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77-407: The Buurserbeek flows through the municipality of Haaksbergen. [REDACTED] Dutch Topographic map of Haaksbergen (town), June 2014. On 28 September 2014 a monster truck crashed into the attending crowd. Three visitors were reported dead, amongst them one child. According to Hans Gerritsen, mayor of Haaksbergen at the time, twelve people were injured. This Overijssel location article

154-406: A methanol -based fuel, and have displacement of up to 575 cubic inches (9.42 L). Axles are mostly taken from either heavy-duty military trucks or road vehicles such as school buses, and are modified to have a planetary gear reduction at the hub to help turn the tires. All trucks have hydraulic steering in both the front and the rear ( four wheel steering ), with the front wheels controlled by

231-564: A "dome" to "bowl" caused all the heavy, wet snow to slide down into the bowl and rupture more roof panels, collapse some precast risers in the SW upper deck, and dislodge more plastic seats "... than a Rolling Stones concert" according to Bob Haney, the Dome's Operations Manager. Crews from Owens-Corning Fiberglas, the dome's original roof installer, were on site by 1:30 pm on March 4. Repair operations began immediately but were interrupted for over

308-540: A Lenco transmission, which traces its roots to drag racing . Most of the automatic transmissions are heavily modified with transbrakes , manual valve bodies, and heavy duty gear sets. Trucks running a Lenco use a centrifugal clutch as opposed to a torque converter , which are used in automatic transmissions. Lenco transmissions are usually found in two-speed or three speed configurations, and are commonly shifted using compressed carbon dioxide. The trucks have many safety features, several of which are required just to run in

385-479: A few years most top-level teams built similar vehicles. In 1991, TNT was purchased by the USHRA and their points series were merged. The Special Events championship began to grow in popularity with teams as it had open qualifying spots which the invite-only USHRA championship did not have. The Special Events series lost its Pendaliner sponsorship in 1997. The short-lived ProMT series started in 2000. Even though racing

462-416: A good use for the stadium, leaving it empty for eight years; the city ran out of money, and was forced to sell due to the rising maintenance costs. After multiple attempts to solicit redevelopment plans, the city eventually sold the stadium at auction in 2009 with no reserve for $ 550,000 (less than 1% of the cost to build the dome) to Andreas Apostolopoulos . The property had fallen into disrepair brought on by

539-889: A judged competition at events, and now awards a freestyle championship. The USHRA's Monster Jam series, now owned by Feld Entertainment , is currently the largest, touring through the United States, Canada and select regions of Europe. Other promoters of monster truck events include the Toughest Monster Truck Tour, the Monster X Tour, and Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live. The first monster trucks built were pickup trucks and SUVs that were modified with larger suspension and larger tires. Today, trucks now have custom built tubular chassis, with four-link suspension to provide up to four feet (1.2 m) of clearance, and they also now have fiberglass bodies that attach to

616-516: A major role in the sport's development in the US and EU. With racing taking precedence, several teams began to think in new ways as to how the trucks could be built. Towards the end of 1988, Gary Cook and David Morris debuted Equalizer, a truck with a combination of coil springs and shock absorbers as the main source of suspension rather than the standard of leaf springs and shock absorbers. In 1989, Jack Willman Sr., now with his own truck, Taurus, debuted

693-619: A monster truck was achieved in 2013 by Joey Sylvester in Bad Habit at a distance of 237.7 feet (72.5 m). The first monster truck backflip in a scored competition was achieved in 2010 by Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus. The first monster truck front flip in a scored competition was achieved in 2017 by Lee O'Donnell in VP Racing Fuels' Mad Scientist at Monster Jam World Finals 18. In June 2020, with touring suspended due to

770-629: A new truck which used a solid axle suspension system made of parallel four-link suspensions and coilovers that together weighed in at close to 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg). However, the biggest innovation came from Chandler, also in 1989, when the CAD-designed Bigfoot #8 debuted featuring a full tubular chassis and a long-travel suspension system made of triangulated four-link suspensions, bump stops, limit straps, cantilevers , and shock absorbers charged with nitrogen gas. The truck revolutionized how monster trucks were built, and within

