Newly Crowned Freestyle Champ Jim Koehler & Avenger Bring Winning Moves to Firebird

(Chandler, AZ – Firebird International Raceway PR) – He’s always been a Firebird International Raceway crowd favorite with his daring style and reckless antics. Now he’s a two-time world champion as well!

On March 26th, Jim Koehler and the Avenger lit up the always bright Las Vegas skies with an epic run to capture the second Monster Jam World Finals freestyle championship of his career. Just weeks removed from reaching the pinnacle of the sport, Koehler plans to thrill Firebird International Raceway fans once again during the 2011 NAPA Auto Parts Monster Truck Nationals & Night of Fire, set for April 30th and May 1st.

2011 World Finals Freestyle Champion Jim Koehler will return to Firebird riding one of the hottest streaks of his career.

While many would consider the recently crowned world champ to be the favorite to win this April, Koehler faces a field stacked with some of the sport’s top drivers, including Dan Runte, the driver of BIGFOOT, and Jimmy Creten, piloting the Bounty Hunter.

Known as the “most daring driver” on the BIGFOOT team, Runte’s willingness to put it all on the line – literally – has earned him the love of Firebird fans, and the feeling is mutual. On the BIGFOOT team website, Runte calls Firebird International Raceway one of his three favorite places to perform.

Jimmy Creten has been nearly unbeatable over the last several years at Firebird.

And while Koehler is bringing his recently won world championship to the late-April showdown, Creten and the Bounty Hunter have some impressive hardware in their garage as well! Creten recently was named the winningest driver in Monster Trucks for 2010 by TheMonsterBlog.com, compiling an impressive 68 victories in the 118 events Bounty Hunter entered.

In other words, this Bounty Hunter doesn’t plan on finishing second to anyone.

Joining Koehler, Runte and Creten in the star-studded field are Koehler’s teammate Chris Bergeron, the driver of Brutus; and Arizona’s own Sturges Monster Trucks team with Unnamed and Untamed and Nasty Boy.

While the Monster Truck stars will definitely shine during the 2011 NAPA Auto Parts Monster Truck Nationals & Night of Fire, they won’t be the only motorized mayhem rocking the Gila River Indian Community track that weekend. The 40-foot-tall, 30-ton mechanical monstrosity known as Robosaurus makes his triumphant Firebird return during the event, as well.

The event features something for everyone including:

– JET DRAGSTERS – Have a need for speed? Watch as airplane engine + car + track combine for speeds nearing 300 MPH
– TRUCK SHOW N’ SHINE – See some of the most tricked out trucks from across the Southwest
– BIG SHOW SATURDAY NIGHT – Includes massive fireworks display!
– MANUFACTURERS’ MIDWAY – Truck fans’ favorite products will be on-display and available for purchase
– KIDS ZONE – When they’re not marveling at the awesome Monster Trucks, there’s plenty of fun waiting for Firebird’s younger fans in the Kids Zone

To ensure this family friendly show is accessible to EVERYONE, including parents with younger children, in addition to Firebird’s awesome Saturday night performance, a Sunday-afternoon encore is also being offered. Gates open at noon both days, with the Saturday night show beginning at 7 pm, and Sunday’s encore show starting at 3:30 pm.

General Admission tickets are $25 for Saturday and $20 for Sunday, with reserved seats starting at $30 and suite tickets starting at $50. Kids 12 and under receive free general admission seating with a paying adult. To learn more or purchase tickets, please call 602-268-0200, or visit firebirdraceway.com.

About Firebird International Raceway

Since its inception in 1983, Firebird International Raceway has grown into one of the most versatile and diversified motorsport venues in the world. A staple of Metropolitan Phoenix’s sports and entertainment scene, Firebird’s annual attendance regularly eclipses the 600,000 mark.

The Gila River Indian Community-based facility features a prominent calendar of championship-series events including annual stops by the National Hot Rod Association Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series as well as its popular Monster Truck Nationals. Firebird also hosts dozens of smaller public and private events each year, as well as professional race team testing, ride-and-drives for major automobile manufacturers, concerts, and corporate meetings. To learn more about Firebird International Raceway, please visit firebirdraceway.com.

Monster Spectacular Tour Update – Ottawa: A Battle of Champions

(Ottawa, Ontario – By Doug De Nance) Monster Spectacular always is a “must see” when the big trucks visit the capital of Canada. But this time there was more on the line in Ottawa than ever before. It was to be a showdown between two champions – the defending Monster Spectacular champion, Joe Sylvester in the Readylift Bad Habit truck versus the newly crowned World Freestyle Champion, Jim Koehler and Avenger.

