There are ratchets on the sides so we cinch ourselves in as tight as we can so we can hardly breathe,' he said. He straps himself into a custom-fitted seat via a five-point harness system - two shoulder straps, two waist straps, and a strap that comes up between his legs. McQueen climbs up into the cab of Northern Nightmare over tires that stand nearly six feet tall, through a small space in the floor.
He studied mechanical engineering at SAIT in Calgary, but quickly figured out he much preferred driving to drawing on paper. The bona fide gearhead loved working on anything with a motor - old snowmobiles, dirt bikes, jet skis, and trucks - in high school. 'I would go out in my little Toyota and beat the heck out of it,' he said. He graduated to Tuff Truck competitions during the intermissions of monster truck shows. McQueen, who lives in Kelowna, B.C., got an early start in motorsports, riding dirt bikes at age five and racing motocross by age 11. It's the start of a lot of days of good things.' 'This is all-Canadian, every nut and bolt on there, going to have a Canadian driving it, Canadians working on it, and Canadian fans supporting us,' McQueen said of his new truck, painted black with splashes of red maple leaves. The Calgary native will drive Northern Nightmare, named via an online contest, in the Maple Leaf Monster Jam Tour that will roar through six Canadian cities in 2012.
