Now that the time has finally arrived for the biggest event in Monster Jam, the Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals this coming weekend at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, it seems like the perfect time to look back at how we’ve gotten to the 9th edition of the sport’s most grand spectacle. The action this year is sure to be the most exciting ever, the story lines and the emotion will be at a fever pitch, and two World Championship trophies will be claimed in front of the sport’s most fervent fans. Monster Jam lovers who will come from all over the world to be a part of the season’s crowning achievements, an event they will truly never forget as the best of the best give it all they’ve got to make Monster Jam history.
That history is now firmly established, with eight previous editions of Monster Jam’s Super Bowl. I’m sure that some of the visionaries who created that first Monster Jam World Finals envisioned what this trek to Las Vegas each year has become, but for most of us that first trip to the desert was a new and exciting experience with Monster Jam finally crowning World Champions in its two major disciplines each year. Since the inagural trip out west we’ve all marveled at the amazing performances the sport’s premier superstars have turned in each year on its biggest stage. So as we prepare to witness the next chapter in the World Finals saga, let’s look at what has led up to WF9. The following is a brief history of the Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals from my personal perspective. Since I’ve had the privilege of being a part of each of the previous 8 title tilts, we’ll not just recap the actual results here, but also my memories of each and my thoughts on what made each unique trip to Las Vegas significant:

World Finals 1, March 25, 2000 – A New Championship Tradition Begins
Racing Champion – Tom Meents, Goldberg
Freestyle Champion – Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger
Racing Semifinalists: Goldberg (Meents), Gunslinger (Scott Hartsock), Wrenchhead.com (Lyle Hancock), King Krunch (Scott Stephens)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Grave Digger (Anderson) 40, Wrenchead.com (Hancock) 39, Goldberg (Meents) 38, nWo 37, Gunslinger (Hartsock) 35
For the first time ever Monster Jam’s exploding popularity brings fans from all over the country to one location to officially crown a racing and a freestyle champion. Monster Jam officials create the longest and fastest race course on the circuit and stack the biggest obstacles ever seen on the freestyle course to make this a true championship challenge. With 16 of the sport’s best in competition Tom Meents put the icing on one of his greatest racing season’s ever, driving Goldberg to the first World Racing Championship, defeating arch-rival Scott Hartsock and Gunslinger in the final race. It was appropriate that Goldberg and Gunslinger faced off one more time in the Championship Race since the pair had dominated 2000, Meents winning most of the televised raceing events, with Hartsock being the only driver to have beaten him that season. Meents won the final battle that year between the two, the one that counted the most.
As for Dennis Anderson, the most popular driver in the sport’s history was stunned in round two of racing, where veteran Scott Stephens drove King Krunch to the upset win over Grave Digger. Anderson redeemed himself in freestyle though, and with six fans serving as judges, Grave Digger received a perfect score of 40 (the highest and lowest scores were thrown out, but actually all six judges gave Anderson a 10) and Dennis Anderson was crowned the first World Freestyle Champion.
For many the most memorable Wow moment from WF1 was an amazing reverse move from Lyle Hancock in Wrenchead.com, who roared up a huge container in reverse to bring the crowd to its feet yet again.

World Finals 2, March 24, 2001 – The Great Flood Of ’01, and Who In The World Is Jill Canuso?
Racing Champion – Tom Meents, Goldberg
Freestyle Champion – Tom Meents, Goldberg
Racing Semifinalists: Goldberg (Meents), Blue Thunder (Lyle Hancock), Destroyer (Dan Evans), Wolverine (Brian Barthel)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Goldberg (Meents) 38, Wrenchhead.com (Jill Canuso) 36, Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson) 36, Avenger (Jim Koehler) 34, Sting (Tony Farrell) 34