847-525: A possible expansion team for Major League Soccer , and contemplated renovating the Silverdome for this purpose. Ultimately, the lack of events coming into the stadium, combined with the 2013 roof collapse, put any further development plans on indefinite hold. In March 2014, the owners announced that they would be auctioning off the contents of the facility, including seats and fixtures. In December 2014, Cleveland-based photographer Johnny Joo captured

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924-483: A race and a freestyle stunt driving competition, with an intermission at the midway point of the event. Races are conducted as a single-elimination tournament on short, symmetrical tracks, which may include obstacles such as junk cars or dirt mounds. The length and complexity of the track can vary with the size of the venue, with courses in indoor arenas typically being shorter with fewer obstacles. This has drawn comparisons to professional drag racing , and depending on

1001-818: A seating capacity of 82,600+, it was the largest stadium in the National Football League (NFL) until FedExField in Landover , Maryland , a suburb of Washington, D.C. expanded its capacity to over 85,000 in 2000. It was primarily the home of the Detroit Lions of the NFL from 1975 to 2001 and was also home to the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1978 to 1988. In addition,

1078-465: A set time limit and only one truck is allowed on the track at a time as a safety measure. Freestyle events are typically the final competition of a show, as damage to the trucks would make them unable to race. In the late 1970s, heavily modified pickup trucks were becoming popular and the sports of mud bogging and truck pulling were gaining in popularity. Several truck owners had created lifted trucks to compete in such events, and soon competition to hold

1155-407: A stock body, and heavy axles from military-specification vehicles to support the tires. For most of the early 1980s, monster trucks performed primarily exhibitions as a side show to truck pulling or mud bogging events. In August 1983, Bigfoot and USA-1 competed in the first side-by-side monster truck race, which was filmed for the television show That's Incredible . By 1985 major promoters, such as

1232-442: A week due to high winds. During the high winds event nearly all of the remaining panels in the deflated roof, 100 in all, were badly damaged. The decision was made to replace the entire roof and incorporate some improvements to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future. Repair cost of the roof was just under $ 8 million. The repairs were completed and the dome re-inflated at noon on May 28, 1985. A thunderstorm passed through

1309-478: A wiring issue, eight of the explosive charges failed to detonate, preventing the stadium from imploding as planned. A second attempt was successful the next day. While Adamo could not pinpoint the exact cause of the issues, they did note that trespassers had been seen on the property a couple of days prior to the first attempt. It was noted that on the second attempt, Adamo doubled the amount of explosives used from 300 to 600 lb (136 to 272 kg) of TNT . By

1386-495: Is Bigfoot 5 , built in 1986, with tires that measure 10 feet (3.0 m). The world's longest monster truck is the Sin City Hustler, which measures 32 feet (9.8 m) long and was created by Brad and Jen Campbell in 2014. The fastest speed record for a monster truck was achieved on August 6, 2022, by Joe Sylvester in Bad Habit at a speed of 101.84 miles per hour (163.90 km/h). The longest ramp jump done by

1463-527: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension , four-wheel steering , large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), they have evolved into purpose-built vehicles with tube-frame chassis and fiberglass bodies rather than metal. A competition monster truck

1540-603: Is a list of accidents resulting in fatalities. On January 16, 2009, at a Monster Jam event in Tacoma, Washington 6-year-old Sebastian Hizey was fatally injured when he was struck by flying debris from the truck Natural High. Hizey succumbed to his injuries the next morning. On January 25, 2009, the monster truck Samson was involved in an accident in Madison, Wisconsin that caused the death of announcer George Eisenhart, Jr. after he accidentally stepped in front of Samson while it

1617-508: Is typically 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, and equipped with 66-inch (1.7 m) off-road tires. Monster trucks developed in the late 1970s and came into the public eye in the early 1980s as side acts at popular motocross , tractor pulling , and mud bogging events, where they were used in car-crushing demonstrations. Today they are usually the main attraction with motocross, mud bogging, ATV racing, or demolition derbies as supporting events. Monster truck shows typically have two main segments;

