Monster Jam: Everything You Need To Know About The Greatest Show On Dirt
There's something undeniably fun about watching monster trucks soar through the air crushing cars. Every year, Monster Jam arrives to conquer our appetite for destruction. Grave Digger never fails to disappoint as it causes hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage right before our eyes. With more than four million fans attending Monster Jam events every year, the little destructive sport that started in 1992 isn't going anywhere. All you can do is sit back, kick off your boots, an enjoy these monstrous facts about monster trucks and Monster Jam.
Monster Trucks Are Not Cheap
They may not seem like luxury vehicles, but the cost to own your very own monster truck isn't cheap. If you want to invest in one of your own, you're going to need at least $250,000 and that doesn't include the cost of maintenance!
Once you have one, you'll need a team to help you compete on the Monster Jam circuit. That will cost you another $600,000. And that's not a one time fee, that's yearly. It's not a practical investment, but it will make you the envy of the neighborhood.
Each Track Takes Days To Make
Whenever Monster Jam comes to a new city it has to supply its own dirt. Taking over a sports arena or stadium isn't easy, and it takes large crews, usually around eight people, three days to create a new track for the monsters.
On average, about 70 truckloads (sometimes more) of fresh dirt are used to create every track. At hockey arenas, the task to build a track is extremely difficult. Before any dirt can be brought inside, the ice in the rink has to be removed.
The Monster's "Victims" Come From Junk Yards
In one year, Monster Jam crushes about 3,000 cars. Don't worry, though, the cars they destroy aren't new. The event obtains all of its "victims" from local junkyards and returns them after. It's not just cars that are taken out to pasture, though.
If you've ever been to a Monster Jam event, you know that no vehicle is off limits to be crushed. Event organizers will use anything they can get their hands on; cars, ambulances, vans, buses, motor homes, and even airplanes!
Grave Digger Was Born In 1982
Ten years before the first Monster Jam, Dennis Anderson created Grave Digger. The world-famous monster truck was originally designed to be a mud bogger. Mud bogging is sport popular in Canada where vehicles drive through a pit of mud.
It wasn't until 1986 that Anderson turned Grave Digger into a monster truck and gained fame through several appearances on TNT. As for the name, Anderson came up with it after saying, "I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave with it!"
They Are Big And Nimble
To be eligible to participate in Monster Jam, each monster truck must weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds. Most exceed that, pushing closer to 12,000 pounds. Just because they're oversized and overweight doesn't mean they're not nimble.
Monster trucks can jump as high as 35 feet in the air and cover over 130 feet of dirt in one leap. To pull off such astounding airtime, the cars have massive engines that can reach up to 2,000 horsepower in quick bursts.
Monster Truck Tires Are Massive
If you're under five and a half feet tall, you're shorter than a monster truck's tires. To be considered truly a monster, each truck's tires must be 66 inches high and 43 inches wide.
Even more shocking; each tire has to be hand made to fit each car. Cutting and fitting one tire takes 50 hours. Tires aren't cheap either. One will set a team back $2,600, meaning a whole set is worth over $10,000; the cost of a used car.
Trucks Can Be Turned Off From The Outside
Being a monster truck driver can be dangerous, so safety has to be at the forefront of Monster Jam's priorities. To make sure the event is as safe as possible, there are operators placed in the crowd who can turn off the trucks remotely.
This means if a driver loses control or exhibits poor behavior, the remote operators can cut their engines. Just because you came to the show to see things get destroyed doesn't mean you don't want to leave in one piece!
Engines Upon Engines Upon Engines Upon Engines
In one year, a Monster Jam team will go through at least five engines. Each engine costs around $50,000 and is custom built. To be able to make a monster truck run, it's important that each methanol-injected and supercharged engine is custom built.
To put the price it takes to run a monster truck team in perspective, it costs over $200,000 just to keep the truck engine running. Add in the cost of tires, and it's easy to see why it costs more than half a million dollars a year to own a monster truck.
Monster Jam Is Crazy Popular
Every year, Monster Jam attracts over four million attendees. The traveling show goes from the United States to Canada to the United Kingdom, selling out arenas and stadiums with ease. Overall, each team travels over 45,000 miles!
The distance from California to Maine is only 3,200 miles, meaning monster trucks make the trip roughly 15 times! No wonder they go through so many engines. And just wait until you read how bad their miles per gallon is.
They Are Major Gas Guzzlers
We recommend holding onto something before reading this next fact. On average, monster trucks get .142 miles to the gallon. So how many gallons does it take for a truck to go one mile?
