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St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com |
by Bob Moore, SLFP.com St. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), February 15, 2004 - Thousands of kids, along with their moms, dads, aunts, uncles and grandparents, lined up hours before the main event, "Monster Jam," at the Edward Jones Domes, for an opportunity to see the monster trucks and meet drivers in the pit. In every city, the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) holds a pit party prior to the monster truck performances. Pit parties give fans the opportunity to take photographs, get driver autographs and check out the monster trucks on display. Monster trucks and their drivers have become legendary among their fans. Approximately 11 feet tall and about 12 feet wide, monster trucks are custom-designed machines that sit atop 66-inch-tall terra tires and weigh about 9,000 pounds. Built for short, high-powered bursts of speed, monster trucks generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower and are capable of speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. Monster trucks can travel 110 to 115 feet (a distance greater than 14 cars side by side) and up to 25 feet in the air. Scarlet Bandit monster truck driver Dawn Creten told Saint Louis Front Page that she got into the sport through her husband who was a monster truck driver. "About six years ago, while in the miltary and going to college, I decided to take some time off and travel with my husband. He asked me if I would like to drive and I said that I would give it a shot. I ended up loving it." Creten joins a small group of women monster truck drivers. "It's a full time job for us. Just like people go to a 9 to 5 job. We do about 45 shows a year," she said. The Cretens, from Tonganoioxie, KS, take pride in building a lot of the parts for their trucks and also doing the mechanical work. The monster trucks aim to be the biggest, baddest and meanest beast on the block by displaying fierce names and artwork, outrageous custom paint jobs and thunderous roars. There are approximately 300 monster trucks in action during the competition to accumulate points to compete in the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas. Top name monster trucks that run in the USHRA Monster Jam Series include: Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, Madusa, Avenger, Sudden Impact, Predator, Gunslinger, Bulldozer, Blue Thunder and El Toro Loco.
  The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group . |
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