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1694-463: The 1984–85 season at the now-closed and demolished Joe Louis Arena . The accident, and the delay in repairs, partially prompted the Pistons moving three seasons later 4 miles (6 km) north to their new, privately owned, 20,000-seat sports arena, The Palace of Auburn Hills (like Joe Louis Arena, it also has since closed down and demolished). The 1985 repairs were necessitated by a collapse of

1771-576: The 1988 and 1991 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Midwest Regionals and NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in 1982 and 1983. On March 29, 1987, the World Wrestling Federation 's WrestleMania III reportedly established the record for attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America. The record stood until February 14, 2010, when

1848-550: The 2010 NBA All-Star Game broke the indoor sporting event record with an attendance of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium . The Silverdome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round from 1976 to 2005. In 2012, the Silverdome became the home stadium of the city's professional Ultimate Frisbee team, the Detroit Mechanix , of the American Ultimate Disc League . That year, the Silverdome hosted

1925-685: The COVID-19 pandemic , Monster Jam staged an event for pay-per-view called Monster Jam Breaking World Records in Bradenton, Florida . As part of the event, many new Guinness-recognized world records were set. These include the highest ramp jump by a monster truck by Krysten Anderson in Grave Digger at a height of 10.3 metres (34 ft), the most monster trucks jumped by a monster truck, by Adam Anderson in Megalodon, jumping over 8 trucks,

2002-549: The Detroit Tigers ) that was later scrapped due to high costs. Davidson was pleased to see a part of his vision for the city of Pontiac accomplished in the building of the 80,000-seat sports complex. Completed in 1975 as the Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium , at a cost of $ 55.7 million, the Silverdome seated 80,311. It contained 102 luxury suites and 7,384 club seats. It sometimes incorporated

2079-525: The Sun , mainly noticed from the sky. (Initially, however, the stadium also went by its shortened nickname of PonMet , but that nickname was disliked by Pontiac city commissioners. ) The roof was replaced by a new canvas fabric, reinforced by steel girders after a strong snowstorm on March 4, 1985, caused structural damage to the old roof. Because of the damage, the Detroit Pistons played the remainder of

2156-708: The United States tied 1–1 with Switzerland in the first World Cup game to be played indoors. Swiss coach Roy Hodgson later admitted that his team had not prepared for the extreme temperature and humidity. The Silverdome was also the home to many marching band activities and events, including the Michigan Competing Band Association State Marching Band Championships until 2005, the Bands of America Regional championships from 2003 to 2005, and

2233-602: The World Hockey Association (WHA) tried to re-introduce itself, the new WHA Detroit team was slated to play its home games at the Silverdome. Plans were also mooted for a Windsor -based Canadian Football League team which could have used the dome for possible playoff games, but that team also did not materialize. After the Lions relocated, activity in the Silverdome dropped drastically; however, it still staged some events. Annually, Jehovah's Witnesses used

2310-448: The steering wheel and the rear wheels by a toggle switch . The tires are typically "terra" tires used on farm equipment, and are of size 66-inch (170 cm) in diameter, 43-inch (110 cm) in width, and fit on 25-inch (64 cm) diameter rims. Most trucks use a modified or custom-designed automatic transmission, such as a Turbo 400 , Powerglide , Ford C6 transmission , or a TorqueFlite 727. A limited number of trucks utilize

2387-664: The AUDL championship game, as on August 11, the Philadelphia Spinners defeated the Indianapolis AlleyCats 29–22. After the roof had been collapsed and the stadium abandoned, Red Bull produced a video of BMX rider Tyler Fernengel riding inside the Silverdome in 2015. Some notable tricks in the video were Fernengel's barspin to double peg to 180° spin on one of the handrails inside the stadium and an impressive "truckdriver" (handlebars spinning 360° while

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2464-484: The Bands of America Grand National Championships in 1987 and 1988. Following its reopening, the Silverdome was host to the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Bands of America Pontiac Regional Championship. The Lions moved from the Silverdome to Ford Field after the end of their 2001 season . Despite being the Lions' home for 27 seasons, the day of the last home game, January 6, 2002, was marked by a noticeable absence of nostalgia among

