Monster Photos: Monster Jam – St. Louis, MO 2017

Event Information

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: The Dome at America’s Center
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: February 4th, 2017
Photographer: Danny Maass (Check out Maass Media on Facebook)

Truck Lineup

Barbarian (Devin Jones), Black Stallion (Michael Vaters), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Jester (Matt Pagliarulo), Mechanical Mischief (Jim Burns), Monster Energy (Coty Saucier), Over Bored (Jamey Garner), Overkill Evolution (Sean Duhon), Rage (Cory Rummell), Samson (Rick Steffens), Son Uva Digger (Ryan Anderson), Xtermigator (JR McNeal), Wrecking Crew (Michael Thompson) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Phoenix, AZ 2014

Event Information

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Chase Field
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Date: January 25th, 2014
Photographer: Jim Allen

Truck Lineup

Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Blue Thunder (Dan Evans), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Captain USA (Travis Groth), Devastator (Mark Schroeder), Double Trouble (Tyler Groth), El Toro Loco (Lupe Soza), Geter Done (Mitch Tulachka), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Madusa (Debra Miceli), McGruff (Rod Wood), Metal Mulisha (Todd Leduc), New Earth Authority (Norm Miller), The Patriot (Dan Rodoni), RoboMachine (Shane Phreed), Tropical Thunder (Andrew Peckham) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – St. Louis, MO 2014

Event Information

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Edward Jones Dome
Location: Saint Louis, Missouri
Date: February 1st, 2014
Photographer: Danny Maass

Truck Lineup

Bad News Travels Fast (Brandon Derrow), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Cleatus (Frank Krmel), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Heavy Hitter (Derick Anson), Iron Man (Lee O’Donnell), Madusa (Debra Miceli), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Monster Energy (Coty Saucier), Monster Mutt Rottweiler (Rod Schmidt), River Rat (Steven Snellen), Son Uva Digger (Ryan Anderson), Spiderman (Bari Musawwir), Strait Jacket (Kevin King), Team Hot Wheels Firestorm (Scott Buetow), Zombie (Sean Duhon) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam World Finals – Las Vegas, NV 2013

Event: Monster Jam World Finals Young Guns Shootout
Venue: Sam Boyd Stadium
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: March 22nd-23rd, 2013
Photographer: Danny Maass

World Finals Lineup: Avenger – Jim Koehler, Bad Habit – Joe Sylvester, Batman – Norm Miller (Racing) / Carl Van Horn (Freestyle), Blue Thunder – Pablo Huffaker, Bounty Hunter – Jimmy Creten, Captain’s Curse – Alex Blackwell, Captain America – Chad Fortune, El Toro Loco – Marc MacDonald, Grave Digger – Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger The Legend – Adam Anderson, Grinder – John Seasock (Racing) / Lupe Soza (Freestyle), Hot Wheels Firestorm – Scott Buetow, Iron Man – Lee O’Donnell, Lucas Oil Crusader – Linsey Weenk, Madusa – Debra Miceli, Maximum Destruction – Tom Meents, Metal Mulisha – Todd Leduc, Mohawk Warrior – George Balhan, Monster Energy – Damon Bradshaw, Monster Mutt – Charlie Pauken, Monster Mutt Dalmation – Candace Jolly, Northern Nightmare – Cam McQueen, Scooby Doo – Nicole Johnson, Son Uva Digger – Ryan Anderson, Spiderman – Bari Musawwir, Stone Crusher – Steve Sims, Superman – Jon Zimmer, Zombie – Sean Duhon

Young Guns Shootout Lineup: Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Crushstation (Greg Winchenbach), El Diablo (Jean-Paul Ruggiero), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Hooked (Steven Sims), Iron Man (Morgan Kane), Monster Mutt Dalmation (Taryn Laskey), Nitro Hornet (Daron Basl), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Titan (Donald Epidendio), Wolverine (Dustin Brown) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – St. Louis, MO 2013

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Edward Jones Dome
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: February 2nd, 2013
Photographer: Danny Maass

