CarCrusher

Like I said, it’s only nominally a competition. I would say it could be described as a family show that’s got some competition involved, but It’s more so a show than it is competition, and I don’t think that can be denied. In other words, i t’s more Disney on Ice than it is NHRA. The vast majority of trucks are owned by Feld. The drivers are more like actors casted into acting roles than they are like racecar drivers. This is patently obvious if you go to the shows. There is more of a focus on thrills and freestyle than there is racing. Sure, it might be judged objectively, and the racing might be real, but at the end of the day, the focus is on family entertainment and not on true racing or competition, and this is just an obvious observation.

I actually don’t believe it’s not “real”. Obviously, I know that when two trucks pull to the line, they’re actually racing each other. I’m also not trying to disparage the monster truck industry. I just think it focuses too much on being a “show” than being a race. In the eyes of the general public, it’s not a legitimate sport. It is generally viewed in roughly the same way as professional wrestling. Yes, the entertainers are talented at what they do, yes the maneuvers require skill, but it’s only nominally serious, and mostly just a show. I’m only speaking for myself personally. I would like to see monster trucks treated like a real motorsport. I would like to see a successful racing-only series with purse money (on top of a flat booking payout of course), and real competition. Ultimately, I would like to see the sport given some much due credibility.

Unscripted or not, it’s still not real racing. It’s like WWE. None of the drivers/teams care who wins. They’re not competing for anything. They’re putting on a show. The driver’s job isn’t going to be in jeopardy if he/she loses. They may “really race” when they’re out there. But they really don’t at the same time. They pretend to race. Like I said, I love monster trucks, but I don’t like the sport it became.

Got another question. Tried to get it out of Nitro Menace but he wouldn’t get detailed with his responses. How much does your typical independent team get paid by the promoter per event? If that’s too nosey of a question, what is the minimum price that would make it worth it?

By having a larger truck field. I’m proposing 20 trucks. That’s 21 races per show not counting qualifying, which would add 10- 20 runs to the race depending on if you do them one truck at a time or 2. Just the 21 races itself would take up the whole show then some with minor events in between. Tracks would have pass times of 1- 1.5 mins. Allow 3 mins in between runs, so you’re looking at a good 1.5 hours just of monster truck competition there. So if you take into account that most arena MJ shows have 8 trucks. Thats 7 races in racing (much shorter passes mind you), 8 freestyle runs, and 8 wheelie contest runs. That’s 23 runs total, only two more than the 20-truck racing-only event. And with the racing passes being much shorter in the arena MJ show, you’re looking at about the same amount of competition. This makes me think of another damnig factor. If monster trucks aren’t there yet, will they ever be? Or maybe a better question is - are monster trucks still relevant? If you think about it, the world as we know it is changing rapidly. Pretty soon in our future, cars and trucks as we know them today will be gone, and we’ll all be riding around in fully self-driving, electric bubbles. The internal-combustion engine will be a relic of the past and will cease being produced. By that time, will the concept of a monster truck bear any relevancy or familiarity in anyone’s mind? Monster trucks are supposed to be overgrown versions of regular trucks. How will they be versions of anything when there are no longer trucks produced as we currently know trucks? I think perhaps monster trucks, along with all current forms of motorsport will become irrelevant in the near future. Maybe I’m wrong.

I mean no offense to anyone by this, But it just kind of puzzles me that folks in the monster truck business, truck owners and drivers, don’t want to see their support become a real motorsport. Why they just accept it the way it is, a Disney on ice show. I can’t believe monster truck teams don’t want to actually complete, to have a real racing series that is just like NASCAR or NHRA or the Lucas oil truck series. Seems like every other motorsport is real. It is focused on racing and real competition. The teams actually get into it, they hire the best drivers, etc... seems like monster trucks are the only one in which people are OK with just monkeying around doing freestyle and only being nominally considered a “sport”, and that being a generous descriptor. It just kind of blows my mind. Monster trucks are so freaking awesome, They deserve a serious racing league like every other motorsport, and no one seems to care. Blows my mind.