This battle had been fought before in this very same building one year ago. Last year Sylvester triumphed at Scotiabank Place by hitting massive reverser wheelies to defeat Koehler for the coveted Monster Spectacular crown.

This year Koehler’s confidence was boosted by the winning of his second world freestyle title in Las Vegas a few weeks before. But Sylvester had another year under his belt – and that year had the pressure of defending his Monster Spectacular crown at every turn.

One of the coolest stories this spring, Vaters Monster Motorsports debuted their new Higher Education school bus monster truck in Montreal.

Yet it looked like there could be a spoiler or two in this storyline, because some of the greatest names in monster trucks were sitting in the pits. Along with the brand new Higher Education truck, there sat 29 year veteran Mike Vaters and Black Stallion and the big dog Brutus driven by Chris Bergeron.

Bergeron put the first wrinkle into the flow by definitively winning the wheelie contest. Bergeron blasted Brutus skyward on his first pass and landed “pogo” style, landing perfectly vertical by planting his wheelie bar into the final car in the stack. But his second pass was even more spectacular, hitting a massive sky wheelie. But the car stack collapsed sending Brutus sideways. Bergeron somehow pulled the big dog out of a bicycle on the passenger side two wheels and set the truck down on all four tires. Even Koehler preempted the cheeroff to congratulate the obvious winner – his Team Scream team mate, Chris Bergeron.

Chris Bergeron hits a huge wheelie in Brutus to take the opening win in Ottawa.

The next spoiler was Mike Vaters. The Black Stallion driver is known to be an extraordinary racer. He’s also known as the King of Concrete, with endless experience on the slippery surfaces like the track in Ottawa. Plus, he loves to race his way through the brackets. Vaters did just that, winning racing confidently.

So the story of the battle really did come down to the two champions in freestyle. While the other trucks laid down amazing freestyle runs that could easily win any other night, all eyes were on Bad Habit and Avenger.

Sylvester eased onto the course, knowing that the variable time clock would not start until he hit the first obstacle. Bad Habit hit every obstacle hard including not one, but two reversers – with the final one clearing all five cars in the stack.

Jim Koehler may be at his best ever as he takes the freestyle win in Ottawa, his third straight since winning the World Finals Freestyle title for the second time.

During an interview the question was posed to Koehler if he could just lay back now that he was world champion once again. Koehler answered it then with a very loud no. And he answered it again very loudly with the roar of Avenger.

Hitting every obstacle multiple times, Avenger caught the biggest air of the night on each one. But it was Koehler’s final cyclone donut that sealed the deal. Whirling so fast that Avenger seemed like a green blur, Koehler emerged staggeringly dizzy to the loudest roar of all – that of the Monster Spectacular fans!

Those same fans were treated to more excitement in the form of quad racing, freestyle motocross and the Krazy Krew BMX team – who all jumped over the announcer’s head.

Be sure to treat yourself to all the excitement the next time Monster Spectacular comes to your town. Check www.MonsterSpectacular.com for a show near you.

(Photos by Johany Jutras)

Monster Truck Radio 03/21/11 – Jimmy Creten & Jim Koehler

Monster Truck Radio With Host Jeff Richards
Date: Monday, March 21st, 2011
Guest #1: Jimmy Creten, driver of Bounty Hunter
Guest #2: Jim Koehler, driver of Avenger [Read more…]

The Allen Report: Monster Jam – Phoenix, AZ 2011

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Chase Field in downtown Phoenix once again played host to Monster Jam on Saturday, January 29th and it all kicked off as the most famous on-track rivalry in monster truck racing roared out of the tunnel. The most decorated lineup Phoenix has ever seen included Chad Tingler behind the wheel of Grave Digger, Kreg Christensen returning to Maximum Destruction, Madusa in her Phoenix debut, Norm Miller driving Batman, Alex Blackwell in Captain’s Curse, Todd Leduc in Blue Thunder, the “voice of Monster Jam on SPEED” Mark Schroeder in The Felon, all four members of Team Scream and local favorite Rod Wood driving McGruff. Throughout the night, both Norm Miller and Alex Blackwell were announced as Monster Jam World Finals qualifiers.

The style of course for UTI Racing was Southern California, or, so-cal style. The trucks start by racing each other off a large tabletop before turning away from each other, flying down a straightaway, making a u-turn and racing back the way they came. Max D would take the top spot in qualifying with a time of 25 seconds flat, but it proved useless as he fell to Grave Digger in the quarter finals. Also advancing to the semis were Captain’s Curse, Blue Thunder and Avenger as the fastest loser even after a mid-air collision with Madusa back in Round 1. Grave Digger and Blue Thunder were even through most of the finals, but then the slippery track finally bit Tingler and spun him out in the final turn, giving Todd Leduc his first ever racing victory!