Lineup: Backdraft (Jeremy Slifko), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Captain America (Chad Fortune), Captain’s Curse (Alex Blackwell), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Eradicator (Andy Slifko), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Grave Digger The Legend (Adam Anderson), Grinder (John Seasock), Iron Outlaw (Joe Miller), Maximum Destruction (Kreg Christensen), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Scooby Doo (Nicole Johnson) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – St. Louis, MO 2013

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Edward Jones Dome
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: February 2nd, 2013
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Backdraft (Jeremy Slifko), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Bounty Hunter (Darren Migues), Captain America (Chad Fortune), Captain’s Curse (Alex Blackwell), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Eradicator (Andy Slifko), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Grave Digger The Legend (Adam Anderson), Grinder (John Seasock), Iron Outlaw (Joe Miller), Maximum Destruction (Kreg Christensen), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Scooby Doo (Nicole Johnson) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: Monster Jam – Phoenix, AZ 2012

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Survival is crucial to success in monster truck racing. If you can’t keep your truck in one piece the whole night, someone else will walk onto the winner’s stage. And this year’s show at the Chase Field Monster Jam was a prime example of that. The show featured both Grave Digger and Son-Uva Digger with Carl Van Horn and Ryan Anderson driving. The “General” himself, Brian Deegan drove the Metal Mulisha for the first time in his career. Former World Finals fastest qualifier Marc McDonald brought El Toro Loco back. Linsey Weenk returned to Phoenix with the Lucas Oil Crusader. Former sprint car driver Taryn Laskey filled in for Nicole Johnson in Tasmanian Devil. The other teams were: Mitch Tulachka and Shane Phreed in Geter Done and Robo Machine. Allen Pezo and Ron Nelson drove Predator and Pouncer. Kelvin Ramer drove Time Flies and former California Kid driver Garrett Ladelle drove Detour. Rounding out the field were Mark Schroeder and Rod Wood driving the Felon and McGruff.

Grave Digger was ready to face the former Bustin’ Loose driver in Pouncer in the semi-finals when he lost oil pressure coming to the start line due to a rollover during introductions and had to be replaced by Felon, whom he had beaten the round before. Mark took advantage of the opportunity and won. In the other half of the semis with Son-Uva Digger taking on Crusader, Ryan spun out coming down the main straightaway of the so-cal style track only to get the win back when the former Canadian hit the jammer obstacle and flipped over. In the finals a broken ring and pinion in the back axle of Felon meant Predator, who had lost to him back in the opening round, had to take his place. In the final, it was neck and neck until the third member of the Anderson equation spun out again, giving Allen Pezo a huge win.

Brain Deegan set the bar early with a lead score of 20 and held the lead most of the night. El Toro Loco took the lead with only the two “Diggers” to go thanks to a score of 23. The man they call “CVH” saved his truck from another rollover, but was unable to fire back up and keep going with time still on the clock. When all was said and done, Ryan Anderson took the win by just one point, extending his perfect record of freestyle wins to five. But in true Anderson fashion, trophy or not, he came back out and unleashed his inner beast, giving the Digger-maniacs in the stands a wicked encore.

Monster Jam at Chase Field gets bigger every year this year’s show is one of the reasons why. For us at “The Allen Report”, Firebird Raceway is next on our schedule in April. Until then, thanks for reading, enjoy the great photos by Jim Allen and cheer on!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – St. Louis, MO 2012

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Edward Jones Dome
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: February 4th, 2012
Photographer: Danny Maass

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Grinder (John Seasock), Ice Cream Man (Scott Sweat), Incinerator (Ryan Rice), Iron Man (Lee O’Donnell), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Metal Mulisha (Todd Leduc), Monster Energy (Damon Bradshaw), Monster Magic (Bryan Wright), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Scarlet Bandit (Dawn Creten), Stone Crusher (Steve Sims), Tasmanian Devil (Taryn Laskey)
[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – St. Louis, MO 2012

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Edward Jones Dome
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: February 4th, 2012
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), El Toro Loco (Becky McDonough), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Grinder (John Seasock), Ice Cream Man (Scott Sweat), Incinerator (Ryan Rice), Iron Man (Lee O’Donnell), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Metal Mulisha (Todd Leduc), Monster Energy (Damon Bradshaw), Monster Magic (Bryan Wright), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Scarlet Bandit (Dawn Creten), Stone Crusher (Steve Sims), Tasmanian Devil (Taryn Laskey)
[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Columbus, OH 2012

