5th Place – Bill Payne - 2026 Monster Truck Racing Open Championship
Bill Payne is well known for his freestyles, but now also has a Top 5 Open Championship finish to add to his resume. This is also the 3rd time that Payne has finished in the Top Ten.
Payne equaled his 31-wins total from last year and was tied for the most wins in the sports this season. The 10,973 points he earned and 171.45-points-per-race he averaged were both career bests. And that’s with 17 of his events not being reported, so Payne likely had even more points and wins than we were able to record.
Bill split his season between his own Malicious Monster Truck Tour and the RAM Motorsports Spectacular in Canada. The Malicious Tour runs nearly weekly up and down the west coast of the United States and Canada. At those events, Bill often drove double-duty in Rock Star and The California Kid. (Drivers only earn points from one truck per event) In February, he won 5-consecutive events in Winnipeg and Saskatoon with the RAM Motorsports Spectacular. In the summer, he again won 5-consecutive events in Bremerton, Elma, and Ridgefield, Washington, with the Malicious Tour.
In head-to-head races, Payne was 28-4 against Gavin Sell; 10-16 against Donald Epidendio, 15-8 against Nick Jones, 18-3 against Myles Parker, 17-2 against Joe Briggs, 13-6 against Marvin Anderson, 3-0 against Jared Vogel, and 3-0 against John Bruce. He finished with an estimated record of 106-35.
===== BILL PAYNE 2026 SEASON SUMMARY =====
10/4 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Stockton, CA = (NO REPORT)
10/4 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Stockton, CA = (NO REPORT)
10/4 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Stockton, CA = RunnerUp (210 pts)
10/10 Fri Aft : Malicious @ Marysville, CA = RunnerUp (100 pts)
10/11 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Marysville, CA = (did not compete)
10/11 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Marysville, CA = RunnerUp (100 pts)
10/18 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Roseville, CA = *** WINNER *** (315 pts)
10/18 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Roseville, CA = RunnerUp (210 pts)
10/24 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Eureka, CA = RunnerUp (210 pts)
10/25 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Eureka, CA = (did not compete)
10/25 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Eureka, CA = *** WINNER *** (276 pts)
11/1 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Bakersfield, CA = (did not compete)
11/1 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Bakersfield, CA = *** WINNER *** (208 pts)
11/1 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Bakersfield, CA = (did not compete)
11/1 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Bakersfield, CA = RunnerUp (100 pts)
11/7 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ San Bernardino, CA = Lost in first round (0 pts)
11/8 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ San Bernardino, CA = Lost in semi-finals (90 pts)
11/29 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Nipomo, CA = Lost in semi-finals (90 pts)
11/29 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Nipomo, CA = *** WINNER *** (237 pts)
1/10 Sat Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Kelowna, BC = RunnerUp (148 pts)
1/10 Sat Ngt : RAM Spectacular @ Kelowna, BC = *** WINNER *** (222 pts)
1/11 Sun Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Kelowna, BC = *** WINNER *** (192 pts)
1/17 Sat Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Victoria, BC = RunnerUp (148 pts)
1/17 Sat Ngt : RAM Spectacular @ Victoria, BC = (NO REPORT)
1/18 Sun Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Victoria, BC = (NO REPORT)
2/7 Sat Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Winnipeg, MB = *** WINNER *** (225 pts)
2/8 Sun Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Winnipeg, MB = *** WINNER *** (225 pts)
2/21 Sat Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Saskatoon, SK = *** WINNER *** (225 pts)
2/21 Sat Ngt : RAM Spectacular @ Saskatoon, SK = *** WINNER *** (225 pts)
2/22 Sun Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Saskatoon, SK = *** WINNER *** (225 pts)
2/27 Fri Ngt : RAM Spectacular @ Edmonton, AB = RunnerUp (148 pts)
2/28 Sat Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Edmonton, AB = *** WINNER *** (222 pts)
2/28 Sat Ngt : RAM Spectacular @ Edmonton, AB = RunnerUp (148 pts)
3/1 Sun Aft : RAM Spectacular @ Edmonton, AB = RunnerUp (148 pts)
3/6 Fri Ngt : Monster Trucks @ Winnemucca, NV = *** WINNER *** (270 pts)
3/7 Sat Ngt : Monster Trucks @ Winnemucca, NV = RunnerUp (180 pts)
3/14 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Santa Maria, CA = (NO REPORT)
3/14 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Santa Maria, CA = RunnerUp (180 pts)
3/15 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Santa Maria, CA = (did not compete)
3/28 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Bakersfield, CA = *** WINNER *** (270 pts)
