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This monster truck, Spiderman, will appear at Monster Jam, driven by Whit Tarlton.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Monster trucks used to crush cars all the time, but nowadays they tend to be more merciful.
“Now we pretty much jump over them,” driver Frank Krmel said. “Every now and then we land on them and crush some, but we try to recycle as many cars as we can.”
If you attend the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam 2011 at the Mohegan Sun Arena this weekend, you can watch Krmel and five other drivers maneuver custom-built vehicles that weigh at least 10,000 pounds, generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower, are about 12 feet wide and stand at least 12 feet tall.
So do the drivers need a ladder just to climb inside?
Not really. “The truck, from the roof to the ground, is 12 feet,” Krmel said. “The chassis is much lower. You just step on different bars. The doors don’t open, so we have to get up through the bottom.”
The large vehicles have 66-inch tires and run on methanol, which Krmel describes as “a cool-burning fuel that keeps the engine running cooler.” Their drivers can make them do wheelies and doughnuts and sail off ramps to a height of some 30 feet in the air.
So, what’s it like to ride a truck to such heights?
“It’s an odd feeling, to be honest with you,” Krmel said. “You’re so focused on driving you don’t even think about it. You have to think way ahead. You have to have your run thought out very far ahead, so you’re actually planning where you’re going after it lands.”
Krmel, 32, who drives a monster truck known as Advance Auto Parts Grinder, has been fascinated by the sport ever since he was a toddler, accompanying his father to arenas in the Detroit area.
“I started off racing go-karts, Junior Dragsters, anything I could get my hands on,” he said.
A driver for nine years, Krmel expects to continue for 15 to 20 more years and then retire to be an elementary school teacher, a career for which he prepared in college.
For now, he’s happy to entertain the crowds. “To be honest with you,” he said, “there’s everybody from 5-year-old to grandparents there. It’s nice to see there are people interested in what you like to do.”
If you go
What: Monster Jam, with Gravedigger, Ironman, Spiderman, Raminator, Rammunition and Grinder.
When: 7:30 tonight, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, 255 Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre Township
Access Pit Party: 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Come early and meet the stars.
More info: 800-745-3000