By Kyle Doyle
3-3-08
Until early February of this year, it had been quite some time since I had been to a Monster Jam show. In fact, it had been just over five years since I had attended the Denver, CO show at the Pepsi Center. As I write this now, I’ve attended three distinctly different Monster Jam shows, and as stout as my opinions on Live Nation Monster Jam shows have been in the past, I’ll admit they’ve changed my mind on a couple of issues; however, in some areas they’ve only reinforced the beliefs I’ve held for a long time.
When I began “working” in the monster truck industry as a writer and photographer (though I use the word ‘photographer’ lightly in this scene) for a monster truck website as a senior in high school, I was really not that interested in the type of shows that Monster Jam put on. At first, I found the concept of organized freestyle pretty exciting, and the new obstacles like busses, vans, and even small boats were neat. But as the wrestling promotions reached their climax, I began to develop a sour taste for their shows. As the freestyle competitions became more destructive and trucks began to needlessly crash more and more, I began to turn my focus to other facets of the sport; namely, the “hard core” racers that ran shows like the Special Events Jamborees and the now-defunct ProMT series.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that immediately following high school I took up employment with perhaps the hardest-core racers the sport has seen in some time: Hall Brothers Racing. During my time at HBR, I became even more engrossed with the thought of a full-blown, 100% legitimate monster truck racing series. I still am, in fact. At that point, Monster Jam became nothing more to me than a one-hour circus on TV and the subject of various rumors and speculations that I would hear passed around the pits at other shows. I would read the internet results, see the pictures of the carnage, and shake my head wondering just what exactly was going on at those shows. I met a number of teams who were more than happy to not be running any Monster Jam shows, and I met a number of teams who were more than happy to be at their shows and to have arguably one of the best paychecks any promoter was offering. I just couldn’t imagine going to one of their events and enjoying myself.
As time passed, it was hard for me (or anyone else) to deny the level of popularity that Monster Jam had obtained, without much end in sight as far as anyone could see. If you had told me a year ago that HBR and their Raminator, Rammunition, and Executioner trucks would be running Monster Jam shows, I probably would have chuckled and went about my business. Amazing how things change, isn’t it? When I left the team last October, I decided that in 2008 I would make an attempt to be open-minded, and attend as many different shows as possible by as many different promoters as possible. Thanks to both time and economic factors, I’ve been to only four shows so far this year, and it just so happens that three of them have been Monster Jam shows.
Part of being a “journalist” (if I may be so egotistical to use that term) in my opinion is being open-minded enough to consider all angles. In the past, I’ve been anything but in many cases (long-time internet monster truck readers might recall my enthusiastic pointing-out of Blue Thunders not-quite-Ford powertrain), so now I’ve found myself trying to step back a bit, and look at things in a new light. Let’s face it, I’m essentially just a fan in the stands now, who just happens to have a big camera and almost five years experience as a full-time crew member. I like to think I have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on, but I feel that if I’m going to write about something like Monster Jam shows, I need to get off my ass and get out there and see them for myself. So that’s what I did.
After attending the Springfield, IL (non-dirt) and Peoria, IL (dirt) Monster Jam shows, both of which were held in small arenas, I was admittedly excited to finally witness a large-scale Monster Jam dome show. The Edward Jones dome in St. Louis, MO would be the location, so after arranging to stay with some friends for the weekend in St. Louis (hereafter referred to as “STL”), I packed up my gear and hit the trail. Nothing like being a fanboy again, right? (A very cynical fanboy, at that.)
Friday night found me enjoying the hospitality of Mr. Ross Z. Bonar and his wonderful wife Rajeana. Yes, indeed, the same Mr. Bonar who keeps this fantastic site running for all of us. (So nice to know famous people!) It was so nice to actually enjoy the night before a race…pizza and beer, Guitar Hero on the lap top and Craftsman Truck racing on the TV…good times. I picked Ross’ brain a bit in regards to what I should expect to see, and as the last Guitar Hero chord rang out around 2:30 in the morning, we called it a night (morning?).
We met up with my good friends Kurt and Keith the following morning (later that morning, I should say) at their top-secret facility in Spanish Lake (not to be confused with the better-known Groom Lake) where a revamped and redesigned King of the Hill monster truck is being completed. I’ve known Kurt and Keith since my earliest days in the sport, so it was really nice to just take it easy and hang out with them for the day and talk about (what else?) monster trucks! They’ve been hitting up the Monster Jam at the dome for years now, and as people that have a pretty good understanding of the sport and auto racing in general, it was fun picking their brains too to figure out what I should be expecting. Between Ross, Kurt, and Keith the general consensus was that if I was expecting carnage, I would be receiving a healthy dose of it in just a few short hours.
Kurt, Keith and I decided that Kurt’s big Ford dually would be something of a hindrance to park at the dome; we also decided the same for Keith’s big Chevrolet; and since I had driven us to lunch in my Sebring, we wouldn’t take it either. So what did we do? Public transit? Taxi cab? Walk? Of course not. None of the three of us are particularly small gentleman (why have a six-pack when you can have a keg, I always say) but we managed to cram ourselves into Kurt’s fuel-efficient two-door Saturn for the short trip through the hood to the dome. While some towns have the “miracle mile” of car dealers and what not, the stretch of road we used to cut down to the dome from Spanish Lake should be called “The Mile in Need of a Miracle.” Kurt wisely selected the “performance mode” on the console of the Saturn, which allowed us to achieve a remarkable cruising speed of nearly 45mph (that’s over 72 kmph for you metric types) while still turning in impressive fuel economy figures (I’m sure the “Performance Mode” hurt us some, but not much). After being reamed by the parking attendants (the price was a bit excessive considering we were parking in a muddy gravel lot), we made our way on foot to the front of the dome, stopping along the way to haggle with a scalper to get some pit passes. Clearly this middle-aged gent was the reason why the greater St. Louis area Ford and Advance Auto stores were out of pit passes…he must have had a wad four inches thick of them. By default, Kurt became our representative in this war of numbers and words, and he deserves a commendation for his efforts:
Starting price: $10 a piece, for three passes.
Halfway-through-the-debate price: $15 for three passes
Final Sale price: $10 for three.
Not bad at all my good man, not bad at all. We hit up the pit party with only about 45mins left to scope out the vehicles that would be put through their paces this evening. The wear and tear on the Live Nation fleet trucks was obvious, though with the beating they endure and the grueling schedule they are no doubt tasked with, I must concede that they appeared to be in respectably good shape. Let’s just put it this way, I’ve seen a hell of a lot worse. The Bounty Hunter and Scarlet Bandit trucks of Team CSK were probably the most impressive on the floor. I’ve always had a deep respect for their trucks, their drivers, and their capabilities and it really does sadden me that I didn’t have the opportunity to run with them more often while at HBR. The amount of quality parts on their trucks was impressive, but I think what caught our eyes the most was some of the really top-notch machined parts on the trucks. Good stuff. I really couldn’t believe how long the pit party was actually scheduled for, but I guess when you have 60,000+ people who might want to stop by, you have to allot for that. While on the floor we had the chance to check out what would end up being the most important fixture on the floor by evening’s end: the gigantic bus double.
I think a large part of what makes the big Monster Jam shows known for their carnage is stuff like the bus double. It looks impressive as hell and I admit I was really interested in seeing how the trucks handled it. But I asked myself, at what point does a freestyle obstacle become a stunt? I still haven’t decided on my answer to that question.
Skipping ahead to the show, the first thing that caught my eye as introductions began was a pyrotechnics crew setup at the base of one of the freestyle obstacles. In the past, I had heard that Grave Digger and Max D (and sometimes others) will often jump off of an obstacle during intros. What concerned me is that this obstacle was lined up quite well with the tunnel that the trucks would be exiting. As it turns out, all the trucks came out together and made some impressive parade laps under darkened house lights with spotlight accompaniment, but I my heart about skipped a beat when Dennis Anderson swung grave digger around hard by the jump the pyro guys were sitting on, and blasted past them, mowing over a turning pole in the process. I’m not really sure how close the truck actually got to the pyro guys, and I really doubt that Dennis knew they were there or intended to buzz them. The guys were wearing black even! I think it must have been a mix-up in communications, but it was as scary one in my book. I mentioned to Kurt that they would likely be seeking out a clean pair of black trousers following intros.
Racing moved along swiftly in the first half of the show on a simple but fast Chicago-style track. I’ve heard a lot of monster truck fans complain about how hard it is to take pictures of Chicago-style racing, and I understand their concern all to well. However, from a racer’s standpoint, Chicago style is really one of the fairest ways to lay out a turning course…there really can’t be a good lane and a bad lane, so long as the turns and jumps are laid out evenly. We’ve all heard the stories about races being rigged and trucks being shut-off at Monster Jam shows to control the outcome of the event, and in the past it wouldn’t surprise me if that has happened a few times. That didn’t appear to be the case in STL, as every truck and driver seemed to give it their all. While racing Grave Digger, Tony Farrell in Blue Thunder hit the final jump a bit crossed up, and ended up wadding the truck up hard upon landing. This is the first time I really noticed something I didn’t like. Don’t worry MJ fans, it has nothing to do with the show itself…it has to do with the crowd. Before the truck even settled to the ground, before it was clear whether or not Tony was OK, people were leaping to their feet cheering that a truck had crashed. I’ve been to oval track and drag races and off-road races, and for the most part when somebody crashes, the only cheering that goes on is when the driver emerges and acknowledges that he (or she) is OK. It strikes me as being so stupid to cheer when someone crashes just because they crashed, but perhaps these fans are conditioned to the idea that when a monster truck crashes, the driver will always be ok. I even heard one ignorant fan state to his child that “It’s ok, they do that on purpose.” I could believe it in freestyle, but in racing? I doubt it.
Racing ended and as intermission began, the annoying announcer peddled the Monster Jam merch while the track crew brought out the sacrificial RV for freestyle. At the same time, other track crew members chopped out the dirt ramps from racing to construct wheelie ramps, and stacked cars on top of each other to create bigger obstacles. Apparently a normal set of cars just isn’t good enough for Monster Jam these days. Intermission ended, and one by one the trucks hit the floor, and in some cases hit it hard, literally. Some drivers took a measured approach to the floor, and pulled off some great moves without needlessly sacrificing the vehicle. Some drivers pulled off mind-blowing saves, and then just a few moves later crashed their vehicles into the ground with a confusing disregard for equipment. As the field dwindled down to the “big 2”, I was a mix of emotions. I could clearly see how a casual fan would enjoy all of this thoroughly. As a hard-core racer who values the cost of time and equipment, and who wants to see this sport be taken seriously, I might as well be sick to my stomach. What I saw on the floor in front of me was pure spectacle, a motorized circus so extreme and destructive that it had nothing in common with any other form of motorsport, not even demolition derby. And as a photographer, I was tickled pink with the bizarre and impressive feats of mechanical achievement and destruction playing out before me. I took some of the most amazing pictures of my career that night.
So what do I make of all this? Well, to be honest I was laughing to myself frequently throughout the show and afterwards at the sheer amount of destruction that had taken place that I personally felt was unnecessary. I was also quite surprised that, despite my expectations, Grave Digger (of all the trucks at the show) survived freestyle with only minimal damage. But perhaps the biggest impression left on me as I left the Edward Jones Dome was just how effective Monster Jam’s sponsorship and marketing people have been in bringing big-name sponsors to their shows. Now, it wouldn’t surprise me if companies like Suzuki, Torco, and NGK may be involved in Monster Jam by way of their involvement in other Live Nation motorsports series’, but whatever the case the fact still stands that there are some big-name corporations lending their name to Monster Jam shows. I hope that some other monster truck promoters can achieve some of the marketing and sponsorship success that Live Nation has been able to put together, but only time will tell. The fans in St. Louis sure seemed to respond to the freestyle carnage much more than the wam-bam racing program, which leads me to believe that building an NHRA-style monster truck racing series, especially in big-city markets where Monster Jam dome shows have conditioned fans to expect destructive performances, will be nothing short of difficult. Adding to that difficulty is the poor track record the industry has over the last decade of establishing and growing any sort of racing-oriented series (ProMT, the MTRS hoax, and the VOOM HDTV flop). Not to mention the controversy and personnel changes surrounding the MLMT, and its “competitor” (?), Monster Truck Challenge. But that’s a story for a different time. For now, thanks for reading, and enjoy the shows, wherever and whatever they may be.
- KD
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