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Nationwide Arena
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Date: January 6th-7th, 2012
Photographer: Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Batman (Norm Miller), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Grinder (Nicole Johnson), Monster Mutt (Joe Miller), Samson (Dan Patrick), Superman (Sean Duhon), Tasmanian Devil (Taryn Laskey)
[Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Philadelphia, PA 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Date: June 4th, 2011
Photographer: Jason Miller

Lineup: Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw), Avenger (Jim Koehler), Backdraft (Jeremy Slifko), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Captain’s Curse (Alex Blackwell), El Toro Loco (Marc MacDonald), Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken), Grave Digger The Legend (Adam Anderson), Grinder (Lupe Soza), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Monster Mutt (Carl Van Horn) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Cleveland, OH 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Date: February 19th, 2011
Photographer: Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Excaliber (Kevin Koszala), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Spike (Rich Hilgendorf), Tasmanian Devil (Nicole Johnson) [Read more…]

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Cleveland, OH 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Date: February 19th, 2011
Photographer: Michael Harry

Lineup: Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Excaliber (Kevin Koszala), Grave Digger (Carl Van Horn), Rap Attack (Dave Rappach), Spike (Rich Hilgendorf), Tasmanian Devil (Nicole Johnson) [Read more…]

TMB’s “Road to the World Finals” Returns for 5th Season

One of our most popular features each year on TheMonsterBlog.com is back for 2011, as we once again rank drivers week to week in our “Road to the World Finals” 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 year. 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 5th year in a row, TMB will be operating our “Road to the World Finals” unofficial point standings for the Monster Jam series based straight from 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 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, Tom Meents edged out Dennis Anderson in one of the closest point battles we’ve ever seen, eclipsing Dennis by less than 5 points. Who will be tops in 2011? Follow along and let’s find out together!

So far in the 2011 season, the battle for the #1 spot is shaping up to once again be the Dennis and Tom show, with Anderson having the edge after Week 1. Anderson’s huge double down in Houston has him out front over Meents, who picked up a freestyle win in Detroit but was eliminated in the semi-finals of racing. Big performances from Gary Porter and Carl Van Horn in Columbus and Trenton, each winning 5 of a possible 6 competitions has them in the mix as well, tied for third overall with Linsey Weenk in the new Lucas Oil Crusader stemming from his strong performance in Houston.

The legendary Dennis Anderson has the #1 spot after a Double Down performance in Houston.

The battle for the last spot has yet to take shape after only one week of competition as thirteen 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 earning a shot at the World Finals in 2011.

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

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

1/8 – Detroit, Michigan

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Lee O’Donnell – Iron Man – 20
2nd – Frank Krmel – AAP Grinder – 15
Semi-Finals – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Marc MacDonald – El Toro Loco – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 20
2nd – Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger – 15
3rd – Marc MacDonald – El Toro Loco – 10
4th – Frank Krmel – AAP Grinder – 5

1/8 – Houston, Texas

Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger – 20
2nd – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 15
Semi-Finals – Cam McQueen – Nitro Circus – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Damon Bradshaw – Air Force Afterburner – 7.5

Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned

1st – Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger – 20
2nd – Lupe Soza – AAP Grinder – 15
3rd – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 10
4th – Chris Bergeron – Brutus – 5

For results from Normal Level events, check out the 2011 Results Tracker January 7th-9th Weekend Results page (drivers earn 5 points for a racing or freestyle 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 5-8 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 a weekend at a Normal Level event is 40 (this based on the usual maximum # of shows being 4 (Tacoma being the exception with 5), and an available 10 points per show (10×4=40)).

Racing Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 5

Freestyle Finish – Points Awarded

1st – 5

TMB TV: ActionTracks Episode 1.8 – Year In Review

Event: 2010 Year In Review
Host: Chris Parrish
Videographer: Chris Parrish

Lineup: All of the best action you’ve seen on ActionTracks in 2010 featuring some of the best trucks in the world! [Read more…]