One of the appealing things that many fans find about Monster Jam is the variety in the competitors. Trucks with concept bodies; trucks with popular comic book, movie, even video game themes; trucks with more old school looks and so on, driven by a wide variety of personalities. Hooks are cool for sure, and they help build a fan base, but make no mistake about it. Nothing builds popularity in Monster Jam as quickly as wins and spectacular performances, just like it is in many other sports.
The opening paragraph sets the scene to spend some time with George Balhan. Maybe no driver in the sport today has been able to carve out a more unique niche. The wild Mohawk hair, the big black Escalade with no sponsor name or theme on the side, the huge spinner wheels, the neon lights on the frame, and George’s attitude that plays so well with Monster Jam’s teen and young adult fans. For proof that the theme works just look around at a major Monster Jam event at all of the Mohawk haircuts and hip Escalade t-shirts in evidence. But if this were just a gimmick, there would be a real limit to Balhan’s building popularity. The reason that there is no limit in this case is that first of all, this isn’t a gimmick. Fans have quickly seen that with George Balhan, what you see is what you get. He’s the same off the track as he is on it. Secondly, he is a consummate performer, and has become one of the sport’s most consistent drivers. When the Escalade pulls onto the track you are now seeing one of the elite drivers in the business today.
Talking with Balhan it’s clear that he appreciates the fact that he has worked his way into becoming one of Monster Jam’s prime time players. He’s been moving up the charts, so to speak, for the last few years. In 2009 he’s arrived as a major contender for big event victories, especially on the Speed televised Monster Jams. “Yeah I’ve had a great season all year, I was always right there,” Balhan agreed. “I kind of joked around with my wife that I can’t wait until Dennis or Tom retires because I think that I finished 2nd in every single TV show this year that I was in, except for maybe one of them when I got 3rd. Man I’m right there. We talk all the time about the young guns, and if they’d have retired I would have won just about everything this year. I’ve had a great year. My fan base has grown tremendously this year because of that. I’m just having a great time in the seat this year.”
As Balhan’s Escalade has been wowing the crowds at the live events and on television we’ve seen his fan base expand quickly. “It’s spectacular. I always say that we have the best fans here in Monster Jam, I mean all of us collectively, as a whole, but I think I’ve got the best of the bunch, maybe next to Dennis” Balhan exclaimed. “I’ve kind of jumped on his coattails in that I’ve learned from him when I got into the business that you can go out and have what you think is a pretty bad run but as long as your fans are behind you and they’re happy then you’ve actually had a pretty good night. I’ve tried to build my fan base off of that. You know, whether I win or lose. With me being the rebel I think I get shafted by the judges sometimes but as long as my fans had fun then I had fun, it’s not whether I win or lose. I have a good time with that.”
George referenced “young guns” and even though he’s now considered to be more of a veteran, he still fits into that young gun mode and he’s proud that he and other newcomers in the last several years have been shaking things up and giving Dennis Anderson and Tom Meents a run for their money. “Absolutely. It’s crazy, it’s wide open. It’s like Supercross was in the past. There would be one dominant guy, and with us we’ve had that one or two dominant guys,” George explained. “Once they’re gone there’s a pack of ten of us that want that spot, the game’s wide open. I think the future is exciting whether it becomes another two man show or a ten man show. Monster Jam is going to continue to be exciting in the future with the talent we have coming up the ranks.”
We’ve seen the upstarts move to center stage, especially with Adam Anderson and Damon Bradshaw winning the two most recent World Freestyle Championships. Those wins provided even greater motivation for the leader of the sport’s Mohawk Nation. “Its total motivation and you could not wish that on anyone any better than those guys. Those are two great guys,” Balhan reacted. “To live up to the expectations that Adam has had to live up to is a real testament to him that he won that championship, because I wouldn’t want that pressure that is on him to live up to the Anderson name. And it’s spectacular for Damon to come in and accomplish what he accomplished, coming in from Supercross and then to win a championship so quick in monsters, you know it’s great. Then again it motivates me; it kicks me in the butt. I’ve been doing it a couple of years longer than they have. What the heck are they doing winning championships before me? I always say this year’s my year. And this year has been great, so hopefully 2010 is my year.”
When Escalade first debuted there were many skeptics. I mean, who was going to pay any attention to a plain black monster when you have all the exotic body styles and graphics schemes on some of the sport’s most popular trucks. Yet today, that big black Caddy is one of the most recognized pieces on the circuit, and one of the most popular, and that’s a tribute to Balhan himself. “I take total pride in it. It’s something that I feel that I, along with my team, have built,” Balhan continued. “We go out there and we have fun. It’s a truck where people aren’t rooting as much for the truck as they are for me and my team to go out there and win. It goes back to all of those fans with the Mohawks. It really is humbling to see, and I think that it’s the wave of the future. People want to identify with people. In Monster Jam the TV show has done such a great job letting the fans get to know us better as people, not just spotlighting the trucks. I think that’s made a big difference in our fan base. I know ticket sales are through the roof now and people are coming with signs now that say “Go Dennis” and “Go Tom” and Go George” and “Go Damon” rather than just saying “Go Grave Digger” or “Go Escalade”. So I think that’s making a big difference and with all of our different personalities the sky’s the limit with that kind of stuff.”
That said, Balhan also is proud that he and other drivers not named Anderson or Meents have been able to build their own fan followings, something he thinks is healthy for the sport, that it’s bigger than just two main superstars. “I think it is very important, it kind of spreads the wealth around a little bit. We always say that it is the fans that keep us going from city to city. It’s them buying our t-shirts and our pennant flags and all that good stuff,” is how Balhan sees things. “So I can’t say enough to them. It’s what keeps us going. If we don’t win and we’ve had a bad night, we put so much pressure on ourselves to go out there and win, but at the end of that show we make sure we always go back out there and walk around that stadium and wave to our fans. You know I can’t tell you how many times I was sick of being that bridesmaid this year, and I’d be kind of bummed, I knew that I had a great run, that I’m so close to the win I can taste it. Then you look up and see that little 4 year old kid with that Mohawk holding up a sign that says “I love you George” or whatever, and you just forget everything else that happened that night. Once again I’ll say that we are blessed. We have the greatest fans and the greatest job in the world. We’re grown men playing with big trucks. It’s just like every little 4 year old does in the sandbox. So really that’s what’s important to me, as long as I have fun”
And as long as you have fun. That’s what George Balhan is all about. Loving his life as Monster Jam’s rebellious one, and relishing in the fans who cheer him on so loudly.
