Presumably then the preparation involved pre-event is critical…
Chad: “Well we’ve come from such a long distance that being in a sea container for a while means you have to make sure the equipment is running as it should. You don’t want to bring everything over here and find that it’s not working the way it should be. So we’ve got a top of the line crew who are very knowledgeable about what these trucks are supposed to do and how to keep them together and keep them sound. I mean, the idea is to run them to the max…”
Bari: “Yeah, just general maintenance is key. You want to make sure all the nuts and bolts are tight, make sure your seatbelts are good and sound every time you get in the truck. We’ve got great safety equipment, and these are some of the safest motorsport vehicles in the world. The shock absorbers play a big role in what we do, because we ‘re jumping the trucks so high, and you want to make sure these are tuned properly. But it’s all about warming the crowd up. If they’re having fun, then we’re having fun!”
With the fan, despite valiant efforts, failing to keep the temperatures at bay, I figure now is as good a time as any to mention the series paddock; Monster Jam’s home away from home.
I find it interesting that, despite the size of the trucks, everything’s very self-contained in the paddock, with the team and drivers sharing both the space and the know-how. Since you’re on the road so often, do the competitors spend quite a lot of time together?
Bari: “Oh absolutely. We get on really well behind the scenes, but when it comes time for competition, all those friends go out the window! If I line up against him” – at which point Bari points at Chad, who laughs – “I want to beat him every time. But when we’re back here, it’s all relaxed and everyone has a good time.”
Chad: “For sure, I want him to be running at his best, so I’ll do whatever I can to get him out him there and have him running top notch so that the competition is right there.”
Clearly the track plays a big role in the competitiveness of each event. You’ve just been for your walkthrough. Can you tell us what aspects in particular you were looking for?
Chad: “Oh, no matter where we go, the track’s always different. It may look the same but the dirt’s different, the weather changes, and it could be different tonight and tomorrow. You’ve just got to keep a good eye on the track and see what the jumps are turning out to be like. You might catch an angle on one of the ramps that’s going to make the truck look cool, and you really want to study that beforehand.”
Bari: “You want to pay attention to the consistency of the dirt, and the surface and see how well it might hold up or not hold up during the course of the event. You want to study the obstacles out there, just to see the pitch of ramps and kind of get a game plan together in your mind of what you might go out there and try and do. What’s conceivable.”
Are there times when a track layout is not conceivable?
Bari momentarily pauses, which again gets a laugh from Chad, but is quickly up to speed again.
Bari: “It’s all pretty much relative to each track. The track builders and the dirt crew that come with us are top of the line. These guys know what they’re doing, so they pretty much get it spot on every time. There might be a few times where the ramp is like, ‘okay guys, that’s a little too much’, but normally they nail it every time.”
Chad: “But even if that’s the case, there’s nothing that’s off limits. It might be the last thing you hit on your run, because you know it’s going to look good but you might not know what it’s going to do with the truck afterwards. So you end on that high note.”
Bari: “Oh yeah, absolutely, you gotta hit the high note.”
Is it a series that’s driven mostly by adrenaline then…?
Bari: “Oh definitely, especially during our freestyle competition. That plays a key factor. You can feel everything the truck is doing, but you can also hear the crowd. If you do something crazy or that looks pretty cool, you can hear the roar of the crowd over the engine. Once you hear that, your adrenaline takes over.”
So it’s a case of ‘the louder they cheer, the better your performance’…?
Chad: “It really is, and if you think about it, our freestyle runs are only 1m 30s to 2m long, so it’s a lot of impact right out of the gate and high adrenaline for two minutes straight. That stays with the crowd. Then the next guy comes out and does the same thing.”
Our conversation is interrupted slightly by the sound of Blue Thunder starting up in the arena. The noise – even at this distance – is deafening, and the crankandpiston voice recorder has no chance. I wind up our chat with a couple of handshakes and a question about the freestyle runs. What do both Chad Fortune and Bari Musawwir hope to achieve tonight with Captain America and Spider-Man?
Bari: “I’m just looking forward to getting out. There’s no substitute for being in a truck and actually getting experience that way. Yeah, someone can say ‘go and do this and this’, but until you actually feel and look back and study the run on video… I mean, you may think you’ve been going really fast and you really weren’t. So there’s no replacement for experience.”
Chad: “Yeah, and you don’t want to over think it. You’re out there to make a performance, but you don’t want to make it too staged. A lot of the run is on instinct, and you’ve just got to play it out live! That’s what we’re here to do, and I think we can get a great response in Abu Dhabi.”
If you’re curious to know if the guys did just that, you might want to check out our Monster Jam event coverage HERE.