I get it. That’s very unfortunate. I guess you’d have to have well-funded teams with good corporate backing. I always kind of figured that was why you see some guys not stepping on it at shows. They just kind of roll over the obstacles and you can tell they’re not putting their foot in it. I still remain optimistic it can be done. Like someone said earlier, you’d have to find that happy medium. Like have a flat rate rate pay that everyone receives to make it worth while, even the trucks that don’t qualify into the field, then try to get the sponsors to provide a good purse. I still think there’s a way to make a real racing series happen. I will keep working and brainstorming until I come up with a model that works. It’s my dream to make monster trucks a legitimate motorsport with every bit the competition and passion that every other motorsport enjoys. Hell, the people who race dirt oval stock cars don’t normally make jack squat doing it, but they still go all out for the victory, and its still real, serious racing. I will one day get a momster truck, and I will one day create my own racing series!

Yeah, but what about freestyle where guys deliberately break their stuff? I see your point that there’s no money in monster trucks. Perhaps that’s because it is such a casual sport for casual “fans” and families that bring their young children to see the “big trucks”. There a very few die hards like with NASCAR. That’s why I think it must be developed into a real sport that people (i.e. adults) can really get into and follow. There’s nothing to follow in monster trucks now because there’s no real racing, or points chase or whatever. It’s just canned Disney on Ice shows for the kids. I think the right start for a racing series would be to start small at first, with one or two really good races per year. Hold it at a nice venue with a 16-20 truck field. Then possibly add more races each year until you’ve got a real series going. I think it’s possible. I believe I myself could successfully organize a great race once per year that would be a large racing-only championship. Get good sponsors on board to put together a good-sized purse. Make tons of phone calls and get the top teams in the nation to come qualify. Advertise it heavily in the local area with a Jan Gabriel-esque voice actor - “The largest monster truck event in the country! TWENTY of the nation’s top monster trucks racing for the championship title! Don’t miss out on the high-flying, car-crushing action!” or something like that. I think it would draw in the crowds. People would come to see 20 monster trucks.

Hey guys! I’ve got a fun topic here. Suppose you had the cash to purchase a turn-key monster truck from a renowned fabricator. Which chassis would you choose. The ones I know most about are probably the PEI, CRD, and Concussion, although I know there are many other fabricators out there as well as teams who build their own chassis (Hall bros for example). So if you had the wealth to buy one, what chassis would it be, what engine, and what body would you choose? Me personally, I think I would have to go with either a CRD or PEI, 540 c.i. Chevy engine, and late model Silverado body. I’m also interested to know what other options are out there.

You raise some very good points for discussion. First, I agree that everything MJ does now seems overly-scripted. The “athlete” thing baffled me too. It had been a couple years since my last MJ show up until last week, so that was the first I had heard them say that. I agree also that there’s a big difference in guys then and now in terms of what they say. Honestly, I hate to keep hating on MJ, but after this last event, I left with a rough manuscript of a rant in my head. There are just so many things to criticise about it. But I’d rather keep it positive and instead use this thread to discuss possibilities for how one might create a true racing series. I still believe it’s very possible, and honestly, I would love to give it a go myself. I’ve always wanted to pursue a dream like this. It is quite possible I will have the resources and opportunity in the not so distant future to do it too!

I very much appreciate your eloquent responses, and I respect your knowledge of the industry, which is vastly greater than mine. I’m slightly more than a casual monster truck fan as of now, but with an interest to learn more. I say that notwithstanding the fact that I grew up loving monster trucks as a kid and being obsessed with them. I was not aware of how old the gun controversy was in MJ. Guess I didn’t pay attention to the date. It popped up as an article in my google feed and I assumed it was new. At the end of the day, when I look at the big picture, I see in monster trucks a sport that has every bit the appeal, the awe, and technological sophistication to be a true motorsport, but has never fully achieved that status. As you alluded to, I almost don’t feel fully justified as an adult in being into monster trucks because of the way it is marketed to children. I would love to see monster trucks gain the due credibility they deserve with a true racing series. I’m not so sure a true national points series is even possible at this point. I kind of feel that the MLMT kind of tainted it for most people. What do you think?

