Staff Writer
A record crowd witnessed a record-setting event as the Advanced Auto Parts Monster Jam rumbled into Jacksonville over the weekend.
The monster truck show was witnessed by over 70,000 people Saturday, which was the tour’s largest crowd of the year. The event sold out the day before the show even after 1,000 standing-room-only seats were released.
Everyone was standing Saturday night after they saw the truck “Nitro Circus” complete the first ever back flip by a monster truck in scored competition.
A day before lift off, the Monster Jam crew of about 10 was hard at work moving a total of 300 truck loads of dirt into place to create the race track and freestyle features for the competitions. The dirt was combined with about 30 “crush cars” from local salvage yards to build the track. ASAP Towing was the crush car provider as well as the official towing service of the Monster Jam in Jacksonville.
While the truckloads of dirt were being dropped off, a record 16 trucks were being prepped for competition.
Dan and Lorrie Evans hold the distinction of being one of the few husband-and-wife teams in the sport and they estimated it costs about $2,000 each time their truck “Destroyer” heads to the track.
“It took us three months to build and cost about $180,000,” said Dan. “We have to keep enough parts in our hauler to completely rebuild the truck, so that’s another $180,000 we have invested.”
The trucks are fueled by methanol and get up to seven miles per gallon. The team not only races and repairs its truck, but also haul it from town to town with a rig that is equipped with living quarters attached to the cab of the truck. “Destroyer” was one of the seven independent trucks in the competition, so the team didn’t have the benefit of corporate sponsorship that teams such as “Grave Digger” and “Blue Thunder” enjoy.
“We’ve got to watch our costs wherever we can,” said Dan. “Being able to stay in the truck helps us to keep our lodging costs down and we go to a lot of cities on this tour.”
The tour lasts from January to March in the United States and competitors can travel up to 45,000 miles a year. Once the American tour is over, the “Destroyer” team packs its equipment into a metal container, loads it on a ship and travels across the Atlantic Ocean to compete in the European tour.
“It’s just as big over there,” said Dan. “And we don’t travel over there to race trucks that are built in Europe. We bring our own trucks over there for the competitions.”
Fans made their own trips Downtown Saturday to witness the monster truck muscle on display, and tailgaters could be seen setting up around noon.
“As far as the tailgating, there was more than the (Jimmy) Buffett show and less than a Jaguars game, and they started about noon,” said Sgt. Leonard Propper, of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Special Events Division. “Traffic ran pretty smooth. We had a lot of planning and coordination to put that many people in the sports complex without the use of shuttles, which are utilized during game days to alleviate the traffic looking for parking.”
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