I walked on to the Reliant Stadium floor last Saturday morning and checked my boarding pass to make sure the destination said Houston, not Las Vegas. We were in Houston all right but the floor featured Monster Jam obstacles that looked like they came straight from Sam Boyd Stadium and the huge field of superstar trucks in the building looked almost like a line-up for the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals. It wasn't just my impression; several drivers kept calling the event a "mini-Vegas", and they certainly gave the Texas fans championship level performances.

Monster Jam officials and track builders created by far the biggest, most challenging obstacles ever seen in a city that has hosted several events each year for a quarter century. The one that grabbed everyone's attention immediately was the huge mountain of dirt (some 100 truck loads) called the "step-up" because of the plateau cut into the back side of it. It's an obstacle that will be recreated at other events for sure, and it illustrates the evolution of freestyle competitions. The step-up can be attacked in about 8 different ways, challenging each driver to be daring and creative to come up with the most impressive moves on the intimidating obstacle. Awesome leaps from the top of that mountain helped Dennis Anderson power Grave Digger to the freestyle triumph over maybe the strongest line-up we'll see until we get to Vegas for the 10th annual championship battle. Of the previous nine World Finals the freestyle champions from seven of those years were in action last Saturday in Houston.

The "Road to Vegas" will make dozens of stops all over North America for the next 12 weeks, but there may be no event with more of a World Finals feel to it than the 2009 opener at Reliant Stadium because of the huge obstacles and the quality, and quantity, of the teams on hand. For the drivers it was an early season chance to measure themselves against many of the competitors they'll have to beat to reign in Vegas and to see where their team stands early in the season.

Jimmy Creten certainly was deservedly excited after claiming the racing trophy, and Creten was extra proud of the win because he had to drive Bounty Hunter to victory over Anderson and Grave Digger in the semifinals, then he beat Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction in the Championship Race.

On stage to accept his winning hardware Creten was as emotional as I've ever seen him and it had nothing to do with how great the field was that he had just vanquished. He was thrilled about that, for sure, but he wanted to show the crowd a special necklace he was wearing under his fire suit. The necklace was a gift that was made for Creten by a Houston area youngster he befriended through Make A Wish who has since passed away, and that moment with Creten, normally a serious, professional interviewee, with that much emotion from him on display, was extremely touching.

Some other notes following the mega event in Houston: Scott Hartsock was exuding more confidence than I've seen from him in recent years and the Gunslinger ran strong, which may point to a big season ahead for the Florida based team.....it was great to see Allen Pezo and his team in action. Predator and Pouncer were looking good and Pezo is very excited about another season in a career that started more than 25 years ago.....Anderson definitely earned the freestyle win, but most people were also impressed by George Balhan's runner-up performance in An Escalade. Could this be the real breakthrough season that we've been expecting from the talented Balhan? We'll see, but if his first freestyle of the New Year is any indication, then 2009 is going to be George's best yet.....Adam Anderson was officially the first driver to be invited to this year's finals, accepting the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals flag just prior to the start of the Houston Monster Jam. The reigning World Freestyle Champion used the opportunity to introduce the fans to his new Crew Chief: his younger brother Ryan, who jumped on the mic to make sure everyone knows that the entire Taz team is dedicated to his big brother grabbing another title this year.....we're off and running now on this high intensity week to week competition that culminates March 28th in Las Vegas, and this coming weekend is another of my favorite annual stops. The fans will be raising the Georgia Dome roof as they do every time Monster Jam comes to Atlanta, and I expect another incredible event there this Saturday.
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