Massive Wrecks & 12,000-Pound Trucks: Monster Jam Takes Over Houston

And welcome back to The Factor Uncensored. This Saturday at Reliant Stadium, it's all about monster trucks. And we met one of the premier drivers who's from Texas. Let's get to it in this segment. Tristan, you've been driving 11 years, but you have some major championships under your belt. What got you started in this industry of monster truck driving? It was actually my father, Shane England. So he's the owner and creator of the Big Kahuna Monster Jam truck. So I was actually fixing all of his broken parts behind the scenes. And then, of course, being here in Houston, this is one of the places where I got kind of a rolling start to my racing career. I was already racing dirt track cars, but then I got to get out here on the dirt where the Monster Jam trucks were, and I got to compete with some legend cars, and I actually got second place. They saw my talent, and they wanted me to come back out here. And when you came here for the first time to compete and stepped on this dirt, what was that like for you? It feels amazing. I mean, not only because I've dreamed of being a Monster Jam driver my whole life, but to be in Texas, and it's Texas soil and dirt, and I'm out here throwing down with my best buds, or, you know, there's even girls in this competition, and they don't take us lightly. They are coming with fierce competition, so we've got to give it all that we've got every time we hit the track, but I know my son, Crash, is watching at home, and yes, his name is Crash, and his birth certificate, I swear to you, but he's seven years old, so he's my biggest critic. He knows everything about monsters and I better not let him down. So you're the second generation. You think he will be the third? I sure hope so. We play in the living room with the trucks, you know, the Spin Master toys that you see at Walmart or Target. We'll get down in the living room and we'll play with those. So he's already got a gist of how everything works. He just wants to drive now. But this is, you know, it looks like fun, Tristan, but it could be very dangerous. How concerned are you about safety when you get behind the wheel of your truck? I've grown up around this motorsport since I was about knee-high, so danger, it doesn't even faze us at all. I mean, the fear factor, I have zero fear when I'm in the seat of one of these Monster Jam trucks because they are 12,000 pounds, they are heavy, but I feel super safe. I've got a full containment seat that is specially made just for me, and then I have a five-point, and then some other drivers wear a seven-point harness to keep you strapped into that seat, so I feel fearless. And you first touched, you got a taste of it at 13 years old. Was your father concerned about you? Not at all. And I didn't get a taste of the Monster Jam trucks necessarily at 13. I just knew about the atmosphere. So I've been around here since I was about four years old, just watching behind the scenes. My dad was a crew guy for years and years working on trucks to fix them. Then he said, you know what? I got to chase my dream. I got to purchase my own Monster Jam truck. And now I'm driving for Monster Jam. So a bunch of my dreams coming true, a bunch of dreams from my dad, and I hope for my son, Crash. Absolutely. And when we talk about your success as a driver, give me some of those titles you got, because you got a few. And some of them, they start with world champion. It's pretty unique. I mean, growing up, of course, I wanted to do all this. I wanted to achieve all these goals, but I didn't think that it would amount to this much. I didn't think it'd be this big. So I've got three world champion titles. I've got six series championships like Jordan. And, man, I'm just having fun with it. I'm just a country kid from Paris, Texas, living my dream. And so how do the people in Paris, Texas respond? Are they constantly watching? Are you a superstar when you come back to town? It's a hit and miss. You know, there's a lot of families that actually tune in and watch every single weekend because we do YouTube Live. We're on the Roku channel everywhere. So you guys can catch it on the weekend. If you can't make it out to Houston, you can still watch it on the weekend. But when I go home, it kind of does feel like a little bit of celebrity status, but then it dies out as soon as I get to the airport. And what can your fans expect when they come see you here at Monster Jam this weekend? You can expect the unexpected because, I mean, for us drivers, sometimes it's that way for us. But I promise you guys, for you Monster Jam fans, I give everything I got when I'm out here on this track, not only for the Monster Jam fans, but I know my son Crash. He's that big critic, so I know he's watching too. And for you, how important is it that you're constantly enjoying this, having fun, and it doesn't feel like work? It's not at all. I mean, I grew up playing with Tonka trucks in the dirt, and look at me now. I'm playing on the dirt, so I'm never going to grow up. I swear, I keep saying it every weekend to all the kids at pit party, but I'm seven like my son mentally. You know, I'm out here having fun, having a ball, living my dream like I'm saying, but you can't see my truck right now, but it's the coolest looking one out here. There you go. All right, Tristan Englund, good to meet you. Paris, Texas. Yes, sir. Father of Crash. All right, that's the father of Crash right there.