James David Koehler (born July 13th, 1966) is a monster truck owner/driver out of Columbus, Michigan known for driving and creating the monster truck, Avenger, and for founding Team Scream Racing.
Famously nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", Jim is known for his wild antics and loud presence on and off the track and known for his wild and ragged-edge driving style, which he has won two freestyle championships with. He is also known for his presence at the Monster Jam World Finals, competing at every one so far, and known for his yearly special bodies at them and his tradition of jumping in water or pool after his freestyle runs.
Career[]
In 1997, Koehler unveiled his first Avenger truck, a Chevrolet S-10 which he would run until 2000.
In 1999, Jim competes in St. Louis, Missouri, which is unofficially nicknamed the "Motor Madness World Finals"
In 2000, Jim had a crazy crash in New Orleans in the final round against nWo, which was the truck's only win. Koehler unveiled a new improved Avenger with a newer S-10 body after that. The truck would later compete at the inaugural World Finals at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2002, the iconic Chevrolet Bel Air body was debuted in Indianapolis.
In 2003, Jim performed double duty in Philadelphia, driving Grave Digger as a substitute for an injured Dennis Anderson, along with his main Avenger truck. Koehler won his first World Finals freestyle championship, making him the first independent to win freestyle at the World Finals.
In 2004, Koehler began a tradition of having a special paint scheme for Avenger, specifically for the World Finals, debuting an orange body. He drove Route 66 in Joliet, Illinois.
In 2005, following his freestyle run at World Finals VI, Jim would jump in the pond obstacle for the fans, which would become another World Finals traditional for him. At the Monster Truck Thunder Drags in Indianapolis, Jim debuted Wrecking Crew & destroyed the rear axle after a huge jump in freestyle.
In 2006, Avenger would lose both rear tires in freestyle in Indianapolis. For the World Finals, a chrome body was used, and Jim would famously jump the truck over the fountain, which would be that year's DVD cover.
In 2008, Jim debuted a new chassis for Avenger with the original becoming Wrecking Crew. In Minneapolis, it would be the first Monster Jam event for the new chassis and Koehler would go on to win freestyle.
In 2009, Jim ran a blue Avenger at World Finals X. Koehler would flip over after his first hit and get the lowest score possible, being a 4. He would use a snorkel & flippers to dive into the fountain obstacle. In Australia, he won freestyle at the South Pacific World Finals, becoming the only driver to win both the Monster Jam, and Australian World Finals championships.
In 2010, Jim would coin the "Wolf Pack" for drivers that receive the lowest score with that year's World Finals having three drivers score a 4. For the second straight year, he would win freestyle at the Australian World Finals.
In 2011, Koehler claimed his second World Finals freestyle championship at World Finals XII in a tiebreaker over Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus, who held the lead after going first.
In 2014, Jim hit El Toro Loco in qualifying in Atlanta. (See Unusual Monster Truck Incidents).
In 2015, Koehler competed in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series, which would be the very first point series for Monster Jam. With the old points series format, Jim would end up finishing with 0 points. Because of this, Jim would jokingly run a truck roof that read "Rocking 0 Points". In Montreal, he drove Mr. X.
In 2017, Jim celebrated 20 years of driving. He returned to using the S-10 body for the season. He unveiled a new Avenger body at World Finals XVII, which was a throwback to the old S-10 body. He went all the way to the semi-final round of racing, the farthest he has gone there and would have a successful freestyle run, finishing third.
In 2018, Jim competed in Stadium Championship Series 1. On February 28th, it was announced that he had been invited once again to the Monster Jam World Finals XIX. Jim debuted a nomad Avenger for this World Finals. He would infamously go over on his first hit after hitting a steep ramp and eventually falling back and going over. In the summer, his son Chris Koehler began driving.
In 2019, Jim once again ran a stadium tour. He drove the Team Scream Monster Mutt in New Orleans. In April, it was announced that he had been invited once again to Monster Jam World Finals XX. In October, Jim runs a special Avenger Fire body for the All-Star Challenge in October in Las Vegas.
In 2021, Jim would have arguably his most successful season of his career, where he would compete on Monster Jam's lone stadium tour, where he would take home multiple skills, freestyle, and even some overall event wins. He would later and famously get his very first stadium racing win in St. Louis, and would later back up his win the next day. His popular freestyle at the first stadium show in Houston would eventually win the Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.
