It is obvious that one of the many reasons that Monster Jam is so popular worldwide today is the sport's versatility. Sure, the industry is fueled by the huge mega-shows in massive stadiums with the 10,000 pound machines crushing buses and flying up to 40 feet in the air. But the fact that the sport's talented drivers and their massive machines can follow those events up by going inside much smaller arenas and still thrilling sold out crowds with even more amazing moves makes Monster Jam a series that can excite live crowds in virtually any market, whether it has a big stadium, a nice smaller arena, or even a local race track.

 

What really makes the smaller sized venues an important part of Monster Jam overall is not just that the live Monster Jam experience can be brought to so many additional markets, but to me, it is that these events provide another totally unique test of the skills the drivers possess and just how up close and personal these shows are for the fans, and I'd argue that events like the Thunder Nationals and Summer Heat series bring the fans closer to this sport than they can get to the stars and machines of any other form of motorsports, or any major sporting event for that matter.

 

One of the reasons that I've always felt NASCAR is the truest test of the best auto racing drivers is that the Sprint Cup Series forces drivers to succeed on just about every type of track possible: big super speedways two miles or longer; intermediate size mile and a half long oval tracks of different banking and configurations; bull ring style short track ovals; and long winding road courses. The smaller ARCA series goes that even one better by adding in a couple of dirt track races to their championship series.

 

In Monster Jam to truly be the best you have to be able to fly your truck over the biggest obstacles and win races on long fast tracks for sure, but in some ways it is even more amazing to watch the sport's biggest teams put on amazing shows in smaller venues, often without a dirt surface, competing on concrete or blacktop without any launch ramps.

 

Last weekend's three popular Monster Jam Summer Heat events in Sunrise, Florida's Bank Atlantic Center provide a perfect example. Here a field that included four trucks that have won world championships, not to mention the two-time reigning World Racing Champion John Seasock and his Batman ride, put on a trio of amazing performances that had the fans screaming their appreciation and marveling at what these drivers and machines can do in tight confines.

 

The Sunrise events gave south Florida Monster Jam fans another chance to see their heroes in action, this time in a totally different competition than we see during the annual Florida tour of major Sunshine State stadiums. Of the many fans I talked with during the weekend almost all of them were regulars at the winter events, most of them attending the Miami Dolphin Stadium show each year, and several of them who also follow the Florida Tour to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, and Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on a yearly basis. Those fans were excited about several aspects of the Sunrise shows. Despite the smaller size of the floor, those fans told me that they enjoyed seeing their favorites having to adapt to a totally different format, one that actually forced them to compete in four separate competitions: a sky wheelie contest and a donut contest in addition to the Monster Jam standard racing and freestyle battles. In many ways the fans get to see even more of the superstars in action during these events. Many of those fans also told me that they liked the fact the the Sunrise events were on a smaller floor without any dirt, a totally different, but no less exciting, experience than they have when they head to Dolphin Stadium at the end of January.

 

Competitively it is really interesting to see how a World Champion like Seasock can convert to handling this type of competition, so much different than the course at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas where he won his world titles. It took John a couple of events to get dialed in before he thrilled his huge fan base in Sunrise with a Saturday night sweep of wins in racing and freestyle. Then there's Randy Brown, representing Team Grave Digger in a state where Dennis Anderson's outfit has been as popular as anywhere in the world for more than two decades. Knowing that his Florida fans expect all out Digger madness every time out, Brown continued to deliver event after event, and again I'll stress from a personal perspective that I continue to be amazed at how exciting these drivers performances are and how amazing their big moves are in these somewhat confined spaces. Every one of the three events was so hotly contested that the Florida fans were big winners all weekend.

 

The other part of this weekend that the fans really relished was the even greater opportunity to spend time with the stars of Monster Jam. It's just simple numbers. With, just to site one example, 70,000 fans on hand at Jacksonville and over 10,000 in the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits the simple fact is that the fans have a lot more of their fellow Monster Jam supporters to line up with in meeting the sport's stars. Those fans who have enjoyed the huge, spectacular pit parties in the stadium still appreciated the fact that in Sunrise they got even better access and in some cases more time to spend with the superstars than they get at bigger venues. Again, the smaller events, on dirt or without dirt, provided fans with a unique experience to enjoy their favorite sport.

 

So if you are a Monster Jam fan who joins the entire family to watch the sport on Speed and then to come out every year and cheer for your favorites in one of the many domed or stadium events each year I know you'll keep doing that, but make sure you also check out any arena or race track Monster Jam events that come close enough to your home for you to attend. You'll enjoy a different, yet still thrilling experience, and you'll really appreciate that their is nothing that compares to "living it live" when we're talking Monster Jam