Happy Holidays to each and every Monster Jam fan, driver, crewmember, official, and behind the scenes person who make Monster Jam the greatest sport in the world! The busy 2007 portion of the Monster Jam winter season is now just days away as we wrap up what little bit of an off-season there is in this industry. For many teams there really is no off-season, though. The first three months of the year leading up to the Monster Jam World Finals returning to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas are the most intense, yet many teams stayed busy by participating in the handful of fall events on the schedule. Mainly the late fall and early winter days are spent prepping for the start of the new year, making sure the trucks begin the New Year at peak performance and that the drivers and crews are ready for the grind of January, February, and March.

Some Monster Jam fans might be surprised to know that some of the off-season prep is in the “classroom” as well as in the shop. Monster Jam technical officials spent a weekend going over the newest rule updates and safety issues this fall so they can continue to be the best in the business. Most of the live event announcers spent a weekend brushing up on our skills and the newest techniques to make sure the fans experience at live Monster Jam events continues to be the ultimate. And in early December many of the Monster Jam teams, including drivers and crews, got together to exchange information on a wide variety of topics, including safety and the newest technology, to make sure that they hit the ground running in the New Year, ready to perform at their best every weekend.

Along with top level Monster Jam announcers Greg Whitaker and Darren Pallen I was able to spend some time at the summit for many Monster Jam drivers and crews, working with as many of them as possible on making sure the interviews that we do with them at the events and on television are as informative and entertaining as possible. Another benefit of getting together with the teams pre-season for me is to be able to catch up with everyone on what’s new for 2007, what to look for on the track and what will be happening behind the scenes with the top teams in the sport.

Much of the attention, as it always does when the teams get together, focused on reigning World Racing Champion Dennis Anderson. As you may or may not know, Dennis hurt his shoulder in Minneapolis earlier this month. While no official word has been released by the Monster Jam camp on what the plan is or who will be driving in his place, my insider sources are telling me that Dennis will be back behind the wheel in early January just in time to pilot the truck himself.

Something else that will be worth keeping an eye on all season is how several new Monster Jam drivers perform in high profile equipment. The Jolly sisters are certain to get a lot of attention early on. Courtney Jolly, who is now firmly entrenched as Travis Pastrana’s pilot in the Pastrana 199 truck, has more on track experience in a monster than her older sister, Candice, who will debut a new Monster Mutt design in Houston the first weekend of 2007. I can tell you this. Both of the Jolly women have tons of confidence and extensive racing backgrounds. They are both in great equipment with strong crews to keep their stuff at 100%. It seems that the only thing they need to begin climbing up the Monster Jam ladder is seat time; something both will be getting plenty of right off the bat in ’07.

Another new face seems headed for success as well, former Supercross legend Damon Bradshaw, now behind the wheel of the powerful Air Force Afterburner. Paul Cohen is still with the team even though some physical issues are keeping him from driving for the time being. So Cohen has relished his new relationship with Bradshaw and the pair seems to have instant chemistry. Cohen has had great success in several different trucks, and he is more than happy to pass on as much knowledge as possible to Bradshaw, who seems to be soaking up every word. Bradshaw is clearly a true racer, and will be stronger and stronger with each appearance he makes. Having Cohen there with him just speeds up the learning curve and might just push Damon to the top quicker than anyone expects. Damon Bradshaw and Paul Cohen are also both perfect fits to represent the United States Air Force, a major Monster Jam sponsor. They spend lots of their time at every event with actual Air Force personnel every where they go, they are very serious about being the type of representatives every serving member of the Air Force will be proud of, and frankly, they just look the part, projecting the right image for those who are the world’s best at defending our freedoms.

While everyone associated with the sport gets excited heading into the new campaign, there is probably no one person more pumped up about the New Year than Mike Wine. Proving that the “old school” gang can hang with the young guns, the driver who first made his name two decades ago behind the wheel of the Jersey Outlaw Ford will have an active schedule coming up as the driver of the original Monster Mutt Mercury. And Wine is flat fired up. Jumping behind the wheel of the Mutt earlier this month at the Minneapolis Metrodome, the first time he had driven a monster in competition in some 15 years, Wine proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks when he made it all the way to the racing finals and was very impressive in his first ever stadium freestyle. The likeable Wine will be fun to watch all winter.

Wine’s move into the Mutt cockpit creates some mixed feeling for Blue Thunder driver Tony Farrell. Tony told me is proud of his friend, and happy that Wine gets the opportunity to be behind the wheel again, and the two will still be working together often. At the same time Farrell had such confidence in Wine as his crew chief these last two years that it will be critical for the new Blue Thunder team to build chemistry quickly. The Built Ford Tough machine is always a major contender, and Farrell is coming off one of his best years ever. Tony may be the best at driving that he ever has been, but he has also given tons of credit to Wine’s performance underneath the hood for Blue Thunder’s success the last couple of years. Farrell knows he will miss having Wine as his crew chief but he told me that already having new crew chief Bill Easterly Jr. on board has been a big plus. Tony spoke at length about how impressed he is with his new pit boss, and he expects the pair will be a formidable team for years to come. Tony also said there could be some big news coming soon from the Big Blue Oval camp regarding their engine program that will make some major headlines.

As in most sports, confidence exudes in the off season with the next campaign looming right around the corner, and a couple of drivers who believe 2007 will be their best year ever are Lupe Sosa and Chad Fortune, who will back in familiar digs. Sosa’s El Toro Loco team and Fortune’s Superman outfit should be major players on a weekly basis during the upcoming year. I’d also recommend keeping an eye on another of the second generations drivers, Derek Evans. It looks like Dan and Lorrie’s grown up baby boy will be busier than ever and he seems to me to be one of the hungriest drivers in the sport. Derek continues to leap at every opportunity he gets and the future looks really bright for him.

One of the interesting things to me about having so many teams together away from the racetrack was the interaction, and the time spent together by all of the Team Grave Digger drivers and mechanics. Even though many of them keep in touch by phone as the season goes on, the hectic schedule for all of the trucks that make up the most popular team in the world keeps each Digger unit on the road so much all over the globe, so time to compare notes face to face is limited. Still it is really impressive to see the likes of Anderson, Pablo Huffaker, Charlie Pauken, Randy Brown, Gary Porter, Chad Tingler, Rod Schmidt, and every driver and mechanic who puts on a Grave Digger team shirt working so hard to help each other, and the team unity from a group that is not on the road together every week is amazing.

The excitement about a new season of Monster Jam already is clearly at a favor pitch among those in the business, and I have no doubt that 2007 will be the greatest Monster Jam season ever. So have a great holiday season and rest assured that everyone associated with Monster Jam, both on the front lines and those behind the scenes are all committed to giving the best fans in the world, the Monster Jam fans, the greatest competition and excitement they’ve yet seen in the New Year.