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The Toronto Star
March 17, 1990, Saturday, SATURDAY SECOND EDITION
Monster trucks mushroom into mighty auto sport
BYLINE: By Richard Truett Special to The Star (Orlando Sentinel)
SECTION: WHEELS; Pg. K19
LENGTH: 927 words
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.
ORLANDO, Fla. - You watch a monster truck squash a couple of junk-yard cars like they were nothing more than Tonka toys and you think that there are some pretty twisted minds out there.
Why do people build these grotesque machines? What are they good for? Why is this "sport" growing exponential-ly?
Answer: Money. Money. Money.
About 63,000 people filled Tampa Stadium recently to watch a cavalcade of monster trucks romp around in the mud and demolish dozens of junked cars and buses, said Bret Hart, who promotes monster truck events around the country.
Fanatical following
What started as strictly a Midwestern affair about 11 years ago in the mind of a St. Louis man named Bob Chandler has grown into a multimillion-dollar business, complete with megabuck corporate sponsors, more than 200 competitors and a following that is beginning to take on fanatical proportions.
It was Chandler's creation of the truck he named Bigfoot that started turning the big wheels of monster trucking.
Chandler originally built his truck to show off at auto events. Then one day a friend suggested that Chandler's truck easily could crush two junk cars.
"We put two cars in a farmer's field, filled them up with bales of hay, put one tire on each car and ran over them. I thought it was very destructive and a little silly," said Chandler, 45, who at that time was a carpenter.
That first crush was captured on video tape, seen by a promoter, and monster trucking was born, he said.
These days it takes about $150,000, access to someone with an engineering degree and a machine shop, a lot of driving skill and a lot of luck to enter the world of monster trucking as a competitor.
Because each truck is different, such things as suspension parts have to be custom made. Transmissions and en-gines have to be heavily modified, and bodies are made from glass fibre. About the only things that do not change are the Ford, GMC, Dodge and Chevy corporate logos on the tailgates.
Jack Willman, a Granite City, Ill., monster truck driver who has been competing for more than a decade, owns Taurus, one of the most popular monster trucks on the circuit. Willman said when he started driving, it was mostly for fun.
"It kind of started out as just something to do on weekends. Now it's grown into a business. I've made money in the past 11 years doing this, but I'll tell you, it's getting tougher every year. Demands are getting greater, and the expenses are going up," said Willman, who travels the country an average of 46 weeks each year crushing junked cars and old school buses for a living.
The expenses may be going up, but so are the revenues. This year, Camel cigarettes is sponsoring a series of major events and awarding $50,000 in prizes to the monster truck drivers who finish with the most points in the 25-event cross-country tour.
Mud racers, who tour with the monster trucks, have a shot at winning $1,000 at each of the 25 stops on the tour. Another $25,000 is awarded the top eight finishers in the mud-racing series.
Many drivers also have obtained factory sponsorships to help pay for parts and transportation.
"It used to start with the kids. They'd come and bring their parents. We did 63,000 in Tampa. In Augusta, (Ga.), we had to turn people away at the door. It's a happening thing. We are the blue-collar people. The popularity started with Bigfoot," Hart said.
At Orlando Arena many youngsters - with fathers in tow - watched with eyes as big as hubcaps as the monster trucks smashed 14 junk cars to smithereens. Mud racers, high-performance trucks that speed through thick, wet dirt, were also on the program.
A few moments before the monster trucks began their run, Winter Park's William Spivey said, "I don't understand how anyone even came up with the concept. I made a mistake and let him hear about it," he said, motioning to his 6-year-old son, Alan. "That's why we're here."
"I sometimes wonder how this came about, but I like it," said Tom Bergman of Orlando, who brought his 5-year-old son, Jon, and a couple of sets of earplugs.
Appearance fees
Drivers not only compete for prize money, they get a fee ranging from $500 to $2,000 just for showing up at an event. They also are paid for appearing with their trucks at supermarkets and auto parts stores.
Mike Chestnut, who travels the country scouting out venues for monster truck events, said he knows why the sport has grown.
"At first, people came to see a normal car destroyed that they would see on the street. We've had promos before where people would literally donate their car to have it crushed. It's the old thing of loud noises, high-powered engines and the thrill of seeing something destroyed," Chestnut said.
Willman said, "We're creating something here that's different. Like football and wrestling, the big guys draw the attention. In motorsports, it's the big trucks that draw the attention."
That thrill is no longer confined to the United States. Chandler said his business just built a monster truck for a man in Sweden. And monster trucking events recently have been held in Australia and Japan.
Chandler no longer drives but has a crew of 45 who build and maintain his fleet of 12 monster trucks named Big-foot and Bearfoot. He and his wife, Marilyn, travel the country and attend as many events as possible.
"Each year we sit back and say we've got to go to as many shows as possible because this is not going to last. And each year it gets bigger and bigger."
ORLANDO SENTINEL
LOAD-DATE: May 13, 1999
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 1990 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.
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