BY KAREN BOSSICK

They’re 12,000 pounds and they stand 14 feet tall. And with a shot of alcohol they’re able to fly through the air and jump tall trucks.

They are the stars of the Monster Truck Insanity Tour, which will rev up at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at the Hailey Rodeo Arena in Wertheimer Park.

“The guys will be competing for money, of course. But they also want the bragging rights. The audience is the judge, and the drivers will autograph and give their winning plaques to children in the audience,” said Kenny Eggleston, the announcer.

The evening begins with a Pit Party from 6 to 7 p.m., during which spectators will get a chance to get up close and personal with the trucks and the drivers in the rodeo arena. They will get additional opportunities for pictures and autographs during intermission and following the show.

Trucks will compete in straight up, tailgate dragging, wheelie contests, heads up racing, insane car crushing and mud flinging freestyle.

Locals will even get the opportunity to strut their stuff at one point, racing their old vehicles or custom built vehicles around the ring.

“We’ve had everything from a rock hauling truck to the old family minivan,” said Eggleston. “All drivers need is a helmet and a seatbelt.”

The lineup for this particular show is one of the best in the West, what with Captain USA, the defending Hailey Monster Truck Champion; Marauder, the current Monster Truck Insanity Tour champion, and Cyclops and Sniper in the lineup.

“The drivers love putting on a show and they love Sun Valley,” said Eggleston, who also appears to love Sun Valley since he moved to the valley from Logan after visiting here a few years ago. “They also love being part of the community and giving back. The last couple years, for instance, school had just started  when we were here. So the drivers went to one of the schools for a question-answer period and gave those with perfect attendance free tickets to the show.”

Monster trucks originally served as side show fodder at carnivals and the like. They began taking the center spotlight in 1979 and now are the main event.

They feature an elaborate scientific geometric system  in which forced air combines with the  alcohol the trucks run on to generate an immense amount of horsepower—1,300 horsepower, to be precise. The average commuter car generates about 200 horsepower so monster trucks generate about that of seven commuter cars, said Eggleston.

“They’re very nimble—they’re able to turn and stop on a dime,” he said. “And each has eight shocks, which absorb the jumps.”

This show’s drivers include Yakima driver Jeff Bainter, who drives Captain USA, a Chevy monster truck he created in 1998. Just inducted into the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame, he’s been involved with monster trucks for 35 years but still drives like a teenager, said Eggleston.

Terry Woodcock, who drives Cyclops, has done stunt work for more than 100 Hollywood films, including “Fast and Furious.”

Joe Cypher, of Reno, Nev., is the world’s first disabled monster truck driver. A veteran with the Army Rangers, he became disabled in a car accident. He now drives Marauder, the world’s only hand-driven monster truck. “He can walk but he can’t articulate his ankle enough to push the pedal the way he needs to,” said Eggleston.

Wally Turner, who drives Sniper, was turned onto monster trucks by watching Cyther on TV.

Announcing monster truck rallies is very similar to announcing rodeos, and that includes educating the audience on what they’re seeing, said Eggleston, a longtime rodeo announcer.

“But announcing the monster truck rallies puts a little bit more gravel in my voice,” he added. “There’s a different kind of energy to it.”

Tickets to Saturday’s rally are $16 for adults and $8 for children ages 3 through 12, available online at www.livealittleproductions.com, at all Atkinsons’ Markets and at the gate.

For $10 spectators can take a ride in the Paddy Wagon, a 1933 bus that used to ferry vacationers through Yellowstone National Park. Driven by monster truck driver Scott Anderson, it has since been decorated like a police truck.

“We tell kids that’s the only paddy wagon we want them to ride in,” said Eggleston.