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The decline of motorsports


CarCrusher

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I’ve recently heard a lot of talk about NASCAR’s drastic decline in popularity, and it got me to thinking, maybe motorsports in general is slowly on its way out (at least in the form we know them today). Do y’all believe motorsports are going extinct? If so, what do you attribute it to?

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  I think it's just a sign of the times, honestly. Motorsports have evolved but not enough to stay relevant. They've always teetered on the edge of sport vs. spectacle as it is. Casual money is ultimately the money that pays the bills and signs the checks and they've struggled to keep that money flowing because they aren't appealing to them anymore. Maybe it's just the way things are now, with less and less individuals and more and more copy+paste personalities. NASCAR's all but lost it's soul and everyone feels the same or quite similar and the way they have ruined points series with the cup chase has alienated a lot of long-time fans. Monster truck DRIVERS(Sorry, they're drivers, I will never call them 'athletes' or 'superstars') are all basically trained actors who sound/act the same and don't have any real flavor/unique qualities about them. It'll be a sad day once guys like Meents and Koelher hang up the helmet for the last time, we'll truly be in the age of the faceless. Adam Anderson is great, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't have the personality or the fire like his dad. That's not a knock against him, I just feel like he's bland and I feel like that's what they want. They want bland and they're definitely getting it but I think it's coming at a cost that's finally starting to be seen. 

  Motorsports need a central governing body with actual teeth and actual protocols/procedures. Not some sham that can be bought/sold to the highest bidder or just so happens to be owned by some major promoter. An actual governing body that can define industry standards on both the business and entertainment side. Maybe the ability to be sanctioned by something official and carry that moniker as a way to legitimize yourself and get credibility that can ultimately be turned into marketability, etc. 

  In a perfect world, FELD would acknowledge the criticisms their product has faced and continues to face to some degree and try to change it. A simple(Probably not so simple) solution would be to set a standard in place, pay drivers a base pay for shows and offer to either rent out a truck from their fleet(the team can use their body/paint for the event(s)) or else offer the funding/mechanics/tools needed to maintain the trucks to be able to run just as hard as fleet trucks and ensure competitive balance. This would obviously be in reference to independent drivers/teams and the high cost associated with running MJ events. In doing so, FELD could also really shift the focus on competition and emphasize the importance of winning and really legitimize things. Run a points series with specific qualifications to register on said series, something like they have now, except with much higher focus and actual importance of winning championships. Perhaps generate the field for the World Finals field based on major event Racing and Freestyle winners and fill the rest of the field with the teams/drivers that have the most points that haven't won a major event that season. They can still crown an overall season champion for points AND have the WF's to crown the racing and freestyle champions in a winner-take-all bracket as they do currently. Let drivers develop rivalries, let competition dictate hype, show some of the drama! If two drivers aren't particularly fond of each other and they're about to race, make note of it! If one guy is sitting in the hot seat and his arch nemesis is about to freestyle and try to knock him off, say something about it! 

  Remember the days when Dennis and Tom weren't best buddies? Not to say they ever hated or even disliked one another but when it came to competition, those guys were fierce towards each other. The back and forth going after the checkered flag, that was exciting! Drivers had personalities, rivalries were prevalent, the competition was the focus and as a result, the product was superb because it meant something, both racing and freestyle, which I've seen your posts and know you would like racing only, I still feel freestyle has a place and is very much a vital portion of monster trucks in general but I believe the next evolution is to take a step back, raise the stakes of the competition and set legitimate criteria, stop encouraging drivers to demolish the truck every run, if it happens it happens but don't make that the standard of winning. Stop letting it be a contest of who can do 3+ backflips in one run to determine the winner, it really has jumped the shark and needs a bit of a return to it's roots. Racing just needs more emphasis and not to be blown through in under 10 minutes. They need to hype it up, make it matter, reference records, head to head records, all of that stuff that makes competition compelling and exciting. 

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@DiggerFan13 brother you just laid so much truth and reality on the table, and some very fine analyses might I add. Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough post! Basically exactly what the essence of my other thread was about before it was locked down. I’ve got so much to say regarding what you’ve said here, but it will take me some time to gather my thoughts and address it all. Stay tuned!

