Monster Jam rolls into Rosemont this weekend, bringing a fleet of towering, 12,000-pound trucks to Allstate Arena for a lineup of head-to-head racing, two-wheel skills challenges and freestyle jumps. Among the drivers taking the wheel is rookie Chelsea VanCleave, piloting the sparkle-covered truck Sparkle Smash in front of Chicago-area fans.
Standard Monster Jam trucks stand roughly 10.5 to 12 feet tall and weigh a minimum of 10,000 to 12,000 pounds, according to Monster Jam, powered by supercharged, methanol-injected V8 engines that produce between 1,500 and 2,000 horsepower. The same source also notes custom steel chassis and nitrogen suspension. As reported by FOX 32 Chicago, the show is scheduled for this weekend at the arena in Rosemont.
VanCleave drives Sparkle Smash — a truck with an origin story that runs backward from the usual motorsports playbook. The vehicle started life as a Spin Master die-cast toy in December 2019 before Feld Entertainment built a full-scale, 12,000-pound version for live arena competition, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting on the franchise's 35th-anniversary tour.
Inside Allstate Arena's Rosemont Roots
Allstate Arena opened in May 1980 as the Rosemont Horizon and is owned and operated by the Village of Rosemont, with room for approximately 18,211 basketball spectators and approximately 17,500 hockey spectators and 48 luxury suites. The venue sits near Interstate 90 and O'Hare International Airport, a detail worth noting for anyone mapping out their drive to the show. Insurance provider Allstate acquired the naming rights in 1999 under a 10-year, more than $10 million deal that rebranded the building from the Rosemont Horizon, according to Sportsmatik.
Fans planning to attend should come prepared for the noise. Indoor monster truck shows can be loud, so spectators may want to consider hearing protection. Venue concessions typically sell noise-reducing earmuffs and disposable earplugs on site for those who show up without their own.
How the Competition Works
Monster Jam events break into three primary categories — head-to-head racing, two-wheel skills and freestyle — with fan voting happening live inside the venue through the JudgesZone.com mobile platform, per Hoodline's prior coverage of the tour's Tampa stop. Head-to-head racing is the only category scored strictly by elapsed track times rather than fan votes, which puts more pressure on precision than showmanship in that portion of the night.
Every truck on the circuit carries a Remote Ignition Interrupter, a safety mechanism that lets track staff off the court instantly shut off an engine by radio signal in an emergency. RII checks are part of a mandatory inspection with more than 50 points that happens before every show. The trucks also ride on custom BKT tires measuring 66 inches tall and 43 inches wide, mounted on 25-inch wheels and tailored to track dirt conditions.
A Global Brand Behind the Local Show
The scale of the operation reaches far beyond Rosemont. Feld Entertainment operates Monster Jam. Spin Master is Monster Jam's master toy partner.
That commercial reach helps explain why a truck like Sparkle Smash can exist as both a die-cast toy on store shelves and a 12,000-pound machine tearing up dirt inside Allstate Arena this weekend. For Rosemont-area families heading to the show, the practical takeaways are straightforward: bring ear protection, expect a packed arena built for exactly this kind of spectacle, and watch for VanCleave among the drivers competing across racing, two-wheel skills and freestyle.
