Monster Trucks

Monster of a Show!!

by Jenny Ison

Publication Date: November 1996

Have you ever heard the old saying, "You don't know what it's like until you try it?" Well, that's what my family and I thought about Monster Truck Shows until we tried one...that one being Fright Night V at Freedom Hall, October 26.

Extremz Magazine gets many calls and invitations from people wanting us to cover their favorite sport or event. Lori Veden, Public Relations Coordinator for Pace Motor Sports, contacted us in August and invited Extremz to cover Fright Night V Monster Truck Show in October. Lori sent us some information on Paul Shafer, owner of Monster Patrol, which we ran in our October issue. The article was interesting reading, but still hadn't peaked our interest that much. The night of the show, Chad and I discussed that we would take a few pictures, ask some questions, and make our exit.

Little did we know just how extreme a monster truck show can be. Besides the main feature of roundy-round races and free-style competition between the popular trucks, the show also included skateboarding and BMX stunt bike exhibitions, motocross races and quad wars. It wasn't a quick exit for the Extremz team as planned. We were some of the last fans to leave Freedom Hall; and yes, the whole family left as big fans.

Some people might think the show is just a show. However, these individuals are really competing during the races. If they put on a show for the fans as well, that makes the competition all the better. In fact, the sponsor for the event USHRA (United States Hot Rod Association) claims that the fans are their biggest asset.

The skateboard exhibition was coordinated by our very own Hardcore Skate Shop. BMX stunt bikers (Jody Donnely, John Holt and Bill Nitschke, professional team from Indiana) put on a show that really wowed the spectators. Another Louisville local, Rodney Carrier, won the motocross racing trophy for the evening.

Team Kentucky and Team New York quad racers Rich Tompkins (KY) and Daniel Allen (NY) squared off in a sudden death race to determine Quad Wars champion. Team KY won of course. For those of you unfamiliar with the term quad, we call them four-wheelers or ATVs, however, as the announcer said, "these are not your everyday, out-in-the pasture quads."

The real crowd pleaser for the evening had to be during the roundy-round race between Grave Digger and Wild Thing. Grave Digger threw a rod in the motor borrowed from Monster Patrol's driver Tom Meents. At the same time Grave Digger was smoking from a blown engine, Wild Thing landed his jump across six cars and half of the shell of the truck broke into pieces and flew all over the track. As I sat watching wide-eyed, with excitement, I glanced around and noticed fans across the auditorium on their feet, screaming and yelling with sheer pleasure.

Lori had told me how Friday night's show had been one of the best because three trucks were rolled (one being Wild Thing) and Grave Digger had blown his original engine. The thought of having seen that crossed my mind, however, I couldn't have been any more excited than seeing what I had just seen. Grave Digger's driver, Dennis Anderson, rather summed things up while being interviewed by announcer Joe Lowe, "Wild Thing, we went out of here in a cloud of smoke, but we'll try it again next weekend!"

Our entire family was all a buzz on the way home, recalling our favorite parts of the show. To paraphrase Dennis Anderson..."Extremz went out in a buzz of excitement, and we'll definitely try it again next time around!"