- #YOU TUBE MONSTER TRUCK JAM DRIVERS#
- #YOU TUBE MONSTER TRUCK JAM DRIVER#
- #YOU TUBE MONSTER TRUCK JAM PRO#
We can’t be sure, but we suspect it’s Ezra getting some air here. Locking diffs and 66-inch tires don't want to turn. I'm steering way too much with the wheel. It's a tough concept: Most of the steering comes from the back of the vehicle, via an on/off switch with a little bit of latency. You need to hit the rear steer early, let go of it early, and power out of the turn." I never quite nail the timing on that. Meents lets me know that my badassitude is entirely in my head. Within a few laps, I feel I'm starting to figure it out.
"So let's get out there and start failing." We begin with a simple exercise: running ovals around a couple of tires to get accustomed to the rear steering, which is controlled by a toggle switch to the right of the steering wheel. "Oftentimes, the best way to learn is from your failures," says Meents over the radio. Once I'm bolted in, I get a thumbs up and fire the ignition. If they could, they'd probably strap your eyeballs in place, too. In fact, your range of eye movement is really the only means of looking anywhere but dead ahead. It's important that everything feel right, because once you're strapped into the harness and head restraint, you can't see anything below your chin. The lap belts are tightened with ratchet wrenches. Chuck Werner, who drives El Toro Loco, tutors me on the controls while two mechanics adjust them. Inside the garage, I climb up the frame and into the driver's seat. This makes it look like my truck is named Ezra, which is a pretty weak name for a monster truck and would probably result in mine getting swirlies from BroDozer and Raminator. Standard procedure is to affix a sign bearing each driver's name to the side of the truck. Since you'll just smash it up, and bodies are expensive-Max D's elaborate shells cost $16,000 a pop-the trainer trucks lack them. These are not dumbed down or detuned like the marquee Monster Jam trucks, they're running 1500 horsepower through a two-speed Powerglide transmission.
You can't teach that, but I will have to learn the driving part.įor that, there are trainer trucks. Plus, I've got plenty of misplaced confidence, and I don't have a great grasp of consequences. So clearly, Jefferson, Maine, is a hotbed of monster-truck talent. My chief qualification here is that one of my elementary schoolmates, Greg Winchenbach, drives Crushstation, the truck that looks like a lobster.
#YOU TUBE MONSTER TRUCK JAM PRO#
Superfans who petition for a tryout sometimes get a shot, in stark contrast to certain pro jai-alai leagues that constantly ignore my correspondence even though I know they signed for the Edible Arrangements.
#YOU TUBE MONSTER TRUCK JAM DRIVERS#
Don't knock over the petunias.Ĭould I be a driver? Many prospective drivers earn invitations to Monster Jam University by showing talent in related motorsports-say, off-road racing.
It's like staging a dogfight between Black Hawk helicopters in the patio-and-garden section of your local Walmart. I suppose that when a bunch of 'roided-out trucks with 66-inch tires and alky big-blocks start popping wheelies on a dirt track the size of a hockey rink, you've got to have some ground rules. (Hint: It's safety.) "When do we get to the part about doing awesome stuff that looks supercool?" I ask.
You can take a guess at the third most important thing.
#YOU TUBE MONSTER TRUCK JAM DRIVER#
"And what comes second?" I ask Tom Meents, the longtime driver of Maximum Destruction and the professor here at Monster Jam University in Paxton, Illinois. You know how the Kool-Aid man used to crash through walls? They don't want that happening at your local arena should you go unconscious with the throttle wide open. One of the four guys watching you kills the ignition via a radio. The first thing you do after you start a monster truck is turn it off.
0 kommentar(er)
