Monster Jam World Finals 17

Monster Jam World Finals 17 was held on March 17-19, 2016 in Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. It has 32 trucks competing for the World Finals.

There were four Grave Digger trucks in the line-up, a record number of the same truck for the World Finals, two Maximum Destruction trucks with a third in the Young Guns Shootout, and two Monster Energy trucks. There were also two El Toro Loco trucks in the Young Guns Shootout with a third already in the main competition.

Like last year, this World Finals was very controversial due to it's freestyle fan judging: many fans disagreed with Adam Anderson's freestyle receiving the win. There was also controversy surrounding the lack of crush cars in the freestyle track, like last year, but when a interview at a pit party for monster x, one of the drivers of Bigfoot had gotten asked about this question on why there are so little cars in monster jam, he said that junkyard companies are now overpricing cars because they claim "they still have a bit of value in them." Another controversy is about the excessive number of Grave Digger trucks. However, fans reacted more positively to this year's freestyle encore, compared to that of last year.

Young Guns Shootout Line-Up

 * 1) Scott Liddycoat- Dragon
 * 2) Tony Ochs- Soldier Fortune Black Ops (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 3) Rosalee Ramer- Wild Flower (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 4) Eric Swanson- Obsessed (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 5) Steven Thompson- Hurricane Force
 * 6) Buddy Tompkins- Razin Kane (Blue flame) (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 7) Ryan Disharoon- Saigon Shaker (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 8) Becky McDonough- El Toro Loco (Yellow)
 * 9) Jared Eichelberger- Maximum Destruction (Yellow/Orange) (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 10) Travis Groth- New Earth Authority (N.E.A Police) (Blue)
 * 11) Steven Sims- Pirate's Curse
 * 12) Bailey Shea Williams- Scooby Doo
 * 13) Tyler Groth- Zombie (Yellow) (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 14) Kayla Blood- El Toro Loco (Orange) (Young Guns Shootout Debut)
 * 15) Cynthia Gauthier- Monster Mutt Dalmatian
 * 16) Tyler Menninga- Blue Thunder (Young Guns Shootout Debut)

Line-Up

 * 1) Todd LeDuc- Metal Mulisha
 * 2) Dennis Anderson- Grave Digger (Chrome)
 * 3) Ryan Anderson- Son-Uva Digger
 * 4) Cam McQueen- Northern Nightmare
 * 5) Donald Epidendio- Titan (Black)
 * 6) Candice Jolly- Monster Mutt Dalmatian
 * 7) Marc McDonald- El Toro Loco (Black)
 * 8) George Balhan- Mohawk Warrior
 * 9) Lee O'Donnell- VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist
 * 10) Scott Buetow- Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
 * 11) Jimmy Creten- American Sniper Bounty Hunter
 * 12) Charlie Pauken- Monster Mutt
 * 13) Unknown- Doom's Day (Though theorized to be Alex Blackwell)
 * 14) Chad Tingler- Alien Invasion
 * 15) Neil Elliott- Fox Sports 1 Cleatus
 * 16) Nicole Johnson- Scooby Doo
 * 17) BJ Johnson- Gas Monkey Garage (World Finals Debut)
 * 18) Mikey Vaters- Overkill Evolution
 * 19) Jim Koehler- Avenger (Rusty Blue)
 * 20) Tom Meents- Maximum Destruction (Original)
 * 21) Linsey Weenk- Lucas Oil Crusader
 * 22) Damon Bradshaw- Monster Energy (Cadillac)
 * 23) Dustin Brown- Monster Mutt Junkyard Dog
 * 24) Chad Fortune- Soldier Fortune
 * 25) Bari Musawwir- Zombie (Original)
 * 26) Colton Eichelberger- Maximum Destruction (Gold)
 * 27) Coty Saucier- Monster Energy (Ford)
 * 28) Brianna Mahon- Madusa (White) (World Finals Debut)
 * 29) Adam Anderson- Grave Digger (Original) (Fox Sports 1 Championship Series Champion)
 * 30) Cole Venard- Grave Digger (Purple) (East Coast MoreMonsterJam Champion) (World Finals Debut)
 * 31) Morgan Kane- Grave Digger (Orange) (West Coast MoreMonsterJam Champion)
 * 32) Scott Liddycoat- Dragon (Young Guns Shootout Champion) (World Finals Debut)

"Make a Wish Foundation Day"
On Wednesday March 16th 2016, Monster Jam held their annual "Make a Wish Foundation Day", giving truck rides and autographs to disabled/terminal children. Trucks also practiced that night on the track.

