They’re larger-than-life, silly and complete overkill. Kids love them, gearhead are amazed by them, and you’d have to be a real stick-in-the-mud not to love monster trucks…because everyone else does.
This past weekend at the First Ontario Place in Hamilton (just east of Toronto) Monster Jam sold out four shows at the 19,000 seat arena. If you still think monster trucks are just for ‘rednecks’ then think again; the place was filled with young families, teenagers out with friends, old hot-rodders and every other demographic imaginable.
Those old ‘intermission shows’ with lifted pickups driving over and Datsuns are long gone. Today, you won’t even find any crushed cars at Monster Jam events, as the tricks have evolved beyond vehicular destruction. It has become precision stunt driving, like backing up a hill while balanced on the front wheels of a 12,000 lb truck.
These are purpose-built machines on steel-tube chassis with long-travel suspension and fiberglass bodies that break-away easily without damage. While some still look like old-school pickup trucks, modern methods have allowed wild, imaginative and cartoonish bodies to be built.
While at the Hamilton show, we could not help but notice four teenaged girls in hijabs cheering from the seats near us. One girl even had on her vintage Jeff Gordon NASCAR jacket. If we saw this young woman walking to class, would we ever have guessed she was such a motorsports enthusiast? The slice of life you experience at a monster truck shows can change your perspective on the world around you.
The outdated stereotype of a handlebar moustache wearing driver has been erased by the diversity of competitors as 15% to 20% of Monster Jam drivers are women. And some fans have criticized Monster Jam’s heavy-handed efforts to include Latino fans by creating Hispanic-themed trucks, but somehow … it actually works.
Sunday was the last show, and that usually means that drivers are willing to attempt outrageous stunts that could destroy their equipment. There’s no wrenching to get the truck back together for the evening show. Its go big and go home.
The highlight of the night was the winning freestyle run by Jamie Sullivan (pictured above). She’s a university student who started off racing go-karts as a kid before moving on to oval-track racing, and is now in her rookie year in monster trucks. Despite the Hamilton event being held in a small hockey area, she was the only driver to attempt and land a backflip! Her truck flew through more than 360° of rotation and actually caused one of the 900 lb agricultural tires to explode on impact. Just check out this Instagram video!
Ok, ok…these monsters of mayhem are not as civilized as vintage road racing. That’s not what these are about. But they’re pure, outrageous entertainment that amaze audiences with their automotive acrobatics.
After I read your post yesterday I looked to see if there are any shows here locally. There was one on April 14, so I’ve missed it for this year. I’m thinking Kepler might like this so we will see about next year.
I’m sure he would LOVE it. There’s often smaller shows (not the Monster Jam brand) in every town in America throughout the summer. Just check your state fair / agricultural fair lineup.
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I wanted to scream and cheer them on, just looking at your pictures! Thank you for sharing. Great post! 💕
Glad you liked it.
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There’s a link to an Intagram post from the series. shows that college student / monster truck driver doing a backflip. She was amazing!
I’ll check that out when I’m off work. Thank you! 😊
I would never have thought of seeing such a diverse bunch of fans cheering at a monster truck event; this is really awesome.
The wide cross section of the people of our city that attend these events is surprising.
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I thought the fact that there was 2 women drivers and 0 mustaches on yhe men was also an eye opener.