2023 Monster Jam Superstar Challenge

The 2023 Monster Jam Superstar Challenge was a team-based Monster Jam event held on November 11th, 2023, at Angel Stadium at Anaheim, California. This event marks the return of what was originally the Monster Jam All-Star Challenge, now under a rebrand, being the first under its name.

Format[]

The event featured the battle between two teams of eight, the teams being Team Nitro and Team Neon under the slogan Nitro vs. Neon, with the team captains being Bari Musawwir for Team Nitro and Krysten Anderson for Team Neon.

The teams, theme and captains would be first announced at the Monster Jam World Finals XXII Press Conference, where the first picks for each team were made to build-up to the event where Bari chose Armando Castro and Krysten picked Todd LeDuc.

The draft later privately took place in late August and the picks were planned to be announced and revealed in late September. However, for unknown reasons, the announcement would be delayed until October 9th, when the picks were revealed on Monster Jam's Instagram page.

The event itself featured an over-under style layout for the first time since World Finals XXI, then 8 drivers were selected to copete in the "Best Trick" challenge, and then a freestyle competition.

Fields of trucks[]

Main field[]

Team Nitro[]

Team Captain: Bari Musawwir (Non-competing)

El Toro Loco Nitro - Armando Castro
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior - Bryce Kenny
Max-D Nitro - Tom Meents*
Grave Digger Nitro (on Grave Digger 39) - Tyler Menninga*
Son-Uva Digger - Ryan Anderson*
Soldier Fortune - Kayla Blood
Avenger Nitro - Jim Koehler
Zombie Nitro (on Rage) - Cory Rummell

Team Neon[]

Team Captain: Krysten Anderson (Non-competing)

Megalodon Neon - Todd LeDuc
ThunderROARus - Colt Stephens
Grave Digger Neon (on Grave Digger 35) - Adam Anderson*
Earth Shaker Neon - Tristan England*
Bakugan Dragonoid Neon - Camden Murphy*
Lucas Stabilizer - Linsey Read
Monster Mutt (on Brutus) - Chris Koehler
Monster Mutt Dalmatian - Jamie Sullivan

*Also competed in the best trick competition.

Non-competing[]

Stunt[]

Prior to the event, Tom Meents attempted a forward momentum backflip over Grave Digger 41 and the Monster Jam Stunt Truck in ThunderROARus to kick off the event. However, he failed the stunt, as the truck twisted off to the side and landed hard on the roof of the stunt truck before rolling over. The chassis was severely damaged.

Racing[]

Round 1[]

Megalodon vs Max-D
Avenger vs Monster Mutt Dalmatian
Monster Mutt vs Soldier Fortune
Son-uva Digger vs Bakugan Dragonoid
Grave Digger (Tyler) vs Grave Digger (Adam)
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior vs Lucas Stabilizer
ThunderROARus vs Zombie
El Toro Loco vs Earth Shaker

Round 2[]

Megalodon vs Monster Mutt Dalmatian
Monster Mutt vs Bakugan Dragonoid
Grave Digger (Tyler) vs Great Clips Mohawk Warrior
ThunderROARus vs Earth Shaker

Semi-finals[]

Monster Mutt vs Megalodon
Grave Digger (Tyler) vs ThunderROARus

Finals[]

Grave Digger (Tyler) vs Megalodon

Best Trick competition[]

Grave Digger (Menninga): 9.649
Grave Digger (A. Anderson): 9.070
Max-D: 7.922
Son-uva Digger: 6.858
Earth Shaker: 5.872
Bakugan Dragonoid: 4.395

Freestyle[]

Order[]

Monster Mutt
El Toro Loco Nitro
Monster Mutt Dalmatian
Grave Digger Nitro (Tyler)
Lucas Stabilizer
Avenger Nitro
Megalodon Neon
Solider Fortune
ThunderROARus
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior
Earth Shaker Neon
Zombie (Rage)
Bakugan Dragonoid Neon
Max-D Nitro
Grave Digger Neon (Adam)
Son-uva Digger

Results[]

