In 2009 John Seasock will attempt to make his own Monster Jam history when he tries to equal Tom Meents’ record of winning three consecutive World Racing Championships at the 10th edition of the Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals next March in Las Vegas. The likeable veteran has long been one of the sport’s most popular figures, but his career raised to the ultimate level in 2007 when he won his first world title, and he clearly moved into rarefied air by becoming only the second driver to successfully defend the championship when he won again last March.
Seasock told me that backing up the first title meant a lot to him, but he felt the same way about winning each time. “The first one hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m still the same guy I was years ago driving Sudden Impact or driving the other trucks that I’ve driven,” Seasock stated. “It really hasn’t sunk in that I became World Champion, now two times in a row. The emotion the second time around was just as intense as the first one. It might not have shown because there was so much going on, we had a lot of issues with the truck. But the emotions, the feelings, the excitement, it’s all the same. It’s two years now but it really hasn’t sunk in that I’m a two-time World Champion. Like they said, Tom’s the only other one that’s won back to back and it’s hard to believe that in my career I’ve finally gotten to that level.”
He makes it very clear that he is not done yet, that he is absolutely set on going after Meents’ record of three in a row in ’09. “Without a doubt. That’s my goal. My goal is to win three in a row,” John said adamantly. “And I feel good about it. Not cocky, but confident. I’ve got Coty (Saucier) back. The driver and the truck is a big part of it, but the Crew Chief is an unbelievable part. I can never give him enough props for everything that he does. Not only with the truck, but with myself, keeping me calm throughout the year. I mean the Crew Chief is a mechanic, a baby sitter, a therapist, all of the above, and Coty and I mesh very well. We have a new vehicle this year, a new chassis which is working unbelievably well. My confidence level is a lot higher. So that is definitely my goal, three in a row. It’s something I want badly. I think I want this more that I wanted the first championship. I want to prove that they weren’t flukes, that I can drive a truck, that my crew is the best that can set up a truck, and I want to show everybody that we are a force to be reckoned with.”
For Seasock the recognition that comes with being the World Champion provides even more opportunities for him to do one of the things he loves most away from the track: spending time with kids and special needs fans. That’s a perk of being champion that John really appreciates. “Definitely, and I thank God every day for that, for those opportunities,” Seasock admitted. “I do a lot of presentations in schools and Make A Wish, things like that, and I talk to kids about following their dreams, staying focused in school and everything. Before I went in as a monster truck driver, now I go in as a World Champion. Now I go back as a two-time World Champion and that definitely carries a lot of clout. I mean everybody knows Monster Jam, everybody knows monster trucks and now when I go in I’m introduced as World Champion John Seasock. I can relate to lots of things, coming from a small town and not a rich family, so there’s a lot of things in my life that I’m proud of, but I wasn’t born with everything handed to me, and so now I can say ‘if you work hard you can be a World Champion if you want to be’, and I’m honestly proof of that. I mean I’ve dreamt about this stuff all of my life, and to be able to win a championship, to win two of them, just to be able to do this for a career, is something I thank God for every day. Yesterday I walked into a school and we didn’t even get past the Principal’s Office before everybody was running out and taking pictures, and that’s because of Monster Jam and the championships. It carries a lot of clout, and it shows that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.”
As he looks forward to next year’s quest at a potential historic third straight World Racing Championship Seasock claims that’s it’s almost surreal, him being at the top of the Monster Jam racing mountain. “All the years of chasing Digger, now I’m the one with the target on my back and I take pride in that,” Seasock continued. “Before the World Finals last year we were all lined up before the race Tom (Meents), Dennis (Anderson) and I were in the last three trucks and they were saying ‘now all the pressure’s on you’, and I’m like, ‘no, it’s still on you guys’. I’m the World Champion; you have to come after me now. And in Vegas it is mental, there’s a big mental aspect to it, going in there with confidence and keeping your head on straight. There actually is a lot of pressure and it is cool to be able to stand there and say that, ‘you gotta beat me, I proved myself. I’m the World Champion, I’ve got the title. You want it? Try taking it from me.’”
Seasock knows that the best in the world will be in Las Vegas next March attempting to do just that, to take that title and make their own name. To win the third one will be every bit as difficult, maybe even tougher, than winning the first two and Seasock is well aware of that. The level of competition in Monster Jam, especially with the caliber of new drivers and machines in the sport, has never been higher, and they all want the crown that John Seasock wears. “There are a lot of great (new) guys out there. I said at the banquet, ‘to be the best you have to beat the best’, and the best drivers and the best equipment in the world are racing in Monster Jam,” Seasock explained. “It’s any given venue, and any place that you go. You used to go to different places and look at the line-up and think, ‘o-k, I should be able to take down this one, I should be able to go to the second round, third round’ whatever. Now you can’t. Every race is like a final round anywhere in the country. I mean the new guys are phenomenal. Adam (Anderson) has so much talent, and I believe that part of it is because of his upbringing, growing up around the trucks. I want the same for my sons. My sons want to drive and they are a big part of everything that I do. I think that (growing up around the sport) really helps. Damon (Bradshaw) has that Supercross background and experience. The drivers today are unbelievable and you cannot take anybody for granted anymore. I mean I used to think at times ‘I’ll have a cake walk into the finals.’ You don’t have that option now. Every race now you have to go wide open and put it on the edge because any guy, or any woman, can step up and take you out at any given time.”
John Seasock has been equal to each and every one of those challenges over the last two years at Sam Boyd Stadium. If he can remain unbeaten driving Batman on that course next March he will equal the greatest racing accomplishment in the history of Monster Jam.
