I have been to Wall Stadium more times than any other racetrack I have ever been too. I have also been to possibly every Monster Truck show presented at Raceway Park in the last two years, thanks to my 4 year old son's love of them. Sunday, my son and I were among those who were fortunate enough to attend the Monster Truck and stunt show at Wall, and it may have been the best time I have ever had at the Jersey Shore speedway.
I say fortunate because sadly the event wasn't that well attended. There were several factors working against this show from the start. Sunday was the first day of the NFL season. There was a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Thompson in Connecticut that had many Wall Stadium regulars out of the area. The present economic times also make it hard for families to attend two motorsports events in the same weekend, and to make it worse, although it didn't rain at Wall, it was raining in many of the surrounding towns.
I have to admit I had my doubts about how good this show would be with only six Monster Trucks, however, the performance of those trucks, and most of the rest of the show made up for the lack of quantity. The show started with a motorcycle jump over a Monster Truck, complete with an explosion.
The show also featured bicycle stunts, a motorcycle riding through walls of fire, stunts on a quad, and a man blowing himself up in a car. The stars of the show were, of course, the Monster Trucks. The wide open space of Wall Stadium's infield allowed them to really perform. They were able to show their true power and speed as they jumped over, and crushed the cars placed on the infield. They did slap-wheelies, spun in donuts, and Bigfoot even managed to drive on it's two right wheels until eventually crashing onto it's roof.
The star of the show, however, had to be the Monster Truck rides. For $10 you could sit in the back of a real Monster Truck, and leave from the pit area, rolling down the high-banks of the speedway. You were then taken 3/4's of the way around the track, at which time it proceeded onto the infield, and did two donuts, before heading back up the banking to return to the pits.
I took this ride with my 4 year old son, and the look on his face was priceless. This was something I am sure we will both never forget. There are limited opportunities in our lives when we get to share memorable experiences with our children, and this was one.
It's really a shame more people didn't get to witness this show. While it was a little rough around the edges, mostly due to the announcer being part of the show, overall, the performances were very entertaining, especially for the younger fans in the audience.
So if you weren't able to make it out to Wall this past Sunday, I'm sorry for what you missed. The track is doing it's best to provide other types of entertainment, which would help secure it's future as well. So any time you can I would recommend you get out to not only Wall, but any of our local tracks in New Jersey. Afterall, once you've missed it, you've missed it. Happily for my son and I we didn't miss it, and now we will never forget it.
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