Volume 53 Issue 3 Article 10

March 2002 The oiN se and the Boys Pauil Kix Iowa State University

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Recommended Citation Kix, Pauil (2002) "The oN ise and the Boys," Ethos: Vol. 2002 , Article 10. Available at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ethos/vol2002/iss3/10

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LOUD TRUCKS CRUNCH CARS AND BIKES FLY HIGH WHEN THE MONSTER jAM HITS DES MOINES.

ES MOINES, Ia. - Monster trucks and flying bikes. racing. Well, he doesn't so much say it as he yells it over the Two attractions you would think would fit nicely sound of Axl Rose and rhe rest of Guns N' Roses blaring our rhe D together. They do, as far as rhe audience is concerned. sound system . Bur rhe actual participants are as different as night and day. Barthel was signing autographs outside Vers when he agreed ro answer questions. "Ler's find a quieter place ro do rhis," he says, THE NOISE raking an unknowing reporter inside ro find G N' R, AC/DC Ear plugs. That's what you had berter bring. Because when the and idling monster truck engines waiting for us. The idling truck time for toeing the starting line is over and the signal to race is is itself shockingly noisy when a driver gets frisky and taps rhe given, this 2,000 horsepower monster truck engine is gunned. pedal. Fire would be a more appropriate visual for rhis noise The mighty roar that momentarily shakes rhe frame of rhe truck rather than the languid black smoke rhar wheezes out of rhe numbs rhe ears with irs piercing thunder if earplugs are nor tailpipe. "I don't know if rhis is berrer," I say ro Barthel. He properly applied. Ir is easy ro rell when they are nor. replies, "Ah, ir's all right." Away from rhe 11-foot tall behemoths, near rhe concession If Barthel is anything, he is accustomed ro his environment. stands of Veterans Memorial Auditorium, parents lead around After all, he should be. rhe children who begged them ro buy tickers ro rhis thing called There are 130 tour dares ser our in rhe rhree-monrh season. Monster Jam. Below the uplifted hand that is grasping Mom or Often there are five shows a night across rhe counrry. And rhis Dad is rhe child's face. And rhe face gives it away. says nothing of rhe arrenrion these hundreds of monster truck Ir looks pale, sick. But it is-nor sick. It is bewildered and prob­ drivers draw from TNN every Friday night, when the network ably a bit scared rhar the thing it was looking forward ro is so broadcasts the racing and car smashing. The monster truck series hard ro actually sir through. The noise is big and the arena is is slowly becoming more known, bur it's srill nothing compared small. Wirhour protection from rhis gratuitous, ostentatious ro motor cross. "We're nowhere near NASCAR," says Gaylen sound, iris berrer ro rake a break from ir, walk by rhe concession Morse, the announcer of ronighr's show. And rhat's all righr by stands and wait for rhe red ro leave rhe eyes. him. Back in Vers, now rhar rhe piercing roar is gone, rhe crews of One thing you must remember, he says, "is rhar NASCAR's the behemoths and some of rhe drivers tweak rhe trucks. They been around for 50 years" while monster truck racing wasn't rac­ will soon race against each orher, jumping over half-smashed lux­ ing or even a competition until 1984. ury sedans from the '70s, then braking and turning 180 degrees, In 1982, a man named Bob Chandler equipped his Ford F-250 with the frame bouncing along all rhe while, and gunning it pickup truck with 66-inch rires, drove into Michigan's Pontiac again in rhe opposite direction, hoping ro bear rhe competing Silverdome and smashed two cars wirh his appropriately named truck rhar starred ar the opposite side of Vets. These boys don't "Bigfoot." For rhe nexr two years, more trucks with these big race for pride or for competition. They race for money- some­ wheels appeared ar fairs and USHRA events. There was no rac­ thing rhey need a lor of because monster trucks cosr $150,000, ing. Instead rhe trucks danced upon and further compacted and the season is only three monrhs long. slightly our-of-style automobiles. Racing fans loved rhe smash­ Winning monster truck races is Brian Barthel's only job. mg. Barthel owns two trucks. One of rhem, Wolverine, is here this Then came rhe Bartle of rhe Monster Trucks two years larer and Friday night in January. Last year, Barthel won the U.S. Hot Rod rhe USHRA's first monster truck racing series - Monster Jam - Association's (USHRA) Monster Jam Series Newcomer of the in 1987. Since rhen, some of rhe better-known trucks, like Year Award. "I've been around it my whole life," Barthel says of Bigfoot, Gravedigger and Goldberg, have become quire prof- photos by Paul Kix story by p auf KiJc march 2002 ETHOS 29 Wh race a bike when you can ramp it off a big-~ss hill, ~o ~ car~wheel while in flight and land without breaking any nbs.