2541-534: The Detroit Lions, to discuss the possibility of a new stadium, made it a college class project to find a suitable site for a new stadium and even started his own weekly newspaper known as The Pontiac Times , to help promote his vision. After much controversy and sparring with Detroit city officials, Pontiac was chosen over several other sites including the Michigan Fairgrounds, Walled Lake and

2618-586: The Detroit Riverfront as the best place for construction of what would become known as the Pontiac Silverdome. Already having a stadium concept as part of his master plan for the city, Davidson was interviewed and ultimately hired as chief project designer for the stadium project by the architectural firm of O'Dell, Hewlett & Luckenbach. Initial designs included a dual stadium complex for both football and baseball (potentially housing

2695-517: The English rock band Led Zeppelin played in front of 76,229 fans at the Silverdome. This was, at the time, a new world record attendance for a solo indoor attraction, beating the 75,962 that The Who attracted there on December 6, 1975. The Detroit Pistons also set numerous NBA attendance records during their time at the Silverdome; Regular Season, 61,983 vs. Boston, January 29, 1988; Playoffs, 41,732, vs. L.A. Lakers, June 16, 1988. The Silverdome

2772-505: The Pontiac area the morning the Dome was to be re-inflated and a partial inflation, or "puff", was performed so that the scheduled inflation could occur in the presence of the many city and area politicians as well as a number of corporate executives. The original-style, Teflon-coated fiberglass material was used to make the repairs – not canvas as described in the article. There were several snow-melting and waterproofing improvements that kept

2849-858: The Silverdome also served as the home venue for the Detroit Express of the North American Soccer League and the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League , as well as two college bowl games : the Cherry Bowl and the Motor City Bowl . In 2012, the Silverdome served as the home venue of the Detroit Mechanix of the American Ultimate Disc League and hosted the league championship game that season. The stadium

2926-406: The Silverdome for demolition, including completing environmental remediation, universal waste removal and tearing out transite asbestos panels that were used in a majority of the suites around the perimeter of the dome; though not without a few local trespasser visits to explore the place leading up to the demolition. On September 18 and 19, 2017, four power feeds were disconnected, officially starting

3003-694: The Silverdome from the late 1970s to 2004. Due to talk of renovation in 2004, the Witnesses opted to travel to The Dow Event Center in Saginaw , and the SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio for their District Conventions. Between 2003 and 2006, a three-screen drive-in theater operated in the parking lot; this theater reopened in 2010 before closing again on July 13, 2011. The Silverdome hosted Monster Jam on January 7, 2006, and

3080-521: The Silverdome in a state of abandonment, showing destruction caused by the 2013 roof collapse. Afterwards, in October 2015, it was announced that the Silverdome would be demolished in the Spring of 2016, and the area would be part of an Oakland County mixed-use development . Demolition was then scheduled for December 3, 2017. In June 2016, fire caused by arson destroyed the former press box. Around

3157-417: The U.S. Marine Corps, attended North Carolina State University on a football scholarship. After earning a master's degree in urban planning and architecture, Davidson began his career as an architect and was recognized for several government and city projects throughout the south including Florida's Jacksonville International Airport . He returned to Pontiac in 1965 and was shocked to see the deterioration of

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3234-619: The USHRA and TNT Motorsports , were racing monster trucks regularly. In 1988, TNT Motorsports created a series to establish the first national championship of monster truck racing; USA-1 and rookie driver Rod Litzau edged out Bigfoot, driven by Rich Hoosier, for the title. In 1988, to standardize rules for truck construction and safety, Bob Chandler, Braden, and George Carpenter formed the Monster Truck Racing Association (MTRA). The MTRA created standard safety rules to govern monster trucks. The organization still plays

3311-471: The World Cup matches, a natural grass surface capable of growing inside the dome was developed and installed by a team from Michigan State University . This grass surface was laid upon wooden pallets atop the artificial turf that was usually used. It was the first time that World Cup games were played indoors. The Silverdome also hosted the 1979 NBA All-Star Game , Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, and

3388-433: The arrowhead emblem from its now-defunct namesake General Motors division into its own logo. The original silver-like roof was built of Teflon-coated fiberglass panels, and supported by air pressure inside the stadium. Although the roof has always been white in color as viewed with the naked eye, the stadium obtained the name "Silverdome" (which it would officially take on in 1977) due to a silver-like reflection caused by

