Kingdome Will Be Truckin' For Last Time -- Monster Jam Ends 23 Years Of Big-Wheeled Fun

They're loud, they're smelly, and after tonight, they won't be running around in the Kingdome.

No, we're not talking about football players. We're talking about Monster Trucks. For the very last time, Monster Trucks will rip and rumble through the Kingdome in a historic display of mechanical muscle in the Monster Jam Off-Road Championship Series.

This will be the last motor-sports event held in the stadium before it is demolished next spring, ending two decades of motocross, tractor pulls and other awesome, big-wheel events. Who could forget Evel Knievel's "death-defying" jump over seven Greyhound buses back in 1976?

It's somehow fitting that tonight's Monster Jam also falls on the Kingdome's birthday. The big lug is 23 years old.

To celebrate this end of an era (error?), the world's most famous monster truck - the renowned "Grave Robber" - is headlining tonight's event.

Eleven feet high and 12 feet across, the 10,000-pound road thug will "help pound the last nail in the Kingdome's coffin," according to event sponsor PACE Motor Sports.

Driver Dennis Anderson, the self-proclaimed "Master of Disaster," will roar around the Kingdome in Grave Digger, smashing cars, spitting dirt and making jumps up to 110 feet high.

Grave Digger will have competition from other Monster Trucks, including Misbehaving, Dragon Slayer, Bounty Hunter and Too Extreme. There also will be championship races for Stadium Sport Trucks, Pro Quads and Thunder Bikes.

As Kingdome spokeswoman Carol Keaton puts it, "We'll be rocking and rolling here, when we turn ourselves into a big sandbox."

Indeed, 375 truckloads, carrying 4.5 million pounds of dirt, were hauled into the stadium this week. The dirt is "special" (perhaps in a way only a monster-truck driver could appreciate) because it packs well and doesn't create a lot of dust when 5-foot-high tires spin over it.

The dirt is owned by PACE, which stores it at a suburban site and then hauls it in. "There's a lot that goes into building a track," said PACE marketing manager Angie Frey, especially when it includes the world's highest indoor jump - 8 feet of sheer terror.

Anderson doesn't mind. "I'm the craziest monster-truck driver on the circuit," he said. Still, he has a soft spot for the Kingdome.

"It's a bummer," he said of the demolition. "To me, this is the best and biggest dome to perform in. I can't believe they'll tear it down. I'm going to take a crowbar and rip something off the Kingdome to take home as a souvenir."

Anderson also will miss the screaming, howling visitors: "I've got a fan club that's unreal."

Indeed, Seattle is one of the top five markets for motor sports, said Frey, noting that PACE is looking for other venues here. But where?

Though new baseball and football stadiums are being built in Seattle, for a combined price of almost $1 billion, it's unlikely either will accommodate motor sports. The stadiums' irrigation and heating systems are sensitive and might not withstand the roaring impact of 10,000-pound trucks.

On the West Coast, motor sports generally run on a winter and spring schedule. According to Kingdome officials, that would make it difficult to perform in the open-air football stadium that will be built to replace the Kingdome.

Motor sports might be possible at the baseball field as long as they don't conflict with the Mariner season.

"We won't do anything to harm the playing surface," said Rebecca Hale, director of public information at the Seattle Mariners. Off-season, motor sports might be acceptable if PACE or other organizations agreed to replace the sod field, she said.

Even so, Monster Trucks might just be too messy for new stadiums. As noted by Anderson, "Most of the time, when they build brand-new stadiums, they're kind of touchy. They have to get some scratches and blemishes before they let us in." ------------------------------- Off-road racing in the Kingdome

Tickets for the off-road racing tonight are on sale at the Kingdome Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. All tickets are $10, reserved seating. Racing starts at 7:30.

A "track party" on the stadium floor runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. You'll need your racing ticket and a track pass to get in at Gate D. The passes are free at Al's Auto Supply Stores, or they can be purchased today at the Kingdome for $5.

Metro will operate free shuttles to the Kingdome. The shuttles will start at 3:45 p.m. from the Star Lake Park and Ride (Interstate 5 and South 272nd Street) and at 4 p.m. from the Northgate Park and Ride (Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 112th Street) and the South Bellevue Park and Ride (Bellevue Way Southeast and 112th Avenue Southeast). The shuttles will run every 15 minutes for three hours.