Round 1:
Pirate's Curse vs. Saigon Shaker

Monster Mutt Dalmatian vs. New Earth Authority

El Toro Loco (Blood) vs. Dragon

Max-D vs. Scooby Doo

El Toro Loco (McDonough) vs. Obsessed

Hurricane Force vs. Zombie

Razin Kane vs. Soldier Fortune Black Ops

Blue Thunder vs. Wild Flower

Round 2:
Pirate's Curse (Red light and crash) vs. Monster Mutt Dalmatian

Max-D (crash) vs. Dragon

El Toro Loco (McDonough) vs. Zombie

Razin Kane vs. Blue Thunder

Semi Finals:
Monster Mutt Dalmatian vs. Dragon

Blue Thunder vs. El Toro Loco (McDonough) (crash)

Championship Race:
Blue Thunder vs. Dragon

Young Guns Shootout Encore
The Young Guns Shootout Encore featured all of the Young Guns Shootout competitors doing donuts. Afterwards, Pirate's Curse and Wild Flower did simultaneous back flips.

Racing Incident
On Friday, in round number one, Northern Nightmare lost control, and sparks shot from the brake lines of the truck, sending a chunk of metal flying into the stands, hitting a group of people. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in the accident.

Round 1:
Alien Invasion vs. Mad Scientist

Monster Energy (Saucier) vs Team Hot Wheels Firestorm

Lucas Oil Crusader vs. Dragon

Metal Mulisha vs Grave Digger (Venard)

Soldier Fortune vs. Bounty Hunter (broke) (350th Race of the World Finals)

Mohawk Warrior vs. Monster Mutt Junkyard Dog

Avenger vs. Grave Digger (Adam)

Max-D (Eichelberger) (Save) vs. Son-Uva Digger Northern Nightmare vs. El Toro Loco

Monster Mutt vs. Grave Digger (Dennis)

Max-D (Meents) vs. Scooby Doo

Fox Sports 1 Cleatus vs. Monster Mutt Dalmatian

Titan vs. Gas Monkey Garage

Doom's Day vs. Zombie

Overkill Evolution (broke) vs. Monster Energy (Bradshaw)

Grace Digger (Kane) vs. Madusa

Round 2:
Monster Energy (Saucier) vs. Lucas Oil Crusader

Metal Mulisha vs. Soldier Fortune

Mohawk Warrior vs. Grave Digger (Adam)

El Toro Loco vs. Son-Uva Digger

Max-D (Meents) vs. Grave Digger (Dennis)

Fox Sports 1 Cleatus vs. Gas Monkey Garage

Mad Scientist vs. Monster Energy (Bradshaw)

Grave Digger (Kane) vs. Zombie

Quarter Finals:
Monster Energy (Saucier) vs. Monster Energy (Bradshaw) (broke) Metal Mulisha vs. Grave Digger (Adam)

Max-D (Meents) vs. Son-Uva Digger

Grave Digger (Kane) vs. Gas Monkey Garage (crash)

Semi-Finals:
Metal Mulisha vs. Monster Energy (Saucier)

Grave Digger (Kane) vs. Son-Uva Digger

Championship Race:
Grave Digger (Kane) vs. Metal Mulisha. In a photo finish, Kane beats out the defending World Finals Racing Champion.

Racing Encore
Tom Meents in Maximum destruction jumped over five trucks using the middle jump, then went straight into a backflip on the wide backflip wall at the front of the stadium near the racing lanes.

Freestyle
Grave Digger (Adam)- 33 (Crash)

Monster Energy (Damon)- 32.5

Grave Digger (Dennis)- 31.5 (Crash)

Grave Digger (Cole)- 30.5

Team Hot Wheels Firestorm- 30.5 Son-Uva Digger- 30.5 (Crash)

Metal Mulisha- 29.5 (Crash)

Northern Nightmare- 29 (Crash)

El Toro Loco- 28.5 Alien Invasion- 25.5 (Crash)

Solider Fortune- 25.5

Madusa- 24.5

Monster Mutt- 24.5 (Crash)

Overkill Evolution- 24.5 (Crash)

Titan- 23.5 Grave Digger (Morgan)- 23 (Crash)