3465-416: The best of the aging venue, and in 2013 an excessive amount of snow caused a portion of the antiquated roof system to tear. The Pontiac Silverdome's roof issues dated back to the 1980s with a long list of weather related problems. The Pontiac Silverdome's uniqueness was also its downfall. As one of the last air supported football stadiums left, it was not possible to find a qualified company capable of repairing

3542-433: The bike frame spins 360°) out of the luxury boxes onto a ramp that led down to the field. That same year, a drag racing event at the former parking lot marked the beginning of Woodward Dream Cruise . The idea of a major sports complex was part of a dream of C. Don Davidson, a Pontiac native and star high school athlete. Davidson, upon graduating from Pontiac Central High School in 1947 and completing active duty with

3619-431: The cab for visibility. Most cabs are shielded with Lexan or comparable polycarbonate, which not only protects the driver from track debris, but also allows for increased visibility. Drivers are required to wear firesuits , safety harnesses , helmets , and head and neck restraints . Most moving parts on the truck are also shielded, and high pressure components have restraining straps, both in case of an explosion. Below

3696-406: The chassis separately and are designed to be easily removed and easily replaced when damaged. The use of fiberglass panel bodies has allowed monster truck owners to develop a wide variety of thematic concept trucks that scarcely resemble the modified stock trucks that became early monster trucks. Engines are now typically mounted behind the driver on most trucks and are typically supercharged, run on

3773-551: The city and its lack of a future plan. Davidson embarked upon what would eventually become an obsession for him to see his beloved city succeed. In 1965–66, he was hired as a professor of architecture and urban planning at the University of Detroit under the direction of Bruno Leon. As part of an ongoing, comprehensive study by his architecture class on urban renewal for the city of Pontiac, Davidson met with various city and state authorities including William Clay Ford , owner of

3850-567: The city's financial crises, and the city of Pontiac's inability to afford to spend the necessary capital investments it required. After a significant financial investment by the new owners, the facility was brought back to its original glory. The millions of dollars invested by the new owners were needed to bring The Silverdome back to a safe and clean facility. The Pontiac Silverdome reopened in 2010 and hosted many events, including soccer matches, concerts, HBO championship boxing, monster truck shows and many more. The harsh Michigan weather eventually got

3927-407: The closed facility. The upper ring of the stadium, which had supported the roof structure, was imploded on December 4, 2017, after a failed attempt the previous day. Following the implosion, the remains of the stadium were brought down in sections with hydraulic excavators, and the last free standing section was felled by late March 2018. In September 2019, it was announced that Amazon would develop

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4004-424: The damaged roof. Paired with the financial woes of the city, which included the inability to pay for police, emergency services and road maintenance, the decision to close the facility for good was made in 2013. The owners later auctioned the stadium's contents in 2014 and for a few years the parking lot was home to tens of thousands of recalled Volkswagen vehicles . In 2017, the Silverdome owner decided to tear down

4081-413: The dome inflated until January 2, 2013 – almost 28 years. The largest crowd to gather at the Silverdome was on September 18, 1987, for Mass with Pope John Paul II , with a reported attendance of 93,682 — just shading the reported record of 93,173 set at the Silverdome on March 29, 1987, for WrestleMania III . Another notable audience attendance record had earlier been broken on April 30, 1977, when

4158-447: The drivers to crush, such as motor homes and school buses, were placed on the track specifically for the freestyle event, however incidents of debris flying into the stands and causing serious injuries have influenced most event promoters to turn away from such obstacles. Most freestyle courses now consist mostly of large mounds and ramps erected to allow the trucks to perform large jumps and wheelies upon landing. Freestyle performances have

4235-440: The end of March 2018, the last free standing wall of the Silverdome was destroyed, leaving a 50 foot (15 m) deep hole where the stadium once stood. 55,000 cubic yards (42,050 m ) of crushed concrete remained on site to be used as landfill material. Demolition officials stated that final filling and grading operations of the former Silverdome site were expected to be completed by the end of November 2018. In September 2019,