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4 minutes ago, CarCrusher said:

@DiggerFan13 brother you just laid so much truth and reality on the table, and some very fine analyses might I add. Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough post! Basically exactly what the essence of my other thread was about before it was locked down. I’ve got so much to say regarding what you’ve said here, but it will take me some time to gather my thoughts and address it all. Stay tuned!

  Thanks, man. I just laid out whatever I had on my mind in the open here. It helps I was just at an arena show this past weekend and have some thoughts coming off that which ultimately wound up in here, lol. I look forward to your full response and will stay tuned, my friend. 

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26 minutes ago, DiggerFan13 said:

  Thanks, man. I just laid out whatever I had on my mind in the open here. It helps I was just at an arena show this past weekend and have some thoughts coming off that which ultimately wound up in here, lol. I look forward to your full response and will stay tuned, my friend. 

That is precisely what happened to me. Lol.  I’ve always been kind of critical of monster jam, but the recent arena show I attended last month really irked me more than usual. By the end of it I had a vast number of thoughts and criticisms going through my head. I’m going to collect my thoughts and come back with a long post dealing with all of these topics.

Just to be clear, I don’t want to take this thread in the direction the other thread went, so I’m going to try to keep to the topic of motorsports. But I do have more things to say specific to monster trucks.

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1 minute ago, CarCrusher said:

That is precisely what happened to me. Lol.  I’ve always been kind of critical of monster jam, but the recent arena show I attended last month really irked me more than usual. By the end of it I had a vast number of thoughts and criticisms going through my head. I’m going to collect my thoughts and come back with a long post dealing with all of these topics.

Just to be clear, I don’t want to take this thread in the direction the other thread went, so I’m going to try to keep to the topic of motorsports. But I do have more things to say specific to monster trucks.

  Yeah, I went on Sunday and don't get me wrong, it was a solid show but I've had much more fun in years past. It was honestly a forgettable show in most aspects, it didn't really engage the crowd much at all and I left there without many notable memories of the event. I had to look it up online who actually won freestyle and had no idea one of the trucks(Max-D) wasn't even coming out for freestyle, they didn't even mention the truck broke and if they did, they sure didn't do it loud enough, lol. It just felt empty and devoid of any soul, it was like it was too goofy to be taken seriously but too serious to be goofy, it's like it doesn't know what it is or even wants to be and is just this Frankenstein's monster of things mashed together. They zoomed through racing in literally 10 minutes, the donuts lasted all of 5 seconds max, the ATV races were lackluster at best(I miss quad wars), the speedsters were okay but I really didn't care for them(They also flipped ETL back over twice for a restart which didn't sit well with me), the 2 wheel skills were actually quite entertaining, I did enjoy that bit, and the freestyle was quite forgettable, partially because the track itself was lackluster at best and in part because it felt like the drivers just kinda mailed it in, being the last show of the weekend and all. 

  And yes, I figured that was the case. I was still a lurker back when that thread was active and saw how it devolved into what ultimately got it locked. It's unfortunate people can't just keep civil and let the discussion flow without getting up in their feelings but it is what it is, people will be people as they say. My knowledge of NASCAR isn't what it used to be as I'd all but stopped paying attention after it became the Jimmie Johnson show but I suppose I'm part of that statistic as to why NASCAR is in decline, lol. 

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Okay, soooooo many things to say about all of this.....

First, before I delve into my heresy about Monster Jam, I would actually like to start off by praising Monster Jam. MJ is without the slightest doubt the best monster truck series there has ever been. One primary reason I believe this is because they have truly pushed the envelope in terms of innovation in their trucks and equipment. The trucks they own, and the others that compete with them are the finest, most state-of-the art equipment in existence, and it keeps getting better. They also lead the way in terms of having the best show, and keeping monster truck competition alive and continuously reinvigorated. I really don’t hate Monster Jam. I think they’re great honestly.

I think the issues I have with it pertain more to the focus of the industry, the business model, and the way it affects the status and credibility of the sport in the eyes of die-hard fans and potential die-hards. You mentioned how the money comes from the casual fanbase rather than the die-hards. Well, I think that’s probably true. BUT, I think you honestly need both, and I think you alluded to this when you talked about being part of the statistic of die-hard fans contributing to the fall of NASCAR by walking away from it.

