Monster trucks take over the Deschutes County Fairgrounds for the Monster Truck Nitro Tour

(Update: Adding video, comments from the chief operations officer)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The First Interstate Bank Arena at the Deschutes County fairgrounds was shaking Saturday, as monster trucks returned to Central Oregon for the Monster Truck Nitro Tour.

A crowd got to watch an afternoon show, seeing five massive monster trucks barrel down the dirt track, as well as another show in the evening, with drivers racing, two-wheel skills and monster truck freestyle!  Fans help to decide the ultimate winner of the freestyle competition. 

"Redmond's one of the big stops for us," Chief Operations Officer Tony Maderazzo said. "We've been coming here for years. This is the big show that I think the town knows and loves and that they definitely attend well."

"We love the fans here," he added. "We do a Pit Party before each performance, so that's where if you have a Pit Party pass or a VIP ticket, you can actually get down on that track, get up close to the drivers, talk to them, take pictures, get their autograph, things like that."

"That's a real great time to interact with our fans," he said. "We've got some drivers that can do front stoppages. So they're going to be doing all-out performances here today."

The Monster Truck Nitro Tour will be doing it all again next week, heading over to Medford. Those shows will run March 1-3.