When I was a child, I would often see previews of NASCAR racing commercials flashing across my screen during the commercial breaks of my favorite X-MEN cartoon. I grew up in an amazing time when there were great athletes like Michale Jordan, and racers like Richard Petty, and even witnessed the first African American Nascar racer Bubba Wallace race on television at the Daytona 500. As I got older, I began to gravitate to more racers that looked more like me. Monster Jam, was also a childhood favorite of mine. It’s always a joy to hear those loud engines roaring and see the monster trucks crushing cars in live action. As often as I would attend these shows I have never witnessed any African Americans driving these mammoth trucks in person. Here is the amazing story of Bari Musawwir.
Before Bari was a huge monster truck rockstar, he was just an ordinary child that loved to play with toy cars and trucks; he later developed a passion for automobiles at a young age in his hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. One of Bari’s most inspiring moments was when he would build plastic car models and even turn his Legos toys into his own custom creations. When Bari was six he briefly lived in Detroit and thanks to his mother he saw his first Monster Jam show at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. This event really sparked something in Bari and from this moment he was determined to become the next monster jam driver.
As Bari grew older, he began to gain an interest in a new hobby with remote-controlled or “RC” model vehicles. Bari’s new interest turned serious as he started competing in racing events. Although Bari took his racing RC vehicles seriously, he often managed to stay focused on his studies. After graduating high school in 1998, he earned his associate’s degree in Computer Aided Design. In 2002, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Visualization Technology in Tampa, Florida. After school, Bari continued his work on RC cars which landed him some quality time with Monster Jam enthusiasts Bill Easterly. In 2006, Bari worked hard to build connections in the industry until his competitive debut finally transpired on Memorial Day weekend of 2010 driving the ‘Backwards Bob’ monster truck. Bari continued his journey by driving the famous ‘Spider-Man’ monster truck for a short while until he became the official ‘Zombie’ monster truck driver.
In a recent interview, Bari offers some great advice to the next-generation monster truck drivers. “Never give up. What you aspire to accomplish might not happen right away when you want it to initially. Develop a passion for it, and educate yourself on everything you can about it.” Bari also mentioned that you have to surround yourself with like-minded people to make the right choices.” Today Bari is still driving his zombie monster truck every chance he gets and he also finds time to race his remote-controlled cars as well. Bari is currently married to Rashonda Dericho Musawwir and together they have a son.