It shouldn’t be any secret to anyone at this point that Monster Jam primarily markets to kids and parents of small kids. More money is likely made in the merchandising, toys, t-shirts, and video game sales end of the business than ticket sales to events. It is also clear, as you and I have both noted, that the shows are geared towards kids and family-entertainment as well (I will get to the show in just a bit). But because MJ has decided that it’s business model will be to market primarily to children and their ignorant parents, and to intentionally keep their clientele dumbed-down so they can sell them “family entertainment” at a competitive price, there is virtually no die-hard fanbase for monster jam or monster trucks outside of a select few nerdy neckbearded guys who live in their mom’s basements.

As an adult, you can’t feel right going to a MJ event on your own these days because they are so obviously made for kids. As such, MJ’s fanbase is not comprised of die-hard race fans who are there to see real competition between real drivers who are there to win. As you stated, MJ now owns nearly all the trucks, and becoming a driver is more likely auditioning for an acting role. The drivers now are young, chiseled, cheeky millennials with prefabbed personalities, and giant, fake, sh*t-eating smiles on their faces. They’re like Disney princes and princesses, and the show is like Disney on Ice with monster trucks, as I’ve stated before (which isn’t a coincidence). Drivers used to be a bunch of burly, chest-beating men like Dennis, Meents, and Porter., not a bunch of sweet little mamby-pamby Disney characters.

What I believe the sport needs is real competition. They need to focus primarily on racing, which I know is a drastically unpopular opinion. Freestyle is entertaining and all, but I still contend that high-speed, high-flying, side-by-side racing is far more exhilarating than aimless stunts. I’m not saying completely abandon freestyle, but ultimately something has to be done to bring back some true race fans. It needs a balance of both, and I honestly believe that you don’t have to market heavily to the kids in order to capture that market. Kids are going to love monster trucks without having to have trucks that look like giant sharks, puppy dogs, or dragons. 

At the recent event I went to I noticed the same thing about how they just rushed through racing so fast you barely knew they did it. And now they don’t even race over cars anymore. How lame is that! Take away the biggest trademark feature of monster truck racing why don’t ya - the crush cars! It honestly infuriated me. It seems as though MJ over the years has slowly diminished racing in favor of just being a spectacle and stunt show. It’s even worse than than an afterthought now. Racing is basically just a short warmup before the show begins. They have consistently undermined the racing portion, and while I do enjoy freestyle to some degree, I firmly believe that monster trucks are not supposed to be stunt vehicles that do backflips, somersaults, and stoppies. I think, on that front, MJ has jumped the shark. In doing so they have deprived the sport of any sort of credibility as a true motorsport. I believe freestyle should be there for the entertainment value, but it should always be secondary to racing. Monster trucks are made to engage in high-flying racing, and to me that is what captures the essence of the sport. 

Regarding the show, aside from how sugar-coated and watered-down it is now, it seems that they are trying to get away with offering much less. The show to me was cringy. The girl driving Zombie (I don’t know her name) was insufferable, and she was about to drive me up the freaking wall with that stupid “zombie dance”. Not to mention the fact that I sniffed some very noticeable PC-ness in the show. Seemed like every 5 mins they had to remind you that “Monster Jam is a sport where both male and female ‘athletes’ compete together on the same field” and the zombie chick would not shut up saying “girls can do anything boys can do blah blah blah”. It was just painful to sit through. There were some other very notable PC things I noticed throughout the show that I won’t go into. I’ll just say that I’ve developed a radar for this kind of crap, and the stench of PC was so strong at that show it was incredible.

Overall, I think Monster Jam would be the absolute sh*t if it would make some key critical adjustments. It needs to back off a bit on marketing to kids and their intentionally dumbed-down parents. It needs to try to pull in some more die-hard race fans who don’t feel out of place and abandoned at the shows. As it stands now, there’s nothing for a true race fan to get behind. It is not designed with them in mind. It is just a show with minimal competition and minimal substance designed to sell toys and merchandise to parents of small children. I guess that’s business, but the other business model I’ve alluded to could be just as lucrative because it would tap in on both markets. Monster Jam should stop trying to own every single truck that competes in their series. They should instead use their status and resources to get some good private teams on board, help them get into corporate sponsorships, help them get well-funded, and foster some true and free competition, rather than own it all and have 5 Diggers and 5 MaxDs occupy all the slots at the World Finals instead of inependants. I suppose doing it the way they do ensures fewer issues and fewer lawsuits regarding trademark rights and branding, but it still sucks for the rest of the sport.

