When the fair stands still

PALMER — The Alaska State Fair brings thousands of patrons through the gates into one area each fall. If you’re not careful, you may be knocked over by the constant foot traffic traveling the opposite way, or hungry fairgoers wanting to get ahead in line.

There are a very few select moments where these thousands of people are not in motion, but caught totally still by the spectacle that is presented before them. The two examples that make fairgoers look like statues are surprisingly similar: fireworks and monster trucks.

On Saturday night, the fair puts on one of the most spectacular fireworks shows anywhere in the Valley. All of the people who have crammed in to ride the Ferris wheel or grab some grub stop what they are doing and look up to see the blasting balls of fire explode above the Alaska State Fair.

Fireworks are not as unique as you would think. They can be found nationwide on July 4, December 31, or any other cause of major celebration. When 6,500 people all stop what they are doing to watch, it must be something special.

Three yeas ago, the All-Star Monster Trucks brought monster truck shows back to Alaska for the first time in two decades. Since then, they have never driven in front of anything less than a sellout crowd.

“I liked the end when all of you guys raced,” a young fan said while the drivers signed autographs after the show.

“And I thought you were going to die when you were on fire!”

The Kamikaze Kid has been doing stunts for 10 years. During this weekend’s All-Star Monster Truck Shows, he showcased his talent not behind the wheel of a truck, but behind a firesuit made to withstand 700 degrees of flames. The Kamikaze Kid ran the length of the grandstand on fire before he was extinguished by a firefighter. He then gave a post-flaming interview, mohawk and all.

“I was that little kid going through the line and I know that my favorite memories that I remember from being a little kid was being at a monster truck show with my mom and dad. Just the fact that we’re able to give someone that memory that they’ll remember the rest of their life is priceless,” the Kamikaze Kid said after the show.

A remarkable amount of work goes into preparing the show. The driver known as “Identity Theft” estimates that 40 to 100 hours of work have to be put in each week for 30 minutes of driving the monster trucks. During the championship round, Identity Theft ran into problems that forced him to withdraw on Sunday. He will be challenged with fixing the problem before next week’s show in Canada. There is no NASCAR pit crew behind the truck to make sure everything is running right. Each driver will have to maintain and move the trucks each week.

“When you love it, it really doesn't matter you do whatever you can and whatever it takes to get the trucks ready for the shows, to put on a show for the fans. Just to hear them screaming, yelling, see them smile. Just making them happy is what makes it all worth it,” Identity Theft said. “Once you’re into it it’s kind of addicting. It’s in your blood. It’s really hard to give up.”

The All-Star Monster Trucks performed 64 shows in 2017, traveling more than 107,000 miles to put on shows. They began ‘work’ on May 20 and will not have a week off until the end of October. Bryan Wagner, President of All-Star Monster Trucks, started at the bottom of the industry 14 years ago. He has now been directing his own shows for 9 years, and hopes to add a fourth show in Alaska next year.

Wagner directed a show in Wisconsin on Friday night, drove to Chicago as fast as he could, hopped on a red-eye flight to Anchorage, drove up to Palmer and sat down in a bulldozer to build the track for the drivers.

“We even started designing these months in advance to make sure every single jump that’s out there has a specific purpose. Everything’s mapped out so the flow of the show and the energy and excitement for all three separate competitions all flows together for every single one. We design these shows to make sure the fans get the maximum amount of show possible,” Wagner said.

Wagner hopped on another late night flight on Sunday night to see his family, briefly, before heading to another show. Whether it’s Willy Crash, the Ten-Thousand Pound Hound, Rockstar or Identity Theft, one of the few times that the fair crowds will stand still is when one of these massive machines take flight. Though Wagner and the crew work plenty of overtime, there’s still hope that there will be enough room left in the budget for just one more show in 2019.

“We don’t want to turn away any fans,” Wagner said.