Monster trucks tear up Detroit

Monster Jam Detroit started off with a huge bang, literally. As soon as the lights went out fireworks exploded from the stands at Ford Field and all 16 of the 12-foot high trucks went around in a circle and did a lap, revving their engines and getting ready for a great show. With the 65,000 seat stadium almost to capacity fans watched the show from the stands, enjoying seeing their favourite trucks.

The show included trucks like Grave Digger, which has become one of the most iconic monster trucks because of its wins and years, driven by Chad Tingler and the son truck Son-uva Digger, driven by Ryan Anderson, son of the original driver of Grave Digger, Dennis Anderson, and Scooby Doo, driven by Nicole Johnson who has won the hearts of many young fans.

The show started off with the trucks racing two by two where they went head-to-head to see which would qualify to compete in the racing. Everyone outside of the top eight qualifying times were to compete in the donut competition. This is a competition where the drivers go out into the middle of the stadium and spin their truck until they get dizzy, cannot spin any longer or think they have a high enough score.

The donut competition ended up with Soldier Fortune Black Ops, driven by Tony Ochs, taking the win. Ochs spun around, drawing dirt and making the crowd scream getting him a score of 32.

The final round of racing commenced with only two trucks, Grave Digger and Son-uva Digger, competing against each other. Both trucks are owned by a father-and-son team, however, on this weekend Grave Digger was driven by Chad Tingler. Grave Digger came out the victor, only by a couple of milliseconds.

The show ended with a freestyle competition. The trucks had 90 seconds as well as 30-second bonus time to show off their greatest moves. Four trucks attempted to do flips, including Mohawk Warrior, Grave Digger, Son-Uva Digger and Bounty Hunter, all making the flips except for Mohawk Warrior who in the end flipped over after his attempt. Mohawk Warrior, driven by George Balhan, ended up in the lead with 30 points because of the big flip he attempted, however that all changed when Alien Invasion came out, wooing the crowd with its routine.

Son-uva Digger, the last truck to go, completed a routine with huge jumps, and a big flip. During his freestyle he almost flipped the truck over, but saved himself by quickly turning the truck enough to get back up. This save, along with an amazing routine, earned 42 points, winning the freestyle competition.

All in all the show had little breakdowns, only a few flipped over trucks and many happy faces. The next shows on their tour include, Houston, Tampa, San Diego, Spokane, Kansas City, Hampton, Edmonton, Columbia, Hartford and Fargo, all taking place on the weekend of Feb 5-6. Different trucks will appear at each show as they are all on the same day.

Monster Jam took place in many different places besides Detroit on Jan 30-31 including Winnipeg, Anaheim, Glendale, Indianapolis and more. The show was just in Toronto Jan. 15-16.

The world finals take place in Las Vegas from March 17-19 and will feature more than 50 trucks.