In 2022, Koehler competed on Stadium Championship Series Yellow. He would bring back multiple World Finals bodies throughout the season. Although not winning anything, he would still perform well on the series, finishing in eighth place, and he would be invited once again to Monster Jam World Finals XXI debuting a 25th anniversary glow in the dark Avenger. Jim's other son, Jon Koehler started driving Brutus in the summer.
In 2023, Jim competed on the blue stadium tour. Several old bodies are run throughout the year once again. For the Indianapolis shows, Jim runs a red Garner Towing Over Bored body. Jim finished 8th again in the final standings. He would later be invited to World Finals XXII. A dump truck filled with water would be brought out after his freestyle for him to jump in. This was the last known instance of him jumping in water at the World Finals. In November, Jim competed on Team Nitro for the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim.
In 2024, Jim competed on the west stadium tour & finished 11th. The split body makes its return for Anaheim, El Paso & Salt Lake City. Jim places 2nd in freestyle in Arlington. In Seattle, he got is first freestyle win since Houston of February 2021. It was also his first win in 3 years & first win of the season. He would be invited to World Finals XXlll in Los Angeles and used a graffiti design that was designed by Bari Musawwir's crew chief. He would not be invited to compete in the high jump for the first time. The Nitro body was used in Clear Brook, Virginia, Dunbar, Pennsylvania & Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Avenger Fire competes at its first independent shows in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
In 2025, Jim will compete on the East stadium tour.
World Finals appearances[]
- 1999 - Avenger
- 2000 - Avenger
- 2001 - Avenger
- 2002 - Avenger
- 2003 - Avenger (won freestyle)
- 2004 - Avenger
- 2005 - Avenger
- 2006 - Avenger
- 2007 - Avenger
- 2008 - Avenger
- 2009 - Avenger
- 2010 - Avenger
- 2011 - Avenger (won freestyle)
- 2012 - Avenger
- 2013 - Avenger
- 2014 - Avenger
- 2015 - Avenger
- 2016 - Avenger
- 2017 - Avenger
- 2018 - Avenger
- 2019 - Avenger (main field & high jump)
- 2022 - Avenger (main field & high jump)
- 2023 - Avenger (main field & high jump)
- 2024 - Avenger (main field)
All-Star Challenge/Superstar Challenge appearances[]
- 2019 - Avenger (Team Fire)
- 2023 - Avenger (Team Nitro)
Accomplishments[]
- 2003 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle champion.
- 2006 Crash Madness of the Year award.
- 2007 Donut of the Year award.
- 2007 Sportsman of the Year award.
- 2009 Save of the Year award.
- 2009 South Pacific World Finals freestyle champion.
- 2009 Sportsman of the Year award.
- 2010 South Pacific World Finals freestyle champion.
- 2010 Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.
- 2011 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion.
- 2011 Sportsman of the Year award.
- 2012 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2013 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2013 Sportsman of the Year award.
- 2013 Stadium Wheelie of the Year award.
- 2014 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2015 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2015 Sportsman of the Year award.
- 2016 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2017 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2021 Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.
- 2022 Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2024 Stadium Freestyle of the Year.
Trivia[]
- In 2017, Jim became the only driver, to date, to compete in every World Finals. Until 2017, he and Tom Meents competed in every World Finals including World Finals 0. However, Meents was unable to compete at World Finals XVIII due to a lower back injury.
- He was also the only driver to drive the same truck in each World Finals, including "World Finals 0". Meents, throughout his 17 World Finals appearance streak, drove three different trucks: Goldberg, Team Meents and Maximum Destruction.
- At World Finals XVI, Jim would jokingly run his own BKT sponsor sticker that read "BKT I Wish", as he was one of the few drivers that didn't run BKT tires at the event.
- Koehler won the "Extreme Air of the Year" Award for 6 years in a row from 2012-2017, until his streak was broken by Wild Flower driver Rosalee Ramer in 2018.
- Koehler also owns and operates a marina in Chesterfield, Michigan.
- Koehler is more well known for his freestyle abilities than his racing abilities, especially in the World Finals. Koehler has a 6-22 record in World Finals racing, with half his racing wins coming at World Finals XVIII. The other three came in 2001, 2008 and 2010. He made it to round 2 at Monster Jam World Finals XXII, but that's because he had a bye run in round 1.
- Jim used to wear glasses. They were infamously knocked off of his face during his New Orleans 2000 crash. He said he was glad he found them, or his wife would've ''killed him''.
- As of 2024, Jim is the only original Monster Jam driver to still compete in the league to this day.
Gallery[]