I agree with you that the sport needs a sanctioning/governing body that organizes the events. I personally have toyed with the idea of pursuing that dream. I have always wanted to found an organization of my own that brings true racing competition back to the sport. The only problem is that it is difficult to make that happen when the industry has its roots dug in deep into what it is now, and most people out there are cognitive-misers who can’t comprehend what you mean anyway when you try to explain it. I believe a series can be made that involves real racing, a grand spectacle, and kid/family-friendly entertainment at the same time. Ultimately it needs to appeal to more people rather than just kids. They’re a good and indispensable market, but by far not the only one. 

 

 

 

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Now that I got that bit about MJ and the MT industry out of the way, I’d like to address the main topic of this thread, and that is.....what seems like the decline of motorsports.

Just speaking purely from a standpoint of just the overall changes in society and the shifts we’re seeing in the world, it just doesn’t seem like motorsports will survive the drastic changes going on, both technologically and culturally. I could be wrong, but it honestly doesn’t look like regular cars or IC engines will be around for a whole lot longer with everyone pushing for “green energy”, and wanting to get off fossil fuels. And let’s face it, IC engines ARE motorsports for the most part. I personally wouldn’t pay a broken penny to see an electric monster truck race. Hearing the thunder and feeling the ground rumble from the engines is a huge part of the experience. Once IC engines become extinct, motorsports will effectively die I think. Even if we still use IC engines in motorsports, who’s going to come see it when the general public doesn’t even know what an IC engine is, or wasn’t even born when they were produced (which will happen one day)? By that point the relevancy of motorsports will have completely vanished. People will be riding around in these electric bubbles, glaring into their phone screens, and have absolutely no sense of mechanical things or handy work or anything related to engines or racing or motorsports. Perhaps I’m just panicking for no reason, but I believe our societies are on the precipice of changing in some very drastic ways in the very near future that will ultimately alter life as we know it, and our current cultural traditions and activities (like racing and motorsports) will be lost. Some of the changes that I think will occur are things you wouldn’t even think would affect motorsports, but ultimately culture, society, technology, and economics are all inextricably-linked phenomena, and drastic changes to any of these can drastically change the others. It is already being said that automation will soon rid our country of half its jobs and labor force. It just seems scary to me to see what is ahead. You can already see a major zeitgeist shift in people’s attitudes towards most parts of our traditional culture and values. I guess I’m just worried that I will have to live through the destruction of most everything I know and love and everything that has ever meant anything to me, the world that I know, etc... I know I sound hysterical and overly-dramatic, but these are things I think about a lot, especially recently with everything that’s going on in this country and most of the developed world. 

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  I agree with the notion that MJ is the best, they really are and have been for a while. They've been the only consistent promotion running for quite some time now and have really all but monopolized it, if indirectly due to other promotions just not being up to standard or having the sustainability and brand recognition that MJ has, even with the brand being sold to a few different owners(PACE, Live Nation, and then FELD). I do believe their equipment to be the best and their drivers the most talented, not to say there aren't talented drivers who are on par or better outside MJ but MJ has certainly collected a fair number of them. Their shows were definitely the best and still are, if only by default at this point. Overall, I don't hate MJ either, I love it for a variety of reasons; the fact it's monster trucks, the fact I'm a die-hard die-cast collector who loves collecting 1:64 scale monster trucks based on real life trucks, the fact it's pretty affordable(at the gate at least, don't buy online unless you wanna get ripped hard by TM), and I grew up knowing it my entire life and have always had a passion for it. 

  I suppose that's why I think it's so sad it's gone downhill, at least in my opinion. The shows were more exciting, more hyped. The competition was the focus, the rivalries were real, the trucks and drivers had personality, the trucks actually crushed cars, it was fun for everyone young and old, men and women of all backgrounds could just relax. Some were more into it than others but overall, it was healthy. I think the constant search for the next big thing as far as moves go combined with the massive left vs. right political atmosphere we've seen explode in recent years has caused a massive shift in MJ's focus. 

