WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
There was only one Stadium Championship series running this weekend but it provided some excellent racing and exciting results. Detroit fans got to see Jimmy Creten finally get the monkey off his back and secure a racing victory on Saturday. On Sunday, Bryan Wright and Hooked reeled in the stars of Monster Jam for his first win of the season and moved to within 60 points of a Top 50 ranking.
Larry Swim swept the weekend in Saginaw and has Bigfoot near the top of the charts. Zane Rettew and Mikeal Christensen continued their ascents, as well, each with a win and 2 runner-ups. Plus young Triton Robbins dominated racing in Harrisburg for his first two wins of the season.
SCORING CORRECTIONS
Monster Jam posted scoring corrections from a few events over the past months. These changes have been made to our records, as well, and points have been adjusted accordingly.
In Portland on Sunday afternoon, Myranda Cozad did not compete due to mechanical breakage. She had been awarded a first round loss which is now a DNC (did not compete). Points-per-round was adjusted from 100 to 96. Point totals were adjusted for Elvis Lainez, Tony Ochs, Tanner Root, and Tyler Menninga as a result.
In Wichita on Saturday evening, Tanner Root did not compete due to mechanical breakage. He had been awarded a first round loss which is now a DNC. Points-per-round was adjusted from 100 to 96. Point totals were adjusted for Bari Musawwir, Colton Eichelberger, Elvis Lainez, and Tyler Menninga.
In Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon, Austin Minton did not compete due to mechanical breakage. He had been awarded a first round loss which is now a DNC. Points-per-round was adjusted from 100 to 96. Point totals were adjusted for Tyler Menninga, Myranda Cozad, Bari Musawwir, and Colton Eichelberger as a result.
SAGINAW, WISCONSIN
The big mover for this week was Larry Swim in Bigfoot who rocketed up the standings from 46th to 12th. Swim got a late start to the season but now has 5 wins including 4-in-a-row. This past weekend at the Toughest Monster Truck Tour in Saginaw, he defeated Brandon Budd and Jerry Beck (twice) while handling the Chicago-style track with ease.
Moving up higher in the standings will be a more difficult task, however. Swim currently sits approximately 800 points out of the Top Ten due primarily to his reduced schedule. Fortunately for Bigfoot fans, he has 11 more events currently scheduled estimated to be worth around 3000 total points beginning next weekend at the No Limits event in San Angelo and continuing back with the Toughest Monster Truck Tour into April.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
Veteran Jimmy Creten was carrying a 0-7 streak in final rounds heading into Detroit this past weekend. Since his last win in Okeechobee in December, Creten could not find victory lane, posting runner-up efforts in Dayton, Hartford (three times), San Diego, Arlington, and Saint Louis. He opened up racing in the Motor City with a win over Ryan Anderson, and then took out Justin Sipes and Tom Meents before posting a narrow victory over Cynthia Gauthier in Monster Mutt Dalmatian Ice to further secure his spot in the top ten.
On Sunday afternoon, the story was all about Bryan Wright battling his way through a tough line-up to claim his first win of the season. Running on the fast Saint Louis style course, Wright beat Tom Meents in the first round and Morgan Kane in the second. In the semi-finals, he faced Jimmy Creten and both drivers spun out in the final turn. Creten hit a tire and went off course while Wright finished cleanly to advance to the finals. There he crossed the finish line nose-to-nose with Ryan Anderson but claimed victory when Anderson was penalized for hitting the turning tire.
Camden Murphy was also racing in Detroit but ultimately lost ground on Tyler Menninga this weekend. His Bakugan Dragonoid truck busted a shock absorber in the quarter-finals on Saturday night in Detroit and he was unable to continue. On Sunday, he was upset in the first round by Justin Sipes in Megalodon and failed to score any points.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Tyler Menninga won his 27th and 28th events of the season in Vancouver. He was upset by substitute drive Roger Stidell in EarthShaker on Friday night, but beat out Rosalee Ramer and Stidell in the two afternoon events. Cam McQueen drove Northern Nightmare to victory lane on Saturday night over Rosalee Ramer, who competed in her second final round of the weekend and of the season.
MEDFORD, OREGON
The Traxxas tour crammed seven trucks, a thrilling J-turn track, and four big events into the small arena in Medford, Oregon this weekend. Tyler Groth artfully navigated the tight turn to claim the first two racing events over Paul Breaud and Mikeal Christensen. He joins the world rankings this week in 32nd with 4 wins in 5 events so far. Paul Jensen drove Kamikaze to the win on Saturday night over Christensen.
