Over the last several years we’ve come to expect some of the most spectacular moments of the season every time Monster Jam appears in St. Louis and each time the sport’s superstars, led by Tom Meents, have delivered 2007 was no exception. Meents put on a show in Maximum Destruction’s freestyle that will have to be considered a top contender for Freestyle of the Year, and Pablo Huffaker in Grave Digger was just as amazing by what he did on three wheels as the pair received standing ovation after standing ovation from the sold out, capacity crowd at the Edward Jones Dome.

The past two years in my annual Scotty Awards that recap the best of the season in this space and in the Monster Jam Souvenir Yearbook Meents’ St. Louis show stoppers have topped the Freestyle of the Year category and that may happen again this year. There’s just something about St. Louis. Actually there are several things about the Monster Jam experience in the Gateway City that make this annually a can’t miss event, whether you see it live or on Speed TV’s Monster Jam program. First and foremost it’s the floor. The Edward Jones Dome floor is by far the largest that the Monster Jam circuit competes on, and this year the track construction crew brought in even more dirt to make the useable surface almost 50 feet wider than in past years. With all that room the Monster Jam officials create obstacles that are second only to the Monster Jam World Finals jumps, so the physical tools are there for every competitor to have to live by Meents’ credo, “Go big or go home”.

The next factor is an illusion because the seating capacity in the Edward Jones Dome is similar to the other domes and stadiums on the tour, but because of the spaciousness the superstars of the sport have to feel like they’re in front of 100,000 or more people. Everything about the place is, and feels, huge. For Tom Meents all of this combines with some subtle inspiration to take Max-D to previously unseen heights, and I mean that literally considering that the apex of some of his jumps last Saturday were as high as any I’ve ever seen. That subtle inspiration for Tom comes from geography. Like Indianapolis where the Meents’ legend is Monster Jam folklore, St. Louis is just a few hours away from Maximum Destruction’s Paxton, IL, base. Thousands of Meents fans that include his family and closest friends drive south to join the large Missouri crowd there every time. Now we all know that the stars of this sport are all about delivering to the fans everything they’ve got every time they are on the track, where ever they are in action, but it’s only human nature to realize that with that much of a friends and family base on hand live the adrenalin has to be pumping at record levels. We see it with David Smith’s great accomplishments at home in King Krunch when Monster Jam competes in Houston, with the success that Floridians Scott Hartsock in Gunslinger and Jim Jack in Reptoid have had in Orlando, with what Tony Farrell and Blue Thunder have accomplished in Detroit, just to point out a few, and certainly that hometown mentality drives Meents in St. Louis.

Then there is the Maximum Destruction vs. Grave Digger rivalry that always seems to be at a fever pitch in St. Louis. Over the last several years Team Grave Digger drivers have delivered huge performances to excite the Grave Digger fan base there and push Meents to the extreme competitively. This year it was Pablo Huffaker upholding the honor for the team celebrating 25 years at the top of the sport and the native Texan did his team proud. A Grave Digger full throttle leap several stories high brought gasps and screams from the crowd, but the landing was so violent that it snapped off a wheel and it appeared that Digger was done with still almost a minute left on the clock. But hey, that’s just one wheel. Pablo still had three to work with and he was not quitting. The loss of the wheel prohibited any more sic air but it did not stop Pablo’s collection of Digger Donuts that brought the first standing-o, and he continued to nail wheelies and assault the obstacles with three wheels to fill the clock. With the crowd on its feet at the end of the run Huffaker even climbed a ladder to get into the crowd and celebrate in the middle of the screaming Grave Digger fans for several minutes.

So Huffaker had basically said to Meents, “there, top that!” And Tom brought Maximum Destruction out determined to do just that. Tom’s night had already been eventful even before the UTI Freestyle competition began. He began by flipping Maximum Destruction on to its roof in introductions. No worse for wear, the truck was rolled back onto its wheels and ready for racing on the fast St. Louis style twin oval course and Meents set the fastest qualifying time, then went on to win the competition, beating a strong Jon Zimmer and T-Maxx in the racing finals. During that win, though, Tom destroyed his transmission so the Team Meents crew went to work to replace the tranny. Getting help from other teams, most notably Huffaker’s Racesource/Grave Digger outfit, the truck was back to 100% for freestyle.

Watching Pablo, Tom knew it would take maximum effort to win this one and he came out on fire. The thing that I can’t forget about the Max-D St. Louis freestyle was the sheer height of the leaps over the biggest obstacles. They were truly amazing. He flipped the truck to end the run with a few seconds left on the clock and tied Huffaker for the win, but this was no longer about the score or the trophy. Sitting upside down in his truck that was right next to where Grave Digger had been left on the track following that truck-disabling run, Tom refused to unbuckle his harnesses and asked the Monster Jam officials to let him perform an encore for the Monster Jam fans. So there he stayed, strapped in, upside down, until the loader pulled the truck back over on to all four wheels. Fired back up, Maximum Destruction then went on another tear, this time shredding the body off the truck in a bonus run that again had every fan standing and screaming. It will no doubt be one of the year’s most memorable moments.

By the way, we are so used to analyzing the Meents-Dennis Anderson rivalry that sometimes we forget it is a true team rivalry, whoever is in Grave Digger and whoever is in Maximum Destruction are always on a mutual mission to beat the other. That said, the mutual respect between Meents and Huffaker is as strong, or stronger, than any you’ll find. They both told Brenda Price on Speed that they were honored to be tied with the other for the St. Louis win, although the tug of war for the trophy after every one had left the building was probably a very interesting negotiation.

More St. Louis notes: behind the scenes at the Edward Jones Dome was an old school Monster Jam fans delight. Just to name a couple of those on hand from Monster Jam’s past were former Bearfoot and Bulldozer driver Eldon DePew and another former Bulldozer pilot, Guy Wood, a native of Missouri who of course raced last year in Meents’ Bob & Tom and Hot Wheels Fords…..I also ran into former Bigfoot and Snakebite driver Gene Patterson, one of the nicest people the sport has ever seen, at the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits. I hadn’t seen Gene in several years. He looked great and he and his family were having a great time at the event…..Every time I wonder why Tom Meents doesn’t put together a completely new truck, instead continuing to rebuild an eight year old piece, I just have to look at the struggles other veterans have with new machines and I think I understand part of Meents’ mentality in that regard. Dawn Creten’s new Scarlet Bandit is a beautiful, state-of-the-art Ford Expedition, but she and her new crew still have bugs to work out and are still trying to get that critical team chemistry to gel. Dawn will be fine and back near the top soon, but they are struggling right now. The same can be said for Allen Pezo, the 20+ year veteran still trying to get his awesome new Predator dialed in and running to its potential…..I’m really looking forward to the final pre-World Finals Speed televised stadium event this coming Saturday in Jacksonville’s Alltel Stadium, an event legendary for the way the monsters handle tough conditions and for the way the hardy north Florida fans turn out whether it’s cold, raining, or whatever the weatherman brings. The event was not on TV last year because of scheduling conflicts and I’m glad that it has returned to the TV schedule this year because it has always proved to be one of the more interesting and entertaining events on the circuit. Maybe this year we’ll get some beautiful Florida weather to go with it. Maybe….we can always hope, right?