January 26 and 27, the United States Hot Rod Association’s Thunder Nationals invaded the Pepsi Arena in Albany for two nights of monster truck racing and other car-crushing action.
I had never been to a monster truck rally before, but it was truly an experience. When I arrived, I noticed 10 cars lined up on the floor waiting to be crushed. The cars all had their glass removed and were just empty frames.
I sat down and waited. Before long, I smelled the pungent odor of exhaust and the arena came to life. The announcer called out the names of the monster trucks and they entered the arena.
The Virginia Giant, Rap Attack, Rambo, and another unnamed truck entered the arena and did donuts in the center of the floor. The announcer then rambled on for hours and some all-terrain vehicles entered the arena and raced around some cones. I was not overly excited at this point, but the majority of the 8- to 10-year-old crowd was eating it all up.
The monster trucks then had a "competition" to see who could jump the farthest off of the old beaten down cars. The scoring was strange and always followed the crowd. The entire night consisted of monster trucks driving over the cars and making lots of noise.
The trucks themselves were impressive, but most of the maneuvers were hardly awe-inspiring.
Later on, I was treated to the high point of the night, MegaSaurus. This beast bit a car in half and spit fire. The machine was amazing, but its show went on for only fifteen minutes and left something to be desired.
I could not take much more of the racing and car-crushing so I left early. The loud noise and noxious fumes had gotten to me and I was losing interest.
The experience was one I was glad I had tried, but I do not believe I will ever do it again. Maybe someday in the future I will take my children to see them, and watch as they scream and shout and love it, but I will still be too old.