  MJ and monster trucks and really motorsports in general have always carried(albeit somewhat unfairly) the moniker of being a 'redneck' hobby, something that wasn't exactly sophisticated or as refined as other forms of competition. And while it may have a lot of roots in what people may stereotype as 'redneck' I don't believe that to be a fair assessment but the court of public opinion has decided otherwise, they believe monster trucks and motorsports in general are a symbol of the right, thus they don't wish to support it and try to label it and stereotype it. So what does FELD do in response to all of this coupled with how PC everything has become? They tried to distance themselves from that image and instead of trying to establish neutrality, went full blown PC to try and cater to the left, which in turn angers many of the people from the other side, etc. The result now is that MJ is a watered down PC saturated mess that doesn't even know what audience it wants to please from one day to the next and has completely lost touch with that the essence of the sport is all about. It's always been family entertainment but they've completely gone overboard and yes, as someone in their mid-20's who went to a show recently, I felt oddly out of place and damn near even nerdy because I felt like I was at something that was targeted towards kids instead of everybody. 

  The thing is, with MJ, they did jump the shark with all the crazy stunts and ridiculous concepts they've introduced over the years. While it's impressive these machines can accomplish these feats, it ultimately makes things a lot more predictable and boring in the long run once it becomes a matter of who ever does the most backflips wins or whoever can do the best 720 cork screw front flip(obvious exaggeration on that). They need to walk everything back to it's roots and seriously go back and watch their own footage of their own events from the early 2000's, see what made it so compelling and exciting. It was still family fun but it was also real competition with an actual emphasis on competition. It was entertainment that allowed itself to play out naturally instead of feeling forced or being overdone. One could easily write it off as simple nostalgia but I honestly don't believe so, I go back and watch something like World Finals 3 and I'm legitimately excited and hyped for it. Do the same with a recent WF's? Meh, cool, they added more trucks, that's about the only more exciting part, more trucks. But what good is cramming 20+ more trucks into the event if it's half as entertaining because you ruined it? Imagine the field sizes of the WF's today with the production of classic MJ? Gahh, one can only dream. A simple return to their roots would go a helluva long way and come on, why haven't they invested in televising events live? They did it what, once? They used to have the WF's on PPV live as well, what happened to that???

  In regards to motorsports in general, I feel the decline may just be a sign of the times saturating. It may be that they aren't pumping in enough new fans because the product isn't attractive enough anymore or people just don't care. It could also just be that it's finding a new normal. I say that in the sense that perhaps motorsports peaked and stayed there for a while but now it's descending a bit, while it's declining in terms of numbers, we're yet to see if it's temporary or long term or if it eventually settles to a new normal. Perhaps some genius will find a way to give electric engines the same roar of an IC engine and manage to capture their essence without the negative connotations/impacts. I for one don't care one way or another if they make it all electric so long as you can still feel the engines screaming in your chest. 

  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have watched and kept up with monster trucks for 32 years now (before points racing even existed!).  I witnessed it go from exhibitions to full-blown racing, before ultimately having the sporting aspect stripped, leaving it a circus show on wheels for children.  Monster trucks have not been a legitimate form of motorsport since 1998, with USA Motorsports live on TNN's Motor Madness being the final piece of the puzzle.  USA being purchased by Pace, Pace splitting with Bigfoot, and the addition of freestyle all led to the absolute death of monster truck racing -- the sport -- and all of this happened within one year.   It was mind blowing to witness this happen in such a short period of time because the future of the sport seemed so bright with the live telecasts on TNN, which produced some of the best MT racing I've ever seen (next to TNT), and the Monster Truck Madness game series (made by the most valuable company in the world at the time) which were insanely popular.  I do think it's possible for it to return where it left off in 1998, but stage 4 trucks would need to be built, freestyle would need to be dumped; and they would likely need to use some form of alternative power in order for manufactures and other corporate sponsors to associate with monster trucks again.  I just don't know if enough people would care as nothing is "shocking" any longer in this modern jaded ADHD world. 

