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 – Detroit, MI 2013

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: Ford Field
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Date: March 2nd, 2013
Photographer: Paul Harry

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Bad Habit (Joe Sylvester), Batman (Norm Miller), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), El Toro Loco (Marc MacDonald), Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson), Grinder (Frank Krmel), Iron Man (Morgan Kane), Maximum Destruction (Tom Meents), Metal Mulisha (Brian Deegan), Monster Mutt Rottweiler (Rod Schmidt), Scarlet Bandit (Dawn Creten), Son Uva Digger (Ryan Anderson), Wolverine (Dustin Brown), Zombie (Sean Duhon) [Read more…]

The Allen Report: Monster Jam – Phoenix, AZ 2013

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, the biggest field in the history of Monster Jam in the “Valley of the Sun” played their game to a sold-out crowd at Chase Field. The field of 16: Charlie Pauken represented Team Grave Digger. Familiar faces Batman with Norm Miller at the helm and Devastator driven by Mark Schroeder were also in the house. West Coaster Daron Basl drove King Krunch while sharing the seat of team truck Nitro Hornet with former Bigfoot and FELD driver Sky Hartley. Rookie Shane England rounded out the camp in Big Kahuna. Todd Leduc was back driving Metal Mulisha. Scott Buetow came piloting Team Hot Wheels Firestorm. Steven Hill took the wheel of Ground Pounder. Right behind him in the teammate Amsoil Shock Therapy was Dave Radzierez. Damon Bradshaw was present in Monster Energy. Hometown driver Rod Wood was there as always in McGruff. Mitch Tulachka and Shane Phreed returned in Jus’ Geter Done and Robo Machine. Pat Gerber and Shocker appeared and rounding out the field was first year driver J.P. Ruggiero in El Diablo.

From the first green light of the So-Cal style of racing, the monster from the Mulisha compound and the black and green wrecking machine were on a collision course with each other. Just four-tenths of a second separated them in qualifications. From there, the two bulldozed down the opposition. However, as Grave Digger came back to the pits after defeating Monster Energy in the semi-finals, there was smoke pouring from GD’s motor area. Unable to get fixed in time, Monster Energy took Digger’s place at the starting line where Metal Mulisha was there waiting. Halfway home at the “jammer” obstacle, Todd, a former short course off road racer, drifted a little too far out. From there, the win was Monster Energy’s. But the night’s action was far from over.

Nitro Hornet stung the field early with a score of 23. The Oregon native would remain the “hot seat” for a large part of the night. Then came the truck conceived by “the General” Brian Deegan and the other straight from the top secret Hot Wheels test facility. They both scored a 27 with the “coolest” monster truck around having a hair-thin edge of a single bonus point. Then on came the “Bad to the Bone” music. With the crowd roaring and the engine running on only seven cylinders, the 2010 Freestyle World Champion nailed huge air and had incredible speed followed by dizzying three-wheeled cyclones to take the winning score of 31, twenty-seven in regulation and no less than four bonus points for the win.

In other action, Team USA defeated Team Mexico in fast and furious quad war action. In addition, Tom Cunningham won the “off road truck-cross” main. From here, we at “The Allen Report” head out to Firebird Raceway for the last ever two day monster truck marathon on the merciless drag strip in Chandler, AZ. Till then, thank you for reading, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Photo Gallery

All content copyright TheMonsterBlog.com 2013.

Monster Photos: Monster Jam – Wheeling, WV 2012

Event: Monster Jam
Venue: WesBanco Arena
Location: Wheeling, West Virginia
Date: February 25th, 2012 (2 shows)
Photographer: Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Aftershock (Bob Robbins), Batman (Norm Miller), High Maintenance (Jocelyn Perrin), Instigator (Paul Breaug), Monster Mutt (Joe Miller), Virginia Giant (Diehl Wilson)
[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…]

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.

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…]

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…]

New Photos From Down Under

Look who’s back – TMB Contributor Darryl Smith from way down under has just submitted another great set of photos from the Australian Monsters Tour of Destruction!! The tour was in Lismore, New South Wales on July 24th and the Aussie fans saw a great show courtesy of Outback Thunda, Scooby Doo, Raptor’s Rampage, Batman and Avenger, with a backflip attempt by Kreg Christensen in Freakshow. Click the link below to check out all of the great shots, big thanks to Darryl for the awesome work!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW DARRYL SMITH’S LISMORE, NSW PHOTO GALLERY

Monsters Tour of Destruction – Lismore, NSW – 07/24/10

Event: Monsters Tour of Destruction
Venue: Lismore Showgrounds
Location: Lismore, New South Wales
Date: July 24th, 2010
Photographer: Darryl Smith

Lineup:  Avenger (Hayden McLeary), Batman (Kreg Christensen), Freakshow (Kreg Christensen), Outback Thunda 1 (Clive Featherby), Raptor’s Rampage (Kreg Christensen), Scooby Doo (Clive Featherby) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 1.4 – Springfield, IL

Event:  4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals
Venue:  Illinois State Fairgrounds
Location:  Springfield, Illinois
Date:  June 28th-29th, 2008
Host:  Kyle Doyle
Videographer:  Colby Marshall

Lineup:  Avenger (Jim Koehler), Batman (John Seasock), Monster Mutt (George Balhan), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Geremie Dishman), Spike (Chris Bergeron), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]