“Don’t lift! When your foot is to the floor, you’re way more likely to correct it” said XDP’s Dave Radzierez, as he described in detail what it was like during the wild ride he had on Saturday night during his Monster Jam Freestyle run in El Paso, Texas.
The Crew arrived in Texas ready to put on a show and they did not disappoint. Down in El Paso, Monster Jam set the stage for an action packed weekend at the UTEP Sun Bowl , an outdoor stadium that looks like it’s carved into the side of a cliff.
Starting off the day like the rest of the events on this tour, Team XDP had the pleasure of being on display during the sold out Pit Party. The Pit Party is the Meet & Greet portion of the event where all the fans get to see the trucks up-close, talk to the drivers, get autographs and more. It’s always a great time for the crew.
Once the sun went down, the main event started and the Monster Jam lineup roared into the stadium. From there, racing began and while not qualifying in the first round, XDP took to the Wheelie Competition with a tie for first place! Dave had the truck almost standing upright, always an impressive thing to see.
Coming out of the wheelie competition with some good momentum, Dave hit the course for Freestyle. After getting a few good jumps in, Dave hit a table top with a little less speed than he wanted due to some tire spin. He hit the jump anyway and instead of clearing it, the back tires came up just a little short. This caused a nosedive that made the truck land sideways. With the truck up on the front end, Dave put his foot to the floor to try and correct it! Bouncing off the front end, the truck went into a sideways barrel-roll making almost two full rotations! The sold out stadium went absolutely wild, and this was sure to be a highlight of the weekend.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-tOvouS0vk?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
(Thanks to YouTuber Manuel Tinevra for the footage)
After track officials dragged the truck off the track, the team went to work getting it fixed so we could be back up and running for the Sunday show, a task easier said than done. Our crew, and several others worked through the night and all through Sunday morning to pull it off. At about 1:45PM, 15 minutes before show time the truck went through the final tech and we were clear to run. While we were missing half the body panels, Monster Jam played the highlight reel crash over on the big screen so the fans the following day could see just how the truck got that way.
Relieved to be up and running, Dave joined the rest of the line up and hit the course to put on a show for all the fans in attendance on Sunday. All-in-all, we had a great weekend in El Paso. It’s time for us to hit the road, so we can get back to wrenchin’ before the next event!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNLP8YI9YRU?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
(Event Highlights courtesy of Monster Jam Live)