Go Big and Go Home

MINOOKA – For the three children of George Balhan – Katy, Nick, and Cole – a simple trip to a school event can mean sharing their father with fans.

Balhan, of Minooka, is a monster truck driver with the Feld Motor Sports Monster Jam tour.

“It was hard for our daughter to understand that not everyone’s dad is on TV,” Balhan said.

Balhan and his wife, Sara, moved to Minooka five years ago, but he spends much of his time on the road.

He started out racing motocross as a child and into his adult life before being approached by promoters to drive his monster truck, Escalade.

“They wanted to hire a younger driver and be more marketable to a younger audience,” Balhan said.

He said he enjoys driving the truck more than motocross, and noted his injuries have gone down as well.

While driving his motorcycle, he suffered several injuries, including a fracture to his spine.

“The worst I’ve done in the truck is broken a wrist,” he said.

The injuries don’t deter him from doing the job he loves, racing around a track making his truck jump, drive over cars, and thrill the crowd.

He said the ride can beat the driver up, but once you get the hang of relaxing in the seat and letting the truck do what it wants, it goes much more smoothly.

“Once the adrenaline gets going, you don’t feel it,” he said. “Until you get home.”

The United States Navy has used the drivers and their trucks for testing what the force does to the body and the truck, and while he doesn’t know what they’ve done with the information, Balhan knows the testing has resulted in the design of some naval equipment.

Monster truck driving has taken Balhan all over the world, as the Monster Jam circuit tours Europe, Asia, Central America, and the United States.

“I wouldn’t have seen many of the places if it weren’t for my job,” he said. “Now I want to go back and take my wife and family.”

As the circuit heads to Europe, they load the monster trucks into containers and send them via ship, along with containers of extra engines and parts not readily available outside the United States.

“We ship the trucks three weeks before we are due there so they can meet us there,” he said.

The weeks he has shows, he boards a plane on Wednesday or Thursday and leaves his Minooka home behind, returning on Sunday or Monday.

“It’s just another day at the office for me,” he said.

His kids have always known dad leaves for work and that they can see him on TV when they can’t travel with him.

“They don’t know why people want my autograph though,” he said.

A Monster Jam event consists of two parts – the first part is racing, the second is freestyle. Freestyle,

Balhan said, is the most exciting, and what most fans associate with monster trucks.

There is a point bracket with the drivers competing for awards.

His first year, Balhan won rookie of the year, and he has won numerous other awards since then.

He traveled about 31 weekends last year, with his children attending the closer events.

While he sometimes misses motocross, Balhan has helped bring the two fields together, as Monster Jam now features ATVs or motocross at some of its shows.

“I’ve been involved in so many different types of racing,” he said. “I like monster truck because it is family-oriented.”

He said it is important to him that the whole family can come out and enjoy themselves without parents having to worry about what they will see.

“I’m fortunate to be doing what I’m doing,” he said. “We are selling out stadiums that don’t get filled for the football team that plays there.”

He will be participating in a show at the Allstate Arena on Feb. 13 and 14.