On Saturday, July 1, ThunderROARus monster truck driver Colton Eichelberger set a brand new world report by leaping 9 monster vans lined up aspect by aspect — however earlier than Eichelberger might tackle the problem, he wanted steerage from a Monster Jam legend: Tom Meents. And two days earlier than the stunt, I had an opportunity to talk with Meents about simply what it takes to information a racer into historical past.
Full disclosure: Monster Jam invited me to hitch the collection at World Finals XXII in Nashville, Tennessee, the place it put me up for a weekend and arranged a large amount of behind-the-scenes entry — together with an hour-long round-table interview with icon Tom Meents.
After many years of competitors, Meents was philosophical as he answered our questions throughout a round-table interview. He selected his phrases fastidiously, usually after a wistful look out on the still-drying observe. Each time he spoke, it was with the type of deliberation you’d anticipate from a long-time legend and instructor at Monster Jam University.
“I can tell you for a fact we’ve never made it yet,” Meents advised Jalopnik throughout the round-table after I requested how he and Eichelberger had been getting ready to perform the demanding feat.
“Some of the requirements are going to be traction — which, if [the jump] happened today, that would be a challenge,” he mentioned, referring to the damp observe.
“We have a huge run in with a short stopping distance, so we’ve been coming up with the right gear, the right attitude to have in the air. Do you need to stop the tires in the air so when it lands, it’s already pre-braked? You have to just imagine.”
While the complete slate of Monster Jam rivals really feel like one massive household, Meents and Eichelberger are fairly actually that: Eichelberger is Meents’ stepson and has crammed in for Meents up to now, all whereas carving his personal identify into the report books with a seven-truck bounce at World Finals 20.
A nine-truck bounce could be troublesome for anybody, however Eichelberger could be dealing with a singular problem: he was compelled to drop out of his scheduled 2022 tour, making his World Finals XXII bounce effort his official return to Monster Jam. Returning to competitors simply to face some of the daunting feats in Monster Jam historical past as much as that time wouldn’t be straightforward — however Meents revealed a bit about how his steerage aided Eichelberger.
“The cool thing about Colton is that he’s a young dad […] and I can just take him out of all that thinking,” Meents mentioned. “With my stunt experience, I can take some worries off his plate, so all he has to think about is getting in the truck and hitting the switch.”
A extreme thunderstorm postponed the beginning of the World Finals, leaving the observe damp. Just because the two-wheel abilities problem wrapped up, the vans set to be jumped rolled out into place, spanning a good portion of the stadium. Meents watched on earlier than working to supply just a few closing phrases of recommendation to Eichelberger. The pomp and circumstance was rapidly lower quick resulting from rain, and moments later, there was ThunderROARus lining up on the gate. The huge engine screamed, after which he was off.
For almost 4 seconds, Eichelberger soared by the air as fireworks skittered throughout the circuit. Then, his wheels have been on the bottom. He had landed it.
Sure, ThunderROARus did slide into the wall and lose a few of its fiberglass bodywork — however it was a small worth to pay for yet one more entry within the report books.
Source: jalopnik.com