If you go
› What: Monster Jam.› When: 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 8. Pit party is 10:30 a.m.-noon, preceding the 1 p.m. show only. Gates open for the 7 p.m. show at 6 p.m.› Where: UTC’s McKenzie Arena, 720 E. Fourth St.› Admission: $20, $25, $30 and $45 for show; $10 optional pit pass.› Phone: 423-266-6627.› Website: www.utc.edu/tickets.Nitro Menace in HixsonNitro Menace will be on display from 3 to 6 p.m. today, April 6, at America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, 5756 Highway 153 (truck subject to change).Special offers› Pit pass: Local Metro PCS locations have free pit passes available for Saturday’s 1 p.m. performance. The pass grants admittance from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. A show ticket is also required.› Kids discount: Circle K and Kangaroo locations have $10 savings coupons for kids’ tickets (not valid on front row or VIP seating).
Pablo Huffaker drives Grave Digger.
Monster Jam fans may not know the name Pablo Huffaker, but they know his ride.
Huffaker is one of nine drivers who get behind the wheel of Grave Digger, the black-and-green, Grim Reaper-themed behemoth that helped boost monster trucks into the pop-culture mainstream.
Unlike younger members of the racing circuit, Huffaker, 53, says driving monster trucks was never a childhood dream because the phenomenon did not exist at the time.
"This is an industry I actually helped create," he says by phone from the RaceSource fabrication and machine shop he owns in Tomball, Texas. "When I first got involved with monster trucks, there were only one or two in the entire country."
The first was Bigfoot, built in 1975 and debuted in 1979. Huffaker had seen the beast and "thought it would be cool to have a monster truck on display in front of the store."
The decision to build his own monster truck would propel him into the burgeoning industry. In the beginning, monster trucks were the bonus entertainment at truck-and-tractor pulls.
"We would come out at intermission and run over a couple of cars. That's where I got my start," says Huffaker.
Eventually, the high rollers eclipsed their standard-size forerunners.
"After a few years of working as a side act at truck-and-tractor pulls, monster trucks became more of an element of the show," Huffaker says. "Over the years, we became the show. Truck-and-tractor pulls have kind of gone away. We took the mainstage."
Monster Jam returns Saturday, April 8, for two shows at UTC's McKenzie Arena. Besides Grave Digger, the event is scheduled to feature Monster Mutt, War Wizard, Fullboar 2.0, Nitro Menace, Jailbird, Overkill Evolution and Black Stallion (subject to change).
Chattanooga is one of seven shows on the circuit this weekend, hence the need for multiple drivers (and multiple trucks) for crowd favorites like Grave Digger. Monster Jam fields more than 75 trucks in these competitions, which award points for head-to-head racing and freestyle maneuvers, such as wheelies and donuts.
Speed also figures into the equation. With their oversize suspensions and 66-inch tires, monster trucks may look cumbersome, but they can pick up some serious speed. War Wizard, for instance, is lightning-fast. The 10,000-pound mammoth set a monster truck speed record at 84.2 mph, shattering the previous record of 69.2 mph, and can go from 0 to 30 mph in less than two seconds.
Huffaker says most of the trucks are "very similar in design underneath - chassis, shocks, suspension." Fans notice the biggest difference in the body graphics that match the trucks' names.
Some go the extra mile to set the theme. Monster Mutt, for instance, has a teeth-baring paint job, as well as a fabricated tongue, ears and tail - definitely aftermarket parts.
Huffaker says he competes in 20 to 25 events each year, and the rest of the time he's at his shop, where he designs and builds components for the vehicles.
"I'm always trying to design and develop new products and refine old products to use on monster trucks," he says. "We have not stalled out in development. We work at it from two angles: refining the existing and always looking down the road to develop something new."
It's a necessary part of the job, he says.
"In all honesty, we run those trucks in the ground every weekend."
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6281.