When you think back on this year’s Monster Jam World Finals at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas so many spectacular moments come to mind. For many Monster Jam fans who were there or who have seen the event on TV certainly one of the most vivid memories is that of the first round race between Randy Brown in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Dan Evans in Destroyer.

A close race down Thunder Alley and into the turn, Evans knocked over a turning pole and the five-second penalty that goes along with it meant there was no doubt that Brown would be the race winner. But Randy had no idea that Evans had made that mistake. All he knew was that he was in a close race and pushed his truck to the limit to beat the Destroyer across the Ford Finish Line. The Turtle flew across the line first giving Brown the win straight-up even without the penalty on Destroyer, but what everyone remembers is the violent rolling crash the Turtle went into after the truck crossed the finish line. Spectacular, yes, but disappointing because the damage was so severe that despite frantically thrashing the rest of the night the TMNT crew was unable to make sufficient repairs for Brown to return, not just in racing, but also in freestyle.

The damage the truck sustained was substantial. “Everything pretty much,” Brown recalls. “We had three four link bars bent, drive shafts tore out of it, the pinion shaft was busted, the tie rod, steering cylinders, everything. Four shocks were blown off of it. Just everything. I mean it was unbelievable the damage that was done in just that one roll over. The guys, they thrashed on it pretty hard and we got the majority of it back together, what we thought would be enough to get it back out there for freestyle. I jumped in the truck, got in, got ready to move it and the front end lock up and it busted a ring gear. It’s just one of those things. It just wasn’t meant to be. It was actually lucky for me since we didn’t have time to inspect everything the way we should have and later we found that there were cracks in the roll cage, so it was probably better that I didn’t go out there.”

Thinking back on how the crash happened Brown realizes that sometimes when you push it to the limit these things are going to happen. “At the time I didn’t know I had won the race. I knew it was going to be close, that’s why I didn’t back out of it, I was giving it all I had right to the end,” Brown said. “If I had known that he hit a turning pole I could have backed out just a little bit and straightened the truck up and hit the finish line a little bit straighter. I was out for the win and I won, but I didn’t get to advance. But you know, the crowd remembered it. When they walked away that night they might not have known who was racing beside me but they knew that Turtle truck flipped over.”

The Las Vegas World Finals experience for Randy and fellow Team Grave Digger drivers Pablo Huffaker (driving Captain’s Curse in the ’07 finals), Charlie Pauken (Monster Mutt), and Chad Tingler (Monster Mutt Dalmatian) is quite unique for all of them personally. Fans who follow the sport all season head for Las Vegas from all over the world for the finals, and those fans, many who cheered those drivers earlier in the year in other venues when they were in their Grave Digger trucks immediately get behind those drivers when they bring out different machines for the finals. And Brown finds that to be a neat aspect of his participation at the Monster Jam World Finals. “It’s still a really good feeling to be out there when you’ve got all the fans out there. The fans come up to me and they’ve got their yearbooks out and they are having me sign the Turtle page and the Grave Digger page,” Brown explained. “It’s cool to have people recognize you no matter what truck you’re in. When we’re out there we’re out there to race, out there to win, it doesn’t matter what body is on the truck. I feel like I’m in a chassis, and I’m in a chassis that I’m pretty comfortable in. I’m gonna go out there and run as hard as I can. When I win it’s everybody. It’s the team. Whoever drove the Turtle truck for me all year long (Deric Evans this season), it’s going to be them staying involved with the whole team when I drive it in Vegas. Chris (Baker), my crew chief on my Grave Digger, he jumps in on the Turtle team in Vegas. A lot of things come together and it’s just a warm feeling for the whole team to be out there concentrating on one truck.”

After the finals Randy said he is mostly looking forward to being back in his Grave Digger for the remainder of this special season. “To be a part of the whole 25th anniversary tour has been something special,” Brown confided. “It’s just a great deal to be a part of a truck and a team that’s so well recognized. And to be a part of a team that takes so much pride in the trucks and what we do for our fans. And having the fans appreciate it.”

Those fans appreciate each member of the Digger team. As this year goes on Randy will continue to spend as much time with his Grave Digger fans as possible, many of whom will want to talk with him almost as much about his spectacular ride in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle at World Finals 8 as they will about his next exciting, fan pleasing ride aboard Grave Digger.