Zombie- 23

Fox Sports 1 Cleatus- 22.5

Max-D (Tom)- 21.5

Max-D (Colton)- 20 (Crash) Scooby-Doo- 19 (Crash)

VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist- 19 (Crash)

Mohawk Warrior- 19 (Crash)

Dragon- 18.5 (Crash)

Lucas Oil Crusader- 17.5 (Crash)

Monster Mutt Junkyard Dog- 15.5 (Crash) Monster Energy (Coty)- 15 (Crash)

Monster Mutt Dalmatian- 14.5 (Crash)

Doom's Day- 14.5 (Crash)

Bounty Hunter- 14

Gas Monkey Garage- 13 (Crash)

Avenger- 12 (Crash)

Freestyle Encore
For the freestyle encore, a spare Soldier Fortune, Soldier Fortune Black Ops, and other military themed trucks came out and performed donuts, in honor of the US Army. Then, they all did a backflip on the front backflip wall, while Soldier Fortune and Soldier Fortune Black Ops backflipped off the backflip ramp at the back of the stadium. The other military trucks were:

Army (FELD) (El Toro Loco): Chuck Werner

Navy: Jon Zimmer

Air Force (FELD) (BKT Race): Carl Van Horn

Marines (Zombie Hunter): Randy Brown

Coast Guard: Rod Schmidt

Controversy
Like the year before, Monster Jam World Finals 17 was a controversial and negatively received event, particularly in the freestyle event.

Much of the show's criticisms went into the show's freestyle "fan" judges. Fans complained that many freestyle runs were over scored (such as Adam Anderson's Grave Digger) and others were underscored (such as Damon Bradshaw's Monster Energy or Dennis Anderson's Grave Digger).

Another aspect of the show that was negatively received was the show's freestyle track for, like last year, being constructed almost entirely out of dirt ramps and lacking almost any crush cars: fans felt that the dirt ramps were boring and repetitive compared to crush cars. The three crush cars (left over form racing's turning brackets) were not even left out for the entire event: they were removed partway into the night. In addition, it was also disdained for its large size, causing 27 of the 32 trucks to break or crash early into their runs: only five trucks made it entirely through bonus time. The track's large size was even more controversial than that of Monster Jam World Finals 11, which resulted in the drivers designing the track the following year due to its controversy.

Fans also criticized the multiple versions of certain trucks, particularly the four Grave Diggers. Fans claimed that this was not only repetitive, but also rigged in favor of the Grave Digger Team: this theory is supported by Adam Anderson's freestyle victory, which many felt was wrongfully judged as well as Grave Digger receiving it's first "Double Down" at the World Finals despite two completely different drivers winning the two competitions, which was also criticized. The orange Grave Digger paint design was also negatively received.

At least one fan criticized the decision to sell beer at the event, noting that there were reports of quite a few intoxicated guests at what is highly emphasized to be a family-friendly event. Another complained that the "hot seat" blocked part of the track view for freestyle.

In the midst of its scathing controversy, however, this year's freestyle encore was better received than that of last year, though it did receive minor criticisms for excessive backflip emphasis.

Other Rewards

 * Rising Star – Stinger (Zane Rettew)
 * Arena Donut – Monster Mutt Dalmatian (Cynthia Gauthier)
 * Save – Northern Nightmare (Cam McQueen)
 * Rookie – Wild Flower (Rosalee Ramer)
 * Stadium Donut – Max-D (Tom Meents)
 * Arena Wheelie – Carolina Crusher (Gary Porter)
 * Stadium Wheelie – Grave Digger (Charlie Pauken)
 * Extreme Air – Avenger (Jim Koehler)
 * UTI Technician – Hurricane Force (Steve Thompson)
 * Arena Freestyle – Zombie (Bari Musawwir)
 * Stadium Freestyle – Max-D (Neil Elliott)
 * WOW Factor – Son-uva Digger(Ryan Anderson)

