Tear up that Citrus Bowl grass

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Tear up that Citrus Bowl grass

Entertainment

Friday, 29 January 2010 09:04

Monster trucks return to the stadium’s most popular annual event
By Peter Covino
Entertainment Editor
What does it take to fill up the Citrus Bowl?
The football bowl games may be popular, but nothing fills up the stadium like the annual motor sports spectacle The Monster Jam, which returns to the Citrus Bowl again Saturday night.
The annual event is the largest stadium spectacle of the year, attracting crowds of more than 60,000 motor sports fans.
Fourteen of the sports' marquis 1,500 horsepower, 10,000-pound monster trucks — the most ever scheduled for an Orlando event — will compete in side-by-side racing and the fan-favorite freestyle event. The popular freestyle competition features each monster truck in a 90-second demonstration to “wow” the crowd with huge jumps, wheelies, truck-spinning donuts and the destruction of cars, vans, buses, motor homes and more.
The field includes three-time world champion and the sport’s legendary icon Dennis Anderson driving Grave Digger. Other stars of the show include eight-time world champion Maximum Destruction, 2004 world champion El Toro Loco, the Bushnell, Florida-based Gun Slinger, Black Stallion, Destroyer, Eradicator, War Wizard, Predicator and Instigator.
For those looking for more motor sports action, the event also includes the X-Games style motorcycle stunts of Freestyle Motocross, and the half-racing /half-demolition derby mini-man action of Soccer Mom Democross.
As usual, the crowd favorite will be Anderson and Grave Digger, the world’s best known monster truck. The truck has kept fans on the edge of their seats for years, with it’s high-speed racing and amazing crashes.
Dennis Anderson created his “monster” back in 1981 in an old garage in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Originally, Anderson pieced together his machine from old parts of discarded vehicles. The original “mud-bogging” truck was supported by the corroded chassis of a 1952 Ford pickup and ran on the innards of a high-performance Chevy engine. Al-though his competitors had the advantage of high-tech equipment, Anderson boasted to them, “I’ll take this old junk and dig you a grave.” With these words the legend of Grave Digger was born.
The most recent Grave Digger, Grave Digger XIX, is a colossal improvement on the original monster. Bearing the ghostly image created by painter Fred Bumann, it is a machine to be reckoned with. To help Grave Digger absorb the landing after a 100-foot jump, it has nitrogen shock absorbers, creating a massive 26 inches of travel. In order to take flight, Grave Digger has a 540 cubic inch blown alcohol injected Chevrolet Big Block engine, which produces approximately 1,500 horsepower. This engine is the same that you would see in the top NHRA drag racing vehicles. The cost of one truck is nearly $250,000 including more than $100,000 in spare parts such as engines and transmissions. The engine alone costs $50,000. The sport of monster truck racing is brutal on the trucks and demands constant repairs.
Monster Jam is at 7 p.m. at the Citrus Bowl. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 800-745-3000.
You can save $3 on an $18 ticket with discount coupons (if available) at area Dairy Queen locations. Fans also can get into the pit area from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. with pit passes available through Southern Ford dealers. Pit passes include opportunities to get driver autographs and take photos.