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Cleveland's Bari Musawwir turns dream into Monster Jam reality

Cleveland's Bari Musawwir has turned his dream into a Monster Jam reality behind the wheel of Zombie.

<p>Cleveland's Bari Musawwir has turned his dream into a Monster Jam reality behind the wheel of Zombie.</p>

CLEVELAND -- From the age of six, Bari Musawwir wanted to be a monster truck driver, and he has turned that dream into a reality.

A decade ago, Musawwir, a Cleveland native and graduate of Cleveland Heights High School, got a chance to try out to become a Monster Jam driver, and after several years at the helm of Spiderman, he now drives the fan-chosen Zombie on the national circuit.

“My mom took me to my first show when I was six years old, and that’s actually when I fell in love with the sport,” Musawwir told WKYC.com.

“I said, ‘Man, I’ve got to do this.’ Just imagine being a six-year old little boy looking at that thing, and it’s just larger than life. It’s definitely come full circle. I remember being in The Q back when it was called the Gund Arena, and being here as a fan, so it’s a special place for me to come back and perform.”

Although there is no minor league for Monster Jam, having a motorsports background certainly helped Musawwir achieve his dream.

“I got involved with RC trucks at an early age, and it just led to me being noticed at a big race by a Monster Jam official who said, ‘Man, if you can drive an RC truck, you can probably drive the real deal,’” Musawwir recalled.

“They gave me a shot in the test field. That was 10 years ago now. I’m still living my dream to this day, and I love every minute of it. I love meeting the fans, especially at our pit parties. They definitely tell you what they want you to go out and do, and you try to make them happy.”

Last weekend, Musawwir lived his dream in front of the home fans, performing at Quicken Loans Arena for the third time in his career, and first time since 2013.

Musawwir drove Zombie to a third-place finish in the weekend stop at The Q. On the way to scoring 625 points, Musawwir and Zombie posted the second-most wheelies (32), and an event-best 31 donuts. In the freestyle category, Zombie registered a high score of 36.

“There’s a sense of pride there with my family and friends,” Musawwir said. “They support me. The support system is overwhelming. They love what I do. I have friends that maybe have moved from Cleveland all over the country, so it’s definitely fun to be there, but it’s also great to come home and represent for the home team.”

Represent Musawwir did when he came back to Cleveland, sporting a Cavaliers hat and taking a picture of the NBA Championship banner hanging from the rafters at Quicken Loans Arena, which only served to inspire him during the stretch run of the season ahead of next month’s Monster Jam World Finals XVIII in Las Vegas.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Musawwir said. “I actually took a picture of it. I was parked in front of my TV. There was nothing that could block my focus on seeing them finally get the championship that Cleveland’s been wanting for so long.

“I couldn’t be here for the parade, but just to watch that, it was like, ‘Cleveland is finally here. We’re on the map. We’re champions.’ Hopefully, we can bring another championship to Cleveland in Zombie.”

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