Monster Jam qualifies 12 trucks for eliminations and brings back the quickest loser from the second round in order to fill the semi finals. Scott Hartsock and his 2002 F-150 “Gunslinger” were the beneficiaries of that format in Atlanta and made it all the way to the final against John Seasock in the “Batman” entry. In a photo finish, Seasock scored the biggest win of his career in front of the sold-out Georgia Dome crowd. |
Words and photos by Ian Tocher - 1/19/07
It’s still January, but the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) has already staged what undoubtedly will be the Southeast’s most successful motorsports event of the year. What’s that you say? You’re not familiar with the USHRA? Perhaps if I used its more common title, “Monster Jam,” or simply declared, “The monster trucks came to town!”
More than 75,000 people jammed the home of the NFL’s Falcons Jan. 13, to see the likes of Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, Blue Thunder, and War Wizard in head-to-head competition and freestyle stunt driving. In Monster Jam the cars (trucks?) truly are the stars, with very few drivers enjoying any semblance of name recognition at all.
But is it drag racing? Well, they start side-by-side (albeit facing opposite directions), leaving heads-up off a green signal and going after low E.T. and the round win to advance in an eliminations format. So by those standards, sure. Of course there’s that little matter of 180-degree turns at each end—dictated by the confines of running in a stadium—but I suppose monster truck racing qualifies within DRO’s “Drag racing from a different perspective” mission—especially in the off season.
Coming hard out of the hole like an angry terrier is “Brutus,” piloted by Columbus, MI’s Chris Bergeron. The drivers leave when a simple light box facing them in the stands (upper right) switches from red to green. Reaction time certainly could factor into round wins, but no timing equipment was apparent on the track and there were no mentions made of reaction time by trackside announcers. Elapsed times set the qualifying order, but it appeared all timing was done remotely and not with a light-based system as in traditional drag racing. |
