Monster Jam and Grave Digger invading arena Entertainment. When Pablo Huffaker answered the phone last week in Tomball, Texas, he had to take a minute to wash his hands of grease or oil or something awesome, because he was in his shop doing a transmission rebuild, as you might expect a monster truck driver to be doing on a Friday morning. Since 1. 99. 3, Huffaker has been one of the drivers who fires up the ignition of the legendary Grave Digger as Bad to the Bone roars over the loudspeakers. Then he tears over a collection of dirt ramps and junked cars. But Huffaker leaves the rock n roll persona to the truck. He preaches driver safety, takes pictures with the scores of kids who flip out at Monster Jam shows and answers any stupid question a reporter throws at him, even if it involves a Police Academy reference. We got this evil, wicked looking truck with good guys driving em, Huffaker said. They may be scary looking and got a crazy paint job and all that, but all of us that drive the trucks are cut from the same cloth in a way. Heres a condensed conversation with Huffaker that took place before he rolled into town. Journal Star Youre coming to a new arena here that has never hosted a monster truck event of any kind. Does that change how you prepare for a race weekend Pablo Huffaker Generally the floor size on most of these venues is pretty close to the same, because most of them host either hockey, basketball or concerts. So Im always excited to come perform in a new building because for one, its exciting to be the first Monster Jam ever in a new venue and secondly, just the newer buildings are very user friendly, it seems like. JS Its about as new as it gets, so youll have to mess it up some. How Much Do Monster Truck Drivers Make A Year' title='How Much Do Monster Truck Drivers Make A Year' />PH No, no, I dont want to be that guy. Ive been that guy in too many buildings over the years, so Id rather not skin up your guys new building. I know that Lincolns pretty proud of it, and wed like to leave it that way. JS Your Monster Jam bio says you were inspired to become a monster truck driver by the movie Take This Job and Shove It. PH Thats right. Back many years ago when that movie came out, and at that time it was Bigfoot. And it didnt even have tires as big as what we run today. Far from it. Saw that and thought, Man, that is some kind of cool. Shortly thereafter that, myself and my partner built a monster truck, and kind of the rest is history. JS How much do the trucks nowadays differ from that one you built PH In the 3. Ive been driving trucks, its evolved tremendously. And the trucks just in the last decade have evolved into incredible machines that are capable of just an unbelievable amount of punishment. And they just keep right on running. You would never think that you could take a 1. It just defies the laws of gravity and what a vehicle should be mechanically capable of. How Much Do Monster Truck Drivers Make A Year' title='How Much Do Monster Truck Drivers Make A Year' />Truck driving is a stable profession, perfect for people who want to make a career out of traveling on the open road. You can work in light truck delivery service or. JS Getting back to Take This Job and Shove It, have there been any better uses of monster trucks in film since then PH There really havent been many monster trucks in movies over the years. So I would actually say yes, probably. JS There was one in Police Academy, I think. Actually it was Police Academy 2 Their First Assignment. Bigfoot again. PH Yeah, that was probably a poor use of one. JS You could guess what they did with it. PH Yeah, I could. Edius 5 Software. I am also highly considering going to an automotive school next year. Obviously, I have driving for Monster. FELD drivers. I obviously want to make. How Much Do Monster Truck Drivers Make A Year' title='How Much Do Monster Truck Drivers Make A Year' />But Take This Job and Shove It, that was actually, that was pretty cool. JS So when the Grave Digger adds the name of a truck it beat to the tombstones painted along its body, is there any kind of ceremony for that PH No, every now and then well add a name to it. Its an honor to the other drivers. They always used to say, Man, I made it big. I got my name on the side of the Grave Digger truck. Most of the names of the trucks that are now on the tombstones of Grave Digger are trucks that you would see on the Monster Jam circuit. Id have to look at the side of it to tell you whos on it anymore. This body that Im looking at, its got Monster Mutt, Max D, Iron Man, Madusa, Monster Mutt there are several Monster Mutts, Avenger, El Toro Loco, Lucas Oil Crusader, Mohawk Warrior, just a lot of the big names. JS So you are looking at a Grave Digger right now PH I am. I am. Ive got a spare body sitting out here next to the shop. JS I read somewhere theres no speedometer in them. PH No, no. The interiors of the trucks are very utilitarian and very race oriented. We have our race seat in there, which is a full containment seat. We have a shifter, a throttle pedal, gas pedal, switch panels to control all your electrical functions, ignitions, so on and so forth. No speedometer, cause Im just gonna go as fast as we can. Im not worried if Im speeding. Im just gonna go as fast as the truck can go. JS I watched video of a run in St. Louis where your front left wheel snapped off when you landed a jump. You kept going. PH Unless somebody shuts me off, if I feel like I can continue to perform, even with the vehicle damaged, Ill continue to do so, as long as Im not putting anybody in harms way. For me to continue to run on three wheels is pretty exciting for the fans, and sometimes I can actually make a pretty good show of it. JS Your hearing seems to be in order. PH I wear earplugs all the time. On top of that, theres ear muffs built into my helmet that cover my ears. I have double protection on my hearing. I wear all kinds of safety equipment, you know. I wear a fire suit, fireproof gloves, fireproof shoes, fireproof head sock, helmet, ear protection. I wear a mouth guard, head and neck restraint systems and that collar. It takes me a couple minutes to get ready to go, but I am very secure in there, and I make every attempt to protect myself in every form and fashion I can. JS Have you ever caught fire PH I had a fire one time many years ago. I was on fire for about 5. I think is what the video showed. And I have always, always been very proactive about wearing all my safety equipment. And it did its job. JS When do you start to get into a monster truck driving mindset PH Oh, about the time I pull to the starting line. Ive been doing this so long, I dont put much thought into it. Im on cruise control. When I get in the truck, thats like getting in my work truck and going to work. I dont have any apprehensions. I dont have to psych myself up or anything. I just get in it and pull to the line. When I start rolling into the line, I start focusing pretty good on what Im fixing to go do, mainly for the competitive side of it. I want to win. Then I get back out of the truck, and Im all good to go. JS You ever met any gravediggers during your time with Grave Digger PH Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Between gravediggers and coroners, Ive met a bunch of em. In fact, I live next door to a cemetery. Just so happens they built a cemetery after I was here. Ive had some of those guys come over before. They say, Oh, were the gravediggers. Yeah, I bet you are. You guys are the real gravediggers JS So it really attracts a lot of gravediggers and coroners PH Every now and then. Mainly kids. Thats our main target.