TMB’s “Road to the World Finals” Power Rankings Return for 2012

One of our most popular features each year on TheMonsterBlog.com is back for 2012, as we once again rank drivers competing in Monster Jam week to week in our “Road to the World Finals” Power Rankings/Unofficial Point Standings. Fans always wonder exactly how USHRA selects its 24 competitors for the annual Monster Jam World Finals, and so do we. We also often wonder just how all the drivers stack up against each other throughout, and at the end of the Monster Jam season. Without a national points system for the Monster Jam series, it is awfully hard to do so as they often run events in up to 10-15 different venues in a single weekend. So for the 6th year in a row, TMB will be operating our “Road to the World Finals” power rankings/unofficial point standings for the Monster Jam series based directly on the results available at MonsterJam.com. This is our way of ranking the drivers based on their performance throughout the season and gives us a good idea of which drivers have most earned a spot in the World Finals, whether they ultimately end up being selected or not.

If you didn’t follow along last year, we’re sure that you have many questions about how we put this together: How does it work? Which events are we including? How are the points awarded? etc. At the bottom of each week’s update, you’ll see the detailed rationale and explanation that should answer most of these questions. Last year Dennis Anderson prevailed in one of the wildest “Road to the World Finals” battles ever as he just edged out son Adam and Tom Meents, both by less than 5 points! Who will be tops in 2012? Follow along and let’s find out together!

Our first rankings for the 2012 season include the early December Minneapolis Monster Jam event and this past weekend’s action at arenas all around the country. After being sidelined during the 2011 season due to injury, Ryan Anderson is making it known that he will be the driver to beat in the Monster Jam 2012 season. Son Uva Digger is on top of the standings after nearly doubling-down in Minneapolis to start off the new season, and picking up several wins to start off 2012 in Des Moines. Brother Adam Anderson, who was nearly the 2011 Road to the World Finals winner, is in 2nd after strong showings in Minneapolis, and Tulsa this past weekend. Morgan Kane sits third after winning racing in Minneapolis and picking up a couple wins in Evansville to start off 2012. Gary Porter and Tom Meents round out the top 5 after week one.

The battle for the last spot has yet to take shape after only one week of competition as nine drivers are currently tied for the 21st overall position. Once a couple weeks of the season are in the books, we’ll have a better picture of who is most deserving of a shot at the World Finals in 2012.

Check out the Road to the World Finals unofficial rankings after Week 1 below:

Here is how points were scored in the only Elite Level event held to date:

12/10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Morgan Kane – Monster Magic – 20
2nd – Ryan Anderson – Son Uva Digger – 15
Semi-Finals – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Ryan Anderson – Son Uva Digger – 20
2nd – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 15
Tie 3rd – Marc MacDonald – El Toro Loco – 7.5
Tie 3rd – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 7.5

For results from Normal Level events, check out the 2012 Results Tracker January 6th-8th Weekend Results page (drivers earn 5 points for a racing or freestyle win, 2 points for a wheelie or donut win).

Keep following TMB’s “Road to the World Finals” for all the results and current standings each week. Keep in mind this is all unofficial and is just for fun, and enjoy as we track the Monster Jam series all the way to the World Finals in March!

About TMB’s Road to the World Finals:

For some time, fans across the country have wondered why the USHRA does not run a public points system of some kind for their Monster Jam series. We are included in the group that would love to be able to follow the standings of such a series each week. We are of the belief that a berth in the Monster Jam World Finals should be earned based on performance throughout the year in both racing and freestyle. Regardless of what portion of the monster truck industry you favor, there is no denying that the Monster Jam World Finals is the biggest and highest profile event our sport has to offer. A chance to compete at this event is a big deal for many drivers out there, and it is our opinion that they should be able to earn their way in. We’re not saying that Feld Motorsports doesn’t pick the World Finalists based on performance currently–we’re simply saying that we don’t know how they make up the field because the process isn’t made public.

So with that in mind, we have created an UNOFFICIAL points system that is simple (although it may seem complicated) and that rewards performance in all Monster Jam events across the country leading up to the World Finals. In our Standings, we will show the cut-off after the 24th truck, indicating that IF entry to the World Finals was based SOLELY on performance, these are the drivers that would be headed to Las Vegas. Keep in mind that this is just for fun and has no actual bearing on the selection of World Finals participants. See below for a breakdown of our points system and our rationale for the decisions we made in creating it.

Elite Level Events

What is an Elite Level event? We define an Elite Monster Jam event as any with a field of 12 of more trucks. We have chosen to award these events the highest amount of points, because these are the highest profile Monster Jam events. These events are the ones held in the major stadiums in front of the biggest crowds, some of which are even televised on SPEED. It is our belief that performance in the highest profile shows should be weighted most heavily toward a World Finals berth because these events are most similar to the World Finals itself. The most points any one driver can score in an Elite Level event (and thus in any event) is 40. If an event meeting all of this criteria holds 3 or more shows over the course of a single weekend, the points for each show are worth half of what is listed below.

Racing Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 20
2nd – 15
Semi-Finals – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 20
2nd – 15
3rd – 10
4th – 5

Normal Level Events

What is a Normal Level show? The majority of Monster Jam events held around the country are Normal Level shows. These events are typically held in smaller arenas around the country, consisting of multiple shows held over the course of the weekend (anywhere from 2-5), with fields of anywhere from 5-10 trucks. Looking at the points awarded for these shows, you will notice they are much less than the upper levels. We equate the significance level of an entire 4 show weekend of Normal Level events with the significance of one Elite Level show–thus, the maximum points a driver can earn in racing/freestyle each weekend at a Normal Level event is 40 (this based on the usual maximum # of shows being 4–a couple events being the exception with 5–and an available 10 points per show (10×4=40)). Beginning in 2012, we are also awarding 2 points for wheelie/donut contest wins as that information has become more readily available than when the Road to the World Finals was first started.

Wheelie/Donut Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 2

Racing Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 5

Freestyle Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 5