Monster Jam trucks and drivers prepare in Palmetto for Saturday’s event

Chad Fortune spent years driving Monster Jam trucks with superhero themes. First he drove Superman, and then Captain America.

Those trucks were sponsored by comic book publishers, and when the sponsorships went away, that was the end of the trucks.

Fortune wanted to keep driving, so he came up with another idea.

“I said, ‘For years I got to play a hero, a superhero. Why don’t we honor the REAL heroes?,’ ” Fortune said. “I wanted to honor the military people who make it possible for us to do this.”

That was the beginning of Soldier Fortune, the military-themed truck that Fortune now drives for the Monster Jam tour. The tour returns to Tampa on Saturday.

Soldier Fortune has a body with the a camouflage paint job and body shape that’s reminiscent of a modern-day U.S. Army tank.

“It’s built for destruction,” said Fortune, a former NFL football player and professional wrestler.

Military people often approach Fortune after events and tell him how much they appreciate the tribute.

This week, Soldier Fortune (It’s not Soldier OF Fortune, because that name is copyrighted, Fortune said) and all the other trucks on this part of the Monster Jam tour are in the garage at Feld Entertainment Studios in Palmetto undergoing in repairs, repainting and maintenance in preparation for Saturday’s Tampa event.

On Tuesday, Feld officials hosted a media tour of the garage. It was shaping up to be a busy day because several of the trucks were severely damaged in a Monster Jam event last weekend.

One of the most badly damaged was Mutant, which driver Coty Saucier rolled end-over-end. The chassis was bent and the body torn off. Saucier said he’s had some incidents with his Monster Jam trucks in the past, and it’s not uncommon for the trucks to be damaged in the course of a competition, but the New Orleans incident was his worst.

“It didn’t feel great,” Saucier said. “That was the worst crash I’ve ever had.”

Saucier is one of only three Monster Truck drivers who is also a mechanic. So in the days leading up to the Tampa event, Saucier and other mechanics are working hard on Mutant, repairing all that damage and getting the truck cosmetically ready for the Tampa fans.

“Sometimes we only have a couple of days, sometimes like now we have a whole week,” Saucier said. “I’m never worried. If we have to work all night and into the day that’s what we do. We’ve done it many times before. We’re always ready.”

The preparation for each event is even more important than the driver’s performance, at least in Saucier’s opinion.

“A lot of my success has to do with having a truck that’s 110 percent prepared every week,” he said. “If you don’t have good equipment it doesn’t matter that you can drive.”

Saucier and Fortune both said that they’re especially looking forward to the Tampa event. They both live nearby — Saucier in Dade City and Fortune in Venice — so this is their hometown show. Family and neighbors will be there cheering them on.

Tampa is known on the Monster Jam circuit for having great fans, the drivers said. This weekend’s event is the second in just a few weeks in Tampa and was added because the first one sold out so fast. Not too many cities around the country can warrant two shows within a month of each other.

Fans who come to both will see a lot of different trucks and drivers this weekend than they saw in January. The current Soldier Fortune truck, for example, is a brand new truck that is only in its second U.S. appearance.

“We always try to make the show better and better,” Saucier said. “It’ll be the same great Monster Jam event, but with a new lineup of trucks and a different track as well.”

Details: 7 p.m. Feb. 3, Raymond James Stadium, 4201 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. Tickets $15-$176. Pit Party $10, early access $25. Contact: 813-350-6500 or monsterjam.com.

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Monster Jam trucks and drivers prepare in Palmetto for Saturday’s event."