The new crop of talent in the sport has arrived from a wide variety of backgrounds. All of the new drivers we've seen come into Monster Jam in recent years boast different types of race experience and many have worked their way into the driver's seat after learning these machines working on pit crews. All of these new shoes have had to, or are still having to, earn the respect of their peers one event at a time. Bradshaw is an exception, having entered Monster Jam with instant credibility thanks to his legendary two wheel career and his attitude of total dedication to excellence that was evident from the first day he was named the new Air Force Afterburner driver.

Damon's first move after getting the coveted ride was to seek the counsel of Paul Cohen who drove the truck with much success in 2006. Cohen did not want to give up driving, he was forced to for medical reasons. To Paul's credit, rather than sulk about having to vacate the driver's seat he instead went to work to give Bradshaw all the help and advice that he could. What is also so impressive is that Damon soaked up everything Paul offered, realizing that his previous Supercross accomplishments didn't guarantee him Monster Jam success. Bradshaw came into the sport humble and eager to learn, an attitude that is already paying huge dividends.

The respect he has already earned from Monster Jam's biggest guns, Dennis Anderson and Tom Meents has actually surprised me a little. Not that Bradshaw hasn't earned it, but Meents especially has always been tough for new drivers to impress. Tom told me after the Jacksonville event that he consider's Bradshaw a big time talent who is going to continue to have tremendous success in Monster Jam. Anderson, who for years has trained lots of new drivers, from former world champ Madusa to his own sons, also told me he thinks Bradshaw is destined to be a big winner in Monster Jam.

As big as Damon's night was in Jacksonville it was oh so close to being even bigger. I mean as big as the much sought after Double Down trophy. Bradshaw was beaten by a truck length in the racing finals by Meents but the race was not without controversy. On the second of three jumps over the crush cars on the head-to-head course Meents came extremely close to missing the jump. If both front wheels don't make it up the ramp and onto the first car in the race lane then a five second penalty is assessed. Some observers in Jax thought Meents missed the ramp and should have been hit with the penalty which would have given the event win to Bradshaw and the USAF team. Tom told me he wasn't sure if he should have been penalized or not. The only opinions that matter belong to the Monster Jam officials and they said Max-D was legal and did not penalize Meents. We'll be taking a very close look at that moment later this year when the event is shown on Speed. I'm not bringing this up to cast any doubts on the Max-D win, but I do want to point out how close Bradshaw really was to his first career Double Down trophy.

A final note from Bradshaw"s Jacksonville performance: he clearly is one of the quickest drivers in the business. For the second time in recently weeks his freestyle run ended with the Air Force Afterburner erupting in flames, but this fire caused by a destroyed transmission was absolutely huge. Damon was out of the truck in a split second and avoided injury but told Anderson in a very serious tone on the Speed stage ''man, that was really hot". Safely away from the truck as the Monster Jam officials quickly extinguished the flames Bradshaw, as is becoming his trademark, ran up into the stands and celebrated with the fans.

Speaking of the officials it was great to see Marcus Sumner back on the floor working the Jacksonville event after a year away from the USHRA. Sumner, Jimmy Ursini, and Kevin Krohn had formed the nucleus of the official crew at the major televised events for several years and the drivers have tremendous confidence when those three are on the floor that not only will they get a fair shake in terms of calls made, but they know if something goes wrong that trio will be on the scene right now to keep the drivers safe.

If you want to see just how amazing the growth continues to be in Monster Jam look no further than Jacksonville. Just a few years ago the Monster Jam event there was contested in the rain with about 45,000 empty seats. Rumors were rampant that the event would be cancelled in future years. But the Live Nation Motorsports team that promotes the event knew that this event was a diamond in the rough, in a great stadium with the fervent Florida fans sure to support great events if they stuck with it. To be there to see the event sold out with some 70,000 screaming fans in Jacksonville Stadium this year was especially gratifying for all of us, and big congratulations go to the marketing team headed in Jax by Chris Rossbach for making it happen. But big props also have go out to the drivers, led by Dennis and Tom, as well as the operations team that year after year made this event so exciting it is now northern Florida's most anticipated annual winter event.
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