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. 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.
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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.
| 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 |
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.