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Article By Ross Z. Bonar - March 27th, 2009 The monster truck industry is brimming with excitement as we are only 24 hours away from World Finals X!! The industry’s biggest event and the crowning of the most coveted titles in monster trucks has nearly arrived, which means it is time for TMB’s annual World Finals Preview article, featuring thoughts and analysis on the 2009 Monster Jam season and the upcoming championship event. We’ll take a look at the finalist selections, acknowledge the most outstanding drivers of the year and discuss who we expect to be in the mix for each championship tomorrow night.
One of the most popular topics for debate among monster truck fans is the selection of World Finals participants—who got in, who was left out, who “deserves” to be there. Until the day Monster Jam announces a defined qualifying system the World Finals, these debates will rage on. Most center on interpretation of the word “deserving”.
My opinion on the subject is this: the Monster Jam World Finals is the premiere competition in all of monster trucks—all other events pale in comparison to the event’s size, scope and significance. Because of that, I believe that drivers should have to earn the right to compete for the industry’s most prestigious championships based on their season-long performance. The event is a twenty-four truck field, and the season’s top twenty-four drivers should be the ones competing for the titles—they are “deserving”.
This system however, would not factor in things such as a driver’s past performance in World Finals competition or a driver’s previous World Finals title. These arguments are often presented as reasons why a driver is “deserving” of a spot in the field. But here’s my problem with those arguments—they have no relevance on the current season. Is a driver who won a title 5 years ago but had an awful season this year really “deserving” of a chance at being the current year’s champion of Monster Jam? Is a driver who has excelled in previous World Finals performances really “deserving” of a chance at being the current year’s champion of Monster Jam based on that fact alone?
Of course, the problem with my argument is that there is no season long point system for Monster Jam that would show us who those top twenty-four drivers are. It is for this reason that TheMonsterBlog.com tracks results for every Monster Jam event held throughout the season and compiles our unofficial “Road to the World Finals” point standings. Our system is based purely on performance, and shows us who the best drivers over the course of the season are.
So having said all of that, let’s start looking at the 2009 Monster Jam World Finals “Qualifiers”, and based purely on their regular season performance measured by their unofficial “Road to the World Finals” rankings, see which drivers got a free pass into the field and which deserving drivers got snubbed.
Snubs Gary Porter – 5th, 40 total wins Randy Brown – 7th, 33 total wins, 2 major stadium wins Chad Tingler – 8th, 27 total wins, 1 major stadium win Rod Schmidt – 10th, 19 total wins, 2 major stadium wins Tony Farrell – 17th, 6 total wins Darren Migues – 20th, 18 total wins Kreg Christensen – 21st, 8 total wins Chuck Werner – T-22nd, 5 total wins, 1 stadium win Scott Hartsock – 24th, 4 total wins, 1 stadium win
Free Passes Damon Bradshaw – 25th, 1 total win Frank Krmel – 31st, 6 total wins, 1 stadium win Chris Bergeron – 33rd, 2 total wins David Smith – 37th, 0 total wins Cam McQueen – 38th, 3 total wins Chad Fortune – 43rd, 2 total wins Randy Moore – 46th, 1 total wins Dan Evans – T-52nd, 3 total wins Debra Miceli – 57th, 1 total wins
Some of the most glaring things that pop out me looking at this data: Chad Fortune is competing while Randy Brown isn’t? Cam McQueen is in the field while Chad Tingler watches from the sidelines? David Smith and his zero wins garner an invite while Darren Migues and 18 victories do not? Just for fun, let’s take a look at what the field might look like if the top twenty-four drivers from 2009, based purely on performance, had been selected:
Air Force Afterburner - Gary Porter (5th) Avenger - Jim Koehler (22nd) Backwards Bob - Tony Farrell (17th) Batman - John Seasock (9th) Blue Thunder - Linsey Weenk (12th) Bounty Hunter - Jimmy Creten (3rd) Bulldozer - Chuck Werner (23rd) Captain’s Curse - Alex Blackwell (16th) Donkey Kong - Rod Schmidt (10th) El Toro Loco - Lupe Soza (18th) Escalade - George Belhan (13th) Grave Digger - Dennis Anderson (1st) Gun Slinger - Scott Hartsock (24th) Iron Outlaw - Darren Migues (20th) Maximum Destruction - Tom Meents (6th) Monster Mutt - Charlie Pauken (4th) Monster Mutt Dalmation - Candace Jolly (15th) Pastrana 199 - Chad Tingler (8th) Safe Auto Minimizer - Marc MacDonald (14th) Stone Crusher - Steve Sims (19th) Spitfire - Kreg Christensen (21st) Superman - Randy Brown (7th) Taz - Adam Anderson (11th) TMNT - Pablo Huffaker (2nd)
While it is fun to analyze things as we have in the preceding paragraphs, the bottom line is we are only presenting this information as our way of recognizing those drivers who excelled this year and earned a shot at the championship. While we may have spent some time here lamenting the drawbacks of the current selection process, none of that matters when the lights go green on tomorrow night. 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.
Before we talk more about the big event tomorrow night, let’s take another moment to highlight some of the outstanding individual achievement we saw during the 2009 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. Let's take a look at who deserves the most prestigious of the 2009 Monster Jam Awards:
Driver of the Year - Racing: Jimmy Creten, Bounty Hunter Creten brought home an incredible five major stadium event racing wins, and when combined with another twelve arena racing victories, Creten’s overall racing win percentage was an unbelievable 63%. Dennis Anderson gets a close second, with five stadium race wins of his own and a 59% win percentage, but only five arena racing wins to Creten’s twelve.