For the third consecutive year, the 30 second bonus time rule was in place. Of the first six of the twelve truck field, Blue Thunder was one of only three drivers who could make it to bonus time with a score of 22. Chris Bergeron in Brutus tried to do a back flip of his own off the side of the tabletop, but the wheelie bar caught the dirt and Brutus went belly-up with a full minute left in the run. Avenger nailed cross threads, big air and did not roll until just moments before his time was up. But after falling short of a racing win, Chad Tingler clearly had blood in his eyes and gave the fans a vintage Grave Digger freestyle, never rolling over and flying long after his time was finished. With a score of 26, Grave Digger saw the Phoenix victory lane for the first time since 2008.

After what happened here in 2011, how can the monsters do better still next year?  They will try and we will be there for all of it. Until next time, check out some of Jim Allen’s great photos from the event and thanks for reading!

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2011.

Juggle Partners With Avenger for St. Louis Monster Jam

(Belleville, Illinois) Metro East technology company Juggle announces it will sponsor USHRA Monster Truck Avenger, driven by veteran Monster Jam driver Jim Koelher, at the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam event in St. Louis, to be held February 19th at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown. Avenger, a monster truck fan favorite, has been in every Monster Jam World Final since the series began in 1999.

Avenger arrived on the monster truck scene in 1997. This unique monster truck was created in the style of an old-fashioned hot rod, using the body of a 1957 muscle car and a blown 575 Chevy Block engine sitting on top of sixty-six inch Terra Tires. Because of the truck’s unique design, the driver had to be someone who could handle its violent nature. Only one person on the Monster Truck circuit was ready for the challenge: Jim Koehler.

Former Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Champion Jim Koehler will carry the Juggle.com logos in this weekend's St. Louis Monster Jam.

“Juggle has sponsored other events in the past,” said Juggle CEO Stephanie Leffler. “We’re fans of the Monster Jam and love helping drivers put on a better show for the local audience. Plus, by sponsoring a fan favorite monster truck, we can gain exposure for the Juggle brand.”

The members Juggle staff are Monster Jam fans, and driver Jim Koehler started out that way too.

“I was a fan to start with,” said Koehler. “I went to a lot of shows and my buddies and I looked at the monster trucks and were in awe of how cool they were. We thought to ourselves, ‘we could build something like that’. Then we started tinkering around, only under the idea that it would be something we could play around with—never thinking we’d be on Monster Jam.”

The St. Louis Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam event will also feature other well-known Monster Trucks, including Grave Digger® driven by Dennis Anderson, Superman driven by Chad Fortune, Maximum Destruction® driven by Neil Elliott, and many more. For more information, visit MonsterJam.com.

About Juggle.com:

Based in Belleville, Illinois, Juggle builds and curates websites with the sole intention of refining what the internet was built for: quality, quantity and accessibility of information to the public. Juggle’s mission is simple, to create compelling websites like BedSheets.com or CosmeticConcealers.com that engage users with quality content and features. For more information on Juggle and other topics, visit Juggle.com.

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – Phoenix, AZ 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Chase Field
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Date: January 29th, 2011
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Batman (Norm Miller), Blue Thunder (Todd Leduc), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Captain’s Curse (Alex Blackwell), Grave Digger (Chad Tingler), Madusa (Debra Miceli), Maximum Destruction (Kreg Christensen), McGruff (Rod Wood), Spike (Rich Hilgendorf), The Felon (Mark Schroeder), Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Jam – San Diego, CA 2011

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Qualcomm Stadium
Location: San Diego, California
Date: January 22nd, 2011
Photographer: Susan Clemens Woolley, www.123EventPhotography.com

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Batman (Norm Miller), Blue Thunder (Todd Leduc), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), El Toro Loco (Marc MacDonald), Grave Digger (Chad Tingler), Lucas Oil Crusader (Linsey Weenk), Maximum Destruction (Kreg Christensen), Monster Mutt (Joe Miller), Obsessed (Rick Swanson), Obsession (Jeff Jones), Shocker (Pat Gerber), Spike (Rich Hilgendorf), Superman (Chad Fortune), Terminator (Gary Schott), The Felon (Mark Schroeder), Time Flys (Kelvin Ramer), Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) [Read more…]

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…]

South Pacific World Finals III – Brisbane, Queensland – 11/06/10

Event:  South Pacific World Finals III
Venue:  Brisbane International Speedway
Location:  Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Date:  November 6th, 2010
Photographer:  Darryl Smith

