EXCLUSIVE: Redneck Burning Man! Monster truck mud park show gathers thousands in bikinis and cowboy hats to Florida after it was postponed due to Hurricane Nicole
- Thousands of self-described rednecks flocked to southwestern Florida for the annual Redneck Mud Park Trucks Gone Wild Fall Classics festival
- DailyMail.com photographers caught women dressed in scantily-clad bikinis and cowboy hats grinding up against trucks and all-terrain vehicles as dozens of drivers competed in races for $4,000
- The event had to be postponed this year due to Hurricane Nicole, but organizers say it provided the perfect opportunity to forget about the ongoing cleanup efforts
- The Fall Classics are known for becoming raucous, with EMS crews responding to eight calls on average for every event at the Redneck Mud Park in Punta Gorda, Florida
Thousands of self-described rednecks flocked to southwestern Florida last week to party in the mud at a monster truck show, which provided the perfect excuse to forget about the ongoing clean-up efforts and get dirty.
DailyMail.com photographers caught all the raucous action at this year’s Redneck Mud Park Trucks Gone Wild Fall Classics, where women dressed in scantily-clad bikinis and cowboy hats grinded on trucks as dozens of drivers competed in the mega truck, side x side, truck pulling and barrel racing competitions for $4,000.
‘This huge event will be the biggest mud party that the South has ever seen,’ the website for the Fall Classics event reads.
It drew ‘thousands of campers and upwards of 10,000 visitors to the park over the festival weekend,’ Dave Kelly, the director of sales and marketing told DailyMail.com, noting: ‘The park is full service with sanitation, showers, food, security and full-time EMS and Charlotte County Sheriff deputies on site always.’
But some of those who bought their tickets early were disappointed to find out that the annual celebration was postponed as Hurricane Nicole battered the Florida coast, killing five people.
Thousands of self-described rednecks flocked down to southwestern Florida for this year’s Redneck Mud Park Trucks Gone Wild Fall Classics, where dozens of drivers competed in the mega truck, side x side, truck pulling and barrel racing competitions for $4,000
Jacqueline Orellaa, 21, and Nicki Lopez, 22, were among the 10,000 visitors to the mud park for the festival last week
Women at the annual Fall Classics are pictured twerking and partying in a smoke-filled area during the concerts on Saturday
Partygoers danced on top of the trucks and drank from their beer cans and liquor bottles at the Fall Classics Saturday night
A scantily-clad woman in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat was seen twerking on top of an all-terrain vehicle
Katie Moe, 23, Moe Benali, 25 and Karen Chanson, 21, posed in their bikinis sipping alcohol in front of an American-flag themed monster truck. Benali said he was having the time of his life at the four-day festival
A monster truck was painted red, white and blue with an eagle on it as it carried American and Confederate flags, as well as one prompting liberals to ‘Come and take it’ with a picture of a rifle
In a statement on its website, the mud park told monster truck enthusiasts that the Fall Classics would be postponed to early December.
‘Like many of you, we are extremely disappointed we had to make this call,’ the statement reads. ‘However, the projected path of this storm, which will impact not only the Redneck Mud Park area, but also the homes and lives of our fans on the East Coast of Florida leaves us no choice but to move the dates to ensure the safety and security of all.
‘Many of you remember the issues with flooded roads and campgrounds that we had at our event last November, and we are committed to never let that situation happen again,’ it continued.
‘We realize that these changes are very inconvenient for many of you. But in our minds, with so many folks losing so much in the past month, hosting a stormy, windy, wet event that potentially floods campgrounds and roads would be a mistake.
‘As always, we are committed to providing you with the absolute best mud experience possible.’
Those who could not make it to the new dates could use their tickets at the park’s Mud Wheelers Gone Wild event in January or at the Trucks Gone Wild Spring Break in March.
Some of those who bought tickets to the annual festival early were disappointed to find out it had been postponed due to Hurricane Nicole
The festival promised fun in the mud. A man is pictured here driving his ATV, dubbed the Gold Digger, through a mud hole
Mega Truck driver Joey Kitna, 23, wore red, white and blue overalls for the event as he competed for $4,000
A side x side racer sent mud flying as spectators watched admiringly from behind a fence on Saturday
One side x side driver completely flipped his vehicle into the mud, sending mud flying throughout the campgrounds
A ‘mega truck’ leaped into the air after speeding over ramps at a race along the muddy trails at the Redneck Mud Park
A side by side driver had to wade through the ankle-deep mud to inspect his vehicle after it overturned during a race
Spectators watched from the mega truck race on the Punta Gorda track from the comfort of their own all-terrain vehicles
It seemed the mud park in Punta Gorda, Florida made the right decision, as the deadly storm resulted in five deaths across the state.
