After seven weeks of Monster Jam competition, Adam Anderson keeps a hold of his grasp on the #1 spot in the TMB Road to the World Finals power rankings. Anderson was also officially announced as a qualifier for the World Finals by the folks at Feld as he took the big freestyle win at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. Tom Meents continues to hold on to the #2 spot as his racing win in Los Angeles keeps him within 20 points of the lead.
Dennis Anderson rode a wild performance in St. Louis to the freestyle win which has vaulted him into the third spot overall, while Gary Porter’s continued domination of the Freestyle Mania tour has him back up to fourth. Jimmy Creten slips back to fifth overall this week after a tough weekend in Spokane.
Jim Koehler and Jon Zimmer are tied for the 22nd spot with a fairly comfortable margin back to Steve Sims who is just barely hanging onto the 24th and final spot. Grinder drivers John Seasock and Lupe Soza are just outside the top 24, nipping at Sims’ heels as we head into Week #8.
Check out the Road to the World Finals unofficial rankings after Week #7 below:
Here is how points were scored in this week’s Elite Level events:
2/19 – Los Angeles, California
Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned
1st – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 20
2nd – Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger – 15
Semi-Finals – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 7.5
Semi-Finals – David Smith – King Krunch – 7.5
Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned
1st – Adam Anderson – Grave Digger The Legend – 20
2nd – Tom Meents – Maximum Destruction – 15
3rd – Candace Jolly – Monster Mutt Dalmation – 10
Tie – 4th – Dan Rodoni – The Patriot – 1.75
Tie – 4th – Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger – 1.75
Tie – 4th – Cam McQueen – Nitro Circus – 1.75
2/19 – St. Louis, Missouri
Racing Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned
1st – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 20
2nd – George Balhan – Mohawk Warrior – 15
Semi-Finals – Damon Bradshaw – Air Force Afterburner – 7.5
Semi-Finals – Neil Elliott – Maximum Destruction – 7.5
Freestyle Finish – Driver – Truck – Points Earned
1st – Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger – 20
2nd – Damon Bradshaw – Air Force Afterburner – 15
3rd – Neil Elliott – Maximum Destruction – 10
Tie – 4th – Linsey Weenk – Lucas Oil Crusader – 2.5
Tie – 4th – Lupe Soza – AAP Grinder – 2.5
For results from Normal Level events, check out the 2011 Results Tracker February 18th-20th Weekend Results page (drivers earn 5 points for a racing or freestyle win).
If you haven’t followed along with TMB’s Road to the World Finals in the past, 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.
Stay tuned each week to 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
