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)
Do all truck always turnover in the area a
Awesome photos! Good shot of Doom’s Day!
You forgot Madusa in the truck lineup. Doom’s Day – any ideas on who’s driving that truck? I read in a Youtube comment that it is Craig Kristensen. That actually seems plausible. Not to be mean, but that would explain the shielding of driver when he gets out. I mean, you’d know if it was Craig even with his suit and helmet on.
I’ve attended this event for several years straight. I’ve seen virtually all of the biggest names at one point or another on the big Edward Jones Dome floor. And, as a lifelong monster truck fan and enthusiast, I have to say, the racing “competition” at this year’s event was anything but a true contest, in my opinion based off some observations I made.
I hope that I am wrong, and merely being over analytical about this, but during the racing brackets, I noted that several top tucks and drivers, Tom Meents included, either OBVIOUSLY backed out of the throttle before the end of a race, or simply choose NOT to hit the final jump with both front wheels, or in some cases, even at all, when they had a CONSIDERABLE lead on their opponent! I mean, come on, when Tom lost in the FIRST ROUND to Barbarian and Devin Jones?! Tom was WAY out in front of Devin and had a half track lead making his final turn to the finishing jump and you could hear the RPMs in the truck simply drop off. No smoke, no obvious mechanical issues and Tom came back out for freestyle later in the night, with again, no smoke or other engine problems.
There was another race, I can’t remember which trucks were involved, maybe Barbarian again, where the leading truck was SO FAR ahead of the losing truck that when the driver rounded the final turn, again, the throttle let up and the truck leisurely rolled over the dirt jump build as part of the derby cross track instead of the last obstacle for the monster trucks! Even then, the leading truck crossed the finish line first, but was of course, dealt the 5 second penalty for missing the jump headed to the finish line! Again, after the race was over, the truck failing to hit the final jump was not smoking, and was able to drive back to his “pit” location and park without any trouble what-so-ever.
I realize Monster Jam is entertainment, and I did enjoy the show, as always. However, being owned by Feld Entertainment, I whole heartedly HOPE that the drivers are not being asked to modify the outcomes of races so that certain trucks go deeper into the brackets as a publicity gainer for the lesser popular trucks, or WORSE YET, to introduce some sort of needless “story line” to the season. I’d love to see FEWER trucks travelling the country, with FEWER shows; having a full field of trucks in over 5 cities each and every weekend is ridiculous in my opinion. Develop a points series, race all season, leading up to a World Finals event. And for Heaven’s sake, INVITE BIGFOOT WITHOUT REQUIRING BOB CHANDLER TO SELL HIS BUSINESS to FELD!!?