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Adrenaline-pumping sport has Boardman driver hooked
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By Denise Dick
BOARDMAN — Joe Sylvester III has a Bad Habit, and for those that face him in the monster truck arena, that isn’t good.
Sylvester, 25, is in his third season on the monster truck circuit with the truck, Bad Habit, that he and his mechanic, Scott Bennett, built from the ground up.
“I’m the youngest independent owner and driver in the sport right now,” Sylvester said.
The self-described adrenaline junkie started out competing in motocross as a teenager but moved to monster trucks after a series of injuries in the motorcycle sport.
“I don’t golf,” Sylvester said. “I’m not into stick and ball sports at all.”
Despite two fatalities at monster truck shows last month, the township native says the sport is safe.
In January, a 6-year-old boy in the stands at a Washington monster truck event was killed when struck with a piece of debris, and an event promoter in Wisconsin was crushed and killed by one of the trucks that same week.
The Associated Press reported that between 1992 and 2007, there were five fatalities at monster truck shows.
Sylvester, who knew both the promoter and the driver in the Wisconsin fatality, said both incidents were freak accidents and that the trucks are equipped with safety devices to keep both the driver and spectators safe.
He developed his love of motor sports at a young age, working around the big equipment in his father’s construction business. He always liked speed.
Between January and March, Sylvester and Bennett — along with Sylvester’s rescued pit bull Xena and the 9,000-pound, 1,500-horsepower orange and purple Bad Habit with its 66-inch-high tires — travel to events across the country and into Canada each week.
Like Sylvester’s driving, Bennett’s mechanical skills are almost innate.
“I can just figure out how things work and how to fix them,” said Bennett, also of the township. “I never had a class or anything.”
Sylvester believes monster truck mechanics are the best mechanics. They have to be able to diagnose and fix a problem quickly and safely.
This weekend, he’ll participate in the Monster Jam truck show at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Shows run tonight and Saturday afternoon and evening. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
“The sport is really growing in popularity,” Sylvester said. It’s routinely shown on cable’s Speed Channel, and the fans are loyal.
“The shows sell out regularly,” he said.
Competitors, usually six to eight for smaller shows, face off in two fetes. The first is a race followed by the fan-favorite freestyle where truck operators drive over obstacles that range from school buses to cars to mounds of dirt.
That’s when the drivers take it to the edge.
“It gets your adrenaline pumping,” Sylvester said. “When the fans are so loud, you can hear them over your truck, your right foot becomes pretty heavy.”
Confidence in his driving and his truck play big roles in the competitions. Fans can tell if you’re holding back.
For Sylvester, it’s not just a hobby, it’s his job. Without a major sponsor, whatever he earns for participating in shows goes right back into the vehicle and the operation.
“Right now, I’m mostly breaking even,” he said.
He hopes he can start to turn a profit and secure a major sponsor soon.
For now, he has the support of his family and girlfriend and some sponsors that provide materials and supplies.
Boardman Steel provides him with steel and materials for the truck.
Beckett Bodywork of Salem did Bad Habit’s body and paint job. Capital Powder Coating of Tallmadge, Abruzzi Transmissions of Niles and Komar Plumbing Inc. and Los Gallos Restaurant, both of Boardman, round of his list of local sponsors.
denise_dick@vindy.com