            If at the end of the night WF 1 ended as many expected with Meents and Anderson holding the trophies, it was WF2 that showed that at this event anything can, and probably will happen. Expect the unexpected, a trend that continues to this day. Not only did Tom Meents defend his World Racing Championship, but this time he added the freestyle title to accomplish what has now become known as the “Double Down”. While those results may not have been a surprise, WF2 provided an incredible series of twists and turns and some of the wildest action and most riveting storylines that we’ve ever seen.
Where to begin? I mean the fans that were in attendance that night or who caught the event live on pay-per-view TV saw the 16 truck field put to the ultimate test, each driver and their equipment stretched to its limits and beyond. Certainly no one will forget the second round race between Pablo Huffaker in Blacksmith and Lyle Hancock in Blue Thunder. Huffaker won the race but lost control of the Willys after the finish line, and Blacksmith barrel rolled to the end of the stadium, landing up on the wall protection.
The most unusual race bracket in the history of the finals saw the race course cut in half for the final two rounds after a water main was damaged near the right lane, totally flooding the chicane area in that lane. No driver would have had a chance to win having to race through the flooded out lane, so officials moved the starting lines past the flooded area, inside of Sam Boyd Stadium. The freak occurrence eliminated what had been a big advantage for fast qualifier Brian Barthel in Wolverine, whose strong starts and mastery of the chicane saw him build huge leads early in both his first and second round victories. Not only was the course shortened, but since the starting lights were outside the stadium on the original starting line, the officials, adapting on the fly, had to use a flagman to start the semifinal and championship races. In the first semi Barthel never saw the green flag wave until Hancock was all the way down and into the turn. Competition Director Keith Speller and his team, realizing that Barthel could not see the flag because of the unusual cab design of the Wolverine took the unusual step of ordering that the result of that race be thrown out and the first semifinal was rerun. Barthel saw the green flag when they did it again, but Wolverine was not as strong on the shorter course and Blue Thunder won fair and square to put Hancock into the finals against Meents. All the drama on the other side of the bracket played right into Meents’ hand and the Goldberg truck won the World Racing Championship for the second straight year.
Meents and Anderson carried their rivalry into freestyle. While Tom and Dennis have built a mutual respect to complement the intensity of their rivalry in recent years, back in the first couple of years of this millennium the rivalry was often bitter. Meents actually called Anderson “washed up” heading into WF2, and Anderson said his main goal that night was to “knock Tom down a notch or two and bring him back to reality”. Before the big two hit the track all anyone could talk about was the performance turned in by rookie Jill Canuso, an unknown to most, who rocked the house in the Wrecnhead.com truck and ended it with a huge leap that destroyed the entire rear half of the truck as she planted it on the tail. It was quite a sight to see the young lady who was less than 5 feet tall standing as big as any driver that night. Her score of 36 was second only to Meents’ winning total.
WF2 was the genesis of two other elements that remain today: total disregard for any other trucks left on the course during freestyle, and the now famous World Finals encore. The truck carnage began when Huffaker hopped into the Ragin’ Steel truck that was in the pits but not scheduled to run. Remember, he destroyed his Blacksmith in racing. Pablo wrapped up his freestyle by leaving Ragin’ Steel parked on top of the Sting Corvette that was left in the corner of the track after Tony Farrell had freestyled it and was unable to get back to his pits after the run.
Anderson’s freestyle lasted only a minute, and when he flipped his Grave Digger with :57 seconds of the two minute time period left the World Championship was secure for Meents, but Dennis was not done. Anderson had his team bring out another Grave Digger and he gave the fans a freestyle encore. When he flipped that piece (Grave Digger #7 to be exact) he called for Grave Digger XII, and gave the fans even more. Not to be outdone, Meents brought out his back-up Goldberg and flew onto the course, smashing into Grave Digger XII. This battle Digger won, as the Goldberg truck shot straight up in the air and landed on the roof. So much for the pre-event animosity – the night ended with Anderson and Meents embracing on the track, enjoying a lengthy standing ovation.

