TMB Road to the World Finals Rankings – Week #5

The first weekend of February is in the books and Ryan Anderson has re-taken the top spot on TMB’s “Road to the World Finals” power rankings! Anderson stepped up with a huge double down performance in Vancouver to leap frog previous leader Tom Meents. Meents had a strong weekend in St. Louis, winning freestyle in Maximum Destruction, but his inability to make it past round two of racing cost him the top spot.

Gary Porter has moved back into the #3 position after another dominating weekend in Charleston, West Virginia. The fact that Porter has stayed in the top 5 without even having had the chance to compete in a stadium show this year speaks to how dominant he has been in the arena events he has run, evidenced by a jaw-dropping 31 wins so far in 2012. Charlie Pauken swept freestyle in Peoria to stay in the top 5, while Dennis Anderson’s racing win in Tampa keeps him in the top 5 overall.

The scramble for a spot in the top 24 continues to be intense, as this week saw Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter and Chad Tingler in Grave Digger move back in, knocking out John Seasock and Rod Schmidt. Morgan Kane currently hangs on to the 24th position by a single point over Chad Fortune in 25th.

Check out the Road to the World Finals unofficial rankings after Week #5 below:

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

2/4 – St. Louis, Missouri

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Jimmy Creten – Bounty Hunter – 20
2nd – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 15
Semi-Finals – Bryan Wright – Mopar Magic – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Steve Sims – Stone Crusher – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 20
2nd – Carl Van Horn – Grave Digger – 15
Tie 3rd – Jimmy Creten – Bounty Hunter – 7.5
Tie 3rd – Lee O’Donnell – Iron Man – 7.5

2/4 – Tampa, Florida

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger – 20
2nd – Neil Elliott – Maximum Destruction – 15
Semi-Finals – Lupe Soza – Grinder – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Chris Bergeron – Brutus – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Jim Koehler – Avenger – 20
2nd – Lupe Soza – Grinder – 15
3rd – Neil Elliott – Maximum Destruction – 10
4th – Jeremy Slifko – Backdraft – 5

2/4 – Houston, Texas

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Alex Blackwell – Wolverine – 20
2nd – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 15
Semi-Finals – Nicole Johnson – Grinder – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Kreg Christensen – Maximum Destruction – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Alex Blackwell – Wolverine – 20
2nd – Chad Fortune – Captain America – 15
Tie 3rd – Kreg Christensen – Maximum Destruction – 7.5
Tie 3rd – Daron Basl – Rod Ryan Show – 7.5

2/4 – Vancouver, British Columbia

1st – Ryan Anderson – Son Uva Digger – 20
2nd – Marc MacDonald – El Toro Loco – 15
Semi-Finals – Andrew Peckhum – M2D Camo Thunder – 7.5
Semi-Finals – George Balhan – Mohawk Warrior – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Ryan Anderson – Son Uva Digger – 20
2nd – Candace Jolly – Monster Mutt Dalmation – 15
Tie 3rd – George Balhan – Mohawk Warrior – 7.5
Tie 3rd – Marc MacDonald – El Toro Loco – 7.5

For results from Normal Level events, check out the 2012 Results Tracker February 3rd-5th 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

(Photo courtesy Jim Allen)