Lineup: Avenger Australia (Jim Koehler), Batman (Barry Gaunt), Extreme (Kreg Christensen), Freakshow (Gordon Buscall), Fuchs Oil (David Brown), Monster Patrol (Paul Shafer), Outback Thunda 1 (Peter Duffey), Outback Thunda 4 (Clive Featherby), Raptor’s Rampage (Corey Clarke), Samson (Dan Patrick), Scooby Doo (Hayden McLeary), Taz (Jaye Featherby) [Read more…]

TMB TV: ActionTracks Episode 1.6 – Wildwood, NJ (Part 2)

Event: Thunder on the Beach
Venue: The Wildwood Beach
Location: Wildwood, New Jersey
Date: October 1st-3rd, 2010
Host: Chris Parrish
Videographer: Chris Parrish

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Grave Digger (Gary Porter), Gun Slinger (Scott Hartsock), Spiderman (Whit Tarlton) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 3.8 – Montreal, Quebec

Event:  Monster Spectacular
Venue:  Olympic Stadium
Location:  Montreal, Quebec
Date:  October 23rd, 2010
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers:  Colby Marshall, Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup:  Aftershock (Bob Robbins), Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), California Kid (Garrett Ladelle), Crushstation (Greg Winchenbach), Illuminator (Jay Snyder), Iron Warrior (Trey Meyers), Krazy Train (Roger Cardot), Ms. Bigfoot #11 (Amber Walker), Red Baron (Ben Winslow), Rock Star (Bill Payne) [Read more…]

Video of the Week – 11/06/10

Week Ending:   November 6th, 2010
Truck(s) Featured:  Multiple Trucks
Video Type:  Promoter Highlight Video
Courtesy:  www.YouTube.com

Description:  The Monster Spectacular highlight video from the big Montreal event courtesy of Kevin Larochelle and the Chris Arel Motorsports folks. Awesome stuff, just wait for the TMB TV Episode!

TMB TV: ActionTracks Episode 1.5 – Wildwood, NJ (Part 1)

Event:  Thunder on the Beach
Venue:  The Wildwood Beach
Location:  Wildwood, New Jersey
Date:  October 1st-3rd, 2010
Host:  Chris Parrish
Videographer:  Chris Parrish

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Black Stallion (Mike Vaters), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Grave Digger (Gary Porter), Gun Slinger (Scott Hartsock), Spiderman (Whit Tarlton) [Read more…]

Video of the Week – 10/31/10

Week Ending:  October 31st, 2010
Truck(s) Featured:  Avenger Australia (Jim Koehler)
Video Type:  Fan Event Video
Courtesy:  www.YouTube.com

Description: Jim Koehler drives the Australian Avenger to the freestyle win in the Sydney round of the South Pacific World Finals.

Montreal Monster Spectacular – The Doug De Nance Report

(Recap By Doug De Nance) “X marks the spot! While that might be a line out of pirate legends, the legend of monster trucks in Canada, Chris Arel made a new high water mark with a monstrous X in Montreal’s Monster Spectacular show that brought out top media reporters like Ross Bonar of TheMonsterBlog.com to report first hand on this incredible event.

The X in question was in the middle of the most unique monster truck racing course ever seen on this continent. The giant floor of the Olympic Stadium was laid out in a huge dirt oval with an X made of up two distinct school bus jumps criss-crossing through the center. To top it off, the trucks would have to race this challenging course side by side.

And what a slate of trucks there were to take on this incredible track. Fourteen of the top trucks on the planet had been assembled for one night in front of 45,000 fans. Just listen to the names: Bounty Hunter, Avenger, Black Stallion, Miss Bigfoot, Bad Habit, Rock Star, Brutus, Aftershock, plus the newest star in monster trucks, the Chris Arel The Red Baron truck and many more all came with guns a blazin’ and engines roaring.

The night began with all 14 trucks pitted in a wheelie contest, hitting the car stacks on either side of the oval portion of the track. It was such rapid fire action that the Big O looked like a Saturday afternoon traffic jam at the local mall – except every vehicle was a monster truck. Like a three ring circus, there was so much air-born action it was hard to keep track as truck after truck soared vertical. Despite many incredible wheelies, Jay Snyder and Illuminator lit up the judge’s scorecards for the win with a 12 o’clock tail stand on the cars that sent him crashing to the concrete like a giant redwood under the lumberjack’s axe.