World Finals 3, March 23, 2002 – Meet The New Champ: Same As The Old Champ
Racing Champion – Tom Meents, Team Meents
Freestyle Champion – Tom Meents, Team Meents
Racing Semifinalists: Team Meents (Meents), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson), Blacksmith (Pablo Huffaker)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Team Meents (Meents) 37, Grave Digger (Anderson) 36, Blacksmith (Pablo Huffaker) 35, Blue Thunder (Lyle Hancock) 35, Black Stallion (Mike Vaters) 30, Wolverine (Brian Barthel) 30

            The name on the side of the truck changed from “Goldberg” to “Meents”, but there was no change behind the wheel, and Tom Meents made it back-to-back “Double Down” championships with another sweep to claim five of the first six World Championship trophies. While Meents maintained his dominance WF3 was also the beginning of the emergence of Jimmy Creten as a championship threat. Creten had begun making his name on the Monster Jam circuit in 2003, and actually had beaten Meents in the Minneapolis finals, the final tune-up before Las Vegas. Actually racing in ’03 was a bit of a struggle for Meents. Not only did Creten beat him in Minny, but Dennis Anderson had his number most of the year as Grave Digger dominated the head-to-head match-ups with Team Meents. So for Tom, this trip to Vegas was not only about defending his titles, but at least in racing, about vindication. Meents eliminated Anderson in the semifinals, then Team Meents beat Bounty Hunter for Tom’s third straight World Racing Championship.
Meents then defended his freestyle title, but maybe the biggest “Wow” moment came early when Scott Hartsock got a huge head of steam built up heading for a huge bus stack in the center of the floor, and he flew the Gunslinger some 40 feet high in the air and launched the awesome Ford so far out that he sailed well past the landing ramp, flat landing at the other end of the stadium. After that leap the truck could not continue. Filling only half the time Hartsock’s score was only a 20, but every fan who saw the event would not soon forget Gunslinger’s leap.
My most vivid memory from WF3 came at the end of Blacksmith’s run. My broadcast partner, Mike Hogewood, and I were thrilled to move out of the press box, where we had called the first two finals from, to our new set underneath the Sam Boyd Stadium scoreboard. Huffaker decided to come say “Hi” to us, I guess, parking his machine on the wall protection right in front of us to leave us with another wild memory. That run gave Huffaker the lead with 35 points. Lyle Hancock then equaled Huffaker’s score with an awesome run in Blue Thunder that finished with him going up the back side of the big bus obstacle and flipping over backwards. This proved to be a night where each competitor seemed to raise the bar higher than the previous driver did, and Dennis Anderson responded next. His incredible Grave Digger freestyle was highlighted by a rollover where he pirouetted the truck on its nose, landed on all four tires, and fired it back up, but he rolled the truck again with a full :30 left on the clock. The score of 36 gave Grave Digger the lead but left room at the top for Meents, and Tom took full advantage. It was a night that made me glad I’m not a judge. Like Anderson, and so many others that night, Meents was phenomenal, and the fact that he filled the entire clock before flipping his machine in a wild sideways hit gave him that one additional point, a total of 37, and yet another championship trophy.

