Local students offered chance to ride Monster Truck

RANTOUL, Ill. (WAND) — Students at Broadmeadow Elementary School got the chance to see the Raminator Monster Truck on Tuesday.

The truck is finishing up a larger tour around the country with only a few more stops on the calendar.

"A lot of these kids - they're really excited, they just want to get to the truck, but I try and impose in them the importance of safety. I've got some of our safety gear out there," said Kurtis Kraehmer, a Monster Truck Driver at Hall Brothers Racing. "I've got a helmet, I've got a fire suit. I try to tell them the importance and what that protects us from when we're operating these in a race format."

Many kids at the school were seeing a monster truck in person for the very first time. The students also had the chance to climb inside the Raminator.

"I'm trying to give them some of the information before they just want to go jump in the truck, but I think this is unique to bring a truck that they can climb into and it's really cool to see the looks on their faces when they climb into it," Kraehmer said.

One by one, the kids climbed the ladder in and out of the truck, all beaming ear to ear.

Kraehmer continued, "I wanted to be a Monster Truck driver ever since I was a kid in grade school, so I think this is kind of cool. This is kind of a full circle moment for me. I think it's important because I don't think kids consider monster trucks a career."

The next chance to see the Raminator in Illinois is on May 6th in Moline.

For more information on tickets, visit the Monster Jam website.