Mike WardRichmond.comFriday, November 04, 2005The circus has elephants, the San Francisco Giants have Barry Bonds and the Monster Jam has Grave Digger.
They're the main attraction, the name in the lights, or in other words, what puts the butts in the seats. And don't think for a second that Grave Digger driver Randy Brown doesn't know that.
"People come to see all the trucks, but Grave Digger is a marquee truck and it's one of the most popular trucks out there," Brown said. "So it definitely puts a lot more pressure on me to go out there and perform and give the people the show that they came to see."
The U.S. Hot Rod Association's monster trucks will grind the dirt track at the Richmond Coliseum this Friday and Saturday. The trucks face off in two styles of competition: side-by-side-racing and freestyle. And if you're wondering which is the one where 11-foot tall, 9,000-pound behemoths roll and crunch cars, buses and planes, it's the latter.
"A lot of guys like the competitiveness of the racing, but I think as a team, we like to freestyle," Brown said of team Grave Digger's philosophy. "We like to go out there and show off a little bit and I think that's what most of the fans come to see. We do tend to get a little crazy. We get a little wild."
Brown, 33, is a North Carolina native and family man who's raced since he was 16 years old. By comparison, Grave Digger, which Brown has piloted for two years, was hatched in an Outer Banks garage back in 1981 when inventor and driver Dennis Anderson assembled the racing legend piecemeal onto the body of a '51 Ford pickup, according to Grave Digger's Web site. And here's a chapter you won't find in a baby name book: Anderson glanced out on the seemingly superior competition on the starting line during his first race, glanced back at his Franken-truck and boldly taunted, "I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave."
Since then, there have been several incarnations of Grave Digger, each with more power and safety enhancements. The truck Brown drives is actually Grave Digger 18, and rings in at about $250,000.
Boasting tremendous girth and parts-a-plenty, Brown said that about 40 percent of a monster truck's performance is determined by the driver, with 60 percent attributed to the team's preparation and garage time.
"But it's just like NASCAR, the driver has to be able to know what's going on," Brown said. "If I feel a different vibration than what's supposed to be there, then I tell them what kind of vibration it is and where it's coming in at."
And just like in NASCAR, the sixth man -or the fifth wheel - plays an important part in the success of a monster truck team.
"We don't have big corporate sponsors," Brown said. "We don't have Pfizer or anyone like that. Everybody that goes out there and buys a t-shirt or buys a toy from Wal-Mart, those are our sponsors."
While similar, there is one gaping difference between stock cars and monster trucks that has nothing to do with size or shape.
"We don't care if we lose," Brown said. "We don't want to lose, but we don't mind losing if the crowd is happy - if the crowd goes away feeling that they got the performance that they wanted to see."
On the NEXTEL Cup, that's loser talk, but when you're looking to grow your grassroots sport city by city and patron by patron, it's all about the fans. Just look at the Monster Jam ticket prices, which start at $10 and max out at $20.
"I think that's why the majority of the drivers get in this sport, because of our relationship with the fans," Brown said.
Meet Randy Brown and more Monster Jam drivers at the Coliseum's pit party on Saturday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Fans can walk the track, meet the competitors and get photos with the monster trucks. Pit passes are free and will be available at participating Aamco stores beginning Oct. 10. Pit passes are free while supplies last. Show times for Friday and Saturday are 8 p.m., with doors opening one hour before the event. Tickets range from $10 to $20. Call (804) 780-4956 for more information.
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