Grave Digger (Menninga, Team Nitro): 9.131
Avenger (Team Nitro): 8.315
Earth Shaker (Team Neon): 8.025
Megalodon (Team Neon): 7.929
Monster Mutt Dalmatian (Team Neon): 7.742
Monster Mutt (Team Neon): 7.360
Zombie (Team Nitro): 7.290
El Toro Loco (Team Nitro): 7.254
Lucas Stabilizer (Team Neon): 7.146
Max-D (Team Nitro): 7.051
Son-uva Digger (Team Nitro): 6.800
ThunderROARus (Team Neon) - 6.758
Bakugan Dragonoid (Team Neon) - 6.496
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior (Team Nitro) - 6.288
Soldier Fortune (Team Nitro) - 3.473
Grave Digger (A. Anderson, Team Neon): 0.000¹

Notes[]

¹Did not complete minimum time.

Final team standings[]

Team Neon: 183
Team Nitro: 163

Overall[]

Grave Digger (Menninga, Team Nitro): 48
Earth Shaker (Team Neon): 37
Megalodon (Team Neon): 28
Son-Uva Digger (Team Nitro): 27
Bakugan Dragonoid (Team Neon): 27
Max-D (Team Nitro): 26
Monster Mutt (Brutus) (Team Neon):25
Grave Digger (A. Anderson, Team Neon): 22
Monster Mutt Dalmatian (Team Neon): 21
ThunderROARus (Team Neon): 18
Avenger (Team Nitro): 17
Zombie (Team Nitro): 16
El Toro Loco (Team Nitro): 13
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior (Team Nitro): 13
Lucas Stabilizer (Team Neon): 11
Soldier Fortune (Team Nitro): 3

Other awards[]

Most valued driver: Tristan England (Earth Shaker Neon)

Reception[]

The 2023 Monster Jam Superstar Challenge received a majority of praise for the event. Especially with the return of this type of event format since the 2019 All Star Challenge. The surprise return of free-standing crush cars satisfied many veteran fans of Monster Jam. Another highlight of the event was Tyler Menninga completely sweeping the show, winning all three competitions. Overall, the event was very pleasing to all fans alike.

Trivia[]

The special Megalodon Neon truck for Team Neon at the Superstar Challenge would first be unveiled and ran at Monster Jam World Finals XXII by Todd LeDuc as a way to promote the Superstar Challenge, as well as seemingly a way to avoid there being two of the same looking Megalodon trucks due to Cory Rummell also competing at the World Finals with the traditional Megalodon scheme on his Rage chassis.
- Megalodon Neon would be the only Nitro vs. Neon truck to compete at any event prior to the Superstar Challenge, being the World Finals.
This marks the first time since 2018 that Rage has been used for another truck besides Megalodon.
This is the first event since World Finals XIX that two Monster Mutt's competed in the same event.
The rebrand of the All-Star Challenge to the Superstar Challenge would feature major changes, such as the lineup being shortened to 16 instead of 24 and the event taking place in one day instead of two. The team captains would also not compete, unlike previously at the All-Star Challenge.
Avenger is the only full-fledged independent truck to compete in this event (with the exception of its fellow teammates Brutus and Rage, running FELD identities for this event).
Avenger Nitro was the only truck competing that did not have a 1:64 scale version produced.
Just like the All-Star Challenge, the team captains decided the racing match-ups, as-well as the best trick and freestyle orders during the pit-party.
While not competing, this event marked the return of Soldier Fortune Black Ops since 2022.
A majority of the competitors at this event would receive different colored tires to represent their teams, although mostly still running their normal colored bodies.
Unlike the All-Star Challenge, only 6 trucks would compete in best trick, with three from each team.
For the first time since World Finals XIX, Adam Anderson (Grave Digger-Neon) pulled off a reverse backflip in the best trick competition, as it was previously done by Colton and Jared Eichelberger (Max-D) in the mentioned World Finals.
Despite competing in the event and having a Nitro/Neon variant made in diecast form, Son-uva Digger ran its normal paint scheme at the event due to the truck being drafted to Team Nitro while the diecast was from Team Neon.
For the first time since January 2019, free-standing crush cars would return for the freestyle portion of the event, including a small bus.