Two of those who were killed died after they were electrocuted by a power line which was downed by the 75mph winds generated by the storm.
Authorities said a man and a woman made contact with a power line in Conway, Orlando, after getting out of a car with an unharmed toddler found in the vehicle.
The woman desperately tried to save the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, before she was rushed to hospital and declared deceased. The couple’s now-orphaned child was found in the car.
The sheriff’s office also said that two people were killed in a car crash on Florida’s Turnpike in Orange County.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a two truck driver and a trooper were working on a separate non-fatal crash at the Turnpike around 5:45 am.
The tow truck driver, Paul Paez, 42, from Poinciana, was standing outside of his parked truck with his emergency lights on when a 53-year-old man from Groveland swerved for an unknown reason in his 2000 Isuzu Hombre and struck the truck, which then hit Paez. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, in Cocoa Beach in Brevard County, a 68-year-old man died on board his yacht ‘during the peak of Hurricane Nicole,’ Click Orlando reports. The man was on the boat when it broke free from the dock and drifted to sea. When first responders secured the vessel, the man was found dead.
Spyder JC and Second Chance performed for the crowds at the Redneck Mud Park on Saturday night
A large group of people driving ATVs and monster trucks partied around the mud hole as others raced through the deep waters
Guests said the festivities provided a perfect opportunity to forget about the damage wrought by hurricanes Ian and Nicole
One man was completely covered in mud as he zipped his ATV through the mud pit at the south Florida park
People driving various off-road vehicles are seen trekking through the mud pits at the park on Saturday
Truck pull driver William Love, 31, of Fort Myers, posed with his GMC truck before competing on Saturday
A ‘Mega truck’ is pictured flying through the air after speeding along the race track at the Fall Classics on Saturday
Spectators removed their hats as the National Anthem was being played before the Mega Truck races on Saturday
Hurricane Nicole devastated southern Florida, killing five people. People are pictured here walking past a home that collapsed onto the beach
Waves lapped below homes torn in half after the sand under their foundations was swept away along with the beach
‘We have been recovering from Hurricane Ian and it devastated everything,’ Kelly said. ‘People had six weeks to clean up, and then Hurricane Nicole hit us again.’
‘We felt that people needed to heal from the storm, and maybe after spending six to eight weeks cleaning up their homes, their neighbors’ houses, having struggles day in and day out, that a getaway like the Redneck Mud Park would be good for some of them,’ he said of holding the annual event.
As Kelly explained: ‘We have a very blue-collar crowd that comes to our events, and that blue-collar crowd works very hard, and when they want a release from working hard their release is not to go down to South Beach, their release is to go out into the country, go out into nature and play. Play with those toys that are fun. Bonfires, parties at night and play in the mud during the day.’
Festival goers seemed to appreciate that, as thousands of monster truck and mud racing fans still flocked to the southern Florida park for four days of festivities.
Rednecks were pictured twerking at parties and on top of trucks as smoke filled the air and gathering around a stage where Seckond Chaynce and Spyda JC performed for the crowds Saturday night.
They danced on top of some of the trucks wearing festive bead necklaces and drinking beers out of cans, with Moe Benali, 25, telling DailyMail.com he was living the dream and that he was ready to ‘forget about the hurricanes and just have fun this weekend.’
The mud park does not sell alcohol on its premises, according to its website, but devoted fans often bring their own spirits to the annual festival.
The only rule the park has about alcohol is a ban on minors drinking at the park, which would result in immediate expulsion.
