Monster Jam rolls into Orlando this weekend!
This weekend at Orlando Citrus Bowl sees Monster Jam roll into town. The world’s premier Monster Jam truck series will be racing at 7pm and the trucks appearing in Orlando will include: Grave Digger driven by Adam Anderson; Lucas Oil Crusader driven by Linsey Weenk; Max-D driven by Tom Meents; El Toro Loco driven by Becky McDonough; Monster Energy driven by Damon Bradshaw; Soldier Fortune driven by Chad Fortune, and more!
Tickets are available and are well priced for the whole family with seats starting at just $15. Gates will open at 5pm and opening ceremonies are at 6:30pm.
Monster Trucks are custom designed machines that take around four months to build. They are approximately 12 feet tall and about 12 feet wide sitting atop 66-inch-tall tires and with a minimum weight of 10,000 pounds. The trucks are built for short, high-powered bursts of speed and are capable of generating 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower that can see speeds of up to 100 miles per hour given the right conditions. Monster Jam trucks can fly up to 125 to 130 feet (a distance greater than 14 cars side by side) and up to 35 feet in the air.
Today’s Monster Jam trucks use lightweight bodies and tires so more strength and weight can be put into the frame without sacrificing speed, maneuverability, or safety.
The body is usually made of fiberglass and the body is custom designed to create a character or theme for the truck. Custom body trucks can be carved by hand out of styrofoam and wood to create a “plug” which is then used to create a fiberglass body mold or created by computers.
Monster Jam trucks face off in two different forms of competition — side-by-side racing and freestyle:
- Side-by-side racing – traditional bracket racing, where the first truck, with the least amount of penalties, crosses the finish line is declared the winner.
- Freestyle competition – allows drivers a limited amount of time on the open floor to show off their skills. In this category, the fans serve as the judges.
To make the show possible, a crew of eight worked 18-20 hours a day for three straight days to construct the monster truck course. The conversion of the Citrus Bowl began by covering the entire surface of the astro turf with a wall-to-wall protective polyurethane sheet. Each sheet used is some 20’ long, 5’ wide and ¼” thick, and weighs 130 pounds. After that process is complete, the dirt was then added as approximately 300 truckloads were trucked in to cover the entire field.
The track is then laid as an 8”-thick base is applied and then, using a computer designed track map the crew sculpts the obstacles. The Orlando Citrus Bowl track is approximately 230’ wide by 360’ long.
Adding to tomorrow night’s fun is the pre-event Party in the Pits begins at 1:30 PM until 5:00 PM and gives fans the opportunity to get a up close view of the trucks as well as the opportunity to meet the drivers of the massive Monster Jam trucks before the show.
Tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800-745-3000.
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
