I know the election is over, but now it’s time for me to start campaigning, so here goes: VOTE FOR DENNIS ANDERSON AND LINSEY WEENK IN THE SPEED PERFORMANCE AWARDS!!!

Voting is currently underway on line at www.speedtv.com for several video awards, and one of the nominees for “Best Rivalry” is the exciting 2006 battles between Monster Jam legend Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger and the best racing newcomer to enter the sport in years, Linsey Weenk in Iron Outlaw. To vote for Dennis and Linsey in this category, log on to www.speedtv.com, go down to the icon for the Speed Performance awards, then click on the “Best Rivalry” category and click on the “vote for this video” button.

Let me give props here to my Monster Jam on Speed colleague Ken Stout. As many of you are aware Ken is involved with several shows on Speed along with Monster Jam, so he was one of the people consulted when Speed began to select nominees for their Speed Performance award categories. Ken gave them several ideas from Monster Jam and the other circuits that he covers, and the panel at Speed selected the Dennis vs. Linsey rivalry for this category. So again, thanks to Ken for helping Monster Jam get recognized along side all of the other race circuits that Speed covers. Now it’s up to all Monster Jam fans to get on line and vote! It’s a tough category. Also nominated: the scintillating three-way war for Supercross supremacy matching Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed, and James Stewart; the F-1 battles between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher; Champ Car foes Sebastian Bourdais and A. J. Almendinger; Moto GP combatants Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi; and the Indy Racing League rivalry between Team Ganassi and Team Penske. All are deserving winners, but I’ll put the thrills of the season long Grave Digger vs. Iron Outlaw battles up against any of them, and I hope all of you Monster Jam fans who agree with me get on line and vote.

By the way, there will be Speed Performance award nominations made public in several other categories soon, so keep checking out speedtv.com and let’s see if any other Monster Jam moments and superstars are included in the other awards. The premier award will be the Speed Performer of the Year Award who will receive the Mario Andretti Trophy. The nominees for the Performer of the Year will be disclosed at a later date.

When you go to Speed to vote you can also check out an article about the panelists whom Speed has chosen to select the nominees, and it is an extremely impressive group of motorsports broadcasters and writers, so it is a real honor to see Dennis and Linsey’s name among those who have been chosen so far.

Moving on to another topic, I just returned from this year’s Live Nation Motorsports Announcers Summit held in Aurora, IL, and I have to tell you that never have I been prouder to be a part of the Monster Jam team, nor more impressed with the pool of talent that the promoters have assembled to enhance the live Monster Jam experience for our fans, both on the microphone and behind the scenes. There are many reasons that Monster Jam is the premier circuit in the business, and this type of off-season preparation for the upcoming campaign is one of the big ones. Events sanctioned by the USHRA have always put a priority on safety, competition, and entertainment for the fans, and it takes a tremendous effort on everyone’s part to make sure each Monster Jam event not only lives up to, but also exceeds expectations.

Spending a weekend working along side the other announcers who will be a part of the Monster Jam experience for our fans is also a great opportunity for each of us to compare notes and styles, all of us looking for ideas from the others to make us better at what we do. While we all have different ways of presenting the live events to the millions of Monster Jam fans in attendance each year, we each share the same goal: that we do our part from the start of the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits through the final freestyle to make sure every fan in the stands understands each part of the event and enjoys it. The greatest reward for those of us behind the microphone at a live event is to see every person standing and cheering their lungs out throughout the event, and seeing the smiles on the faces of our young fans when they get to meet the superstars of Monster Jam face to face before and after the events. All of us left this year’s announcers meetings rededicated to making sure we do everything that we can to make sure Monster Jam remains the most exciting and entertaining event any family can attend, not just in the motorsports world, but in any form of sports or live entertainment.

Now the time is here to start the new Speed TV season and I can’t wait! The first event to be televised in 2007 will be taped at the Metrodome in Minneapolis December 2 nd with Dennis Anderson and Tom Meents both on hand to begin defense of their latest World Championships. I look forward to seeing some of our greatest fans in that awesome facility to kick off the new season, and remember, if you won’t be able to join us live in Minny you’ll be able to check the results here at monsterjamonline.com. Finally, when you are on this site make sure that you check out the new Monster Jam souvenirs that you can purchase on line for Christmas and make yourself a real hero with every Monster Jam fan you buy a special gift for, and don’t forget that tickets to one of the upcoming 2007 Monster Jam or Thunder National events are incredible gifts for Monster Jam fans, and there is still time to get the ultimate Monster Jam ticket: to the 2007 World Finals and the Double Down experience in Las Vegas, so check out all of those options right now.