World Finals 4, March 22, 2003 – Parity Arrives As Two First Time Champs Are Crowned
Racing Champion – Brian Barthel, Wolverine
Freestyle Champion – Jim Koehler, Avenger
Racing Semifinalists: Wolverine (Barthel), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Gunslinger (Scott Hartsock), Blacksmith (Carl Van Horn)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Avenger (Koehler) 37, El Toro Loco (Lupe Soza) 36, Blue Thunder (Lyle Hancock) 34, Madusa (Madusa) 32, Black Stallion (Mike Vaters) 30
Sam Boyd Stadium, especially in racing, had been Tom Meents’ personal playground through the first three editions of the World Finals, but that was about to change. In Friday night qualifying Jimmy Creten continued to make his name in Vegas, posting the fastest time in Bounty Hunter, while Meents, his truck now named Maximum Destruction, crashed into the fence entering the chicane and Tom did not post a time, which seeded Meents toward the back of the pack. In round one he would have to match up with Grave Digger, driven this time by Pablo Huffaker while an injured Anderson was working this World Finals in the broadcast booth. Meents was back on track at race time, beating Huffaker and the Digger in round one to extend his record at Sam Boyd Stadium to 13 and 0 in round racing.
That streak would end in round two, when Scott Hartsock became the first driver to beat Meents in Las Vegas, Gunslinger eliminating Maximum Destruction. “How sweet it is” a smiling Hartsock yelled after knocking off Meents, but that was to be the high point of his night. In the semifinals Gunslinger’s motor broke, the truck shutting down on the entrance to Thunder Alley as Brian Barthel drove Wolverine into the finals. In the other semi Creten powered Bounty Hunter to victory over Carl Van Horn in Blacksmith. Knowing we were about to crown a first time champ the pressure was huge, and both Barthel and Creten were so amped up that they missed the turn. It was Barthel who recovered first and Wolverine claimed the World Racing Championship.
Several drivers used this freestyle competition to really step their career forward, none more so than Lupe Soza, who turned the crowd on with an amazing run that grabbed the lead for El Toro Loco with a score of 36, and while that was not good enough for the championship on this night, it was certainly a sign of big things to come in the future for Soza. In the end though it was Jim Koehler’s biggest night ever, and a bit of redemption. In previous years Koehler had turned in some very strong runs only to get inexplicably low scores from the judges, but not this time. Koehler had Avenger on fire from the start, nailing every obstacle on the treacherous course, and then, with a broken shock and sway bar, not to mention a flat rear tire, Koehler closed with the night’s longest set of cyclone style donuts, sticking both of his hands out his windows no less, and Koehler had driven Avenger to the World Freestyle Championship.

World Finals 5, March 20, 2004 – FINALLY! The Icon Grabs The Racing Gold
Racing Champion – Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger
Freestyle Champion – (Tie) Lupe Soza, El Toro Loco; Madusa, Madusa; Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction
Racing Semifinalists: Grave Digger (Anderson), Blacksmith (Pablo Huffaker), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Maximum Destruction (Meents)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: El Toro Loco (Soza) 31, Madusa (Madusa) 31, Maximum Destruction (Meents) 31, Grave Digger (Anderson) 30, King Krunch (David Smith) 27
To this day, the most emotional night in the sport’s history was when Dennis Anderson overcame his years of racing frustration in Las Vegas to claim his first World Racing Championship. In the first four World Finals racing brackets Grave Digger had never advanced past the second round, so it may have surprised some that Anderson arrived for WF5 full of confidence. “I’ve just got a really good feeling this year” Anderson said during the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits. “I want to hit the jackpot here in Vegas.” And hit the jackpot he did! In qualifying the big boys were on their game: Maximum Destruction turned the fastest time, Grave Digger was 2nd fastest and Bounty Hunter was 3rd, which created maybe the most balanced race bracket ever at the finals.
Probably the biggest win for Anderson’s confidence came in that treacherous round two, which had been his downfall in the past. This time, though, he convincingly eliminated consistent David Smith in King Krunch to move to his first World Finals semifinal round ever, and he just kept rolling. Talk about the cream rising to the top. The semifinals round showcased four of the sport’s greatest racers: Anderson, Meents, Creten, and Huffaker. Pablo helped his Team Grave Digger buddy Anderson out when he edged Max-D by a half truck length after Dennis eliminated Bounty Hunter. Making the World Championship race for the first time ever Dennis took full advantage, edging his friend and teammate Huffaker for his first racing title.
The celebration on the track will still put a tear in your eye and give you goose bumps when you watch it again, even some four years later. A tearful, choked up Anderson, being mobbed by his sons, Adam and Ryan, along with his entire team, thanking his fans for their 22 years of support in a Monster Jam moment for the ages. The only other moment in any form of motorsports that I can compare this to was when the great Dale Earnhardt Sr. finally won the Daytona 500.
Still, Anderson had more work to do despite the euphoria of finally winning the World Racing Championship. Freestyle on this night would not be Anderson’s, but it was the tightest finish in history with Madusa, El Toro Loco, and Maximum Destruction finishing in a three-way tie for the title. The next year the USHRA added several levels of tie-breakers, assuring that 2005 will be the only year where we had multiple freestyle champions.