NASCAR, which I have watched for over 20 years as well, in my opinion has never produced better racing than what we have been seeing for the past 4-5 years.  If fans who complain about modern NASCAR were actually around to watch racing from 20 years ago, they wouldn't be complaining today, because a lot (but not all) of those races were REALLY boring.  I'm talking 400+ mile races with little to no cautions, and sometimes no lead changes.  And very few cars had chances of winning back then.  With that being said, I don't think the actual racing has anything to do with lack of spectators in the stands today.  NASCAR simply got too big, too fast; and it was nothing more than a trend.  Like all trends, it crashed, and crashed hard.  However, the TV ratings really aren't that bad (especially the races on local channels), and certainly not as bad as people are being told because the Nielsen rating system is obsolete and broken; and doesn't take in account modern TV viewing habits.  NASCAR seems pretty healthy to me, it's just that people keep comparing it's current popularity to a level from 15-20 years ago that was simply not sustainable.  It will never be that big again and could be compared to pro wrestling in the 90s, or even monster trucks during the 80s.

And there's also the issue with young people being less interested in cars, and it's probably only going to worsen as fewer young people get their licenses and choose to use Uber-type services instead.  The world is definitely changing, and changes this century will only become more dramatic.  Most racing series' will likely fold, but the ones that remain could produce the best racing we've ever seen.  For example look at Formula E.  Formula 1, the supposed "pinnacle of motorsport", hasn't produced racing as good as Formula E in well over a decade.  So many huge auto makers and sponsors have left F1 for FE, and it's only just begun.  The obvious direction of motorsport is electric power, which FE has exclusive FIA rights for until 2039.  This means the most popular form of motorsport in the world (F1) will have no choice but to find some other form of alternative power, merge with FE, or fade away like IndyCar; and this will have to happen within the next decade because auto makers are not going to continue to dump money into a series that is not relevant to what they sell to consumers.  This logic could also be applied to monster truck racing (if it were to ever return.), and NASCAR.  

All in all, I wouldn't say motorsports have declined, but rather the number of series have declined; and the modern world is going through a huge transitional period (in terms of technology) in which things are so different than they were even 10, 15 years ago.  There is a lot of good racing all over the world, with some series only getting better.  I think the best is yet to come, unfortunately for things like monster trucks, they are long gone and might never return.

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@Helen Weales when you say monster trucks would have to move to an alternative power source to get manufacturers attention again, do you mean that MTs would likely go electric, or some other kind of fuel? I can promise you that I would never pay one red cent to watch electric monster trucks. That would be the lamest thing I could ever think of.

Everything you say is unfortunately exactly what I’ve been afraid of. The modern world with its technology marching right along will soon completely alter the world we all know. Automation will do everything for us. There will be no jobs. All vehicles will be self-driven, IC engines will become a relic of an age gone by, people will barely leave their houses because they won’t be working. The automation taking all the jobs will necessitate government dependency because working will become virtually obsolete. This will cause a missive shift in zeitgeist which will destroy things we once loved like motorsports and such. It will become irrelevant because cars in general will lose relevance, just like nobody really cares about horse racing anymore, though it used to be widely popular if you go back far enough in time. Now it’s a primitive relic that time has left behind.

I know that I’ve feared this stuff for some time now, and I feel that these major changes are just around the corner. In many ways I envy the older generation now, because they got to live their life in the golden period before any of this happened. I’m only 28, so I’ll have to live with this stuff for decades. I look around and even now the younger generation is becoming more and more worthless with basic skills and knowledge that used to be commonplace. The young men have no handy skills, no car knowledge, or anything like that. I don’t want to live in that world. Sadly, we’re already living in the beginning of it.

 

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22 minutes ago, CarCrusher said:

@Helen Weales when you say monster trucks would have to move to an alternative power source to get manufacturers attention again, do you mean that MTs would likely go electric, or some other kind of fuel? I can promise you that I would never pay one red cent to watch electric monster trucks. That would be the lamest thing I could ever think of.

