in part because a couple years ago I was at a beach near Bradenton--located between Sarasota and Tampa Bay--watching the activities of a wind-surfing club for a while. An eight-wheel monster truck would have been quite disruptive in the middle of that scene.
The owner/driver of this 8-wheel beast is Tony Detwiler and his handle on various social media platforms is WhistlinDiesel. According to BunkerBranding.com "Whistlin Diesel is basically everything you’ve thought of doing with your truck but you’d never ACTUALLY do."
And that's the heart of this story here. He said he was going to drive out into the sea, and he did.
I'm curious how much he knew with regard to the terrain below the surface before trying the stunt. Or are beaches there universally uniform with few surprises?
Holderith wrote that according to an Instagram post, "Floating seemingly thanks to the immense amount of air in its tires, the truck made it into the water before local authorities arrived. No, it doesn't have a propeller—he just drove it into the water before getting pulled back by a boat, surrounded by the Coast Guard, sheriff's office and Department of Natural Resources."
The name Detwiler has given his Duramax dieel-powered Silverado is "Monstermax." The eight wheels are purportedly from a piece of heavy machinery.
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If you've ever been to a monster truck exhibition, you've probably noticed a few things. First, kids love 'em. Second, these monsters can certainly produce power. And third, a lot of these guys are probably emblematic of the Peter Pan Syndrome. You know the tune, "I won't grow up!"
The most famous monster truck of all time is probably Grave Digger. One reason might be because there are more Grave Digger monsters than you realize. I was going to say here that there were 28 Grave Diggers, but in fact checking I learned there have been 41 built over the years, and 7 still in circulation.
As for Detwiler's antics on the Florida shore, here's a link to TheDrive where you can see a whole batch of photos and links to more: Here's Why an Eight-Wheeled Silverado Monster Truck Went Sailing into a South Florida Bay.
Dennis Anderson came up with the concept for Grave Digger® back in 1981. Originally built out of an old 1951 Chevy Panel Wagon and parts that he scrounged from junkyards, Grave Digger as of today has grown by leaps and bounds. No longer do the trademark red headlights come off of old school buses, and the paint job has changed from a dull orange to the famous green and black flame motif we see today. Grave Digger is one of the most decorated Monster Jam® trucks in the world and Anderson has won four Monster Jam World Finals® championships, capturing the racing title in 2004 and 2006, and the freestyle title in 2010 and 2011.
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