World Finals 6, March 19, 2005 –“I Think You’ve Got My Championship and I’ve Got Yours”
Racing Champion – Madusa, Madusa
Freestyle Champion – Jimmy Creten, Bounty Hunter
Racing Semifinalists: Madusa (Madusa), Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson), King Krunch (David Smith), Bounty Hunter (Creten)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Bounty Hunter (Creten) 31, Blue Thunder (Tony Farrell) 31, King Krunch (David Smith) 27, Black Stallion (Mike Vaters) 27, Destroyer (Dan Evans) 26
The above quote came from Jimmy Creten, after one of the most unpredictable finals in history ended with Creten, known as one of the world’s best racers, winning freestyle in Bounty Hunter and Madusa, who had been making her name in freestyle, taking the racing title.
The racing victory was truly a team effort for Madusa. Crew Chief R. L. Arace and Madusa were just in total sync that night. The truck was to her liking and she put to use the advice from her experienced mentor for the greatest racing night of her career. Anderson was the clear favorite when he earned a spot in the Championship Race against Madusa, but Dennis came up just short as Madusa took home the World Racing Championship.
In freestyle Jimmy Creten used his textbook style of showing the judges some things no one else does, using the clock, and hitting every huge obstacle on the track to grab the lead a little past half-way through the line-up. Tony Farrell would equal Creten’s score in Blue Thunder, both getting a 31 from the judges. The tie-breaker was the deciding factor. With six judges scoring each run, the high and the low scores were thrown out and the other 4 made up the final score. The first tie-breaker was adding back in the lowest score: a 7 for Bounty Hunter, a 6 for Blue Thunder, and Jimmy Creten, a driver who has almost been expected to win the racing title, instead walked on that coveted stage for the first time as the World Freestyle Champion.

World Finals 7, March 25, 2006 – Back Where We Started: Anderson and Meents Are The World Champions
Racing Champion – Dennis Anderson, Grave Digger
Freestyle Champion – Tom Meents, Maximum Destruction
Racing Semifinalists: Grave Digger (Anderson), Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Creten), Hot Wheels (Neil Elliott), Blacksmith (Pablo Huffaker)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Maximum Destruction (Meents)  37, Grave Digger (Anderson) 33, Monster Mutt (Charlie Pauken) 32, Del Scorcho (Frank Krmel) 29, King Krunch (David Smith) 26
After several years of the championship hardware being distributed among several different drivers the sport’s highest profile pair returned to the top when Anderson won his second racing championship in three years and Meents took freestyle to extend his record to seven World Championships.
This was the first year that the field was expanded to 24 trucks, meaning qualifying gained even more importance. Now the 8 fastest qualifiers went immediately to round two, a significant advantage. The stunning development in qualifying again involved Meents. This time a broken drive shaft ended his time trials run and he was seeded dead last in the 24 truck field, so after a first round win over Chris Bergeron and Brutus Max-D squared off with fastest qualifier, Grave Digger, in the second round. Anderson won that battle and rolled into his third straight Championship Race in Las Vegas. This time the opponent for the title was Jimmy Creten, whose Bounty Hunter had been running slightly faster than Grave Digger in the earlier rounds. In the finale, though, Anderson found a little something extra. Many times in the past, with so much pressure on the two finalists, the world title was decided by one driver making a mistake. Not this time. In the greatest Championship Race ever Grave Digger edged Bounty Hunter by less than the length of his front wheel for Anderson’s second World Racing Championship in three years.
Another year of racing frustration did not sit well with Meents, and he let it all hang out in freestyle. Before Meents the action was the best ever, and it was Frank Krmel who may have set a record for time in the hot seat. Coming on the track second Krmel attacked the huge obstacles, and his score of 29 stayed in the lead spot until Charlie Pauken, 12th in the order of performances, amazed the crowd in Monster Mutt, highlighted by a move that went from a wheelie, to a bicycle into the seed container, to a pirouette style roll over on the nose, back onto all fours as he continued and earned a huge standing-o from the crowd, which has grown to include fans from all 50 states, several Canadian provinces, and more than a dozen foreign countries. Maybe the most unforgettable moment of this extravaganza came from former freestyle champ Jim Koehler, who gave us the Crash of the Year when he soared his chromed Avenger on a huge leap over the volcano fountain obstacle, then into a free fall style nose dive and a hard crash onto the stadium floor. To finish it off, for the second straight year, Koehler then did his now signature move, diving into the fountain obstacle to the delight of the capacity crowd. Anderson pushed Pauken out of the hot seat and put Grave Digger in line for a Vegas Double Down with a vintage Digger freestyle but Meents was still to come. Tom became the first driver ever to bring his own obstacle! Max-D drove on the track, pulled into the fountain, and the motor shut off. Everyone thought Tom had a problem with his truck until we saw his teammate Neil Elliott jump out of the truck, leaving the back-up Max on the course as another obstacle. Tom then rolled onto the floor, began his run by leaping over his own truck and went on to turn in one of his best performances ever and claimed world title number 7.

