United States Hot Rod Association
Encyclopedia
Monster Jam
Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld Entertainment. The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association and takes place primarily in the United States and around the world...
and Thunder Nationals
Thunder Nationals
Thunder Nationals is the name of a monster truck series run by the USHRA. The series primarily consists of monster truck racing and freestyle in indoor arenas. The events typically have only two parallel sets of cars on an empty concrete floor as a race track. The series was once independent but...
) as well as motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
, quad
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
racing and others. According to their own statistics, more than 2.5 million people attended events in 2003.
History
The USHRA was founded as "Truck-O-Rama" in the late 1970s by Bob George, Ed Thayer, and Tony Vaccaro. By the early 1980s, the company became known as SRO Motorsports, and began promoting events under the USHRA banner. The early events focused on truck and tractor pullingTractor pulling
Truck and Tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a motorsport competition, popular in America, Europe , Australia and Brazil, which requires modified tractors to pull a heavy sledge along a 35ft. wide and length of 100 metre or 300ft+ track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls...
and mud bogging
Mud bogging
Mud bogging is a form of off-road motorsport popular in Canada and the United States in which the goal is to drive a vehicle through a pit of mud of a set length...
, and were primarily held in stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
s and arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
s. Often, specialty vehicles were booked for events as intermission entertainment between competitions. In 1982, one such vehicle, Bob Chandler's Bigfoot
Bigfoot (truck)
Bigfoot, introduced in 1979, is regarded as the original monster truck. Other trucks with the name "Bigfoot" have been introduced in the years since, and it remains the most well-known monster truck moniker in the United States. Bigfoot 4x4, Inc. is owned and operated by its creator, Bob Chandler.-...
, was booked for an event at the Pontiac Silverdome
Pontiac Silverdome
The Silverdome is a domed stadium located in the city of Pontiac, Michigan, USA, which sits on . It was the largest stadium in the National Football League until FedEx Field in suburban Washington, D.C...
. It was that event, during which Bigfoot drove over a pair of cars in its first stadium car crush, that launched the phenomenon of monster trucks.
In 1985, USHRA held their first monster truck racing event, The Battle of the Monster Trucks, at the Louisiana Superdome
Louisiana Superdome
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...
. Up to this point, monster trucks had only performed freestyle
Freestyle (monster trucks)
Freestyle, in Monster Truck competition, is an event where the goal is to perform tricks and stunts with the truck in order to demonstrate driver skill and truck capability. Some freestyle events are judged competitions, while others are merely exhibitions....
exhibitions, and although for several years exhibitions would be a part of smaller arena shows, racing became used in all events by the early 1990s.
Although monster trucks grew in popularity throughout the 1980s, the pulling and mud bogging (subsequently known as "mud racing") remained marquee events. Popular pullers included Art Arfons
Art Arfons
Arthur Eugene "Art" Arfons was the world land speed record holder three times in 1964 – 1965 with his Green Monster series of jet-powered cars, after a series of Green Monster piston-engine and jet-engined dragsters...
, who competed with the "Green Monster" unlimited tractor, David Willoughby, who pulled with his reputable "Back in Time" modified four-wheel-drive truck, Kenneth and Paula Geuin's Black Gold and Oklahoman four-wheel-drive trucks, Allen Gaines, who had an entire fleet of "Orange Blossom Special" truck pullers, and Gary Collins and his "Budweiser
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
Boss" semi-truck. In mud racing, Tom Martin's "Mud Patrol" and "Super Trooper" police-themed vehicles dominated for several years, while a young Tom Meents
Tom Meents
Tom Meents is a professional monster truck driver. He currently drives Maximum Destruction on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. He has won several Monster Jam World Finals trophies during his career...
began his rise to fame in the "Shake Me" machine.
In 1991, the parent company, now known as SRO/Pace, bought out competitor TNT Motorsports
TNT Motorsports
TNT Motorsports was a popular promoter of monster truck races, tractor pulls, and occasionally mud racing in the 1980s. Events were shown on Powertrax on ESPN, Trucks and Tractor Power on TNN and the syndicated Tuff Trax.-Series:...
, and in the process acquired the rights to promote events at several more venues, as well as the booking rights to several of their best known trucks, including Carolina Crusher, Equalizer, and, most notably, Grave Digger
Grave Digger (truck)
Grave Digger is the name of a team of monster trucks currently racing in the USHRA Monster Jam series. There are several Grave Diggers being driven by different drivers to allow them to make appearances at more events, but their flagship driver is creator Dennis Anderson...
. These trucks all competed in the "Camel
Camel (cigarette)
Camel is a brand of cigarettes that was introduced by American company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in the summer of 1913. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Virginia tobacco. Early in 2008 the blend was changed as was the package design.-History:In 1913, R.J...
Mud & Monster Series", which ran from 1990 to 1994. By the end of the Camel series, monster trucks were the headlining competitors.
In 1993, USHRA produced the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television show "Monster Wars
Monster Wars
Monster Wars was a syndicated television show featuring United States Hot Rod Association monster truck racing. The show aired for one season in 1993 and 1994, and was the successor to the popular Super Trax...
", which was controversial for its implementation of professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
style characters representing the monster trucks. This was also the year that some events began to be promoted with the name "Monster Jam", which would become the official series name in 1995.
1998 saw competitor USA Motorsports bought out by USHRA's parent, now known as Pace Motorsports, which led to Monster Jam events being shown on TNN
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
's Motor Madness
Motor Madness
Motor Madness was a motorsports based television show on TNN in the late 1990s. It was originally formatted as a live, 3 hour show with a studio segment and coverage of a live event...
television show. During the Pace Motorsports take-over, the fall of MTEG left an opening for PACE to create the US Off Road Championship Series, which was a stadium truck and buggy competition almost identical to Mickey Thompsons. The following year SFX Entertainment, later Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
Entertainment and now Live Nation
Live Nation
Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....
took control of the series, which was later sold to Feld Entertainment.
Today, USHRA officially sanctions Monster Trucks, Pro Arena Trucks, Freestyle Motocross
Freestyle Motocross
Freestyle Motocross is a variation on the sport of motocross in which motorcycle riders attempt to impress judges with jumps and stunts.The two main types of freestyle events are:...
, and ATV
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
racing. Pulling was relegated to unlimited tractors by 1999, and eliminated a few years later. Mud racing evolved into sand drags, and again was dropped from a full class in the mid-2000s, although occasional competitions are still held. Monster trucks remain the top bill, and with the addition of freestyle back into events the series now crowns two champions each year. As of 2010 the "USHRA" logo has been dropped from monster jam events.