Monster Jam truck driver offers a look behind the scenes at UBS Arena

ELMONT, N.Y. — For decades, monster trucks have captured the imaginations of millions, and this weekend, these mighty machines take over Long Island.

Inside UBS Arena, there sits a machine that both fascinates and terrifies — a modern-day marvel that speaks to the child in all of us.

“It’s the most American thing you can get,” driver Weston Anderson said.

Anderson is the maestro behind the wheel of one of the most revered behemoths, Grave Digger.

“I know that a lot of our fans, they watch videos and everything along those lines, but once you see it in person, you can just smell the methanol alcohol … and you feel the 540 Big Block just rumbling all through this arena,” he said.

Getting inside is “kind of like climbing a ladder,” Anderson says. He awakens the beast as it growls to life, a primal call of raw power, of unrestrained freedom.

This weekend, the greatest monster trucks in the world converge on UBS Arena to race and compete in freestyle. The winner is decided by the audience.

“We’re doing backflips in these arenas. Actually, last year was the first backflip to moonwalk that I did … That’s whenever you flip the truck 360 degrees around, a full backflip, and then I popped it up on the front tires and backed it up,” Anderson said.

Every iron giant needs some TLC. Every bolt is checked, every adjuster loosened and every gear tested. There are toggles and switches to control the untamable, and once unimaginable.

In a nation built on innovation, these titans reflect the spirit of America itself — a refusal to be bound by the ordinary, the sheer audacity of it all, the heart and soul of a nation roaring loud and proud.

“Whenever we can just get some absolute greasy, huge air, it’s just insane. That’s probably one of my favorite moves is just going as big as I can,” Anderson said.

They are a reminder that sometimes your heroes aren’t just in comics and can even be found soaring through the air at a nearby arena.

Monster Jam begins Friday night at UBS Arena, and parents are reminded to bring some noise-canceling headphones for the kids because it will get loud.