Driver of the Year - Freestyle: Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger Nine stadium freestyle wins this year. The next best driver had three. In the two previous seasons, the most stadium freestyle wins by a single driver was six. Throw in an 82% freestyle season win percentage and another five arena freestyle wins and it is evident there was no other driver at Anderson’s level this year.
Rookie of the Year: Chris Baker, El Toro Loco It was another small crop of rookies this year, with the most notable being Baker and Jeremy Slifko in Backdraft. Both drivers made limited appearances in the summer / fall of ’08 and both impressed in their first full season. Chris Baker gets the nod based on two arena racing wins and a solid runner-up in freestyle at this year’s Indianapolis Monster Jam.
Most Improved Driver of the Year: John Seasock, Batman It seems kind of dumb to call the two-time defending World Champion of Racing the 2009 Most Improved Driver of the Year, but when you take a look at the regular-season statistics, it is very clear that is exactly what John Seasock is. Combining 2007 and 2008, Seasock had exactly one regular-season victory. This season Seasock piloted Batman to an outstanding three stadium racing wins, third behind only Creten and Anderson. Factor in an additional eight arena wins and few other drivers making significant gains over previous years, and Seasock takes this one hands down.
As long as we’re talking about improvement over the previous year, let’s take a look at “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 Mark Hall, Raminator +28 Chris Bergeron, Brutus +26 Chuck Werner, Bulldozer +26 Cam McQueen, Pastrana 199 +22 Scott Hartsock, Gun Slinger +18
Elevator Down Carl Van Horn, Pure Adrenaline -46 Mike Wine, Backwards Bob -30 Jim Bendzick, Rolling Thunder -25 Sean Duhon, Cult Energy Activator -16 Chad Fortune, Superman -16
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:
- Jimmy Creten, Bounty Hunter – As mentioned above Creten has been dominant in racing this year, especially on the biggest stages, evidenced by his five stadium race wins. Every year in Vegas Creten is a contender but he just hasn’t managed to put it all together—this could be the year.
- John Seasock, Batman – The two-time defending racing champion is going for the three-peat and is coming off the best racing season of his career. Seasock has the challenging Vegas race course figured out in a way that few other drivers have in the history of the World Finals, and that will serve him well tomorrow night.
- Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger – As good as Jimmy Creten was in racing this season, Dennis Anderson was almost just as good with five stadium race wins of his own. Grave Digger XX is arguably one of the best chassis ever built, and Anderson is coming off what may be the best season of his career. This could be the year Anderson gets racing championship #3.
- Pablo Huffaker, TMNT – The 2007 Freestyle Champion logged a great racing season of his own this year, taking two major stadium racing wins and another 11 arena racing wins. Pablo is determined to have a good showing tomorrow after not being invited to the Finals last year. Oh and he’ll be driving his own Grave Digger chassis for the first time since World Finals 4 when he filled in for an injured Dennis Anderson.
- Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction – Meents has had a bit of an off year in 2009, but he still managed two major stadium racing victories. Tom has more World Racing Championships than any other driver and he knows the Vegas race course like the back of his hand. You can never count out Tom Meents in Vegas when a championship is on the line.
- Other Drivers to Watch – Charlie Pauken, Monster Mutt; Linsey Weenk, Blue Thunder; Alex Blackwell, Captain’s Curse.
The Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Championship is most often won by the driver who best masters three key elements: filling the clock, 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 incredible obstacles placed on the track will no doubt claim the titles hopes of some of the best freestylers in the sport tomorrow night. But despite that fact, our list of 5 contenders and 3 drivers to watch is a who’s who of top freestyle drivers.
- Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger – No driver dominated freestyle in 2009 like Dennis Anderson. Nine stadium freestyle wins. Unbelievable. Dennis is at the top of his game and 2009 could very well be the year he takes Freestyle Championship number two.
- Pablo Huffaker, TMNT – While Adam Anderson is officially the defending World Champion of Freestyle, Pablo will be defending his title from 2007 as well after his inexplicable omission from the 2008 lineup. After an incredibly successful regular season, Pablo will be one of the drivers to beat tomorrow night. The fact that he is driving his own Digger chassis instead of his team’s second chassis that usually sits under Turtle only helps his chances.
- Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction – The fact that Tom Meents failed to win a single stadium freestyle in 2009 will be meaningless once Maximum Destruction roars to the track in freestyle. Freestyle in Vegas is perfectly suited to Tom’s driving style and bad luck has ended his chances the last couple years. If luck is on Tom’s side and the equipment can hold up for two minutes, there may be no beating Meents.
- Charlie Pauken, Monster Mutt - Charlie Pauken dominates freestyle everywhere he goes and has been great in past World Finals freestyle. He’s come close several times, and if all the stars can align tomorrow in Vegas, Pauken could take home his first championship. One thing is guaranteed…Chuckie will have one of the “wow moments” of the night.
- Adam Anderson, Taz - Adam Anderson laid down one of the greatest freestyles in the history of the World Finals in 2008 on his way to his first championship. His 2009 season was solid but not spectacular, but the bottom line is that Adam has one of the best chassis in the field and an incredible amount of talent. If he can duplicate his run from last year, Taz will be tough to beat.
- Other Drivers to Watch – Jim Koehler, Avenger; Jimmy Creten, Bounty Hunter; Alex Blackwell, Captain’s Curse.
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 much more. Next weekend is the Checkered Flag Productions Monster Truck Grand Nationals in Pocatello, Idaho, where their Winter Champion will be decided. 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. This way fans can follow the crowning of champions two weeks in a row, and everybody wins.
That’s all for this year’s edition of TMB’s World Finals Preview article, and we sure hope everyone is as excited 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—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 Kyle Doyle, Ross Z. Bonar, and courtesy of Rich Schaefer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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