Tripp Jones gets his love for monster truck racing honestly, since his father has been in the sport for about as long as he can remember.

And when he’s behind the wheel Tripp drives like an old pro. In fact, he’s beaten a whole lot of old pros - including his much more experienced dad!

Jones, age 17, is a Class of 2027 senior at St. James High School. In town, he’s known as a, well...high school senior. However, around monster truck racing circles he’s known as perhaps the best young driver in the sport.

“It’s kind of funny, around St. James most people don’t even know I do it,” Tripp said. “But when we go to a show out of town I get interviewed and stuff!”

Tripp’s father is Tim Jones, who owns Dynamic Dumpster Solutions and Dynamic Concrete Pumping in St. James and has himself been a monster truck racer for around a decade and a half. And as it turns out, Tripp is a chip off the old, BIG motor block.

Tim has built Tripp two monster trucks that perform off the same frame - named Twisted Addiction and Smashosaurus.

Tim’s racing monster truck is called Tailgator - which looks like a big alligator.

“It depends on what the promoter wants,” Jones said of which of his trucks go to what event. “If they want a more kid-friendly truck, we take out the dinosaur truck. I’ve always watched my dad; he’s done it since I’ve grown up. He’s done monster trucks like 14 years.

“Two years ago he built a second truck and threw me in the seat! I learned immediately. By my second show I started doing the pro moves, like the Monster Jam pros do. About a year and a half ago I started around the Midwest area. Now I’ve branched off and go all over the country. (Last month) we were in Joliet, Ill., and we brought home all the trophies. I just pretty much picked it up immediately. I’ve been around it my whole life. And I play video games which, believe it or not, helps a lot. And my dad shows me what not to do when he’s gone out and tears his truck up.”

A monster truck event is held on a course with ramps and other obstacles.

“Whoever finishes first wins,” Jones said. “All courses are different. There are two phases - Best Trick and Racing. And with some courses there is Freestyle - whatever jumps you can do on the track during a two-minute time. Judges score points for each and the person with the most points wins.”

“We go to a show and it starts with best trick, and from that it goes to racing. It goes like a basketball bracket - one-on-one with another driver. Usually it’s three rounds of racing. I’d say I’ve been to about 17 (events), and I’d say I’ve had about 11 wins.”

The freestyle tricks include backflips off ramps, jumping over cars and semis and often involves balancing the truck on two wheels on the same side of the truck - called bicycles - and on the front two tires - called stoppies. Oftentimes the tricks result in flips, with the truck flipping upside down and needing help getting upright again.

“Some courses you can flip once; others one flip and you’re done,” he said.

The flips look dangerous, but Tripp said they really aren’t that bad. “You are safer in a monster truck than you are in a regular car,” he said.

So far this season the Joneses have competed in Joliet, Ill.; Fowlerville, Mich.; Miami, Okla.; Hot Springs, Ark.; Springfield, Mo.; Lebanon, Mo.; Woodward, Okla., and Lamar, Mo.

The latest big show they competed at recently was July 17-18 in Lamar, which didn’t go well for Tripp the first night. “There is usually backflips and huge air there,” Tripp said. “I did a backflip (Friday) night and blew the motor up.”

Twisted Addiction and Smashosaurus may be sidelined, but Tripp is not. “My dad is handing over his truck and I’m driving the Gator,” he said of Saturday event. “I did alright.”

There are no age groups, meaning Tripp goes head-to-head with the big boys.

“The age is open,” Jones said. “I’m typically the youngest person competing. There are some guys I race against who have been doing it since before I was born.

“I’ve only gotten paired against my dad maybe four times. I think we’re dead-split - I’ve won two, he’s won two. We always give each other a hard time. This year we raced each other on Father’s Day Weekend...and I beat him!”

Tripp says Tim Jones is an expert mechanic, and that helps Tripp hit the ground running in shows.

“Typically I wash the truck, fuel it up, tighten some bolts and it’s ready to go,” Tripp said. “It depends on how hard you are on (the truck). I try not to rough it up; just put on a good show, whereas my dad goes and lays it all out. And he’s probably the best mechanic around these parts; the man can fix anything!”

Just getting to an event is an event in itself.

“We have a motor home that pulls a huge trailer for two trucks,” Tripp said. “It’s usually the biggest thing on the road!”

The Major Leagues of monster truck racing is the Monster Jam Championship Series, and that is Tripp’s ultimate goal.

“I would already be in Monster Jam, but I’m in school and you’ve got to be 18,” he said. “Monster Jam is a pro circuit - like the NBA of monster trucks. They have called my dad and told us they want us to do it full-time when I get old enough. It’s pretty much every weekend. You can make a career out of it, and that’s my goal.”

But for now Tripp is a prep senior and he’s gearing up for the upcoming school year. In particular, he’s a member of the defending district championship Tiger boys’ basketball squad and is excited about his senior campaign, when he expects to make a major contribution to the varsity squad.

“I take off for basketball season,” he said of the monster truck racing. “In basketball, all of us have played together on JV, plus you add (all-district/All-Four Rivers Conference player) Isaac Smith and you add (Cuba High School transfer) Caleb Brown, it’s definitely going to boost our chemistry.”

And soon Tripp may not be the youngest monster truck racer in the family.

“My brother, Trenten Jones, is in eighth-grade,” Tripp said. “We don’t know about him yet. Right now he’s more of a dirt biker. But at the monster truck races, he’s on the headphones always, telling me what to do and not to do.”