Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

As a kid, Bari Musawwir’s mother took him to his first Monster Jam event at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan because she knew he was fascinated by cars. Musawwir could only recall how large the trucks were and how quickly he fell in love with them during the show. 

Years later, Musawwir became a professional driver for Monster Jam, and since 2015, he’s been the driver of “Zombie.”

Monster Jam last visited the Carrier Dome in 2019, a product of an idea Pete Sala, Syracuse University’s chief facilities officer, had to bring more events into the Dome. The event will return to Syracuse on Saturday night, when Musawwir will be one of the dozen drivers driving inside the Dome. 

The Daily Orange spoke with Musawwir about his career, his favorite aspects of being a Monster Jam driver and his hobbies outside of competition. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

The Daily Orange: Can you take me through your first test session? What they had you do, where it was, what your feeling was like at that point?

Bari Musawwir: So it was in Poplar Branch, North Carolina. It was actually back at the same property where we did our first test session, where I got discovered at the Grave Digger’s Dungeon compound. … They mainly just had us kind of get acclimated with the switches and controls on how to control the truck and the rear steering. So once we kind of had a crash course on that, we actually got into trucks and got fitted with the safety equipment and seatbelts. Probably about like, after lunchtime, that’s when they actually turned us loose and gave me some direction as to what they wanted us to do. The first thing is to get acclimated with how the truck responded, since it has a whole lot more horsepower than anything I’ve ever driven before in my life. 

D.O.: Can you take me through what your feelings were during that time?

B.M.: Man, it was nerve-wracking. I was a fan, you know, you drive these trucks 1,000 times over in your mind. But when you actually get behind the wheel and you have to do it for real, that’s a whole other ballgame. So it was just nerve-wracking. I had a lot of nervous energy, but I was excited. I was finally living that dream that I’ve always wanted to do ever since I was a kid.

Megan Thompson | Design Editor

D.O.: Growing up, did you have a favorite monster truck or driver that you were a fan of?

B.M.: Yeah, I did. I always loved the Grave Digger. Dennis Anderson was such a cool guy. And also Gary Porter, who drove the Carolina Crusher and later became a Grave Digger driver. So they had so much of their team expanded like that, but they were just always nice guys, and they always welcomed you everyday. (They) saw you at a show and remembered you, so it was pretty cool.

D.O.: Do you have a favorite event that you do or one that you really look forward to?

B.M.: I like racing, and freestyle racing is usually the first part of the event where you race another competitor in a bracket style format. And basically, you just have to beat them to pass on through the bracket. And that way, you can say you beat the person you’re racing straight up. And the rest of the competitions are fan-judged. So just based on how well you do is how well you interact with the fans and how well they think you did. That’s going to determine your score because they can vote for you on their phone, on their mobile device. And freestyle is a part where you just get to go out there and kind of strut your stuff for two minutes and do everything you can imagine on the track including backflips and wheelies, doughnuts, big airy, you name it. If you can do it, the fans — and if you can wow the fans — you’re gonna get a good score on it. 

D.O.: Do you have any favorite memories? You said your greatest memory of Monster Jam is Panama City. Do you have a favorite? Is that the favorite show you did?

B.M.: Probably my favorite event was when I won the Young Guns shooting out in Las Vegas the first year they did it in 2012. That was after I won Rookie of the Year in 2011. There’s a lot of memories early on in my career. And then to present day 2020, (I) got The Guinness Book of World Records for the most doughnuts in a Monster Jam truck in one minute. (I) did 44 doughnuts in a minute. And you had to do it inside of a circle that was 77 feet in diameter.

Megan Thompson | Design Editor

D.O.: Can you talk a little bit more about what driving calculated means?

B.M.: I like to plan out my freestyle runs as much as I can to be able to not get lost out on the track. Sometimes you can kind of get disoriented. “What should I hit next?” because there’s a lot of different obstacles on the track and they all kind of look similar. So I like to plan it out, and even if I take a bad bounce where it throws me off my route I try to get back on track in my mind mentally and remember, “Alright this is where you need to be after this,” so I like to hit jumps straight on. A lot of drivers tend to hit jumps crooked and off-kilter and you just never know what’s gonna happen, which is cool. It definitely produces some “wow” moments doing that, but at the same time, one of the main things on getting a good score is your finishing time.

D.O.: What would you say your favorite aspect of being with Monster Jam is?

B.M.: Probably meeting so many different people and inspiring people to follow their dreams. I tell them my story all the time, or whenever someone asks how I got involved with Monster Jam. And traveling, seeing the world is pretty special. There’s so many different cultures and backgrounds that I’ve been able to take in and never would have thought in a million years that I would be doing this and living out a dream. So it’s definitely something that’s very rewarding.

Published on April 13, 2022 at 11:33 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt