On Christmas Eve, my grandson overheard me talking about Monster Trucks. He ran into his room coming out with the movie ‘Monster Truck.’ Grandma, is this what we are watching? I had to chuckle a little and said, “Well, that’s not exactly what I meant.” He looks at me puzzled and went to the computer where I showed him a picture of ZOMBIE from Monster Jam. He says, “Okay, grandma. I love Zombie.” I said, “Well, I’ve got this great job that allowed me to talk to ZOMBIE’s driver on the phone a few days ago.” He runs to grabs my phone and starts looking for the number to ZOMBIE in my phone. “Grandma, there’s no ZOMBIE listed in your phone!” Oh my, what a great day that was, sharing what Bari Musawwir, the driver of ZOMBIE, told me about his adventures in being a MONSTER TRUCK driver!
Bari Musawwir has been around Monster Jam for a few years driving for a few other teams. He started out with El Toro Loco, then moved to Spiderman and on to ZOMBIE. Just how did Bari decided that he was going to be a driver of a monster truck when he grew up? Bari shared that his Mom took him to his very first show at the Pontiac Silver Dome in 1986. Being the ripe old age of six, he knew this was for him. Onward and upward, Bari had a love of drawing, model trucks and Radio-Controlled Cars and trucks. By age 12, he was competing at National Radio-Controlled Truck Pulling Association events (NR/CTPA). He worked toward his goal of being a better driver by learning new stunts and he started placing at events he entered. He still has a love of radio-controlled cars and trucks, as Bari spends time with his 5 year-old son playing Monster Jam and passing on the love of his driving.
How did radio-control racing get to driving a Monster Jam truck? Bari wrote in the biography that I was sent, “I moved from Cleveland, Ohio, to Tampa, Florida, in the year 2000 to finish college. This is where I met Scott Hartsock with the Slinger Monster Jam truck team. Scott took me under his wing and showed me the ropes of Monster Jam and introduced me to another R/C Monster Jam truck enthusiast named Fred Reep. I helped Fred hold local RC Monster Jam truck events in Florida for a few years until one day Fred had a vision to hold R/C Monster Jam truck events at Diggers Dungeon, the home of Grave Digger. The event became a reality in 2006, and this is where I got my big break. I was discovered by Monster Jam VP of Operations, Bill Easterly, who just happened to be at Diggers Dungeon during the same weekend as the racing event. Mr. Easterly took notice of my RC Monster Jam truck driving skills and asked me if I had any motorsports experience. I replied, “no, just RC Monster Jam truck racing.” He said ok. I then went on to win the freestyle competition at the very same event. This must have been what sealed the deal for Bill to invite me back to the property a week later to participate in a private Monster Jam truck test session. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! I was very excited for this opportunity. Much to everyone’s surprise, they said I did very well, even considering I had no prior motorsports experience. This was a dream come true for me; and I was very grateful for the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. After I got back home from the test session I was eager to start racing Monster Jam trucks professionally, but I didn’t get the call right away. In the mean time I kept in touch with the Monster Jam crew frequently, and got the opportunity to participate at the Monster Jam Pit Parties with our Monster Jam truck racing club. We held R/C Monster Jam truck racing and freestyle events during the pit parties of all the Florida Monster Jam events. Eventually, I got the call I had been hoping for, with another opportunity to test drive again two years later in June of 2008. After my second successful test session, I was excited about getting a chance to finally compete which took two more years. After four years of hoping and praying, I was very fortunate to get my opportunity of a life time to compete in my first Monster Jam event driving Backwards Bob, in Panama City, Panama. Ironically, on Memorial Day weekend, the same weekend that I got me noticed some 4 years earlier. ”
Make no mistake, Bari has done his due diligence in schooling by graduating from Cleveland Heights High School, ITT Technical Institute and earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Visualization Technology. Does he use his degree? Yes, he does, designing a number of skins for Monster Jam trucks like Slinger, Ice Cream Man and several others. Bari does this in his off time.
Their grueling schedule of the season opens the 2019 year with Salt Lake City tour on January 5 & 6, 2019. This is a 10-week, 10-city tour just to get to the top to go to the Monster Jam finials. We talked about how hard it was to be away from family. He says that it’s not too bad. He’s able to fly home on Sunday after a show and back to the next show on Thursday to try and keep a good family life. Bari is married with 2 kids—a 19 year-old girl and a 5 year-old boy.
The World finals have been held usually in March in Las Vegas. They are now in May and moving to Orlando, Florida. Silly me, I ask why are they not going to be in Vegas anymore? Bari being such a polite person, kindly explained that the Raiders were moving to Las Vegas and their new stadium will be on the Sam Boyd lot where the Monster Jam had been.
I asked Bari what is the most awesome trick you do for a show? In a stadium, he loves to do a back flip. That can’t be done in just any arena if it is too small. But he does have a favorite in an arena—it’s called “Little Walk.” I asked him, “Where do you practice for all these tricks you do? Do you go to Max-D’s Monster University to practice?” Bari answered that all the drivers have gone to the University at least once to learn to drive there, but they don’t practice the tricks there. “Okay, so where do you try them out?” He stated they decide to try it they just go for it in the middle of the show. And hope it works out.
Our family likes to go see the Monster Jam tour, as we have gone several times. I had a few more questions about Monster Jam. I’ve been to each of the 3 different times they have a show and I thought the one on Saturday night seems like there was differences in the way they drove. Bari said that it take a few shows to get use to the dirt, as everywhere has different dirt they use and the trucks handle different, so it takes a bit for them to become accustom to how the truck will handle. Then, if it’s bad weather and the other trucks are in the arena giving less room, that’s another obstacle. Wondering if it’s good or bad, he says when you’re in there you can see what the others are doing then you know what you can do to get a better score. The downside is that you have to be careful not to hit them.
One last question was, “The women drivers seem to be very competitive to the fans, do you see are they that way?” I asked Bari. He answered that yes they are very competitive, and they can run with the men.
I can’t wait for January 5 & 6 for the Monster Jam 2019 kicking off the new tour. Hope to see you there. We ride the Frontrunner down and back, making this a must do family activity.