The self-described rednecks were pictured dancing on top of their all-terrain vehicles at the party Saturday night
Some of the fans climbed on top of their trucks to dance while others embraced the mud, dancing on the ground
The event drew thousands of campers and upwards of 10,000 visitors to the park over the festival weekend,’ Dave Kelly, the director of sales and marketing told DailyMail.com
One man seemed to embrace all of the mud covering his face and arms as he drove through the mud pit
Redneck families celebrated at the four-day festival, wearing festive beads and drinking alcohol they brought from home
A man is pictured here having the time of his life in a backwards hat and swim shorts as he drank Guinness from a beer can
A family sat together in their ATV after riding through the mud hole at the southern Florida park Saturday morning
People amassed around the mud hole, a major attraction of the Redneck Mud Park, with their trucks and ATVs
Two men are pictured here drinking from their beer cans as they celebrated at the concerts Saturday night
Still, the annual festival is known for becoming raucous, with Charlotte County Fire and EMS crews saying it receives an average of eight calls for service per event at the park.
At last year’s Fall Classics, the Port Charlotte Sun reports, the Charlotte County EMS responded to the park nine times for injuries including a broken arm from an ATV fall, another ‘arm deformity’ from an ATV fall and a person passed out in a mud pit after drinking too much alcohol.
An 11-year-old boy was also flown to the hospital after his leg was run over by an ATV, with the driver reporting he drank three White Claw hard seltzers before ferrying the boy around in the passenger seat.
Then at the mud park’s annual Spring Break event in March, the Charlotte County EMS responded 13 times to the mud park in just over three days for injuries including a concussion from an ATV rollover, an ear amputation from an ATV rollover, a finger amputation sustained after it was caught in a truck winch and admitted heroin withdrawals.
Tina Ellard, 28, died after crashing her ATV at the Redneck Mud Park’s Spring Break festival last March
In total, the Sun reports, EMS responded to 65 calls for service at Redneck Mud Park from 2017 through 2020, with 11 trauma alerts.
The most common types of calls were for traumatic injuries — which accounted for 40 of the calls over the three year span — and alcohol abuse or drug overdoses — which accounted for 16 incidents over three years.
There have also been several fatalities reported at the free spirited event, with a 28-year-old middle school teacher dying in an ATV crash just last March.
Authorities said Tina Ellard was traveling on a private dirt road without a helmet when she lost control of the vehicle. It then overturned, ejecting her in the process.
And in 2019, Ramon A Muino Jr, 27, was killed during a brawl that broke out at the mud park — which is only open for its three events.
His widow later filed a wrongful death suit, alleging he was punched by a patron at the event, which led to a brawl.
Security guards are then said to have gotten involved, using ‘unreasonable force’ as they detained him and rendering Muino unconscious as he started suffering from cardiac arrest.
Muino was treated by emergency crews on the scene and was transported to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.
It is just one of the lawsuits Gone Country Motor Sports Inc, which does business as the Redneck Mud Park, has faced since 2016.
In a statement to the Sun following Ellard’s death last year, Mud Park officials detailed how they try to keep the park safe and secure for all the partiers.
‘To help ensure that all Redneck Mud Park visitors experience a fun, care-free and safe event, park management routinely executes a comprehensive safety and security plan that is robust for a venue of its size,’ they said.
‘We hire an outside security company to provide professional and certified security officers,’ they continued, adding: ‘The Redneck Mud Park contributes [a] significant impact to the economic vitality of this region, both directly and indirectly, and the support of area agencies such as the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, EMS and the Charlotte Harbor Visitor and Convention Bureau is vital to our continued success.’
One person converted their GMC truck into a monster truck, reaching several feet in the air with its large wheels
Two men created a make-shift Mega Truck with stadium seating for four people. They also competed in the race
The four-day event drew blue-collar workers from across Florida who wanted to escape the ongoing damage from the hurricanes, Kelly told DailyMail.com
A father drove his son through the mud pit at the Red Neck Mud Park in Punta Gorda, Florida on Saturday
A green monster truck drove around the grounds at the Punta Gorda mud park as the four-day event continued
It is unclear whether any injuries or overdoses occurred at this year’s event, but Dave Kelly told DailyMail.com they have EMS on site ‘for the entire length and duration of the event.’
He added that they were working with Charlotte County officials to get dedicated radios that directly alert the Charlotte County Police Department and EMS, and have pre- and post- event safety meetings with the county and EMS to discuss any issues that may arise.
Kelly also said they have ‘an extensive list of rules for our guests’ and banned sport quads, firearms and glass at the park.
‘We have taken steps to ensure safety at our parks,’ he said.
DailyMail.com has also reached out to Charlotte County emergency medical officials for additional information.
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