(This interview has been edited for clarity)
Jason Cregier:
This weekend the big boy trucks are coming to town. Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire will take place Friday-Sunday in downtown Rockford at the BMO Center.
Here to discuss the smashy, crashy and bashy event is driver of the Mega Wrex monster truck, Frank Krmel.
Frank, thanks for being with us.
Frank Krmel: No problem.
How did you end up becoming interested in monster trucks?
When I was little, three or four years old, my dad took me to the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan to see the monster truck Bigfoot.
I knew from that point on that I wanted to be involved with monster trucks in some capacity.
My six-year-old son loves monster trucks; we have many of them lying around the house at any given time. As a monster truck driver, what does it mean to you to know that you are bringing joy to children?
The cool part about this is I came to the shows as a little kid, and now at 47 years old to be in the business — it really reminds me of my relationship with my father. Growing up and seeing monster trucks with him, having those memories, to now do this for a living and see people I used to work with bring THEIR kids to monster truck events, it is great to see the generational growth of monster trucks. Seeing the sport grow from when I was a kid to now; I feel proud and privileged to be a part of the monster truck industry for this long.
What is one of your favorite tricks to perform as a driver?
I am an old school guy; I grew up in the era of crushing cars and wheelies. I like the pure show of size and power of a monster truck.
Jumping over cars, crushing cars, doing wheelies. Showing the strength of the trucks. There is no way to describe the feeling of seeing a 12,000-pound truck land on top of a stack of cars and flatten them. That is the kid in me just loving what a monster truck can do.
I also love doing donuts, freestyle — I am a fan of it all.
I took my family to a monster truck show in Moline last year. The one aspect that really stood out to me more than anything else was the sound. The trucks created such a loud noise that it shook your body. Are you used to that now?
Not really. At times yes, but other times you step back and say, “Wow. These are giant, they have a ton of horsepower and they are very loud.” I recommend anyone coming to the BMO Center this weekend to bring some type of hearing protection, especially children.
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire will take place Friday-Sunday in downtown Rockford at the BMO Center.