4312-409: The fans as well as the players. In particular, long-time Lions' defensive end Robert Porcher singled out the stadium's artificial turf as the worst part about playing at the Silverdome, echoing other players present that day. The upper concourse was used for inline skating and provided skaters with a 25-foot wide track measuring 0.4 miles on the inner edge and 0.5 miles on the outer edge. When

4389-566: The feat in the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982. At this show, Chandler also debuted a new version of Bigfoot with 66-inch (170 cm) tires. At a prior event in the early 1980s, when Bigfoot was still running 48-inch (120 cm) tires, Bob George, one of the owners of a motorsport promotion company named Truck-a-rama – later known as the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) – is said to have coined

4466-601: The final preparation process for demolition. The firm contracted to handle the demolition, the Detroit-based Adamo Group, also imploded the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on November 20 before moving on to the Silverdome. The demolition of the Silverdome was to commence on December 3, 2017, with a partial implosion of the upper deck, followed by an excavation of the building from the inside out. Due to

4543-534: The firm of Williams & Williams to conduct the auction in November 2009. After reading about the auction in a newspaper, Greek-born Canadian real estate developer Andreas Apostolopoulos , CEO of Toronto-based Triple Properties Inc., submitted a winning bid of US$ 550,000. Real estate fees of 6% raised the price to US$ 583,000. The sale of the Silverdome, completed in 1975 at a cost of $ 55.7 million (approx. $ 225 million in 2012 dollars) and sold in 2009 for $ 583,000,

4620-475: The first monster truck to crush cars. Chandler drove Bigfoot over a pair of cars in a field as a test of the truck's ability, and filmed it to use as a promotional tool in his four-wheel drive performance shop. An event promoter saw the video of the car crush and asked Chandler to do it in front of a crowd. Initially hesitant because of the "destructive" image that could be associated with Bigfoot, Chandler eventually agreed. After some smaller shows, Chandler performed

4697-410: The indoor arenas that the trucks frequent. Trucks are equipped with three shut-off switches: a remote ignition interrupt (RII), which allows event stewards to stop a truck remotely, a switch within the driver's reach in the cab, and another at the rear of the truck so that all electrical power may be shut off in the event of a rollover. Many trucks are constructed with the driver sitting in the center of

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4774-580: The most donuts (spins) in a monster truck in one minute by Bari Musawwir in Zombie, spinning 44 times, the most consecutive donuts (spins), also by Musawwir, with 58, the longest stoppie (nose wheelie) by Tom Meents in Max-D , at 63.77 metres (209.2 ft), the farthest bicycle (side wheelie) by Ryan Anderson in Son Uva Digger, at 271.83 metres (891.8 ft), and the longest monster truck wheelie

4851-407: The original 1975 roof around noon EST on March 4, 1985. Heavy, wet snow accumulated on the southwest corner of the dome and depressed the fabric panels low enough so that the fabric came in contact with a steel lighting catwalk that was positioned just below the inner lip of the roof's ring beam. The hole caused a loss of air pressure and the Dome deflated slowly – there were no injuries. The shift from

4928-439: The phrase "monster truck" when referring to Bigfoot. The term "monster truck" became the generic name for all trucks with oversized tires. King Kong and Bear Foot each followed Bigfoot to 66-inch-diameter (1.7 m) tires, and soon other monster trucks, such as King Krunch, Maddog, and Virginia Giant were being constructed. These early trucks were built on stock chassis which were heavily reinforced, used leaf spring suspension,

5005-460: The promoter or size of the event, may even make use of a christmas tree starting procedure. In freestyle events, each driver puts on a performance consisting of stunts such as obstacle jumps, backflips, wheelies , and doughnuts . A panel of judges assign points to each performance and the driver with the most points is declared the winner, though the exact scoring format can change from promoter to promoter. Historically, additional vehicles for

5082-427: The same time, the parking lot began being used as storage for hundreds of Volkswagen diesel cars as a result of Volkswagen's 2015 emissions scandal . The dome owner and the city were in conflict over the condition of the dome and the cars in the lot. In 2017, the Silverdome was condemned and cleared for demolition. Workers had been on the site for the past few months before main power feeds were disconnected preparing

