laconic1

Honestly monster trucks are about the only form of motorsport I don't feel comfortable spectating in person. That and school bus races. The trucks are so big and heavy, and with the extreme stresses placed on them from flying through the air and hard landings part breakage is inevitable. Plus in an effort to "fill the clock" during freestyle events to score maximum point drivers keep going with trucks that are in many cases badly damaged. On a lot of the telecasts of the monster trucks that I have watched a driver do doughnuts to help fill the clock with a truck that is otherwise undriveable. For example a wheel will break off on a landing so the truck really can't be jumped anymore. One of the reasons I would not attend a monster truck event at a stadium is the lack of safety barriers. Usually it seems the barriers consist of placing tarps over the first 10-15 rows of seats to keep people out and create some distance from the field. No catch fencing that I have ever seen. At least when they have monster trucks at a racetrack the race track usually has pretty good catch fences installed.

To answer one of the questions in the original post, no I have never been to a monster truck rally, but I have seen monster trucks in person. The local race track was having an exhibition on a Sunday, and when I was at the track on Saturday for the normal car racing program I got a chance to check out some of the trucks that were there getting ready for the exhibition. The only big name truck there was Jimmy Creten's Bounty Hunter. The workmanship and quality on that truck was very evident. Every piece was top notch. The other trucks were rickety at best. Just one more reason I wouldn't feel comfortable attending one.