The monster truck called Raging Inferno was on display and available for rides at the Mojave Auto Group Auto Toyota Dealership on Friday. The truck will take part in a show at the fairgrounds in Victorville on Saturday night.
BARSTOW — There are two things the Quercio family out of the San Fernando Valley does well — sell hot dogs and destroy cars.
"People like to see things destroyed and I like to destroy things," Rick Quercio said. He drives the Raging Inferno. It's a 1988 pump fire truck on huge tires with a J34 jet engine that blows 35 feet of flames out of a large tail pipe.The truck, along with a Cupids Hot Dogs truck, was on display at Mojave Auto Group dealership on Main Street on Friday afternoon. Quercio offered rides to kids, while hot dogs were being served. The Raging Inferno has room for 25 people on top of the truck. The passengers can peer below at the J34 jet engine.Friday's event was a primer for Saturday's Monster Truck Show at the High Desert Event Center. Gates open 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the dealership."It's like a giant blow torch," Quercio said of the jet engine and tail pipe."I will stack a couple of cars to reach the height of the tail pipe and then hammer them for 2 1/2 minutes until I blow them up," he said. "I will blow the top car off and blow a hole right through a car. It's incredible."It gets red hot, plus it goes through the afterburners. Boom, boom, boom. It rattles the grandstands. Fire, smoke. It's pretty spectacular."Quercio's team includes his wife, brother and niece. They started 25 years ago and travel throughout the world, doing 55 shows a year. He recalls doing a show with Motley Crue and American NHRA drag racing champion John Force in 1985."It's very comfortable. I usually keep the window up with the radio on listening to slow and easy oldies. No, I'm kidding," he said, laughing. "They actually get more of a show outside because they can see the fire and percussion will resonate around the arena. So I really do have the quietest seat in the house. But I control it. You know what I mean."