- Monster Jam
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Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld Entertainment.[1] The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) and takes place primarily in the United States and around the world. Although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the "intermission" entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.
Contents
Live events
McGruff the crime dog, one of the many Monster Trucks that have been around since 1970's
Monster jam shows and events are held year round, and travel around the county in U.S. and Canada. Now with international tour expansion, new fans of all ages are enjoying the shows in the United States, Canada and Europe. Monster jam fans are loyal and dedicated because they enjoy access to the performers and their amazing machines. Every fan attending a Monster Jam event is given the opportunity to meet the stars of the show during unique "Pit Party" and autograph sessions. The stars of Monster jam will stay until the last autograph is signed, and no fan leaves unsatisfied.
At Monster jam events and shows, monster trucks face off in two different forms of competition - stadium racing and freestyle. In the smaller shows they have a wheelie competition and or a donut contest or sometimes even both. The goal in the wheelie competition is to hit a ramp and get big air while remaining perpendicular to the ground. Side-by-side racing is traditional bracket racing, where the first truck to cross the finish line with the least number of penalties is the winner. The freestyle competition allows drivers a limited amount of time on an open floor to show off their skills as they drive the huge trucks over cars, and doing stunts and tricks that make these high-horsepower beasts appear to dance gracefully across the track. There are two winners from both events.
The tour begins in the late winter each year and ends in March with the World finals in Las Vegas every year. The tour visits almost all major cites in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Some events are on TV. However only one show has been shown live, all the others are recorded. Taped events may not be shown until several months after it has happened. Each particular tape is shown once a month or so on Speed and are shown regularly for a year or two, after which, a tape may be shown occasionally, although most are never shown again. Speed currently shows episodes of Monster Jam twice each weekday, in the early morning and in the late afternoon; on occasion, it will show episodes more frequently, usually in the midmorning hours.
World Finals Champions
Racing: Tom Meents won the first three racing championships at the Monster Jam World Finals from 2000 to 2002 driving Goldberg (2000–2001) and Team Meents (2002) but lost it to Brian Barthel who drove Wolverine in 2003. The following year Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger finally won a racing championship in 2004 but lost it in the final race in 2005 to Madusa in Madusa. The following year Anderson won his second racing championship which he lost the next year to John Seasock in Batman who won in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 Tom Meents won his first racing title since 2002 defeating Captain's Curse. In 2010 Dennis Anderson defeated Tom Meents for his third racing title and fourth title overall. The following year Tom Meents would win it again by defeating Bounty Hunter to make it his 9th overall title.In 2010 el toro loco in the uk got out of the three freestyle events he won every one with a perfect 40.
Freestyle: Dennis Anderson won the first freestyle championship scoring a perfect 40 (the only one in history) and then Tom Meents won the next two, once in Goldberg (2001) and then in Team Meents (2002). Then Jim Koehler won the championship in Avenger in 2003. Then in 2004 history was made when not only was there a three way tie, but a female won the World Finals, Tom Meents won it in Maximum Destruction, Debra Miceli won it in Madusa, and Lupe Soza won it in El Toro Loco. Then in 2005, Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter (known for tons of championship race appearances) shocked the world and won the freestyle championship. Then in 2006 Tom Meents won a record 7th championship in Maximum Destruction. Then in 2007 Pablo Huffaker took his brand new Captain's Curse truck and won the freestyle championship, followed by Adam Anderson in Taz the following year (which makes Dennis and Adam Anderson the only family championship team). In 2009 Damon Bradshaw in Air Force Afterburner won the freestyle championship with a score of 36. In 2010 Charlie Pauken won the freestyle championship with a score of 39. In freestyle it would be Jim Koehler winning his second freestyle title with a score of a 32.
Year Racing Freestyle Champion Driver Runner-Up Truck Driver Score 2000 Goldberg Tom Meents Gunslinger Grave Digger Dennis Anderson 40 2001 Goldberg Tom Meents Blue Thunder Goldberg Tom Meents 38 2002 Team Meents Tom Meents Bounty Hunter Team Meents Tom Meents 37 2003 Wolverine Brian Barthel Bounty Hunter Avenger Jim Koehler 37 2004[2] Grave Digger Dennis Anderson Blacksmith Maximum Destruction Tom Meents 31 El Toro Loco Lupe Soza 31 Madusa Debra Micelli 31 2005 Madusa Debra Micelli Grave Digger Bounty Hunter Jimmy Creten 31 2006 Grave Digger Dennis Anderson Bounty Hunter Maximum Destruction Tom Meents 37 2007 Batman John Seasock Grave Digger Captain's Curse Pablo Huffaker 34 2008 Batman John Seasock Bounty Hunter Taz Adam Anderson 37 2009 Maximum Destruction Tom Meents Captain's Curse Air Force Afterburner Damon Bradshaw 36 2010 Grave Digger Dennis Anderson Maximum Destruction Monster Mutt Charlie Pauken 39 2011 Maximum Destruction Tom Meents Bounty Hunter Avenger Jim Koehler 32 Licensing
Mattel's Hot Wheels brand produces officially licensed toy versions of monster trucks under the Monster Jam name. They also sponsored a monster truck, which competed in the series in previous years. However in 2008, the Hot Wheels truck was not on the circuit, replaced in the line up by Donkey Kong.
Four officially licensed Monster Jam video games have been produced. The first two, Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction, a vehicular combat game, and Monster 4x4: Masters of Metal, an arcade racing game, were published by Ubisoft. The third, titled simply Monster Jam, was released by Activision on November 13, 2007, and a sequel to it called Monster Jam: Urban Assault was released on October 28, 2008. There is now a 5th Monster Jam game called: Monster Jam: Path of Destruction containing favorites such as: Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, Grinder, Madusa, and Bounty Hunter. It has realistic stadiums and intros with pyrotechnics and roaring fans. You will also be able to create and customize a truck with over 1000 parts. This game was released on November 9, 2010.
See also
References
- ^ Feld Entertainment Acquires Live Nation Motor Sports
- ^ This was the only year where there was a tie which was not broken, which makes them co-champions
External links
Categories:- Monster truck promoters and sanctioning bodies
- Monster truck television shows
- Monster truck drivers
- Hot Wheels
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