January 26th, 2014 by Stinkhead
Monster Jam returned to the Verizon Center in Washington DC the weekend of January 25th. We checked out the pit party, we marveled at the Nuclear Cowboyz‘ halftime exhibition, and we cheered on Illuminator as Jay Snyder won his second racing title this weekend. Check out our pics below!
Illuminator was the big winner, capturing the racing win. He won at Friday’s event as well. Illuminator was looking great, and we loved the new chase lighting effect on it’s bolt of lightning. The even kicked off with a Wheelie competition, each truck took a turn trying to pop some impressive wheelies and get a reaction of the crowd and the judges. Crowd favorite Crushstation won this with a score of 28. After that was the racing bracket.
The halftime portion consisted of the Nuclear Cowboyz doing some high flying stunts. My six year old son was much more into these stunts than I had thought he’d be. He marveled at the tricks they pulled off as they flew through the air. I covered a Nuclear Cowboyz show in Baltimore a few years ago. While I thought it was awesome, I was sure my son might get bored of watching the same similar style stunt over and over. But I was wrong, or he’s older now, and I wish Nuclear Cowboyz would come near Baltimore or DC again, but alas they’re not on this tour. Stay tuned! Regardless, the crowd was going nuts. We all loved it. Seeing someone 50 feet above the ground let go of their bike and then grab it again can take your (and your kids’) breath away. Check out more of my pics in the gallery below.
In between most of the heats they kept the action going with the Quad Wars. Even though they’re not the main reason you come, we always get a thrill watching Team DC battle it out against, this time, Team Philly. It’s all choreographed for getting the audience worked up. The blue team insults the crowd and visibly cheats, and then Team DC triumphs. It’s fun to boo and cheer and it’s not really poor sportsmanship. We really get into it.
If you can, go to the Party in the Pits before the Saturday afternoon show. Its a great opportunity to walk around and get photos with the trucks, meet your favorite drivers, and of course, play in the actual dirt that the trucks drive in. It’s completely worth it. They have stuff for sale, but they’re not pushy about it at all. And if you get there, don’t worry about the time between the Pit Party ending and the main show beginning. We had plenty of time to grab some lunch, find our seats and eat. They had local RC drivers jumping their gas powered RC cars over the wreckers and a series of ramps, and even had the preliminary round of the Quad Wars happen while we were waiting. There really isn’t any downtime and there’s always something to watch. We enjoyed just watching the bulldozers reset the dirt and forklift bringing out fresh vans for the trucks to crush.
Going to Monster Jam is one of my favorite things to do with my son. It’s so big, and I have complete faith that we’ll have a good time. Everything is taken care of, and even though we’ve done it almost 5 or 6 times now, we both have a blast everytime. I actually love some of the predictable aspects (like the blue team always trashing on our football team), but I really love the suspense and competition.
Check out MonsterJam.com for more photos and events. And if you can do it, check out the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas this March. Three days, 32 trucks. It’s a great fan experience.
Check out our earlier Monster Truck coverage including our interview with Illuminator’s driver Jay Snyder!
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Posted in 3&up, 5&up, article, Boys, event, Girls, kids, Monster Trucks, picture, sports | Comments Off on Photos from Monster Jam in DC
