Monster Jam: Way more fun than expected!
(c) Anna Lanfreschi
I confess: I did not expect Monster Jam to be as much fun as it was! I had never been to a live Monster Jam event before, so frankly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I went to my first one on February 22, when Monster Jam came to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and had a great time!
Here’s what impressed me the most: The monster truck drivers are genuine athletes. The tricks they do -- back flips, two-wheel stunts -- are a physical feat, especially considering they’re driving high-horsepower, 12,000-lb vehicles.
Monster Jam trucks are bigger and heavier than a school bus, and more powerful than most exotic cars (i.e., Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche)*. And the Monster Jam drivers manage to essentially fly them through the air!
The Dragon doing a back flip during freestyle competition (c) Anna Lanfreschi
The Avenger catching some serious air at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (c) Anna Lanfreschi
The Avenger doing a back flip at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (c) Anna Lanfreschi
The drivers compete in three different events throughout the evening: A racing competition, the skills challenge, and freestyle. The latter was my favorite, because that’s when each driver gets two minutes to really show off their talents.
It is incredibly entertaining to watch the drivers tear up the dirt as they perform back and front flips, donuts, wheelies, and bounce on two wheels like a Pogo stick. What I’m saying is, Monster Jam is a great way to spend your Saturday or Sunday, and the tickets are really affordable -- you can get decent seats for under or around $20 per person.
Left: The truck Hooked catches big air; right: Great Clips Mohawk Warrior doing a sky wheelie (c) Anna Lanfreschi
Grave Digger, the winner of the Atlanta competition on February 22 (c) Anna Lanfreschi
Monster Jam is currently on tour, so if you want to catch one of their events within driving distance of Atlanta, head to:
Macon, GA on 2/29-3/1
Raleigh, NC on 3/7-3/8
Pensacola, FL on 3/28-3/29
Huntsville, AL on 4/3-4/5
Columbia, SC, on 4/3-4/4
Knoxville, TN on 4/4-4/5
It’s a great opportunity to take a fun, family-friendly road trip and explore more of the Southeast U.S. You can get tickets for future Monster Jam events here.
*Fact check: Monster Jam trucks are more than 10 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and 17 feet long, and they generate around 1,500 horsepower. For comparison, a typical sedan gets between 100-200 horsepower, an exotic car (i.e., Ferrari) gets between 400-900 horsepower, and the fastest hyper and supercars in production get between 1,000-1,600 horsepower.