Family Fun at the Monster Truck Thunder Drag!

Disclosure: My family and I received four tickets to the Ozark 4 Wheel Jamboree Nationals Thunder Drag in exchange for writing this post. All opinions expressed herein belong exclusively to myself and my family. 

My birthday weekend theme of trying new things continued with a trip to take in a Thunder Drag race at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield, MO.  The race is part of a four part series called the 4 Wheel Jamboree Nationals, which also has venues in Lima, Ohio; Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania; and Indianapolis, Indiana.  None of us had ever been to a monster truck event, so we had no idea what to expect.  We quickly learned that these events are loud, fast, and fun.

We arrived for the Thunder Drag a little early, which gave us the chance to check out some of the Monster Trucks.  The Hall Brothers racing team has been racing monster trucks since 1987.  Their team has an impressive setup, with three huge tractor trailer rigs to support their three racing trucks, Raminator, Ramunition, and the Mopar Muscle truck. It was fascinating to get up close to the trucks to see how big they really were and to get to see the “insides”.

Getting under the hood of the Mopar Muscle truck

Taking an up close look at Raminator

I also had the opportunity to visit with Mark Hall, who is one of the founders of the Hall Brothers Racing team, and the driver of the Raminator truck. Racing is a family affair for the Halls.  Mark and his brother Tim started racing when they were young.  Their father was a motorcycle racing announcer, but their mother didn’t want them to race motorcycles, so they raced trucks instead.  Mark purchased a tank chassis from a junk yard and built a truck body around it – the rest, Mark says, has been like a dream. Wives and sisters help with scheduling events and managing merchandise sales, and mom still checks on the boys in the mechanical shop for the trucks, which is next to her house. 

The kids loved meeting Mark Hall and cheering him on at the Thunder Drag

Mark was also kind enough to fill my newbie self in on the details of how Monster Truck racing works.  Trucks go head to head and race what is called a J track. The truck that loses is eliminated, winners move on to another match.  The last truck remaining is the winner of the event.  Each driver earns points at the end of each Thunder Drag event.  Total points across all four venues in the race series determines the champion.  Here’s what a race looks like:

We were super excited when Mark won the Thunder Drag!

Following the J track racing, each truck took a turn for a freestyle section.  This was so fun to watch – each truck did their own thing, jumping cars, spinning in circles, and just generally tearing up the track.

Attending a Monster Truck event is definitely something I would recommend for families.  Here are our tips for making the most of a 4×4 Jamboree:

• Wear Sunscreen
• Bring ear protection for kids for sure, and you’ll probably want some for yourself as well
• Get there about an hour before race time so you can look at the trucks and meet the drivers and crew
• Bring some cash for the concession stand
• Get into the arena early to get a good choice of seats – seating is not assigned
• Bring your camera – photo opportunities are aplenty!!

Have you ever been to a 4×4 Race or event?

Disclosure: My family and I received four tickets to the Ozark 4 Wheel Jamboree Nationals Thunder Drag in exchange for writing this post. All opinions expressed herein belong exclusively to myself and my family. 

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