Everything you say is unfortunately exactly what I’ve been afraid of. The modern world with its technology marching right along will soon completely alter the world we all know. Automation will do everything for us. There will be no jobs. All vehicles will be self-driven, IC engines will become a relic of an age gone by, people will barely leave their houses because they won’t be working. The automation taking all the jobs will necessitate government dependency because working will become virtually obsolete. This will cause a missive shift in zeitgeist which will destroy things we once loved like motorsports and such. It will become irrelevant because cars in general will lose relevance, just like nobody really cares about horse racing anymore, though it used to be widely popular if you go back far enough in time. Now it’s a primitive relic that time has left behind.

I know that I’ve feared this stuff for some time now, and I feel that these major changes are just around the corner. In many ways I envy the older generation now, because they got to live their life in the golden period before any of this happened. I’m only 28, so I’ll have to live with this stuff for decades. I look around and even now the younger generation is becoming more and more worthless with basic skills and knowledge that used to be commonplace. The young men have no handy skills, no car knowledge, or anything like that. I don’t want to live in that world. Sadly, we’re already living in the beginning of it.

 

Yes, electric or something else.   Electric makes the most sense, and not just from a marketing standpoint -- the performance advantages alone would absolutely destroy anything a current MT can achieve.  Comparing an electric stage 4 truck to a stage 3 truck would be similar to comparing stage 2 to 3, which was a massive jump in its own right.  Independent suspension, minimal drivetrain, a motor for each axle or wheel, insane acceleration, low cost, etc.   Throw this technology in with demanding tracks that actually put truck integrity and driver talent to the test and it could be incredible.   Let's face it, a Monster Jam truck with 30-year-old technology performing 19 backflips while the driver makes a cup of coffee isn't going to get a Ford or GM executive to think "wow, we really need to be a part of this again!", nor will it capture the attention of a real motosport fan long enough to make them a hardcore fan.

As for automation, technology changing the world and making manual labor tasks more simple is nothing new because this has been happening since the beginning of time.  The loss of skilled jobs and government dependency in the US started many decades ago with an on-going weaponized globalist agenda, which includes moving jobs overseas, defunding public education (and re-writing history books!), killing traditional family values by putting both parents to work (to tax both parents/have kids raised by public education & Hollywood; nothing to actually do with female empowerment), and infiltrating the country with drugs via "wars" and big pharma --  just to name a few because this list is endless.  Therefor I think lack of skilled labor is largely unrelated to automation, because for every area that becomes automated, often new avenues open that need actual human hands; it's just that too many people lack guidance, are under-educated, and are intoxicated with drugs and the entertainment industry (politics, TV, films etc) to the point where they cannot focus on living meaningful lives, nor would they know how if they could focus.  It's a completely broken system that will either work itself out with a happy medium of man-machine, or humanity will end.

But humans will always still do things, just differently.  For example, eventually the average person might not manually drive cars around towns, but that is great because at this point the average person is so irresponsible and incompetent, they have no business being behind a wheel in the first place.  But I think/hope there will always be people actually driving and racing.

The last thing I will say is, the problem with technological advancements is rarely ever the technology itself, it's the abuse of technology by corporations/politicians/government (all the same same thing at this point).  Take the Internet for example, what a wonderful thing it could be...  Except it's really not.  It was in the cards all along to infiltrate every human with a device that would allow governments and corporations to monitor every move of every human; and the progress of this agenda since 9/11, and the effects it has had on society (globally) are truly terrifying.  In the beginning, few had any idea of the repercussions it would have on society, and most were distracted by all of the amazing possibilities.  On one hand, it's given people like me and you the ability to share our creations and communicate with one another (in which before probably wouldn't have been possible), but overall I think the cons outweigh the pros by a large amount which is why people are always trying to "disconnect" from social media, but can't escape it.  We are literally living in a dystopian sci-fi story, and few seem to notice it's the same story that has been told a million times over the past 75 years.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Helen Weales said:

Yes, electric or something else.   Electric makes the most sense, and not just from a marketing standpoint -- the performance advantages alone would absolutely destroy anything a current MT can achieve.  Comparing an electric stage 4 truck to a stage 3 truck would be similar to comparing stage 2 to 3, which was a massive jump in its own right.  Independent suspension, minimal drivetrain, a motor for each axle or wheel, insane acceleration, low cost, etc.   Throw this technology in with demanding tracks that actually put truck integrity and driver talent to the test and it could be incredible.   Let's face it, a Monster Jam truck with 30-year-old technology performing 19 backflips while the driver makes a cup of coffee isn't going to get a Ford or GM executive to think "wow, we really need to be a part of this again!", nor will it capture the attention of a real motosport fan long enough to make them a hardcore fan.