Racing was exactly what was predicted by the incredible track – wild and crazy. The tacky clay dirt caused many trucks to hook up extra hard. Bad Habit found that out the hard way in the very first round of bracket racing, tumbling the truck over and tearing the body completely off and sending Trey Myers and Iron Warrior to the quarter finals. The driver of The Red Baron was a masked mystery coming into the race, but the respect was fast coming as he made Aftershock his first kill of the night. Black Stallion had an easy time of his race as Chris Bergeron took Brutus over an unintended obstacle, one of the Super 4 racing cars that had been abandoned on the side of the track.

The wildest and craziest race of the first bracket series saw the wild man from Washington, Bill Payne and Rock Star matched up against the pretty petite Amber Walker in Miss Bigfoot. Payne had said that this was the final night for the original Rock Star truck as he is busy designing a brand new version from the ground up. That should have been the tip off to Amber Walker that Payne would do what he does the very best – destroy everything in his path. The two trucks were bumper to bumper as they launched off the start line and over the first bus stack through the center X of the track. When they came to the first turn something had to give. So Payne gave it a little extra and ran up the rear tire of Miss Bigfoot, sending Payne up onto his back wheelie bar and Amber Walker wobbling from side to side. Somehow she kept the rubber side down but stalled out. Payne managed to get Rock Star back down to earth upright and finished the lap to move on to the quarter finals.

The story of the Red Baron is the stuff of legend from World War I. But a new legacy to that legend was been written during the subsequent rounds of racing by the unknown driver of the new Red Baron truck. Former world champions like Bounty Hunter and Avenger were expected to be able to adapt to the full contact that this new track created. A racing legend like Mike Vaters in Black Stallion would have been a good bet to make to the finals, but lost out to Jimmy Creten. However, it was the Red Baron astounded all who watched the masked driver win again and again to eventually face Bounty Hunter in the final race.

From a truck perspective, it was a draw. Both trucks were Ford Expeditions with 572 cubic inch engines kicking out more than 1800 horsepower. That wasn’t a surprise since Chris Arel had commissioned Jimmy’s 2Extreme Racing Team to design the new Red Baron truck. So the wild card was unknown track record of the driver of the new truck versus the legendarycompetiveness of Jimmy Creten.

Time seemed to slow down to slow motion as the trucks took off from the starting line. Side by side they launched off the bus stack and into the first turn. The only advantage seemed to be the inside lane as it gave the Red Baron a bumper width lead. It was the thinnest of margins but they say racing is a game of inches. The Red Baron only needed an inch to defeat Bounty Hunter for the racing win.

The Red Baron driver kept the mask on to keep the mystery intact as the trucks headed into freestyle. There was even a red plane as an obstacle that looked tailor made for the racing winner. But Joe Sylvester lived up to his trucks name as the Bad Habit driver tore up everything on the track. Sylvester has set the new world record for the monster truck longest jump in September of this year, sailing the Cadillac 208 feet and besting the 202 foot record held by Bigfoot for many years. Well, Sylvester looked like he was trying to beat his own record as he flew through the air off every obstacle he could hit. While the Red Baron and trucks like Black Stallion, Bounty Hunter and Avenger all had spectacular runs; it was Bad Habit making a habit of rocking freestyle – just like he had done at the Monster Spectacular finals in June.

The mystery of the Red Baron was solved at the conclusion of freestyle as the driver wearing the Mexican wrestler mask took to the mic. The southern charm and soothing accent of Ben “Bobo” Winslow didn’t require the driver to be unmasked to be recognized. The former driver from the Sudden Impact team, who had dazzled fans on the Monster Spectacular tour during the summer, had continued to wow the crowd behind the wheel of the new Red Baron. Winslow looks to fly high in his new ride.

As is always the case with Monster Spectacular, Chris Arel treated fans to much more motorsports entertainment, ranging from autocross with Baja styled racers culminating in a champagne soaked trophy presentation to a street style Super 4 series with supped up 4 cylinder customs to a full contact tough truck battle to welcoming back Kamikaze the jet quad and Felix Famlard and his incredible sport bike freestyle team. Perhaps the biggest treat was the introduction of Arel’s newest venture with Vic Theriault, The Legends of the Fighting Arts. Many stars from the fight game, including Jean-Yves Theriault witnessed the kickoff of the program with awards going to such famous fight names as Michel Jette, JF Bergeron, Regis Levesque and Jacques Rougeau. There will be much more to come next year with Legends of the Fight Arts.

It’s always a sad moment when the crowd has left the building in Montreal in October because it means the last Monster Spectacularshow of the year is over. But the good news is that a new season of Monster Spectacular is just around the corner in 2011. Watch for the biggest monster truck show in Canada to rumble into your area soon.”

A huge thanks to Monster Spectacular Tour Announcer Doug De Nance for another great season of keeping TMB posted on all the happenings with the Monster Spectacular tour!