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Article By Ross Z. Bonar - March 26th, 2010 Well fans, its that time of the year again! Here we are on the eve of the 11th edition of our sport's most prestigious event - the Monster Jam World Finals. This one event garners more excitement and attention than any other, both with the hardcore and the casual monster trucks fans. And with all that excitement comes TMB's Annual World Finals Preview, featuring thoughts and analysis on the 2010 Monster Jam season and tomorrow's championship event. We're going to take a close look at the drivers selected as qualifiers for this year's event, talk about some of the best performers in the regular season this year and talk about our favorites to bring home the titles.
Now every year the first thing we like to talk about is the selection of the 24 World Finals competitors - who made the cut, who didn't get the invite and who "deserves" to be there. We always have to qualify this discussion up front by talking about what we mean by "deserves". As of now and in all past years, Monster Jam has never announced how they pick which trucks/drivers will have the right to compete for their racing and freestyle titles, so there are many differing opinions on who "deserves" to be there.
Here is my perspective - in covering the monster truck industry as a whole, we recognize that the Monster Jam World Finals is the premiere event in all of monster trucks - no other event can compare to the size, significance and exposure as this one. The driver who wins racing and freestyle is known as the "World Champion" for the entire next year. Because of that fact, I believe that drivers should have to earn the right to compete to be the World Champion based on their season-long performance. With 24 open spots, I think that the 24 best performing drivers during the regular season, based on actual event results, should be the ones competing.
This view does leave out some things worth considering however - things like a driver's past performance in World Finals events or being a past world champion. Many fans will cite these facts as reasons why a driver should be included in the current years lineup. But to me, I just don't see how a driver who maybe won a title 5 years ago should have the right to be this year's champion if he didn't put together a strong regular season.
But this is all just talk because the fact is, Monster Jam does not run a season long points system that would allow us to put all drivers on the same scale and compare their accomplishments against one another. This is the reason why TMB runs our unofficial “Road to the World Finals” point standings/power rankings every year - to allow fans to see who the top performing drivers were in a given season. We base our statistics purely on individual driver performance from the official event results Monster Jam provides on their website. For more on how the system works, click the link above. Also, see below for this year's final "Road to the World Finals" standings:
So having said all of that, let’s take a look at the 2010 Monster Jam World Finals “Qualifiers”, and based purely on their regular season performance measured by the unofficial “Road to the World Finals” power rankings, see which drivers got a free pass into the field and which deserving drivers got snubbed.
Snubs Randy Brown – 4th, 33 total wins Gary Porter – 5th, 41 total wins Frank Krmel - 6th - 4 total wins, 2 major stadium wins Mike Vaters - 15th - 25 total wins
Neil Elliott - 16th - 6 total wins,
2 major stadium wins Carl Van Horn - 22nd - 5 total wins, 1 major stadium win
Free Passes Jim Koehler - 25th, 5 total wins, 1 major stadium win Lupe Soza - 26th, 5 total wins Candace Jolly - 28th, 7 total wins
David Smith - 34th, 2 total wins
Here are some of the things that pop out most in looking at that list. Gary Porter and his 41 total wins is passed over in favor over John Seasock with 3? Somehow Mike Vaters, the second best performing independent truck in Monster Jam this year, gets snubbed while Steve Sims gets the call after being the 45th ranked driver this year? Just for fun, let’s take a look at what the field might look like if the top twenty-four drivers from 2010, based purely on performance, had been selected:
Advance Auto Parts Grinder -
Randy Brown (4th) Blue Thunder - Linsey Weenk (9th)
Bounty Hunter - Jimmy Creten
(12th) Interesting stuff, but here's the bottom line...its fun to analyze things as we have in the preceding paragraphs, but we only presenting this information as our way of recognizing those drivers who excelled this year and earned a shot at the championship. This is in no way a knock against the drivers who were selected and we are confident that each and every one of them will do themselves proud in Vegas tomorrow. While we may have spent some time here pointing out the drawbacks of the current selection process, none of that matters when the lights go green. If you’re in the field, regardless of how you got there, you have a 1 in 24 shot at leaving Las Vegas with a career highlight that will follow your name forever—World Finals Champion.
