Monster trucks ripped through Breslin Center Friday and Saturday and brought car-crushing, crowd pleasing, high-octane action for the two-day crowd of 12,000.
“We come for the loud noise and to see the smile on his face,” James Morris of Waverly said, gesturing to his son Nick, 5.
Nick said his favorite truck is Bulldozer, but he would settle rooting for Grave Digger since Bulldozer was not at the show.
“Even though it is for the kids, the adults still enjoy it.” James Morris said. “It’s something different, and we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the kids.”
The U.S. Hot Rod Thunder National show consisted of five monster trucks competing in four events: the wheelie, the doughnut, the freestyle and the race competitions.
Grave Digger, driven by Scott Pontbriand, was the winner of both nights’ competitions and the crowd’s favorite, evident in over half of the crowd donning Grave Digger flags and blinking Grave Digger beacons.
Mike Nitzke, driver of Rambo and a 13-year veteran of monster trucks, said the thrill lies in the kids who come out to the shows.
“The kids love it,” he said. “They have a great time,”
But the show is also for the young at heart.
“Sometimes the parents will be more excited than the kids,” Nitzke said.
Rambo was forced to bow out of the competition early after a mechanical failure during the doughnut competition. Rambo returned Saturday after mechanics worked most of the night, but was completely inoperable after another breakdown during the wheelie competition.
In between events, the crowd was entertained by pocketbike, or miniature motorcycle, racing and quad-racing.
Megasaurus, the car-eating dinosaur, bit a chunk of metal from an ill-fated Ford Escort and spewed fire.
The announcer said for Megasaurus the Escort “tastes like chicken,” but also “gave him heartburn.”
Megasaurus is a 50,000 pound, fire-breathing mechanical marvel that can tear, burn and destroy any car in its path.
Megasaurus stands three stories and can produce 200,000 BTUs of flame.
Megasaurus requires two people to operate - one drives while the other works the dinosaur controls.
“Some people think that it is remote controlled, which adds to the mystique of Megasaurus,” said George Carpenter, driver of Megasaurus.
Megasaurus also has been known to work with law enforcement agencies by taking “a bite out of crime” through helping to destroy drug houses.
Gina Castillon, of St. John, brought her daughter Bianca. She has seen a bigger show at the Pontiac Silverdome, but said the smaller venue was not a problem.
“It is smaller here, but it is just as much fun,” she said.
Brad Ford of Perry has been bringing his son Jay, 10, to the show at Breslin for the past five years.
“It keeps getting better every year,” Jay Ford said.