3/28 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Bakersfield, CA = *** WINNER *** (200 pts)
4/3 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Merced, CA = RunnerUp (100 pts)
4/4 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Merced, CA = *** WINNER *** (200 pts)
4/10 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Phoenix, AZ = (non-points event)
4/11 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Phoenix, AZ = (non-points event)
4/11 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Phoenix, AZ = (non-points event)
4/12 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Phoenix, AZ = (non-points event)
4/12 Sun Ngt : Malicious @ Phoenix, AZ = (non-points event)
4/18 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Roseville, CA = Lost in first round (0 pts)
4/18 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Roseville, CA = (did not compete)
4/24 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Marysville, CA = (NO REPORT)
4/25 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Marysville, CA = (NO REPORT)
5/1 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Petaluma, CA = RunnerUp (172 pts)
5/2 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Petaluma, CA = *** WINNER *** (258 pts)
5/9 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Stockton, CA = RunnerUp (180 pts)
5/9 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Stockton, CA = (did not compete)
5/16 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = Lost in first round (90 pts)
5/16 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (NO REPORT)
5/16 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (NO REPORT)
5/17 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (NO REPORT)
5/17 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (NO REPORT)
5/23 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = (did not compete)
5/23 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = *** WINNER *** (291 pts)
5/24 Sun Ngt : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = (did not compete)
5/24 Sun Ngt : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = *** WINNER *** (267 pts)
6/12 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Coos Bay, OR = *** WINNER *** (231 pts)
6/13 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Coos Bay, OR = Lost in semi-finals (77 pts)
6/20 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Crescent City, CA = (did not compete)
6/21 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Crescent City, CA = (NO REPORT)
6/26 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Yuba City, CA = RunnerUp (154 pts)
7/4 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Penticton, BC = *** WINNER *** (192 pts)
7/5 Sun Ngt : Malicious @ Penticton, BC = *** WINNER *** (192 pts)
7/10 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Wenatchee, WA = RunnerUp (115 pts)
7/11 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Wenatchee, WA = Lost in first round (0 pts)
7/17 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = Lost in first round (0 pts)
7/18 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = RunnerUp (218 pts)
7/19 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Bremerton, WA = *** WINNER *** (327 pts)
7/24 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Elma, WA = *** WINNER *** (200 pts)
7/25 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Elma, WA = *** WINNER *** (200 pts)
8/13 Thu Aft : Malicious @ Ridgefield, WA = *** WINNER *** (200 pts)
8/13 Thu Ngt : Malicious @ Ridgefield, WA = *** WINNER *** (231 pts)
8/14 Fri Aft : Malicious @ Ridgefield, WA = (NO REPORT)
8/14 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Ridgefield, WA = Lost in first round (0 pts)
8/16 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Kalispell, MT = *** WINNER *** (162 pts)
8/16 Sun Ngt : Malicious @ Kalispell, MT = (did not compete)
8/22 Sat Aft : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (did not compete)
8/22 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (NO REPORT)
8/23 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Black Creek, BC = (NO REPORT)
8/28 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Monroe, WA = (NO REPORT)
8/29 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Monroe, WA = *** WINNER *** (249 pts)
8/30 Sun Aft : Malicious @ Monroe, WA = (NO REPORT)
9/4 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Cottage Grove, OR = Lost in first round (0 pts)
9/5 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Cottage Grove, OR = *** WINNER *** (200 pts)
9/11 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Petaluma, CA = Lost in semi-finals (90 pts)
9/12 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Petaluma, CA = *** WINNER *** (270 pts)
9/18 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Chico, CA = RunnerUp (180 pts)
9/19 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Chico, CA = Lost in first round (0 pts)
9/25 Fri Ngt : Malicious @ Placerville, CA = RunnerUp (180 pts)
9/26 Sat Ngt : Malicious @ Placerville, CA = (did not compete)
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