We'll continue talking about the big event in a bit, but let’s take another moment to highlight some of the outstanding individual achievement we saw during the 2010 Monster Jam season. In nearly every other professional sport, season-long awards are presented based on performance in the regular season, without factoring in post-season results. So let's take a look at who deserves the most prestigious of the 2010 Monster Jam Awards:
Driver of the Year - Racing: Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction Last year Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter annihilated the competition in racing all season long. Creten was once again strong in 2010, but Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction was just slightly better. Each driver ended with 9 wins, both having 4 stadium victories and 5 arena wins. The difference comes down to winning percentage, and in that area, Meents is just ever slightly better than Creten with a 50% to a 41%. Meents' arena wins also came in 8 truck fields where as Creten's came in 6 trucks fields. Based on performance, the Monster Jam Racing Driver of the Year is Tom Meents by a narrow margin over Jimmy Creten.
Driver of the Year - Freestyle: Pablo Huffaker, Grave Digger The 2007 Freestyle World Champion had an incredible season in 2010. 18 total freestyle wins, including 4 major stadium wins, 2 of which came in 16 truck fields. Tom Meents was the only other driver to pick up 4 stadium freestyles this year, but where Huffaker pulls away is his additional 14 arena wins and his 68% freestyle winning percentage. Congratulations to Pablo Huffaker on a dominant year of freestyle.
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Anderson, Monster Mutt The Monster Jam series featured a couple of exciting rookie drivers in 2010, highlighted by the son and brother of World Finals Freestyle Champions Dennis and Adam Anderson, Ryan Anderson making his debut this year driving Monster Mutt. The other was Dana Creech, also in a Monster Mutt. Creech managed to turn in some impressive performances, including picking up an arena racing and freestyle win over the course of the season. But Anderson proved to have the gift of natural talent his family is so well known for, getting 6 wins on the season, 1 of which a huge victory in the San Diego stadium freestyle competition. Congratulations to Ryan Anderson, truly deserving of this year's Rookie of the Year award.
Most Improved Driver of the Year: Frank Krmel, Blue Thunder Frank Krmel is no stranger to monster trucks, being a veteran of several Monster Jam seasons and even being a several time World Finals competitor. But in 2010, Krmel was given a new ride as one of the Blue Thunder team drivers where he rose from a solid performer to one of the sport's elite. Finally getting one of the premiere rides in the industry, Krmel showed he was deserving of it, ending the year as Monster Jam's 6th best driver, according to TMB's "Road to the World Finals". His previous best showing had been a 31st in 2009. Throw in two major stadium victories and a handful of arena wins and you've got our pick for Most Improved Driver in 2010. Next year, look for Jeremy Slifko in Backdraft to contend for this award after he showed some great stuff in 2010.
As long as we’re talking about improvement over the previous year, let’s take a look at our yearly feature, “The Elevator”. In comparing our "Road to the World Finals" unofficial standings results from last year to this year’s, we are able to show who improved and declined the most in the rankings:
Elevator Up
Debra Miceli, Madusa +38
Elevator Down
Chuck Werner, El Toro Loco -30
Steve Sims, Stone Crusher -26 Daron Basl, El Matador -21
Now finally, with all of that fun stuff out of the way, let's talk about which drivers we expect to see contend for the championships tomorrow night. The Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship features what is probably some of the most exciting racing seen in monster trucks all year long. On a course featuring a narrow entry into the stadium, incredible speed down the straightaway, a tight u-turn at the end and a mad dash over the cars to the finish line, it is truly one of the most demanding race course in all of monster trucks. Here are our picks for the top 5 contenders and 3 other drivers to watch for the racing championship:
- Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction – Meents has been nearly unbeatable at the World Finals in racing ever since its inception. 4 racing championships, something close to an 80% round win percentage in Vegas - the only thing that has ever seemed to stop Meents is mechanical difficulty. We have him as 2010's Monster Jam racing driver of the year - what better year for him to be called the champion.
- Jimmy Creten, Bounty Hunter – Creten has always been one of the best racers at the World Finals. He has come close so many times, but has never quite managed to get that racing championship. Its very possible that there is no other driver who wants a racing title more than Creten and it would be great to see him finally pull it off this year.
- Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger – Anderson is a two-time racing champion and has come close several other times. You simply can't count him out in Vegas - look for Anderson to be in the final four again this year.
- Alex Blackwell, Captain's Curse – Blackwell has been to two World Finals and has made the final four in both. He has also lost to the eventual champion in both, going down to Seasock in the semi-finals in 2008 and to Meents in the finals in 2009. There is no doubt Blackwell knows the track and has the talent to get the job done - the only question is if last year's scary ride into the safety holds will make him apprehensive about charging down into the final turn at full speed.
- Scott Hartsock, Gun Slinger – Hartsock returns after several years away from the World Finals. Gun Slinger was always one of the top performers in Vegas racing and I don't think the time away will slow him down in the slightest. Look for Gun Slinger to go deep in the brackets and contend for the title.
- Other Drivers to Watch – Pablo Huffaker, TMNT; Lee O'Donnell, Iron Man; Jon Zimmer, Amsoil Shock Therapy
The Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Championship is most often won by the driver who best masters three key elements: filling the clock now including bonus time, hitting all the obstacles and having one or more unforgettable “wow moments”. Other major factors include drawing middle to late in the order and what might be the most important, pure dumb luck. The incredibly tough obstacles placed on the track this year will no doubt claim the titles hopes of some of the best freestylers in the sport tomorrow night. But despite that fact, here is our list of 5 contenders and 3 drivers to watch is a who’s who of top freestyle drivers.
- Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger – Its hard to believe that the legendary Dennis Anderson has only won the freestyle championship once, that win coming 10 years ago this weekend at World Finals 1. After seeing some of the incredible runs Anderson has put together this year, 2010 may just be the year he picks up freestyle championship #2.
- Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction – Meents is the only multiple time champion of freestyle in the history of the World Finals. His 4 titles is a mark that may never be eclipsed, but he isn't done yet by any means. His last freestyle title came in 2006, making him way overdue for another. The main thing Tom has to do is keep that truck running for the full time - if he does that, there may not be any beating him.
- Adam Anderson, Taz – A nasty roll in racing sidelined Anderson from defending his freestyle title last year in Vegas. Chad Tingler stepped in and took Adam's truck to an 8th place finish overall in freestyle. This year Adam will be on kill in freestyle and if he can avoid trouble early on in his run, look for Taz to put up a huge score.
- Damon Bradshaw, Air Force Afterburner - Last year Bradshaw put on an absolute clinic on how to win at the World Finals. While he has still yet to show the consistency during the regular season that will make him one of the sport's top 10 drivers, he did managed 2 major stadium wins. Bradshaw's driving style is perfectly suited for Vegas and he is definitely a favorite to go back to back this year.
- Pablo Huffaker, TMNT - He's a former freestyle world champion, so he knows what it takes to win in Vegas. In addition, he was our pick for 2010 Freestyle Driver of the Year so he has definitely put together the regular season to be deserving of the title of champion this year.
- Other Drivers to Watch – Jimmy Creten, Bounty Hunter; Alex Blackwell, Captain's Curse; Charlie Pauken, Monster Mutt
As a final note, I always feel like we owe everyone an explanation for TMB’s lack of presence at the World Finals. We work off limited resources, and the simple fact is MonsterJamOnline.com covers the event better than we can. They have photos all through the week leading up to the Finals, live updates during the event, interviews with all the drivers, and a lot more. In a few short weeks, monster trucks return to the Pontiac Silverdome - 16 trucks and the return of BIGFOOT. There we can bring you tons of coverage you wouldn't otherwise see including TMB TV, so rather than us spending our resources trying to cover an event that is already well-covered, we do so bringing you an event you wouldn’t see much of otherwise.
So that’s all for another year’s edition of TMB’s World Finals Preview, we sure hope everyone is as jacked up for tomorrow night as we are. For those lucky folks out in Vegas to attend the event, have a blast, its an experience like no other and for those of you who will be following online, join us over at MonsterMayhem.org chat tomorrow night as we all follow along live. Thanks for reading!
- Ross Z. Bonar
Photos by Ross Z. Bonar, Jim Allen and Paul M. Harry ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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