Tony and his monster truck crush the competition to be crowned UK champion

A BOWERHILL resident has returned from the Monster Truck Nationals crowned a double UK champion.

Tony Dixon, who competes in his monster truck ‘Swamp Thing’, was crowned the UK champion in both the racing and freestyle elements of the competition at the Monster Truck Nationals held at the Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire last month. “It’s my favourite show of the year and it feels awesome to win it,” said Tony.

He beat off competition from five other monster trucks to retain the racing title. “We’re all really friendly and support each other, but as soon as it’s time to compete, it’s helmets down and engines on, everyone wants to win.”

As well as gunning for his seventh straight win in the racing competition, Tony was aiming to win back the freestyle title after losing it last year. “I didn’t win the freestyle competition last year after crashing and rolling the truck, so this year I had a point to prove.”

As part of his freestyle routine Tony and his monster truck jumped over a caravan stacked on top of a bus wowing the crowds and  impressing the judges.

After being announced as the winner, Tony gave the crowd another thrill, performed a triple caravan crush as an encore.

“I’m already signed up for next year, I want to keep both the titles.”

Off the track Tony and his monster truck have been busy filming with the BBC and will appear on a couple of children’s programmes, including ‘How to be epic at everything’ on the CBBC channel on Wednesday 4th October.