As for automation, technology changing the world and making manual labor tasks more simple is nothing new because this has been happening since the beginning of time.  The loss of skilled jobs and government dependency in the US started many decades ago with an on-going weaponized globalist agenda, which includes moving jobs overseas, defunding public education (and re-writing history books!), killing traditional family values by putting both parents to work (to tax both parents/have kids raised by public education & Hollywood; nothing to actually do with female empowerment), and infiltrating the country with drugs via "wars" and big pharma --  just to name a few because this list is endless.  Therefor I think lack of skilled labor is largely unrelated to automation, because for every area that becomes automated, often new avenues open that need actual human hands; it's just that too many people lack guidance, are under-educated, and are intoxicated with drugs and the entertainment industry (politics, TV, films etc) to the point where they cannot focus on living meaningful lives, nor would they know how if they could focus.  It's a completely broken system that will either work itself out with a happy medium of man-machine, or humanity will end.

But humans will always still do things, just differently.  For example, eventually the average person might not manually drive cars around towns, but that is great because at this point the average person is so irresponsible and incompetent, they have no business being behind a wheel in the first place.  But I think/hope there will always be people actually driving and racing.

The last thing I will say is, the problem with technological advancements is rarely ever the technology itself, it's the abuse of technology by corporations/politicians/government (all the same same thing at this point).  Take the Internet for example, what a wonderful thing it could be...  Except it's really not.  It was in the cards all along to infiltrate every human with a device that would allow governments and corporations to monitor every move of every human; and the progress of this agenda since 9/11, and the effects it has had on society (globally) are truly terrifying.  In the beginning, few had any idea of the repercussions it would have on society, and most were distracted by all of the amazing possibilities.  On one hand, it's given people like me and you the ability to share our creations and communicate with one another (in which before probably wouldn't have been possible), but overall I think the cons outweigh the pros by a large amount which is why people are always trying to "disconnect" from social media, but can't escape it.  We are literally living in a dystopian sci-fi story, and few seem to notice it's the same story that has been told a million times over the past 75 years.

 

 

All I can say is - SCREW YOU FOR BEING RIGHT!!!!!

But seriously, I’m afraid you are correct about everything. We are indeed living in dystopian times. I hate living in this world actually. The culture I care about is dead. It’s quickly being replaced by a world I don’t recognize and don’t really want to live in. Unfortunately, I won’t die soon unless I’m lucky enough to get cancer or die in an accident. I’m serious. I truly do not wish to live in this world. Everything that ever meant anything to me seems to be dying out and a new world replacing it.

However, I don’t agree that your electric “stage 4” truck sounds appealing at all. Who wants to go watch a quiet electric monster truck race? 

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1 hour ago, CarCrusher said:

All I can say is - SCREW YOU FOR BEING RIGHT!!!!!

But seriously, I’m afraid you are correct about everything. We are indeed living in dystopian times. I hate living in this world actually. The culture I care about is dead. It’s quickly being replaced by a world I don’t recognize and don’t really want to live in. Unfortunately, I won’t die soon unless I’m lucky enough to get cancer or die in an accident. I’m serious. I truly do not wish to live in this world. Everything that ever meant anything to me seems to be dying out and a new world replacing it.

However, I don’t agree that your electric “stage 4” truck sounds appealing at all. Who wants to go watch a quiet electric monster truck race? 

The loudness argument is weak.  Probably one of the most talked about motor sounds in MT history has to be BF 8 & 9 -- for a while they ran mufflers which were super quiet with a whistle.  People loved it because it seemed futuristic and different.  Also, large, powerful electric motors, especially 4-8 running at once, are NOT quiet, just different.  The performance alone would make you forget about lack of ICE sounds, especially if you saw a stage 3 truck being embarrassed by an electric stage 4.  It would be like this:

 

 

And as for the culture you love, try to preserve it and live the life you want to live.  Otherwise, you'll never be happy.

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