Revvin’ and earth

Dallas Glenn-Rogers might a bit of a killjoy behind the wheel of Spitfire, even if it is one of the coolest monster trucks around, a lava monster that shoots fires out of its nostrils.

Don’t misunderstand: there will be plenty to be excited about when the 31-year-old straps himself into the rig, revs up its 540 cubic-inch engine and propels it skyward off a ramp during Ram Monster Truck Motorsports Spectacular shows Saturday and Sunday at Canada Life Centre.

However, while there will be thrills, don’t count on spills. Glenn-Rogers has a driving record that would be the envy of any Winnipeg motorist.

“In 11 years of monster-truck driving, knock on wood, I’ve never actually rolled one over,” he says, rapping his knuckles on a coffee table within the downtown arena. “I think I might be one of the most experienced drivers to never have rolled a truck.

“I honestly feel more safe and more comfortable in a monster truck going off jumps than I do sitting a passenger vehicle going down the street. Safety is that top-notch.”

The risk is highest, naturally, when Glenn-Rogers sends Spitfire airborne off a ramp that’s been installed near where centre-ice would be. Drivers can adjust the pitch of the truck by revving the motor (it lifts the truck’s nose up a bit) or locking the brakes (it lowers the nose), but if a monster truck hits the ramp crookedly, it will land crookedly.

“The fact that it is something that’s challenging is where a lot of the entertainment aspect comes from and why it’s so exciting to watch,” he says. “The trucks are so unpredictable, in so many ways, and no matter what, it’s going to be fun.”

He was like a lot of the excited youngsters who will attend the extravaganza this weekend. He was hooked the moment he heard the first roars of a monster-truck engine and got a whiff of the methanol exhaust they emit.

“It started when I was two years old, sitting in the grandstands watching a monster-truck show; I said, ‘I want to be a monster-truck driver when I grow up,’ and I never looked back,” says Glenn-Rogers, who drives Spitfire for Straight Up Racing, which is based in the Seattle area. At home he has his own rig, which he spent six years of spare time building from scratch.

The monster-truck game isn’t child’s play, though. Trucks such as Spitfire cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to hand-build and thousands more to maintain and haul around North America to shows.

When Glenn-Rodgers built his own truck, he stopped keeping track of the cost when he reached $80,000, so having one that’s being worked on in a garage only adds to the bills instead of paying them.

“I also work on the trucks, so if I break something, I’m dealing with the consequences,” Glenn-Rogers says. “As I’m fixing my mess-ups, it’s going through my mind, ‘What could I have done differently to prevent these three hours (of repairs)?’

“We’ll spend hours and hours before each event just going over things. You want to find things before they break.”

Prior to taking his turn on the dirt and crushed cars, he’s straps himself into Spitfire like a fighter pilot is belted into a jet cockpit. A ratchet tightens the five-point harness even further.

A neck restraint similar to ones worn by race-car drivers keeps drivers so immobilized that their arms and feet are the only parts of the body that can move, he says.

Then there is the mental preparation.

“Basically, you want to get rid of all nerves, which is a very challenging thing to do,” Glenn-Rodgers says. “If you’re nervous, you’re going to mess up.”

It’s a bit of a muddy mess on the arena floor at Canada Life Centre this weekend, rather than its usual sheet of gleaming ice.

It took 2,000 person-hours to transform the rink into a dirt track that’s suitable for the big rigs, dirt bikes and quads that will tear it up. Sixty semi-trailer truckloads of dirt, clay and mud, about 1,500 tonnes in all, were hauled in from outside the city.

A small bulldozer put the final touches on the surface Friday morning while the Zambonis get the weekend off.

Winnipeg’s famous gumbo clay, which can be a headache for homeowners because it expands and contracts so readily, is also a challenge for Spitfire’s 1.67-metre-tall tires.

“This dirt is a very tacky clay, so you got to watch the corners,” Glenn-Rodgers says. “If you try to slide it and pitch it in too hard, it’ll be on its roof before you realize what happened.”

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Twitter: @AlanDSmall

Alan Small
Reporter

Alan Small has been a journalist at the Free Press for more than 22 years in a variety of roles, the latest being a reporter in the Arts and Life section.

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