This Week in Monster Truck Racing - May 2-4, 2025
- MTROC Staff
- May 9
- 8 min read

=== This Week in Monster Truck Racing ===
* Triton Robbins wins 12th race in March on Arena Central Tour!
** Zack Garner on the winning side in Colorado Springs
*** Tyler Menninga breaks slump with win in East Rutherford
CURRENT STANDINGS and WEEKEND RESULTS (PDF): https://tinyurl.com/ytzvesn8
===== WEEKEND RECAP FOR MAY 2nd – 4th, 2025 =====
Tyler Menninga got out of his racing slump with his 12th win of the season in East Rutherford. That keeps him in a near-tie with Bari Musawwir for the Stadium East points championship. Triton Robbins won’t be able to win the Arena Central points championship but he has definitely come to challenge Jon Zimmer Jr’s title as the top racer on that tour. Robbins won 3 of 4 in Southaven and has taken 12 of 19 on tour since March! That’s a whole extra level of awesome since the Arena Central Tour is the highest-rated racing tour in the sport right now. Another gun young—Zack Garner, your Monster Jam World Finals Racing Champion—was also indoors this weekend and won 3 of 4 in Colorado.
In Pottsville, Pennsylvania, MTROC Staff got to see Kory Kinal win of the 11th time this season on a dusty track at Big Diamond Speedway. Devin Jones and Mason Rife swept their Monster Truck Wars race, while Mike Pagliarulo and Donald Epidendio dominated their events out west.
This weekend coming up has some big events: Overdrive invades Bristol Motor Speedway with a huge 12-truck independent field; Monster Truck Wars is in Dallas, Texas at one of their biggest venues; and we’ve got all 3 Monster Jam Arena Series in action as well.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us with reporting events this week: Kory Kinal, Jack Mcardle, Brock Thomas, Andrew Thornton, Max Gillie, Sean Green, Nick Jones, Daniel Clark, Ricky Fowler, Preston Collins, John Brown, Mark Werner, Kirk Nagy, Phil Vicinanza, and everyone who posted videos and photos online!
===== CURRENT STANDINGS =====
RANK : DRIVER : PTS/AVG : SCORE : RACES/WINS
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1 ) Coty Saucier - 11697/188.66 : 1+3=4 : 62/29
2 ) Ryan Anderson - 6137/211.62 : 6+1=7 : 29/12
3 ) Tyler Menninga - 6163/205.43 : 5+2=7 : 30/12
4 ) Triton Robbins - 7710/179.3 : 3+5=8 : 43/18
5 ) Weston Anderson - 9156/155.19 : 2+11=13 : 59/21
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6 ) Tristan England - 4904/181.63 : 12+4=16 : 27/7
7 ) Bari Musawwir - 5139/171.3 : 9+7=16 : 30/4
8 ) Jon Zimmer Jr - 6753/153.48 : 4+12=16 : 44/12
9 ) Camden Murphy - 4766/176.52 : 14+6=20 : 27/4
10) Dalton Widner - 5021/161.97 : 11+9=20 : 31/8
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11) Jimmy Creten - 5293/139.29 : 8+15=23 : 38/26
12) Rob Poutre - 4510/145.48 : 16+14=30 : 31/23
13) Blake Granger - 4599/135.26 : 15+17=32 : 34/16
14) Bill Payne - 4466/127.6 : 17+18=35 : 35/12
15) Bryce Kenny - 3272/163.6 : 29+8=37 : 20/2
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16) Armando Castro - 4428/126.51 : 18+19=37 : 35/1
17) Devin Winfield - 5982/90.64 : 7+31=38 : 66/7
18) Colt Stephens - 4248/121.37 : 19+20=39 : 35/3
19) Matt Cody - 5087/97.83 : 10+29=39 : 52/8
20) Daron Basl - 3265/155.48 : 30+10=40 : 21/8
===== ALLEGAN, MI =====
5/3 Sat Aft: MASON RIFE [Outlaw] defeated Kaley Engstrom [Shark Attack]
5/3 Sat Ngt: MASON RIFE [Outlaw] defeated Kaley Engstrom [Shark Attack]
Mason Rife takes the series lead with 14 racing victories on the Monster Truck Wars tour. He beat Kaley Engstrom both nights on the fast drag racing track in Allegan which now gives him 2 more wins than Engstrom and 3 more than Aaron Basl.
===== BROOKSVILLE, PA =====
5/3 Sat Aft: RJ TURNER [War Wizard] defeated Steven Thompson [Hurricane Force]
The Renegade Tour can’t seem to get away from wet weather as they had another muddy mess in Brooksville. RJ Turner and those big cleats on the War Wizard made out the best as he scored his 3rd win of the season.