Yes, I 100% agree. I’m not suggesting to do away with Monster Jam. I just wish there could be a new series for racing, that’s all. The problem is that trucks like Grave Digger and Max D and all the other trucks on the MJ circuit could never compete in it because Feld owns them all. Not to rag on Monster Jam too much, but this article details another reason why I can’t, in good faith, support them anymore https://www.theblaze.com/news/all-gun-images-ordered-removed-from-monster-trucks-at-florida-show It appears that MJ, just like lots of other companies I no longer support, has taken the PC route. Once companies engage in this kind of cowardly affront to human dignity known as political correctness, I’m done with them. In fact, I was completely turned off by the show I went to last week. I noticed that the entire show was overtly politically-correct. To start with, the chick driving the Zombie truck was given so much face time by the announcers, and she never shut up about how “girls are just as good as boys” and how “this is not just a man’s sport anymore” yatta yatta... I was fine with it the first time or two, but this annoying chick never shut up about it. Then I noticed that the announcers kept saying something to the effect of “here at monster jam, we allow people of all genders to compete on the same field”, or something to that effect. Again, it was okay the first time, but they had to remind you every five minutes during the show by saying it again and again to show you how “inclusive” they are. It got so cringy that me and my buddy turned and looked at each other like “wtf is this crap?”. The other thing that happened was when they interviewed the driver of El Toro Loco, a hispanic man, they did the entire interview in Spanish, despite the fact that he could speak fluent English. This was in NASHVILLE TENNESSEE! Look, I’m not saying that it’s bad to be inclusive or whatever, but this was not genuine. It’s a way of pandering to the current zeitgeist that exists in America today. They want to show everyone how “woke” they are because it’s the safe way to go. But I’m tired of seeing companies capitulate to this stupid trend, which is actually a very dangerous form of authoritarianism. I’d like to see some companies grow a damn backbone and stand up for freedom of thought and expression instead of caving into this thought-policing and censoring horse crap. I’m very sorry for getting political. But I’ve been needing to vent this for the past week regarding Monster Jam. It really irritated me that monster jam of all things has been sucked into the PC bandwagon. It’s freaking MONSTER TRUCKS! If you’re looking for something soft, cuddly, and nice, you’re in the wrong damn place! These are big trucks with big tires and big motors that make lots of noise. It’s no place for political correctness. Okay, rant over.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the subject matter. You brought up some good points. However, I think you and I might be differing in what where talking about. All I’m really saying is that I think that the sport of monster trucks is not a real motorsport, and I attribute this to the past 20-25 years of the sport increasingly heading towards a more “sports entertainment” format, but really culminating with Monster Jam pushing it over the edge. You’re right in saying that MJ isn’t solely to blame for this, but I believe thay’ve completely cemented the status of monster trucks as a joke of a motorsport. They’ve jumped the shark with freestyle and the big stunts. Also, nowadays it seems like Monster Jam has entered a new era of being basically like Disney on Ice with monster trucks. They own basically all the trucks that compete with them, and when you go to their shows, the drivers are always young, good-looking, cheeky, bubbly little millennials who talk like Disney princesses and princes. They are basically just actors playing monster truck drivers. Feld owns Disney on Ice, so Monster Jam is basically just Disney on Ice with Monster Trucks. I went to the show in Nashville at Bridgestone last week and the whole time I felt way too old to be there because it felt like a Disney show aimed at kids. The announcers speak in these cheery little voices, like they’re talking to kids. It was just kind of unbearable. But more to my main point, I feel that the sport of monster trucks needs to break out of the format that is currently used and has been used for decades now, where it’s just a promoter promoting “shows”, and just a bunch of truck teams being paid booking fees to appear in the show. Monster trucks need a real racing league with open-qualifying, racing only, purse money, and real competition. If it were up to me, there would be no freestyle. As impressive as it is to see what the trucks can do via freestyle events, I think freestyle just diminishes the credibility of the sport. I’m tired of hearing people say “we’re going to the monster truck ‘show’”. I’m tired of it being called a “show”. I want it to be called a “race”. So in summary, I just want there to be a true monster truck racing series, and I want to see monster truck teams really compete, rather than “put on a show”. I want to make it like NASCAR or NHRA or any other true racing motorsport. I want to see teams have to hire the best driving talent available. You know, it’s really difficult to become a NASCAR driver, because these teams are serious. They’re looking for the best of the best. I would love to see monster trucks enter that territory. I would love to see them have to open-qualify. Pure, no-holds-barred natural selection. No booking fees, no freestyle or cheap stunts, just real racing, real passion, and real competition. My dream is to one day host a single event each year that is a large open-qualifying race that has a large truck field, a large purse, and real racing. Probably at a large motor speedway like MLMT did. Then I could build it up from there. And p.s. I don’t think wanting to establish legitimacy to the sport by introducing real racing makes one an “old soul”. I’m not proposing to bring back steel-bodied trucks. I’m just proposing to make monster trucks great again with real racing.