Trivia

 * This would be the second year in a row that Brianna Mahon would cover for Madusa, as she had an injury and sat out so far in 2016. Last year, at the WF16, she covered for her as she was attending a WWE awards ceremony.
 * The "Jester" truck (set to display at the pit party), on its way to Las Vegas, encountered the truck trailer carrying The Xtermigator and Razin Kane (the former also set to appear at the pit party while the latter to perform at the Young Guns Shootout). The teams for Xtermigator and Razin Kane and for Jester decided to hitch a ride together in the Jester trailer truck to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, accidentally leaving the trailer for Xtermigator and Razin Kane behind in New Mexico. The Jester trailer truck had to return to New Mexico 400 miles away (thus 800 miles round trip) to bring it to Las Vegas. To accurately depict actual events regarding this event. Team RKMT had transmission trouble with their rig and broke down in Gallup, New Mexico with Razin Kane and Xtermigator in the trailer. Team Jester had left about 24 hours later than the team RKMT trailer and while on the way to Sam Boyd Stadium picked up Team RKMT driver Buddy Tompkins in New Mexico and continued to Las Vegas. The Jester trailer along with Ice Cream Man that was riding in the trailer as well were dropped off at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Team Jester rig doubled back to New Mexico to pick up the Team RKMT trailer to bring it to Las Vegas while the RKMT rig was left behind to have the transmission repaired. Both teams and all 4 trucks made it to the stadium without missing any events.
 * It's Pit Party would be the largest to date, having 100+ trucks attending (Including competing trucks).
 * Neil Elliott drove the "FOX Sports 1 Cleatus" truck on his Maximum Destruction chassis. As a Maximum Destruction driver, he was one of only two drivers to run alternate bodies (the other being Grave Digger's Charlie Pauken who drove Monster Mutt on it's normal chassis.)
 * Many of the decorations on merchandise have been themed off gold and clovers, due to part of the event (the Young Guns Shootout) taking place on St. Patrick's day.
 * This would mark the first time since 2010 that a Grave Digger truck won racing, and the first time since 2000 that a Grave Digger truck won freestyle.
 * This was the first World Finals to have the Young Guns Shootout Champion (Scott Liddycoat In Dragon) flip over in either racing or freestyle.
 * YouTube ganged some minor controversy in 2016 after the audio on several amateur videos of Avenger's World Finals 17 freestyle was muted out due to copyright reasons due to the song that was playing during Avenger's freestyle. At least six videos were muted out by YouTube, including a full freestyle compilation video, which had to be entirely re-uploaded with Avenger self-muted after YouTube muted the entire video solely due to Avenger's freestyle. The blocked out song was Let Me Hear You Scream by Ozzy Osbourne.
 * Play'n For Keeps broke down during the pit party truck parade.
 * During the airing of the freestyle event on Fox Sports 1, Monster Jam did a special side by side comparison, simultaneously showing Dennis Anderson and Adam Anderson freestyling, comparing the two freestyles analytically, due to the fan judging controversy that occurred that year.
 * "Team Hot Wheels Firestorm" did three backflips in the same freestyle run, making it the first time a truck has done three backflips in a single run.

Pit Party (Non-Competing) Trucks
Backwards Bob

BKT (Race) (Pit Party Debut)

BKT Ride Truck

Black Stallion

Brutus

Captain's Curse

Carolina Crusher (Pit Party Debut)

D'Sturbed (Other) (Pit Party Debut)

Dirt Crew (Pit Party Debut)

El Diablo

Enforcer

Equalizer

Extinguisher

The Felon

Fluffy (Pit Party Debut)

Grave Digger 11

Hitman

Ice Cream Man

Iron Outlaw

Jester (Leprechaun body)

King Krunch

Knucklehead

Second Madusa (Pink)

Maniac

Maverik Monster Trakker

McGruff

Midnight Rider

Monster Mutt Rottweiler

Monster Patrol (Phelps)

Nasty Boy

Obsession

Play'n For Keeps

Quad Chaos

Rage (Pit Party Debut)

Rat Attack

Red Solo Truck (Pit Party Debut)

Reptoid

Scarlet Bandit

Sergeant Smash

Skull Krusher (Pit Party Debut)

Sniper (Turner) (Pit Party Debut; was initially planned to debut at the 2015 pit party, but was unable to be completed in time.)

Storm Damage

T-Maxxx (Pit Party Debut)

T-Wrecks

Thumper

Thunder Chicken

Time Flys

TNT

Unnamed & Untamed

Venom (Echternkamp) (Pit Party Debut)

Warrior (Ride Truck) (Pit Party Debut)

Wheels of Freedom

Wild Thang

XDP Diesel (Pit Party Debut)

The Xtermigator

Zombie Hunter

Pit Party Trucks That Did Not Appear
Airborne Ranger

Cyclops (2016)

Sheer Insanity

Survivor