5159-665: The site. The Silverdome hosted the Detroit Lions of the NFL (1975–2001), the Detroit Pistons of the NBA (1978–1988), the Detroit Express (for both outdoor and indoor soccer ) of the NASL (1978–1980), the Michigan Panthers of the USFL (1983–1984), college football's Cherry Bowl (1984–1985), the Motor City Bowl (1997–2001), the MHSAA football state finals (1976–2004) and four first-round games during soccer's 1994 FIFA World Cup . For

5236-546: The stadium as a big-event venue by investing millions of dollars". The Silverdome re-opened on April 17, 2010, with a monster truck event. A.C. Milan and Panathinaikos F.C. played an exhibition game on August 6, 2010. On January 29, 2011, professional boxer Timothy Bradley defended his WBO light welterweight title in a unification fight against WBC champion Devon Alexander . The fight aired live on HBO World Championship Boxing , with an attendance of about 7,000. The owners indicated that they were pursuing

5313-467: The stadium. In early 2008, United Assurance Company Ltd. made the highest purchase offer to date, with a bid of $ 18 million to convert the Silverdome into a Hollywood-style entertainment complex, following an earlier bid of $ 12 million by an attorney. However, the city announced in October 2009 that the property would go to auction with no minimum bid, and that zoning regulations would be relaxed for any buyer in order to spark development. The city engaged

5390-472: The title of "biggest truck" developed. The trucks which garnered the most national attention were Bob Chandler's Bigfoot , Everett Jasmer's USA-1 , Fred Shafer and Jack Willman Sr.'s Bear Foot , and Jeff Dane's King Kong. At the time, the largest tires the trucks were running were 48 inches (1.2 m) in diameter. In April 1981, Bob Chandler drove over junked cars in Bigfoot in what is often believed to be

5467-603: Was by Adam Anderson in Grave Digger, at 190.46 m (624 ft 10.44 in). Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome ) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan . It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the first use of the architectural technique in a major athletic facility. With

5544-478: Was a regular concert venue and hosted a number of athletic and non-athletic events, including the 1979 NBA All-Star Game , Super Bowl XVI , WrestleMania III , early round games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup , and regional games in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . After the opening of Ford Field in 2002, the stadium was left without a permanent tenant. The city of Pontiac was unable to find

5621-564: Was a venue for the 1994 FIFA World Cup . In an exhibition game between Germany and England in June 1993, English coach Graham Taylor criticized the indoor venue's lack of weather as removing an unpredictability factor from soccer. The lack of air conditioning contributed to extreme heat and humidity, an advantage to the Germans playing for Italian clubs. The 62,126 attendance was the highest in any US soccer match since 1984. On June 18, 1994,

5698-409: Was dominant as a competition, USHRA events began having freestyle exhibitions as early as 1993. These exhibitions were developed as drivers, notably Dennis Anderson of the extremely popular Grave Digger , began asking for time to come out and perform if they lost in early rounds of racing. Promoters began to notice the popularity of freestyle among fans, and in 2000 the USHRA began holding freestyle as

5775-652: Was moving. On October 6, 2013, the monster truck Big Show plowed into a crowd of spectators in Chihuahua City , Mexico, killing 8 people and injuring 79 others in the Chihuahua monster truck accident . This is the deadliest monster truck incident in the history of the sport. On September 29, 2014, a monster truck named Eurol's King On Wheels plowed into a crowd of spectators in Haaksbergen, Netherlands , killing three people. The world's biggest monster truck

5852-449: Was used as a practice facility for the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers for Super Bowl XL , with the NFL adding FieldTurf , which was later donated to a local high school. After the Lions' departure, the city of Pontiac began to experience several years of serious financial problems. Due to the continued high maintenance costs of the structure, it made several unsuccessful attempts to sell

5929-577: Was viewed by many as a symbol of the collapse of real estate prices in the Detroit metropolitan area though many local leaders and residents claimed the sale was brought about due to the incompetence of city management and their not having a vision or future plans for the stadium and surrounding area. In the March 11, 2010, edition of the Detroit Free Press , Apostolopoulos vowed "to revive

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