This weekend, the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam rolls into town for three races at the BMO Bradley Center.
As the father of a 5-year-old, I've come to learn a few things about monster trucks. My son, Jake, seemingly has every one of the Hot Wheels versions and knows most of the drivers and trucks by name.
So, when I had the chance to talk to one of the drivers I had Jake come up with the questions.
To start, he was pretty excited that I'd get to talk to the driver of Grave Digger, Randy Brown. And, impressively, he even knew that the original owner and driver of Grave Digger was Dennis Anderson. "But, Daddy, Dennis Anderson is the real driver of Grave Digger." Sorry, Randy.
Anyway, Jake's questions were pretty good and thanks to Randy Brown for being a good sport over the phone.
Jake Sherman: How do you not crash?
Randy Brown: We actually crash more than many other motors sports do because we tend to push it over the edge. But, you get used to driving it and we do a lot of test sessions so you get better at handling something that big. You learn your boundaries pretty quickly – how far it can go and how much it takes to turn it. It helps a lot to have four wheel steering. It's another thing to get used to, but once you do it's really not that bad.
JS: What kind of car do you drive when your not driving Grave Digger?
RB: My every day car is a 2009 (Ford) F-150.
JS: What got you into monster trucks? Did you have Hot Wheels when you were 5?
RB: Oh yeah, I had every car toy that you could imaging when I was a kid. My Dad was into drag racing and into the sport of truck and tractor pulling. So, I just kinda grew up around it. Right down the road from me growing up was Dennis Anderson with the Grave Digger team. So, I've pretty much known him my whole life. So it just felt like a good fit for me to do racing.
JS: Have you ever been to Milwaukee?
RB: It's been a long time, but I think it was about nine years ago. Had a good experience then so I'm looking forward to coming back.
JS: What's your favorite food?
RB: Man, I like about everything really. But, I've developed a pretty good passion for sushi and hibachi grills.
JS: How fast can you get Grave Digger up to?
RB: The fastest I've had this truck up to is right at 90 mph. We welcome everyone to come down this weekend and we're looking forward to a great time!
The 2013 Monster Truck touring season is also a celebration of Maximum Destruction’s 10th anniversary. So, if you're ready for some motor sports fun – or, have a young boy in your life – get to the BMO Bradley Center this weekend for some serious trucking.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
