When Mark McDonald drove his Safe Auto Minimizer Ford to the second fastest qualifying time at this year’s Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas, most observers were not surprised. McDonald, the 2006 Rookie of the Year, has been a top qualifier and consistent winner since he debuted in the Safe Auto sponsored ride. But when McDonald went out and put in a top five freestyle performance on the treacherous Sam Boyd Stadium course it became even clearer that Mark McDonald has emerged as one of the sport’s best drivers in both racing and freestyle.

I asked Mark if he feels added pressure now that the whole Monster Jam world knows he is one of the drivers to beat, especially in racing. “Actually I’m hoping now it puts pressure on everybody else a little bit, knowing that I am fast,” McDonald answered. “Hopefully I can stay consistent and fast. Hopefully the crew will stay behind me, the truck will stay good and we’ll keep it going all year.” After learning the business from the mechanical side, Mark jumped at the chance to drive the Safe Auto Minimizer and knew how to help his crew make the machine fast right out of the box. He thinks that path to the drivers seat, starting out under the hood first, allowed him to be more successful right from the start of his driving career. With some successful drivers getting into the sport in recent years without the background of having worked on the machines first, I asked Mark if he thinks his pit crew background is an advantage for him when he’s behind the wheel. “In my opinion it is, that’s why I came in like that,” McDonald responded. “It’s good for the driver, that he knows how to tell the crew how to set the shocks up, or the driver can even help set the shocks up, things like that. In this sport the shocks are the most critical thing there is, I think. Coming off of a jump if it bounces or lands wrong you can go back and understand how to tell the crew exactly what needs to happen so that you can get it worked out quickly.”

That formula has equaled immediate accomplishments for McDonald and his Safe Auto team, most prominently in racing, highlighted by impressive runs his in first two years at the Monster Jam World Finals. He claims that part of his recipe for success in racing comes from just taking care of his own business on the track and racing his race, not concerning himself with the driver and truck combo that is in the other lane. But he admits candidly that sometimes that’s hard to do. “I try to worry about Mark McDonald,” he said, “but you get some of those names like Dennis Anderson and Tom Meents, and you know, I’ve yet to beat those guys. I’ve still got to get them and make them a notch on my belt but I just haven’t done it yet. That’s my goal for this next year. “ And while having his truck set up right and running well may help him accomplish that goal, McDonald admits that for his Safe Auto Ford to beat Anderson in Grave Digger and Meents in Maximum Destruction it will require him to win those race battles mentally as well: “I think right now just knowing that they are such big names and I’m just getting into the sport, I mean, I know in my heart that I can beat them, but they are such legends. Sometimes you just kind of follow behind them and I think often you just beat yourself more than they beat you.”

Everyone, including the legends mentioned above, acknowledges that McDonald is at the top of the list when you look at the newcomers making the biggest impact in Monster Jam, especially in racing. His reputation as a hot shoe racer had many underestimating his progress in the freestyle portion of the sport, and his brilliant run in Las Vegas that had him sharing the hot seat as the event leader with Linsey Weenk and Damon Bradshaw until Pablo Huffaker turned in his World Championship winning performance in Captain’s Curse is what had many people raving. McDonald clearly had a breakthrough performance, freestyle-wise, at the 2007 Monster Jam World Finals, but he really didn’t surprise himself. He’s been building his freestyle game all along. “I’m getting more used to the big stadiums,” McDonald confided. “My first year I went out there (at the World Finals) and I broke pretty early so I couldn’t really do a whole lot. This year, in the first quarter (of the Monster Jam year), I’ve been running this truck really hard and getting used to it. I’ve been hitting a lot of bigger stuff so I was more used to it out there this time. So I just went out and went hard.” And he showed all of us that he has the potential to be as strong in freestyle as he is in racing.

Mark McDonald and the Safe Auto Minimizer Ford team is one to watch, not just today, but into the future. McDonald figures to be at it for a long time, and many believe he has just begun to reach the heights he eventually will attain in Monster Jam. As for Mark, he loves the business, loves to compete, and loves the camaraderie of the road, not just battling against the best in the business, but working with them as well. “It’s about all of the crews and their work habits,” McDonald explained. “Getting to know what they know. It really helps you out in the long run to be friends with all the other crews so that everybody pitches together, and we all help each other.”