Featured – Crushing for the Cure Monster Truck

UPDATE: October is breast cancer awareness month. We decided to rerun this post as a reminder to everyone!

Pink monster trucks aren’t a typical feature of the professional car crushing circuit – but then again, teams like Crushing for the Cure are far from the standard crew of nitro-methane enthusiasts.  As the name might suggest, the people behind Crushing for the Cure are dedicated to spreading awareness about breast cancer and to raising funds to help combat this terrible disease.

Kathy Willis and TNT.

Crushing for the Cure is the result of the passion that driver Kathy Willis and husband Ged Barcroft have for both 4×4 action and social conscience. Natives of Alberta, Canada, Kathy got behind the wheel of her truck TNT for the first time in 2005, becoming Canada’s only female monster truck driver. TNT is a Ford F550 that runs a 429 Super Cobra Jet that has been bored out to 493 cubic inches and fitted with an 871 blower. The injected methanol setup puts out roughly 1,400 horsepower, which runs through a modified C6 transmission that turns 66-inch Firestone tires. Coombs shocks give the truck 20 inches of front travel and 26 inches of travel at the rear, which is more than enough to devour stacks of junk cars at monster truck events around North America. Ged also runs a truck called Sheer Insanity when the team’s schedule permits.

Crushing for the Cure’s TNT in action.

TNT’s bright pink paint job is unmistakable on the monster truck tour, and Willis has breast cancer awareness messages emblazoned all over the vehicle, making it impossible to miss the purpose of her campaign. Crushing for the Cure supports both the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, each of which are dedicated to advancing breast cancer research. In addition to turning in some impressive performances in the dirt, Kathy also spends a lot of time connecting with cancer survivors and their families before and after each monster truck event, many of whom approach her to express their support for her dedication to keeping breast cancer awareness out in the open.

Using monster trucks as platforms for social change and medical fundraising is certainly unusual, but the response generated by TNT thanks to the efforts of Willis and Barcroft is to be commended. For those who would like to find out more about how they can donate to help fight breast cancer, information is available at each of the foundation links listed above.

NOTE: We featured this truck because of the fact that it supports breast cancer…we’re not getting Ford envy over here!