TMB Road to the World Finals Rankings – Week #3

Three weeks of 2012 are in the books and we have a new leader on TMB’s “Road to the World Finals”! Tom Meents used a huge double down performance in Maximum Destruction in Toronto to snag the lead away from Ryan Anderson in Son Uva Digger. Anderson had a big weekend in San Diego, making the finals in racing and winning freestyle, but he now sits less than 2 points behind Meents as we head into the final week of January.

Charlie Pauken and Grave Digger remains in the top 3 after a strong performance in Houston, Texas, but look out for Adam Anderson, who is now up to 4th in Grave Digger The Legend after doubling down in Tampa. The old man isn’t letting the kids get too far out in front though, as Dennis Anderson makes his way into the top 5, less than 30 points out of the lead.

The battle to earn a spot in the top 24 is heating up after one of the busiest weekends of the year. Positions 17-24 are separated by less than 5 points with Jim Koehler in Avenger currently in the hot seat in position 24. Marc MacDonald and Dan Evans are just outside the cutoff along with a host of other great drivers trying to prove they are deserving of an invite to the World Finals.

Check out the Road to the World Finals unofficial rankings after Week #3 below:

Here is how points were scored in this weekend’s Elite Level events:

1/21 – San Diego, California

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 20
2nd – Ryan Anderson – Son Uva Digger – 15
Semi-Finals – Todd Leduc – Metal Mulisha – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Carl Van Horn – Grave Digger – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Ryan Anderson – Son Uva Digger – 20
2nd – Carl Van Horn – Grave Digger – 15
3rd – Marc MacDonald – El Toro Loco – 10
Tie 4th – Todd Leduc – Metal Mulisha – 2.5
Tie 4th – Dan Rodoni – The Patriot – 2.5

1/21 – Tampa, Florida

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 20
2nd – Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger – 15
Semi-Finals – Jimmy Creten – Bounty Hunter – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Chad Fortune – Captain America – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 20
2nd – Neil Elliott – Maximum Destruction – 15
3rd – Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger – 10
4th – Lupe Soza – Grinder – 5

1/21 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – John Seasock – Grinder – 20
2nd – Randy Brown – Grave Digger – 15
Semi-Finals – Charles Benns – Monster Mutt Rottweiler – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Kreg Christensen – Maximum Destruction – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Darren Migues – Bounty Hunter – 20
Tie 2nd – Scott Buetow – Iron Man – 12.5
Tie 2nd – Joey Parnell – TMNT – 12.5
Tie 4th – John Seasock – Grinder – 2.5
Tie 4th – Becky McDonough – El Toro Loco – 2.5

1/21 – Houston, Texas

Wheelie Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – David Smith – King Krunch – 8

Donut Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger – 8

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – David Smith – King Krunch – 20
2nd – Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger – 15
3rd – Sean Duhon – Superman – 10
4th – Nicole Johnson – Grinder – 5

1/21 – Toronto, Ontario (Saturday)

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 20
2nd – George Balhan – Mohawk Warrior – 15
Semi-Finals – Jim Koehler – Avenger – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Rod Schmidt – Grave Digger – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 20
2nd – Candace Jolly – Monster Mutt Dalmation – 15
3rd – Rod Schmidt – Grave Digger – 10
4th – Jim Koehler – Avenger – 5

1/22 – Toronto, Ontario (Sunday)

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – George Balhan – Mohawk Warrior – 20
2nd – Candace Jolly – Monster Mutt Dalmation – 15
Semi-Finals – Rod Schmidt – Grave Digger – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Cam McQueen – Northern Nightmare – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Jim Koehler – Avenger – 20
2nd – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 15
3rd – Rod Schmidt – Grave Digger – 10
4th – Chris Bergeron – Brutus – 5

* The Houston, Texas event is unique in that it includes a wheelie and donut contest at an Elite Level show. The winner of these contests receives 8 points, the Normal Level event points pro-rated to Elite Level (x4).

For results from Normal Level events, check out the 2012 Results Tracker January 20th-22nd 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