On Sunday, Christensen finally got past the last hurdle and claimed first place with Jensen coming in second. Mikeal was a finalist each night he competed, having sat out the Friday races due to mechanical problems. That stellar performance gained him another 13 spots in the standings to 17th which is two spots above brother Paul Jensen in 19th.
NAMPA, IDAHO
Zane Rettew moves up 11 spots to 22nd after racing to 1 win and 3 final round appearances on the Monster Jam Arena Championship tour in Nampa, Idaho. He defeated Aaron Basl driving Devastator on Friday, but lost to Kaylyn Migues and then Darren Migues on Saturday.
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
Sixteen-year-old Triton Robbins in Krazy Train was untouchable in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where he won both sessions of Chicago-style racing at the New Holland Arena. These were his first two racing wins of the season. Wayne Solly was runner-up both times as a substitute driver for Nothing But Trouble.
BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY
At the No Limits Tour in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Shannon and Larry Quick exchanged wins on the short, hole-shot course.
LUFKIN, TEXAS
Clint Watson recorded his first win driving the retro Bear Foot Racer in Lufkin, Texas. He defeated Ricky Fowler on Friday night and was runner-up to Dillon Fenley on Saturday.
HENDERSON, TEXAS
Michael Harper picked up another win in Outlaw as he defeated Adam Wilson in Sheriff at the Monster Wars race in Henderson, Texas.
HOBBS, NEW MEXICO
In Hobbs, New Mexico, Allen Pezo raced Predator around the short J-turn course to defeat Darron Schnell in Bigfoot. We only have one night of results from the Kicker Nationals. If you have any information on these events please contact us so we can award more points.
PERTH, WEST AUSTRALIA
Australia welcomed an international crew of monster truck drivers to Perth in West Australia. They were greeted by heavy rains and very slick conditions, which made negotiating the tight U-turn track very challenging. Unfortunately, we do not have the results from racing and have not yet been able to award points. If you have any information on the racing, please contact us so we can award points.
NO RACING IN RALEIGH OR TOLEDO
Monster Jam was also in Raleigh, North Carolina and Toledo, Ohio this past weekend, but both events used timed racing instead of side-by-side racing and therefore were not eligible for points.
THE WEEKEND AHEAD
Adam Anderson and Neil Elliot will look to renew their rivalry in Seattle after a week off. The one big race at CenturyLink Field will be worth 392 points. An event win would get Anderson about halfway closer to the #1 spot, or could put Elliot within reach of a Top 5 ranking.
World #1 Tyler Menninga will have four chances for points during a busy weekend in Fresno, California. Zane Rettew will look to extend his streak of final round appearances to 5 during the Monster Jam events in Albuquerque. And Brad Allen will jump into the seat of Monster Mutt for four events in Huntsville, Alabama.
The Traxxas tour has a busy weekend ahead with events in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Remond, Oregon; and Pueblo, Colorado.
Fort Wayne looks like a very competitive line-up with Greg Wichenbach returning to action in Crushstation against Kreg Christensen in Dragon Slayer. Teammate trucks Lumberjack and Wicked will look to play spoilers, and Tour regulars Justin and Jeff Murphy will be looking to defend their turf.
In Redmond, brothers Mikeal Christensen and Paul Jensen will battle brothers Tyler and Travis Groth for a second week in a row with East Coasters Paul Breaud and Anne Streatch looking to steal the points for Pennsylvania.
And in Pueblo, the rest of the Pennsylvania Xtreme crew (Instigator and X-Maxx) will face off with DRF Motorsports’ King Krunch and Tantrum as well as the Tulachka’s with Just Get Er Done.
Larry Swim and Larry Quick have been final-round regulars this season and they meet head-to-head in San Angelo this weekend as part of the No Limits Tour. Monster Truck Insanity will run wild in Tooele (Grantsville), Utah. Monster Truck Wars rolls in Robstown, Texas for a pair of events. And the Hot Wheels Live series re-ignites with a pair of events in Louisville, Kentucky.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
A reminder as always that the most-challenging part of running the MTROC is gathering event results. As you can see, we missed out on two events from this weekend. Our goal is to have all events from around the world recorded and scored. If you attend any monster truck racing event, whether as a fan, driver, crew member, promoter, or any other function, we ask you to jot down the racing results (if you’re able) and send a report in to us via email (staff@mtroc.com) or our Facebook page. Help us make every race count!