Monster trucks put on a show in Newark

Are monster truck competitions a sport?

With one of my sons and one of his, I went to the MonsterJam event Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center, home of the NHL New Jersey Devils hockey team.

My answer to the question I posed is yes, and I decided to post about it here (not on my birding blog!). My 5-year-old grandson loves monster trucks, and so apparently do lots of little boys and girls whose parents brought them to the arena for what turned out to be a delightful, if high-decibel, show.

Wearing ear protection, the three of us settled into comfortable seats giving us a good view of the dirt-covered arena floor with an elevated center platform over which the trucks rolled and did tricks.

I’d watched some monster truck rally recordings with my grandson and had the general idea of what I’d see. The monster trucks had three sessions, starting with races around the arena two at a time. The second phase was compulsory tricks — a sort of figure skating variant on 66-inch-diameter wheels. Montana Robbins in Plane Krazy won both of those rounds, as voted by fans in the stands using an online rating system.

There was a half-time break after the second round. A crew with a bulldozer and other equipment tidied up the track. The crew set up a big ramp for motocross bikes to run up so the bikers could do airborne tricks before landing on an inflatable landing slope.

Then it was on to the third and final challenge, the freestyle competition in which the drivers did whatever tricks and spins they chose. That round was won by El Toro Loco, driven impressively by Fernando Martinez. Check out the amazing backflip the crazy bull pulled off beginning at 36 seconds in the video below.

Robbins in Plane Krazy was the overall winner, an award not affected by the wing on top of his truck’s cab popping off at one point.

I must note that the drivers of the Megalodon and Sparkle Smash trucks were women, and I thought that was great. They did rugged routines and could handle the six-ton trucks just as well as the men did.

The hosts who appeared on the big screen above the arena floor were enthusiastic and family-friendly, setting the tone for the whole show. The drivers walked around the track and waved to the crowd after Robbins claimed the winner’s trophy.

For parents whose young children ask to see a monster truck show, give it a try. The kids in Newark today ranged from babes in arms (with noise-reducing headphones) to maybe up to age 10. My grandson loved it. He went home with a new toy truck plus a plush monster truck to give to his little brother. 🧢