The answer is seven. It takes seven gallons of gasoline for a monster truck to go one mile. They don't hold a ton of gas either, only about 22 gallons. That means there are a lot pitstops for refueling during a show. Either that or each show is incredibly short.
They Jump Over A Lot Of Cars
You already know that monster trucks at Monster Jam are surprisingly nimble, but do you know exactly how many cars they can jump over? If a truck hits its maximum height of 35 feet and a distance of 130 feet, it can clear about 14 cars.
Who wants to see a monster truck leap over cars, though? We want to see them crush everything that gets in their way. There should be no mercy, ever, at Monster Jam!
Their Tires Aren't The Only Thing That's Big
Monster truck tires pale in comparison to the size of the actual truck. Most trucks are 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide, roughly the size of two humans. There's a reason they're called monster trucks and not mini-trucks.
Although Monster Jam has only been around since 1992, the sport of monster truck racing has been around for over 40 years. The beasts have evolved a lot since they first started roaming the roadways. These days most of them don't even look like trucks.
They Can Reach High Speeds
You won't see it in an arena, but because monster trucks can push up to 2,000 horsepower in short bursts, they are capable of going surprisingly fast. We don't know the top speed, but we do know that can easily go over 100 miles per hour.
Just imagine driving to work in the morning only to see El Diablo (pictured) speeding up on you from behind. You would probably switch lanes so the truck could pass you. Otherwise you might end up squashed.
They Have Special Shocks
Monster trucks at Monster Jam use nitrogen gas shocks. The specialty shocks come in all shapes and sizes, and are important for the cars to run properly during the show. With how often the trucks leave the ground and bounce back down, they need to be given the best of the best.
Some teams even go as far as having two shock absorbers per tire, just to be safe. Like everything else, these shocks don't come cheap. One shock absorber package, which includes a coil-over-shock kit and spring, costs $1,600.
Hot Wheels Used To Officially License The Toys
It's inevitable after taking your kids to a Monster Jam show that they will want a toy of their favorite truck. The good news is you can buy them one, the bad news it probably won't be cheap.
Hot Wheels used to make the official toys of Monster Jam, but ended their contract with the show in 2018. These days Spin Master is making the miniature versions of the cars. Don't toss out your old ones, though. They might become valuable collector's items someday!
The Longest Jump Ever Is LONG
In 2013, Joey Sylvester set the monster truck distance jump record in Bad Habit. The truck flew an astounding 237 feet! Don't forget, trucks typically only go 130 feet. By our math, that means he would have cleared at least 20 cars.
Another incredible feat happened in 2010. Cam McQueen was driving Nitro Circus when he completed the first ever monster truck back flip in a scored competition. We're assuming he won pretty easily with that fancy maneuver.
Monster Jam Trucks Have Been Used In Rescue Missions
When Houston was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, monster trucks were used in rescue missions. People who were stranded in the water must have been shocked when they saw the truck coming near them. The reason the trucks were used, though, is surprisingly practical.
Because of how tall monster trucks are, their parts were able to stay above water during rescue missions, making them ideal rescue vehicles. Another rescue vehicle (like an ambulance) would end up with a flooded engine, adding to the people who needed rescuing.
Visibility Is Limited
There are several reasons that Monster Jam has remote operators in the audience to turn cars off in an emergency. One reason you might not expect is that visibility is limited behind the wheel.
That's right, monster truck drivers have trouble seeing. That makes going to an event all the more terrifying and impressive. With such limited vision, it's incredible that drivers are still able to put on such a death-defying show. And we do mean death-defying. Monster Jam is one of the safer sporting events you can attend!
Drivers Don't Practice Their Tricks Beforehand
When you sit down in your seat and the Monster Jam show begins, you're watching the drivers take on the track for the first time ever. Each track has to be built before the race, and according to at least one driver, no one practices on the track beforehand.
Ryan Anderson, the driver behind the wheel of Son-uva Digger, revealed, "The tricks that we do, we do them in front of the fans for the first time. When you're seeing it first is when it's happening first. I want to do it all in front of the people. Nothing is rehearsed. I'm just shooting from the hip."
Building The Track Isn't Easy
Building a Monster Jam track is no easy task. When the sport took over Ford Field in Detroit, a lot had to be done in a short amount of time. To start, plywood had to be laid down on the entire field. Then, 3,500 cubic yards of dirt were dumped on the field.
To bring the dirt in, dump trucks made over 200 trips! Once all the dirt was in place, workers spent the next 20 hours forming the track.
