John Seasock is a veteran of the sport, known for his consistency and sportsmanlike attitude both on-track and off. In the past two years, however, Seasock has won the World Racing Championship, something only Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction have done before him. Seasock drove Batman to his second championship in two years against Bounty Hunter in the final race. John took some time out to tell us about it recently.

What are your thoughts on being a back-to-back World Racing Champion?
It still hasn’t sunk in; everything happened so fast and I was so focused that I didn’t realize it at first. I have to give huge credit to my crew guys, Coty and Bill Jr. They were thrashing on the truck trying to keep our transmission problems under control, and I was concerned about it all night. They deserve all the credit; I’m just the monkey holding the wheel. I wasn’t happy with my driving. Thursday during practice was good, but Friday and Saturday I didn’t do as well, and I feel lucky that I won.

Compare this title to the first one. What was different, and what was the same?
Both titles have that same phenomenal feeling. You are up against the class of the driving field in Vegas, and it feels great. This was some of the best racing we’ve seen, with so many photo finishes. The crews really deserve so much credit for all the work they do; some of the stuff they’re able to do is just amazing, because we give these trucks such a pounding. As far as the first title, it was just extremely emotional for me and everyone around. This time around for the second one, it was still emotional, but I had more things going on in my head because of the problems on the truck. We also had a special guy there from the Make-a-Wish Foundation that I’ve made a great connection with. He was badly burned in an accident, and he played on my mind a lot. We made a deal that if he did his physical therapy, then we would hook him up with some tickets to the show. What I didn’t know was that he had a present for me—he was able to walk to me during the pit party. There just aren’t words to describe how powerful of a feeling that is. You could write a novel on the unseen stories like that in Monster Jam; it’s just amazing.

You are becoming known as a consistent driver at Vegas. Did you do anything different at all from last year as far as preparation?
I tried to go in there with the same attitude, and we had the same crew and truck as well. The only thing we did a bit different was the shocks. We changed the valving on the front, and Josh Garcia from the Grave Digger shop did a great job with those. Other than that, pretty much everything was the same. On Thursday in practice, everything was great, and I turned the fastest time on the track that anyone had run before (15.56 seconds). Friday I stumbled a bit but still qualified third, and we were having trouble starting the truck up, so I got a bit flustered. Saturday for the race, I felt like it was 100% me as a driver messing up, but my best race was against Captain’s Curse. We had a photo finish, and luckily I came out on top.

Did you feel much pressure to defend your title, since you came in as a champion already?
I always want to win; I’ll race someone for a pack of gum if I can. I told Coty before the race that we’d walk out of there with our heads held high regardless of winning or losing, because we won last year with a brand new team, and nobody can ever take that from us. I wanted this one badly to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke, and I wanted it for our team.

You mentioned issues with the transmission becoming hot during the races. What do you think caused that problem?
Well, we run at such high speeds that we have to keep a lid on those kinds of things anyway, but there are a few things I can think of. I was short shifting the truck a bit because the track was slippery in some spots, and sometimes slower is actually faster in Vegas. It also could have just been the transmission getting a bit older and ready to let go. Either way, it was a major concern for us, but Coty and Junior did a great job; they deserve so much credit for being there and letting me sit in the truck and focus.

What is the key to success racing in Vegas?
The setup of the truck is very important, but having a crew you can trust and count on is the biggest thing, at least for me. It’s less stressful that way. Knowing that I can sit in the truck and get my head on straight and have some time to think is great, and helps me out so much.

Tom Meents had some problems with his truck and had to back out of the championship race against you. He was the fast qualifier. Do you think you could have beaten him had he not been forced to back out?
Honestly, I don’t know. Thursday after practice I would have said yes. Friday I’d have said it would be a good race, and Saturday I wouldn’t have had a clue. Tom had it going on; he was really fast. I didn’t even know I raced Bounty Hunter until after I pulled back into the pits following the race. I just heard a truck fire up and got staged, then ran the race. I didn’t see him because I was so focused on what was going on. Everyone’s so great at racing that I can’t honestly say yes or no to that.

Meents is the only person who has won three racing titles in a row. Do you think you can equal him next year?
He’s the only person for now! That’s my goal; next year I want it to be only us two that have won three in a row. Dennis and Tom are both awesome, and I feel lucky to be mentioned in the same breath as them. I’m going to do my best to equal them next ye
ar!