This Week in Monster Truck Racing - October 31-November 2, 2025
- MTROC Staff
- 11 minutes ago
- 5 min read
=== This Week in Monster Truck Racing ===
* Jon Zimmer Jr wins twice in Hampton
** Ryan Vargas debuts with racing win
*** Carson Williams leads Nitro Tour debut in Belton
CURRENT STANDINGS and WEEKEND RESULTS (PDF): https://tinyurl.com/mtroc251106
BLOG POST RECAP: https://www.mtroc.com/blog
===== WEEKEND RECAP FOR OCTOBER 31st – NOVEMBER 2nd, 2025 =====
Jon Zimmer Jr has the most points of any driver so far (1892) after winning his 5th race of the year on Sunday night in Hampton. Rookie Ryan Vargas, the NASCAR series driver who joined Monster Jam just last month, got a chance to go side-by-side racing after timed racing last weekend and won his first time out! Vargas followed that up with a runner-up finish on Saturday afternoon.
In Puerto Rico, reigning Open Champion Coty Saucier added two more wins in his title defense and is now tied with Zimmer Jr and Jimmy Creten with 5 wins a piece. We also saw Ashley Sanford win the all-female final on Saturday afternoon over Krysten Anderson.
The fans in Belton, Texas got a new look this year as the former Checkered Flag Promotions stronghold welcomed the Nitro Tour and a new-look concrete track. Carson Williams won once in two final rounds. He has made the finals in all four of his events this season. Meanwhile in Redmond, Oregon, teammate Cliff Turner followed up his 3-race winning streak from Lake Perris with a win and runner-up finish.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us with reporting events this week: Lee Collins, Tim Hall Jr, Nick Jones, Preston Perez, Mike Bevacqua, Kirk Nagy, Phil Vicinanza, and everyone who posted videos and photos online!
===== CURRENT STANDINGS =====
New standings for the 2026 season will be posted beginning in January. We are still recording results every week but we will not be compiling the points until enough drivers have had time to accumulate at least five events to ensure that the Average Points calculations are fair.
===== BAKERSFIELD, CA =====
11/1 Sat Aft: BILL PAYNE [Rock Star] defeated Donald Epidendio [Titan]
11/1 Sat Ngt: NICK JONES [Spitfire] defeated Bill Payne [Rock Star]
The Malicious Tour had a fast track in Bakersfield for their St Louis-style racing this weekend. Breakage dropped the fields down to four trucks, but did not dampen the action. Bill Payne scored a win over arch rival Donald Epidendio on Saturday. The Titan was out with breakage on Saturday, but Nick Jones in Spitfire—who missed the afternoon himself with breakage—was back in action and won for the 3rd time this season. This race also saw Joe Briggs make his racing debut driving Reverse Racer.
===== BELTON, TX =====
11/1 Sat Aft: TIM HALL JR [Jurassic Attack] defeated Carson Williams [Rockwell R.E.D.]
11/1 Sat Ngt: CARSON WILLIAMS [Rockwell R.E.D.] defeated Travis Hall [Kamikaze]
The AMP Live Events Nitro Tour made its debut at the Bell County Expo Center, a former staple for the CFP No Limits Tour, and they changed up the usual dirt track with an all-concrete U-Turn track. Team Throttle Monster teammates Carson Williams, Tim Hall Jr, and Travis Hall made the finals but it was Williams winning the weekend with a win and two finals. He has not yet missed the final this season in his 4 events.
===== HAMPTON, VA =====
11/1 Sat Aft: RYAN VARGAS [El Toro Loco] defeated Montana Robbins [Plane Krazy]
11/1 Sat Ngt: WESTON ANDERSON [Grave Digger] defeated Ryan Vargas [El Toro Loco]
11/2 Sun Aft: JON ZIMMER JR [Terminal Velocity] defeated Triton Robbins [Krazy Train]
11/2 Sun Ngt: JON ZIMMER JR [Terminal Velocity] defeated Weston Anderson [Grave Digger]
Rookie Ryan Vargas is showing great speed in only his 2nd weekend of monster trucking as he opened the weekend with a win against the top-ranked field (1.138) of the weekend in his very first career bracket! He added two semi-final appearances on Sunday, too, giving him a 199.50 points-per-race average which is tied with Weston Anderson for 6th overall. Anderson had a win and runner-up finish this weekend, too. On Sunday, Jon Zimmer Jr found his groove and won both times, bringing his points total to 1892 which is best in the sport so far this season. His 5 wins also ties Coty Saucier and Jimmy Creten for best in the sport over the past month.
===== HICKORY, NC =====
11/1 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this event
11/2 Sun Aft: KALEY ENGSTROM [Shark Attack] defeated Rylan Hawkins [Outlaw]
Still having a rough time with results from the Monster Truck Wars tour. The racing this weekend was rough itself as the drivers battled over an asphalt Chicago-style track with jersey-barrier ramps over 3-car sets. Kaley Engstrom took one of the wins (we think it was Sunday) over rookie Rylan Hawkins.
===== KENNEDALE, TX =====
11/1 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this event
11/1 Sat Ngt: We do not have results from this event
===== LANCASTER, SC =====
11/1 Sat Aft: NO POINTS; Racing was contested as solo timed runs rather than side-by-side
===== REDMOND, OR =====
11/1 Sat Ngt: PRESTON COLLINS [Jurassic Attack] defeated Cliff Turner [Kamikaze]
11/2 Sun Aft: CLIFF TURNER [Kamikaze] defeated Travis Groth [The Veteran]
The Monsters of Destruction Tour in Redmond raced on a fast Chicago-style track with Cliff Turner making the finals both days and winning on Sunday. He has 4 wins in 8 races so far this season. After four straight final round appearances coming into this weekend, Preston Collins finally got his first win of the season on Saturday over Turner.
===== SAN JUAN, PR =====
10/31 Fri Ngt: COTY SAUCIER [Dragon] defeated Fernando Martinez [JCB DIGatron]
11/1 Sat Aft: ASHLEY SANFORD [Megalodon] defeated Krysten Anderson [Grave Digger]
11/1 Sat Ngt: COTY SAUCIER [Dragon] defeated MJ Solorio [El Toro Loco]
11/2 Sun Aft: MJ SOLORIO [El Toro Loco] defeated Coty Saucier [Dragon]
Last season, Coty Saucier used these early season races in Puerto Rico to help propel himself to the 2025 Open Championship. While not as dominant this year as last year’s 8-for-9 performance, Saucier still won half the weekend with another runner-up finish and currently has the 2nd most points behind only Jon Zimmer Jr. Ashley Sanford has shown steady improvement and grabbed the win on Saturday afternoon in an all-woman final. MJ Solorio was the other winner to close out the weekend.
===== EVENTS THIS WEEKEND =====
Albuquerque, NM (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow Party Arena Event)
Amite, LA (All Star Monster Truck Tour)
Fresno, CA (2X Monster Trucks Live)
Lancaster, CA (Monster Truck Nitro Tour)
McKinney, TX (Monster Trucks Maniac)
San Antonio, TX (Monster Truck Wars)
Saint Charles, MO (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow Party Arena Event)
San Bernardino, CA (Malicious Monster Truck Tour)
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