===== COLORADO SPRINGS, CO =====
5/2 Fri Ngt: ZACK GARNER [Wild Side] defeated Blake Granger [Monster Mutt Dalmatian]
5/3 Sat Aft: ZACK GARNER [Wild Side] defeated Blake Granger [Monster Mutt Dalmatian]
5/3 Sat Ngt: BLAKE GRANGER [Monster Mutt Dalmatian] defeated MJ Solorio [El Toro Loco]
5/4 Sun Aft: ZACK GARNER [Wild Side] defeated Tony Ochs [ThunderROARus]
Reigning World Finals Racing Champion Zack Garner showed off the skills that won him that championship last year in Los Angeles by taking 3 of 4 racings on the Arena Series in Colorado Springs. The Garners were filling in for the Hall Brothers Racing team and had a great showing. Zack has been racing on the Stadium Series this year and so these 3 wins doubled his win total for the season and also gained him 2 spots in the Open rankings.
===== EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ =====
5/3 Sat Aft: TYLER MENNINGA [Grave Digger] defeated Colt Stephens [ThunderROARus]
Tyler Menninga got out of his mid-year slump with a big racing win in New Jersey. The win was important as he and Bari Musawwir remain nearly deadlocked for the Stadium East points series lead. Colt Stephens raced in his 10th final round of the season and moves up 3 spots to join the Top 20 for the first time since mid-March.
===== FRASERVILLE, ON =====
5/3 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this event
5/3 Sat Ngt: We do not have results from this event
===== GRAND JUNCTION, CO =====
5/3 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this event
5/3 Sat Ngt: COREY CLARK [Rockwell R.E.D.] defeated Preston Collins [Velociraptor]
Preston Collins came up a bit short in racing on Saturday afternoon to Brandon Swick (we don’t have results for this one, though) but was right back in the finals later that night racing against veteran Corey Clark. It was a tight race until the Velociraptor clipped the freestyle jump on the inside of the final turn and tumbled onto the final car set, letting Clark and Rockwell RED race by for his first win of the season. Collins has made the finals 5 out of 6 times since joining Team Throttle Monster and has missed the finals only 4 times in his 25 races this season.
===== GRAYSLAKE, IL =====
5/3 Sat Aft: DEVIN JONES [T-Rex] defeated Jerry Furajter [Shark Attack]
5/3 Sat Ngt: DEVIN JONES [T-Rex] defeated Jerry Furajter [Shark Attack]
Devin Jones is running strong on the Monster Truck Wars tour with 4 wins in his last 5 events. He won both times over Jerry Furajter in Grayslake. These two have met in the last 6 final rounds on tour.
===== GREENVILLE, OH =====
5/3 Sat Aft: THOMAS BORDERS [Monkey Business] defeated Jasmin Borders [Funky Monkey]
5/3 Sat Ngt: RANDY BARTON [Bugzilla] defeated Thomas Borders [Monkey Business]
It rained in Greenville, Ohio, too, giving the Full Throttle Tour sloppy conditions for their drag racing event. The Borders debuted the great looking paint job for Monkey Business and Thomas quickly picked up the racing win on Saturday afternoon. Randy Barton and Bugzilla took the evening’s race with the full field of trucks in competition, working his way past Bigfoot, Funky Monkey, and Monkey Business for his first win of the season.
===== INDIANAPOLIS, IN =====
This independent event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE =====
This Hot Wheels Live event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== KISSIMMEE, FL =====
This Hot Wheels Live event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ =====
5/2 Fri Ngt: MICHAEL PAGLIARULO [Excaliber] defeated Nick Pagliarulo [Kraken]
5/3 Sat Ngt: MICHAEL PAGLIARULO [Excaliber] defeated Jacob Ladwig [Rat Attack]
The Pagliarulos headed west and invaded the Insanity Tour for two nights of bonsai straight-line drag racing and boy did the Tomfoolery crew ever put on a show! The King of Air Excaliber lived up to the legendary name as Mike took both racing wins with hard driving and huge jumps, defeating not only teammate Nick in Kraken but also Insanity Tour’s resident racing champ Jacob Ladwig in Rat Attack.
===== MARKHAM, ON =====
5/3 Sat Mrn: KEVIN LUBSEN [Bucking Bronco] defeated Mike Worsley [Outfoxed]
5/3 Sat Aft: NO POINTS; The bracket could not be scored
Kevin Lubsen took the racing win in Markham early in the morning in the newly-painted Bucking Bronco. The Bronco broke early in the second event so Lubsen grabbed his back-up truck (Wadded Up) and won racing with that! Since the afternoon did not use a bracket for the racing, however, we could not score it for points.
===== MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA =====
5/3 Sat Ngt: HAYDEN FRANCIS [Raptor's Rampage] defeated Jack Monkhouse [Wacky-Doo]
5/4 Sun Aft: JACK MONKHOUSE [Wacky-Doo] defeated Hayden Francis [Raptor's Rampage]
One of the biggest annual events outside of the United States is Monster Truck Mania at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Hayden Francis has been the runner-up at this event for the past 3 years but finally solved the riddle and scored his first racing win in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday night. He was back in the finals on Sunday, but fan-favorite Wacky Doo driven by Jack Monkhouse won the best-of-three series with a big final jump. That marks 3 years in a row that Monkhouse has won in Melbourne and each time it was Francis that he beat.
===== PETALUMA, CA =====
5/2 Fri Ngt: DONALD EPIDENDIO [Titan] defeated Bill Payne [Rock Star]
5/3 Sat Ngt: DONALD EPIDENDIO [Titan] defeated Bill Payne [Rock Star]
Eight wins in ten races for the incredible Titan team so far this season as Donald Epidendio takes home two more wins in Petaluma.
===== POTTSVILLE, PA =====
5/3 Sat Aft: KORY KINAL [Jekyll & Hyde] defeated Dan Dahlgren [Shark Bite]
5/4 Sun Aft: JIMMY CRETEN [Bounty Hunter] defeated JR Seasock [Play'n Hookie]
MTROC Staff was on hand for the 2Xtreme Tour’s debut in Pottsville, Pennsylvania at the spacious Big Diamond Speedway.
The Saturday forecast called for rain but we ended up with a dust bowl for the straight-line drag races. Dan Dahlgren took a bite out of local hero JR Seasock in the first heat thanks to the big lead he gained over the first set of cars. The other semi-final round was a true full-throttle rampage with young Kory Kinal inching out a win over Jimmy Creten! Kinal kept that momentum going into the finals where he beat Dahlgren for the 13th time this season.
On Sunday the rains finally came and created a mud bowl instead. Jimmy Creten took home this one, claiming his 26th win of the season. JR Seasock—who is based just 15 minutes away from the track in Frackville—had a strong showing as runner-up.
===== SOUTHAVEN, MS =====
5/2 Fri Ngt: MONTANA ROBBINS [Plane Krazy] defeated Jon Zimmer Jr [Terminal Velocity]
5/3 Sat Aft: TRITON ROBBINS [Krazy Train] defeated Jon Zimmer Sr [Zombie]
5/3 Sat Ngt: TRITON ROBBINS [Krazy Train] defeated Jon Zimmer Sr [Zombie]
5/4 Sun Aft: TRITON ROBBINS [Krazy Train] defeated Montana Robbins [Plane Krazy]
The big guns were in Southaven and it was Triton Robbins once again dominating the weekend. After a semi-final loss on Friday, he rolled off three consecutive wins to end the weekend. He now has the 3rd most total points of any driver in the sport and has solidified his spot in the Top 4. Since March, he has won 12 of his 19 Monster Jam Arena Series racing brackets with an additional 3 runner-ups! That’s incredible considering that he’s racing on the highest-rated racing series in the sport right now (1.081 caliber rating).
===== WOODWARD, OK =====
This Extreme Nationals event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== ZACHARY, LA =====
5/3 Sat Aft: PAUL CRAIGHEAD [Sudden Impact] defeated Paul Strong [Quad Chaos]
5/3 Sat Ngt: KAILA SAVAGE [USA-1] defeated Paul Strong [Quad Chaos]
Last but not least, more mud. It rained down in Louisiana, too, giving the drivers another sloppy drag racing track. Paul Strong in Quad Chaos got to the finals both events but came up just a bit short in his bid for a 5th racing win this season.
====== EVENTS THIS WEEKEND =====
Bridgeport, CT (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow Party Arena Event)
Bristol, TN (Overdrive Monster Truck Tour)
Claremont, Australia (Showground Slam)
Dallas, TX (Monster Truck Wars)
Dickson, TN (Monster Truck Bash)
Manchester, NH (Monster Jam Arena Championship Series West)
Milton, ON (Monster Trucks All Out Tour)
Moline, IL (Monster Jam Arena Championship Series Central)
Nampa, ID (Monster Jam Arena Championship Series East)
Orillia, ON (Monster Madness)
Peotone, IL (Monster Truck Chaos)
Quarryville, PA (Renegade Monster Truck Tour)
Shawnee, OK (Monster Trucks Maniac)
Sumter, SC (Monster Truckz Chaos Tour)
Swanzey, NH (SC Monster Truck Madness Stunts & Thrills)
Tremonton, UT (Monster Truck Insanity Tour)
Turlock, CA (Monster Truck Nitro Tour)
Urbana, IL (Monster Truck Wars)
Westdale, Australia (Extreme Monster War on Wheels)
York, PA (Monster X Tour)
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