Back in the mid-1980s, monster trucks were clunky, heavy contraptions. Now, they’re lighter, high-tech racing machines that can be kicked into reverse with the toggle of a switch, and their fiberglass beds withstand thousands of pounds of rollover pressure.
Mike Nitzke, the laid-back, somewhat shy driver of Rambo - and a 2000 Thunder Nationals Champion - spent last weekend at MSU’s Breslin Student Events Center. It was just one day on tour with the January-to-November monster trucking schedule.
Life is a highway, he’s gonna ride it all night long
“Most of my time is just spent driving, a lot of driving,” Nitzke said.
Last week Nitzke, 32, drove 18 hours straight to get home, to Syracuse, N.Y., from a Tennessee show.
“We tore up a couple of things on the truck, and I had to get home and get it fixed so I could take off again Thursday,” he explained.
The following morning, the first day of Thunder Nationals’ East Lansing run, he and his fellow drivers rose at 4 a.m. for a series of radio interviews.
During the day, they used their downtime to tinker with and polish their trucks, relax and mount the 1,200 pound mega-tires onto their trucks for the night’s show.
In jeans, a navy-blue fleece and brown hiking boots, he polished the metal and chrome innards of Rambo, his black Chevy monster, to spruce it up for the performance.
Country tunes emanated from his pickup, parked a few feet away.
“Nitzke, he’s always on time for everything, and if you ask him to do something, he’ll do it,” said Mike Quigg, a Thunder Nationals crew member who has known Nitzke for eight years.
“He always has his stuff together, it looks nice and he acts professional. Of course, when we’re behind closed doors, it’s a different story.”
Recent crew antics include “Nitzke’s valentine,” when the show’s four-wheel drivers, all men, dressed up as women during a show and ran up to Nitzke demanding kisses.
“I guess I’m just easy to pick on,” Nitzke said with a shrug. “But I’ll get even with them. I just gotta wait for something to happen, then work off of that.
“That kind of stuff just makes the day go by.”
On his own time, one would think the driver of a truck named Rambo would take that thing on the road, do some mud boggin’ in a field or pop wheelies.
But, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“We don’t test it at home,” Nitzke said. “They cost so much to run, so you don’t want to run it any more than you have to at 3.8 gallons of fuel per minute. Especially since it’s not my truck.”
Hangin’ out
Nitzke grabbed a bite at Wendy’s on Friday and chatted with his fellow crew members from noon on. He’s the only driver in the weekend’s show who doesn’t own his vehicle. Bill Weaver, a fellow Syracuse resident, does.
At 5:30 p.m., wearing a red racing suit with bright white stripes up the sleeve and legs, he signed autographs at the pit party, where fans talked to the drivers and looked at the trucks up close on the arena’s concrete floor.
The announcer circulated between the drivers of Bulldozer, Rambo, Rap Attack and Black Stallion, and asked the fans trivia questions concerning the trucks and drivers.
At Bulldozer, whose horned, teeth-gritting design drew long lines of admirers, announcer Brandon Bates asked, “Who can guess the first sponsor for Bulldozer monster truck?”
After signing the checkered flag of 4-year-old Jacob Shaw, Nitzke leaned in and whispered “Smoke craft beef jerky,” then lightly pushed Shaw in Bulldozer’s direction.
Prepped with the right answer, Shaw won an autographed United States Hot Rod Association T-shirt.
That’s entertainment
At the start of Friday’s show, Rambo had mechanical problems, and Nitzke’s signature rubber-burning doughnuts - during which he often detaches the steering wheel and waves it out the window - just weren’t happening.
The audience saw small blue flames darting out from somewhere in the truck’s belly.
“Something has happened that rarely does, but it has tonight, it has,” the announcer said. “Rambo has been bumped out of the race early.”
Inside the truck, Nitzke rested an elbow on the steering wheel and placed his hand on his helmet. The other hand hung over the steering wheel, as Rambo was towed to the side of the arena floor.
Undaunted and regrouped, Rambo returned after intermission to crush plenty of junkyard Cadillacs beneath its enormous tires.
On the road again
By Sunday, he’s back in Syracuse, ready to hit the road soon for a Connecticut show.
So what keeps him going month after month?
Rambo runs on alcohol fuel, but Nitzke craves decent Italian food, a good show weekend and some time to himself every once in a while.
“Right now it’s getting to the point where you get burned out, but then you get revitalized again, maybe after a good weekend or a week off,” he said.
And so goes the life of Mike Nitzke, monster truck driver.
He will happily visit Florida and the warmth in early March and continue to satisfy truck and carnage cravings of fans well into the season.
“You know, this really gives people something to do in the winter time,” he said. “Everyone likes to see trucks crush things.”
