Canfield, OH. – One of the great things about being an automotive enthusiast is that your motoring passion can come from all sorts of different vehicles. From dirt bikes and quads to all-out monster trucks, Ohio-based Ford super enthusiast Joey Sylvester has a hand in many kinds of wheeled activity and motorsports and has eves set world records along the way. So we traveled down to Canfield, Ohio, to meet up with Sylvester and check out his shop, where he not only builds his monster trucks but also operates High Octane Coffee Co., and works with others to become competitive in the monster truck world.

When arriving at Joey’s race shop, you are immediately greeted by several cool Fords, including his fully custom High Octane Coffee Lifted F-Series SuperDuty, a daily driven 2018 Ford F-150, and a custom-built F-550. Travel a bit further along and you’ll enter his facility, where all of his monster trucks are hand-built. One impressive thing we noticed is that Sylvester does all of his own fabrication, construction and finishing work on all of his custom made trucks – which is surely a task few in this business can handle. Inside the shop we came upon three different monster trucks, including Bad Habit, Mayhem The Ride, and Nitemare Express.
Bad Habit is a 1970’s-based Ford F-250 with a blown alcohol motor creating around 1,500 horsepower. Joey uses this truck for competition at his Outlaw Monster Truck Drags as well as in different demonstrations around the country. Bad Habit and Joey currently hold the world record for longest jump in a Monster Truck at 72.42m or 237 feet, 7 inches. Mayhem The Ride and Nitemare Express currently see action at Speed Vegas, where fans can ride along for thrill rides, and complete small jumps, hole shot and donuts.

Starting at just 12 years old, Joey began riding motocross with his dad. Once he became fully engaged in the motorsports hobby, his passion for competition began to ignite from there. He completed a short stint in BMX during his teen years before competing in freestyle motocross, mountain biking and then kart racing -- which he still does today. In high school, Joey sacrificed time with friends and at social gatherings to work and save-up for his first vehicle, a brand-new 2000 Ford Ranger FlareSide 4x4. Once back from the dealership lot, he began modifying the truck almost immediately. After investing some time working on various vehicles, Joey was known as the go-to guy for modifying anything from dirt bikes to quads and full-size pickups. He soon started Hardcore Customs, which built tons of award-winning off-road vehicles before turning into his now fully equipped race shop.

At the age of 22, Sylvester already had the experience of being a custom builder for several years, so he decided to take a full dive into the world of Monster Trucks. Being that Sylvester is both the team owner and driver, he has complete control of his own program -- and is quite proud of it. His initial goal was to change the face of what an owner/driver looks like in the sport. Generally, most teams will have a hired driver, a separate team owner, a set of engineers and mechanics, and also have several facilities or shops that build different parts of the truck. What we find inspiring about Joey is that he takes on nearly all of the build and maintenance process, with the help of International Monster Truck Hall of Famer Gary Bauer, whose own shop is a short drive away.

If you happen to catch Joe Sylvester at one of his Outlaw Monster Truck Drag events, at Speed Vegas, or anywhere else where he may be giving demonstrations, you’ll be sure to get a great show. While we talked to him about his events, he told us that he’ll give his personal guarantee that whether there are 800 fans in attendance or 80,000, he’ll be sure to put on the best show he possibly can. His aggressive driving style, paired with his showman style and perspective, is something you won’t want to miss. He told Ford Performance that his ultimate goal is to leave fans with unforgettable memories and bring in more fans to the sport, especially young people. (Check out his upcoming 2021 schedule here.)

From his day-to-day drivers right on up to his competitive monster race trucks, Joey Sylvester continues to choose Ford vehicles as his go-to brand. He couldn’t help but to mention that the Ford F-Series SuperDuty is one of the coolest trucks on the road, and that he couldn’t imagine not having one for himself. That’s because the SuperDuty comes with all the essentials one could ask for -- including locking hubs, big towing capability and in-house built Ford engines and transmissions. He also gives a nod to Ford Performance and our fleet of vehicles that incorporate modern racing technology – including off-road trucks such as the F-150 Raptor and Tremor models, as well as track-capable vehicles such as the Shelby GT500 and Ford GT.

While visiting with Sylvester at his shop in mid-Ohio based, we toured the facility with our camera in hand and captured an inside look at what the environment of a monster truck program looks like. Check out the photos here, then consider keeping up with Joe Sylvester on his social channels here: Joey Sylvester on Facebook, Joey Sylvester on Instagram.

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY MARCUS CERVANTES