Pictured above: Monster Truck Bigfoot. Photo: Family Events

Monster Truck Nationals and Thrill Show
Breslin Center, East Lansing
Feb. 6, 7 p.m.
$17-$32
monsternationals.com, breslincenter.com, (800) 968-2737

Rick Long remembers his first time vividly.

"You're so excited, but you're scared to death at the same time," he said. "You've watched everyone else do it 1,000 times, but it's never been you. So all of a sudden, you don't know what to expect, how it's going to feel, what it's going to react like or anything else. Yea, the first time is pretty nerve-racking."

Right on, brother.

Doesn't everyone feel like that the first time? Well, not likely, because not everyone has done what Long is referring to - racing monster trucks.

He doesn't drive just any old monster truck, either. Long pilots "The Original Monster Truck": 25-time world champion Bigfoot. The truck that paved the way for the sport will celebrate its 35th birthday in style at the Breslin Center for the Monster Truck Nationals and Thrill Show.

How does it feel to command arguably the most high-profile monster truck on earth? It's not a cake walk, according to Long.

"Everyone always comes out to beat you," the 47-year-old Grafton, Ill. native said. "They all want the bragging rights that they beat Bigfoot."

It won't be any different on Feb. 6 in East Lansing where trucks will compete in side-by-side drag races and a wheelie shootout. The event will also feature a monster truck thrill show and a motorcycle stunt team among other features. Long said the show is worth checking out because of its two most valuable qualities - destruction and more destruction.

"You're taking a 10,000-pound vehicle and you're launching it, sometimes getting 20 feet in the air," he said. "You're smashing cars, you're doing wheelies. The noise and the destruction is what draws everyone out."

Long was hired to Team Bigfoot as a shop foreman, where he worked his way up the ranks to become a driver now in his eighth year. Bigfoot is actually a fleet of trucks tailored for different events. Long drives Bigfoot No.15, which will be on-hand at the Breslin Center.

Because Bigfoot is so popular and has generated top sponsorships, Long said they are able to create superior trucks, even to popular rivals like Stabilizer, Gravedigger and Tailgater, which will all be on-hand Feb. 6.