I have a hard time imagining how last weekend’s Monster Trucks shows in Houston could have gone any better.
From the perfect weather both nights, to the rather amazing improvements made to the arena at the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce Fairgrounds, to the powerful, noisy spectacle of the Traxxas Monster Truck Destruction Tour, it really was one heck of an event and certainly has to make the list of the best in the history of the community.
I don’t think I would ever have witnessed a Monster Truck show if it hadn’t happened in my own little community. But now that I have, I realize I didn’t have a clue how cool this sport is.
The trucks are awesome; they’re mechanized behemoths packing far more than 1,000 horses in their powerplants, and they actually have front and rear wheels that can be steered independently. Driving one (or flying and landing it, for that matter) isn’t so much a chore as it is an art.
And as Michigan resident Dave Rife (driver of the 1,500-horsepower “Craniac” truck) told me, it’s all about riding the fence between mayhem and disaster. As they fly high and come down on top of little sissy cars placed in their way like sacrificial offerings, these drivers and their machines are out to toe the line right at the edge of the cliff above an abyss of bent metal and huge repair expenditures.
The result is a riveting exhibition combining technology, bravery and risk that takes viewers (and drivers) on a wild ride along a path lined with both exciting conclusion and potential peril.
To be in the presence of a Monster Truck in action is to be in full “wow mode.” There’s no way not to clap and cheer.
It doesn’t hurt that the Traxxas Monster Truck Destruction Tour is populated by a lot of great people.
I talked with Rife for quite a while, and he came across as a true family man who lives his dream and can’t believe he gets paid to do what he does. But he spent as much time talking about his fellow drivers as anything else, going on and on about what fine men they are. To me, that spoke volumes about how this group of individuals is more of a family than just employees of a company.
And I got such a kick out of arena announcer Randy Taylor. He was very funny (and time and again made the crowd collectively chuckle), but he also threw out several not-so-politically-correct statements, most of which I had to agree with due to their Biblical foundation.
Taylor is from Oklahoma and of Native American descent. He called himself a “Cherokee Cowboy.” He’s just right for the job.
And get this: There was more than 100 years of Monster Truck driving experience at the arena last weekend. This isn’t some fly-by-night outfit that came to town, it’s one featuring some of the best the sport has to offer.
Much of the credit for the very existence of the “monstrous” two-show extravaganza in Houston has to go to chamber executive director Angie Miller-Quinlan. I’ve come to know her well enough now to realize she’s one of those rare folks who doesn’t have much room in her vocabulary (or cranium) for words like “can’t,” “never,” or even “no.”
For Miss Angie, the title “executive director” maybe isn’t as appropriate as “executive go-getter,” or “executive doer” might be. She just gets on a roll and moves in only on direction: Forward.
While I was enjoying the experience on Friday night, I told someone I could barely believe what was going on in that arena, and I never would have expected to see it.
“But then,” I said, “I’ve never known anyone like Angie before.”
But kudos also has to go to the current chamber board members. They’ve given Angie major support since she took the helm last August, and they even got out and got dirty this time, spending countless hours working at the arena to make sure it was about a million percent better than it used to be.
Somebody said the last time the arena received such positive attention was probably back in the 1990s, or maybe never. Whatever the case, what it is now compared to what it was a few weeks ago is stunningly wonderful.
It can’t go without mention, too, that the dozens of new metal bleacher benches in the arena were a donation from the Durham Co. plant in Houston. The entire cost of material, manpower and labor were covered – the chamber paid nothing.
Now, just how cool is that? As Miss Angie said, we’re blessed that there’s a company in town that cares that much about the town.
After that home run of an event, I’m now very curious to see where the chamber goes from here. But with things as they are, I have a feeling finding out will be pretty darn interesting.
