The former Monster Jam World Champion, “El Toro Loco” puts on a show for Monster Jam goers and will be joining the line-up at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

Nothing says virility quite like a 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide truck weighing in at 9,000 plus pounds. The 2018 Monster Jam season has revved up its engines and readied itself to wow the Tampa crowd at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday. Crowd favorites such as Grave Digger and Pirate’s Curse are among the monster trucks to be showcased.

Ashlee Jarvis, a sophomore majoring in health sciences and dance, is ready to watch the hot wheels fly. Absolutely thrilled at the chance to see the spectacle live again after years of having to watch the event on television, Jarvis gets to share this weekend with her sister. 

“I bought my sister tickets for Christmas,” Jarvis said. “I thought it would be a fun thing to experience again, since we haven’t been in over 10 years.”

When the Jarvis sisters were much younger they used to go to the event every year with their father. Now that Jarvis is off to college and doesn’t see her sister as often, she makes sure that every Christmas gift is extra special.

“I was searching for a gift that I thought she would like,” Jarvis said. “My sister is 18 now so it was hard to decide what a good present would be. I ultimately decided that a gift we could experience and do together would mean more to her than something meaningless.”

Between the gasps and the exclamations, Monster Jam provided the sisters the opportunity to relive childhood memories.

“I came across Monster Jam on Ticketmaster,” Jarvis said. “I remembered when we used to go when we were little, and I thought it would be the perfect gift.”

Reminiscing on yesteryear, Jarvis and her sister can notice their growth quite drastically. However at the heart of it, some things never change.  

“My sister was a tomboy growing up,” Jarvis said. “She used to play with toy trucks and pretend to be a racecar driver in our play car. She has changed over the years, but Monster Jam is still something she enjoys and can bring her back to her childhood roots.”

In January 2017, Monster Jam celebrated its 25th year of making the dust fly. The Triple Threat Series this year takes place in multiple stadiums across the country: East, West, and Central. This weekend alone Monster Jam is taking over Toronto, Anaheim, California, and, of course, Tampa.

“Truck-wise, I am most excited to see Grave Digger because that’s the most well-known truck,” Jarvis said. “It has been featured in Monster Jam for a long time. Driver-wise, though, I would have to say I’m excited to see the female drivers.”