Hello Sim-Monsters community, I apologize up front for potentially sounding monumentally ignorant, but I have some opinions I would like to share with you. Many of you might not agree with what I have to say, but perhaps you’ll be able engage in good discussion about it, and your feedback is certainly desired, even if it’s just to inform me that I’m a moron. So to start, I must say that I’m not the biggest fan of Monster Jam. I’ve always held a certain level of disdain for it that was directed at its “Disney on Ice”-like approach, but even recently I’ve discovered more reasons to detest Monster Jam/Feld Entertainment. But I don’t want to make this thread about bashing MJ. This thread is instead about what I would like to see happen with the monster truck industry. So, you’ve probably heard this opinion uttered before, but I’m one of those people (however many there are) who would love to see a legitimate national points series racing league for monster trucks. I understand that this has been tried in the past with the likes of ProMT, MLMT, and MTRS, which all ultimately failed. However, I don’t believe that this means that a true racing series could not work. I get that most people like Monster Jam, and the current format of freestyle-centered shows. I just simply don’t share those opinions. I’m a racing addict. I love true and fierce competition. I believe that monster trucks lack it. It is my opinion that monster trucks are not viewed as a true motorsport, nor ARE they are true motorsport. I believe that the format for monster truck events that is widely utilized today diminishes the validity and credibility that this sport deserves. I alubelieve that the current format has jumped the shark. Monster trucks are now doing stunts and tricks they were never really meant to do. Sure, backflips are impressive in 10,000+ lb machines, but I believe that the sport has moved so far away from being an actual sport, and so much towards just a circus and spectacle, that it’s getting ridiculous at this point. I would love to see someone succeed in making a successful national points series for monster trucks that contains racing-only, open-qualifying, purse money, a large truck field (16-20 trucks per race), and real racing. I would actually like to do this myself one day if I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity. I think racing can be just as, if not more, thrilling than freestyle if the tracks are built right. If the trucks are really given a chance to get opened up and really rev their engines, push them too the limits, and have big photo finishes, it is more exciting than aimless freestyle. Having good sized jumps helps this too. At the end of the day, I’m a huge and lifelong fan of monster trucks. I absolutely love them, but I find the industry frustrating. I feel like for people like myself who want to see a serious racing league for monster trucks are just let down. It’s nothing but sparse little tours where teams get paid booking fees to do canned shows. It really is a bummer. I would love to hear everyone chime in on this. Is there anyone here who shares my opinion? Do you think a successful racing points series is possible now, or do you think it’s been tainted by the likes of MLMT and others? What do you think of the topic altogether? Thanks for reading!

I was under the impression that it was geared towards some kind of online game or something. Forgive my ignorance. I noticed there was a “real life” monster trucks thread, so I didn’t know if real monster trucks were the center of discussion here.

Hello everyone! Big monster truck fan here! Just wondering what this forum is all about? What is the main thing people discuss on this forum? Thanks!