attempting before strapping on a helmet him­ Morse, the announcer, laughs. "Yeah," he self, building speed on his bike and flying off says, adding that fearlessness is basically a pre­ the nearly 20-foot-high dirt ramp. requisite when you're 50 feet in the air, and While frozen in the air 30 feet from the you let go of the object that got you there. "If ground, Willis might throw both legs in front you don't hit the landing, you're pretty much of the handlebars or click his heals inches fucked," Willis says. above the front tire or rake both hands off the Because they are young and enjoy defYing bike and show off his wingspan. Or he might graviry, the FMX riders dislike the rules the not do any of that. tour has imposed on them. Baseball caps "When you ain't got time in the air, it's kind must be worn either frontward or backward of cheesy," Willis says of the smaller venues - not skewed slightly to the side like rappers and the stunts they allow. or perpendicular to the head like punk rock­ Willis and the five FMX riders lounging on ers. "Can you believe that shit?'' asks one the floor and in locker room cubicles and rider with black spiked hair and a choker chairs are the other part of the Monster Jam necklace with menacing points jutting our. Series. Where the monster truck drivers are "That's the politics of it. You gotta play their from the Midwest, the FMX riders here are game." from Florida and New Jersey. Where monster Willis has been listening to the diatribe and truck drivers stay up all night repairing their chimes in. He does not like the rules, and he irable. On any given night there are up trucks, FMX riders stay up half the night especially doesn't like Des Moines. "I don't to 19 Gravediggers crushing cars in arenas all smoking weed. Where monster truck drivers know how the fuck I ended up here. Here over America. are hitting middle age, FMX riders are hitting you got to deal with mullet kings and mullet "The main thing it needs," Morse contin­ puberry. Some touring riders are 16 years old. queens." Having bad taste is clearly worse ues, "is more exposure," which is an astute Des Moines is most decidedly a monster than have controlled tastes. conclusion, given that, of the 7,227 seats in rruck crowd. Earlier, the fans at the "Parry in If there are other guidelines on the Monster Vets, there are small and large gaps of empry the Pits" (the hour given to truck gawking Jam Series that the FMX riders don't like, seating throughout. Yet there are perks for and picture snapping and autograph signing, they don't mention it on that Saturday after­ those who show up. the third signing session in the last 18 hours) noon because a man with headphones around After the side-by-side racing is done and the came with fat on their bellies and hair on his neck steps in and says more autographs freestyle competition - your basic car their backs. The FMX riders endured these must be signed. No one wants to go. Willis stomping for sryle points- is judged by the people stoically, smiling as rhey signed auto­ knows he ha,s to. fans, autographs are signed. graphs, waiting to return to their locker After that, there are two shows to ramp Monster truck racing, in irs fledgling state, room. There, surrounded by their own com­ bikes in. "The best is making money and not can ill afford bad press. Kenna Conway fortable dress and hairsryles, they are free to getting hurt. That's the best," Willis says. knows this. She is a promotional manager for ask questions like "Did you see that 7-year­ Money is made, in part, by jumping well. USHRA Motor Sports. The drivers of the big old with a muller?" It turns out, the boy's hair The promoter then decides who goes to rhe trucks, she is proud to boast, unlike the driv­ is cur - or not cut, depending on how you final round and who, ulrimarely, wins the day. ers of its smaller brethren, sign their names on look at it- by the boy's father, who is appar­ "How many people can say 'I honestly like every piece of paper or memorabilia present­ ently proud to give his son a look at least a my job?"' Willis says. ed before them. No one is cut short. Everyone decade out of fashion. "He's like 'Yeah, I cut who wants it, no matter how long the drivers it myself,"' Willis' colleague tells him and the Paul Kix is a junior in journalism and must stay, will go home with loosely scrawled other FMX riders now listening. Sneers soon mass communication. He is a sen- marker all over the item of their choice. bloom into full-blown laughter when the rid­ ior editor for Ethos. At 11 p.m., roughly 45 minutes after the ers realize just how ignorant these "muller signing began, the line for autographs still kings" are. stretches beyond the door of Vets. And yes, the FMX guys will call the monster truck drivers and their fans "mullet kings and THE BOYS queens" in a manner that sounds as derogato­ "Did you see that 7-year-old kid with the ry as "honkies" or "po' white trash." It's not muller?" one ofTravis Willis' FMX colleagues that they don't respect them. It's not that they asks him in a locker room tucked beneath the don't get along. The FMX riders are just a dif­ roar of the sound check early Saturday after­ ferent breed of motor cross, a breed nurtured noon. Willis, 25, is the elder statesman of the in the womb of adventure. Why race a bike six FMX (stunt dirt bike riding) drivers when you can ramp it off a big-ass hill, do a appearing ronighr. Last night, Willis worked cartwheel while in flight and land without the crowd as the public address announcer, breaking any ribs? explaining the jumps his competition was When asked if these guys are fearless,

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