World Finals 8, March 24, 2007 – A Pair Of Popular Veterans Finally Grab Titles
Racing Champion – John Seasock, Batman
Freestyle Champion – Pablo Huffaker, Captain’s Curse
Racing Semifinalists: Batman (Seasock), Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson), Monster Mutt (Charlie Pauken), Captain’s Curse (Huffaker)
Top 5 Freestyle Scores: Captain’s Curse (Huffaker) 34, Grave Digger (Anderson) 30, Iron Outlaw (Linsey Weenk) 29, Safe Auto Minimizer (Marc McDonald) 29, Air Force Afterburner (Damon Bradshaw) 29
For long time Monster Jam fans that appreciate hard work and cheer hardest for the nice guys who have paid their dues, WF8 may have provided the most satisfying results ever. John Seasock won the World Racing Championship driving Batman and Pablo Huffaker pulled out a new body, the Captain’s Curse, and drove that piece to his first World Freestyle Championship.
On a track that totally changed from Friday night’s qualifying to Saturday’s racing program, the savvy veteran Seasock proved to be the most consistent, the best at a adapting to the track changes, and John won his emotion packed first World Championship in grand style by beating Grave Digger for the crown. The emotion really got to Seasock the following night at the annual Awards Banquet when, as a total surprise to the new champ, his two sons were on hand, having been secretly flown in from Pennsylvania that morning by Monster Jam officials so that they could be a part of the greatest celebration in their father’s career.
Despite not winning another title Dennis Anderson did set a World Finals record: he has now made it to the Championship Race in four consecutive World Finals.
Like racing that night, freestyle rewarded patience and consistency. Huffaker, who had been so close to a world title in both racing and freestyle several times in past years, filled the clock with a crowd pleasing performance, daring Anderson and Meents to top his run. Neither could, and new grandfather Pablo Huffaker celebrated his night, along with Seasock, at the top of the Monster Jam Mountain for the first time.
This night concluded with maybe the most memorable and exciting encore ever at the World Finals, a celebration of Dennis and Grave Digger’s 25th Anniversary. With Anderson watching in sheer delight from the sidelines five Team Grave Digger drivers in their “black and green wrecking machines” roared onto the track at the same time and all five Digger trucks freestyled together in a wild finale to this incredible night, a fitting tribute to the truck, the team, and the man that many say invented freestyle in the first place.

So what will WF9 add to this list? The previous 8 trips to Las Vegas have shown us to expect the best races, the most spectacular freestyles, incredible stories played out throughout the weekend, and huge surprises. Two world titles are on the line and 24 superstars are ready to pull out all the stops in search of the crowns, some looking to reestablish their dominance, some looking for the night that will make their careers. And the best part is – The Time Is Here! It’s time to head for Las Vegas and the 9th running of the Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals.