FROM THE POINT OF IGNITION, TO THE FINAL DRIVE…

Thoughts from the Midwest 4-Wheel Jambo, start to finish.
By Kyle Doyle





It is so nice to have a show close to home once in a while. No long drives, airports, or horrific gasoline charges on my debit card (Well, I suppose “horrific” is a relative term these days, with gas prices being what they are.) The Special Events Performance Series made their second-annual swing through Springfield, IL on June 28th and 29th, so it was much to my benefit that the Illinois State Fairgrounds, the host venue for the event, is barely over an hour and a half from my residence in Champaign, IL.

Rather than take off into one of my infamously long travel logs, I’d like to break down some of the high points (and low points) of the weekend, bit by bit, start to finish. But before I dig into all that, I want to send out a quick thanks to Jessica Hubley and the rest of the folks at Special Events for their hospitality over the course of the weekend in Springfield. It’s always nice to show up at a race and not be interrogated all weekend long by Gestapo-wannabe’s. Anyways, on with the program…

TMB-TV: This is probably the biggest story of the weekend for me, and it doesn’t even really concern any on-track action per se. Inspired by Ross Bonar’s new and very popular TMB-TV venture, I decided to step up to the plate in Springfield and take a crack at “hosting” TMB’s coverage of the Jamboree. Fortunately for me, TMB special contributor and cameraman extraordinaire/ production ace Colby Marshall would be handling the filming duties for the weekend. It was neat and, I admit, pretty fun to [attempt] host a monster truck show, even if it isn’t a full-blown TV production.

TMB-TV's Colby Marshall, upper right hand corner of the picture.

Like many hard-core MT fans, I’m tired of the incessant screaming and mindless pit reporters who don’t know the drivers (much less what they are talking about) that has filled many a monster truck TV programs over the last decade. So, rather than continue to gripe about it, I decided to try my hand out at it and see how lousy I was. I’m flattered to have received some positive feedback, but I’ll let you guys be the judge.

Personally, I think Colby deserves some serious credit for taking hours of raw footage and turning it into an impressive display of serious videography and video editing. Hat’s off to ya Cheese, it was a blast working with you. I’m truly looking forward to Gateway!

George Balhan: Here’s another story that needs told that has almost nothing to do with on-track action. After watching significant enough footage of George Balhan and the Escalade truck in action, I wasn’t too impressed with his “stage act”. Sure, his driving could and often did impress, but I wasn’t really getting into the whole FMX/skater/homie hybrid, the couch at the pit parties, etc etc. After seeing Escalade twice in a couple weeks’ time earlier this year (Peoria and St. Louis) I was even more torn. Balhan’s driving, to me anyways, was entertaining and inspiring; I mean, the guy could really drive that thing out of a bad situation if he wanted to. But what brought that all down for me was, again, the theatrical vibe that the driver/truck gave off throughout the shows, and what seemed to be a silly and needless crash in freestyle at the dome in St. Louis. I’m not necessarily ragging on the guy, cause I know he’s gotta do his job and what not, but I for one can’t help to compare the “characterization” of Monster Jam to the theatrics of some professional wrestling organizations.

Pleasant surprise: LN's George Balhan, seen here with Doug Noelke at the driver's meeting.

So, going into Springfield, I was curious to see how Balhan was going to come off over the course of the weekend. Well my friends, I’ve come to the conclusion that some (not all) of what you see at Monster Jam shows has to be theatrics, to one extent or another. I say that, because Balhan turned out to be one of the most outgoing, most friendly drivers of the weekend.

Balhan appeared nothing like the stereotype that I observed earlier in the year. Sure, he had his mohawk (I should clarify that at a couple times in my life I’ve had a ‘hawk as well, so I can’t dog on that at all) and sported a style that is rather rare in the MT pits (which is also fine), but it was his attitude that really impressed me. He went out of his way on a number of occasions to greet Colby and myself in as friendly of a manner as you could ask for, and I felt it to be genuine, not forced. We even had a couple brief opportunities to shoot the breeze with him during some of the “filler” events.

So why do I seem to be putting Balhan as a person under the magnifying glass? Well, there’s a lot of speculation and back-talking that goes on about his “stage presence”, both online and within the monster truck industry. Both good and bad. Either way, I’m pleased to report that he’s as down to earth and as personable as anyone else in the sport is from what I can tell. I don’t know that theatrics are what the sport needs, but at the same time we have WAAAAY bigger problems to worry about than a guy with a mohawk who sits on a loveseat during the pit party. Good job George, you’ve scored some points in my book (for what that’s worth), and you did a damn fine job on track.

The Action and The Track: How about the bad news first? The track stunk. The racing and freestyle tracks both were pretty much a bummer. Although the ramps were even and well-constructed for what they were, they didn’t produce very exciting racing or freestyle action. I attempted to approach the track in a positive and exciting manner for our TMB-TV coverage, and while the racing and freestyle certainly weren’t the worst I’d ever seen, I was truly hoping for something a bit spicier. I suppose the fans, whom likely hadn’t seen any racing or freestyle on that large of a stage, went home satisfied; but I know for a fact that some of the teams (and this lone reporter) weren’t all that excited by the track. The 4-Wheel Jamborees were, at one point, a premier event in the monster truck world. Now, aside from stellar lineups (you can’t argue with those), the tracks themselves have really slipped away. Again, read into this not as complaining, but as constructive criticism. The monsters are clearly the primary draw at Jamboree events, so why not construct a track more befitting of their status? I can guarantee you that an exciting and technical track will ultimately produce a better show than a 2’ roller hill and a 2-car finish line jump will. There is a place for side-by-side straight line drag racing in this sport, but when there is room to do more, I think that more should be done. Variety is the spice of life, no?

The massive arena floor at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, IL.

Fortunately for all, the teams and drivers made up for the mild track as best as they could, and for the most part delivered some great action all weekend long. There were some close, high-speed racing passes, some exciting moments in the shut-down area, and a small handful of “wow” moments in freestyle (ref. Kohler, Noelke, Balhan). Be sure to check out both our video and picture coverage of the event to see what all I’m talking about. Feel free to send your thoughts my way as well, so that I can get another “Readers’ Letters” segment together!

Avenger driver Jim Kohler put on some of the most exciting moves of the weekend.

The Weather: Mother Nature was up to her usual tricks over the course of the weekend, throwing curve balls when we were expecting fastballs, and sinkers when we were expecting curves. Thankfully, however, the event suffered only a few short (yet intense) rain showers over the course of the weekend; in fact, Colby and I actually left with some pretty intense sunburn. Overall, I’d take this year’s weather over last year’s super-slop fest.

And last, but certainly not least: The Bikini Contest! Thanks to my good friend Jessica Hubley, yours truly would make up one member of the three-man panel of judges for the Miss 4-Wheel Jamboree bikini contest. It was the hardest easy work I’ve ever had to do…at least since the Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest I judged in Sturgis, SD a few years back. As usual, I approached my job with the utmost seriousness and dedication, and quite frankly I could have stood to had a bit more time to analyze the field of contestants before having to make up my mind. Right. Anyways…

All in all the Springfield Jambo was a great time, as most all Jambos are. Sure, there are some improvements to the monster truck program that I’d like to see made, but in some ways the family-friendly atmosphere and 4-wheel-drive-only mentality of the crowd helps even things out some. For many monster truck teams and their fans, the Jamboree is a rare chance to socialize in a less formal environment than a traditional pit party, so I suppose that makes up for some of the downsides as well. I know I can’t complain, I had a great time myself.


-KD